Thorby Carbon Project

Thorby Carbon Project is a soil carbon project located approximately 25km northeast of Murray Bridge in the Murraylands region of South Australia. It was registered in August 2021 and covers an area of 367.60 hectares. The local Murray Bridge area is well known for its agricultural land use, primarily consisting of dryland broadacre cropping and livestock grazing. The region experiences a semi-arid, Mediterranean climate characterised by relatively low to moderate rainfall, and the soils are typically sandy loams and sandy clay loams that are highly characteristic of the South Australian Murraylands.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Measurement of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Systems) Methodology Determination 2018. Soil carbon projects involve implementing new or materially different agricultural management practices designed to draw down carbon from the atmosphere and store it securely in the soil. Under this specific 2018 methodology, standard requirements dictate that the sequestered carbon cannot simply be modelled; it must be physically measured and verified through rigorous baseline and subsequent soil core sampling over the project's lifespan.

Project activities for the Thorby Carbon Project focus heavily on restorative agricultural methods, specifically involving applying nutrients to the land in the form of a synthetic or non-synthetic fertiliser to address material soil deficiencies. Additionally, the proponent is converting the property from intensive tillage practices to reduced or no tillage, and retaining crop stubble after harvests to help trap moisture and organic matter. An interesting administrative note about this project is that in June 2025, the crediting period start date was officially varied, shifting its commencement from the original August 11, 2021 registration date to February 11, 2023.