Brereton Carbon Project 3

Brereton Carbon Project 3 is a soil carbon project located near the rural locality of Wirrabara, approximately 30 kilometers northeast of the regional city of Port Pirie in South Australia. Registered on December 12, 2023, the project covers a land area of 103.36 hectares within the District Council of Mount Remarkable. The site sits within the Mid North region, an area historically significant for the intersection of agriculture and forestry, located just south of the Telowie Gorge Conservation Park.

The project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology (Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models). This method requires landholders to implement new management activities to sequester carbon in the soil profile. For this specific project, the proponent, Agriprove Solutions, has indicated activities including the application of synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address nutrient deficiencies and a conversion from intensive tillage to reduced or no-tillage practices. These changes are designed to improve soil structure and microbial health, thereby increasing soil organic carbon stocks over time.

The environment in the Mid North region typically features a Mediterranean to semi-arid climate with rainfall biased toward the winter months. While the surrounding coastal plains near Port Pirie are drier, the elevated position near Wirrabara and the Southern Flinders Ranges generally supports higher rainfall, facilitating mixed farming enterprises such as cereal cropping and livestock grazing. The soils in this region are often characterized as red-brown earths, which can be highly productive when managed to prevent erosion and nutrient depletion, goals directly supported by the project's no-till and fertilization strategies.