Hacienda de Trigo soil and endemic vegetation Carbon Project

Hacienda de Trigo soil and endemic vegetation Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located approximately 12 kilometers northwest of the township of Corrigin in Western Australia’s central Wheatbelt. Registered in August 2023, the project covers a substantial area of 1,342 hectares. The project’s name, "Hacienda de Trigo," translates from Spanish to "Wheat Estate," paying homage to the region's strong history of broadacre cropping.

The Corrigin region is characterized by a Mediterranean climate with a semi-arid influence, typically receiving between 350mm and 400mm of rainfall annually, mostly during winter. The landscape is dominated by dryland agriculture, primarily wheat, canola, and sheep grazing. Soils in this area are ancient and diverse, ranging from sandy loams and gravels to heavier clays in valley floors. These soils can be susceptible to salinity and acidity, which aligns with the project’s stated activity of "modifying landscape or landform features to remediate land."

This project operates under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models (2021) methodology. This method credits landholders for measured increases in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks resulting from changes in land management. For this specific project, the registered activities involve introducing legume species into cropping or pasture systems and modifying landforms. The inclusion of "Endemic Vegetation" in the project title, alongside the remediation activity, suggests a holistic approach where native shrubs (such as saltbush) or legumes are used to rehabilitate degraded or saline land while simultaneously building soil carbon stocks.

An interesting feature of this operation is its dual-method approach. The proponent, Kyaroo Pty Ltd, also registered a sister project (ERF190333) in 2024 focused specifically on reforestation. This indicates a comprehensive farm-wide carbon strategy facilitated by Carbon West Pty Ltd, where different methodologies are stacked or applied to appropriate land units, using trees for shelterbelts and soil remediation techniques for cropping land.