The Tellus programme at Geological Survey Ireland, in conjunction with Teagasc, held the Terra Soil final conference at the Ashtown Research Centre, Dublin on 12 April. Geological Survey Ireland Director Koen Verbruggen opened the conference, which was to mark the completion of the Terra Soil project, a collaborative research project that has used Tellus soil geochemistry data and samples to help tell us about the health and productivity of the soil for crop growth. New data and maps were produced, and the event saw the official release of these on the project website along with a series of presentations on soils policy, findings from the project along with new research. Speakers from the Department of Environment Climate and Communication, Teagasc, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and academia also contributed to a panel discussion on the value of soil data.
Since the start of the project in 2018 the project team have worked hard on new soil analysis for phosphorus, developing new agricultural index maps and using spectrometry to predict soil texture. This information will be beneficial to farmers in helping them better understand the nutrients in their soil and how best to manage the soil. All data and maps are freely available to all from the
Terra Soil page.