Sustainable Agriculture

The role of the SAF includes:

• Sharing climate-smart, sustainable agriculture practices with farmers and landholders, including information on natural capital, carbon and emissions reduction.
• Building partnerships between farmers, community groups, industry, and extension officers.
• Connecting stakeholders with relevant experts and program advisors.
• Supporting local sustainable agriculture projects through events, communications, and networks.
• Facilitating engagement with First Nations communities and organisations.
• Raising awareness about sustainable agriculture with schools, community groups and others.

National Soils Mointoring Program (NSMP):

The Sustainable Agriculture Facilitators are also contributing to the National Soils Monitoring Program (NSMP), which is a national project that will monitor the chemical, physical and biological properties of soils to identify trends and overall soil condition. While Wheatbelt NRM are responsible for taking soil samples of the identified sites in southern Western Australia, the local NRM in each region are supporting the project by providing region specific knowledge and engaging with land holders where sites are located.

In the South Coast region, there have been 54 sites identified across a wide range of soil types and varying land uses. Over the coming months, the SAFs will be reaching out to farmers and land owners if there has been a site identified on their property and seeking permissions to take soil core samples.

If you would like to know more about the program or would like to know if your property has been identified as a coring site, please reach out to our SAFs for more information.