The Skye Soil Wealth ICP vegetable demonstration site at Butler Market Gardens in Victoria will focus on improving the health and structure of the site’s sandy loam soils south-east of Melbourne through smart nutrient management.

Cover crops will be trialled to address key issues for the site including soil-borne disease pressures and increasing competition from weeds. It is hoped the trial will:

  • Increase productivity and profitability of the farm’s Asian brassica, spring onion, parsley and coriander crops
  • Increase nutrient availability to cash crops
  • Reduce the amount of synthetic fertiliser inputs to provide a natural source of nitrogen
  • Complement the farm’s current compost program.

Soil Wealth ICP team members Camilla Humphries, Jed Clark and Carl Larsen (RMCG) will work with growers Rick Butler and Dale Creed.

Soil Wealth ICP has also partnered with New Zealand Sustainable Vegetable Systems (SVS), as part of our new focus on international linkages. SVS is currently developing a nitrogen calculator tool which will be tested to assist Butler Market Gardens agronomists better manage nutrient inputs while maintaining productive soils.

Skye demonstration site in south-east Melbourne.