Rural
29 June, 2026
New scholarship targets soil health
As Australia’s farming landscape changes, a growing number of farmers are turning to regenerative and ecological practices that work with, rather than against, natural systems.
Funded by retired Wimmera farmer, Calvin Muller, a new five-year scholarship program was started in 2025/26 to study of Regenerative Farming run in conjunction with The Institute of Ecological Agriculture in Orange, NSW.
The inaugural scholar, selected from 17 entrants, was Luke Richards from Victoria, who plans to study over three years.
The motivation behind the scholarship is to make these practices industry standard, rather than the exception.
Mr Muller was brought up on a family farm at Warracknabeal – they produced wheat and sheep, then in later years, introduced medic clover along with a three-year rotation and produced their own natural nitrogen.
In 1997, Mr Muller began introducing direct drilling of crops, followed by growing multi-species green manure crops.
This program was highly successful, as nitrogen fertiliser was not required for the next 30 years.
In recent decades, the soils in the Wimmera/Mallee have lost almost all their soil life and have developed a hard pan at 40/50 centimetres.
The penetration of crop roots and rainfall is extremely limited, and the use of chemicals and artificial fertilisers is becoming uneconomic.
Soil organic carbon levels are below 10 per cent in the region.
Mr Muller created the scholarship to accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture across Australia, with each year’s scholar bringing a different focus to the challenge.
Mr Richards is a former civil engineer turned soil health advocate and current Head of Product at Downforce Technologies, where he works alongside farmers and supply chain actors across Australia and the US to make soil health data accessible and affordable at scale.
Through the scholarship, he will further his education in agribusiness at the University of Melbourne, and his goal is to investigate why soil health still doesn’t show up in how farmland is financed, insured, or appraised – and what can be done about it.
“Farmers building healthier soils are building resilience, not just for their own operations, but for our food supply chains and the broader economy,” Mr Richards said.
“We should be finding ways to recognise and reward that, not leave them to carry the cost alone.”
He is keen to hear from farmers, agronomists, rural lenders, insurers, and anyone else with a perspective on soil health and farm finance.
Get in touch with Luke at luke@downforce.tech
The scholarship will be offered again towards the end of 2026 to study in 2026/27.
The IEA is open to all and welcomes farmers, researchers, educators, and anyone committed to a more ecological approach to land management.
Visit ecoag.org.au for more information or to get involved.