Topics > Soil and land management > Sustainable soil and land management

Land manager knowledge and practices

Section navigation
Sustainable soil and land management practices
   > Land manager knowledge and practices
   > Soil modification
   > Assessing land use potential
      >> Land use potential models
      >> Land suitability for agriculture
      >> Soil suitability for irrigation

Summary

For a full understanding of the condition and management of the land it is important to assess the land managers' knowledge and application of sustainable production techniques.

While some information is available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Agricultural Census and related surveys, DEW has developed a telephone survey to collect specific information from agricultural land managers.

This page will help you understand:

  • the aims of DEW’s land manager surveys and the number of participants engaged
  • some key trends and outcomes from the surveys.

DEW land manager surveys

Phone surveys were implemented by DEW to gather information about land managers' understanding of key soil and land management issues and the practices they use to manage them. The trends in the responses are useful indicators of current and future land condition.

One thousand commercial agricultural land managers, 200 from each of the five main agricultural regions of South Australia, were randomly selected to participate. A baseline survey was commissioned in 2000 using an experienced market research company to collect and analyse the data. Follow-up surveys were conducted in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017.

The land manager surveys showed:

  • trends in use of a number of land management practices that would contribute to improved soil health and condition
  • variations in the occurrence of, and response to, some soil/land management issues across regions and rainfall zones
  • limited understanding among some respondents about identification and causes of, and treatments for particular soil conditions.
  • Soil salinity was most common in the Kangaroo Island (KI) region (41%) and Northern and Yorke (N&Y) region (32%).
  • Wind erosion was highest in the low rainfall zone (52%), and the Eyre Peninsula (EP) and South Australian Murray-Darling Basin (SAMDB) regions (40%).
  • Water erosion was highest in the Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges (AMLR) region (29%).
  • Soil acidity was most commonly reported in KI (59%) and AMLR region (44%), but considerably lower in the South East (SE; 23%), suggesting an under-recognition of soil acidity in the SE by land managers.
  • Soil compaction issues decreased between 2000 and 2014 in the EP (42% to 28%) and N&Y regions (50% to 27%), which may be associated with adoption of precision agriculture, reduced tillage and no till over this period.
  • The percentage area of dryland agricultural crops sown using no-till methods increased from 16% in 1999 to 83% in 2016. This change in management practice was a major factor contributing to a reduction in average soil erosion riskover this period.

Find out more:

Page Updated: May 2026

Bird's eye view of a cropping property in south australia.
Use of contour banks on steep land for erosion control. Image Source: Mary-Anne Young (PIRSA)
Acknowledgement of Country

Acknowledgement of Country

The state government acknowledges Aboriginal people as the First Peoples and Nations of the lands and waters we live and work upon and we pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge and respect the deep spiritual connection and the relationship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have to Country.

We work in partnership with the First Peoples of South Australia and support their Nations to take a leading role in caring for their Country.