Blewett Carbon Project 1

Blewett Carbon Project 1 is a soil carbon sequestration project located approximately 25 kilometers southwest of Westmar and 60 kilometers west of Moonie in the Western Downs region of Queensland. Registered in December 2022, the project covers 301.76 hectares of agricultural land. The site is situated within the broader Brigalow Belt South bioregion, an area historically significant for agricultural development.

The project operates under the 2021 Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models methodology. This method allows landholders to earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) by increasing the amount of carbon stored in their soil. Unlike earlier methods that relied solely on expensive physical sampling, this version utilizes a hybrid approach of physical soil core measurements and modelled estimates to reduce compliance costs while maintaining accuracy.

The Western Downs region is characterized by a semi-arid to subtropical climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 500mm to 600mm. The landscape typically consists of flat to gently undulating plains, often supporting Vertosols (cracking clay soils) and Chromosols, which are highly fertile but can be sensitive to management changes. Land use in the surrounding area is predominantly mixed farming, featuring beef cattle grazing and broadacre cropping of wheat, sorghum, and cotton.

AgriProve Solutions, a prominent developer in the Australian soil carbon sector, manages this project. The specific activities undertaken to boost soil health include altering the stocking rate, duration, and intensity of grazing, as well as establishing pasture on land that may have previously been cropped or fallow. These changes are designed to increase ground cover and biomass, which in turn sequesters atmospheric carbon into the soil profile.