Mallee Sustainable Farming will host a practical soil amelioration workshop in Loxton on Friday, 26 June 2026, bringing together leading researchers, local farmers and advisers to explore how targeted soil amelioration can improve the performance of
sandy soils across the SA Mallee.

The workshop, Making Soil Amelioration Pay in the SA Mallee, will be held at The Precinct Sports Centre, 25 Bookpurnong Terrace, Loxton, from 9.30 am to 4.00 pm, with refreshments and informal networking from 3.30 pm.

The event will focus on practical decision-making for farmers considering deep ripping, spading, inclusion plates, soil mixing, nutrition responses and other approaches to improving constrained sandy soils.

Mallee Sustainable Farming’s CEO Tim Smythe said the workshop was designed to help growers move beyond general interest in soil amelioration and make more confident paddock-level decisions.

“Many Mallee growers are asking the same practical questions: which sands should I target, what constraint am I trying to fix, what machinery approach is best, and how do I know if the investment will pay?” Mr Smythe said.

“This workshop brings together research evidence, local monitoring results and real farmer experience so growers can better understand when soil amelioration is likely to deliver value, and when caution is needed.”

The workshop will feature a keynote presentation from Emeritus Professor Richard Bell (representing the Soils CRC), who will provide a national perspective on improving sandy soils, including soil constraints, amendments, soil water, crop response and where amelioration is most likely to deliver long-term benefits.

Local Mallee results from Pinnaroo, Lowbank, Bowhill, Paruna and Millewa will also be presented by MSF’s Research Manager, Dr Penny Roberts, with a focus on crop establishment, biomass, yield response, groundcover and seasonal risk.

A farmer panel will feature Mallee farmers Jock McNeil, James Stephens, Wade Nickolls and Tim Paschke, who will share their own experiences with soil amelioration, including what worked, what did not, and what they would do differently before scaling up.

Mr Smythe said farmer experience was central to the workshop.

“The value of this event is that farmers will hear directly from other growers who have tried these approaches in real paddocks, in real seasons, with real machinery and real risks,” he said.

“The discussion will cover not only yield response, but also practical issues such as paddock selection, soil diagnosis, trafficability, seeding depth, erosion risk, nutrition and how to judge results over more than one season.”

Other presenters will include Dr Chris McDonough, Dr Mel Fraser from Soil Function Consulting, and Dr Amanda Schapel from SARDI, who will facilitate the farmer panel and final discussion.

The workshop is supported through Mallee Sustainable Farming, the Natural Heritage Trust Small Grants project, the GRDC RiskWise project and Soil CRC support for the extension of relevant soil research outcomes.

Farmers, advisers, agronomists, contractors and industry representatives with an interest in sandy-soil management, soil constraints and practical soil amelioration are encouraged to attend.