McHugh Carbon Project

The McHugh Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration initiative located near Maidenwell, approximately 30km south of Kingaroy in the South Burnett region of Queensland. Registered in January 2024, the project covers a land area of roughly 210 hectares. The South Burnett region is renowned for its diverse agricultural output, characterized by a mix of cattle grazing and intensive cropping, particularly for peanuts and navy beans, supported by the area's rich volcanic soils.

The project operates under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models (2021) methodology. This method requires the project proponent to establish a baseline of soil carbon stocks through physical core sampling (often to a depth of one meter) before implementing new land management activities designed to increase those stocks. ACCUs are issued based on the measured increase in soil organic carbon over time, minus any emissions generated by the project activities.

Environmentally, the site is situated in a subtropical climate zone with summer-dominant rainfall, typically averaging between 700mm and 800mm annually. The soils in this specific locality, close to the foothills of the Bunya Mountains, are likely to include fertile Red Ferrosols (Red Earths) or Vertosols (cracking clays), which are highly responsive to the project's planned activities. These activities include the application of synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address nutrient deficiencies, re-establishing pastures via seeding, and altering grazing intensity to promote vegetation cover.

The project is developed by Agriprove, Australia's largest soil carbon project developer. Agriprove utilizes a "partnering" model that often integrates high-tech monitoring, such as satellite imagery analysis (in collaboration with partners like EOS Data Analytics), to track pasture health and soil indicators between physical sampling rounds. This data-driven approach aims to optimize the management changes, such as the rotational grazing and pasture rejuvenation planned for the McHugh property, to maximize carbon sequestration rates.