Earning the right to reduce pesticides - Building plant resilience with Brad Campbell

Western Australian farmer Brad Campbell has spent years refining his mixed cropping system to build healthier, more resilient plants and reduce reliance on synthetic inputs. Over time, he’s cut out routine fungicides and insecticides, moved away from chemical seed treatments, and now only uses pesticides strategically when needed.

In this conversation, Brad talks about how targeted plant nutrition, sap testing and careful observation are helping him make management decisions and improve crop health.

Brad shares how his family’s early shift toward biological farming set the foundation for his approach, why monitoring matters more than ever, and what he means when he says you have to earn the right to reduce pesticides.

Brad’s story features in our Practice Guide on Building Plant Resilience to Pests and Diseases, which brings together insights from farmers and experts across Australia. You’ll find it at soilsforlife.org.au

In this episode
Why Brad says you need to “earn the right” to reduce pesticides
How sap and tissue testing inform his nutrition decisions
Using observation and small-scale trials to guide change
What’s changed in soil function and disease pressure over time
Lessons from experimenting, learning and staying profitable

Resources
Practice Guide: Building plant resilience to pests and diseases (coming soon to soilsforlife.org.au)
Explore more cropping practice guides and farmer stories at soilsforlife.org.au
Brad mentioned a course by Neil Kinsey: https://kinseyag.com/
Brad also mentioned a course by Arden Anderson: https://soillearningcenter.com/produc...

This short episode of the Soils for Life Podcast was hosted by Eli Court and produced by Chris Wieffering.

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