McLachlan Carbon Project

McLachlan Carbon Project is a soil carbon project located at Rocking Chair Farm in Marshdale near Dungog, approximately 70km north of Newcastle in NSW. It was registered in January 2021 and covers 93.88ha.

Soil carbon projects under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models methodology involve altering agricultural management practices to increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil. Standard requirements include undertaking new eligible land management activities (such as altering stocking density), rigorously measuring baseline soil carbon levels, and periodically quantifying the increase in soil organic carbon through laboratory sampling or approved models.

The Dungog area is known for cattle, sheep, and mixed agricultural farming operations. The area is considered high rainfall, receiving an average of 1,114mm annually, and local soils are generally alluvial and clay types that improve substantially in friability, colour, and structure under regenerative grazing practices.

This project was set up to increase soil carbon by rejuvenating pastures with a multi-species seed mix and altering the grazing intensity. To support an intensive rotational grazing program, the property was divided from seven paddocks into 25. The Rocking Chair Farm operation includes Angus breeding cows, Australian White sheep, and pastured egg chickens in a mobile coop. Notably, the project achieved an 85% reduction in fertilizer use, eliminated herbicides, and became the first soil carbon project in New South Wales to be issued Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), generating 2,110 credits in its first two years. In April 2023, the project also successfully varied its method from the 2018 soil carbon determination to the 2021 soil carbon determination to take advantage of updated modeling and measurement standards.