McAg Farms Soil Carbon Project

McAg Farms Soil Carbon Project is a soil carbon sequestration project located in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, situated near the towns of Barraba and Bingara, approximately 90km north of Tamworth. It was registered in May 2025 and originally covered an area of 5,737.45 hectares across the Gwydir and Tamworth Regional local government areas.

Soil carbon projects under the Estimation of Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration using Measurement and Models 2021 methodology involve implementing new or materially different agricultural management practices to increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil. Standard requirements include rigorous baseline soil sampling, the ongoing implementation of approved eligible activities, and subsequent soil measurements or modeling to verify carbon sequestration over the project's crediting period.

The North West Slopes region is historically well known for its mixed farming operations, primarily sheep and cattle grazing alongside seasonal cropping. The environment is typically characterized by a moderate, sub-humid to semi-arid rainfall classification, and the local geology features diverse soil profiles generally consisting of rich basalts, red clays, and clay loams.

This project aims to actively build soil carbon in the agricultural system by altering the stocking rate, duration, and intensity of grazing to promote soil vegetation cover and improve overall soil health. Furthermore, the proponents are applying nutrients to the land via synthetic or non-synthetic fertilizers to address material soil deficiencies, and modifying specific landscape or landform features to actively remediate the land. An interesting administrative note about this project is that a variation was registered on August 29, 2025, which officially removed certain areas from the initially registered project boundaries.