Barwick Carbon Project 4

Barwick Carbon Project 4 is a soil carbon sequestration project located near the town of Kaniva in the West Wimmera region of Victoria. Registered in March 2022, the project covers approximately 129.5 hectares of agricultural land. The surrounding Wimmera region is a major dryland farming area, primarily utilized for mixed cropping of cereals and oilseeds alongside sheep grazing.

The project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology (Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models). This method credits landholders for increasing soil organic carbon stocks through changes in land management practices. To earn credits, the project must undergo baseline soil sampling to establish current carbon levels, implement new management activities, in this case, applying specific nutrients to address deficiencies and retaining crop stubble, and then re-sample over time to demonstrate an increase.

Environmentally, the Kaniva area is characterized by a semi-arid climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 340mm. The local soil profile typically consists of loam topsoils with patches of clay, often transitioning to varied subsoil layers including grey, brown, and yellow clays. This project is part of a broader collaboration between landholder Geoff Vivian and the proponent AgriProve; related projects on the same aggregation have previously been recognized for achieving some of Victoria's largest soil carbon credit issuances through biology-led fertiliser programs.