Messner Carbon Project 24

Messner Carbon Project 24 is a soil carbon project located in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, approximately 30km east of the town of Mukinbudin and 50km north of Merredin. Registered on August 5, 2024, the project covers a land area of roughly 251 hectares. The site is situated within the Shire of Westonia, a region characterized by broadacre dryland cropping and grazing operations.

The project operates under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models (2021) methodology. This method allows landholders to earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) by implementing new management activities that increase soil carbon stocks. For this specific project, the primary activity involves applying synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address material nutrient deficiencies in the soil. By correcting these deficiencies, the project aims to boost plant biomass production, which in turn increases the organic carbon sequestered in the soil profile.

Environmentally, the region experiences a semi-arid Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Rainfall is generally low to moderate, supporting winter cereal crops like wheat and barley, as well as sheep grazing. The soils in this part of the Wheatbelt are typically varied, often featuring red earths, sandy loams, and duplex soils (sand over clay), which are common in the "Sandplain" country of Western Australia. The project is facilitated by AgriProve, a prominent service provider in the soil carbon sector, and appears to be part of a larger aggregation of projects given the sequence number "24" in its title.