We’re pleased to have the support of our current Silver Sponsors, the Soil CRC and @thegrdc , for the 2026 National Soil Science Conference in Boorloo Perth.
The Soil CRC brings together researchers, industry and farmers to develop practical solutions for improving Australia’s soils and advancing long-term soil performance and resilience.
GRDC is one of Australia’s leading research and development corporations, investing in innovation to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the Australian grains industry.
Abstract submissions are now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted this year, we’ve been incredibly pleased with both the quantity and quality of submissions received across the program.
We’re also excited to announce that Soil Science Australia will partner with @csiropublishing for a special article collection in Soil Research, in association with the 2026 Soil Science Australia Conference, “Common Ground: Soils for the Anthropocene.” More details to follow.
Interested in supporting Australia’s leading soil science conference? Sponsorship opportunities are available across a range of levels, with benefits including brand exposure, networking opportunities, exhibition presence, and direct engagement with leaders across research, industry, government and consulting.
Download the sponsorship prospectus to explore the available packages and benefits.
https://conferenceco-ssa26.eventsair.site/sponsorship
Early-bird registrations will close July 31, so get in soon to secure the discounted rate.
Meet Oscar Giudici, your Regional Soil Coordinator in the Northern Territory.
From growing up in Tasmania to working across agronomy, horticulture, irrigation, farm management and environmental rehabilitation around Australia, Oscar brings a practical, grounded understanding of soil in a range of systems and landscapes.
Now based in the NT, he’s focused on strengthening collaboration between industry, government and research, and supporting better knowledge sharing to improve soil management across northern Australia.
Read Oscar's full RSC bio and get help in your region on our website:
.au/smart-farms/regional-soil-coordinator-oscar-giudici
.au/smart-farms-smart-soils-home/smart-farms-smart-soils-community-of-practice/
Last chance, don't miss out!
We’ve extended abstract submissions for the 2026 SSA National Conference to 11 May, giving you a little extra time to finalise your work. We are still welcoming oral and poster presentations from across all areas of soil science and all career stages.
Themes include soil stewardship, soil health, soil security, agronomy, policy, national inventories, engineering, nutrient dynamics, and emerging technologies including AI.
This biennial conference is Australia’s leading forum for soil science and soil-related policy, bringing together experts and practitioners from across the country and internationally under the theme “Common Ground: Soils for the Anthropocene.”
Missed the live session? The recording is now up 👇
Our recent Soil Security webinar is now available to watch on demand. It’s a great, practical look at how the soil security framework can be applied across Australian landscapes, land use, policy and practice.
The session is a collaborative discussion of current research, with Professor Alexander McBratney (University of Sydney) joined by Dr Wartini Ng (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, soil security and digital soil mapping), Dr Sandra Evangelista (researcher developing quantitative soil security frameworks), and Dr Julio Pachon (researcher focusing on connectivity and codification in soil security).
Together they unpack the five dimensions of soil security and what they look like in practice, with Australian examples spanning vineyard soils, dryland systems, carbon and land management, and the role of governance in long-term soil stewardship.
Worth a watch if you’re thinking about how soil security fits into your work or the bigger picture of sustainable land management.
Watch the recording here:
.au/webinars/
We’ve extended abstract submissions to 11 May, giving you a bit more time to pull things together. We’re keen to see contributions from across the soil science space, at all career stages.
We’re welcoming oral and poster presentations across themes including soil stewardship, soil health, soil security, agronomy, policy, national inventories, engineering, nutrient dynamics and technology including AI.
Submission is simple, just have your abstract ready.
The biennial conference is Australia’s leading event for showcasing advances in soil science and soil-related policy, attracting experts and enthusiasts from across the country and overseas.
This conference theme “Common Ground: Soils for the Anthropocene” will serve as a platform for a diversity of voices across science, policy, industry and community to explore a mutual understanding of soils as the foundation of productivity, security and resilience.
It’s a fantastic opportunity for delegates to gain a better understanding of a range of topics relevant to soil, including stewardship and storytelling, policy, planning and governance, processes and mechanisms, land management in agriculture, mining and conservation.
Register by 31 July for early-bird rates: $990 for SSA members and $1200 for non-members.
Register now: https://lnkd.in/gYiDZcjU
If you’re not already a member of SSA and would like to take advantage of the discounted registration rate, join here: https://lnkd.in/gPaGTCsw
Last chance to join the SA Soil Management field training 12 - 13 May.
This South Australian field training is now open to anyone interested in attending. Previously, enrolment was limited to those who had completed the online modules first, but the field component is now available as a standalone, hands-on learning opportunity for those keen to build practical soil assessment and management skills.
Participants who wish to receive the full Soil Management Training certificate must still complete the online modules (approximately 20 hours). The certificate will be issued once those modules are enrolled in and completed, along with the field training.
Location: Waite Campus, University of Adelaide
Register for the 12 - 13 May field training here:
https://lnkd.in/gDxc_n2N
Learn more about the Soil Management Training program:
https://lnkd.in/gqsx3nkt
April's Smart Soils Resource of the Month is here.
This month our Smart Soils team would like to share a valuable fact sheet in our Resource Library titled "Wet picking and soil compaction", which was published by one of our members, Blake Palmer from CottonInfo.
Sometimes trafficking wet paddocks is unavoidable. What can be done to minimise and remediate compaction? In this factsheet, Blake discusses how rainfall in cotton harvest season affects the structural stability of clay soils leading to compaction and goes into various strategies to avoid and ameliorate compaction.
Part of the Smart Soils Resource Library, where every resource is reviewed by a team of trusted soil experts to support informed soil management decisions.
Read more and access the resource:
.au/news/april-smart-soils-resource-of-the-month/
Resource curated by Cameron Leckie – Regional Soil Coordinator for Southern Queensland and Northern NSW
Smart Soils is managed by Soil Science Australia and supported by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry @daffgov through the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program under the Natural Heritage Trust.
Two new visual guides are now available on the Soil Science Australia website: A Visual Guide to Microrelief in Australia and A Visual Guide to Soil Structure.
Developed by Andrew Biggs through the National Committee on Soil and Terrain (NCST) and published by Soil Science Australia, these resources provide clear photographic examples to support consistent field identification and interpretation. They are designed for practitioners, students, and anyone working with soils across Australia.
Both guides are free to access and sit alongside other standards and supporting materials on our website:
.au/about/what-we-do/standards/
Useful for fieldwork, teaching, and building shared understanding in soil description.
A great read for soil scientists. This ABC article by Lish Fejer highlights the depth and value of the collection held by our friends at CSIRO in the Australian National Soil Archive.
With more than 100,000 samples spanning the past century, the archive provides a rare opportunity to revisit legacy sites, track changes in soil carbon and contaminants, and connect historic surveys, including material from the 1939 Simpson Desert expedition, with modern analytical techniques.
As new samples are added through the National Soil Strategy, the collection is becoming an increasingly valuable baseline for understanding long-term soil change across Australian landscapes.
.au/news/2026-04-22/act-csiro-century-of-australian-soil-stored-national-collection/106589754
Update for the coming SA Soil Management field training 12 - 13 May.
This South Australian field training is now open to anyone interested in attending. Previously, enrolment was limited to those who had completed the online modules first, but the field component is now available as a standalone, hands-on learning opportunity for those keen to build practical soil assessment and management skills.
Participants who wish to receive the full Soil Management Training certificate must still complete the online modules (approximately 20 hours). The certificate will be issued once those modules are enrolled in and completed, along with the field training.
Location: Waite Campus, University of Adelaide
Register for the 12 - 13 May field training:
/public/event/details/060a4154fba1de4a0bc2b397e0abd1ab04cae409/1
Learn more about the Soil Management Training program:
.au/training/
Join Soil Science Australia next Wednesday 22 April for a one-hour webinar exploring how the soil security framework can be applied across Australian landscapes, land use, policy and practice. The session will introduce the five dimensions of soil security and demonstrate how they can be used to better understand, assess and protect Australian soils.
The discussion draws on Australian examples including vineyard soils, dryland production landscapes, carbon and land management questions, and the role of governance in securing soil into the future. The webinar also falls on Earth Day, bringing timely focus to the role of soils in environmental sustainability and long-term land stewardship.
𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗰𝗕𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘆, a well respected soil scientist at the University of Sydney, will be joined by,
𝗪𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗡𝗴, Postdoctoral Research Fellow working on soil security and digital soil mapping,
𝗗𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮, who develops quantitative frameworks to measure soil security and,
𝗗𝗿 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗻, whose research focuses on the connectivity and codification dimensions of soil security.
Free for SSA members | $59.95 non-members
Wednesday 22 April, 12pm AEST
Register here:
/public/event/details/b07a871f9f1728ad4c1dbf8ee0b3f25c4c6242d4/1
Early bird registrations are now open for the 2026 Soil Science Australia National Conference, 1–5 November 2026, hosted on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja in Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia, following the Australian Soil Judging Competition (29–31 October).
The biennial conference is Australia’s leading event for showcasing advances in soil science and soil-related policy, attracting experts and enthusiasts from across the country and overseas.
This conference theme “Common Ground: Soils for the Anthropocene” will serve as a platform for a diversity of voices across science, policy, industry and community to explore a mutual understanding of soils as the foundation of productivity, security and resilience.
It’s a fantastic opportunity for delegates to gain a better understanding of a range of topics relevant to soil, including stewardship and storytelling, policy, planning and governance, processes and mechanisms, land management in agriculture, mining and conservation.
𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝟯𝟭 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆-𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: $𝟵𝟵𝟬 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗦𝗔 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 $𝟭𝟮𝟬𝟬 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀.
Register now: .au/
If you’re not already a member of SSA and would like to take advantage of the discounted registration rate, join here: .au/membership/
Field trip and Soil Judging Competition registration will open closer to the event.
Grains Research and Development Corporation, SoilCRC, The University of Western Australia, SoilsWest, Business Events Perth, Pan Pacific Hotel Perth, Optus Stadium
