Site visit in North Queensland with National Soils Advocate

Mulloon Institute’s Sam Skeat recently joined NQ Dry Tropics to welcome National Soils Advocate, the Hon Penny Wensley, to the Burdekin in North Queensland. Dr Wensley was on a fact-finding trip to explore how Mulloon Institute and NQ Dry Tropics have been supporting local landholders to improve their soil health through various strategies including landscape rehydration, cultural burning, and improving practices around grazing management.

Dr Wensley visited cane farms, wetlands and grazing properties in both the Upper and Lower Burdekin in her role to raise awareness of, and the importance of, improving soil health in agricultural landscapes.

Local Waterways, Wetlands and Coasts team leader Scott Fry also presented an initiative comprising turning aquatic weeds into compost for crop use as an alternative to traditional fertilisers.

It was a wonderful opportunity for Dr Wensley to see the regional efforts going into improving landscapes in the northern tropical region, and for Sam to showcase the work the Institute is doing to assist local landholders with landscape rehydration techniques.

The visit was facilitated by the TNQ Drought Hub.