13 CMAs in NSW ( 56 NRM Bodies in Australia). I will present soil carbon update on seven of these NSW CMAs Statutory authorities - CMA Act 2003 & Native Veg Act 2003 CMA boards – Chairperson & community reps Develop & coordinate towards delivery of CAP Invest in NRM projects & activities to achieve State Plan and Caring for our Country targets. Provide assistance to farmers/landholders to achieve sustainable land management practices → soil health, vegetation, biodiversity, river health, water quality, coastal & community capacity outcomes

Soil Carbon Research Project Funded by Murray CMA & DAFF & partnered with CSIRO as part of 8 other groups around Aust. Aim to provide consistent assessment of SC levels across major land use/soil type combinations Sampling 200 sites up to 30cm depths Identify land management practices ( perennial veg) which potentially build SC Data to be used for FullCAM (carbon accounting tool)

Benchmarking Soil Project 107 long term monitoring sites Tests for physical, chemical & biological properties Measured at 0-5cm, 5-10cm, 10-20cm & cm depths Sites to be monitored every 5 years Contact

Soil Benchmarking Project

Soil health projects Drought ready projects. Offering incentives for farmers to increase groundcover. Aim to maintain groundcover minimum 70% over 10yrs Maintain groundcover 50% in western areas.

Soil health projects Grazing management projects Offering incentives for farmers to subdivide paddocks & increase perreniality of pastures Landholder training workshops – subsidise 14 approved training workshops on soil health/carbon Contact

Demonstrating the use of organic compost Project commenced in 2004 and builds on research & development of composting in partnership with DECCW & DII. Aim to establish on farm demonstrations of composted green waste on 6 sites. Sites ranged from saline discharge (10ha) & areas high soil loss sites (5ha). Trialled different rates & blends of compost and applications. In total 6000m 3 compost applied

Results of the use of organic compost Optimal rate of compost on degraded sites was 300m 3 /ha ie 3cm depth Suits a range of soils and site attributes and enhances vegetation establishment Compost improves water holding capacity and stabilises soils Developed compost guidelines – available at 7CompInCatchMan.pdf

Capertree valley sites – 2400m 3 applied on 8 ha. Site 2 Before (looking downhill) Site 2 after (looking uphill) Contact:

Increasing Soil Carbon storage through improved land management Two components – training & investment incentives Training - 3 day Soil carbon workshop Topics covered - carbon cycle, storage & trading. Also how to improve your soil carbon through improved nutrient cycling, pasture & grazing management systems. Six workshops have attracted 150 farmers → positive feedback

Increasing Soil Carbon storage through improved land management Farmers apply to CMA for incentives for to adopt or refine land management practices which improve soil carbon levels →130 applications received Incentives for machinery conversion, conservation farming practices, precision agric. technology, water & wire & biological and or synthetic fertilisers & pasture establishment & soil carbon testing All incentives are benchmarked for soil carbon. Contact

Soil health monitoring sites Soil carbon is the largest terrestrial carbon pool and is affected profoundly by land use BRG CMA recognises the importance to measure the change in SC as a result of change land practices. Soil carbon is a key index to measure sustainability

Soil health monitoring sites Selected 30 investment sites based on geology, soil landscape & landuse to sample - a further 20 sites in 2011 Samples at 0-5cm, 5-10cm, 10-20cm & 20-30cm Measure - biological, chemical & physical properties Plan t monitor every 3,6 & 9 years to measure a change in soil carbon & other attributes

Soil Carbon training workshops Contracted Dr Brian Wilson from DECCW to deliver workshops Topics covered include soil carbon and relation to soil health, carbon types, storage under different landuses & sequestration To date 6 workshops attracting 109 landholders → very positive response

SOIL CARBON MONITORING SITES Soil carbon at 0-5cm under different landuses

SOIL CARBON MONITORING SITES % SC under different landuses

Soil Health projects Focused on grazing, horticulture & cropping. Offer a range of training, incentives & extension publications (All the Dirt ) & support farmers (Soilcare) Soils Baseline monitoring. Commenced 2007 Samples 100 sites from 40 properties at Alstonville/Cudgen (volcanics) Sampled 100 sites from 46 properties in 2009 & 100 sites from 45 properties in 2010 in Tablelands. (north & south) Samples collected at 0-50mm & mm & lab tested at EAL (SCU) Lismore – physical, chemical & biological properties

More than ¾ of sites had at least ‘desirable’ quantity of organic carbon in them

Average organic Carbon % in ‘natural’ bush is 5.8%. Many intensive horticultural sites exceed this concentration. The majority of pasture sites are>6% Majority of vegetable sites are lower than 5.8%. Some are<3%

Soil loss rate is estimated from rainfall intensity*soil erodibility* slope length & grade* erosion control practice Rainfall control practice*ground cover Erosion rate is low in most sites-because of high ground cover & site factors (ie slope)

Weil method measuring Soil Carbon As part of our CMA soils monitoring program – trialling Soil Carbon Weil test In partnership with ANU the tests are being conducted on 60 farms Results will be checked against Walkley Black.

Weil method measuring Soil Carbon Advantages are that it is easy to use and produces results promptly. Inexpensive at $6 per sample & No laboratory costs Does not give absolute measurements but trends on Soil Carbon levels. Demonstration outside. More info

CONCLUSION CMAs are monitoring soil carbon (SC) → producing useful long term data Offering farmers incentives & trialling innovative green waste to improve soil health/remediation Partnering researchers in improving our knowledge & monitoring of SC under different landuses/land management practices → optimise SC storage in soils Offering soils extension information and facilitating the sharing of information & knowledge on SC between CMAs and community stakeholders. Potentially the soil carbon data produced by the CMAs across the various landscapes may be useful for long term modelling of predicting SC produced under a range of land management practices & landuses → long term benefits for carbon sequestration