Farming ‘deeper’ to improve soil health and vegetation key to Lake King grower’s success

Lake King grain grower Rob Hetherington will showcase his innovative approach to biological farming next week as he opens the gates to his property in WA’s south-eastern Wheatbelt. Mr Hetherington will share how he has drastically improved his farm’s plant and soil health as part of an open day supported by Soils For Life and RegenWA. Attendees will learn about his approach to soil monitoring, correcting mineral imbalances, restoring soil function, multispecies and companion cropping, eliminating fungicides and insecticides, as well as Mr Hetherington’s biological fertility program. Guided by the principle, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure”, Mr Hetherington took his first soil sample in the 1980s, when he started managing the family farm, known as Walma. He has collected hundreds of samples since, which has helped him achieve his goal of farming “deeper” rather than expanding to improve soil and plant health. Surrounded by salt lakes, some of the area is high in sodium while other parts are higher in magnesium which has caused clay particles to disperse. Mr Hetherington has been fine-tuning his approach for decades and said observing that the farm system could be doing better had driven him to “keep looking, seeking and asking”. His wife Judi and their children provided the trigger for a long-running interest in soil health and its relationship to plant nutrition and human health. From there Mr Hetherington developed his understanding of the pivotal element calcium. His approach was to change the chemistry first, which in turn provided the right conditions for the biology to function. The result has been a more resilient landscape with improved aeration, root growth, earthworm density, soil depth, and water infiltration. Mr Hetherington — who was crowned the 2022 Wheatbelt NRM Soil Health Champion — said his crops were now more even, with organic matter having doubled in some areas. Biological agronomist Ken Bailey will also attend the August 20 open day, which runs from 9.15am to 3.30pm with funding from the Federal Government’s Future Drought Fund. Mr Bailey will share his insights on mineral imbalances, the role of soil aggregation in nitrogen fixation, the importance of molybdenum, and how nitrogen fixation can be a precursor to carbon fixation. Tickets are $49 including morning tea and lunch. Visit https://events.humanitix.com/starting-with-the-minerals.