NSW Soil Knowledge Network

NSW Soil Knowledge Network Promoting the importance of soils through knowledge and expertise. They are an effective link between community, industry and government.

The NSW Soil Knowledge Network is an independent group of retired and semi-retired soil specialists which captures critical soil knowledge and experience. The members of the NSW Soil Knowledge Network are a valuable resource and seek to mentor and inspire the next generation of soil specialists.

Ever tried taking a Soil Selfie? 📸Perfect sunlight helps bring out those beautiful soil colours and horizons☀️… until yo...
13/03/2026

Ever tried taking a Soil Selfie? 📸

Perfect sunlight helps bring out those beautiful soil colours and horizons☀️… until your own shadow gets in the way. Add patchy light and dark soils, and it becomes a true fieldwork challenge.

Soil science: equal parts skill, patience and creative photography.

Back in November, the Australian Soil Judging (ASJ) was held at UNE with 36 teams from across Australia, NZ and the Paci...
18/02/2026

Back in November, the Australian Soil Judging (ASJ) was held at UNE with 36 teams from across Australia, NZ and the Pacific as they competed for soil profile description glory.

👏Sally McInnes-Clarke, Dave Morand and Linda Henderson — proudly represented NSW SKN, sharing critical soil profile description skills.

🔎 Soil profile description is more than just a technical exercise—it’s the cornerstone of soil science. By sharing our understanding of soil characteristics and classification, we build stronger foundations for soil mapping, land management, and sustainable agriculture.

NSW SKN was a proud sponsor for this event, reinforcing our support for soil science and professional development.

Great big congratulations to Dave Morand who was recognised by Soil Science Australia for his outstanding expertise in soil classification and his commitment to mentoring and sharing soil knowledge with the next generation of soil scientists.

Image credits: Linda Henderson, Abby Jenkins, Ivanah Oliver, Gavin Tinning and John Triantafilis.

Drought Media releaseThe NSW Soil Knowledge Network has issued a media release highlighting the serious threat of drough...
12/02/2026

Drought Media release

The NSW Soil Knowledge Network has issued a media release highlighting the serious threat of drought to soil and pasture health across the state. The release emphasizes the importance of monitoring groundcover levels and taking action to destock or reduce grazing pressure before critical levels are reached. It also discusses emergency soil conservation measures and the need for groundcover protection. The release is part of the broader effort to address the challenges posed by drought conditions and promote soil health and protection.
nswskn.com
To see the media release, go to

https://www.nswskn.com/drought-media-release/

Image: Brian Jenkins SKN

🌱 New Soil Dataset Released: North Coast Soil and Land ResourcesCongratulations to NSW SKN member Dave Morand who has re...
05/02/2026

🌱 New Soil Dataset Released: North Coast Soil and Land Resources

Congratulations to NSW SKN member Dave Morand who has recently published a massive piece of work - North Coast Soil and Land Resources.
This comprehensive new mapping spans a significant area which stretches from north of Woolgoolga to the Queensland border and extends west to the Clarence River (see pic below).

🗺️ This long‑term project brings together several existing datasets with newly collected information to create a single, seamless mapping layer. This mapping fills significant knowledge gaps and strengthens our understanding of soil and landscape patterns across the region.

📍 The dataset includes 229 soil landscapes and thousands of soil observations and profile descriptions

🔗 These resources are now publicly accessible via eSPADEhttps://espade.environment.nsw.gov.au/
and SEED https://datasets.seed.nsw.gov.au/dataset/soil-and-land-resources-of-the-north-coast

Happy World Soils Day from the SKN!We are currently touring the NSW Riverina and central Victoria.A best and worse offer...
05/12/2025

Happy World Soils Day from the SKN!

We are currently touring the NSW Riverina and central Victoria.

A best and worse offering for you today from Bendigo Victoria. The 'best', a beautifully structured black basalt soil, and the 'worse', a highly degraded emergency spillway from the Eppalock dam near Bendigo.

Parliamentary Friends of SoilGreg Bowman and Brian Jenkins represented the SKN at a World Soil Day event held at Parliam...
25/11/2025

Parliamentary Friends of Soil

Greg Bowman and Brian Jenkins represented the SKN at a World Soil Day event held at Parliament House today. The event was hosted on behalf of the co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Soil (Ms Meryl Swanson MP and the Hon Michael McCormack MP) by Soil Science Australia. There were many event supporters including the Soil CRC, Soils For Life, and the SKN.
The event was a great networking opportunity and an opportunity for us to promote the SKN. It was good to see several politicians at the event and that they are actively interested in soil.
Photos: Brian Jenkins

Some interesting soil related articles in the press at the moment, including ‘Seeing the hidden microbial world beneath ...
24/11/2025

Some interesting soil related articles in the press at the moment, including

‘Seeing the hidden microbial world beneath our feet—from the sky’

Published in New Phytologist, research shows that airborne images that capture many parts of the electromagnetic spectrum can be used to predict the abundance and diversity of microbes that live in the soil beneath plant canopies.
We at the SKN are always interested n new ways of doing things particularly if they are quicker, cheaper and more data rich. But always a degree of scepticism around claims for new tools – do they live up to the hype? Are they really cost effective? Are they reliable? Etc etc. A case of hope for the best but view with a wary eye until the new ‘thing” is proven in the real world.
The potential for this new airborne methodology is enhanced by the “…upcoming hyperspectral satellites, including the European Space Agency's CHIME and NASA's Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) missions.” https://phys.org/news/2025-11-hidden-microbial-world-beneath-feet.html

Could this transform how we monitor soil health on a global scale?

Image: CHIME spacecraft in nominal flight configuration https://sentiwiki.copernicus.eu/web/chime

Is Soil Dirt?If you were just watching Hard Quiz on ABC a few weeks ago you would have seen Gavin answering questions ab...
23/11/2025

Is Soil Dirt?
If you were just watching Hard Quiz on ABC a few weeks ago you would have seen Gavin answering questions about “dirt” or as we call it “soil”. This started a debate in the SKN around is it OK to call soil dirt and are they the same thing.
Debate ranged from indifference ‘happy to interchange soil and dirt” to never the twain shall meet - they are not the same thing, it is disrespectful to something as fantastic as soil to call it dirt etc etc.
Interesting feedback from SKN members
1. An example from those that have no issue with using the term ‘Dirt’ for ‘Soil’
“In my opinion dirt is soil and soil is dirt! Keep it 'down in the dirt' - no political correctness in the soil game. That is unless you are a politician digging up 'dirt' on the opposition!!” DG
2. A more grey area view
“Dirt is colloquial for soil, but for soil scientists, it’s more derogatory than soil. But… we are dirt doctors in the public eye and soil scientists in professional and academic circles. My kids often refer to me as a dirt... doctor.” JL
3. Those against – but with an interesting argument as to why they are not interchangeable
“Dirt is soil out of place. Like a rose in a cabbage patch, or a cabbage in a rose garden - the value is locationally contextual. In other words dirt is dysfunctional soil - or ecosystem disservice” GC
4. Dust also came up as an oft used substitute for soil, thought this was a useful insight
“As for dust, it’s a bit different. Dust is defined by particle size, but what the dust is made up of and what it does can change it from good dust, think reducing global warming or fertilising the ocean, or bad dust, coal dust up your nose and in your lungs.” JL
What do you think?

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