Ruddock Carbon Project

The Ruddock Carbon Project is a soil carbon project located approximately 17km southwest of Millmerran, in the Darling Downs region of Queensland. Registered in May 2024, the project covers 154.59 hectares of agricultural land. The Darling Downs is a renowned farming region, typically supporting a mix of broadacre cropping, such as cotton, wheat, and sorghum, and livestock grazing.

This project operates under the 2021 Soil Carbon methodology, which credits landholders for storing additional carbon in their soil through changes in land management. Specifically, the Ruddock Carbon Project focuses on remediation and rejuvenation. By applying gypsum to manage sodic or magnesic soils and altering grazing intensity, the proponent aims to improve soil structure and vegetation cover. The methodology requires rigorous baseline sampling and ongoing measurement or modeling to quantify the increase in Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stocks over time.

Environmentally, the Millmerran area is characterized by a semi-arid to sub-tropical climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 600-700mm. The region is well-known for its fertile Vertosols (cracking clay soils), though the project's specific focus on gypsum application suggests the presence of Sodosols or sodic Vertosols, which are prone to dispersion and structural collapse without chemical amendment. The combination of chemical remediation (gypsum) and biological management (grazing control) represents a holistic approach to regenerating these soil types.