JBS Pork Australia - Corowa Mod 1, 2 & Abattoir Biogas project

JBS Pork Australia - Corowa Mod 1, 2 & Abattoir Biogas project is an animal effluent management project located at Corowa, situated in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales along the Murray River. It was registered on December 18, 2025, and while the exact project area size is unknown, it operates within the footprint of JBS's expansive commercial farming and processing facilities.

Animal effluent management projects under the carbon farming initiative involve collecting and combusting methane generated from animal waste. The standard requirements for this methodology dictate that facilities treat the effluent using an emissions destruction treatment facility, such as covered anaerobic lagoons, to safely destroy the methane that would otherwise enter the atmosphere.

The Corowa region is a major agricultural hub, with the surrounding land use heavily dominated by livestock grazing (including pigs, sheep, and cattle) and grain cropping (such as wheat and canola). The environment typically experiences moderate, winter-dominant rainfall consistent with the semi-arid Riverina climate. The local soils consist predominantly of Chromosols and Dermosols, which are characterized by sandy loam topsoils over clay subsoils, commonly referred to as red-brown earths.

This specific project collects and combusts methane generated from the piggery and abattoir effluent across the site, utilizing both a newly established emissions destruction facility and transitioned operations. As an interesting note, JBS Australia acquired the Corowa site when it purchased the major pork producer Rivalea in 2021. The Corowa operation is highly integrated, housing tens of thousands of pigs alongside processing and feed milling facilities. The biogas system at this site captures and treats significant portions of the effluent, generating more than 50% of the electricity needed to power the facility, which drastically cuts power costs and reduces CO2 emissions by capturing potent greenhouse gases.