Ottley Station Packhorse Pastoral Land Pty Ltd Soil Carbon Project

Ottley Station Packhorse Pastoral Land Pty Ltd Soil Carbon Project is a soil carbon project located at Ottley Station, approximately 50km west of Inverell in northern New South Wales. It was registered in August 2022 and covers 8,558.52 hectares.

Soil carbon projects under the Measurement and Models methodology involve establishing baseline soil carbon levels and introducing new, eligible agricultural management practices to increase soil organic carbon. For this project, the activities focus on altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of grazing to promote soil vegetation cover and improve overall soil health.

The Inverell region is widely recognised as a premium agricultural area, predominantly used for cattle breeding, fattening, and row cropping. The local environment typically experiences reliable summer-dominant rainfall (averaging over 500mm annually) and is characterised by highly productive black clay soils set within basalt valleys, which are highly ideal for regenerative grazing and carbon sequestration.

Interestingly, Ottley Station was initially acquired by the Packhorse Pastoral Company in early 2022 to implement a regenerative "Grass Motel" cattle agistment model, taking on third-party cattle to naturally fertilise and re-seed the land. Following the tragic passing of Packhorse’s co-founder, Tom Strachan, in a plane crash later that year, the portfolio was dismantled and listed for sale. In mid-2023, Ottley Station (alongside Moolan Downs) was acquired by Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting Group as part of an estimated $80 million multi-property deal. This major acquisition aligns with the project's June 2024 proponent name variation, changing from Packhorse Pastoral Land Pty Ltd to Valley River Holdings Pty Ltd.