Insights from recent episode analysis
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Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Total monthly reach
Estimated from 14 chart positions in 14 markets.
By chart position
- 🇦🇺AU · Earth Sciences#7300K to 1M
- 🇩🇪DE · Earth Sciences#1055K to 30K
- 🇬🇧GB · Earth Sciences#1405K to 30K
- 🇺🇸US · Earth Sciences#1865K to 30K
- 🇨🇦CA · Earth Sciences#1925K to 30K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
225K to 765K🎙 Weekly cadence·17 episodes·Last published yesterday - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
450K to 1.5M🇦🇺65%🇪🇸7%🇳🇿7%+11 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
135K to 459K
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
Recent episodes
Regenerative grazing and the key insights of Holistic Management, with Brian Wehlburg
Jun 23, 2026
Unknown duration
Building confidence in multispecies pastures, with Grant Williams
Jun 9, 2026
Unknown duration
Working with biological control agents in perennial horticulture, with Dr Paul Horne
May 26, 2026
Unknown duration
Managing risk in grazing through safe-to-fail farm trials, with Graeme Hand
May 12, 2026
Unknown duration
‘Intensification’ through biology, synergy and farming deeper and higher, with Gavin Fisher
Apr 28, 2026
Unknown duration
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| Date | Episode | Description | Length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/23/26 |  Regenerative grazing and the key insights of Holistic Management, with Brian Wehlburg | Brian Wehlburg is one of Australia’s most highly regarded Holistic Management educators and a board member of Holistic Management International and the Australian Holistic Management Cooperative. He has delivered training and consulting to businesses, land managers, families, environmental groups and pastoralists all over Australia, as well as in New Zealand, USA and Zimbabwe. He is also a farmer himself, having experience growing crops in Southern Africa, working as a pasture and cattle manager in South West Queensland and managing a mixed-species property in New South Wales.This is one of the longer conversations we’ve featured on the podcast, but it easily could have been twice this length given the depth of Brian ’s well of knowledge and experience. We talk about his perspective on regenerative grazing, about the key insights of Holistic Management, the deeply held paradigms that often prevent people from seeing these insights, the practical steps that he has seen work to help people get started, and the positive life changes that can result when people succeed.This episode is one of a series of interviews we’re doing with graziers and educators involved in the development of our recently released guide to grazing for soil and landscape regeneration.Details and registrations for our upcoming grazing field day on 15 July 2026 with Dr Judi Earl at the Curtis family farm in Milmerran Queensland - soilsforlife.org.au/grazing-for-soil-health-field-day-curtis.Links and resources:Brian’s consultancy Inside Outside Management - insideoutsidemgt.com.au Soils for Life’s Guide to Grazing for Soil and Landscape Regeneration - soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-grazing-soil-landscape-regeneration More about Holistic Management from the Savory Institute - savory.globalAndre Voisin - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Voisin Jan Smuts, Holism and Evolution - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holism_and_Evolution If you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you - reach out on social media or at info@soilsforlife.org.au. | — | ||||||
| 6/9/26 |  Building confidence in multispecies pastures, with Grant Williams | Grant Williams is a dairy farmer at Hallora in West Gippsland, Victoria, where he and his wife Leesa run Willora Farms - an almost 600-cow operation across 430 hectares. He has been a generous and engaged contributor to the dairy community for many years, and previously served on the Board and as Chair of GippsDairy.Despite having been an early adopter of robotic milking, Grant describes himself as cautious about making changes on the farm. Over the past decade, however, he has made a change that many dairy farmers wouldn’t dream of, transitioning the whole farm to multispecies pastures, and in the last four years, cutting out all synthetic fertilisers.In this episode, Grant describes how he ‘fell into’ multispecies pastures, how his early trials didn’t work out the way he hoped, and how he eventually became confident that he could profitably roll out multispecies across the whole farm.Links and resources:Soikee machine - soilkee.com.au Soils for Life’s dairy resources and activities - soilsforlife.org.au/dairy-resilience-projectIf you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you - reach out on social media or at info@soilsforlife.org.au. | — | ||||||
| 5/26/26 |  Working with biological control agents in perennial horticulture, with Dr Paul Horne | Dr Paul Horne is an award winning entomologist and founder of integrated pest management consultancy IPM Technologies. He began his career at the Victorian Department of Agriculture in the mid-1980s, his work has been published across scientific journals and industry platforms, and he has written several books on insects and pest management.Paul’s work focuses on supporting adoption of IPM strategies to manage invertebrate pests in a wide range of crops including cut-flowers, berries, vegetables, tree and vine crops, nurseries, broad-acre crops and pastures.As our new initiative to support fruit and nut growers kicks off, I wanted to talk with Paul about the state of play with integrated pest management, and what he has found works well to support adoption of IPM in perennial horticulture.If you’re involved in perennial horticulture, check out our new Orchard Resilience Project. With funding from the Australian Government’s Climate-smart Agriculture Program, we’re working over the next three years with perennial horticulture growers across Australia to strengthen soil health and landscape function in tree and vine crops.This episode was recorded live from the Grounded festival in Victoria. Enjoy!Links and resources:IPM technologiesSoils for Life Orchard Resilience ProjectIf you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you - reach out on social media or at info@soilsforlife.org.au. | — | ||||||
| 5/12/26 |  Managing risk in grazing through safe-to-fail farm trials, with Graeme Hand | Graeme Hand is a holistic land management and grazing educator based near Bairnsdale, Victoria, where he has farmed for more than 35 years. He came to the land via an unlikely route, a decade as an industrial chemist, before applying that scientific background to regenerative agriculture. A Certified Holistic Management educator and Board member of Regenerative Agriculture Network Tasmania, Graeme has been supporting farmers in adopting regenerative grazing techniques since 1996, and has spent the better part of three decades helping farming businesses rebuild topsoil, restore pasture, improve the water cycle and strengthen their resilience to a changing climate.At the heart of Graeme's work is a conviction that lasting change on the land starts with the decisions made each day in the paddock, with ‘safe to fail’ trials at the heart of his approach. As Graeme explains in this episode, trials are the key strategy that enables farmers to manage the complexity of biological approaches to grazing. It was a pleasure to record this episode with Graeme, live from the Grounded festival in Victoria, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.** Keep an eye out for our new grazing practice guide, which will be launched on the 20th of May at a special field day and launch event in Mundarlo NSW. Details and registrations via soilsforlife.org.au/events/ **Links and resources:Hand for the Land: Heaps of resources and advice from Graeme Hand’s holistic land management and training consultancyMonitoring ecological indicators of rangeland functional integrity and their relation to biodiversity at local to regional scales: Study mentioned in this episode, authored by David Tongway and othersIf you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you - reach out on social media or at info@soilsforlife.org.au. | — | ||||||
| 4/28/26 |  ‘Intensification’ through biology, synergy and farming deeper and higher, with Gavin Fisher | Find out more and register for the special event to launch our Introductory Guide to Grazing for Soil and Landscape Health, on 20 May at Nick Austin’s farm in Mundarlo, NSW (near Wagga) - events.humanitix.com/grazinglaunchfielddayThis episode was recorded live at the third Grounded Festival at Yan Yan Gurt West farm in Victoria’s Otways. One of my highlights of the festival was hearing from third-generation New Zealand dairy farmer Gavin Fisher. Although, dairy is only the tip of the iceberg of Gavin’s farm. He also raises deer, chickens and ducks, and bees. The pastures are multi-species, but every paddock is also surrounded by diverse plantings of trees and shrubs, including fruit and nut trees, and medicinal plants for the cows.This is the product of a decades-long process through which Gavin has steadily transformed his family’s farm from a flat, treeless series of paddocks, into a diverse and multi-layered production system. With the principle of biological diversity and synergy at the centre of his vision, and farming deeper and higher rather than expanding his land area, Gavin has created a low cost, minimal input, highly resilient and profitable enterprise that is filled with life:Links and resources:Gavin’s Instagram - www.instagram.com/off_the_planet_organicsGavin’s LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/gavin-fisher-a28b8280If you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you - reach out on social media or at info@soilsforlife.org.au. | — | ||||||
| 4/14/26 |  Tracking milk quality, profit and soil health: A five year regenerative trial. | What happens when a commercial dairy farm runs regenerative and conventional systems side-by-side, and measures the results?In this episode, Clare Buchanan from Align Farms shares insights from an ongoing trial in Mid Canterbury, New Zealand. Half the farm is managed conventionally, while the other half uses diverse pastures, lower synthetic inputs and a different approach to grazing and stocking. The aim has been to test how these systems perform in the same conditions, across production, environment and profitability.Clare talks through what they’ve been observing in the five years the trial has been running, including pasture production without synthetic nitrogen, how soil biology is tracking, and what they’ve learned about pasture diversity over time. Early research is also pointing to differences in milk quality, with links between pasture composition and fatty acids and plant compounds in the milk.Financial performance is a key part of the trial. The regenerative system is currently profitable, but not yet matching the conventional side, largely due to lower stocking rates and production. As input costs shift and the system continues to evolve, that gap is something they’re watching closely.Clare reflects on what they would do differently, what still isn’t clear, and where there may be opportunities for farmers looking to test similar approaches on their own farms.Links and resources:Find out more about the trial and Align Farms here: https://alignfarms.co.nz/Lincoln University study, Regenerative Farming Enhances Human Health Benefits of Milk and Yoghurt in New Zealand Dairy Systems, 2025, https://www.mdpi.com/2624-862X/6/4/39If you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out on social media or at info@soilsforlife.org.au. | — | ||||||
| 4/7/26 |  RAPID RESPONSE: Managing the nitrogen fertiliser crisis, with Joel Williams | Australia's fertiliser crisis has been building for weeks as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. Around 60 per cent of Australia's urea imports travel through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been severely disrupted, leaving shipments stranded and future orders cancelled.Some reports suggest urea prices have already more than doubled since December 2025, from around US$350 per tonne to US$750, and there are serious doubts about whether any supplies will be available beyond the next few months if the conflict continues.Even if stock becomes available, the prices are eating into margins, with reports that many growers are choosing to cut production because the economics simply don’t stack up.The federal government has formed a Fertiliser Supply Working group and responded with a package of measures including new legislation to underwrite the import of emergency fertiliser supplies.But what can producers themselves do? Today we're talking to soil and plant health educator Joel Williams about what farmers can do right now to manage this situation on the ground.Links and resources:Soils for Life Cropping Practice GuidesJoel Williams’ Foliar Nitrogen CourseGRDC Resources pageIf you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you - reach out on social media or at info@soilsforlife.org.au. | — | ||||||
| 3/31/26 |  Studying regenerative agriculture at scale: The human experience behind the hard data, with Dr Jonathan Lundgren | Dr Jonathan Lundgren runs 1,000 Farms, the largest and most comprehensive study of regenerative agriculture anywhere in the world. Despite the name, the program now includes more than 2,000 farms across all eco-regions in North America, with a minimum of 500 data types for each farm, including data on production, economics, soil, water, biodiversity, carbon, nutrition and more. The results - according to Jon - are illustrating what farmers themselves have been reporting, that working with natural systems on farms can be as profitable, with greater stability and resilience, improved environmental outcomes and much improved mental and physical health and wellbeing for the farmers.But that incredible research is just the tip of the iceberg of this conversation. After a highly distinguished scientific career, including a PhD in entomology, more than a decade with the USDA, receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering, and writing more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, Jon pivoted. He established Ecdysis Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Estelline, South Dakota, dedicated to advancing regenerative agriculture through relationship-based, independent research, and bought and now runs a farm - Blue Dasher Farm. He has become a passionate advocate for reorienting food and agriculture systems away from centralised corporate commodity chains and back to the farmers on the land, their health and wellbeing, and that of the communities in which they operate. This, he argues, is the pathway to more secure and resilient agriculture, and to realising the true potential of regenerative agriculture to deliver on our most pressing social, economic and environmental issues.Further reading:Ecydsis Foundation1,000 Farms InitiativePeriodic Table of Food InitiativeProject AvalancheWilmot Field Day | — | ||||||
| 3/17/26 |  Nature’s army: Using functional biodiversity for biocontrol in orchards, with Dr Mary Retallack | Dr Mary Retallack is an agricultural scientist, third-generation viticulturist and agroecologist who has spent more than three decades advancing environmental stewardship within agricultural landscapes. She grew up on a fruit block in SA's Riverland growing grapes, apricots and pears, and now lives on a small vineyard and apple orchard surrounded by native insectary plants in the Adelaide Hills.Mary is the founder and custodian of the award-winning National EcoVineyards Program, working in collaboration with more than 175 program partners and wine growers across fifteen regions in four states to build functional biodiversity, restore soil health, and reduce reliance on synthetic inputs.Mary’s PhD research in viticulture and plant protection focused on native insectary ground cover plants and the role they play in supporting natural predators of vineyard pests. Her findings show how functional diversity not only builds ecological health, but delivers economic benefits to growers, and there are heaps of detailed case studies from growers around the country on the EcoVineyards website.If you’re involved in perennial horticulture, check out our new Orchard Resilience Project. With funding from the Australian Government’s Climate-smart Agriculture Program, we’re working over the next three years with perennial horticulture growers across Australia to strengthen soil health and landscape function in tree and vine crops.Links and resources:EcoVineyards ProgramRetallack EcologySoils for Life Orchard Resilience ProjectJohn Kempf’s Plant Health PyramidIf you have feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes or guests, we'd love to hear from you - reach out on social media or at info@soilsforlife.org.au. | — | ||||||
| 2/24/26 |  Milk, the original superfood, with Matthew Evans | Matthew Evans is a chef, farmer, author, food advocate and founder of Australia's Grounded Festival (coming up in April - tickets available at groundedaustralia.com.au).Soils for Life is kicking off a new national program working with dairy farmers around the country (join our launch event in March, details via https://events.humanitix.com/dairy-profitability-and-resilience-through-diversity-and-soil-health), and we thought it was the perfect time to talk to Matthew about his most recent book, ‘Milk: The truth, the lies and the unbelievable story of the original superfood’.We discuss some of the debates around dairy, including lactose intolerance, nutrition, and sustainability and how regenerative practices on farms can improve both soil and milk quality.You’ll hear about:The biology of milk, and how evolution has designed milk to be the perfect food source for nourishing and protecting the youngThe history of humans drinking milk from other animals, and why it became so central to many culturesHealth benefits of milk, from complex proteins to compounds that support immunity and brain healthHow plant diversity and soil health influence milk quality, including omega-3 / omega-6 ratiosComparing dairy versus milk alternativesLinks and resources:Grounded Festival 2026 described by MatthewMatthew’s book 'Milk The truth, the lies and the unbelievable story of the original superfood'The study on Regenerative farming enhances human health benefits of milk and yoghurt in New Zealand dairy systems, mentioned by MatthewFind our more about the Soils for Life Dairy Resilience Project | — | ||||||
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| 11/27/25 |  A sneak peek at 'Soil - Rewilding the Underground' | Today, we’re bringing you something a little different. I’ve recently been involved in a new podcast series called 'Soil: Rewilding the Underground'. It does a fantastic job of telling the big picture story of soil, why it’s so important not just for farmers and food production, but also for water, for biodiversity, for climate stability, and for human health.Today we’re giving you a sneak peek of the first episode, and we encourage you to check out the full six part series wherever you get your podcasts. It features an amazing array of speakers, including farmers, soil scientists, biologists, geologists, First Nations land managers, journalists, chefs and more.If you want to listen to the rest of this episode, and the full six part series, search for Soil: Rewilding the Underground wherever you get your podcasts or head to www.thesoilpodcast.com/podcast.We will be back soon with our next regular episode of the Soils for Life podcast. Thanks for listening!Outro | — | ||||||
| 11/11/25 |  Navigating soil science, with Dr Susan Orgill | Dr Susan Orgill is Chief Scientist at Impact Ag Australia and a leading soil scientist with more than 20 years’ experience. She specialises in soil health, carbon farming, and regenerative agriculture, delivering science-based strategies that improve farm resilience, natural capital, and climate outcomes across research, policy, and sustainability initiatives.Suz has long been a friend of Soils for Life. She’s one of the most interesting and impressive soil scientists working in agriculture, and we’ve been meaning to get her on the podcast for some time. So please enjoy this conversation with the one and only Suz Orgill.Mentioned in this episode:Paper mentioned by Dr Susan Orgill: "Placing cropping systems under suboptimal phosphorus conditions promotes plant nutrient acquisition and microbial carbon supply without compromising biomass"Frank Ashwood photography from Soils for Life case study farmsAviva Reed visual ecologist - avivareed.com | — | ||||||
| 10/21/25 |  Earning the right to reduce pesticides: Building plant resilience with Brad Campbell | Western Australian farmer Brad Campbell has spent years refining his mixed cropping system to build healthier, more resilient plants and reduce reliance on synthetic inputs. Over time, he’s cut out routine fungicides and insecticides, moved away from chemical seed treatments, and now only uses pesticides strategically when needed.In this conversation, Brad talks about how targeted plant nutrition, sap testing and careful observation are helping him make management decisions and improve crop health.Brad shares how his family’s early shift toward biological farming set the foundation for his approach, why monitoring matters more than ever, and what he means when he says you have to earn the right to reduce pesticides.Brad’s story features in our Practice Guide on Building Plant Resilience to Pests and Diseases, which brings together insights from farmers and experts across Australia. You’ll find it at soilsforlife.org.auIn this episodeWhy Brad says you need to “earn the right” to reduce pesticidesHow sap and tissue testing inform his nutrition decisionsUsing observation and small-scale trials to guide changeWhat’s changed in soil function and disease pressure over timeLessons from experimenting, learning and staying profitableResourcesPractice Guide: Building plant resilience to pests and diseases https://soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-building-plant-resilience-to-pest-and-disease/ Explore more cropping practice guides and farmer stories at soilsforlife.org.auBrad mentioned a course by Neil Kinsey: https://kinseyag.com/ Brad also mentioned a course by Arden Anderson: https://soillearningcenter.com/product/sustainable-agriculture-course/ This short episode of the Soils for Life Podcast was hosted by Eli Court and produced by Chris Wieffering.If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and share it, and subscribe to hear more stories from Australian farmers building soil and landscape resilience. | — | ||||||
| 10/7/25 |  SHORT: From problem paddocks to healthy soils, multispecies with Grant Sims | This episode of the Soils for Life podcast is part of our series of mini-episodes with farmers profiled in our series of cropping practice guides.In this short episode, Eli Court chats with Victorian farmer Grant Sims about how multispecies cover cropping has transformed his mixed farming system at Pine Grove near Lockington. After moving away from synthetic fertilisers, fungicides and insecticides, Grant began experimenting with diverse seed mixes to bring more life back into his soils.He explains how integrating livestock with multispecies crops built soil structure, reduced weed pressure and improved resilience during tough seasons. Grant also shares what he’s learned about designing mixes for different paddocks, fixing nitrogen through cover crops, and cutting input costs without sacrificing productivity.Along the way, he’s learnt through trial and error from experiences like underestimating the importance of weed control before sowing and trying to “add biology” to soils that weren’t yet ready for it. He talks openly about these lessons, as well as his current experiment sowing his whole farm with zero nitrogen for the first time.HighlightsHow Grant “stumbled into” multispecies crop mixes and scaled them over timeThe role of livestock grazing in improving performance and reducing riskHow cover crops can build fertility, especially nitrogen fixation and phosphorus unlockLessons he’s learned, e.g. weed control, applying biology to soils not ready for itTaking the leap: sowing with zero nitrogen and watching the system workWhat he wishes he’d known earlierResources & linksRead the full Practice Guide on Multispecies Cover Cropping: https://soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-multispecies-cropping/ Down Under Covers: https://www.downundercovers.com/ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate & review it on your podcast app and share it with others. Email us with feedback or suggestions for future episodes at info@soilsforlife.org.au and subscribe to the Soils for Life newsletter to find out the latest. | — | ||||||
| 9/23/25 | Encore: Weeds are telling us something, are we listening? | We recently attended Grounded in WA, and heard ecologist Dr David Watson's fascinating talk on the important role that mistletoe can play in farm ecosystem. It made us think of one of our favourite podcast episodes - this one. It's a dive into the role that so-called weeds can play in ecosystems. Well worth another run! Enjoy.A little about this episode:The industrialisation of agriculture has created large paddocks of monoculture crops and increased the chemical burden on farmers and their environments. Global herbicide use has continued to increase as farmers have shifted to no till practices and adopted herbicide-tolerant crop cultivars over the last 30 years. One result of this is that the list of herbicide resistant weeds is growing. Some farmers spend huge amounts of money on herbicide and scarce time removing weeds; Meanwhile, exactly how much damage is being done to native plant species and soils is not yet fully known. Either way, the current model is not sustainableIn this episode we are exploring a paradigm shift to an ecological systems approach to weeds with Soils for Life agroecologist Sarah Fea. We visit four farmers to understand their changing relationship to plants. Including a grazier, seed producer, a farmer who has enlisted the help of goats and another who has developed no kill cropping. We take a fresh look at weeds and how we can benefit from seeing them through a different lens. We hear how specific weeds germinate to heal damaged soils, showing us what the soil needs and how we can help them heal it. | — | ||||||
| 9/9/25 |  SHORT: Moving to a low risk, low input system one step at a time, with Steven Ford | This episode of the Soils for Life podcast is part of our series of mini-episodes with farmers profiled in our series of cropping practice guides.In this episode we talk with Steven Ford. Steven and his wife Kelly have been farming near Williams, Western Australia, for 16 years. After 10 years working as a livestock agent, Steven returned to the family farm in 2008. Being advised to use a new expensive chemical seed treatment prompted Steven to rethink and do some research. In 2016, he decided to transition their cropping system away from treated seed, synthetic fertilisers, insecticides and fungicides, and he also began to look at ways to reduce the need for herbicide.Steven’s story shows that reducing herbicides is just one outcome of his holistic approach to building soil health and reducing reliance on inputs. We discuss encouraging roots to go exploring deeper in the soil profile, using livestock as the ultimate insurance for transitioning to a lower input, lower risk system, making strategic decisions about when to intervene to address pests or disease, getting off the ‘spending more to make more’ treadmill, and keeping true to the course when the confidence takes a knock.-Read the full Practice Guide on Reducing Herbicides : https://soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-reducing-herbicides/Get in touch - info@soilsforlife.org.auSubscribe to our newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter | — | ||||||
| 9/2/25 | “We are walking ecosystems”: Our symbiotic relationships with microbes, with Jake Robinson | Jake Robinson is a microbial ecologist and researcher whose career spans parasitology, symbiosis, and the study of invisible communities of life that shape the health of humans, animals, plants and ecosystems. He is the author of Invisible Friends: How Microbes Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us, and his work explores the connections between soil health, gut health and mental health.We spoke with Jake about the brutal world of microbe warfare that’s going on every day inside our bodies, what it means to see humans and plants as “walking ecosystems”, how microbes underpin communication between the gut and the brain, the importance of exposure to microbes for training our immune system, how farming practices can influence the nutritional value of our food, and just how much of this invisible world remains unknown to science.Jake is the brains behind Soil Yourself September, a series of talks from speakers around the world on the connections between soil health, gut health and mental health. Find out more at https://www.jakemrobinson.com/sysGet in touch - info@soilsforlife.org.au Subscribe to our newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletterMore about Jake Robinson - https://www.jakemrobinson.com/ | — | ||||||
| 8/19/25 |  SHORT: Getting foliars right, with Tom Robinson | This episode is part of a series of short conversations with the farmers profiled in our cropping practice guides. For Tom Robinson, foliar sprays aren’t a magic fix, but they’ve become a game-changer. Guided by sap testing and years of trialling, they’re helping him hit crop nutrition targets and lift grain performance while fitting into a broader soil health strategy.In this episode, Tom shares how he’s shifted from the odd zinc spray to a targeted program guided by regular sap testing, hitting critical growth stages in wheat, lentils, and canola. We talk through the practicalities – from making his own trace element mixes on-farm to jar testing, timing sprays for maximum uptake, and deciding when to include extras like seaweed or compost extracts.Tom also explains how foliar nutrition fits with other practices like zero-till, controlled traffic, and tactical livestock grazing, and the results he’s seen in grain quality, germination, and reduced pesticide use.Whether you’re already using foliars or just curious about where they might fit in your system, you’ll get practical tips and lessons learned from years of trial, observation, and adjustment – all aimed at building plant health and farm resilience.Read the full practice guide on using foliars at soilsforlife.org.au/practice-guide-foliar-applications/Get in touch - info@soilsforlife.org.au Subscribe to our newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter | — | ||||||
| 8/12/25 | Navigating uncertainty: Practical paths to resilient farming systems, with Nicole Masters | Nicole Masters is an agroecologist, educator and author with decades of experience working alongside farmers and land managers across Australia, New Zealand, North America and beyond. She is formally trained in soil science, organisational learning and adult education, and is known for taking a practical, systems-based approach to regenerating land and building resilient farm businesses. Nicole is the founder of Integrity Soils and author of For the Love of Soil.We caught up with Nicole ahead of her forthcoming visit to Australia in September to talk about navigating the overwhelm of managing complex and uncertain agroecological systems, implementing new practices safely, the toolkit for diagnosing and dealing with limitations in your system, the value of coaching and peer support, and ultimately, strategies for building healthy, resilient farming systems.Book for Nicole’s Soil Health Masterclass, on 1-3 September at Tresavale Farm, Gympie, Qld - https://integritysoils.com/products/masterclass-aus Get in touch - info@soilsforlife.org.au Subscribe to our newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletterMentioned in this episode:Integrity Soils - integritysoils.co.nz CREATE (Coaching Regenerative Experts in Agriculture for Tomorrow) - https://www.integritysoils.co.nz/create A chat with Sam Vincent, author of ‘My Father and Other Animals’ - soilsforlife.org.au/my-father-and-other-animals-a-chat-with-sam-vincent/Jonathan Lundgren’s 1,000 Farms initiative - www.ecdysis.bio/featured-project Soils for Life work with Nicole Masters:Masterclass recap: Rethinking what healthy soil looks like: A blog reflection on Nicole Masters’ intensive masterclass in Orange, exploring how we’ve normalised degraded landscapes and how to start seeing soil health differently. soilsforlife.org.au/nicole-masters-masterclassWebinar: Tracking soil health with Nicole Masters: Nicole works with three Australian grain growers to explore soil health using the Soilmentor app — demonstrating practical, visual soil tests like rhizosheath assessment, infiltration and rooting depth. soilsforlife.org.au/tracking-soil-health-with-nicole-mastersWebinar replay: Soil health in practice: Watch the full July 2024 webinar with Nicole Masters and see how soil indicators are used to guide decision-making on-farm. soilsforlife.org.au/tracking-soil-health-with-nicole-masters-webinar | — | ||||||
| 8/5/25 |  SHORT: Feeding cane by building biology - Michael Waring on soil health and nitrogen cycling in the tropics | This is the first in a series of short episodes we’ll be releasing over the coming months featuring farmers profiled in our series of regenerative cropping Practice Guides. Check out the full suite of guides at www.soilsforlife.org.au.Michael Waring is a North Queensland sugarcane grower with decades of experience improving nitrogen cycling and soil health. Michael walks us through his journey from adopting controlled traffic, multispecies cover cropping, reduced tillage, and biological inputs. Michael shares the nitty-gritty of how he trialled, and eventually achieved, a multispecies cover crop mix that can survive the tropics’ brutal wet season. He explains how he’s cut nitrogen rates dramatically without sacrificing yield, and how new biological tools are helping him unlock phosphorus sitting in the soil. For sugarcane growers, and any farmer wanting to cut costs, reduce runoff and build a healthier farming system, this episode is for you.We talk about what worked on-farm: the tweaks, the failures, and the long game of testing ideas until they stick. Michael’s message is simple - there’s no silver bullet, but there are simple steps you can take to get started.Read the full Practice Guide on Improving Nitrogen Cycling and Efficiencies at soilsforlife.org.auIf you’ve enjoyed this podcast, leave us a comment or a like! It helps us to reach others. | — | ||||||
| 7/22/25 | Letting the microbial superstars do the work, simple steps to build soil biology, with Dr Mary Cole | Dr Mary Cole has spent more than 40 years working with the microbial life that underpins healthy soil. In this episode, she shares what she's learned from a career in plant pathology and soil microbiology, and from farming using compost products, aeration and no synthetic inputs on her own property in Gippsland Victoria.Mary explains how simple practices like aeration, compost, and soil and plant observation can make a big difference to soil function. She talks through what happens when we disturb soil biology, how to get started on improving microbial life, and why she believes we should all be working with, not against, the life beneath our feet.In this episode, you'll hear about:What mycorrhizal fungi actually do, and why they matterHow biology-first farming reduces the need for inputsMonitoring tips for farmers who want to learn more about what’s going on undergroundWhy Mary suggests starting with your worst paddock, not their bestReflections on 50 years of biological farming, and what she wishes more people knewLinks and resources:AgPath (Mary’s consulting and training organisation)Our video on brewing biofertiliser: Watch nowOur podcast episode on compost: ListenOther episodes on soil biology: Planting with purpose, Diversity is king | — | ||||||
| 7/8/25 | The farming communities restoring natural water cycles — one catchment at a time | Australia has often been described as a land of droughts and flooding rains. But what we don’t often hear is that, for millennia, the land had a remarkable ability to regulate itself — through healthy ecology and the natural water cycle.Since European settlement, however, we've seen a steady decline in soil health and water-holding capacity across much of the country. The rivers don’t flow like they used to, and the land struggles to bounce back from the extremes of flood and drought. The solution is to help restore nature's ecological systems of water and nutrient cycling.In this episode, we hear from two farmers who are restoring these natural water regulating systems, rehydrating their landscapes — transforming degraded paddocks into thriving ecosystems. They’ve embraced techniques that slow, spread, and sink water back into the ground — reviving their soils, crops, and communities.And they’re not alone.Across Australia, groups of farmers are coming together to restore entire catchments. Programs like the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative are proving that when we work with nature — not against it — we can regenerate not just one farm, but the broader ecosystems they’re part of.This podcast was produced by the Grow Love Project in collaboration with Soils for Life. The Communities of Practice Project is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, Mulloon Institute and Soils for Life.Sign up to the Soils for Life newsletter - soilsforlife.org.au/the-newsletter/ Get in touch - info@soilsforlife.org.au Mentioned in this episode:Mulloon Rehydration Initiative - mullooninstitute.org/projects/mulloon-rehydration-initiative/ Danthonia Bruderhof Community - bruderhof.com/danthonia Mulloon Institute - mullooninstitute.org/Laura Norman, US Geological Survey - www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/laura-m-norman Mulloon Institute Community of Practice Project - mullooninstitute.org/learning-events/communities-of-practice/ Soils for Life case study on Danthonia Bruderhof and Community of Practice project - soilsforlife.org.au/landscape-rehydration/ Thanks for listening! | — | ||||||
| 6/24/25 | Farmers helping farmers, with VicNoTill President Mick Gooden | 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 - info@soilsforlife.org.auFind out more about Mick and Vic No Till:Soils for Life Willowlee case study - soilsforlife.org.au/willowleeSoils for Life 8 Families Case study - soilsforlife.org.au/the-8-families-groupVic No Till - vicnotill.com.auOther Soils for Life resources mentioned in this episode:Integrating livestock guide - coming soon...All practice guides - soilsforlife.org.au/cropping-resilience/#resourcesAlso mentionedBrian Wehlburg, Holistic Management educator - insideoutsidemgt.com.auStacey Curcio, Nutritionist - cultivatingwellness.com.auAlejandro Carillo, Mexican rancher - instagram.com/p/DLGMlCnRFcgJohn Kempf podcast - advancingecoag.com/podcastsGroundswell UK - groundswellag.comDrawdown, by Paul Hawken - drawdown.org/the-bookThanks for listening! | — | ||||||
| 6/10/25 | The ‘mad bastard’ growing veggies for Sydney’s top restaurants, with Phil Lavers | 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 info@soilsforlife.org.au, we love hearing from you. Thanks for listening.Links and resourcesAbout Phil and MoonacresMoonacres 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 linkOrganically 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 InstituteAustrian weeding ploughSouthern 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 | — | ||||||
| 5/26/25 |  Making decisions in the dry, with Martin Royds | With record dry conditions across eastern Australia and many of you facing difficult decisions, we wanted to have a chat with Braidwood farmer Martin Royds to share his thoughts and experiences with making decisions in the dry, and coping with the emotional toll of seeing the landscape go backwards.Read more about Martin Royds’ approach to building landscape resilience - https://soilsforlife.org.au/observing-resilience-at-jillamatong/ Martin speaks in the episode about his approach to managing grazing livestock during drought, which is informed by Holistic Management techniques. You can learn more about Holistic Management via:Workshops and other events run by the Australian Holistic Management Cooperative - https://holisticmanagement.au/events.php The Savory Institute - https://savory.global/holistic-management/Online courses run by The Savory Institute - https://savory.shop/en-au/collections/online-courses Other links and resources that may be useful include:Resource Consulting Services (RC) events and courses - https://www.rcsaustralia.com.au/ Inside Outside Management, Brian Wehlburg, Holistic Management educator - https://www.facebook.com/insideoutsidemanagement/ Decision Design Hub, Helen Lewis, Holistic Management educator - https://decisiondesignhub.com.au/AIMS (Agricultural Information & Monitoring Services), Dr Judy Earl - https://aimsag.com.au/Southern Blue Regenerative, Glen Chapman, Holistic Management educator - https://www.southernblue.com.au/ If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out. Rural Aid support line (1300 175 594), Lifeline (13 11 14), and Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) offer free, confidential support. The National Centre for Farmer Health also provides a wide range of resources - https://farmerhealth.org.au/support-hub#mental-health-support-farmers.Get in touch with us a info@soilsforlife.org.au.* Note, in this episode when Martin refers to the “1983 drought” he was referring to the drought that ended in 1983. | — | ||||||
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Chart Positions
15 placements across 14 markets.
Chart Positions
15 placements across 14 markets.