Boorook Carbon Project

Boorook Carbon Project is a soil carbon project located at the 'Boorook' property near Woorndoo, approximately 50km north of Warrnambool in western Victoria. It was registered in February 2021 and currently spans a project area of 2037.41 hectares, though a boundary variation in September 2026 removed some areas from the original registration.

Soil carbon projects involve altering agricultural and land management practices to increase the amount of carbon naturally stored in the soil. Under the "Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models" methodology, carbon sequestration progress is tracked using a mix of physical baseline soil sampling and advanced modelling. The specific activity undertaken by this project is the application of nutrients to the land in the form of synthetic or non-synthetic fertilisers to directly address a material soil deficiency.

The Woorndoo area sits within Victoria's Western District, a region heavily utilised for intensive broadacre cropping and livestock grazing. The environment features a temperate climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 580mm to 587mm. The local geology is characterized by the Victorian Volcanic Plain, providing highly fertile basalt clay loam soils with excellent moisture retention capacity.

An interesting fact about this project is that the proponent, Boorook Partners, operates a highly regarded commercial cattle enterprise. They have been historically recognized as top-tier suppliers for the JBS Great Southern beef program. Furthermore, hormone-free cattle raised by Boorook Partners are used to supply the Coles Finest Certified Carbon Neutral Beef range. The carbon project itself also underwent a notable regulatory variation in April 2023, transitioning from the older 2018 soil carbon measurement standard to the updated 2021 measurement and models methodology.