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Soil & Leaf Analysis – Enhance Your Crop Performance

A targeted soil analysis provides essential insights into the nutritional health of your soil, guiding informed decisions about fertiliser and micronutrient applications. This strategic approach maximises both the yield and quality of your crops, ultimately enhancing profitability and sustainability.

Why Conduct an Olive-Specific Soil Test?
  • Predictive: Understand the nutritional status of your soil and identify limiting chemical properties.
  • Troubleshooting: Diagnose chemical imbalances potentially causing underperformance or reduced yields.
  • Monitoring: Track changes in soil chemistry over time to maintain optimal growing conditions.
Our olive-specific soil analysis measures essential macro and micronutrients, including nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, sulphur, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, molybdenum, and chloride, alongside critical indicators such as pH and conductivity.

We recommend comprehensive soil testing for olives at least every two years. Additionally, annual leaf testing, ideally conducted in January, provides valuable insights into nutrient uptake. To establish detailed nutrient usage patterns, monthly sampling during one full growing season is highly beneficial.

Benefits of Olive-Specific Soil Testing:
  • Maximise yield and profitability
  • Improve produce quality (appearance, weight, taste, shelf life)
  • Enhance nutrient value and pest/disease resistance
  • Increase water and fertiliser use efficiency

Comprehensive Nutrient Measurement:

Our detailed soil analysis measures essential macro and micronutrients including nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, sulphur, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron, molybdenum, chloride, along with critical indicators such as pH and conductivity.

We recommend conducting comprehensive soil testing at least once every two years. Additionally, annual leaf testing, ideally in January, provides further critical insights. For optimal precision, monthly sampling throughout one growing season can help establish a detailed nutrient usage profile.

Importance of Accurate Sampling:

Accurate analysis and actionable insights depend significantly on your sampling approach. Below are best practice guidelines to ensure precise sampling:

Designing Your Soil Sampling Strategy:

Soil variability within paddocks directly influences sampling methods. Consider the following guidelines:
  • Paddocks up to 10 hectares: Sample as a single unit if uniform in soil type, topography, land use, crop variety, and fertiliser history.
  • Paddocks larger than 10 hectares: Subdivide into uniform sections, sampling each separately for accurate results.

Sampling Equipment and Timing:
  • Use a clean auger, stainless steel or chromium-plated hand trowel/spade, and a clean plastic bucket.
  • Avoid sampling immediately after applying lime, gypsum, fertiliser, or other chemicals, and exclude roots or leaves from your soil samples.

Sampling Procedure example:
  1. Plan your sampling route using the 'W-pattern' across the paddock, avoiding non-representative areas (fences, hedges, tracks, manure spots).
  2. Take at least 20 samples per paddock along this route.
  3. At each sampling point:  Remove and discard the top 5cm (2") of soil.  Collect a sample at 15cm (6") depth for arable soils or 7.5cm (3") for grassland.
  4. Thoroughly mix all collected samples in your bucket.
  5. Fill the provided Phosyn sample bag approximately ¾ full (~500g), seal securely, and label clearly.

For precise management, avoid combining soils from different types or problematic areas into a single sample. Always sample these areas separately to accurately identify and address localised soil issues.

Note: Recommended sampling depths provided are general guidelines; adjust as necessary to reflect actual crop root depths.

Download the technical instructions in the downloads tab
 
File Title File Description Type Section
Soil__Leaf_Analysis_-_colour_copy.pdf Soil & Leaf Analysis Sampling Procedure Manuals Document

Comprehensive Guide to Managing Olive Lace Bug (Froggattia Olivina) | Olive Pests & Diseas

PEST & DISEASES - OLIVE GROWING

Comprehensive Guide to Managing Olive Lace Bug (Froggattia Olivina)

The Olive Lace Bug (Froggattia olivina) is an Australian native sap-sucking insect posing significant threats to olive groves. It specifically targets olive trees (Olea europaea), potentially reducing yields and causing tree death if left unmanaged. Olive lace bug infestation is considered a serious threat to the olive industry in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and across Australia.


STAGES OF OLIVE LACE BUG

Adults: Approximately 2-3 mm long, adults are flat, mottled dark brown and cream, featuring large, black-tipped antennae, lace-like transparent wings marked with dark patterns, and red eyes. 

Juveniles (Nymphs): Undergo five moults (instars). Early instars are wingless and vary from light cream or greenish-yellow to pinkish-orange. Later instars are green to greyish-black and very spiky, with wing buds developing.

Lifecycle

Female Olive Lace Bugs insert eggs into the tissue on the undersides of leaves, usually along the midribs. Eggs hatch into nymphs, which pass through five moults before reaching adulthood. Olive Lace Bug overwinters as eggs, with hatching typically occurring in early spring (September to October). Adults may also overwinter in protected locations on trees. Depending on climate conditions, there may be one to four generations per year, with a lifecycle ranging from 12-23 days in warm weather to up to 7 weeks in cooler conditions.

Distribution and Spread

Originally native to New South Wales and southern Queensland, olive lace bugs have spread throughout Australia, excluding the Northern Territory. The movement of olive plants and industry activities have facilitated this spread. Juvenile bugs, relatively immobile, cluster on leaf undersides and are easily spread through planting materials, workers, and tools. Adults disperse via short flights or wind

Identification and Monitoring

  • Regularly inspect leaf undersides from early spring. 
  • Early infestations appear as rusty-yellow spots about half the size of a pin-head on the upper surface of leaves, contrasting clearly with the dark green leaf surface. 
  • Severe infestations result in leaf browning, premature drop, and twig dieback.

Damage and Symptoms

Heavy infestations significantly affect tree vigor, delaying flowering and fruiting, reducing yields for up to two seasons, and potentially causing young tree death. Mature trees can also be severely affected, with death observed in extreme cases.

Host Plants

Known hosts include native mock olive (Notelaea longifolia) and cultivated olives (Olea europaea).

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies

  • Regular Monitoring: Check frequently to detect early infestations. 
  • Cultural Practices: Keep trees healthy through adequate fertilisation, irrigation, systematic pruning, and canopy management. Avoid stress caused by poor soil preparation, proximity to large eucalypts, or nutrient deficiencies.
  • Biological Control: Support beneficial predators such as lacewing larvae, ladybird beetles, and predatory mites. Note: Biological controls require a continual supply of the pest to be effective, which can be difficult to achieve in the long term.
  • Spray Controls: Apply proven products known to be effective in the control of OLB.  See more:  Olive Lace Bug Products

Effective Spray Regime

  • Spray soon after initial detection. Severe infestations may require a second treatment 10-14 days later. 
  • Apply thorough coverage on leaf undersides. 
  • Prune regularly to open the canopy, improving spray effectiveness and reducing pest habitat.

Long-term Sustainability

  • Maintain optimal tree health with regular nutrient checks and soil testing
  • Remove dead or unwanted branches. 
  • Educate staff on proper pest identification and management techniques.

By proactively managing olive lace bug, you safeguard the health and productivity of your olive groves, ensuring sustained profitability.

Herbicide Use in Olive Groves from Managing the Risk to Pollination and Yields

Herbicides are a crucial tool in modern agriculture, but recent research highlights an unintended consequence that olive producers must consider—potential harm to pollination. A study by Dummer et al. (2025) has identified that common herbicides, including glyphosate and 2,4-D, significantly impair olive pollen germination, raising serious concerns about their impact on fruit set and overall yield.
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Understanding Shotberries in Olives: Causes, Symptoms, and Prevention

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