McEwan Carbon Project 5

McEwan Carbon Project 5 is a soil carbon project located in the Southern Mallee region of South Australia, approximately 25km north-west of Pinnaroo and 210km east of Adelaide. It was registered in April 2022 and covers 393.29 hectares.

Soil carbon projects operating under the 2021 Measurement and Models methodology involve building soil organic carbon through changes in agricultural land management. Standard requirements dictate that proponents establish a strict baseline carbon level through rigorous physical soil sampling, implement new or materially different management activities, and conduct subsequent sampling rounds to model and verify the carbon sequestered over time.

The Southern Mallee area is widely known for broadacre cropping (such as wheat and barley) and livestock grazing operations. The region features a semi-arid, low rainfall climate averaging roughly 350-380mm annually. Soils are predominantly characterized by deep bleached sands, loamy sands, and sandy loams resting over dispersive clay or calcareous subsoils. These sandy profiles have a low buffering capacity and are increasingly prone to emerging soil acidity, particularly in the 10-20cm subsurface layer under continuous cropping systems.

This project aims to increase carbon in the agricultural soil system by addressing material deficiencies through the application of synthetic or non-synthetic fertilisers. In conjunction with this, the project involves converting from intensive tillage to reduced or no-tillage practices and retaining stubble after a crop is harvested to maximize organic biomass input. McEwan Carbon Project 5 has a nominated permanence period of 25 years and is part of a larger aggregation of similarly named projects in the area (including McEwan Carbon Projects 1 through 6) managed by the proponent, Agriprove Solutions Pty Ltd.