Blewett Carbon Project 8

Blewett Carbon Project 8 is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the Western Downs region of Queensland, approximately 30 kilometres east of the rural locality of Westmar. It was registered in December 2022 and covers 423.27 hectares.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models) Methodology Determination 2021. Projects under this methodology earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) by increasing the carbon stored in agricultural soils through the breakdown of plants, microorganisms, and animal waste. Standard requirements dictate that landholders must introduce one or more new or materially different land management activities and establish a baseline through direct soil sampling before tracking carbon increases over time using physical sampling or hybrid models.

The Western Downs region is known for a semi-arid to subtropical climate with summer-dominant rainfall, typically averaging between 500mm and 600mm annually. Soils in the area are highly productive, generally consisting of cracking clays (such as brigalow soils), black soils, and texture-contrast sandy loams. Regional land use is heavily dominated by broadacre cropping operations (such as wheat and cotton) and extensive cattle and sheep grazing.

This specific project is designed to increase soil carbon by establishing and permanently maintaining pasture where there was previously limited or no pasture, such as on cropland or fallow. Furthermore, the landholders are altering the stocking rate, duration, and intensity of grazing to promote vegetative ground cover and improve overall soil health. Managed by AGRIPROVE SOLUTIONS CO NO.2 PTY LTD, it is one of several adjacent "Blewett Carbon Projects" developed in partnership with the prominent aggregator AgriProve. AgriProve supports these carbon farms by leveraging digital Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) models and satellite groundcover data to fast-track soil sampling and expedite the issuance of ACCUs for participating farmers.