Pic: Adam and Tracy Gunthorpe's property Banana, Queensland.
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Adam and Tracy Gunthorpe’s investment in a soil carbon project through AgriProve is already delivering financial and environmental dividends.
Mr Gunthorpe grew up on the property that he and his wife now run as an efficient and sustainable beef cattle operation in central Queensland.
Gunthorpe Cattle Company spreads over 20,000 acres and incorporates a Brahman and Brangus stud operation of 1,400 registered animals, a cross-bred cow enterprise of around 150 cows, and a backgrounding business that grazes around 800 steers and heifers.
In the past couple of years, the Gunthorpes have carefully analysed how they can continue to improve their operation with an eye on financial stability and what is best for the land they live and work on.
As part of this, they’ve established the Howson Carbon Project – a soil carbon project that is already generating financial and environmental profits.
Developed and managed with AgriProve, the project revolves around grazing intensity and has seen the Gunthorpes implement grazing management software to track grazing yields, stock numbers, rainfall and when and how paddocks were treated.
They have also continued to establish 45km of fencing to ensure cattle graze more evenly across paddocks and they’ve increased the number of water points. They have also planted multi-species legumes and grasses to boost soil nitrogen levels where needed.
“We were referred to AgriProve by good friends who had a soil carbon project and were happy with how that was working,” said Mr Gunthorpe.
“I’m very much devoted to this property and I could see its potential. I wanted to rejuvenate the landscape and get it to a better position. I’ve always talked about the physical or financial bank account, and the environmental bank account.
“Over the past seven or eight years we made decisions that weren’t necessarily profitable because we were topping up the environmental bank account instead. But now our environmental bank account is paying us in Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). We’ve done what we’ve done for the greater good of the land, but now that has been monetised and it’s happened much faster than expected.”
A healthy and active soil ecosystem, driven by more plants, deeper roots and increased microfauna, improves soil structure, health pasture and crop production, has greater water holding capacity and recovers from drought faster.
Importantly, soil is the largest terrestrial carbon sink and healthy soils absorbs carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it at depth – a process that can help farms generate ACCUs. Calculated and awarded by the government’s Clean Energy Regulator, carbon credits can be used to:
Offset on-farm CO2 emissions
Generate additional income through sale, or
Access price premiums and new market opportunities e.g. carbon neutral livestock.
AgriProve is Australia’s leading soil carbon project developer and takes farmers like the Gunthorpes on the complete journey from registration through to crediting.
AgriProve takes care of all the government forms and processes to register the project with the Clean Energy Regulator. AgriProve conducts baseline soil sampling to measure initial soil carbon and uses sophisticated models to measure changes in soil carbon levels, while providing farmers with technology and metrics to implement and improve land management strategies.
When a positive increase in soil carbon is detected, AgriProve deploys sampling crew to re-sample, validates measured increased, and arranges auditing and application for credits in the form of ACCUs. Once issued, it is then up to the individual landholder as to whether they use, sell or hold their ACCUs.
Stuart Upton, AgriProve General Manager, has been closely monitoring the progress of the Howson Carbon Project and its rapid success and results.
“Adam and Tracy are exceptional landholders who are at the forefront of everything they are doing. They are passionate, innovative and always looking for ways to improve their business model,” said Mr Upton.
“When they contacted us, they were keen to explore soil carbon projects as they understood that improving soil health boosts productivity and drought resilience and enhances nature repair. They were also keen to explore an additional revenue stream through ACCUs. They are just over two years into their soil carbon journey, they have done what they said they would do in terms of their land management strategy, and they have seen results quickly.”
The Howson Carbon Project has also been selected as a Meat & Livestock Australia Producer Demonstration Site to trial management practices that sequester carbon in soils. As part of this partnership, on Tuesday, September 17, from 10am to 3pm, MLA and AgriProve will host an event with the Gunthorpes at their property.
Mr Gunthorpe will share his experience and discuss why he started the Howson Carbon Project and the hurdles and the successes. Participants will also hear from John Moor, a biological farming expert with extensive experience in use of multi-species pastures and holistic grazing management, and AgriProve will be on hand to answer questions about the soil carbon project process and benefits.
“The event is ideal for beef producers and all farmers in the area who are interested in learning how they can improve their yield and soil health, reduce input costs and have the potential to generate ACCUs,” Mr Upton said.
Mr Gunthorpe is hoping more landowners will recognise the tangible financial and environmental benefits that soil carbon projects deliver.
“Our biggest productivity gain so far has been the ACCUs – we can use that to stem cashflow issues or to invest on the farm or off-farm. Production-wise, we’ve increased our carrying capacity and we’ve built resilience into the landscape,” he said.
“I’d recommend finding out about soil carbon projects. It’s important to go into a project with the intention of doing the right thing but it’s also nice to get paid to look after the land. I hope more people are encouraged to think about balancing the environmental and financial bank accounts.”
