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Soil C Quest

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24.01.2022 Overwhelming majority believe Australia is already experiencing climate change Climate of the Nation report finds 80% think heating effects are now being felt

24.01.2022 Hear about what research we are undertaking and about technologies and systems that enable farmers to make their soils more fertile, productive and resilient. Co-founder Guy Webb will be presenting on the webinar next Monday! Join the panel of experts and cutting edge agtech businesses to explore what the future of soil and water management might look like. Find out how you might be able to do the following on your farm:... Improve yield Decrease waste, including land and mineral Improve soil health Decrease greenhouse gases Increase drought resilience Improve your water predictability and efficiency

24.01.2022 Soil gets a good run in the latest David Attenborough extravaganza ‘Extinction: The Facts’. Prof. Richard Bardgett, a soil ecologist at the University of Manchester, highlights how soil organisms are critical to global food security.

23.01.2022 Today marks exactly 7 years since Associate Professor Peter McGee gave a seminal talk in Grenfell NSW that ignited agronomist Guy Webb and farmer Mick Wettenhall to go on a quest to put carbon sequestering fungi into each and every farmers hands, improving soils and tackling climate change head on. They picked up on Peter’s research, research that could have slipped through our fingers, as Peter was retiring from the University of Sydney without anyone to continue the work. ... Guy and Mick couldn’t let this be, for them it was a significant lightbulb moment that filled in the gaps around soil carbon. This fungi could store carbon in the soil long term, exactly the piece of the puzzle that had been missing. So... SoilCQuest was born. The full story is featured in the internationally multi award winning Grassroots: A Documentary. We though this memory is really perfect to share as we recently received a visit from Peter and the rest of the team was able to jump on the meeting via the net. It’s also good to take stock as many developments progress that we’ll share with you over the coming months. Thank You for your support of SoilCQuest!

23.01.2022 Experts explain how pandemic offers chance to pull planet back from the brink through a quorum of lectures.

22.01.2022 Fantastic fungi is now available to watch and we can watch as a united global mycelium network from the comfort and safety of our homes.

22.01.2022 Want to hear from SoilCQuest’s Guy Webb this morning as part of #scienceweek talking fungi? Turn your dial to 2XX at 9am this morning! #scienceweek2020

22.01.2022 Soil carbon has been identified as one of the most effective options for climate change adaptation & mitigation, as well as combating land degradation & food insecurity by the IPCC’s special report on climate change & land. A win - win - win!

21.01.2022 Through a delicate but resilient natural process, soil fungi partner with bacteria and plants to ferret out and deliver phosphorus from the soil back to the plant roots. It’s a partnership between soil, plants, and microorganisms with the potential to help reduce applications of phosphorus fertilizer, regenerate soils, and grow resilient crops.

21.01.2022 We are thrilled to share with you and thank The Ian Potter Foundation for their incredible support of our research this past year. Research which has far reaching implications on agriculture and the environment. Check out the annual report which showcases the projects the Foundation supports and find us on page 29! https://issuu.com//8350_ian_potter_foundation_annual_repor

21.01.2022 Findings show that the annual average CO2 concentrations will still increase through this year, even though emissions are reducing. Across the whole year, it is estimated that CO2 levels will rise by 2.48 parts per million (ppm). This increase is 0.32ppm smaller than if there had been no Covid-19 lockdown equivalent to 11% of the expected rise. This means that, although global emissions are smaller, they are still continuing just at a slower rate. Additional CO2 is still accumulating in the atmosphere.

19.01.2022 Our own FunGuy! Guy Webb.. Think of the soil like your body and the grass cover like your clothes. When you’re naked, you’re exposed to the elements - you’ll get sunburnt and you’re more susceptible to illness and disease. Farmers understand that soil carbon levels are a true measure of their soils health. It influences the ability to infiltrate and store water in the soil, drives up effective nutrient cycling and limits the dependency on fertiliser and reduces topsoil los...s. What we’ve developed is a coating that goes on the seeds when they’re put in the ground. Over the plants life, it increases its ability to get CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. It increases productivity for the farmer, and probably more importantly it reduces the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. We’ve got an amazing opportunity to positively effect climate change. - Guy #HumansofAgriculture

18.01.2022 The draft National Soil Strategy is presented on the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment’s public consultation forum ‘Have your Say’. The survey is now live and closes on 27 January 2021. We are seeking your assistance by completing a short survey that will assist us to gain insights, build agreement, and provide direction to progress the Strategy. The final Strategy will be delivered as part of the 2021/22 budget in early May this year.... Please remember this is a draft version and still requires further development. The Strategy will be updated following this consultation process and then it will go through a complete design and edit process prior to its release.

18.01.2022 The funin #fungi is here!

17.01.2022 Imagine a method using Fungi that empowers farmers to take the carbon in the air and put it in the #soil on a gigaton, game changing scale" This event is part of the "World of Fungi" TFF Topical Week. Organized by the TFF Community in Oceania, they will be screening the documentary "Grassroots", followed by a Q&A with Guy Webb.... #tfftopicalweek

16.01.2022 Like many technologies developed for space exploration, myco-architecture could end up having significant applications here on Earth as well perhaps helping to reduce the huge carbon footprint of the construction industry, for example. PS there is no planet B!

15.01.2022 The AMAZING world of fungi! Enjoy!

12.01.2022 Friday fungi and a great resource which offers a fungus of the month as well as classic pages on holiday fungi.

12.01.2022 David Attenborough is to publish his vision for the future of Earth this autumn, laying out the dreadful damage done by humanity, and the ways we can begin to turn things around.

12.01.2022 Most plant species form symbioses with various fungi, in which fungi provide plants with nutrients, while the plants provide carbon to the fungi. Previous research has shown that these relationships increase the potential of vegetation to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it in soils. However, because of the complexity of these relationships and multiple species involved, it has been difficult to estimate the global impact of such symbioses. This forms important research we are undertaking studying endophytes.

11.01.2022 Have got got that Soil Carbon Feelin’? We’ve got your feet tapping this Flashback Friday, all the way back to 2016 ~ Soil Carbon for the soul and the soil ~ Enjoy!

11.01.2022 Soil C Quest co-founder Mick Wettenhall grasps the nettle of challenges facing agriculture and shares his farming journey, what’s worked, and solutions applicable to agricultural systems in this podcast done well by Charlie Arnott as part of the Regenerative Journey series. Enjoy Part 1

10.01.2022 Cover crops are widely used to increase the quantity of organic carbon returned to the soil between cash crops, as well as to limit erosion and to fix or add nitrogen to the soil. Cover crop roots are known to play an essential role in increasing soil organic carbon levels, but the root traits that impact carbon levels vary widely among cover crop species, and this variation has yet to be characterised. Now... imagine fungi working with the plant to sequester carbon. Our research studies these specialists.

09.01.2022 We are all passengers on the same boat

08.01.2022 Mick and Guy had a great visit with Justin & Lorroi Kirkby at Graves End NSW on Thursday, looking at drought proofing and production enhancing methods provided by fodder shrubs and multi species pasture plantings including desmanthus. The energetic couple run a very successful dormer stud and have set a vision of ensuring they are buffered against the next drought through systems management, whilst increasing production in good seasons. Truly impressive impact on soil healt...h and animal production through well considered management decisions. Well done Justin and Lorroi and thanks for the hospitality!! Pictured salt bush seedlings, desmanthus (summer active legume shrub) and great desmanthus recruitment (seedlings).

08.01.2022 "We would not be able to live the life we are living without the help of moulds and mushrooms from nature. Fungi are our present and they will shape our future. They are champions in recycling and material transformation; their biosynthetic capacities are unmatched in the microbial world. We should do our best to harness their abilities! Fundamental and applied science on fungi offers solutions for the shift from our current petroleum-based economy into a bio-based circular e...conomy, opens new avenues for food security as demand increases from a growing human population, and provides us with new concepts on how to ensure human, animal and plant health in the future. Science on fungi discussed in this white paper already contributes to 10 out of 17 UN development goals and their role will become even more important for the future of mankind." See more

07.01.2022 Are you a Research Scientist with a specialty working in Soil Carbon? We would like you to apply to join a fast-paced, rapidly growing organisation, driven by people who are enthusiastic about nature-based solutions to real world challenges.

07.01.2022 Do plants have microbiomes? When scientists say that human gut bacteria should be well balanced, they are referring to the genetic material of all the microbes living in human digestive systems, or the gut microbiome. Do plants have microbiomes as well? The answer is yes. l

06.01.2022 The anticipation! We can’t wait to share our cofounder, Mick’s chat with Charlie in a couple of weeks time!

05.01.2022 Mick Wettenhall of Soil C Quest steps us through his large scale Johnson Su composting bioreactor set up for use on his broad acre cropping and grazing farm at Trangie, central NSW.

04.01.2022 Rohan, our work experience student came to check out what we are up to and we are pretty excited to share #WorldSoilDay through his eyes; the opportunity of turning a massive challenge of too much carbon in the atmosphere into a solution - storing carbon in the soil where it is beneficial to farmers and the climate. Soil Carbon Co is our sister, a commercial start-up alongside SoilCQuest's independent research institute. A lot has happened since we last posted! Meet some of the team and see the new digs at CSU campus in Orange NSW.

03.01.2022 Soil in Amazon found to host a large number of fungi types. They discovered as many as 400 types of fungi in a single teaspoon-sized soil sample They also found that fungi were more prevalent in grassy areas than in wooded areas. Thank You Lyn for noting: the incorrectly reported conclusions. There were as many as 1800 OTUs (operational taxonomic units) in each teaspoon of sample but only 400 of those were identified as fungi.

03.01.2022 Whilst many people have their life on hold or completely turned upside down during the coronavirus pandemic, many of the usual debates in Australian culture have taken a back seat. One of those is the critical issue of climate change. Director of ANU's Climate Change Institute Professor Mark Howden joins CEO of ClimateWorks Anna Skarbek to answer your questions about climate change.

01.01.2022 What do different kinds of soil organisms do? The soil is teeming with life, but what benefits do different kinds of soil biology provide?