Brereton Carbon Project 6

Brereton Carbon Project 6 is a soil carbon project located near the locality of Telowie, approximately 25 kilometers north of the regional city of Port Pirie in South Australia. Registered in December 2023, the project covers a project area of 227.32 hectares. This region, often referred to as the Mid North or Southern Flinders Ranges agricultural belt, is traditionally utilized for mixed farming operations, including cereal cropping and livestock grazing.

Operated under the 2021 Soil Carbon (Measurement and Models) methodology, the project aims to sequester carbon in the soil profile by altering land management practices. Specifically, this project involves the application of synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address nutrient deficiencies and the conversion from intensive tillage to reduced or no-tillage systems. The methodology requires a baseline measurement of soil carbon stocks followed by periodic re-sampling and modeling to quantify the increase in stored carbon over time.

The local environment is characterized by a semi-arid to Mediterranean climate, typically receiving annual rainfall between 350mm and 450mm, which often varies based on proximity to the Flinders Ranges. The soils in this vicinity are generally red-brown earths, calcareous loams, or sandy loams, which are common across the South Australian wheat-sheep belt. The sequential naming of the project (Project 6) suggests it is part of a segmented rollout across a larger property held by the Brereton family, a strategy often used to manage sampling costs and staging.