New focus on soil and root traits for field sites

The new soil corer represents a substantial improvement over previous equipment available to staff and researchers at Narrabri, and is now considered one of the most advanced systems in northern New South Wales. 

Designed and built by Daybreak Equipment of Dalby, Queensland, it includes a jackhammer feature for breaking through heavily compacted or rocky soils. The mounting has an extra-long mast to allow core drilling to a depth of 1.8 metres while reinforced supports enable drilling at any angle from vertical to 45 degrees. Having the system on the back of ute provides a high degree of flexibility as it can be deployed into the field quickly and with minimal impact. 

Soil cores are valuable for analysing the soil profile to depth – including factors such as soil structure, nutrient status, subsoil constraints such as low pH or mineral toxicity and soil moisture. These insights will help support soil science research at the University of Sydney, as well as knowledge of below-ground morphology and phenology in crop research. The new soil corer’s angle drilling feature means soil can be explored directly under crop plots without disrupting the above-ground trial.

The soil corer also supports the University of Sydney Node's parallel acquisition of a CID BioScience Ci-600 in-situ minirhizotron for imaging root systems in the field. Once a soil core has been removed, a root imaging tube can be installed. The minirhizotron system will then capture high resolution 360 degree images from within the tube, and these can be analysed to provide phenotypic data on root depth, density and structure, and to quantify specific root traits such as root hairs or legume nodules.

The system is already being used by APPN staff to support Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) investments for this growing season and APPN Strategic Initiative Fund projects. The root imager is also being used in PhD and honours research projects by University of Sydney students, and there is a high degree of interest in the capabilities of the new soil corer rig.

With roots making up a significant fraction of a plant’s biomass and being critical to its nutrition and health, understanding the below-ground factors that could impact above-ground variation is critical to crop research.

Characterising soils and root architecture is crucial for contextualising the wide range of above ground measurements that can be collected by APPN Nodes, to provide a more wholistic phenotypic picture for researchers.

To learn more about these systems, email Connor Cassidy or Bryn Collyer at APPN@Sydney.edu.au 

15 August 2025