Links to New Zealand and international programmes

Soil health is a broad subject and encompasses many different facets, so we have actively sought out linkages to other programmes, both within New Zealand and internationally.

We remain in contact with US Soil Health Institute whose initiatives in the US have led to a trial of 30+ indicators of soil health (including biological indicators) across the continental US and including sites in Canada and Mexico. This work is noteworthy in that the trials utilise long-term research sites to assess baselines for indicator performance. The trial is expected to be completed in the next year and will help inform our recommendations on indicators, particularly biological indicators. The US Soil Health Institute website contains a searchable database of soil health papers.

Our involvement in the Australian CRC for High Performing Soils (CRC-HPS) programme has continued to provide opportunities for collaboration with Australian colleagues in discussing innovative methods to measure and monitor soil health (see https://soilcrc.com.au).

Aligned work with our PFR colleagues has centred on a tool to define and compare the trade offs in soil functions related to different land use and land management choices.

We are also contributing to a project to determine if regenerative agricultural practices lead to increases in soil carbon and carbon functionality.