The first of Gunning District Landcare's 'Spring Series' seminars for 2019 drew a large crowd to learn about how to get to know our soils, and how to apply this knowledge in land management decisions. The presenter, Katharine Brown, has a wealth of knowledge and a passion for teaching land managers how to understand their soils in more depth - and encouraged everyone to test their soils at depth! Katharine mentioned some valuable free resources and will be sharing still more in time. For now, it is well worth checking out these links:

Northern Rivers Soil Health Card: A soil management tool developed by farmers for farmers.The soil health card lists 10 straightforward visual soil tests that require simple equipment and can be carried out by one person in the field. It provides space for you to rate your own soils after carrying out the tests. By testing regularly and keeping the cards, you can build up a record of your soil health, and understand the effect of management practices on soil health.

eSpade: eSPADE is a Google Maps-based information system that allows easy, no-cost, map-based access to a wealth of soil and land information from across NSW. The data accessible through eSPADE is sourced mainly from the NSW Soil and Land Information System (SALIS).

SoilMapp for iPad: Find out what's beneath your feet with SoilMapp which taps into the best available soil information from Australia's national soil databases. You can find out about the likely types of soil near you or you can look anywhere across the country.