Geared Up, Well-Trained, and Coming for Your Soils
CSIRO soils training day
The National Soils Monitoring Program (NSMP) has officially begun in Western Australia with soil training being undertaken in October.
CSIRO experts came to WA to train the South West WA team in the national methodology for soil sampling and classification. Nine Wheatbelt NRM staff, the WA Soils Coordinator and DPIRD soils scientists attended the training to ensure alignment with state protocols. CSIRO guided the group through the in-depth protocol across two days of training on two NSMP sites in Toodyay. Perfect sampling conditions helped the team collect 10 soil cores per site to be analysed as a part of the Federal government’s push to bolster soils capability and data in Australia.
Sampling methods include combining soil sampled at 10cm increments down to 1 m from 10 cores taken over a 25 x 25m plot. This soil is then analysed for chemical status and biological activity down to 20cm. Soil spectroscopy is undertaken to further understand soil characteristics withsome sites having bulk density measurements taken. Finally, the entire length of a one metre soil core is classified using the Australian Soil Classification method.
The National Soils Action Plan was endorsed in 2023 with Priority 1 being to develop an agreed national framework to support the measurement, monitoring, mapping, reporting and sharing of soil state and trend information, to inform best practice management, decision making and future investment in soil.
Wheatbelt NRM are proud to be preferred contract partner in collecting soils data that will assist in delivering on this first priority of the plan. Upskilling of the soil sampling team also hits on Priority 3 of the strategy which is ‘to strengthen soil knowledge and capability’ with one team member already completing the Soil Science Australia, Soil Management accreditation as well as Indigenous Ranger upskilling with CSIRO soils sampling protocol training complete.
Managing and improving soil health is critical to preserving agricultural productivity in the face of many environmental and social challenges. Having access to reliable soil data is often the first port of call for landholders looking to improve productivity and resilience of their farming systems.
With climate monitoring indicating that South West WA is experiencing a drying and heating trend, protecting our soils and looking for ways to maintain resilience is more important than ever. Trials, research and some of the world’s most forward thinking farming has resulted in increasing per hectare grain yield in WA despite decreasing winter rainfall.
With no end of challenges for soil stewards to manage, recognising the need for more funding to preserve soil health will be beneficial for everyone that relies on soils for their incomes, health and wellbeing (hint: that’s everyone!)
Thank you to the landholders already contributing to this project. Your participation supports acknowledgement of the value of our soils as a non-renewable resource. Our soils are a precious resource that requires ongoing research to further our understanding of its complexities.
If you would like to find out if your property is a priority sampling site in WA for the NSMP email Aimee Mouritz at amouritz@wheatbeltnrm.org.au
Find out more about the program here: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/natural-resources/soils/national-soil-monitoring-program
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Funding acknowledgement: The National Soil Monitoring Program has been supported by funding through the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust (Department of Agriculture. Fisheries and Forestry) in collaboration with CSIRO.