Know Your Southern Soils is a three‑year project on Western Australia's South Coast aiming to benefit farmers by increasing soil landscape mapping, supporting sustainable soils management and growing the capacity of the local soils workforce.

The project is a partnership between Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and South Coast Natural Resource Management (South Coast NRM), who will be working with grower groups ASHEEP & BEEF and North Stirlings Pallinup Natural Resources (NSPNR).

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What's ASHEEP & BEEF delivering in the Esperance region?

ASHEEP & BEEF's role will be to establish a demonstration site focusing on soil performance improvement relevant to pasture systems, running across the 2026 and 2027 growing seasons. The project will also deliver events, workshops, training and extension materials in the Esperance region.

ASHEEP & BEEF looks forward to providing an update in early 2026 as demonstration details and related activities are confirmed.

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What's being delivered in the broader project?

NSPNR will be delivering demonstration site and project activities within the North Stirlings Pallinup area.

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During the project, DPIRD will be undertaking soil sampling to increase soil mapping in the Salmon Gums and Wellstead regions, two areas which are underrepresented in current datasets. The sampling has already commenced, with 800 sites identified for testing key chemical and physical soil health indicators.

South Coast NRM is responsible for supporting ASHEEP & BEEF and NSPNR to deliver the extension components of the project. 

Lastly, this project will work to create a soils training package that will be available to the greater workforce who include agronomists, farmers, grower group professionals and other industry representatives who have an interest in soils.

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The project is part of the National Soil Action Plan 2023-28 and is backed by funding from the Australian and Western Australian Governments.