National Agriculture Day is on Friday 20 November and is where all Australians are encouraged to celebrate the values that impact agriculture and that drive our farmers to grow world-class food, fibre and foliage. This year, Queensland Farmers’ Federation is co-hosting a breakfast event with the Queensland Branch of Soil Science Australia, titled ‘The Future of Queensland’s Soils’.

Land and soils constitute the foundation for sustainable agricultural development, essential ecosystem functions and food security. Soil degradation is a real and escalating threat caused by unsustainable land uses and management practices, and climate extremes. Soil may be the most overlooked natural resource but there are a growing number of opportunities being recognised across agriculture such as soil carbon storage which is a vital ecosystem service.

At this breakfast, Professor Neal Menzies will be presenting a comprehensive overview of threats and opportunities for Queensland’s soils. There will also be an update on the status of the current National Soil Strategy. The development of a national soil strategy was a recommendation from Major General Michael Jeffery’s most recent report – Restore the Soil: Prosper the Nation. It highlighted that effective soil management will significantly improve agricultural production and profitability, whilst protecting natural resources.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY - Neal Menzies
Dean of Agriculture, and Professor of Soil and Environmental Science, The University of Queensland.

Neal Menzies has a passion for agriculture and the environment, and has used his role as a teacher and research leader to bring others into this highly rewarding field. He believes that agricultural and environmental scientists must go further than identifying where human activity is harming the environment, they must also deliver workable solutions to the problems they identify. While his research spans a range of agricultural issues, he considers himself primarily a soil scientist, and sees soil science as a central discipline in the solution of a broad range of problems.

Neal’s main research interests are plant mineral nutrition, bio-toxicity of trace metals, and the development of sustainable but highly productive tropical farming systems.

Following his PhD at the University of Queensland, Neal worked at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Cameroon, and then as an academic at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK, before returning to Australia to take a position at the University of Queensland.

Neal has undertaken many leadership roles in his discipline area of soil science and in agriculture more generally. He is a Past President of the Australian Society of Soil Science, and Past Vice-President of the International Union of Soil Science. He currently serves on the National Research and Innovation Committee, and is the immediate past President of the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture.

REMINDER: If you are experiencing any flu-like symptoms on the day of the function, please do not attend.