Stone's Block Soil Improvement Project

Stone's Block Soil Improvement Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the Shire of Moora, approximately 40km south of Dalwallinu in the Western Australian Wheatbelt. Registered in January 2023, the project covers 1,289 hectares and is part of the larger Weelhamby Farm aggregation, which serves as a prominent demonstration site for carbon farming in low-rainfall zones.

The project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology, which credits increases in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks achieved through changes in land management. Specific activities for Stone's Block involve re-establishing or rejuvenating pastures through seeding and pasture cropping, a technique where crops are sown into dormant perennial pastures to maintain ground cover and root mass year-round. The project aims to integrate these practices with rotational sheep grazing to improve soil structure and biological function.

The surrounding region is characterized by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate with annual rainfall typically below 350mm. The landscape consists of mixed broadacre cropping and grazing land, with soils predominantly composed of red loams, sandy loams, and duplex soil types common to the eastern Wheatbelt. The proponent, Weelhamby Land Pty Ltd, works in partnership with The Carbon Farming Foundation (CFF) to manage the project, using the site to prove the viability of building soil carbon in marginal, low-rainfall farming systems.