A healthy soil is full of life. All organisms have a role to play in maintaining a healthy and productive soil. This factsheet covers the benefits of soil biology, harmful microbiota, and how to improve soil biology.

Understanding and managing the interacting components of soil health - physical, biological and chemical factors - is essential to create robust and productive soils that are able to sustain commercial potato production. This PotatoLink magazine article examines some aspects of soil physical properties and how they impact agricultural practice (and how agricultural practices impact soil physical properties).

This case study covers the mycorrhizal fungi trials hosted at the Bolwarrah, VIC demonstration site. It covers what the trial was, what happened, and some tips on getting the most out of your mycorrhizal fungi products.

Potato grower, Darren Long and Dr Kelvin Montagu talk all things cover crops and discuss how they can assist with building up soil health – including practical tips & tricks!

Watch this panel discussion and the last soil biology masterclass with potato growers across Australia and see many of your questions answered.

The third soil biology masterclass was delivered by PotatoLink team member Marc Hinderager, looking into nitrogen availability in potato and cover crops, and its impact on soil biology.

In this second soil biology masterclass, Dr. Calum Wilson explains about the good, the bad and ugly ones in the soil and how they interact, and what you can do to keep them in balance to protect your potato crop.

The first soil biology masterclass was delivered by Dr. Kelvin Montagu, looking at the linkage between key soil functions and soil biology, and the interactions between plant roots and soil biology.

The 2-hour masterclass aims to provide potato growers and advisers with the understanding they need to improve soil biology, potato yields and their bottom line.

Soil health is closely linked to soil microbiology. This fact sheet outlines information on a broad group of soil microbes including fungi, bacteria and pseudomonas, and explains how different levels, numbers and ratios of these microbes can impact the overall health of your soil and crops.

Find out more about good salinity management practices on farm, salinity thresholds for vegetables, how salinity can be identified and measured, as well as appropriate EC ranges for soils and water. 

This case study outlines the economic considerations when using compost in vegetable production systems. It is based on lessons learned from several Soil Wealth and Integrated Crop Protection (ICP) demonstration sites, during the period 2014 to 2016.

This case study provides a unique long-term grower perspective on using compost on a commercial vegetable farm. Learn more from Sam Calameri of Baldivis Farms in Western Australia who started trialing compost on-farm more than 10 years ago.