A QUEENSLAND grazing family has received the biggest issuance of soil carbon credits since 2023.

Registered as the Jones and Blewitt carbon projects, the Peart family in the Arcadia Valley were recently issued 30,145 Australian Carbon Credit Units, which is the biggest issuance since the Burnham family received 94,666 ACCUs in 2023.

The projects were signed up to the ACCU register at the start of 2023, with the Peart family working in partnership with developer AgriProve. The projects sit within 4800ha across two Injune district properties, including the home property Sunnyholt and Tullumun, which they bought about five-years- ago.

With the projects needing a demonstrated change of practice, Rowan Peart said there were two significantly different strategies on both of the properties.

At Sunnyholt, the project was mainly around growing deep-rooted legumes, particularly Progardes and adding more precision to the grazing regime with the help of a  digital program and more thorough feed budgeting.

On Tullumun, the focus was on putting in more fences and water to underpin rotational grazing and using fire to open up some thick forests.

“Our focus has always been on ground cover, pasture diversity and giving the country time to recover,” said Mr Peart.

“We’ve seen the benefits in carrying capacity, livestock performance and how the country responds after dry periods. The carbon project hasn’t changed why we do what we do – it’s given us a way to measure and validate the results.”

Plans to sell ACCUs shortly

Mr Peart said he always knew the project was trending in the right direction, however, the large issuance in such a short period of time was a surprise. He said the next step will be to sell the ACCUs.

“We have spoken to a carbon trader, we have the ability to sell them and we are definitely not against the idea,” he said.

“It will come down to a bit of tax planning, but I am certainly not planning on sitting on them forever. I think there is something I could do with the money that would be better than sitting them in an ACCUs wallet.”

Carbon projects can be overcomplicated

Mr Peart said while carbon documents can sometimes be hard to understand, his experience in signing up the project had been reasonably seamless.

He said he felt the sales pitches for soil carbon projects tend to get overcomplicated.

“I went to a soil carbon day after we had already signed up and the way it was explained to the 25 farmers in the room was so complex that, if I hadn’t already signed up a project, I definitely wouldn’t joined,” he said.

“At the end of the day I stood up and said ‘look I know this is all pretty overwhelming, but we have done it and it was all pretty seamless. As long as you have anything resembling good records’.”

The Jones and Blewitt Carbon Projects, owned and managed by the Peart family in Queensland, have reached a major milestone with the issuance of 30,145 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) under the Australian Government’s ACCU Scheme.

A combination of good management and measurement

AgriProve general manager Kieren Whittock said the projects showed what can happen when good management and measurement are coupled together.

“The Jones and Blewett Carbon Projects are examples of how disciplined grazing management can deliver measurable soil carbon outcomes within a large, commercially focused farming operation,” Mr Whittock said.

“The Peart family operates at scale, and achieving an issuance of this size requires consistency, patience and sound decision-making over many years.”

“The 30,145 ACCUs issued reflect how management changes implemented under the soil carbon projects have complemented long-term land stewardship, with the ACCUs validating measurable improvements in soil carbon achieved during the project period.”

“This issuance shows what’s possible when good farming and robust measurement come together.”