Soil is the mirror of landscapes: Reflections on the legacy and future of soil knowledge management for sustainable farming

Abstract

In 1898 V. V. Dokuchaev said "Soil is the mirror of landscapes". In 2015, International Year of Soils it is timely to for us to pause and reflect on what 20 years' of working closely with land managers, students and soil scientists in soil education and extension has taught us about changing soil knowledge needs for land management principally at the farm to regional scale. Our overall aim is to examine the set of challenges or opportunities that a legacy provides to future soil knowledge management in the hope that those working in agriculture and natural resource management are informed, equipped and connected to their landscape in order to manage their soil resource into the future. The future relevance of soil education and extension to practitioners is learning from the legacy and acknowledging existing logistical and intellectual challenges. We will outline those challenges and reflect on whether we are capable of making the cultural shift in how we approach soil education and extension to embrace and blend new technologies with some of the "tried and tested" stalwarts of education and extension.