Red Gully Farm (RGF) Carbon Project
Project Overview:
- Recipient: AL Ruse
- Location: Boonanarring, WA (Gingin)
- Total funding: $150,000
- Project size: 975 hectares
- Estimated ACCUs: 99,136
- Project methods: Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings – FullCAM; and Estimating soil organic carbon sequestration using measurement and models method.
The landholder's passion for soil health and his understanding of the constraints to soil carbon maintenance in productive agricultural systems are the primary drivers to create a long-term plan for Red Gully Farm's future management.
Historically, Red Gully Farm has been managed with a low-input system over the past decade, with sheep used to stimulate and nourish native pasture species and help develop pasture diversity across the property. Establishment of pastures by seeding has been the main agricultural intervention, though low levels of diversity of species has been the prevalent practice. Sheep numbers have not been excessive though grazing systems management has been constrained by large paddock sizes.
Using good grazing management and well-placed strips of vegetation as wind-breaks, the project aims to minimise the constraints to the increase and/or maintenance of soil organic carbon levels. Minimising wind erosion and eliminating the use of biocides will be the cornerstones of this project, which aims to improve ecological outcomes and stimulate nutrient transfer across the site to prove the value of biodiversity for productive agricultural land.
