Albeni Soil Carbon Project

Albeni Soil Carbon Project is a soil carbon farming project located on the 'Albeni' property, situated approximately 140km west of Springsure and 90km northeast of Tambo in the Central Highlands region of Queensland. It was registered in August 2025 and covers an extensive area of 16,283.35 hectares.

The project operates under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models (2021) methodology. Soil carbon projects involve increasing the amount of carbon stored in agricultural soils by altering property management strategies. The standard requirements for this methodology dictate establishing a baseline measurement of soil carbon via rigorous soil core sampling, and subsequently undertaking follow-up measurements and modelling to calculate the net increase in soil organic carbon over the project's 25-year crediting period.

The Central Highlands and western Queensland regions are predominantly used for large-scale beef cattle and sheep grazing. The environmental conditions are classified as semi-arid with highly variable, summer-dominant rainfall. The local soils are typical of Mitchell grass downs, primarily featuring fertile, self-mulching cracking clays and red pebbly earths.

For this specific project, the proponent, Graeme McDonald, aims to increase soil carbon by altering the stocking rate, duration, and intensity of grazing to promote soil vegetation cover. To achieve this, the property has trialled and implemented rotational grazing and the sowing of multi-species pastures. The use of large mob sizes creates natural manure fertilisation and helps trample organic matter back into the earth. Additionally, a one-off mechanical intervention was used to address soil compaction, which was paired with plant management to minimise evaporation and improve moisture retention, a critical strategy in such a variable rainfall area. The McDonald family has farmed this land for over 30 years and has partnered with Carbon Link Operations Pty Ltd to manage the carbon aspects of the operation.