$54 million soil monitoring program axed six months early

The program was billed as a way of helping farmers measure their soil’s carbon content so they could earn and trade ACCUs.

Low uptake has been blamed for the premature axing of a $54 million program that subsidised carbon soil testing for farmers.

The former Coalition government’s pilot soil monitoring incentives program has been quietly axed after receiving 485 applications for grants up to $10,000 to partially cover the cost of soil testing and monitoring, as well as free support from soil extension officers.

The program was due to run until June, but it was wound up at the end of December last year.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said: “As there was very low uptake, new applications to the pilot were closed at the end of December to ensure existing applications, sampling and data validation was completed and the pilot effectively wound up by the funding end-date of June 30.”

Only 310 of the applicants were assessed as being eligible for government funding.

Flooding in Northern Widespread flooding was initially blamed for the early axing of the soil monitoring program.

DAFF’s website initially blamed “climatic conditions around the country, including flooding and higher than average rainfall” for the axing of the program.

The pilot program gave landholders up to $275 a soil sample, capped at $10,000 for each business, in exchange for sharing the information with a national soil database to help inform future government policy.

It was billed as a way of helping farmers calculate the carbon or organic matter of their farm soil so they could earn and trade Australian Carbon Credit Units.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said the program was designed to strengthen Australia’s soil health and improve data collection.

“This pilot was about supporting farmers to make informed and evidence-based decisions on their land, as well as providing invaluable soil information to researchers and the National Soil Strategy,” he said.

The department has not shared how much of the $54 million program had been spent, nor where the funds will now go.

“Any remaining program funds are a matter for government consideration, through the usual budget process, noting the program as announced was due to end on 30 June 2023,” a DAFF spokeswoman said.