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Tarwin vegetables: input costs down, carbon up
The full story behind my Short: a four-season demonstration trial in South Gippsland, Victoria.
The short version
The Soil Wealth ICP demonstration site at Tarwin, South Gippsland, with host grower Adam Schreurs (Schreurs & Sons), trials ways to maintain soil carbon in a celery, leek and spinach system converted from pasture. Four treatment combinations were compared with grower standard practice and a pasture reference site over four seasons [1].
3 of 4treatments increased soil carbon vs standard practice [1]
+29%largest soil carbon rise (cover crop + cultivation) since 2023 [1]
~$2,300/hanet profit increase in the trial area (partial budget) [1]
What the treatments showed
Soil carbon was highest for cover crop and cultivation at 7.1% in Year 4, up 1.6 percentage points (29%) from the 2023 baseline, followed by composting and cultivation (6.7%) and composting and minimum till (6.4%), against 5.9% baseline in the control. Total nitrogen was highest for composting and minimum till at 84.3 kg/ha, up 24% [1].
Reported grower benefits were a 33% reduction in diesel use and 50% reduction in labour cost from less tillage, and 50% less irrigation in the first six weeks of crop establishment. Reduced costs of about $3,690/ha against added costs of about $1,350/ha gave a net increase of about $2,300/ha in the partial budget [1].
Watch the Short
About this page
The Short uses real, illustrative photos from Wikimedia Commons (credited below); they are not photos of the study itself. This is a demonstration case study on one farm, not a replicated controlled trial, and dollar figures are Australian dollars from a partial budget of the trial area. The report notes minimum tillage may have been neutralised in the past 12 months because beds were land-planed and reformed for GPS-controlled machinery.
Why it matters
- Cover crops cycle nutrients. The grower says cover crops gave better nutrient cycling for the next crop [1].
- Costs, not yield claims. The partial budget shows no additional revenue; the gain came from reduced costs [1].
- Read the caveats. One site, one rotation, four seasons — results may not transfer directly [1].
Full narration (transcript)
Less tillage, cover crops and compost cut costs and built soil carbon in Victoria. The Tarwin site grows celery, leek and spinach in South Gippsland. It's a Soil Wealth trial with grower Adam Schreurs, in its fourth season. Four treatment mixes were compared with standard practice, and nearby pasture. Three of the four treatments increased soil carbon versus standard practice. Cover crop with cultivation rose most: up 29 percent since 2023. Composting with minimum till lifted total nitrogen by 24 percent. The grower reports less fuel, labour and water, for the same crop. Diesel use fell 33 percent, and labour costs fell 50 percent, from less tillage. Irrigation in the first six weeks fell by half. A partial budget put the net gain near $2,300 per hectare in the trial area. One caveat: one farm, and bed reshaping may have muted minimum till this year. Still, a clear Year 4 result from the case study.
Sources
- [1] Soil Wealth ICP (Oct 2026). “Input costs down, carbon up: Tarwin VIC demonstration site,” Year 4 case study HI-MT22004 (PDF). soilwealth.com.au
Credits
Photos (illustrative, Wikimedia Commons): NRCS Kentucky (20240418-NRCS-JP-0002) (USDAgov, Public domain); Daun Seledri (Celery) atau Daun SOP (Arel Manta Tarigan, CC BY-SA 4.0); 2004 0609 Italian ryegrass cover crop (Alan Manson, CC BY-SA 3.0); Giant compost heap near Eastwood Farm - geograph.org.uk - 69 (Alan Murray-Rust, CC BY-SA 2.0); Leek field @ Plaine des Cafres (Rémih, CC BY-SA 4.0); Nielsen68 (52018234140) (USDAgov, Public domain); Malabar spinach field (Rayhan AJ, CC BY-SA 4.0); Malabar spinach field (Rayhan AJ, CC BY-SA 4.0); NRCS Kentucky (20240418-NRCS-JP-0004) (USDAgov, Public domain); Nielsen60 (52017756218) (USDAgov, Public domain); Soil Health (20220420-NRCS-UNK-081) (USDAgov, Public domain); Daun Seledri (Celery) atau Daun SOP (Arel Manta Tarigan, CC BY-SA 4.0); 20221021-FPAC-LSC-0469 MP4 15 48 28 05 Still001 (USDAgov, Public domain).
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