Tasmania’s best soil judges are about to put their skills to the test in an international competition.
The two teams of University of Tasmania Agricultural Science students have been selected to take on Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific’s best at the Moana Oceania Soil Judging Competition in Rotorua in New Zealand, starting on Thursday.
Earlier this year, the students competed in the Tasmanian Soil Judging Competition for the opportunity to join the state soil judging team. The competition was held at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture’s (TIA) University Farm at Cambridge.
The soil judging competition aims to improve participants understanding of soil. With soil health deteriorating around the world, it is vital to equip the next generation of soil scientists.
TIA Associate Professor in soil science, Dr Richard Doyle, said soil judging is an important field assessment skill that is highly sought after by employers.
“Soil judging underpins sustainable land management and is one of the best practical training opportunities for aspiring land resource-based scientists and professionals,” he said.
“It’s applicable to all sorts of professional jobs such as an agronomist, land assessor, environmental scientist, anyone who works in land resources mapping, and anyone who wants to understand what their farmland is sustainably capable of, so it’s also useful for assessing and managing your properties long term soil health.
“Soil judging by getting into the soil pits and seeing and touching a range of soils is the best way for students to develop their skills and knowledge in practical soil description, field testing and land suitability classification.”
Eight students will get down and dirty in the volcanic soil of Rotorua in New Zealand as they dig for victory.
Participants will spend three days in the field learning how to describe and classify soils and interpret their appropriate land uses.
The first two days are aimed at training and familiarisation and the third day is a competition day, where the Lutrawita Loam Rangers can put their skills to the test with over 120 other young competitors.
Students will closely assess the texture, colour and structure of the soil and where it’s positioned in order to determine what the soil is suitable for.
“New Zealand volcanic soils are a complex new soil system for them. It’s something the students aren’t familiar with so far, it will certainly provide a new set of challenges,” Dr Doyle said.
University of Tasmania Agricultural Science student Maya Shepherd is looking forward to the challenge.
“This experience will broaden my expertise in assessing soil processes and evaluating their suitability, particularly in a context distinct from Australian soils. This will be an invaluable learning experience,” she said.
Fellow Agricultural Science student Joe Lawrence is also looking forward to the challenge.
“The soil is quite a contrast from Australia. It will be good to get some understanding of the soil system there and that will help me in making decisions in the future,” he said.
“It’s invaluable when you can take what you’ve learnt and apply it in the field. You can make better decisions to ensure long term agricultural productivity.”
“I think soil judging is undervalued. It’s vital for agriculture. In a changing climate understanding soils is very important as we need to ensure the next generations food supply.”
