Rankin Carbon Project 6

Rankin Carbon Project 6 is a soil carbon sequestration project located approximately 15km east of Bordertown in the Tatiara District of South Australia, near the Victorian border. Registered in December 2022, the project covers an area of roughly 166 hectares. The region is part of the Limestone Coast, an area well-regarded for its mixed farming operations, primarily supporting sheep and cattle grazing as well as dryland cropping.

The project operates under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models (2021) methodology. This method requires landholders to implement new management activities designed to increase soil carbon levels, such as altering stocking rates, rejuvenating pastures, or applying specific nutrients to address soil deficiencies. Crucially, the carbon stock must be measured against a baseline; credits (ACCUs) are issued only when a measurable increase in soil organic carbon is verified over time.

Environmentally, the Bordertown and Frances region typically experiences a medium rainfall climate, averaging between 450mm and 500mm annually. The local soils are characteristically sandy to clay loams over a limestone base, which can be fragile but productive when carefully managed. This project explicitly aims to improve these conditions by converting from intensive tillage to reduced or no-tillage practices and retaining crop stubble, activities known to bolster soil structure and moisture retention.

Developed by Agriprove Solutions, the project appears to be part of a larger portfolio of "Rankin" projects in the area (such as Rankin Carbon Project 4). Agriprove is a major proponent in the Australian soil carbon market, often utilizing specific technologies like multi-species pasture cropping to accelerate carbon sequestration. By integrating these regenerative practices, the project aims to demonstrate that commercial farming can successfully coexist with verifiable climate action.