Stanbroke Beef Herd Management Project

The Stanbroke Beef Herd Management Project is an agricultural emissions avoidance project located across Stanbroke's extensive pastoral holdings in the Gulf Country of North West Queensland. Registered in March 2022, the project operates under the Carbon Farming Initiative's Beef Cattle Herd Management methodology. While specific coordinates are not publicly listed for the project area, the registered postcodes (4824, 4825, 4890) correspond to the region surrounding Mount Isa and Cloncurry, where Stanbroke operates major cattle stations such as Augustus Downs, Donors Hill, and McAllister.

This region is defined by its vast tropical savannas and is the heart of Queensland's cattle grazing industry. The environment is characterized by a distinct wet and dry season typical of the Gulf of Carpentaria, with the wet season (monsoon) bringing heavy rainfall that feeds the fertile floodplains. The soil composition in this area is predominantly grey cracking clays ("black soil plains") and red earths, which support rich native pastures like Mitchell and Flinders grasses, ideal for large-scale cattle breeding and backgrounding.

The project utilizes the Beef Cattle Herd Management methodology, which generates carbon credits by reducing the emissions intensity of beef production. Rather than simply reducing cattle numbers, this method focuses on producing more kilograms of beef for every tonne of methane emitted. Stanbroke achieves this by implementing management changes that improve herd efficiency, such as improving genetics to increase weight-to-age ratios, culling unproductive breeders to reduce "wasted" emissions, and optimizing the ratio of livestock classes to maximize liveweight gain. As one of Australia's largest privately owned and vertically integrated beef companies, Stanbroke applies these practices to ensure their herd reaches market specifications faster, thereby lowering the total methane footprint per unit of meat produced.