Soil CRC

What Soil CRC does

The Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils (Soil CRC) is Australia's largest collaborative soil research effort, established in 2017 under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres Program and headquartered at the University of Newcastle, NSW. It operates as a federally-funded cooperative, convening 39 participant organisations — including 10 major universities, multiple state government primary-industries departments, 20+ grower groups, and industry partners — to address underperforming agricultural soils that cost Australian farmers significant lost revenue. Total committed funding is $167 million across both federal cash contributions ($39.5M) and combined participant cash and in-kind contributions ($133M), with confirmed funding until 2027.

The technology portfolio comprises proprietary soil-sensing hardware (BANDICOOT smart penetrometer, QUOLL electronic nose, BILBY underground communications node, and a Lab on a Chip microfluidic device with patent application pending), a public soil-data aggregation portal (Visualising Australasia's Soils / Soil Data Portal), and early-stage AI decision-support tools (AI-HYDRA for irrigation, machine-learning-based soil water and carbon models). Research is structured across four programs delivered by 82+ projects to date (49 completed, 33 active), supported by 32-39 PhD students across 12 Australian universities, with 15 PhDs already completed.

Soil CRC is a non-commercial research organisation rather than a product company. Revenue is derived from federal CRC Program cash, in-kind and cash contributions from participant organisations, and supplemental project grants (notably the $3.94M Future Drought Fund grant in August 2023 and $400,000 from Sugar Research Australia). Outputs are disseminated publicly through a 438+ resource Knowledge Hub, 43+ webinars, regional workshops, and grower-group extension activities rather than via commercial sales. The organization is approaching a planned wind-down with its final conference scheduled at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in April 2027.

Name

Soil CRC

Legal name

Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils

Website

https://soilcrc.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Soil CRC is Australia's largest collaborative soil research cooperative, established in 2017 with $167M in federal and participant funding to develop practical sensing, data, and AI tools that help Australian farmers manage underperforming agricultural soils through a 39-partner university and grower-group network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

akta.pro primary industry

Soil Health & Regenerative Agronomy Consulting (AFACABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Soil Carbon & Regenerative Agriculture Removal (Soil Organic Carbon Credits) (EUABAFAG), Soil & Biomass Carbon Measurement (Soil Sampling, Forest Inventory, Blue Carbon) (EUABACAH)

Keywords

• Soil science research
• Agricultural soil management
• Soil sensing technology
• Cooperative research programs
• Soil data analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Newcastle

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Australian Government CRC Program Funding: Core funding from the Australian Government through the Cooperative Research Centres Program. The Soil CRC has funding until 2027.
2. Participant Contributions: 39 participant organizations contribute cash and in-kind contributions to the CRC. Participants include universities, government research agencies, grower groups, and industry partners.
3. Additional Project Grants: The organization receives additional funding for specific projects such as the $3.94 million Future Drought Fund grant for Long Term Trials and funding from Sugar Research Australia for Lab on a Chip technology application.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Soil CRC is a cooperative research centre that delivers collaborative soil science research to address underperforming Australian agricultural soils, funded jointly by the Australian Government and 39 participant organisations. It produces proprietary soil-sensing hardware, soil-data platforms, AI-based decision-support tools, PhD training, and publicly accessible knowledge resources for farmers, growers, universities, and government research agencies.

Product overview

Soil CRC operates as a research organization rather than a commercial product company. It has developed several proprietary sensor technologies (BILBY®, BANDICOOT®, QUOLL®) and software platforms (Visualising Australasia's Soils, Soil Data Portal) through its research programs. These products work together as a soil data ecosystem: sensors collect field data, the Lab on a Chip provides nutrient analysis, AI-HYDRA processes sensor data into irrigation decisions, and the VAS/SOil Data Portal aggregates and visualizes soil data. Technologies are at various commercialization stages, with BANDICOOT® and QUOLL® listed on AgriFutures growAG, BILBY® partnered with Sentek, and Lab on a Chip at patent application stage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Soil CRC: Trading name for the Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils

Products and services

• BANDICOOT smart penetrometer Smart soil probe that measures soil moisture and strength in-field, enabling faster, cost-effective soil assessment. Developed by Soil CRC and registered as a trademark with IP Australia; listed on AgriFutures growAG for commercialisation.
• QUOLL e-Nose sensor Electronic nose sensor that detects changes in soil biological activity through sniffing soil samples. Registered as a trademark with IP Australia and listed on AgriFutures growAG.
• BILBY underground communication node Wireless underground communications node for transmitting soil data over large areas, developed by Soil CRC and commercialised with Sentek Sensor Technologies to enable below-ground soil data communication.
• Lab on a Chip soil nutrient device 3D-printed microfluidic device integrated with smartphone app for measuring soil nutrients on-the-spot, enabling rapid field-based assessment of soil nitrogen status. A patent application has been lodged for aspects of the device, with $400,000 in funding secured from Sugar Research Australia to apply the technology to sugarcane nutrient testing.
• Visualising Australasia's Soils (VAS) portal Web-based soil data portal at vas.soilcrc.com.au that brings public and private soil data into one standardised place, aligned with international soil data standards, with data input templates and educational resources.
• AI-HYDRA decision support tool Early decision-support prototype using AI-based models (EnKF-fsolve and LSTM-PINN) for predicting soil water retention function and moisture dynamics, generating actionable irrigation recommendations from sensor data.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82+ research projects delivered
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• University of NewcastlemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead university partner and host of Soil CRC headquarters. Home to Program 3 Leader Professor Megh Mallavarapu (Environmental Biotechnology). CEO Dr Michael Crawford's PhD was completed through the former CRC for Soil and Land Management at University of Adelaide.
• Charles Sturt UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor university partner hosting Program 1 Leader Professor Catherine Allan and multiple research projects including market mechanisms for soil stewardship, farmer decision-making surveys, and PhD student research.
• NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional DevelopmentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment research partner hosting Program 4 Leader Dr Lukas Van Zwieten and conducting field trials for soil amelioration research. Contributing expertise in carbon and nutrient cycling, soil function, and climate change impacts.
• Federation University AustraliamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner hosting Program 2 Leader Dr Nathan Robinson and leading Visualising Australasia's Soils (VAS) project and soil performance metrics research.
• Murdoch UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner hosting PhD research including Dr James O'Connor on food waste valorisation and Professor Richard Bell leading sandy soil research. Key partner in Western Australian field trials.
• Riverine PlainscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGrower group partner actively involved in delivering AI-HYDRA irrigation decision support project, including grower liaison, farm-based testing activities, co-development of extension materials, and member engagement.
• Western Australian No-Tillage Farmers Association (WANTFA)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor grower group partner leading soil carbon sequestration trials in WA wheatbelt. Dr David Minkey (WANTFA CEO) serves as project leader for new farming methods to sequester soil carbon project across 4 trial sites.
• Sentek Sensor TechnologiesmajorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerAppointed as commercialization partner for BILBY wireless underground communications node technology, bringing the soil data transmission technology to market.
• Griffith UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner contributing soil carbon and ecosystem research through Program 4 projects and hosting PhD students including Dr Mehran Rashti (soil resilience research).
• Southern Cross UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner hosting PhD research on soil microbial function, perennial pasture carbon dynamics, and soil health education. Partner in Wingham Beef Week student outreach.
• University of Southern QueenslandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner contributing to soil sensor technologies and precision agriculture research, including next generation tools for higher performing soils project.
• University of TasmaniamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner hosting AI-HYDRA project for soil moisture prediction and QUOLL e-Nose development research, including Dr Chenting Jiang's machine learning-based soil water research.
• Ag Innovation & Research Eyre Peninsula (AIR EP)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGrower group partner collaborating on highly calcareous soil phosphorus research on Eyre Peninsula, SA, including field trial establishment and farmer engagement activities.
• Burdekin Productivity ServicescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSugarcane industry grower group managing Clare trial site for soil amelioration research in Queensland. Manager Rob Milla joined Soil CRC Board representing grower groups.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation): Australia's national science agency conducting large-scale applied agricultural and soil research. Comparable in scientific scope but far broader in mandate; several Soil CRC program leaders are CSIRO alumni.
• Wageningen University & Research: Leading global agricultural and soil science research institution. Comparable in multi-disciplinary soil research approach and public-private funding model; relevant international comparator for scale and methodology.

Direct peers

• Sugar Research Australia: Industry-funded R&D corporation for the Australian sugarcane sector. Direct funding partner of Soil CRC ($400K for Lab on a Chip sugarcane work) with an analogous RDC funding/governance model.
• Cotton Research and Development Corporation: Australian RDC for cotton industry R&D. Shares the industry-levy-plus-government funding model and the focus on soil-related productivity research that overlaps with Soil CRC's mandate.
• Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC): Australian statutory R&D corporation funding grains research with levy-payer and government contributions. Directly comparable funding/governance model and overlapping research scope in soil amelioration and crop productivity.
• Hort Innovation: Australian horticulture RDC that co-invests industry levies and government funds into applied research. Comparable RDC structure and grower-led extension model relevant to Soil CRC's horticulture-relevant research.
• Sentek Sensor Technologies: Australian soil moisture sensing and precision agriculture sensor company. Commercialization partner for Soil CRC's BILBY underground communications node; comparable product category in soil sensors.
• AgriFutures Australia: Australian Government RDC funding R&D across emerging and rural industries. Hosts the growAG commercialization platform where Soil CRC lists BANDICOOT and QUOLL; comparable funding structure and technology commercialization focus.

Regional players

• NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development: NSW state government agricultural research agency hosting Soil CRC's Program 4 Leader. Comparable in applied soil and cropping systems research, with state-level rather than national remit.

Emerging players

• New Edge Microbials: Australian agbiological company with GM Product Development led by Soil CRC board director Dr Simon Speirs. Closely connected peer in soil-microbiome commercial translation of Soil CRC research outputs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SoilCRC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@soilcrc3649
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soilcrc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles23 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Soil CRC