McEwan Carbon Project 5

McEwan Carbon Project 5 is a soil carbon sequestration project located approximately 25 kilometers northwest of Pinnaroo in the Southern Mallee region of South Australia. Registered in April 2022, the project covers a project area of 393 hectares. The surrounding region is predominantly used for dryland cropping and mixed farming operations, characterized by the production of cereals, pulses, and livestock grazing.

The project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology, which rewards landholders for increasing soil organic carbon levels through changes in land management. To generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), the project proponent must demonstrate a measured increase in soil carbon stocks over time compared to a baseline. This specific methodology allows for the use of hybrid approaches, combining direct soil core measurement with modeled estimates to reduce sampling costs while maintaining accuracy.

Environmentally, the Southern Mallee region is classified as semi-arid, typically receiving low to medium annual rainfall (approximately 300-400mm). The landscape is defined by its dune-swale systems, with soils that are generally sandy loams or calcareous earths. These lighter, sandy soils are often targeted for carbon projects as they can have significant potential for sequestration when management practices are improved to build organic matter and water retention.

Project activities for McEwan Carbon Project 5 focus on regenerative agricultural practices designed to boost soil health. These include applying synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address nutrient deficiencies, retaining crop stubble to protect the soil surface, and converting from intensive tillage to reduced or no-tillage systems. The project is managed by AgriProve Solutions, Australia’s largest soil carbon project developer, which utilizes a specific modular approach to aggregate smaller landholdings into viable carbon projects.