Soil Acidity

Soil Acidity

Soil acidity is a major constraint to farming in Western Australia. However, managing soil acidity is both achievable and profitable and methods for increasing soil pH are widely adopted in the Wheatbelt.

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How can we monitor progress?

At Wheatbelt NRM Inc. we have searched for data that can help us monitor the status of soil acidity across the Wheatbelt region. At the top level, we can monitor the proportion of soils that are below a target pH of 5.5. At a deeper level we can report on efforts to combat soil acidity like the amount of lime/dolomite being added to agricultural soils by farmers.

Lime application

 

The graph shows the amount of lime being used on farms in the region.

 

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Land Management Practices Survey (LaMPS) 2013-14 - 2016-17.

Disclaimers: The area over which lime was applied represented in this graph is variable through time. Data from 2013-14 and 2015-16 are based on the combined Australian Agricultural Environment (AAE) regions called “Mediterranean west” (AAE15) and “Wheatbelt west” (AAE16) which cover the entire cleared portion of the Wheatbelt NRM region but also encompass a much broader area outside the region. All other data are based on the Wheatbelt NRM regional area.

The spatial distribution of soil condition properties

Click here to view the map in full screen

The map shows the major soil attributes across the region.

Data Source: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Soil Quality, CSIRO. 

Links

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/climate-land-water/soils/managing-soils/soil...

SoilQuality

http://www.soilquality.org.au/ 

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