Case Studies

North-east of Cobar in NSW, Kergunyah is a 11,745ha property that runs around 500 head of sheep and is home to several flora and fauna species recognised as vulnerable or threatened.

Colodan sits on ancient land within the Burnett Mary Catchment area, part of the important Great Barrier Reef catchment. James Henderson is a fourth generation farmer who runs a successful breeder cattle grazing operation on land which has been under the care of the Henderson family since 1930.

Cairo sits in the Warrego catchment area of the Darling Riverine Plains, roughly 120km south-east of Cunnamulla in Queensland. It has a long history, with parts of the property held by the same family for over 100 years before it was passed to its current owners, Murray and Necia McBride

According to Vanessa and Dudley Reschke there are three words that describe the outcomes of their carbon project – sustainability, security and diversity. They credit their human induced regeneration project with the long-term sustainability of their agriculture enterprise.

Peter is responsible for the management of over 6,500 hectares of established native forest, and is now regenerating and additional 12,000 hectares alongside his livestock, which he rotates on and off the project areas to manage grazing pressure.

Over five years into his native forest protection project, David Turnbull says the improvements in the landscape have been profound – not just in the project area, but across the whole property.

As experienced carbon and cattle farmers, the Douglases understand the benefits the project brings to the farm environment, their cattle business and their family. Instead of pushing the land, they can reduce stock and let the land recover, which they regard as being better for the cattle in the long term.

The Murrays can see their carbon project and their stocking enterprise complement each other. The additional income from the carbon project has helped significantly improve their infrastructure such as fencing and waterpoints, meaning they can spread grazing pressure and have more redundancy in waterpoints.

No one goes into farming to ruin the soil but most farmers will admit to sometimes being forced to push their land harder than they would like. For Matt and Valli Sheridan those days are behind them, thanks to the carbon project that now runs alongside their grazing enterprise.