This publication contains the proceedings of a workshop on current research into soil biology in agriculture, which was held at the Tamworth Sustainable Farming Training Centre on 11–12 August 2004. The workshop was organised by NSW Department of Primary Industries, with the generous assistance of GRDC.

The presentations made at the workshop are organised in the document under the following main headings:

• Overview of soil biology and effects on health and productivity of agricultural soils.
• The impact of management practices on soil biology.
• Development, use and efficacy of soil biological products in agriculture.

The document can be downloaded in full or in parts.

The table of contents appears below.

Contents

Overview of soil biology and effects on health and productivity of agricultural soils

• Understanding soil biota and biological functions: Management of soil biota for improved benefits to crop production and environmental health.
  VVSR Gupta, David Roget.
• Overview of ‘soil biology’ tests.
  Lyn Abbott, Dan Murphy
• The GRDC Soil Biology Initiative.
  Greg Bender

The impact of management practices on soil biology

• Impact of management practices on activity of soil biota and productivity constraints in Vertosols of the northern grains region.
  Mike Bell, Nikki Seymour, Graham Stirling, Lukas Van Zwieten, Graeme Sutton, Phil Moody
• Soil organic matter, biological activity, and productivity: myths and realities
  Graeme Schwenke
• Impact of management practices on soil microbial functions in alkaline Mallee soils.
  David Roget, VVSR Gupta
• Soil structure and soil biota: their interactions and implications on soil health
  Yin Chan
• Impact of management practices on soil biota activity on acidic clay loams in NSW
  John Kirkegaard
• Soil biology and crop production in Western Australian farming systems
  Dan Murphy, Nui Milton, Mahdi Osman, Frances Hoyle, Lyn Abbott, Richard Cookson, Sigit Darmawanto
• Impact of fertilisers on soil biota
  Else K. Bünemann, Annie McNeill
• Impact of pesticides on soil biota
  Lukas Van Zwieten
• Can we manipulate resource availability to drive changes in microbial carbon assimilation and nitrogen cycling?
  Frances Hoyle, Dan Murphy

Development, use and efficacy of soil biological products in agriculture

• Registration of soil biological products
  Colin Byrnes
• Development of experimental protocols for evaluating beneficial soil biological products
  Robert Hannam
• Behaviour of Penicillium fungi in soils
  Steven Wakelin, VVSR Gupta, Paul Harvey, Maarten Ryder
• Delivery of soil biology services to Australian agriculture
  Kathy Ophel Keller, Alan McKay, John Heap, Steve Barnett
• Managing soil-borne and stubble-borne cereal pathogens in the northern grains belt
  Steven Simpfendorfer, John Kirkegaard, John Holland, Andrew Verrell, Rod Bambach, Kevin Moore
• Enhancing beneficial root-zone processes by managing crop residue inputs
  Darryl Nelson, Pauline Mele

Poster papers

• Soil health benchmarking in the macadamia industry
  Justine Cox, Russ Stephenson, Pat O’Farrell, Jenny Cobon, Phil Moody, Lukas Van Zwieten, Paul O’Hare, Tony Pattison, Chris Searle
• Relationship between arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi infectivity, soil characteristics and land use history
  Irnanda Djuuna, Lyn Abbott, Guy Boggs, Kimberly van Niel
• Temporal dynamics and critical periods of plant-specific microbial functions in southern Australian cropping regions
  VVSR Gupta, David Roget
• Effect of stubble burning and seasonality on microbial processes and nutrient cycling
  Frances Hoyle, Daniel Murphy
• Effect of brown and green manure residue incorporation on the mass of microorganisms and associated release of plant available nitrogen
  Daniel Murphy, Frances Hoyle, Nui Milton
• Mapping biological soil nitrogen supply using mid infrared technology
  Daniel Murphy, Nui Milton
• Effects of fumigation and soil amendments on nematode-feeding groups in cereal growing soils
  Jackie Nobbs, Daniel Murphy, Frances Hoyle, Nui Milton, Sharyn Taylor
• Soil biology in the paddock
  Ian Packer, Jennifer Johnson, Richard Langley
• Soil health card
  Greg Reid
• The Australian Soil Club
  Jen Slater and Lyn Abbott