Farmer Scott McCalman and soil and plant health educator Joel Williams explore how and why cover cropping can support soil health. Scott shares how incorporating a diverse mix of four to five species into his rotation has improved soil fertility, enhanced nutrient cycling and reduced compaction in his cropping system. His approach includes early autumn cover crops grown for around 12 weeks.

This video covers:
- Choosing the right cover crop species
- How and when to terminate the cover crop
- Moisture management considerations
- And more!

For more on cover cropping, check out available in full here: https://soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-multispecies-cropping/

The guide is part of a series of practice guides that can be used in your regenerative cropping toolset. Find the series here: https://soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resources

Thanks to @vicnotill @macintyre.ag.alliance and @perthnrm for their support of the project. Published as part of our Cropping Resilience project, supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. @daffgov

#crophealth #planthealth #soilhealth #farming #regenerative

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Famers Myles and Julie Ballentine share simple soil and plant testing and monitoring methods that they implement on their farm near Banana QLD. They also share the benefits of soil and plant monitoring for them, and how the insights from monitoring help with their descision making.

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Farmers Rhonda and Bill Daly share how they support plant resilience by focusing on the root causes, soil health, nutrition and diversity.

This video is part of Soil for Life's Building Plant Resilience to Pest and Disease which covers strategies that support plant health and ecosystem diversity and its capacity to withstand or defend against stressors.

The guide is part of a series of practice guides that can be used in your regenerative cropping toolset. Find the series here: https://soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resources

Thanks to @vicnotill @macintyre.ag.alliance and @perthnrm for their support of the project. Published as part of our Cropping Resilience project, supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. @daffgov

#crophealth #planthealth #soilhealth #farming #regenerative

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Farmers Rhonda and Bill Daly share how they support plant resilience by focusing on the root causes, soil health, nutrition and diversity.

This video is part of Soil for Life's Building Plant Resilience to Pest and Disease which covers strategies that support plant health and ecosystem diversity and its capacity to withstand or defend against stressors.

The guide is part of a series of practice guides that can be used in your regenerative cropping toolset. Find the series here: https://soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resources

Thanks to @vicnotill @macintyre.ag.alliance and @perthnrm for their support of the project. Published as part of our Cropping Resilience project, supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. @daffgov

#crophealth #planthealth #soilhealth #farming #regenerative

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Farmers Rhonda and Bill Daly share how they support plant resilience by focusing on the root causes, soil health, nutrition and diversity.

This video is part of Soil for Life's Building Plant Resilience to Pest and Disease which covers strategies that support plant health and ecosystem diversity and its capacity to withstand or defend against stressors.

The guide is part of a series of practice guides that can be used in your regenerative cropping toolset. Find the series here: https://soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resources

Thanks to @vicnotill @macintyre.ag.alliance and @perthnrm for their support of the project. Published as part of our Cropping Resilience project, supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. @daffgov

#crophealth #planthealth #soilhealth #farming #regenerative

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Have you considered using foliar applications of minerals and microbes in the season ahead? Foliars can be an integral part of a holistic crop nutrition program, supplying targeted nutrients and plant health support.

Hear from other farmers on how they’re making foliar applications work for them in our recently released Foliar Applications Practice Guide. It’s available (for free) at soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-foliar-applications/.

In the guide you’ll find:
🔑 Tips from farmers successfully using foliars in broadacre cropping
🤝 Step-by-step instructions on how to apply foliar treatments effectively
🔎 Tips on how to measure the success of your foliar applications

Huge thanks to Tom and Jordan for sharing their knowledge and learnings with us.

The guide is part of a series of practice guides that can be used in your regenerative cropping toolset. Find the series here: https://soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resources

Published as part of our Cropping Resilience project, supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. @daffgov Thanks to @vicnotill @macintyre.ag.alliance and @perthnrm for their support of the project. #foliars #crophealth #planthealth #soilhealth #farming #regenerative

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Have you considered using foliar applications of minerals and microbes in the season ahead? Foliars can be an integral part of a holistic crop nutrition program, supplying targeted nutrients and plant health support.

Hear from other farmers on how they’re making foliar applications work for them in our recently released Foliar Applications Practice Guide. It’s available (for free) at soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-foliar-applications/.

In the guide you’ll find:
🔑 Tips from farmers successfully using foliars in broadacre cropping
🤝 Step-by-step instructions on how to apply foliar treatments effectively
🔎 Tips on how to measure the success of your foliar applications

Huge thanks to Tom and Jordan for sharing their knowledge and learnings with us.

The guide is part of a series of practice guides that can be used in your regenerative cropping toolset. Find the series here: https://soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resources

Published as part of our Cropping Resilience project, supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. @daffgov Thanks to @vicnotill @macintyre.ag.alliance and @perthnrm for their support of the project. #foliars #crophealth #planthealth #soilhealth #farming #regenerative

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Have you considered using foliar applications of minerals and microbes in the season ahead? Foliars can be an integral part of a holistic crop nutrition program, supplying targeted nutrients and plant health support.

Hear from other farmers on how they’re making foliar applications work for them in our recently released Foliar Applications Practice Guide. It’s available (for free) at soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-foliar-applications/.

In the guide you’ll find:
🔑 Tips from farmers successfully using foliars in broadacre cropping
🤝 Step-by-step instructions on how to apply foliar treatments effectively
🔎 Tips on how to measure the success of your foliar applications

Huge thanks to Tom and Jordan for sharing their knowledge and learnings with us.

The guide is part of a series of practice guides that can be used in your regenerative cropping toolset. Find the series here: https://soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resources

Published as part of our Cropping Resilience project, supported by funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. @daffgov Thanks to @vicnotill @macintyre.ag.alliance and @perthnrm for their support of the project. #foliars #crophealth #planthealth #soilhealth #farming #regenerative

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More than 100 farmers and others joined our second ‘Tracking Soil Health’ webinar in June 2025 with renowned agroecologist and coach Nicole Masters from Integrity Soils and the Vidacycle team.

Nicole discussed the soils and observations of three cropping farms from across Australia using the Soilmentor app and its regenerative indicators.

This webinar is part of our Cropping Resilience project where we have funding for Australian grain growers to use the Soilmentor app. Soilmentor is a tool that can help farmers to identify simple yet powerful indicators of soil health and biodiversity, monitor progress over time and make informed decisions.

Nicole Masters has 20+ years experience in regenerative farming systems, practices, coaching and community-building across Australasia, North America, and the United Kingdom. She is the author of For the Love of Soil which equips producers with knowledge, skills, and insights to regenerate ecosystem health and grow farm profits.

This was delivered as part of Soils For Life's Cropping Resilience project, partly funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund

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Mick Gooden runs Old Man Creek Bull Farm near Wagga Wagga in NSW and is President of farmer group Vic No Till.

In this episode, Eli and Mick chat about the value of having a supportive group of peers around you, the links between soil health and human health, the importance of pulling up and taking the time for observation and reflection, transitioning cropping systems profitably, leveraging the power of working with nature, and how to communicate the opportunity in agriculture as a solution to many of our biggest challenges. And we discover how a NSW cattleman ended up President of a Victorian cropping group.

Sign up to the Soils for Life newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter/
Get in touch - [email protected]

Find out more about Mick and Vic No Till:
Soils for Life Willowlee case study - soilsforlife.org.au/willowlee
Soils for Life 8 Families Case study - soilsforlife.org.au/the-8-families-group
Vic No Till - www.vicnotill.com.au

Other Soils for Life resources mentioned in this episode:
Integrating livestock guide - coming soon...
All practice guides - soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resources

Also mentioned
Brian Wehlburg, Holistic Management educator - insideoutsidemgt.com.au
Stacey Curcio, Nutritionist - cultivatingwellness.com.au
Alejandro Carillo, Mexican rancher - instagram.com/p/DLGMlCnRFcg
John Kempf podcast - advancingecoag.com/podcasts
Groundswell UK - groundswellag.com
Drawdown, by Paul Hawken - drawdown.org/the-book

Thanks for listening!

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Phil Lavers is passionate about good food. He runs Moonacres, a 140 acre fruit and vegetable farm in the NSW Southern Highlands, and sells his award-winning certified organic produce direct to some of Sydney’s best restaurants.

Phil is not a guy to beat around the bush. He sees big problems with typical practices in fruit and vegetable farming and the impacts those practices have on the soil, the environment and our health. A relentless experimenter, Phil is determined to find ways to do things better.

In this episode we talk about weaning off the rotary hoe, managing weeds, keeping bare soil to an absolute minimum with annual vegetable crops, how to grow the best tasting silverbeet, valuing good food, being a ‘sugar daddy’ for soil microbes, cover cropping and stealing the microbiome from cover crops to grow cash crops.

Head to soilsforlife.org.au to find out more about our work.

If you’re finding value in the Soils for Life podcast, please consider donating to help us continue sharing stories and knowledge from farmers. As a non-profit organisation, we rely on support from generous donors, so please consider making a donation via soilsforlife.org.au/donate. Of course, we understand that not everyone has the means to support us financially - you can also help by rating and reviewing us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

If you have feedback, or suggestions of people or topics we should cover, you can reach us at [email protected], we love hearing from you. Thanks for listening.

Links and resources

About Phil and Moonacres
Moonacres website - Moonacres Kitchen - for more information about whole of operation, farm tours, training opportunities and markets where you can find their produce.
Moonacres - Heart and Soil Episode #1 youtube channel link
Organically certified - can’t see by whom he is certified

Other references from the episode:
https://www.facebook.com/RailwayStMarketMossVale/
Roller Crimper Roller Crimper Blueprints - Rodale Institute
Austrian weeding plough
Southern Highlands on the Grow Inc GROW – Southern Highlands

Further learning:
To gain some deeper understanding about multispecies crops Phil is using in his soil health building rotations refer to our Soils for Life Multispecies practice guide Practice Guide: Multispecies Cropping - Soils For Life

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Applying biological seed treatments is a common first step for farmers interested in improving soil health and farm resilience, often part of a larger strategy to enhance soil biology, increase nutrient cycling and reduce or eliminate insecticides and fungicides.

Farmers use biological seed treatments to give their plants the best possible start. Biological seed treatments can include microbes, biostimulants and sometimes nutrients. They are applied to bare seed, and are intended to enhance root development and the microbial relationship between the growing plant and the soil.

This video is part of a practice guide; introduction to biological seed treatments. It covers the benefits, ingredients, application methods, complementary practices, monitoring outcomes and real-life examples.

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Applying biological seed treatments is a common first step for farmers interested in improving soil health and farm resilience, often part of a larger strategy to enhance soil biology, increase nutrient cycling and reduce or eliminate insecticides and fungicides.

Farmers use biological seed treatments to give their plants the best possible start. Biological seed treatments can include microbes, biostimulants and sometimes nutrients. They are applied to bare seed, and are intended to enhance root development and the microbial relationship between the growing plant and the soil.

This video is part of a practice guide; introduction to biological seed treatments. It covers the benefits, ingredients, application methods, complementary practices, monitoring outcomes and real-life examples.

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Applying biological seed treatments is a common first step for farmers interested in improving soil health and farm resilience, often part of a larger strategy to enhance soil biology, increase nutrient cycling and reduce or eliminate insecticides and fungicides.

Farmers use biological seed treatments to give their plants the best possible start. Biological seed treatments can include microbes, biostimulants and sometimes nutrients. They are applied to bare seed, and are intended to enhance root development and the microbial relationship between the growing plant and the soil.

This video is part of a practice guide; introduction to biological seed treatments. It covers the benefits, ingredients, application methods, complementary practices, monitoring outcomes and real-life examples.

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Can dairy systems support soil health, productivity and profitability at the same time?

In this episode we meet four dairy farmers who are exploring that question. Kate Mirams, Simon Schultz, Sandra Jefford and Chris Eggert share their experiences with introducing diversity into their pastures and farming systems—what motivated them, what they tried, and what they’ve learned so far.

We also hear from pasture scientist Anna Thomson with her insights from current research into multispecies pastures, including how they’re performing under real-world conditions and what that might mean for animal health, climate resilience and farm inputs.

You’ll hear about:
- The trial that gave Kate confidence to rethink her approach to nitrogen and massively reduce synthetic nitrogen applications while increasing production
- How Simon is combining pasture diversity with new tillage methods and enterprise stacking
- What Sandra is learning from sap tests, shelterbelt plantings and mixed perennial pastures
- - Why Chris first turned to organics, and what he’s observed about soil and plant health since
Anna’s research into growth, resilience and methane in multispecies swards
What farmers are finding when they start measuring BRIX

Whether you’re already experimenting or just interested in what others are finding, this episode offers a window into paths being explored in the Australian dairy industry.

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Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Farmers
Simon Schultz – https://schulzorganicdairy.com.au/
Chris Eggert – https://oxhillorganics.com.au/
Sandra Jefford – https://www.wilandrafarms.com.au/
Soil and regenerative agriculture resources

Kate’s presentation to the Dairy Australia Grounds for Growth Conference in March 2025 on the results of her trial
Nicole Masters – Cited by Simon Schultz as an influential voice on soil biology. Check out her book For the Love of Soil or Integrity Soils for more resources.
Jade Killoran from Healthy Farming Systems – Mentioned by Kate in relation to soil repair trials post-laser grading.
Shelterbelt planning with productive and medicinal trees – Sandra’s system of mixed-species planting for shade, fodder and natural worming. Agroforestry or shelterbelt design resources:
Agroforestry in Australia: https://www.agroforestry.org.au
EverGraze shelterbelt info: https://www.evergraze.com.au/library-content/shelterbelt-design-and-benefits/
Trials and benchmarking tools

Victorian Dairy Farm Monitor Project – Kate Mirams mentions using this to compare pasture consumption and input efficiency.
Soil moisture probes – Used to track root depth and water uptake under different pasture mixes.
Sap analysis and BRIX meters – Sandra Jefford and Kate Mirams both use these to monitor plant sugars and infer animal nutrition and productivity.
This episode was hosted and produced by Susannah Kable from the Grow Love Project, in collaboration with Soils for Life.

Head to the Soils for Life website (soilsforlife.org.au) to find out more about our work, and if you like what you hear don’t forget to rate and review our podcast. Every review helps to make our podcast easier for others to find.

If you have feedback, or suggestions of people or topics we should cover, you can reach us at [email protected], we love hearing from you. Thanks for listening.

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