This paper seeks to provide a short and simple description of how carbon, water, nutrients, organic matter and microbes interact to underpin the health of soils.

Soil is the outer, loose earth material that differs from the underlying bedrock. It is a mixture of five main ingredients: weathered rock, organic matter, air, water and a myriad of organisms that together support plant life. The weathered rock can be in the form of sand, clay, silt and pebbles. Organic matter can be anything that includes decomposing plant and animal matter. Air and water are vital for organisms to live and grow.

Most Australian soils are oxidised and weathered. This has contributed to depleted levels of biological activity, reduced carbon flow and lower than average rainfall retention. Much of our agricultural landscape is now characterised by areas of bare earth, eroded waterways, the presence of weeds and a lack of desirable plant species. There is also much agreement that soil health will continue to decline under current management practices and in the face of an increasingly challenging climate.

Nor has the situation been helped by the fact that research has tended to centre largely on increasing yields rather than building new topsoil.

Regenerative practices are essential; without water, carbon, nutrients, critical microbes, and an effective relationship between them, soils will continue to deteriorate. Boosting soil productivity will not only feed future generations but will have a positive effect on climate change and improve our ability to deal with floods, droughts and wildfires.

Of course, a number of measures are already under consideration or being practised. For instance, in some areas, degraded areas are being replanted, deforestation is being avoided, wetlands – a source of much carbon – are not being farmed, biomass is being mulched rather than burnt and mangroves and salt marshes are being restored. The question, however, is whether these actions are being implemented in a sufficiently timely and widespread manner. The answer is patently no.