Hillview Park Soil Carbon Project

Hillview Park Soil Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the Upper Lachlan region, approximately 15km southeast of Crookwell and northwest of Goulburn in New South Wales. It was registered on August 5, 2024, and covers 716.33 ha.

Soil carbon projects under the Measurement and Models 2021 methodology involve undertaking new or materially different agricultural management activities to increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil. Standard requirements dictate establishing a robust carbon baseline through initial soil sampling, typically at depths of 0-30cm and 30-100cm, and combining these physical measurements with mathematical modelling to track sequestration over a 25-year permanence period.

The Upper Lachlan and broader Southern Tablelands area is renowned for its extensive sheep and beef cattle grazing operations. The region experiences a moderate rainfall environment, averaging between 600mm and 665mm annually. The local soil profile is generally characterised by texture-contrast types, including solodic and podzolic soils, alongside pockets of grey clay and red loams.

This project aims to increase carbon in the soil by altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of grazing to promote soil vegetation cover and improve soil health. Additional activities include applying nutrients to the land in the form of a synthetic or non-synthetic fertiliser to address a material deficiency, applying lime or other ameliorants to remediate acid soils, and using legume species in cropping or pasture systems.

Interestingly, the project was originally established by Argyle Foods Pastoral Pty Ltd, a cattle production subsidiary of the Argyle Foods Group, and served as an active case study under Meat & Livestock Australia's Carbon Neutral 2030 (CN30) initiative. Supported by the National Soil Carbon Innovation Challenge, the baselining for this project involved a collaboration with FarmLab to extract 36 randomised soil cores across the property. Following the court-ordered liquidation of Argyle Foods Pastoral in late 2025, the project participant name was officially varied on May 8, 2026, to Hillview Park Holdings Pty Ltd as the trustee for the Hillview Park Trust.