Demonstrating the value of soil testing to support Australian farmers’ local soil knowledge through a digital tool and action learning

The level of soil testing required to understand soil change is not widely practiced by Australian farmers; to a large extent, they rely on tacit knowledge. To support farmers’ local understanding of soil performance and improve the value of soil testing, soil scientists and local agronomists engaged in a series of action-learning workshops throughout New South Wales to demonstrate how an online remote sensing tool can be used to strategically soil sample. Once the farmers identified soil testing locations, the researchers conducted soil sampling at those sites in consultation with the farmers. In the follow-up workshop, where soil test results were presented to the farmers, nearly all agreed that the results aligned with their local knowledge of their paddock. However, only half of the farmers said they would use the digital tool in future soil sampling, but they would also consider soil testing more frequently.