Agriculture from the Ground Up

Epizodai

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  Episode 10: Frost From the Ground Up with Dr Ben Biddulph 19.08.2026 29min

  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 c...
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  Episode 9: What Native Plants Reveal About Our Soils with Kingsley Dixon 12.08.2026 39min

  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 ...
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  Episode 8: Beyond the Soil Map. What Really Matters Under Your Paddock with Tim Overheu 05.08.2026 15min

  Send us Fan Mail Tim Overheu, Principal Research Scientist at DPIRD, returns for round two, and this episode goes well beyond soil types. We dig into why water holding capacity, not soil classification, is often the real driver behind precision agriculture decisions and why "farming to the characteristic that matters," whether that's pH, organic carbon or moisture, beats farming to arbitrary paddock boundaries. Tim shares a standout example of a farmer essentially "farming his organic carbon,...
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  Episode 7: Soil Texture Part 2. How to Measure Soil Texture (and Why Overseas Research Can Mislead You) 29.07.2026 19min

  Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of our soil texture series, we get practical. Leonie walks through how to measure soil texture in the paddock using the classic hand-texturing and ribbon test and explains how particle size analysis works in the lab, including the clever physics of Stokes’ Law that lets scientists separate clay from silt. You’ll also learn how to read the texture triangle, and why the same soil can be given different names depending on which country the research comes from. This int...
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  Episode 6: Understanding Soil Texture. Sand, Silt and Clay and Why Size Matters Part 1 25.07.2026 16min

  Send us Fan Mail This episode explains what soil texture really is. Leonie breaks down the three mineral particles that make up texture — sand, silt and clay — and shows that the difference between them is simply particle size. Key points covered: Texture is an inherent soil property that does not change in a human lifetimeExact size ranges used in Australia for sand, silt and clayWhy gravel and stones are excluded from textureWhy clay has such high surface area and nutrient-holding abilityHo...
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  Episode 5: What's Under your Paddocks? Soil Horizons and Parent Material with Tim Overheu 24.07.2026 18min

  Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Agriculture From The Ground Up, Leonie sits down with Tim Overheu (Principal Research Scientist, past National President of Soil Science Australia, and one of Western Australia’s most experienced soil scientists). With more than 30 years of hands-on experience across WA’s unique landscapes, Tim shares practical insights into: How parent material shapes the soils we farm todayWhy Western Australian soils are both ancient and surprisingly youngWhat soil horiz...
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  Episode 4: From Parent Material to Soil Horizons & Classification. Reading the Story in Your Paddock 24.07.2026 22min

  Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Agriculture From The Ground Up, we connect the dots between parent material and the soil profiles you dig into every season. Leonie walks through the CLORPT framework (Climate, Living organisms, Relief, Parent material, Time + humans), explains the important difference between layers and true soil horizons, and unpacks the four soil-forming processes that create the profiles we see in the paddock. You’ll also learn how to read the master horizons (O, A, E, ...
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  Episode 3: Where in the World Did Your Soil Come From? A Global Tour of Soil Formation 28.06.2026 21min

  Send us Fan Mail Why do Scottish farms look so green and productive while many WA Wheatbelt soils are sandy and naturally low in nutrients? The answer isn’t farming skill or climate alone; it’s geology and the age of the parent material. In this episode, Leonie takes you on a global tour of soil formation: from glaciers grinding fresh rock in Scotland and loess-blown fertility in the American Midwest, to volcanic soils in East Africa and the deeply weathered ancient landscapes of Western Aust...
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  Episode 2: Where Does Our Soil Come From? The Geological Recipe Under Your Paddocks 28.06.2026 19min

  Send us Fan Mail In this foundational episode, Leonie explores the very beginning of soil: parent material. Discover why two farms just 10 kilometres apart can perform so differently, even when they get the same rainfall and use the same varieties. You’ll learn: What parent material really is (and the difference between residual and transported material)The three main rock types (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic) and the very different soils they produceWhy WA soils are naturally sandy, acid...
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  Episode 1: Welcome to Agriculture From the Ground Up 28.06.2026 14min

  Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the very first episode of Agriculture From The Ground Up: a practical video podcast series dedicated to bridging cutting-edge soil science with real on-farm application in Western Australia and beyond. Hosted by Leonie Smith; an aspiring soil scientist, agricultural educator, former farm manager, and mum of four. This introductory episode explains why this podcast exists and what you can expect. With over 10 years of hands-on experience managing soils on south coas...