$1.76m for SoilCQuest to help region build healthier soils

Forbes-based soil carbon research institute SoilCQuest2031 has secured $1.76 million in NSW government funding to help farmers build carbon in their soils. The not-for-profit organisation is one of five groups funded under round two of the state's High Impact Partnerships program. Founded in Forbes by agronomist Guy Webb, SoilCQuest2031 brings farmers and scientists together to increase soil carbon and reduce emissions. The funding will support a three-year program including agronomy updates, grower education activities and further research into carbon sequestration. Founder and executive director Guy Webb said the grant would help expand work already underway across NSW. “It is wind in our sails for the first time, where we’ve actually got government support to stand up soil carbon projects and really open up that opportunity for growers,” Mr Webb said. According to SoilCQuest2031, increasing carbon stored in agricultural soils offers a way to reduce emissions while keeping land in production. “Soil carbon is the only climate lever you can pull where everybody’s happy,” Mr Webb said. “The farmer is happy with profitability and productivity, the environment is happy. “No one is against you.” Mr Webb said recent research advances could allow carbon sequestration to be adopted across a much larger area of cropping country. “If you could switch on 25 million hectares of carbon sequestration, that is a really big step towards net zero, and everybody wins,” he said. The program follows a series of eight agronomist workshops recently delivered across NSW by SoilCQuest2031. Family-friendly grower information nights are also planned from early 2027. Research trials will be undertaken by five partner organisations examining carbon sequestration and its effects on yield, water use and nitrogen. It's been Mr Webb's life's work - he grew up watching Central West topsoil vanish in dust storms and was inspired to develop adoptable, economical methods for soil carbon sequestration. Individually, he was recently named a finalist in the Sustainability in Agriculture category of the inaugural Australian Agriculture Awards. The recognition highlighted work spanning more than a decade to develop practical and commercially viable approaches to soil carbon sequestration. After founding SoilCQuest2031 in 2015, Mr Webb went on to co-found Loam Bio, which developed CarbonBuilder, a fungal inoculum designed to increase soil carbon in broadacre cropping systems. He also helped develop the SecondCrop program, which enabled farmers to monetise sequestered carbon through the Australian Carbon Credit Unit method. Earlier this year, the first farmers participating through that system received accredited carbon credits, marking a milestone in work that began with research conducted through SoilCQuest2031. While the commercial development of the technology now sits with Loam Bio, SoilCQuest2031 continues to focus on research, education and the broader adoption of soil carbon sequestration across Australian agriculture.