Agriculture from the Ground Up

Leonie
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Agriculture from the Ground Up is a practical podcast that helps farmers, advisors, students, agronomists and anyone in agriculture build on to the knowledge they already have; from soils and nutrition to cropping, livestock, economics and decision-making, so that you can fuse it all together into even better, more confident and more profitable farming. As an agriculture educator and perennial student, I want to help you fill those hidden gaps so you can make better decisions and grow a more resilient, profitable business.

  1. 15h ago ·  Video

    Episode 16: Why Some Soils Hold Onto Nutrients (and Others Just Don’t): Cation Exchange Capacity

    Send us Fan Mail Last episode we talked about pH, and I said buffering would come back properly. Today is that episode. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) is the reason some paddocks hold onto calcium, magnesium, potassium and ammonium, and others leak them with the next decent rain. It is also a big part of why two paddocks with similar fertiliser bills can perform so differently. In this episode of Agriculture From the Ground Up we cover: what CEC actually is, using a simple car-park picture for exchange sitesthe base cations, plus ammonium, hydrogen, aluminium and manganesewhy “CEC by bases” and effective CEC (ECEC) are not the same numberhow labs measure it, and why gravelly country can look better on paper than it is in the paddockwhat the units mean and why WA sands sit so lowwhy organic matter can supply up to 85 per cent of CEC on sandy topsoilsthe awkward loop: low CEC makes it harder to keep the carbon you are trying to addhow CEC changes down a duplex profilethe pH link: low CEC means poor buffering and faster acidificationwhy nitrate leaching also drags base cations with itthe myth of the perfect calcium-to-magnesium ratiowhat to actually do with a CEC result on farmWe flag threads we will pick up later in the series (nitrogen, soil organic carbon, clay, and water holding) rather than trying to finish those stories today. Thanks to Williams Woolshed in Williams and Naked Bean Coffee Roasters in Albany. Reference list Brown, K., & Lemon, J. (n.d.). Cations and cation exchange capacity. soilquality.org.au. https://www.soilquality.org.au/factsheets/cation-exchange-capacity Cornell University Cooperative Extension. (2007). Cation exchange capacity (CEC) (Agronomy Fact Sheet Series No. 22). Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University. Grace, P. R., Ladd, J. N., Robertson, G. P., & Gage, S. H. (2006). SOCRATES — A simple model for predicting long-term changes in soil organic carbon in terrestrial ecosystems. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 38(5), 1172–1176. Hazelton, P. A., & Murphy, B. W. (2007). Interpreting soil test results: What do all the numbers mean? CSIRO Publishing. Helling, C. S., Chesters, G., & Corey, R. B. (1964). Contribution of organic matter and clay to soil cation-exchange capacity as affected by the pH of the saturating solution. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings, 28(4), 517–520. Hoyle, F. C. (n.d.). Managing soil organic matter: A practical guide (GRDC Project Code KDI00023). Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia. Hoyle, F. C., D’Angiolo, M., & Murphy, D. V. (2011). Soil organic carbon content and composition under contrasting grain cropping systems in a semi-arid environment. Soil & Tillage Research, 113(2), 104–109. Lacoste, M., Lawes, R., Ducourtieux, O., & Flower, K. (2016). Comparative agriculture methods capture distinct production practices across a broadacre Australian landscape. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 233, 381–395. McKenzie, N., Jacquier, D., Isbell, R., & Brown, K. (2004). Australian soils and landscapes: An illustrated compendium. CSIRO Publishing. Moore, G., Dolling, P., Porter, B., & Leonard, L. (1998). Soil acidity. In G. Moore (Ed.), Soilguide: A handbook for understanding and managing agricultural soils (Bulletin No. 4343). Agriculture Western Australia. Rayment, G. E., & Higginson, F. R. (1992). Australian laboratory handbook of soil and water chemical methods. Inkata Press. Rengasamy, P., & Churchman, G. J. (1999). Cation exchange capacity, exchangeable cations and sodicity. In K. I. Peverill, L. A. Sparrow, & D. J. Reuter (Eds.), Soil analysis: An interpretation manual. CSIRO Publishing. Roberts, R. P., & Shier, F. L. (1960). The development of Western Australian sand plain soils for agriculture. Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4, 1(10), 855–864. Turpault, M. P., Nys, C., & Calmet, J. P. (2005). Impact of Douglas fir on an acid brown soil in the Morvan, France. Soil Use and Management, 21(1), 6–13. Williams, C. H., & Donald, C. M. (1957). Changes in organic matter and pH in a podzolic soil as influenced by subterranean clover and superphosphate. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 8(2), 179–189. Connect with Leonie Instagram: @agfromthegroundup Website: www.agriculturefromthegroundup.com.au

  2. Sep 22 ·  Video

    Episode 15: Your pH Is a Rainfall History. Why the Number Sits Where It Sits Part 2

    Send us Fan Mail Last episode we unpacked what pH actually is. This one asks the better question: why is your number the number it is? Drive east out of Perth and the pH climbs as the rainfall drops. That is not a coincidence. Leonie walks through the four drivers of soil pH, parent material, rainfall, time, and management, and why only the last one is in your hands. Ammonium fertiliser and every truckload of produce leaving the farm are both acid programs, whether you meant them to be or not. Then the useful half. Buffering is why a clay shrugs off the same fertiliser program that moves a pale sand a full unit. The nutrient chart is shaped like an hourglass because phosphorus gets locked by iron and aluminium on the acid side and by calcium on the alkaline side. A water pH and a calcium chloride pH are not the same number;  they can differ by nearly a full unit. And an acid result and an alkaline result point you at completely different problems. If the soil is acid: test deeper, look for aluminium, expect potassium to be walking out. If it is alkaline: check traces, check sodicity, check salt, and stop buying lime. References are in the episode notes. Thank you to Williams Woolshed in Williams and Naked Bean Coffee Roasters in Albany. References Brennan, R. F., Bolland, M. D. A., & Ramm, R. D. (2013). Changes in chemical properties of sandy duplex soils in 11 paddocks over 21 years in the low rainfall cropping zone of southwestern Australia. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 44(12), 1885–1908. Davies, S., Fisher, J., Roper, M., & Murphy, D. (2022). Soil quality: 7. Soil water repellence. SoilsWest / Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Gazey, C., Azam, G., Clausen, J., & Rengel, Z. (2019). Soil quality: 4. Soil acidity. SoilsWest. https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/sq_ebooks/4/ Hoyle, F. C., & Murphy, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). Soil quality: 1. Constraints to plant production. SoilsWest. McArthur, W. M. (Comp.). (1991). Reference soils of south-western Australia. Australian Society of Soil Science Inc. (WA Branch). McKenzie, N., Jacquier, D., Isbell, R., & Brown, K. (2004). Australian soils and landscapes: An illustrated compendium. CSIRO Publishing. Murphy, B. W. (2015). Impact of soil organic matter on soil properties: A review with emphasis on Australian soils. Soil Research, 53(6), 605–635. Norton, R. (2020). Potassium and sulphur: Emerging deficiencies in the southern region. GRDC Update Papers. Stuart-Street, A., Short, N., Galloway, P., & Schoknecht, N. (2025). A simple guide for describing soils (2nd ed.). Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Tang, C., Rengel, Z., Diatloff, E., & Gazey, C. (2003). Responses of wheat and barley to liming on a sandy soil with subsoil acidity. Field Crops Research, 80, 235–244. Yeates, J. S., et al. (1984), as cited in McArthur (1991). Connect with Leonie Instagram: @agfromthegroundup Website: www.agriculturefromthegroundup.com.au

  3. Sep 15 ·  Video

    Episode 14: Do You Actually Know What pH Means? The Number on Every Soil Test Part 1

    Send us Fan Mail You already know your pH. It is on every soil test you have ever paid for. This episode is not rates, products or a lime program. It is what that number is actually measuring. Leonie starts with a question most of us cannot answer cleanly: what does pH stand for? There are two answers in common use; potential hydrogen and power of hydrogen, and both are useful. One tells you which ion is winning in the soil water. The other tells you the score is kept in multiples of ten. A drop from 6 to 5 is not “one point.” It is a tenfold increase in hydrogen ions. Then the mechanism. Agricultural lime is calcium carbonate. The part that does the work is the carbonate: it accepts hydrogen ions and turns them into water and carbon dioxide; the same fizz you get in a field acid test, just slowed down over years. The calcium left behind evicts aluminium from the exchange sites, which is often the bigger prize for roots. On some Swan Coastal Plain soils a single application held for about a decade. pH is the master switch sitting upstream of phosphorus, traces, nitrogen cycling, root depth and water repellence. Next episode: why your number sits where it sits, what buffering is, and how to read an acid result differently from an alkaline one. References are in the episode notes. Thank you to Williams Woolshed in Williams and Naked Bean Coffee Roasters in Albany. References Davies, S., Fisher, J., Roper, M., & Murphy, D. (2022). Soil quality: 7. Soil water repellence. SoilsWest / Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Gazey, C., Azam, G., Clausen, J., & Rengel, Z. (2019). Soil quality: 4. Soil acidity. SoilsWest. https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/sq_ebooks/4/ McArthur, W. M. (Comp.). (1991). Reference soils of south-western Australia. Australian Society of Soil Science Inc. (WA Branch). McKenzie, N., Jacquier, D., Isbell, R., & Brown, K. (2004). Australian soils and landscapes: An illustrated compendium. CSIRO Publishing. Stuart-Street, A., Short, N., Galloway, P., & Schoknecht, N. (2025). A simple guide for describing soils (2nd ed.). Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Yeates, J. S., et al. (1984), as cited in McArthur (1991). Connect with Leonie Instagram: @agfromthegroundup Website: www.agriculturefromthegroundup.com.au

  4. Sep 9 ·  Video

    Episode 13: Chemistry Basics Part 2. Chemistry at Work in the Paddock and the Spray Tank

    Send us Fan Mail Part 1 was atoms, charge and the periodic table. This episode puts that chemistry to work in places you already know: soil water, the fertiliser bag, and the spray tank. Leonie starts with a correction from last week: why potassium and calcium skip ahead on the electron shells, and why that is exactly where the transition metals (iron, manganese, zinc, copper) get their name. Then the reactions that actually show up on farm: Solutions: almost nothing useful happens as a dry solid. It happens dissolved in water.Redox: why a waterlogged pit goes grey and rusty orange, and why nitrogen can leave the paddock as a gas.Precipitation: two soluble products meet, make an insoluble solid, and that is both blocked nozzles and phosphorus locked up with calcium, iron or aluminium.Chelation: the “claw” on a fertiliser label (iron EDTA, zinc EDTA) that keeps a micronutrient soluble long enough for the plant to take it.Hard water and glyphosate: calcium and magnesium tying up the herbicide before it reaches the weed.Alkaline hydrolysis: why tank pH matters.Water repellence:  waxy, non-polar coats on sand grains, and why the molarity of ethanol droplet test works.Gamma radiometrics: potassium, uranium and thorium slowly changing under the paddock, and why that signal tracks clay in the top 40 cm.Salinity, heavy metals (including cadmium in some phosphate fertilisers), organic matter and acidity get a short map, then the series moves to pH next. If a section does not land, skip it. The next chemical-property episodes will keep using these ideas. Thanks to Williams Woolshed in Williams and Naked Bean Coffee Roasters in Albany. Reference list Chang, R., & Goldsby, K. A. (2016). Chemistry (12th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. DeBano, L. F. (2000). The role of fire and soil heating on water repellency in wildland environments: A review. Journal of Hydrology, 231–232, 195–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00194-3 Geoscience Australia. (n.d.). Radiometrics. https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/disciplines/geophysics/radiometrics Grains Research and Development Corporation. (n.d.). Using ground-based EM and radiometrics to map soil amelioration. GroundCover. https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/agronomy/soil-and-nutrition/using-ground-based-em-and-radiometrics-to-map-soil-amelioration Kabata-Pendias, A. (2011). Trace elements in soils and plants (4th ed.). CRC Press. King, P. M. (1981). Comparison of methods for measuring severity of water repellence of sandy soils and assessment of some factors that affect its measurement. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 19(3), 275–285. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR9810275 Marschner, P. (Ed.). (2012). Marschner's mineral nutrition of higher plants (3rd ed.). Academic Press. McKenzie, N., Jacquier, D., Isbell, R., & Brown, K. (2004). Australian soils and landscapes: An illustrated compendium. CSIRO Publishing. Connect with Leonie Instagram: @agfromthegroundup Website: www.agriculturefromthegroundup.com.au

  5. Sep 2 ·  Video

    Episode 12: Chemistry Basics Part 1. Why the Periodic Table Matters in Your Paddock

    Send us Fan Mail Most of us left the periodic table behind at school. In the paddock it still matters. A lot. This is the first of two short episodes that introduce the chemistry you actually need as a farmer, soil scientist or agronomist. We start with the big picture: what the periodic table is really telling us about the elements that end up in your soil, your fertiliser bag and your crop. We’ll look at why some elements stick around while others leach, how parent material sets the chemical starting point for your paddock, and why a handful of elements punch well above their weight in plant nutrition. No lab-coat language. Just the practical foundation that makes the later episodes on pH, nutrient holding, and fertiliser decisions much easier to use. Part 2 will build on this and move into the chemistry that sits behind everyday soil tests and management choices. Thanks to Williams Woolshed in Williams and Naked Coffee Roasters in Albany for your support. You are absolute legends. References (APA 7) British Geological Survey. (n.d.). Soil parent material model [Dataset]. https://www.bgs.ac.uk/ Chang, R., & Goldsby, K. A. (2016). Chemistry (12th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. Marschner, P. (Ed.). (2012). Marschner’s mineral nutrition of higher plants (3rd ed.). Academic Press. Connect with Leonie Instagram: @agfromthegroundup Website: www.agriculturefromthegroundup.com.au

  6. Aug 26 ·  Video

    Episode 11: The View From the Hill. Where We're Going with this Podcast

    Send us Fan Mail What if the nutrition problem, the moisture problem, the pH problem and the non-wetting problem in your paddock are not four separate issues — but one underlying constraint wearing four different hats? In this episode, Leonie steps back from the individual soil topics and looks at the whole system. Using the simple idea of standing on a hill and surveying the farm, she traces how the fundamental nature of sandy soils (low surface area, low ability to hold water and nutrients) drives a chain of consequences that can leave a crop dying of thirst above two metres of moist soil. Along the way she unpacks: Why leaching, acidification, aluminium toxicity and restricted root growth often belong to the same storyWhy parent material matters more than texture alone (and a real-life garden story that proves it)How chemical, physical and biological properties are tangled together rather than sitting in neat boxesFour practical habits of mind that help you stop treating symptoms and start aiming at causesThis is not a “how-to” episode. It is the map. The detailed episodes that follow will fill in the boxes. If you finish listening with more questions than answers, the episode has done its job. A systems view of sandy soils, written for farmers and agronomists who want to spend less money on the wrong fix. Thank you to Willilams Woolsehd and Naked Bean Coffee for your support.   REFERENCES  Davies, S., Fisher, J., Roper, M., & Murphy, D. (2022). Soil quality: 7 Soil water repellence. SoilsWest, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/sq_ebooks/9/ Gazey, C., Azam, G., Clausen, J., & Rengel, Z. (2019). Soil quality: 4 Soil acidity. SoilsWest. https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/sq_ebooks/4/ Hoyle, F. C., & Murphy, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). Soil quality: 1 Constraints to plant production. SoilsWest. https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/sq_ebooks/1/ McKenzie, N., Jacquier, D., Isbell, R., & Brown, K. (2004). Australian soils and landscapes: An illustrated compendium. CSIRO Publishing. Hall, D. J. M., Davies, S. L., Bell, R. W., & Edwards, T. J. (2020). Soil management systems to overcome multiple constraints for dryland crops on deep sands in a water limited environment on the south coast of Western Australia. Agronomy, 10, 1881. Unkovich, M., McKenzie, D., & Parker, W. (2023). New insights into high soil strength and crop plants: Implications for grain crop production in the Australian environment. Plant and Soil, 486, 183–208. Soil CRC. (2025). Organic and clay amendments to improve the productivity of sandy soils: Research findings fact sheet. Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils. https://soilcrc.com.au/resources Connect with Leonie Instagram: @agfromthegroundup Website: www.agriculturefromthegroundup.com.au

  7. Aug 19 ·  Video

    Episode 10: Frost From the Ground Up with Dr Ben Biddulph

    Send us Fan Mail CSIRO gave us Wi-Fi, Aerogard, plastic banknotes and the word petrichor (that earthy smell of rain on dry ground). This week they give us Dr Ben Biddulph. We're heading into prime frost risk, so I sat down with Ben, Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO in Perth, formerly Chief Scientist of Primary Industries at DPIRD, and one of the country's leading voices on reproductive frost in wheat and barley. He's spent more than two decades on the things that break crops in this climate: frost, drought, heat, waterlogging and salinity. Much of that work has been through national GRDC frost projects. Because the reason a minus two degree night can cost us 80% of a crop, while our east coast colleagues can get minimal damage at minus six, comes down to a bacterium. Pseudomonas syringae lives on your crop residue, and when it gets cold it builds a protein lattice on the outside of its cell that lines water molecules up so ice can form. Instead of supercooling to minus ten or minus twelve, your crop freezes at minus three. And those little one to two millimetre scuddy showers that roll through at four in the afternoon are delivering high concentrations of it, right before the frost arrives. In this episode: Why frost-prone country has spread from isolated pockets of the central wheatbelt into the Great Southern, the south coast and the north-eastern wheatbeltThe citizen science project where growers collected spring rain in their freezersWhy heavy stubble loads increase frost damage, and the rule of thumb Ben's team landed on after three years of workWhat thermography revealed at two in the morning in a paddock — including why ice forms at the bottom of the canopy, not at the coldest pointThree pieces of myth-busting: nitrogen, copper and potash. Two don't do what growers think. One absolutely does.Why barley moved from last crop in the ground to secondManaging the human side, and why everyone remembers 1998 or 2004Resources mentioned GRDC Frost Tips and Tactics: https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/resources/frost-management/tips-for-identifying-frost-damageDPIRD Bulletin 4904 and 4905 — Cereals, Canola and Pulse Frost Identification Guides (available on the DPIRD and GRDC websites)Thank you to Williams Woolshed in Williams for wardrobe support and Naked Coffee Bean in Albany for keeping me caffeinated. Connect with Leonie Instagram: @agfromthegroundup Website: www.agriculturefromthegroundup.com.au

  8. Aug 12 ·  Video

    Episode 9: What Native Plants Reveal About Our Soils with Kingsley Dixon

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Agriculture from the Ground Up, Leonie sits down with Professor Kingsley Dixon (one of Australia’s leading plant biologists and restoration ecologists) to explore what Western Australia’s native plants can teach us about our soils. Kingsley explains how the very constraints that challenge farmers on sandy and duplex soils (extreme infertility, phosphorus limitation, non-wetting, and compaction) are the same conditions that native species like banksias have adapted to over tens of millions of years. Rather than fighting these soils, the plants reveal them, through nutrient-mining strategies, water-gaining microsites, deep root systems that open compacted layers, and a remarkable conservatism in resource use. The conversation covers practical insights for agriculture, including why native plants thrive where crops struggle, the concept of “cryptic compaction,” the potential of native grain-and-graze species, the importance of soil husbandry over quick fixes, and why biodiversity and biosecurity matter for the future of farming in WA. A thoughtful, wide-ranging discussion that sits at the intersection of botany, soil science, and real-world agriculture Connect with Leonie Instagram: @agfromthegroundup Website: www.agriculturefromthegroundup.com.au

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Agriculture from the Ground Up is a practical podcast that helps farmers, advisors, students, agronomists and anyone in agriculture build on to the knowledge they already have; from soils and nutrition to cropping, livestock, economics and decision-making, so that you can fuse it all together into even better, more confident and more profitable farming. As an agriculture educator and perennial student, I want to help you fill those hidden gaps so you can make better decisions and grow a more resilient, profitable business.

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