The 1000 Farms Initiative
A farm research program that is building a thousands-strong dataset showing the impacts of regenerative agriculture.
We’re bringing the groundbreaking 1000 Farms Initiative to Australia, and we’re looking for farmers to help measure the whole-farm impacts of regenerative farming.
Traditional research often fails to capture all the impacts of how you farm. It looks at just the business side, the production volume, or a few chemical components. It evaluates outcomes from side-by-side research test patches rather than a whole farm. It often fails to capture the benefits of farming that takes a whole-farm system approach, as many regenerative approaches do.
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 more than 2,000 farms across the US.
Now, Soils for Life is bringing it to Australia, and we’re looking for farmers who want to be part of it.
Get involved
We’re recruiting up to 20 farmers in the Holbrook/Wagga Wagga Riverina region in New South Wales. It’s free, it just takes your time to participate. Register your interest and the Ecdysis Foundation will be in touch.
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
We’re recruiting up to 20 farmers in the Holbrook/Wagga Wagga Riverina region in New South Wales. It’s free, it just takes your time to participate. Register your interest and the Ecdysis Foundation will be in touch.
Project partners
