UN guest highlights soil work

On UN Day, October 24, the Wanganui Branch of the NZ United Nations Association will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations at a dinner in the Grand Hotel, St Hill St, starting at 6pm (dinner at 6.30pm).
This year is the United Nations International Year of Soils (IYS), and guest speaker for the evening will be Professor Mike J Hedley, director of the Fertiliser and Lime Research Centre, the Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University.
Prof Hedley's chosen theme is "Sustaining the productive capacity of our soils". He will talk about the work he and his co-workers do to sustain the productive capacity of "our soils and the environmental quality of land and water resources".
Mike Hedley is also a council member of the New Zealand Society of Soil Science.
His research is focused on nutrient cycling in grazed pasture and arable systems and, with his colleagues, he is responsible for teaching rural professionals how to construct farm nutrient management plans.