Masterclass: Restoring soils after fire and flood

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In the wake of devastating summer fire and floods across Australia, farmers helping farmers group VicNoTill is bringing internationally acclaimed soil health educator Nicole Masters to Victoria next week.

Masters, based in Montana, will lead more than 50 farmers from across Australia through a three-day Soil Health Masterclass near Avenel from Monday May 4. How to restore farming systems are fire and flood is taking centre stage.

The masterclass is at ‘Allanvale’ which was damaged during catastrophic fire conditions in January that resulted in a declaration of a State of Disaster covering 18 local government areas and an alpine resort.

‘Allanvale’ is a cattle breeding property managed by VicNoTill board member Callum Lawson, who will share his fire experience and how he’s restoring burnt landscapes through natural sequence farming and regenerative tools.

“Recovering from fire and flood is a challenging journey, but it’s also an opportunity to rebuild stronger, healthier ecosystems,” Masters said.

“The good news is that farmers can take meaningful action and we are pleased to be spending next week at ‘Allanvale’ where we can pass on practical, science-based information to help with recovery.”

VicNoTill president Michael Gooden said the farmer-based group had responded quickly to help farmers in fire-impacted areas and was pleased to provide follow-up support through this masterclass.

“There were many farmers in the VicNoTill network impacted by fire and it was great to see our network from far and wide respond immediately with offers of help, fodder donations and a supportive voice on the phone to talk to,” he said.

“Fire recovery also features strongly in our member magazine From the Ground Up which has just been published. As well as Callum’s experience, we feature WA broadacre cropping farmer Brad Campbell about how he rebuilt his farming system after the 2015 Cascades fire at Esperance.”

The masterclass will cover topics including:

• How to break water-repellent (hydrophobic) soils using calcium-based amendments and vermicast extracts.
• Why fungal recovery is the cornerstone of long-term soil health and how to foster it.
• Targeted biological inputs which are proven to dramatically accelerate recovery.
• Seed coating techniques with biostimulants to establish diverse pastures in fire-affected soils.
• Practical techniques to stimulate soil life and increase crop and pasture health.
• Grazing management strategies post-fire to prevent compaction and allow groundcover recovery.
• How to assess flood and fire damage, prioritise actions, and design low-cost strip trials to build confidence in recovery investments.