“The problem with the world today is that too many people are trained to count beans, and not enough people trained to grow them.”
So says 26 year old soil scientist Ed Scott, who argues that development of the practical application of soil science is the next frontier in agricultural productivity.
“New ag technologies have controlled the research focus above ground, but it will move underground – and that is when precision ag will come alive,” Mr Scott said.
“A lot of money has been spent on making maps for precision agriculture, but the key is to take those maps and turn them back in to money”.
We have all this great soil information but farmers don’t have the tools to act on it
- Ed Scott, Injekta Field Systems
Mr Scott, of private soil consultancy Injekta Field Systems, backs a call from industry colleague Andrea Koch (‘Soul buried in R&D race’, The Land April 28, p5) for an increased focus on research to deliver cost effective, practical, on-farm outcomes.
For that to happen, Mr Scott said agronomy services need to extend their focus to soils and university courses must engage with agriculture so students are better versed in soil and plant linkages.
For example, Industry, research and agronomy have worked constructively in plant breeding – disease resistance, herbicide tolerance and so on – they’ve “joined the dots” Mr Scott said.
“Everyone is headed in the same direction there,” he explained.
“But we’re not aligned in the same way on soils.”
“We have all this great soil information but farmers don’t have the tools to act on it. Extension services and soil research programs have been stripped bare”.
Mr Scott and his Injekta colleagues traverse the country, digging up to 70 soil pits a week. He said farmers are waking up to latent profits in improved management of soil systems, with comprehensive trial and error of new techniques, but targeted expert soil advice will always be needed.
“I’m not saying we must throw a lot of money at it, but a new soil systems approach is needed. All pieces of the jigsaws are there but R&D is not putting them together in a way that farmers can effectively use.”
