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Soil Health and Your Wealth Workshop – presented by Graeme Sait of Nutri-Tech Solutions
The Soil Health and Your Wealth workshop held in Manjimup in February presented attendees with many new ideas they could implement on their farm.
The workshop, hosted by Mitchell East on his family farm Willarra Gold, focused on practical, problem-solving strategies to sustainably boost productivity and profitability.
Graeme Sait (Nutri-Tech solutions) has a wealth of knowledge, and covered a range of topics including understanding soil tests, how microbes affect plants and soil, key biological inputs and harnessing humus. His presentation focussed on practical applications, with straightforward tips and tricks that seemed easy to implement.
We chatted to Mitchell about the success of the event and he said the attendees appreciated the practical approach because it really motivated them to try new things on the ground.
“Graeme presented a lot of options, so people could pick and choose what they thought would work best for them. It also gave people confidence to ask for backup support if they need it.”
The farm tour included demonstrations of field monitoring tools for nutrition, pH, soil moisture and temperature – all of which can assist with indicating whether you need to change anything during the season to help the plants reach their potential.
Mitchell then showed attendees some practical ways to implement holistic grazing efficiently. He uses a motorbike to set up electric fences using an ATV wire winder, allowing him to turn big paddocks into smaller ones. Mitchell said the motorbike and wire winder can be used to set up 7 smaller paddocks in about an hour.
Mitchell also demonstrated a specially designed tank that spreads worm juice without any damage to microbes.
There was also a good discussion about local challenges and how the community aspect of farming is important, as it allows for people to reach out and ask for help.
“A lot of people were willing to share their experiences – their successes and failures, so we could all learn from them.”
Not even a lockdown could hinder the workshop’s success, with the local community and RegenWA sharing the event far and wide, bringing together 55 keen attendees with only 6 days’ notice.
Mitchell said he was thrilled with the turnout, and it was positive to see a good mix of ages and different backgrounds keen to come along and be excited about the topics.
“I was stoked to be able to facilitate an event like that. By the end of the day, everyone felt like they had a confidence boost, not overwhelmed with information, and were keen to go away and try something they learnt from the workshop.”
Mitchell was so encouraged by the enthusiasm of the attendees and the rich discussions, an in-depth 4-day seminar with Graeme Sait is planned for July.
The seminar will be held at the Wellness and Respite Community Centre in Manjimup on July 27th to 30th. To register for the event, contact the Nutri-Tech Solutions sales team on (07) 5472 9900 or at [email protected].
More details of this event will be shared out in our newsletters and on social media, when available.
Photo credit: Mitchell East