Productive soils,
Healthy climate
Acknowledgement of country
E.g. SoilcQuest 2031 acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia. We honour the rich history, resilience and endless wisdom of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We also acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded, it always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Australian Commonwealth Approved Research Institute
ACNC Category: Science & Technology
ABN: 98 616 013 284
We are a movement of farmers working to realise the potential of agriculture as a Gigaton Carbon Drawdown industry.
We are a movement of farmers working to realise the potential of agriculture as a Gigaton Carbon Drawdown industry.
Carbon is the central metric of success for farm resilience, productivity and profitability.
Carbon is the central metric of success for farm resilience, productivity and profitability.
Bringing farmers & scientists together
We are passionate about working with farmers to build resilience and profitability by building soil carbon.
SoilCQuest 2031 is a grassroots research institute of scientists, farmers, agronomists, business, communication & engagement specialists.
Our not-for-profit organisation has a vision for the future of a movement of farmers working to realise the global carbon drawdown potential of agriculture.
To make this future a reality, we bring farmers & scientists together to research grower innovations that build soil carbon.
Carbon Calling documentary
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We measure and validate these farming systems and practices through the three lenses of economic viability, soil carbon science and adoptability.
The SoilCQuest team work closely on the ground with landholders, understanding the day-to-day farm culture, the drivers and barriers to innovation.
SoilCQuest has an audacious vision to help double the world’s on-farm carbon stocks by 2031, so that farmers and our planet can thrive.
We have an unapologetically ambitious agenda to fulfil our quest for agricultural soil carbon sequestration, at speed, at scale.
Soil is our most important natural carbon sink
Soil plays a vital role in the global carbon cycle, storing around twice the amount of carbon than the atmosphere and three times that of vegetation. Small percentage changes in the soil organic carbon pool can significantly affect the global carbon cycle by changing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Source
Agriculture has the greatest carbon drawdown potential
Shifting our agricultural practices could sequester the most amount of greenhouse gases globally by 2050, by supporting our natural carbon sinks of soil and vegetation.
Support Sinks
Agriculture can be a Gigaton carbon drawdown industry
By shifting agricultural practices worldwide, by 2050 agriculture could
The Drawdown Framework has analysed and modelled 100 climate solutions that exist today to reduce and sequester emissions. Their calculations estimate that by shifting agricultural practices, by 2050 the global agricultural industry could reduce emissions by up to 26 Gigatons of CO2-equivalent (Gt-CO2-eq) and sequester up to 193 Gt-CO2-eq.
By shifting agricultural practices worldwide, by 2050 agriculture could
Farmers we work with
Mick Wettenhall
“Weemabah” Trangie, NSW
- Broad-acre cropping and grazing
- Trangie, Western Plains NSW
- Average rainfall 468mm
Stuart McDonald
Canowindra, NSW
- Broad-acre cropping, merino sheep and Illawarra dairy cows
- Canowindra, Central NSW
- Average rainfall 602mm
Steve Nicholson
Forbes, NSW
- Broad-acre cropping and grazing
- Forbes, Central West NSW
- Average rainfall 426mm
Wood Family
Manildra, NSW
- Grant and Carmen, Luke and Belinda, Alex and Kate
- Manildra, Central West NSW
- Average rainfall 625mm
- 1740 Ha (owned/leased/share-farmed)
Our Story
2012
SoilCQuest 2031 was established in 2012 by founding members Guy Webb, Mick Wettenhall and Mark Shortis who were driven by a desire for better agricultural resilience and environmental outcomes.
Their mission was to expand the research of a novel carbon-fixing endophytic microbial inoculum.
The specific technology was a specialised ‘melanised endophytic fungus’ (MEF) that increases soil organic carbon.
This beneficial fungus is inoculated onto the roots of crops via a seed dressing and in turn the ‘carbon fungus’ facilitates rapid sequestration of significant quantities of recalcitrant organic carbon into the root zone of the soil, that is resistant to decomposition.
The technology represents a practical and scalable method for all farmers to improve their soil carbon levels, no matter what they grow, how they grow it or where they grow their food crops.
2019
In 2019 SoilCQuest founded Soil Carbon Co to begin the transition of soil carbon endophyte research into a commercially funded for-profit structure called Soil Carbon Co.
2021
In September 2021, Soil Carbon Co negotiated a successful $40 million first round following its $10 million seed round in 2019, and also changed its name to Loam Bio.