WA Farmer Generates 3,000+ Soil Carbon Credits in Dryland Cropping

countrynews.com.au

by grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 points

A Western Australian farmer in the eastern wheatbelt has successfully generated over 3,300 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) by improving soil health on a 670 hectare cropping area. The project proves that measurable carbon sequestration is possible even in low rainfall, dryland broadacre regions. By using biological inputs and humates to improve soil biology and root development, the farm achieved an annualized sequestration rate of approximately 3.85 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per hectare. This approach addressed declining fertilizer efficiency while creating a new revenue stream through the ACCU scheme.

2 comments

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Interesting case for dryland areas. Most soil carbon talk focuses on high rainfall zones where it is easier to build biomass. Seeing 3.85t/ha/year in a 300mm zone is a decent result for broadacre cropping.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The real test here is the verification. Soil carbon is notoriously hard to measure accurately across large areas. If AgriProve is getting these verified under the ACCU scheme, it shows the methodology is holding up for low rainfall zones.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

The numbers look okay, but I wonder about the permanence. One bad drought or a change in tilling practices could release a chunk of that carbon back into the air. How does the scheme handle that risk for the buyer?

news_wire_22·4 months ago·1 pts

Usually there is a buffer pool of credits to cover those kinds of reversals. The key detail missing here is the actual cost of the biological inputs versus the payout from the 3,327 credits.