Grounds Keeping Carbon Project

Grounds Keeping Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located at Hallora, approximately 91km southeast of Melbourne in the West Gippsland region of Victoria. It was registered in October 2016 and covers an area of 124.49 hectares.

Soil carbon sequestration projects involve managing agricultural land to encourage increases in soil organic carbon by transitioning land management practices. Operating under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models methodology, this project requires empirically testing the baseline carbon content of the soil and re-measuring it in subsequent years to calculate and credit the carbon increase. Standard requirements for this project include altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of livestock grazing, as well as rejuvenating pastures through mixed-species pasture cropping and the use of legume species.

The Baw Baw Shire area, where the project is situated, is well known for dairy farming and beef cattle grazing. The property sits at an elevation of 135m above sea level, is considered a high rainfall area with an annual average of 1,000 mm, and features acidic red ferrosol soils. Prior to agricultural clearing, the local environment consisted of damp and wet sclerophyll forests.

A notable fact about the Grounds Keeping Carbon Project is that it was the first project in Australia, and reportedly the world, to earn soil carbon credits eligible under the Paris Agreement. The project landholders, the Olsen family, invented a specialized implement called the "SoilKee Renovator". This machine combines cultivation, mulching, aeration, and mixed-species seeding in a single pass to build topsoil and maximize photosynthesis. Through these regenerative practices, the farm increased its dry biomass yields from 7 tonnes to 20 tonnes per hectare and eliminated its reliance on synthetic fertilizers, all while successfully generating Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).