McAg Farms Soil Carbon Project

McAg Farms Soil Carbon Project is an agricultural soil carbon project located between the rural towns of Barraba and Bingara, approximately 90km north-west of the major regional city of Tamworth in New South Wales. It was registered on May 28, 2025, and covers 5,737.45 hectares across the Gwydir and Tamworth local government areas. The region sits within the North West Slopes, an area traditionally known for sheep and beef cattle grazing as well as broadacre cropping. The regional climate is classified as temperate to semi-arid, experiencing an average annual rainfall of around 500-700mm, while the local soil types typically feature highly fertile black and red clays and basalt-derived profiles.

The project operates under the Carbon Farming Initiative, Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models (2021) methodology. Soil carbon projects involve storing carbon in agricultural soil by adopting new or altered management practices, and then physically measuring the change in soil carbon stocks over time to generate carbon credits. Specifically, this project aims to sequester carbon by altering the stocking rate, duration, and intensity of grazing to promote soil vegetation cover and improve soil health. It also incorporates the application of nutrients via synthetic or non-synthetic fertilisers to address material soil deficiencies, and modifies landscape or landform features to remediate the land.

An interesting note regarding the project is that it underwent a variation shortly after its commencement; on August 29, 2025, certain land areas originally listed were removed from the total project area. The project is co-managed by Atlas Agri Solutions Pty Ltd and McAg Farms Pty Ltd, the latter acting as the trustee for the McMurtrie Family Trust. Atlas Agri Solutions is a notable agricultural technology and advisory entity that operates platforms such as Atlas Carbon and the MaiaGrazing application, which are designed to help livestock producers optimise grazing performance, improve ecological resilience, and seamlessly access carbon markets.