Victorian Resources Online (archived)
Victorian Dairy Soils
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| Distribution of Victorian Dairy Soils There is a great diversity of soil types across Victoria’s dairying regions that reflect differences in parent material, topography, climate, biological activity and age (e.g. degree of weathering). These different soil types have a range of physical and chemical characteristics (e.g. structure, drainage, depth, pH, sodicity) that impact on management. The map of Victorian Dairy Soils presented here is a statewide overview that displays the dominant Soil Orders in each of the major dairying regions, using the Australian Soil Classification (Isbell, 2002). |
 | Dairy Animations This section provides access to online animations related to Dairy - including the soil carbon and nitrogen cycle, soil phosphorus and acidification, and sub-surface drip irrigation. |
 | Wet Soil Management The publication 'Improved Management of Wet Soils', prepared in 2002, reports on: a market segmentation study on adoption of wet soil management strategies; a grazing trial to determine impact of pugging on pasture and soils; effectiveness of subsurface drainage; and a soil characterisation study of southern Victorian dairy soils as they relate to wet soil management. |
Relevant information elsewhere on VRO website
Trace Elements for Pastures and Animals in Victoria was prepared by W.J Hosking et al. of the former Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 1986. This publication provides a review of the then state of knowledge about the role of trace elements in Victorian grazing enterprises. The review also includes an extensive bibliography of both published and unpublished reports on trace element research work conducted by the former Department, as well as other published papers relevant to Victoria at that time.
Legacy reports and documents related to soil assessment - includes information on tools for assessing soil health; soil health management planning, and information on soil quality assessment.
Related Links
An overview of Land management practice trends in Australia's dairy industry is available on the Australian Government's Department of Agriculture website. (Practices Dairy documents are available under first heading National factsheets).
Dairy Australia's FertSmart website provides national guidelines for nutrient management in the dairy industry and includes a Dairy Soils and Fertiliser Manual.
The Accounting for Nutrients website provides information developed from the Accounting for Nutrients on Australian Dairy Farms project that ran from 2006-2010. This project aimed to develop a nationally agreed framework for nutrient accounting for N, P, K, S, Ca and Mg for the Australian dairy industry.
The report on Soil Carbon Sequestration under Pastures in Australian Dairy Regions was prepared for Dairy Australia in 2010. The soil carbon story section of the Dairy Australia website provides a summary of this.
