Exemplar Farms
Collaborating with farmers to innovate
and grow with carbon farming
Through Exemplar Farms, SoilCQuest partners with farmers to validate their innovative approaches to enhance agricultural resilience. By focusing on research and collaboration, we support the development of practical, commercially viable farming practices that improve soil health and boost productivity.
Our goal is to equip farmers with the tools and knowledge necessary to implement effective carbon-building techniques that enhance soil health, increase crop yields, and contribute to a sustainable future for Australian agriculture. Exemplar Farms highlights these practices’ agronomic, economic, and environmental benefits, demonstrating how innovative farming methods can lead to more resilient and productive agricultural systems.
Who is an Exemplar Farmer?
Exemplar Farmers are innovators exploring their own ideas who come to us for support by validating and sharing their learnings with the farming community. These farmers come from diverse backgrounds and farming systems, share an interest in science, and generally gather data to test their practices in some detail.
Exemplar Farmers value the benefits of working with us and committing long-term to our collaborative projects. Some farmers choose to co-invest in activities and/or monitoring to generate data insights across their projects; this includes economic data that allows other farmers in the sector to explore the viability of changing land management practices.
Benefits for farmers
SoilCQuest Exemplar Farms provide farmers access to cutting-edge research, tailored support, and a collaborative network. This partnership empowers them to test and refine carbon-building practices that enhance soil health, increase crop yields, and improve profitability.
Key features
- Farmer-led innovation: We prioritise farmers’ ideas and collaborate to test and refine carbon-building practices that address their specific challenges and opportunities.
- Collaborative studies and research: Our SoilCQuest researchers work closely with farmers, providing scientific expertise to validate innovative techniques and support their implementation.
- Data-driven insights: By collecting and analysing farm data, we offer valuable insights that help farmers make informed decisions, optimise their operations, and achieve better agronomic, economic, and environmental outcomes.
- Knowledge sharing: We disseminate research findings and farmer experiences throughout the Australian agricultural community, making innovative practices accessible.
These efforts aim to deliver practical benefits, such as improved soil health and economic viability while fostering a supportive network among farmers.
Program details
What does Exemplar Farms research look like?
Our research is tailored to meet the unique needs of each Exemplar Farmer – there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.
Research
Farmers collaborate with our own SoilCQuest farmers to develop custom project proposals. The SoilCQuest research and agronomy team along with our Research Committee review these with ongoing feedback. We measure key variables regularly using accredited labs and certified methods, analysing data to produce case studies and reports at key milestones.
Demonstrations
Farmers work with us to create and refine information-sharing strategies for their in-field projects. We regularly measure key variables, and the data collected supports the demonstration of methods and outcomes.
Case studies and reports
We create case studies and reports to document and share what we’ve learned, amplifying findings within the agricultural community.
Call to action
Farmers
Become an Exemplar Farmer and benefit from our research and multidisciplinary support to explore and enhance your practices. SoilCQuest covers material research costs and additional inputs, while farmers contribute in-kind support through machinery use, time for crop establishment, and in-season maintenance. Together, we co-design on-farm trials and share our findings with the wider agricultural community. We are now inviting nominations from farmers to become an Exemplar Farmer in our 2025 cohort. To apply, please contact us to arrange an online meeting to discuss your farming system, research ideas, and suitability for Exemplar Farms.
Farming organisations
Facilitate our mission by referring farmers and supporting our initiatives to amplify impact.
Agricultural community
Engage with us to extend your knowledge through our experience. Explore innovative practices driven for positive agronomic, environmental and economic outcomes.
Support Our Work
SoilCQuest is an independent, for purpose, not-for-profit organisation bringing science and agriculture together to increase soil carbon for profitable farming systems to respond to climate change. Your donation will support our research endeavours, enabling us to champion farming as a solution to climate impact through initiatives, including our Carbon Farmscapes Program.
Gifts made to SoilCQuest are tax deductible.
