Nationally, Regional Soils Coordinators are part of the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program that aims to build Australia's capacity in soil health and soil science to drive agricultural sustainability, productivity, and competitiveness. In Southern NSW, our Regional Soils Coordinators deliver this by facilitating a unique Community of Practice (CoP) and ensuring the consistent sharing of quality scientific information with researchers, advisers and land managers. They also host monthly webinars to communicate quality, scientific soil information, tailored to the needs of landholders.

A critical output of the Regional Soils Coordinators project is the development of a Soils Capacity Gap Analysis for Southern NSW to identify critical gaps in soil management knowledge and capability. The Hub’s network of partners and contacts supported this analysis and contributed to maximising its reach. The next phase will address the identified knowledge gaps and ensure information transfer that empowers landholders to make better-informed decisions that suit their systems and businesses.

Read the impact case study

Collaborating partner

NSW Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development (DPIRD)

Project funding

Southern NSW Innovation Hub supports the NSW Regional Soils Coordinators to deliver integrated and targeted soil services to farmers and communities in our region.

The Australian Government supports Regional Soils Coordinators through funding from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program under the Natural Heritage Trust.

Up until June 2024, funding for Regional Soils Coordinators was provided as part of the Building Landcare Community and Capacity (BLCC) Program, an element of the Smart Farms Program under Phase 2 of the National Landcare Program.