Current Projects

Project 1.1.003

Understanding and promoting good soil stewardship

Professor Mark Morrison – Project Leader
Charles Sturt University

The Activating markets to create incentives for improved soil management literature scoping study identified the lack of research on what consumers know about soil stewardship and its effects on consumer demand.

In the current market, there are few incentives for the good soil management. To address this, farmers need a better understanding of the consumer demand for soil stewardship and their willingness to pay. Once this is determined, communication strategies and materials will be developed to promote good soil stewardship to consumers, then the requirements and potential use of this information by food processors will be examined.

This project will develop and trial a range of different communication materials to educate and promote soil stewardship to consumers in order to determine whether consumers are willing to pay more for food that has been produced using good soil stewardship practices.

The project will also engage with value chain stakeholders to better understand their potential demand for information about consumer’s willingness to pay, perceived obstacles for its use, and specific information requirements for rewarding farmers for quality practices.

Involving and researching value-chain stakeholders is critical for achieving the goal of financially rewarding famers for improved soil stewardship. Even if consumers are found to be willing to pay for soil stewardship, and this can be activated through effective communications, the end-goal of rewarding farmers through higher prices for their products will not be achieved without the cooperation of critical value chain stakeholders such as food manufacturers and retailers. These intermediaries are essential for presenting soil stewardship attributes on their products and providing financial incentives for landholders.

Use your own screenshot.

Related Programs

Project duration

Two years

Participants

Charles Sturt University
University of Tasmania

Project 1.1.004

Rewarding soil stewardship

Dr Nicholas Pawsey – Project Leader
Charles Sturt University

This project follows on from Dr Pawsey’s first Soil CRC project Collaborative approaches to innovation which identified that many finance stakeholders and growers accept the importance of good soil stewardship and its profitability and are interested in how it might be encouraged and rewarded.

However, to unlock investment in soils and to activate financial markets to reward soil stewardship, a few things need to happen. A stronger link between good soil stewardship and profitability needs to be demonstrated; connections between researchers, growers and financial markets needs to be improved and the soil science must be well translated to relevant finance sectors.

A three-stage approach involving grower groups (Birchip Cropping Group, Riverine Plains and WANTFA) and the finance sector (Deloitte and NAB) will secure outcomes that best reflect industry expectations. A range of potential mechanisms and pathways have been identified including loan schemes, risk assessment and other financial decision tools, government programs and policies, and insurance products.

It is important for farmers to be rewarded for their good soil stewardship.

Related Programs

Project duration

Three years

Participants

Charles Sturt University
Federation University Australia
University of Southern Queensland
Birchip Cropping Group
Riverine Plans Inc
WANTFA

Project 1.1.005

Soil stewardship certification potential

Professor Mark Morrison – Project Leader
Charles Sturt University

This project will investigate the potential for certification or verification schemes to help develop markets for rewarding good soil stewardship practices. The project involves a review of literature and existing certification schemes, interviews with stakeholders about desired design features, and a participatory approach involving a range of stakeholders in a series of design thinking workshops to develop a potential certification or verification solution.

The solution will be further refined through the use of consumer and farmer focus groups and surveys. The project builds on high levels of interest generated from earlier projects in the activation of markets to better financially reward farmers for use of soil stewardship practices, including from stakeholders in farmer groups, agri-finance organisations, and the consumer food value chain.

Certification or verification schemes have the potential to assist in activating several markets to provide financial benefits to farmers who use good soil stewardship practices.

Related Programs

Project duration

Two and a half years

Participants

Charles Sturt University
Southern Cross University
University of Southern Queensland
University of Tasmania
Birchip Cropping Group

Project 1.2.005

What drives farmer decisions?

Dr Hanabeth Luke – Project Leader
Southern Cross University

Following on from Dr Luke’s first Soil CRC project – Surveying farm practices, this project will complete the surveying of land management practices.

Farmers and their on-farm management strategies are critical to the ongoing health of Australia’s economy and environment.  It is important to understand what drives farm management decisions, so that research can be better targeted.

The surveys will take place across regions and industries for an improved understanding of current practices, and to better understand farmer aspirations and motivations, as well as perceptions of existing and proposed research and development initiatives.

Four surveys have been administered in the initial project in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. For this project, another two surveys will be completed, in Queensland and Tasmania,  and the data will be spatially analysed. All survey instruments are co-developed with local Soil CRC partners and Soil CRC scientists.

The Soil CRC will better understand grower’s needs and intentions, and as a result other projects can be better targeted to meet those needs. The surveys will address regional and industry nuances of different farming groups, enabling follow-up surveys in five to six years, which will provide a means to evaluate the impact of the CRC.

Improved understanding of farmers and their practices will help the Soil CRC and the farmer groups to better target their innovations, communications and contribute to their strategic planning.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

Southern Cross University
Charles Sturt University
Soils for Life
Wimmera CMA
Southern Farming Systems

Project 1.2.006

Knowledge-sharing for good soil stewardship

Dr Hanabeth Luke – Project Leader
Southern Cross University

Soil CRC research with farmers and key stakeholders shows that farmer groups and agronomists are playing an increasingly important role as knowledge brokers in farming systems. Effective processes of knowledge-sharing among farmers, scientists and key knowledge brokers are essential for improving soil-stewardship.

This project builds on the findings of previous Soil CRC projects, Why soil management practices are adopted, Surveying on-farm practices and Building farmer innovation capability. It aims to address challenges and opportunities associated with knowledge-sharing efforts directed at improving the uptake of new innovations and best-practice soil management.

Embedded in this project is an understanding that knowledge-sharing processes need to be locally relevant and related to key challenges identified by farmers.

Supporting extension efforts for grower groups across four case-study regions, this project will co-develop and test a range of knowledge-sharing modes and processes across farming systems groups. These range from digital strategies to field days, drawing on the skills of a cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary research team to test and assess the effectiveness of these modes over time.

This project will guide engagement, collaboration and knowledge-sharing efforts by the Soil CRC and its participants, towards maximum effectiveness and impact on soil health, fertility and performance.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

Southern Cross University
Murdoch University
Federation University Australia
AIR EP
West Midlands Group
Central West Farming Systems
University of Newcastle
Charles Sturt University
Birchip Cropping Group

 

Project 1.2.007

Agricultural social benchmarking surveys

Dr Hanabeth Luke – Project Leader
Southern Cross University

Farmers and their on-farm management strategies are critical to the ongoing health of Australia’s soils, economy, and environment. Continuing on from the Soil CRC’s previous research into what drives farm management decisions, this project will help develop a longitudinal understanding of farmer practices, aspirations and motivations. It will consider the actual and intended practice of a broad base of farmers across Australian farming systems.

In this phase of the research, the project team will conduct three follow-up social benchmarking surveys of land managers in North Central Victoria, on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and in the northern West Australian Wheatbelt.

Co-developed with local Soil CRC partners, the surveys will address regional and industry nuances of different farming group regions, while also providing a means to evaluate the impact of the CRC. Workshops will be used to ensure the ongoing relevance of the surveys for local groups.

Improved understanding of farmers’ needs, intentions and practices will help the CRC (and the farming groups) to better target our innovations and communications. This will increase end-user engagement and adoption with the aim of improving soil management and productivity.

Charles Sturt University’s analytics team will further help to identify avenues for data application.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

Southern Cross University
Charles Sturt University
North Central Catchment Management Authority
Agricultural Innovation & Research Eyre Peninsula
West Midlands Group

 

Project 1.2.008

Packaging Soil CRC tools to enhance extension and adoption of improved soil management practices

Dr Nathan Craig – Project Leader
West Midlands Group

Program 1 of the Soil CRC has delivered many significant learnings and outcomes to aid grower groups, advisors and extension officers (our next users) extend and communicate information to farmers.

Through the work of Program 1, we now have a range of tools and insights that help us to better understand the economic, emotional, and psychological drivers that govern farmer engagement and the adoption of innovations by industry. While next users can access these tools, there is little guidance available on how to integrate these with current extension practices or other new engagement tools.

This next user-led project will support four grower groups to critically evaluate their current extension practices and identify which Program 1 extension tools can be combined to improve farmer adoption of innovation.

Participating grower groups will design and test four proof-of-concept extension packages that improve project delivery. This will produce a series of extension packages that give Soil CRC’s next users a stronger range of tools to better engage the farming community and improve adoption of outcomes from all our programs.

The extension packages will also help facilitate clear methods and pathways for measuring the adoption and impact of Soil CRC outcomes.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

West Midlands Group
Riverine Plains Inc
Corrigin Farm Improvement Group
University of Newcastle
Agricultural Innovation & Research Eyre Peninsula
University of Tasmania
Southern Cross University

 

Project 1.4.003

Building farmer innovation capability – Phase two

Professor David Falepau – Project Leader
Charles Sturt University

Farmer-led innovation provides an alternative to historical approaches to research, development and adoption of technologies and practices to improve soil management.

Following on from the Soil CRC project Building farmer innovation capability which worked with five farmer groups to build their innovation systems, capability and culture, ‘Phase Two’ will establish similar partnerships with another four farmer groups.

They will have the additional criteria of working with a partner such as an agribusiness or research and development provider who will work with them towards the accelerated development and commercialisation of an innovation targeted at improving soil stewardship.

An innovation manager will be trained within each farmer group in conjunction with their partner to design and implement an innovation system including all stages from ideation through to commercialisation and adoption.

Related Programs

Duration

One and a half years

Participants

Charles Sturt University
Southern Farming Systems
Holbrook Landcare Group
Facey Group
Birchip Cropping Group
Soils for Life

Project 1.4.004

Defining the benefits of regenerative agriculture

Dr Sosheel Godfrey – Project Leader
Charles Sturt University

The economic, environmental and social benefits of regenerative agriculture have not yet been fully defined. There is a need to better understand the interactions between the development of healthy ecosystems (such as soil health) and the production of high-quality food and fibre.

This project will develop a framework that can be used to assess a wide range of economic and social impacts of agriculture, allowing comparisons among different approaches. The project will use a case study design that builds on the existing Soil CRC project Regenerative farming systems that has been working to quantify the effectiveness of regenerative farming systems to improve soil performance across defined soil and climate constraints.

Researchers will develop the integrated framework by conducting three activities:

  • Desktop review of economic and social literature on regenerative agriculture practices and methodologies to value their impact.
  • Develop a definition of what regenerative agriculture means for Australian agricultural enterprises and its potential benefits through qualitative and quantitative approaches.
  • Build six selective farm case studies – one each from six different regions to examine the

economic, social and environmental co-benefits of adaptive regenerative farming management and how this is specifically linked to healthy soil practices.

The result will be a relevant, practical and usable decision support framework for farmers considering transitioning to regenerative agriculture.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Charles Sturt University
Soils For Life
Federation University Australia
Harper Adams University

 

Project 1.4.005
A new tool for assessing the benefits of adopting new farming practices

Dr Nathan Craig – Project Leader
West Midlands Group

This project will create a reporting tool to communicate the risks and benefits of new farming technologies and practices. It will enable grower groups and extension agencies to better deliver information to farmers so that they can make well informed decisions.

While profitability is often the driving force behind adoption of new farming practices, there are many other factors that affect adoption. These can include emotional, social, community, environmental and other emerging business risk factors.

This new tool will help extension agencies (including Soil CRC partners) to share research with farmers in a standardised way that allows better evaluation and balance between the short- and long-term soil health benefits and improved farm profitability. An important feature of this project is that it is led and delivered by grower groups, thus ensuring a practical and pragmatic input into the development of the tool.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

West Midlands Group
Corrigin Farm Improvement Group
Charles Sturt University
Central West Farming Systems 

Project 1.4.006
Assessing the financial impacts of using organic wastes as fertiliser

Dr Richard Culas – Project Leader
Charles Sturt University

While the biophysical benefits of incorporating organic wastes as fertilisers into soils are known, the financial impacts are less well understood. In particular, the wider and combined financial impacts of using organic materials as fertiliser are poorly understood and communicated to farmers.

This project will assess the cost effectiveness of using waste products such as manure, dairy farm waste, compost and biochar as an organic fertiliser. It will be tested in broadacre and other cropping systems in New South Wales in the first instance.

Using organic materials as fertilisers has numerous financial and environmental benefits but also potential costs and risks. Economic research in this area is rarely undertaken as suitable data are dispersed or not available. This project will work directly with farmers, filling gaps with modelled information. It will be based on investigating scenarios of how farmers can increase productivity and farm income using organic fertilisers in comparison to inorganic fertilisers.

This project will help farmers understand the economics of applying organic fertilisers derived from waste, thereby leading to greater uptake and application of recycled organic materials.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

Charles Sturt University
University of Southern Queensland
Holbrook Landcare Network
Soils For Life

Project 2.1.004

Smelling soil

Dr Shane Powell – Project Leader
University of Tasmania

Farmers often intuitively assess soil by smell. There is strong evidence that the fingerprint of gases emitted from soil can identify the composition and activity of the microbial community which relates to soil health. Currently there are no field based sensors to diagnose soil health using aromas. An ‘electronic nose’ offers a solution to this problem.

Work has begun on the prototype eNose and a range of sensors to show “proof of concept” of this technology. The eNose is being co-developed with farmers to ensure that the technology is useful, usable and provides relevant information which is easily interpreted and understood by farmers themselves. Being able to do this will mean that farmers can make the right management decisions to improve crop performance and yield, especially in poor soils. 

An objective diagnosis of soil health will assist farmers and other land managers in understanding which management practices and environmental events have positive or negative effects on soil microbial communities, as well as enabling the temporal monitoring of soil microbial health.

Currently, there are very few rapid and cost effective in-field techniques available to assess and monitor the health of soil microbial communities. The eNose will “smell” the soil (via gas sensors) and then translate this gas fingerprint into microbial health metrics. Microorganisms in the soil produce many chemicals including volatile organic carbons (VOCs). These are small carbon-based molecules that evaporate easily. Different types of microbes produce different VOCs that the eNose can detect and use to provide an indication of how the soil microorganisms are functioning. 

This project aims to build on expertise available through previous eNose research activities and build on existing sensor technologies. The project will have very close synergy with other Soil CRC research into determining the key microbial indicators of performance.

The soil eNose could be used as a stand-alone tool, complete with other soil (temperature, pH, and moisture) sensors, or integrated into more complex precision agriculture systems including components which are under development by the Soil CRC.

The prototype eNose is being built by an expert in eNose technology for measuring volatiles emitted during insect damage to crops. The prototype consists of a sensor array made from low cost, off-the-shelf components. Existing sensors used include: carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrocarbons, ammonia, organic solvents, nitrogen dioxide, ethylene, and nitric oxide. They are exploiting the cross sensitivity of these sensors to create a signature of soil aromas. The tool will also include basic environmental monitoring capability (soil moisture, pH and temperature; air temperature and humidity).

The eNose will function biometrically i.e. in a similar way to how humans smell. Humans have learnt to associate certain aromas with certain items – although there is no ability to measure or identify the exact gases present.

The eNose design we propose mimics biochemical processes and the exact compounds emitted do not need to be identified. We aim to use the signature of these compounds as a proxy for health and function of the soil. Some of the sensors however will act in a traditional capacity, e.g. the eNose will have a carbon dioxide sensor (carbon dioxide flux is commonly used as a measure of soil respiration, it is known that high respiration rates are associated with healthy and productive soils).

An eNose will be located on a single farm for a “proof of concept” test that it can observe changes in gas emissions over time. Data will be analysed using the basic calibration data acquired in lab testing and related to basic response variables shown by the stress trials. The eNose prototype is currently being tested with some farmers, with more testing to come. 

Use your own screenshot.

Related Programs

Duration

One and a half years

Participants

University of Tasmania
Birchip Cropping Group
FarmLink
Southern Farming Systems
Soils for Life

Project 2.1.005

Smelling soil: eNose development

Dr Shane Powell – Project Leader
University of Tasmania

Farmers often use smell to assess soil because the volatile compounds produced by biological activity are affected by soil conditions. There is evidence in the scientific literature that eNoses (electronic smell sensors) can detect volatiles that are related to soil biological activity and that eNoses may be a suitable way of assessing biological function.

A previous Soil CRC project Smelling soil proved it was possible to build a low-cost electronic eNose for measuring soil gas emissions and detecting changes in soil conditions.

This project will continue the development of the eNose focusing on two areas. It will build a robust device suitable for field use and it will investigate the relationship between eNose data and significant changes in soil condition. The project will undertake a range of pre-commercialisation activities to ensure a product for commercialisation and adoption by Australian farmers.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

University of Tasmania

Project 2.1.006

Matching soil performance indicators to farming systems

Dr Nathan Robinson – Project Leader
Federation University

The Soil CRC Scoping Study on soil performance indicators concluded that there was no universal suite of indicators that could measure soil performance, but rather that indicators should be matched to their intended purpose (‘horses-for-courses’)

This project will use social research, data analytics and soil indicator domain expertise to determine how commonly used indicators, or suites of indicators (‘horses’) can best be matched to landscapes, climates, ecosystems and land management goals (‘courses’).

It will also explore whether alternative indicators might be more successful in matching the expectations of the end-users. Apart from the research discoveries related to the extent of indicator use, end-user expectations, and matching suites of indicators to regional agricultural and land management, the outcomes of this project will provide valuable information and guidance for growers to pick the best indicators for their production system.

The project will analyse data collected through the Soil CRC project Visualising Australasia’s Soils and combine that knowledge with a deep social science survey, to determine which indicators are best suited to which farming systems over what timeframes in which geographies, and what are the key thresholds for those indicators.

The intention is to fully explore what farmers are already using and why they have chosen those particular indicators. This will enable the project to learn from the experience of farmers, consultants and advisers who have generally not played a significant role in the development of soil quality assessment schemes – despite being the end users of these schemes.

The project will examine the limitations of current indicators, and understand the standard operating environment and procedures for these common indications.

This project will support growers, advisers and scientists to identify what indicators work best and where, and to guide wider adoption of how growers can benefit from using these in their management decisions. The wider impact of this project is that it will inform and guide the development of future Soil CRC projects, and will assist in connecting functions and activities with indicators.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

Federation University Australia
University of Newcastle
Charles Sturt University

Project 2.1.007

Affordable rapid field-based soil tests: Phase two – soil organic carbon

Dr Liang Wang – Project Leader
The University of Newcastle

This project aims to address the issue of costly and time-consuming laboratory soil health measurements to provide farmers with affordable rapid in-field solutions without sacrificing accuracy.

The healthy functioning of agriculture ecosystems primarily depends on soil organic matter (SOM), which is often difficult to measure directly. The activities of soil enzymes facilitate the SOM decomposition, which releases plant-available nutrients, such as nitrogen. Therefore, the measurement of soil enzyme activities as bio-indicators, can provide quantitative information on SOM and microbial health.

This project will develop an innovative, field-based tool kit to rapidly determine soluble SOM and key biological functions through expanding the current investment in the Soil CRC project Affordable rapid field-based soil tests.

The project will extend the current colourimetric protocols to include measurements of enzyme activity, soil organic carbon, and additional biologically mineralised nutrients via rapid field-based soil testing ‘lab-on-a-chip’ technology. The colour results will be captured using a smartphone camera with an application that will automatically convert them into quantitative information using ‘lab-on-a-phone’ technologies.

The prediction accuracy will be improved significantly by minimising the impact of interferences using chemometric methods. The project will advance the current soil measurement technology and provide novel, affordable and rapid in-field measurement tools for day-to-day use. It will benefit farmers by having quick, cheap tests that can measure soil organic carbon on site and accurately.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Newcastle
University of Tasmania
Burdekin Productivity Services
Herbert Cane Productivity Services

Project 2.1.008

Measuring soil microbes

Dr Mick Rose – Project Leader
NSW Department of Primary Industries

There is increasing recognition amongst farmers and scientists alike that soil biology is an important component in crop and pasture production and ecosystem health. However, measuring soil biology can be confounding and analysing the data even more so.

Scientific advances have resulted in new ways to measure the diversity, abundance and function of soil microbiota. Landholders wish to better understand how they can use this information to manage the soil biology for better ‘soil health’ for example by minimising chemical inputs, changing cropping practices, or sequestering carbon.

This project will apply a range of soil biology metrics that have been proposed as indicators of soil health, and assess their relevance to agronomic or environmental outcomes, such as crop yield, soil structure and nutrient availability.

Samples will be taken from diverse regional areas, across seasons to determine whether relationships between indicators and functions can be generalised, or whether they are site or seasonally specific. This will improve knowledge of the soil microbial indicators that drive agronomic decision-making to increase agricultural productivity and resilience to environmental stresses such as drought.

Soil CRC projects have established field experiments evaluating systems-based management practices and use of amendments for addressing soil constraints. This project will value-add to these projects by clarifying which soil microbial indicators consistently provide relevant indices of ‘soil health’ across time and space.

Indicators will be classified and ranked in terms of their relationships to specific, farmer-identified production and ecosystem target outcomes. Farmers will be able to use soil microbial indicators to benchmark and monitor changes to soil health over time which will inform management decisions, resulting in more cost and time efficient practices.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

NSW Department of Primary Industries
PIRSA
Griffith University
Southern Cross University
Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management
Birchip Cropping Group
Central West Farming Systems
Northern Grower Alliance

Project 2.2.002

‘Smart’ soil sensors

Dr Marcus Hardie – Project Leader
University of Tasmania

There are a range of constraints to the use of soil sensors (moisture) on a farm. This project will develop the next generation of ‘Smart’ sensors that will overcome the problems associated with above ground sensors, transmit data over large areas, and automatically interpret sensed data in order to provide farmers with actionable information rather than just data.

This project will develop the next generation of field-based sensors that can measure, map, interpret, and communicate sensor data using new approaches that meet growers’ need for information in order to make on-farm decisions.

The ‘Smart’ Shovel: A shovel that can measure soil moisture and salinity and will include compaction sensors which will all be mapped and visualised through smart phones whilst in the paddock.

Below Ground Sensor Data Transmission: Send sensor data wirelessly through soil, so that sensors can be fully buried without risk of damage from stock, pests or machinery.

Self-learning moisture sensors: Develop algorithms that use existing soil moisture sensors to learn the soil properties needed for use with models such as APSIM & Yield Profit, and enable growers to relate moisture content to crop stress.

This project seeks to build and develop technologies and provide sensors with the functionalities that growers actually want. They want sensors that do not obstruct machinery and that result in actionable information. This project is the first step in developing the next generation of field-based sensors that growers are seeking to support sustainable and precise management decisions and to improve soil function.

The scope of this project has been intentionally limited to a proof of concept stage, with the understanding that should the proof of concept be successful, further investment will be required to develop a market-ready product or service offering. A utilisation plan will be developed during the second phase of project.

This project will provide farmers with an improvement in on-farm decision making based on data and information, an improved understanding and interpretation of sensed data, improved irrigation and nutrient efficiency, greater uptake of modelling technology, increased profitability and reduced soil damage.

They will run a series of facilitated on-line and in-person meetings among approximately 20 Soil CRC members working with Program 1.2 and 1.3, and in other Soil CRC Programs, in particular Program 4.

Use your own screenshot.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Tasmania
University of Southern Queensland
Federation University Australia

Project 2.2.003

New sensors for measuring soil nutrients

Dr Craig Lobsey – Project Leader
University of Southern Queensland

This project will provide farmers and their advisers with tools to help them make the best possible decisions in nutrient and water management. It will develop sensor technology that enables detailed measurement of soil nutrient status and supply, through the soil profile and across the field.

This will provide unprecedented insight into the nutrient status of their soil and the mobility of these nutrients under irrigation and rainfall scenarios. With this technology the distribution of nutrients through the soil profile can be better controlled to maximise both farm profitability and environmental sustainability.

The efficiency of nitrogen applied in-season (e.g. at planting) is low throughout the northern cereal cropping regions. This is attributed to low nitrogen mobility through the soil profile. Yields in these situations are then constrained by low subsoil nitrogen. In these regions, nitrogen management and cropping decisions extend over multiple seasons to build and maintain subsoil nitrogen reserves. In high rainfall regions such as New Zealand and Great Barrier Reef coastal catchments, the mobility of nitrogen is high throughout the profile and so nutrient management decisions require greater focus on leaching potential. Here, nitrogen application must be closely monitored and continually matched to crop demand throughout the root zone.

The ability to cost effectively measure soil nutrient status will be significant. However this addresses only part of the problem. Correct decisions also require understanding soil nutrient supply and dynamics under irrigation and climate scenarios. The development of nutrient sensing technology must be closely linked to sensors that can extend these measurements across the field and through time (i.e. dynamics, soil supply and crop demand) of which soil water status and retention characteristics are highly significant factors. The sensor technology and algorithms that we will develop in this project will be the mechanism by which information on nutrient status and dynamics can finally be provided to farmers and their advisers – enabling a step-change in soil management practices for both profitability and environmental sustainability.

Use your own screenshot.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Southern Queensland
Burdekin Productivity Services
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research

Project 2.2.004

Affordable rapid field-based soil tests

Dr Liang Wang – Project leader
University of Newcastle

Farmers need on farm information on soil chemical properties that can affect crop performance. However, the cost and time required for traditional soil sampling and chemical analyses are uneconomical for use in precision agriculture. This has led to the widespread interest in the development of real-time soil sensing systems.

This project will develop an affordable field-based tool kit for farmers to quickly determine soil chemical properties on their farm. It will develop a user friendly mobile and desktop interface which will access the measurement data, and provide crucial soil nutrient information for the users.

The project will evaluate potential technologies for the rapid determination of soil chemical properties, and present the best solution for rapid in-field chemical soil measurements focusing on soil nutrient status. Training courses and workshops will be offered to farmers to share the research outcomes and promote the rapid testing tool kit.

Several of the most promising technologies for rapid field measurement are radiometric and spectroscopic methods. These methods require the acquisition of sophisticated instruments and software to process the spectral data, which are unaffordable for most farmers.

Soil chemical indicators can be rapidly measured using colorimetric reagents, which is simpler and more affordable. However this method is not always accurate and needs to be modified to provide more precise measurement results.

This project will develop a disposal and affordable device which can simultaneously determine multiple soil key chemical indicators in the field. To do this, we will investigate an application of colorimetric methods in a 3D printed microfluidic device. By using this device, soil solutions can be measured directly in the field with a mobile phone, without sample preparations like other on-site analysis methods.

The device will be cost effective and environmental friendly, which will translate to an easy on-site analysis tool. Here, we will embed colorimetric reagents into the device to quantify the target soil nutrients in samples, so it can greatly simplify the whole analysis process and achieve sample-in/answer-out analysis.

Using 3D printing, we can integrate the functional parts into the microfluidic device that can mitigate the reliance of the sample preparation process and the use of external components. An additional advantage of 3D printing is that once the design has been finalised, we will be able to scale production to manufacture several hundreds of units a week, making it easy to perform a full field validation of the design and its use.

Use your own screenshot.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Newcastle
Burdekin Productivity Services
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
University of Tasmania

Project 2.2.005

Improved soil data management

Dr Nathan Robinson – Project leader
Federation University Australia

Across its four programs, the Soil CRC is producing a great deal of new data. This project will ensure the reliable storage, sharing, analysis and visualisation for all this soil related data.

Through co-design and trial with Soil CRC projects, the project will develop guidelines, process and policies that support discovery and re-use of research data. This will make it easy for researchers, farmer groups, growers and advisors to contribute soil data including sensor data streams into automated and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) systems.

Research will explore how near real-time in-field sensor and other soil data could be used with Soil CRC related data analytics, modelling, decision support and visualisation dashboards.

Soil data that is both spatially and temporally explicit will help researchers use the data for foresight and allow multiple outcomes from data. This becomes important for farmers as being able to use soil data for decision-making is critical to them optimising their soil productivity.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

Federation University Australia
Charles Sturt University
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research New Zealand
NSW Department of Primary Industries
University of Tasmania

Project 2.2.006

Commercialising the Bilby™ – a below ground wireless sensor node

Dr Marcus Hardie- Project leader
University of Tasmania

This project is taking the next steps towards commercialising the Bilby™.

The Bilby™ is a below ground communications node that houses any type of soil sensor. By locating it underground, it is kept safe from damage by stock, machinery or pests. The Bilby™ sends data (such as soil moisture) to an above ground gateway located safely in a non-production area such as a laneway or fence line. It is capably of sending data to a receiver up to 500 metres away.

It will allow farmers to install soil moisture probes along with its power supply and communications, completely underground. This has the dual benefits of protecting expensive equipment and installing sensors in the actual production zone. By taking away the risk of damage to in-paddock sensors, farmers can make data-based decisions to improve soil management.

The project will advance the technical development of the Bilby™, conduct extensive consumer evaluation and advance to commercial readiness to develop a sustainable business model for getting the Bilby™ into the hands of Australian farmers.

This project will increase both the technical and commercial readiness of the Bilby™ with the aim of delivering a field tested, pre-commercialisation device that is ready for commercial investment, compliance testing, marketing, and manufacturing.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

University of Tasmania

Project 2.2.007

Rapid soil tests using ‘lab-on-a-chip’ and an app

Dr Liang Wang- Project leader
University of Newcastle

The costs and time required for traditional soil sampling and chemical analysis can be significant. Many farmers would conduct more soil testing if they had rapid, cheap and reliable in-field soil tests to support their decision making.

The Soil CRC’s project ‘Affordable rapid field-based tests’ has developed a prototype of a field-based toolkit for measuring soil pH and nitrogen, using microfluidic chip technology (‘lab-on-a-chip’). The device will allow GPS mapping of soil testing data to existing soil and geological information, which will help enhance the meaning of the test result. This device is simple and relatively inexpensive.

A related colourimetric calibration tool using smartphone cameras has also been developed. The prototype of the smartphone app uses the phone camera to capture results from the colourimetric measurement of the reactions on the microfluidic chip. This app can automatically interpret the colour values into the quantitative prediction of targeted soil nutrients using calibration models.

The project will undertake commercialisation and market studies for the devices’ design and cost. If fully developed and integrated, the final devices should attract significant commercial interest, especially from organisations that supply soil testing services to farmers. Ultimately, farmers will have access to a faster, cheaper and reliable alternative to conventional soil tests.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

University of Newcastle
University of Tasmania
Charles Sturt University
Burdekin Productivity Services
Herbert Cane Productivity Services

Project 2.2.008

Commercialising the smart penetrometer (Bandicoot)

Dr Marcus Hardie- Project leader
University of Tasmania

The previous Smart Soil Sensors project invested considerable time to understand what growers need in a soil sensor, which led to the development and refinement of the Soil CRC’s Smart Penetrometer. This farm-ready tool will be able to simultaneously measure soil moisture, penetration resistance (soil compaction), and salinity, while being mechanically driven into the soil.

Data from the Smart Penetrometer will be geolocated by GPS and displayed on both the device and mapped in real-time on a smart phone.

This project seeks to build on past success to continue the technical development of the Penetrometer and commence its commercial readiness. It will also conduct extensive grower evaluation and feedback.

Commercialisation and manufacturing of the Smart Penetrometer will put easy-to-use technology in the hands of farmers, giving them improved soil data to inform their decision-making.

Potential benefits for farmers include:

  • better understanding of where and when soil properties vary
  • reduced soil damage by improved ability to link the timing of cultivation and harvest to soil moisture
  • improved understanding of spatial and temporal changes in soil compaction
  • improved ability to identify and manage soil salinity
  • improved ability to map soil salinity, texture, moisture and penetration resistance
  • ability to investigate if poor production is due to salinity, waterlogging, water deficit, compaction, or changes in soil type.

Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

University of Tasmania
Burdekin Productivity Services
Birchip Cropping Group
Riverine Plains Inc
Southern Farming Systems

Project 2.3.002

Visualising Australasia’s Soils: extending the soil data federation

Associate Professor Peter Dahlhaus – Project Leader
Federation University

The Visualising Australasia’s Soils (VAS) project aims to provide Soil CRC participants with access to considerable volumes of reliable quality soil data. It will be sourced from a federation of soil data custodians who share their data according to the rules they set, therefore maintaining control.

The first phase of the project has produced a working internet portal that supports the 16 farmer group participants in their data needs. The second phase of the project will focus on providing tangible benefits to the project participants, especially the farming groups in the Soil CRC. The ultimate goal is to co-create an enduring component of an Australasian soils knowledge system that is self-sustaining and inherently useful for research and education, and ultimately, farmer decision making.

Access to the data will benefit Soil CRC research and industry partners by ensuring that all research builds on the best available and most current data sets. The continued participation of the farming groups from the first project phase, and the inclusion of new ones, is evidence of the project need, with all the farmer group partners in the Soil CRC now included.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Federation University Australia
Landcare Research New Zealand
Southern Cross University
University of Newcastle
AIR EP
Birchip Cropping Group
Burdekin Productivity Services
Central West Farming Systems
Corrigin Farm Improvement
Facey Group
FarmLink Research
The Gillamii Centre
Hart Field Site Group
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Holbrook Landcare Network
Liebe Group
MacKillop Farm Management Group
Mallee Sustainable Farming
North Central CMA
Riverine Plains
Southern Farming Systems
Western Australian No Till Farmers Association
West Midlands Group
Wheatbelt NRM
Wimmera Catchment Management Authority

Project 3.1.003

Recovering nutrients from organic waste streams

Dr Dane Lamb – Project Leader
The University of Newcastle

Large scale agricultural systems rely on inputs of nitrogen and phosphorous which can be costly for farmers. Although phosphorous is significantly present in many agricultural soils, the majority exists in strongly adsorbed or insoluble inorganic forms and is not readily available to agricultural crops.

Every year, large quantities of organic waste streams that are rich in these nutrients are produced globally. The total quantity of phosphorous from various waste streams in Australia is around 20 times higher than the current agricultural demand. There is a particularly strong need to recover phosphorus from waste streams due to its dwindling availability from traditional rock phosphate sources. As well as this, the nutrients present in organic waste streams can pose a threat to the environment by nutrient enrichment causing problems such as surface water eutrophication.

This project will develop and optimise novel technologies to recover essential nutrients from organic waste streams such as poultry manure, pig manure, dairy farm wastes, sewage and industrial effluents. This will be done using an energy efficient process thus providing farmers with an efficient, cost-effective fertiliser solution.

This has to be accomplished through inexpensive, locally-sourced nutrient reserves and innovative technologies to ensure cost-effective cultivation and enhanced productivity. The waste-derived fertiliser products will be assessed across a range of farming systems and soil types.

One of the expected outcomes will be increased crop productivity in Australia, which will make contributions to global food security directly and through technology generation.

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Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

The University of Newcastle
Griffith University
Southern Cross University
Central West Farming Systems
Primary Industries and Regions South Australia
Australian Organics Recycling Association
South East Water
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Landcare Research NZ

Project 3.1.005

Increasing nutrient efficiency with new organic amendments

Professor Terry Rose – Project Leader
Southern Cross University

Many farmers have access to manures or other organic amendments, but transport and spreading costs along with uncertainty over crop responses and longer-term impacts on soils have limited their use.

Crop responses can be inconsistent because organic amendments can have variable effects on soil nutrient cycling and longer-term soil carbon stores. This is due to the complex interactions between soil microbes and soil carbon, and the additional nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and carbon inputs from organic amendments.

When carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus or sulphur are added to soils, and one element is in short supply, soil microbes typically obtain the missing nutrient to sustain their growth by degrading existing soil organic matter to release the needed element. As a result of these processes, and following the death of soil microbes, crop plants may accumulate more of a given nutrient than was applied in the fertiliser or amendment. This is often simplistically seen as ‘enhanced nutrient use efficiency (NUE)’. However, while there may be some short-term nutrient gain, it comes at the expense of native soil organic matter degradation and this will have longer term consequences for both soil processes and crop nutrition.

The project will determine how new ‘nutrient balanced’ organic amendment products affect NUE in the field compared to traditional fertiliser inputs. It will resolve the mechanisms that drive NUE, using a combination of field and controlled-environment studies with locally available manure and treated (composted or thermally treated) manure sources.

Ultimately the project will develop recommendations for the use of new organic amendment products to give growers confidence to replace or partially replace mineral fertiliser inputs with organic amendment products.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

NSW Department of Primary Industries
FarmLink
NSW EPA

Project 3.1.006

Unlocking soil nutrients with organic amendments

Dr Balaji Seshadri – Project Leader
The University of Newcastle

Enhancing nutrient use efficiency in agricultural soils is challenging due to diminishing natural resources such as phosphate rock and water availability. The use of organic wastes (e.g. composts, manures, biosolids) as soil amendments can potentially reduce the dependence on naturally available materials.

Maintaining and enhancing soil fertility are key issues for sustainability in an agricultural system with organic or low input methods. This project will study the effect of organic amendments on nutrient release in selected soil and cropping systems under different soil management practices. It aims to explore how organic amendments can unlock tightly bound soil nutrients, enhancing nutrient use efficiency (NUE). The project will also establish innovative approaches to apply organic amendments in agricultural soils and examine ways to make the nutrients available for plants through moisture retention and nutrient mobilisation.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

The University of Newcastle
University of Southern Queensland
Central West Farming Systems
South East Water
Primary Industries and Regions SA
Australian Organics Recycling Association
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research New Zealand

Project 3.1.007

New fertilisers to overcome nutrient stratification in soil

Professor Ajayan Vinu – Project Leader
The University of Newcastle

The use of phosphorous fertilisers in Australia is relatively inefficient, with the majority of fertilisers remaining unused by crops and wasted. This causes nutrient accumulation and stratification problems which can decrease crop yields and increase fertiliser input costs. Fertiliser inputs are one of the highest single variable costs for agricultural production in Australia.

The inefficient uptake of fertiliser is mainly due to phosphorus being highly stratified near the soil surface. This may have significant limitations for its management and crop productivity. Ongoing strategies for the management of nutrient stratification in Australian soils are extremely limited.

More effective fertiliser formulations are needed to mitigate phosphorous stratification and enable the redistribution of phosphorous to the moisture-rich subsoil zones. This project will design and evaluate biochar clay-based nanocomposites with properties for enhanced nutrient use efficiency, crop productivity, and reduced nutrient losses to the environment.

The project will create a radical improvement in the current generation of phosphorous based fertilisers with next-generation organic-inorganic composite fertilisers to improve the nutrient use efficiency of phosphorous by reducing phosphorous stratification in the topsoil. Commercialisation of a newly developed fertiliser product will benefit major grain crop growers in Australia by minimising nutrient stratification issues in the no-till system.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

The University of Newcastle
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Murdoch University
WANTFA
Minotaur Exploration Limited
Andromeda Metals Limited
Peats Soil

Project 3.1.008

Evaluating the agronomic benefits of biosolids biochar

Professor Ravi Naidu – Project Leader
University of Newcastle

Water treatment processes in Australia and globally generate millions of tonnes of biosolids, which are rich in nutrients and organic matter. These biosolids have long been used as soil amendments and as a source of nutrients and organic carbon, helping to maintain soil structure as well as minimising soil acidity problems.

More recently, an increased recognition of the presence of emerging contaminants (especially PFAS), and their link to human and environmental health problems, has led to constraints on the use of biosolids in agriculture. As a result, millions of tonnes of biosolids are being stockpiled globally, limiting its use as a source of nutrients.

This project will confirm whether the pyrolysis process (heating without oxygen) developed by South East Water can be used to convert biosolid waste into biochar to be used as a safe nutrient source and soil amendment for agriculture. The research aims to determine whether this process will convert toxins into either non-toxic forms or remove organic emerging contaminants, thereby ensuring safe use of biosolids as biochar in slow-release fertiliser.

The project also seeks to evaluate the effects of biosolid biochar on plant growth, soil ecosystems and the benefits on land application, as well as demonstrating the sustainability of biochar under varying soil conditions.

The research results will be critical for both the water and agriculture industries in Australia, as they will allow them to recycle and reuse the nutrient elements in millions of tons of biosolids. It may also provide a viable, cost effective and safe source of fertiliser and amendments to increase the productivity and health of Australian soils.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Newcastle
South East Water
Southern Farming Systems

Project 3.2.001

Improving pesticide delivery efficiency

Dr Yanju Liu – Project Leader
University of Newcastle

Pests and insects are causing significant damage in agriculture all over the world, requiring significant application of pesticide and insecticide. For example, the cane beetle damages the productivity of sugarcane by feeding on roots and stems, causing losses in hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The traditional application of insecticides has resulted in a large residue of pesticides in soils and surrounding environments, damaging soil enzyme activity and impacting nutrient availability. Key enzyme activities could be improved by controlling pesticide residue to a minimum level.

Nano-porous materials have the potential to encapsulate pesticides and improve their efficiency by controlled release of the active ingredient, thus minimising pesticide residues and damage of soil functionality. This project aims to examine nano-porous materials (either natural or carbon-based materials) as potential carriers to improve pesticide delivery. This will be done through glasshouse evaluation using imidacloprid and cane beetle control as examples.

This is critical for the effective control of cane grubs as well as improved soil performance. Upon development of materials, extended application to other pesticide active ingredients can be evaluated for wider benefits to other agricultural practices.

This project will engage sugarcane famer groups from HCPSL and Burdekin Productivity Services to develop a controlled release insecticide system through collaborative research activities in organisations including University of Newcastle, Griffith University and University of Southern Queensland.

This project will develop a pesticide product that can efficiently control cane beetles using cost-effective, low residue, controlled release of a pesticide delivery system. Following glasshouse evaluation, the product will be demonstrated to farmers groups for future field trails, and manufacturing companies.

Farmers can potentially save resources and gain productivity, reducing economic losses due to cane beetles. Soil functions, such as enzyme activity and nutrient bioavailability, can be improved through limiting the residue of pesticides in soils.

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Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Newcastle
Griffith University
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Burdekin Productivity Services

Project 3.3.002

New products for subsoil constraints

Justine Cox – Project Leader
NSW Department of Primary Industries

The majority of Australian soils have constraints such as sodicity, acidity, and salinity that limit agricultural productivity. These limitations in the subsoil can adversely affect the ability of plants to access and extract stored water and nutrients, resulting in major financial losses for growers.

Current amelioration techniques have limited effectiveness. This project will harness recent advances in chemical engineering techniques and development of innovative organic based amendments to more effectively address subsoil constraints that affect many Australian agricultural soils. It will improve our understanding of the interactions of these novel products with different soil types and crops. The project will also address zone specific placement of amendments by using advanced formulations and application machinery. 

The current use of chemical solutions to ameliorate these constraints is a critical part of the management practice to maintain the productivity and profitability for farmers, yet the effectiveness of these practices is extremely low.

Although gypsum and lime are widely used as the main soil amendments in addressing soil sodicity and acidity, they are sparingly soluble salts which reduces their effectiveness to ameliorate subsoil constraints. Therefore, more effective amendment formulations are needed to address these subsoil constraints.

This project aims to develop a new generation of submicron organic-based amendments with the ultimate aim of correcting subsoil constraints and thereby increasing crop production. These outcomes will constitute new knowledge and significant contributions in the use of a new generation of agricultural amendments to address the most challenging problems such as managing hostile soils, improving crop production and providing enough food for a rising global population.

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Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

NSW Department of Primary Industries
University of Newcastle
University of Southern Queensland

Project 3.3.003

New amendments for sandy soils

Professor Richard Bell – Project Leader
Murdoch University

Crop productivity is generally lower on sandy soils than on loam and clay soils under the same environment and technology. Sandy soils cover over 11 million hectares of agricultural land in southern Australia. The focus of most research to improve performance of sandy soils is on their limited capacity to supply water and nutrient resources to the roots of crops.

While sandy soils vary across a continuum, they have a number of distinctive limitations including poor pH buffering capacity, low biological activity, low water holding capacity, high water repellence, and a high susceptibility to compaction. These all combine to limit crop production.

This project proposes that step changes towards high performance sandy soils will come from permanently raising their reactive surface area, with added clay or recalcitrant organic matter or both. The project will design a long-term, multi-site field program for improvement of sandy soils with clay and organic amendments. The results should help farmers to manage their sandy soils more productively.

Previous research has shown that doubling production on these soils can be achieved but that the mechanisms are poorly understood. Due to the high potential for benefit to growers, it is important to understand ameliorative processes to identify the most cost effective treatments.

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Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Murdoch University
Federation University
Primary Industries and Regions SA
West Midlands Group
Australian Organics Recycling Association

Project 3.3.004

New organic amendments for retaining soil moisture

Professor Chengrong Chen – Project Leader
Griffith University

Persistent drought has been a feature of the agricultural landscape across Australia. Water stress has short- and long-term effects on soil health and therefore productivity. Retaining moisture in these environments is a high priority.

Drought reduces soil water availability and crop nutrient uptake, increases fracturing, crusting and deterioration of soil structure, and causes soil erosion therefore decreasing crop yield. Currently commercially available water retention materials include surfactants which help reduce soil water repellence and improve soil wetting processes. However, the effectiveness and environmental risk of some of these materials has yet to be assessed.

This project will develop novel, highly efficient and environmentally friendly moisture retention materials through evaluating, modifying and activating naturally occurring, locally available organic- and clay-based materials to provide cost-effective practical solutions.

These will enhance soil moisture capture and retention, improve seed germination, crop establishment and farming activity under dry conditions.

By developing cost-effective, environmentally friendly moisture retention materials, farmers will be able to increase the productivity of their soils and therefore their profitability, especially in dry conditions.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Griffith University
The University of Newcastle
Australian Organics Recycling Association
Western Australian No Tillage Farmers Association
Herbert Cane Productivity Services

Project 3.3.005

New amendments for improving soil structure

Justine Cox – Project Leader
NSW Department of Primary Industries

Soil structure – the three‐dimensional arrangement of organic and mineral complexes and pore space – has a significant effect on nutrient and water transport, which affects plant performance. Alkaline dispersive soils dominate crop production throughout south-eastern Australia and are subject to severe structural degradation. These soils exhibit poor soil-water-air ratios that limit effective root growth, and as a result, yields are significantly reduced which is a major opportunity cost for growers.

Current strategies for the management of structural stability in Australian soils are mostly short-term measures aimed at minimising salt effects on plant production. More effective amendment formulations are needed to address structural instability and aggregates that slake, swell and disperse when wet. This project will use recent advances in soil-based nanomaterial manufacturing, biochar technology and soil microbiology, to design innovative organic-based amendments that will improve soil structural stability in alkaline dispersive soils.

A range of practices including sub-soil manuring, gypsum application and use of ‘primer-crops’ have been tested to address soil structural constraints, but the results have been unreliable and even resulted in financial loss to growers. Despite the demonstrated step change in crop yields that can be achieved by subsoil manuring, implementing this change in the industry has been limited.

This project has the potential to revolutionise the amelioration of multiple soil constraints by developing an improved formulation of organic-based amendments that has applications to several soil types and the broader agricultural industry. There are also significant opportunities for new industries using recycled organic waste to enhance the efficiency of conventional soil amendments. This will allow a major step forward in closing the yield gap in Australia.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

NSW Department of Primary Industries
The University of Newcastle
Southern Cross University
Griffith University
Carbon Powered Mineral Technology and Products Pty Ltd
Sonic Essentials Pty Ltd

Project 3.4.001

Evaluating alternative rhizobial carriers

Professor Chengrong Chen – Project Leader
Griffith University

Rhizobium inoculation has contributed significantly to the supply of nitrogen in most farming systems, but the availability of peat – the most widely used carrier for Rhizobium – is a non-renewable resource and is becoming increasingly scarce in many regions. As well as this, the existing inoculation techniques often result in low survival rates of rhizobia on the seed and in the soil due to desiccation and heat, and this limits the nitrogen-fixing efficacy of the rhizobial inoculants.

This project will employ a suite of advanced analytical approaches to evaluate the suitability of locally available, low cost organic and inorganic materials, biochars produced from different feed stocks and pyrolysis conditions, and emerging biopolymers as alternative carriers for effectively delivering rhizobia.

The project will also address the issue of capturing and retaining moisture to improve prolonged survival of rhizobial inoculants. There will be new knowledge on cost-effective alternative carriers for formulation of rhizobial inoculants to improve legume nitrogen-fixation and soil productivity in Australian farming systems.
This project will evaluate locally available and newly emerging alternative carriers to provide practical solutions to the desiccation issue through close collaboration with industry and farmer groups.

The key outputs will be the new knowledge on alternative carrier materials for capturing and retaining moisture as well as supporting the growth of rhizobia, and ultimately, other soil performance enhancing bacteria.

Novel alternative carrier products selected and manufactured during this project after glasshouse trials will be gradually adopted in collaboration with inoculant manufacturers to a small scale production for trial by farmer groups.

This project will contribute to economic benefits for farmers through reduced nitrogen inputs, cheaper and more effective inoculants and better crop and pasture yields.

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Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Griffith University
The University of Newcastle
Murdoch University
Central West Farming Systems
WANTFA
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Burdekin Productivity Services
Australian Organics Recycling Association

Project 3.4.002
Evaluation of innovative microbial carrier products

Professor Chengrong Chen – Project Leader
Griffith University

Peat is the most-used carrier for rhizobia legume inoculants. However, it is a non-renewable resource, and often has low rhizobial survival rate in soil or coated seeds when placed under environmental stresses such as heat or drought.

The previous Soil CRC project ‘Evaluating alternative rhizobial carriers’ assessed 100 potential carriers and identified and developed the best four alternative carrier formulations – mill-mud based, biochar-based, diatomite-based and cow manure-based. These all have higher rhizobial survival rates, nodulation and drought resistance than peat inoculants under laboratory conditions.

These novel rhizobial carrier formulations developed from the laboratory now require large-scale glasshouse and field trials to evaluate their efficiency. The project will look at nitrogen-fixing efficacy, crop yield and environmental impacts.

This project will involve manufacturing of these novel carriers for seed coating and granular products and glasshouse and field experiments to evaluate their efficacy across different soil types, climatic zones and agricultural regions in Australia.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Griffith University
University of Newcastle
Hart Field Site Group Inc.
Burdekin Productivity Services
WANTFA
Central West Farming Systems

Project 4.1.002

Plant based solutions to improve soil performance

Associate Professor Terry Rose – Project Leader
Southern Cross University

Crop diversity in major cropping systems in Australia is limited, yet diversity in farming systems is recognised for providing multiple benefits including resilience, weed and disease suppression and improved soil health. To reverse the decline in species diversity in cropping, this project will identify rotations that enable profitable integration of a range of species into farming systems.

This project will determine how soil performance and profitability are affected by increased crop diversity in rotational systems in both broadacre grains and sugarcane industries. It will investigate the potential for plant-based solutions to improve soil performance through rhizosphere modification.

In glasshouse and small plot trials, the project will identify differences in root exudation and rhizodeposition, and root depth and distribution, between various crop types and link these to changes in soil biology, porosity and nutrient cycling. These ultimately contribute to the soil’s ability to sustain healthy, high yielding crops.

Long term (greater than 5 years) field experiments will assess the viability of integrating diverse species into the system as winter rotation crops, summer cover crops or perennial legumes depending on the constraints of climate, soils and weeds. Long-term field trials are essential as it has been established that outcomes from rhizosphere re-engineering are not immediate and improvements in productivity and resilience are not seen in short-term experiments.

The project will involve direct adoption of agronomic practices by Grower Group networks and beyond which will deliver improved soil health, increased soil resilience to stressors and improved farm profitability.

The impact of the project will be enhanced soil resilience leading to more profitable and sustainable grain and sugarcane farming systems through the use of diverse cropping rotations.

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Related Programs

Duration

Four years

Participants

Southern Cross University
Central West Farming Systems
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Murdoch University
Charles Sturt University
Facey Group
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Hart Field Site Group
Riverine Plains

Project 4.1.003

Evaluating soil functional resilience

Dr Mehran Rezaei Rashti – Project Leader
Griffith University

Compaction and drought can affect soil fertility and health which in turn can lead to a decline in crop yield and profitability. There is a lack of practical protocols for measuring soil health indicators. In order to drive practice change, growers need access to simple, robust and affordable methods for measuring their soil health status.

This project will assess the resilience of soil against the environmental stresses of compaction and drought in agricultural ecosystems.

It aims to provide an improved process based understanding of relationships between compaction and drought stresses, soil ecosystem resilience and functionality and sustainable crop productivity and profitability. The knowledge generated will be critical for Soil CRC partners and farmer groups that work towards adoption of best management practices for re-engineering of stressed soils for higher crop productivity and farm profitability. In the longer term, the tests and protocols produced in this project will have broader application across Australian farmer group networks and agricultural industries.

There are three major research components developed in this project to provide an improved process based understanding of how soil systems function, change and adapt to compaction and drought stresses.

  1. Identification of main indicators of soil functional resilience in grain and sugarcane cropping systems against compaction and drought stresses.
  2. Improvement of soil functional resilience to compaction and drought stresses for re-engineering of higher performance soils.
  3. Development of robust and affordable protocols for evaluation of soil resilience against compaction and drought stresses in grain and sugarcane cropping systems.
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Related Programs

Duration

Two years

Participants

Griffith University
Facey Group
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
NSW Department of Primary Industries

Project 4.1.004

Regenerative farming systems

Dr Gwen Grelet – Project Leader
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research NZ

A growing number of innovative farmers are attempting to restore or improve the performance of Australian soils using regenerative practices that are designed to build soil carbon. However, up until now, evidence of success has been largely anecdotal. This project will take a co-innovation approach, including researchers, farmers and extension practitioners to quantify the effectiveness of regenerative farming systems for improving soil performance across defined soil and climate constraints. Through a series of workshops, shared research needs will be defined and prioritised, and a collaborative research program will be developed and implemented to help farmers better understand how regenerative agriculture practices might be used in Australian agriculture.

Regenerative agriculture seeks to enhance synergetic relationships that build organic matter and increase soil carbon, using a range of practices including no-tillage, cover crops, crop rotations, intercropping, integrated livestock management, increased biodiversity and diversification, reduced inputs of synthetic fertilisers and biocides, addition of biological products such as compost, seaweed extracts, fish hydrolysates and vermicast. These practices are aimed at optimising soil carbon functionality, with the ultimate result being an increase in plant and animal performance.

The effects of individual practices have sometimes been studied in isolation, but regenerative farmers adopt a whole-system approach that has been mostly overlooked by research scientists. The lack of engagement between scientists and regenerative farmers is partly due to (i) the variety of practices are difficult to classify, (ii) the knowledge being context-specific and scattered amongst practitioners; (ii) regenerative management strategies (holistic) being viewed as too complex and time consuming to become mainstream.

This project will promote collaboration between scientists and regenerative farmers, in order to study carbon functionality in regenerative farming systems and quantify key farm performance outcomes.

At the core of the project is a co-innovation platform seeking to progress relationships between researchers, farmers and extension practitioners, from engagement to collaboration. This platform enables co-delivery of a research program focussed on characterising carbon functionality in regenerative farming systems. The program is investigating whether soil carbon functionality can be improved using regenerative farming practices (including extremely carbon poor soils), and whether regenerative farm management strategies do indeed increase farm performance across multiple key outcomes.

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Related Programs

Duration

Two and a half years

Participants

Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research NZ
Primary Industries and Regions SA
Soils for Life
Wheatbelt NRM

Project 4.1.005

Evaluating ecosystems role in increasing soil carbon and soil resilience

Dr Mehran Rezaei Rashti – Project Leader
Griffith University

Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals and humans. Farming systems that maintain or build soil organic carbon generally improve soil health, resilience and productivity. However, there is no accepted method for describing soil biological resilience. This project will build on the Soil CRC project Evaluating soil functional resilience by adopting the methodologies developed to measure soil organic carbon pools and resilience against various stressors.

It aims to understand the relationship between ecosystem-based management practices (e.g. cover cropping; regenerative agricultural management) and improvement of soil organic carbon and resilience using Soil CRC field trials and paired sites. This project will quantitatively describe soil functional resilience and understand which farming practices and soil organic carbon pools contribute to this resilience.

It is expected to deliver recommendations and decision support tools for Soil CRC farmer groups to measure their soil carbon stocks and resilience and determine when their applied management practices will deliver positive outcomes.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Griffith University
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Central West Farming Systems
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Soils For Life
Facey Group
PIRSA
AORA

Project 4.1.006

New farming methods to sequester soil carbon

Dr David Minkey – Project Leader
West Australian No-Tillage Farmers Association

This project aims to trial, measure and demonstrate crop sequencing and new technologies that can sequester organic carbon, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil fertility in crop production systems that have traditionally struggled to accumulate carbon.

Four large-scale field trials will be used to assess soil management and amelioration technologies, and various crop sequence approaches will be utilised to build soil carbon and improve soil health.

The project seeks to determine if these new soil management practices can enable growers to participate in carbon trading schemes.

Related Programs

Duration

Four years

Participants

Western Australian No-Tillage Farmers Association
Murdoch University
Facey Group
Corrigin Farm Improvement Group
West Midlands Group
The Liebe Group

Co-funder

WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Project 4.1.007
Building soil resilience and carbon through plant diversity

Dr Terry Rose – Project Leader
Southern Cross University

Many farmers want to improve their soil resilience to sustainably increase their productivity. This project will investigate changes in soil resilience and carbon stocks under a range of farming practices.

A range of agronomic strategies to increase plant diversity in cropping systems, including crop rotation, intercropping, temporary intercropping, pasture (ley) phases and cover cropping have been established in long-term cropping trials in the Soil CRC project ‘Plant based solutions to improve soil performance’. While the impacts on short-term changes to soil function, soil water balances, and crop yields have been quantified, longer-term impacts of these strategies on soil resilience and soil carbon dynamics, as well as productivity, remain unknown.

The project will investigate changes in soil resilience and carbon at a Birchip Cropping Group site in Victoria. It will also determine what reductions in fertiliser use can be gained in cane crops following mixed species cover crops at Ingham, Queensland, with Herbert Cane Productivity Services. It will also be planting a diverse range of plants in cropping systems to enhance soil function and resilience in the medium term (four to seven years) at two existing long-term field sites (Riverine Plains, Victoria and Central West Farming Systems, NSW).

The project will investigate how much organic material from cover crop and intercrop species is stabilised in soil and how it contributes to soil aggregation.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Southern Cross University
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Central West Farming Systems
Riverine Plains
Birchip Cropping Group
Herbert Cane Productivity Services

Project 4.2.001

Improved management of herbicide residues in soil

Dr Michael Rose – Project Leader
NSW Department of Primary Industries

The loss of productivity due to herbicide residues as a soil constraint has not been accurately determined due to the complexity and lack of tools to quantify herbicide damage. However, it is thought to be significant, particularly in sandy soils.

Herbicides are a valuable tool for controlling weeds and realising crop yield potential. Currently, herbicide label guidelines are general and unable to account for the combinations of soil types and weather conditions that can affect herbicide persistence in soil. Herbicide residues in soils can limit crop performance if not managed correctly. It is difficult for growers and advisors to know whether herbicide residues will cause issues, because the persistence and behaviour of these residues depends on numerous site-specific factors, including soil and climatic conditions.

Increased weed resistance to herbicides means that many growers are increasing application doses and frequency, increasing the range of herbicides used and importantly, returning to pre-emergent residual herbicides.

Growers need evidence-backed guidance on the site-specific persistence of herbicides to allow for flexible crop selection and avoidance of plant-back damage, and field-validated information on the potential long-term effects of herbicide residues on soil and crop health.

There are currently very few tools to assist growers to determine the level of herbicide residues present, and if they negatively affect soil and crop performance. This project will develop new knowledge and tools to better understand the factors regulating herbicide persistence and bioavailability. This will give farmers an increased confidence in crop choice, timing of sowing and herbicide management to ensure soil and crop performance are not limited by herbicide residues.

The outcome will be that farmers are better informed and equipped to react to variable environmental and soil conditions, which will reduce risk and increase crop diversity, yields and economic returns at a lower environmental cost. Importantly, major losses after planting will be eliminated and farmers will have greater flexibility in crop rotations to further build soil health.

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Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

NSW Department of Primary Industries
Murdoch University
Southern Cross University
WANTFA
AIR EP
Birchip Cropping Group

Project 4.2.003

Overcoming soil constraints in highly calcareous soils

Dr Nigel Wilhelm – Project Leader
Primary Industries and Regions SA

Calcareous soils are prevalent across south eastern Australia, occupying 60% of the cropping soils in the region. Calcareous soils are high in calcium carbonate which results in multiple constraints including low phosphorous, low water holding capacity, poor nitrogen cycling, high rhizoctonia burdens, severe fertiliser toxicity during germination and extreme pH, sodicity and salinity at depth. These can all result in severely limited crop productivity.

With co-investment from GRDC, this project will examine soil limitations in calcareous soils in innovative ways and within a farming systems context so that the outcomes will be realistic and easily implemented on farm. It will develop innovative physical and chemical management packages which are expected to include activated and nutrient enriched organic matter and chemical amendments to manipulate pH and redox potential. It will also provide information on threshold levels for constraints in highly calcareous soils and may use novel amendment products being developed in other Soil CRC projects.

The ultimate aim is to improve the soil conditions on calcareous soils and increase water use efficiency and crop performance.

Related Programs

Duration

Two and a half years

Participants

Primary Industries and Regions SA
NSW Department of Primary Industries
MacKillop Farm Management Group
Agricultural Innovation and Research Eyre Peninsula

Co-funders

Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC)

Project 4.2.004

Integrated solutions for accessing soil moisture

Dr Murray Hart – Project Leader
NSW Department of Primary Industries

Many Australian agricultural soils contain multiple physical and chemical constraints that limit effective root growth which limits water and nutrient use by crops. As a result, yields are significantly less, resulting in major opportunity costs for growers.

The ability of roots to grow through soil unhindered by physical or chemical constraints is key to making full use of the available water resources.

Subsoil constraints are likely to have large effects on the how much water crops need. Quantifying how subsoil constraints affect a crop’s ability to use soil water is important for productivity and water-use efficiency, because yield is linked to transpiration.

This multi-state, field-based project will utilise recent advances in soil amelioration techniques to address multiple soil (especially subsoil) constraints. This will improve our understanding of the interactions of these strategies with how plants use soil water in different soil types and farming systems.

The project will establish four long-term (5+ years) experiments to assess how amelioration strategies will improve crop rooting depth, water use and productivity by re-engineering soils with multiple constraints.

Economic assessments of amelioration strategies will be developed to guide the adoption of better soil management strategies by farmers. By maintaining experiments for more than five years, the project will address the most challenging problems of managing hostile soils to deliver solutions that improve the profitability of crop production in Australia.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

NSW Department of Primary Industries
Agriculture Victoria
Murdoch University
Burdekin Productivity Services
Charles Sturt University

Project 4.2.005

Assessing soil water storage

Dr Alice Melland – Project Leader
University of Southern Queensland

This project aims to quantify how the diagnosis and management of soil constraints changes soil water attributes such as infiltration, storage, drainage, and crop interaction.

Through field site data collection, installation of sensors, use of proximal soil sensing and critical review, this project will develop calibrated soil water characteristic models for each site and the relevant systems-based treatments. This information will be collected at existing Soil CRC field sites.

The Soil CRC has field-sites where systems-based approaches and novel physicochemical approaches are being investigated in order to deliver high performing soil. There is an increasing demand to better understand how these various approaches are changing both soil water infiltration and storage, drainage, and root access to stored water and resources.

The data will be used to develop tools that support growers to manage their soil to increase access to soil water, as well as assess changes to soil water in the future. Long term forecasts will be developed for each site that can be validated throughout the lifetime of the Soil CRC.

The mechanisms that control soil water change the most will be identified. These will inform decision support tools and allow a level of forecast capability through crop modelling. These outcomes will provide more certainty around in identifying management practices for better soil water use and increased production.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Southern Queensland
Federation University Australia
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Central West Farming Systems
FarmLink
Riverine Plains Inc

Project 4.2.006

Capitalising on established field trials for ameliorating (sub)soil constraints

Professor Richard Bell – Project Leader
Murdoch University

Long-term field trials are essential for understanding the effects of amelioration techniques on soil health and water use efficiency. Soil amendments need time to change soil properties, and responses may vary yearly due to climate variability.

This project builds on six long-term field trials established by three Soil CRC projects to capitalise on the investment in these sites and continue investigations for a further two cropping seasons.

The field experiments will now extend across four cropping seasons and are based in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. Four sites were part of Project 4.2.004, and two were from Project 3.3.003 and Project 4.1.002 on deep sandy soils.

By extending this research, the project will capture more climate variability and enable the economic analysis of outcomes for four cropping seasons.

The experiments explore recent advances in soil amelioration techniques to address the challenges of managing multiple soil constraints. They aim to improve our understanding of the interactions of these novel strategies with crop use of soil water in contrasting soil types and farming systems over varied seasons.

The experiments represent a close collaboration between the various research groups and farmer groups, ensuring that the treatments and measurements are relevant to the needs and interests of farmers in the local areas.

The outcomes of the project are expected to improve current methods to ameliorate subsoil constraints through development of new and more effective practices. This will enable more efficient use of soil water across a range of Australian farming systems.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

Murdoch University
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Burdekin Productivity Services
West Midlands Group
Facey Group
Corrigin Farm Improvement Group
Primary Industries and Regions South Australia

Project 4.3.005

Diagnosis frameworks for multiple and complex soil constraints

Associate Professor Keith Pembleton – Project Leader
University of Southern Queensland

The purpose of this project is to diagnose and prioritise multiple and interacting soil constraints at the sub-field level using farmer generated and publicly available data. The project is developing underpinning data-centric methods as a software code framework that future decision support tools will use to diagnose soil constraints.

The goal of this research is to reduce the cost barrier (the need for detailed soil sampling at depth) to farmers diagnosing complex and multiple soil constraints in their fields.

It is achieving this by developing a hybrid modelling and diagnostic approach that brings together biophysical models, artificial intelligence (AI) and statistical approaches to analysing farmer and publicly available data to identify and diagnose soil constraints at a subfield level.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Southern Queensland
West Midlands Group
Burdekin Productivity Services
Birchip Cropping Group
Riverine Plains Inc

Project 4.3.006

Optimising soil constraint management through computer-based learning and modelling

Dr Chloe Lai – Project Leader
University of Southern Queensland

This project aims to find the best ways to manage multiple soil constraints, such as sodicity, acidity, and salinity, to help farmers make informed soil management decisions that maximise productivity and profitability.

There are different ways to manage constraints in isolation, but deciding which method to use and when can be challenging. This is due to the high variability in the responsiveness of soils to ameliorants where multiple soil constraints exist.

To tackle this challenge, the project proposes a computer-based approach to optimising soil constraint management. Known as a knowledge-guided machine-learning modelling framework, it uses scientific understanding and learns from existing data to predict which combinations of soil management will work best for a particular soil affected by multiple constraints under specific conditions.

The project team will engage growers in this research to cultivate early adopters and ensure that the eventual universal decision-support tool will be used by the industry. Such tools will improve soil function and capacity across Australian agriculture while enhancing productivity and profitability.

The project will also standardise and use data from published studies and Soil CRC’s past and current experiments to ensure the data will be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR).

This research builds on two Program 4 projects: Improving decision support systems, which improved the representation of soil constraints in various decision support tools; and Diagnosis frameworks for multiple and complex soil constraints, which developed a diagnostic framework for multiple and interacting soil constraints.

Related Programs

Duration

Three years

Participants

University of Southern Queensland
Riverine Plains Inc
Burdekin Productivity Services
West Midlands Group
Mallee Sustainable Farming

Project 6.1.001

Building Capacity Project

Felicity Harrop – Project Leader
North Central Catchment Management Authority

As farmers better understand the importance of sustainable soil management for their productivity and profitability, they need advice, technical assistance and expertise from their local grower groups.

This project is co-funded by the Australian Government through the Building Landcare Community and Capacity component of the Smart Farms Program. It will deliver increased soil technical capacity and capability in grower groups, Landcare groups and NRM organisations, both within and outside of the Soil CRC.

The project is building technical capacity of these groups to deliver soil health information to farmers. It is leveraging the significant skills, expertise and collaborative partnerships within the Soil CRC to build the soil health technical capacity of these groups.

Three communities of practice (CoPs) have been established across Australia, each one made up of 10 participants from groups in areas of common interest. The three CoPs cover the West – WA; South – SA, Vic, Tas and Southern NSW and North – Northern NSW and Qld.

Of the 30 groups that are represented, 15 are farmer groups and 15 are NRM organisations. Nineteen of the participants are from groups outside of the Soil CRC. They have analysed the existing soil science knowledge, skills and confidence of the participants and where they currently source knowledge on soil science practice and trends.

Each of the three CoPs are developing a capacity building plan that best addresses the gaps and needs of the individuals within each CoP and the CoP as a whole. These plans will reflect the existing knowledge bases of individual participants, the needs and priorities of the groups for whom they work, the delivery needs of the projects that they are responsible for (i.e. Smart Farms projects), and the soil and farming systems issues of the region.

In the medium term, these three communities of practice will have positioned themselves as knowledge hubs driving adoption of sustainable, productive soil stewardship at the farm level.

Duration

Two years

Webinars

Participants

North West Local Land Services
Northern Slopes Landcare Association
North Coast Local Land Services
Central West Local Land Services
Northern Grower Alliance
Burnett Catchment Care Association
Central Highlands Regional Resources Use Planning Cooperative (CHRRUP)
Hunter Local Land Services
Burdekin Productivity Services
Herbert Cane Productivity Services
Perth NRM
South West Catchments Council
WA Hemp Growers’ Co-op Ltd (HempGro)
South Coast NRM
Northern Agricultural Catchments Council NRM
Morawa Farm Improvement Group
Southern Dirt
The Gillamii Centre
West Midlands Group
Wheatbelt NRM
Upper Hopkins Land Management Group
Natural Resources SA Murray-Darling Basin
Eyre Peninsula NRM
Northern & Yorke NRM
Holbrook Landcare Network
Riverine Plains
Farmlink Research
Central West Farming Systems
Southern Farming Systems
Birchip Cropping Group