Wirranda Soil Carbon Project

The Wirranda Soil Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located on the "Wirranda" cattle station, approximately 15 to 20 kilometers south-west of Moura in the Banana Shire, Queensland. Registered on April 12, 2024, the project covers a significant area of 11,817.24 hectares. The property is situated along Rhyddings Road, south of the Dawson Highway, in a region predominantly used for beef cattle grazing and dryland cropping.

The project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology, which requires landholders to implement new management activities to increase soil organic carbon levels. These increases are measured through physical soil sampling and modelling compared to a baseline. The specific activities for Wirranda include altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of grazing, and introducing legume species into pasture systems. This aligns with the region's environmental conditions; the area is characterized by semi-arid to sub-tropical conditions with summer-dominant rainfall averaging around 655mm to 700mm per year. The soils on the property are described as fertile black cracking clays (Brigalow soils), which are typical of the Dawson Valley and highly suitable for productive pasture systems like Buffel grass.

A notable aspect of this project is the property's historical significance in the regenerative agriculture sector. "Wirranda" is well-known in the Australian grazing industry as an early adopter of cell grazing (time-controlled grazing) dating back to the early 1990s under former owner Robin Spark. This legacy of intensive grazing management has been continued by the current owners, the Mactaggart family (operating as the proponent Balcomba Holdings Pty Ltd), and past managers such as Nuffield Scholar Alistair Corr. The project is supported by Carbon Link Operations, a major service provider in the soil carbon space that emphasizes measuring carbon stocks at depth.