Growers and industry representatives attended the recent Water, Soil and Savings: Practical Tools for Growers field day at the Greater Sydney Local Land Services (LLS) demonstration farm at Richmond Lowlands in May 2026.
The event brought together vegetable growers to learn about soil health improvement and soil moisture monitoring technologies through a combination of presentations and paddock-based discussions.
This combined format encouraged strong engagement and created an ideal environment for meaningful one-on-one conversations and in-depth discussion.
AHR’s Umberto Calvo presented findings from the two-year Soil Wealth ICP demonstration site, highlighting changes in soil structure, porosity and biology, as well as lessons learned from cover crop implementation.
“The trial has generated a lot of interest from growers because it demonstrates practical approaches that can be applied on-farm,” Umberto said.
“There were plenty of questions about the treatments, the results we have seen so far, and the resources available to support growers wanting to adopt similar practices.”
“The level of engagement was really encouraging,” Calvo said. “Growers were keen to understand both the agronomic outcomes and the economics behind the practices being demonstrated.”
The demonstration trial is scheduled to be harvested soon, with a detailed case study and partial budget analysis currently being developed to provide further insights into the costs and benefits of the different management approaches.
The Soil Wealth ICP team extends its thanks to Greater Sydney Local Land Services for hosting both the field day and the demonstration site over the past two years. Their support has been instrumental in establishing and maintaining the trial and creating opportunities for growers to learn from the results firsthand.
