Watson Carbon Project

Watson Carbon Project is a Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration project located just outside Armidale in the New England region of Northern NSW. Registered in March 2020, the project spans a 290.63-hectare agricultural property.

The project currently operates under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models (2021) methodology, having officially transitioned from the 2018 method variation in October 2023. Soil carbon projects involve implementing new, targeted agricultural management practices to increase the volume of carbon stored within the soil profile, which is then measured and modelled over time to generate credits.

The Armidale region is historically known for robust grazing operations, including beef cattle and sheep, as well as dryland cropping. The area experiences a temperate tablelands climate with summer-dominant rainfall averaging around 780-800mm annually. Soils across this region are diverse, typically characterised by basalt-derived heavy clays, sandy granites, and loamy 'trap' (meta-sedimentary) soils.

To build soil carbon, the Watson Carbon Project focuses on altering the stocking rate, duration, and intensity of grazing to promote soil vegetation cover and improve overall soil health. It also involves re-establishing and rejuvenating pasture through targeted seeding or pasture cropping. Landholder Geoff Fox and lessee Mitch Lee transitioned the property from traditional set stocking to an adaptive rotational grazing system. They supported this transition by removing synthetic fertilisers, investing in solar-powered water infrastructure, and establishing over 120 flexible grazing subdivisions.

Thanks to these active management changes, the project successfully generated 5,585 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). This milestone made it one of the first soil carbon projects in the New England region to be issued credits under the updated 2021 method.