Guilfoyle Carbon Project 5

Guilfoyle Carbon Project 5 is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the Mallee region of Victoria, approximately 20km northeast of the township of Birchip. Registered in September 2022, the project covers 259 hectares of agricultural land. The surrounding region is characterized by broadacre dryland cropping and grazing, serving as a significant producer of cereals like wheat and barley, as well as legumes.

The project operates under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology rewards landholders for increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks through changes in land management. For this specific project, the activities include converting from intensive tillage to reduced or no-tillage practices, retaining crop stubble to protect soil structure, and applying synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address nutrient deficiencies. By optimizing these inputs and reducing soil disturbance, the project aims to enhance microbial activity and sequester carbon within the soil profile.

The environmental context of the Mallee region is typically semi-arid, with rainfall averaging between 300mm and 400mm annually. The local soil landscape likely consists of Calcarosols (often called Mallee loams) or Sodosols, which are calcareous and can vary from sandy loams to heavier clays. These soils often present challenges such as wind erosion risk, which the project's focus on stubble retention and reduced tillage directly helps to mitigate. The proponent, AgriProve Solutions, is a leading developer in this sector, often aggregating such projects to streamline the measurement and verification process for farmers.