Is My Project Eligible Under the Soil Carbon Method?

Countless regenerative farmers and landowners have been striving toward building soil carbon for decades now, enhancing their land’s agricultural productivity and resilient food systems. These practices are growing in number and are continually tried and tested by academic institutions to make sure they effectively sequester carbon. 

For this reason, the ERF’s Soil Carbon Methodology recognises and rewards only new and additional occurrences of carbon sequestration – not past gains. This will ensure that the practices are credible beyond the time of registration and can be properly audited throughout the duration of the project. 

How Can I Guarantee That My Soil Carbon Project Will Be Eligible? 

If you’ve now got your forward-thinking goggles firmly on, let’s explore a couple of key eligibility criteria for soil carbon projects. 

The first is that the project land must have been used for pasture, cropping (including perennial woody horticulture e.g. grapevines), bare fallow, or any combination of these for the previous 5 years. 

If you tick the first box on past land management, you then need to plan to introduce one or more of the following practices that is new or materially different to what occurred in the project’s baseline period. If you are already doing one or more of these activities, you do not need to stop – but you need to add at least one new activity.

Eligible land management activities include:

• Applying nutrients to the land in the form of synthetic or non-synthetic fertiliser (from eligible sources) to address a material deficiency.
  • for example, applying compost or manure.
• Applying lime to remediate acid soils.
• Applying gypsum to remediate sodic or magnesic soils.
• Undertaking new irrigation.
  • this involves applying new or additional irrigation obtained through improving the efficiency of on-farm infrastructure and/or management practices within your project area.
  • Learn more about irrigation here.
• Re-establishing or rejuvenating a pasture by seeding or pasture cropping.
• Re-establishing, and permanently maintaining, a pasture where there was previously no or limited pasture, such as on cropland or bare fallow.
• Altering the stocking rate, duration, or intensity of grazing to promote soil vegetation cover and/or improve soil health. Read more about responsibly integrating livestock into your farm here.
• Retaining stubble after a crop is harvested.
• Converting from intensive tillage practices to reduced or no-tillage practices.
• Modifying landscape or landform features to remediate the land.
  • for example, practices implemented for erosion control, surface water management, drainage/flood control, or alleviating soil compaction. Practices may include controlled traffic farming, deep ripping, water ponding or other means.
• Using mechanical means to add or redistribute soil through the soil profile.
  • for example, clay delving or clay spreading.
• Using legume species in cropping or pasture systems.
• Using cover crops to promote soil vegetation cover and/or improve soil health.

With land identified for use, potential plans in place, and a few more key pieces of information, CFF can help you assess your opportunity by providing a detailed feasibility report. This report is your gateway to ensuring a successful carbon project. It will provide comprehensive cost and profit scenario modelling, tailored recommendations, and thorough guidance on how to carry out an effective and compliant carbon project. 

Check out our Soil Carbon services page for more info on CFF’s soil carbon projects!

Keen to hear more?

Explore our range of educational resources in our Carbon Farming Education Hub where we frequently publish educational articles, webinars, and guidebooks. 

When you’re ready to explore the feasibility of undertaking a carbon project on your property, email us at hello@carbonfarming.org.au or give us a bell at (08) 6835 1140 to be connected with one of our project facilitators.