Joint media release: Boost for soil management capacity in Western Australia
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins MP
Western Australian Minister for Agriculture and Food, Jackie Jarvis MLC
World Soil Day is being marked with a $6.9 million investment in two visionary projects by the Albanese Labor Government and the Western Australian Government to improve land management and sustainable agricultural production in the State’s south.
This investment forms part of the 17 State-Commonwealth partnership arrangements with jurisdictions to address priorities of the National Soil Action Plan (2023-2028).
The ‘Soils – New Horizons’ project – supported through the $6.9 million co-investment - will provide DIY soil sampling test kits to help farmers refine their understanding and interpretation of soil data to compare it with national benchmarks.
With $2.11 million in federal funding and $1.69 million from the State Government, this project will extend two existing WA programs that are working to protect waterways and reduce the loss of nutrients from agricultural runoff from grazing properties across priority areas.
The ‘Know Your Southern Soils WA’, project aims to increase soil knowledge and drive adoption of better practices to improve natural resources.
The project will capture soil data and make it publicly available to improve the knowledge of soil condition and trends, and better support the South Coast’s natural capital initiative – a significant advancement in how farmers can assess and manage natural capital for more sustainable stewardship.
With $1.56 million from the Albanese Labor Government and $1.54 from the WA Government, together with $1.2 million from industry partners, the project will:
- undertake collection and assessment of soil data on the south coast
- engage with and extend knowledge to decision makers, natural resource management professionals and advisors through workshops, demonstrations and communications collateral; and
- increase scientific capacity through recruitment of a graduate soil scientist and a regional soil facilitator.
Projects are being funded as part of $20 million from the 2023-2024 Federal budget to implement the plan in addition to co-contributions from each state.
The projects complement investments under the Natural Heritage Trust Climate-Smart Agriculture Program, which includes $36 million to improve soil information and soil expertise, and over $190 million to support farmers to adopt climate-smart sustainable agriculture practices.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins MP:
“These projects backed by the Albanese Labor Government will strengthen Western Australia’s soil health and contribute to future productivity and sustainability in agriculture as part of the National Soil Action Plan.
“When farmers apply excess phosphorus, this reduces their returns and contributes to poor water quality, so the projects will not only save farmers money but protect the State’s waterways.
“The Albanese Labor Government is proudly partnering with jurisdictions to progress the action plan through local action on the ground with farmers, land managers, soil researchers and natural resource management groups.”
Quotes attributable to Western Australian Minister for Agriculture and Food, Jackie Jarvis MLC:
“This collaboration forms part of the National Bilateral Soil Partnership to help farmers in the southern parts of our State to better understand the diversity of their property’s soil quality and guide best practice land management.
“Farmers will be able to improve business productivity and profitability, while reducing the environmental impact from nutrient loss to waterways, by having the skills and knowledge to align a property’s nutrient requirements to more efficient fertiliser use.
“The soil data collated through these two new projects will underpin national economic and environmental data for water, soil, plants and animals to help create sustainable, resilient landscapes for current and future generations.”