Calwell Carbon Project

Calwell Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located approximately 15km west of Maitland on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. Registered in November 2021, the project covers a relatively focused area of 35.99 hectares. The project is situated in the Yorke Peninsula Council area, a region widely recognized as the "granary of South Australia" due to its intensive production of winter cereals like wheat and barley, as well as legumes and livestock grazing.

The project operates under the 2018 Soil Carbon methodology (Measurement of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Systems). This method rewards landholders for increasing Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stocks through changes in land management. Specifically, the Calwell Carbon Project has listed its primary activity as applying synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address material soil deficiencies. By correcting nutrient imbalances, the project aims to stimulate plant growth and root biomass production, which in turn sequesters more carbon into the soil profile.

Environmentally, the site lies within a Mediterranean climate zone characterized by mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The average annual rainfall in the nearby Maitland district is approximately 500mm. The local soil landscape is typical of the central Yorke Peninsula, consisting largely of calcareous loams, shallow calcrete, and loam over clay. These soils are generally fertile but can benefit significantly from targeted nutrient management to maximize biomass potential.

The project is managed by Agriprove Solutions, a leading developer in the Australian soil carbon sector. The permanence period for the project is set at 25 years. The small size of the project area (approx. 36ha) relative to typical broadacre farms in the region suggests this may be a pilot paddock or a specific high-intensity management zone within a larger agricultural property.