The 1000 Farms Initiative
A global farm research program that is building a thousands-strong dataset showing the impacts of regenerative agriculture.
We’re helping to bring the groundbreaking 1000 Farms Initiative to Australia.
Traditional agricultural research often fails to capture the whole picture. Agricultural studies tend to have a narrow focus on individual practices and a small number of outcomes on side-by-side comparison plots. This often fails to capture the multiple benefits of regenerative approaches to agriculture, which combine multiple practices in a whole farm system approach.
Because of this, it has been hard to undertake rigorous studies of regenerative farming systems. The 1000 Farms Initiative aims to overcome this challenge. Started by the Ecdysis Foundation in South Dakota, the initiative has now collected data from almost 2000 farms across North America.
Now, Soils for Life is working with Ecdysis to bring the program to Australia, and we’re looking for farmers who want to be part of it.
Get involved
We’re recruiting up to 20 farmers across two regions: the Holbrook/Wagga Wagga Riverina region in New South Wales and the Seymour/Violet Town/ Nagambie region in North Central Victoria. We’re looking for grazing and mixed farming enterprises.
It’s free to participate, and you’ll receive an individualised Grower Report with your farm’s data to learn about your land’s health and how it compares with other farmers in the region.
Applications close 16 October.
What’s involved?
Farmers will be asked to:
- Complete a short 10-question survey and provide a GPS location for the field location for sampling.
- Host the Ecdysis team on-farm for 2-3 hours while they collect the data (including collection of soil samples). Ecdysis collects and analyses farm-level data to show how management practices affect the land’s ecological health.
- Join a hands-on field day (focused on sampling training), exclusive to participating farmers during the week of the site visit.
- Complete an anonymous survey on management and economics after the site visit.
Each producer receives an individualised Grower Report with their farm’s data to learn about their land’s health and how it compares with other farmers in the region (4-5 months after sampling). You’ll also gain access to the 1000 Farms portal.
Initially, the Ecdysis team will analyse 20 farms in the Riverina region of NSW during the week of 25 October 2026.
What gets measured?
The team takes a whole-of-system snapshot of your farm, from what’s happening below ground to what’s flying above it. Each measure builds a picture of how your management is shaping the land’s ecological health, and how that translates to profitability.
- Soil — chemical and physical properties, including soil carbon, microbiology and organic matter
- Water — water dynamics across the site
- Plants — diversity and biomass of plant communities
- Insects — insect diversity and distribution
- Birds — abundance, diversity and habitat use
- Pests — both plant pathogens and insect pests
- Crop nutrition — crop nutrient analyses
- Economics — profitability and net returns
Get involved
It’s free to participate, and you’ll receive an individualised Grower Report with your farm’s data to learn about your land’s health and how it compares with other farms in the region.
We’re recruiting up to 20 grazing and mixed farming enterprises across two regions: the Holbrook/Wagga Wagga Riverina region in New South Wales, and the Seymour/Violet Town/Nagambie region in North Central Victoria.
Want to know more? Contact project manager Jono Forrest.
Applications close 16 October.
Project partners
