Messner Carbon Project 3

Messner Carbon Project 3 is a soil carbon sequestration project located near the locality of Warralakin, approximately 45 kilometres northeast of Mukinbudin in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Registered on June 20, 2022, the project covers a footprint of 1,136.18 hectares.

Operating under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology (Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models), this project type aims to capture and store atmospheric carbon in agricultural soils. Standard requirements for this methodology involve establishing a baseline of existing soil carbon through rigorous physical soil sampling and laboratory analysis. The proponent must then implement one or more new eligible management activities to sequester carbon and maintain it over a nominated permanence period, typically 25 years.

The eastern Wheatbelt area is characterised by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate with very low annual rainfall, typically averaging between 280 and 300mm. Soils across this landscape are generally described as sandy loams and red earths with historically low organic carbon levels. The dominant land use in the region is mixed farming, which relies heavily on broadacre cropping of wheat, canola, chickpeas, and lupins, alongside Merino sheep grazing operations.

To increase carbon in the agricultural soil system, this specific project involves applying nutrients to the land in the form of a synthetic or non-synthetic fertiliser to address a material soil deficiency. By optimising these nutrient levels, the system supports greater plant growth and root biomass, which naturally draws more carbon down into the soil profile. Interestingly, this project is part of a much larger aggregation of over two dozen "Messner Carbon Projects" developed in partnership with AgriProve. The broader operation recently reached a significant milestone by being issued over 3,300 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). This achievement proved that measurable soil carbon gains can be successfully generated and verified even in Australia's challenging, low-rainfall farming environments. Additionally, project records indicate a variation was processed on February 27, 2026, updating the registered proponents to jointly include AGRIPROVE SOLUTIONS PTY LTD and AGRIPROVE SOLUTIONS CO NO.2 PTY LTD.