The largest and most comprehensive soil carbon sampling project ever conducted in Australian rangelands has transformed thinking around the potential of carbon sequestration and strengthened the reliability of carbon accounting, while supporting evidence-based land management decisions.
The groundbreaking results were generated out the $6.6m Food Agility CRC project ‘Rangelands Carbon’, in collaboration with Australian Agriculture Company (AACo), Cibo Labs, CarbonLink, FLINTpro, Federation University, University of Technology Sydney, and Charles Sturt University.
Among the key discoveries, the research found there is a greater potential to store carbon in rangelands than previously thought, with on the ground management decisions helping drive those outcomes, while also boosting the productive capacity of the landscapes.
The findings have the potential to reshape thinking around carbon sequestration in rangelands, which cover around three quarters of Australia’s landmass.
Over three years, the project team sampled 2,257 soil cores up to a depth of 120cm, taken from 908 sites across AACo properties in the Northern Territory and Queensland.
More than 50 people worked on the initiative, which has delivered a suite of digital tools that give producers and land managers a more accurate, transparent, and operationally practical framework for assessing carbon stocks at scale.
“Traditionally, measuring soil and vegetation carbon across vast rangelands was an expensive and time-consuming activity,” said Professor David Lamb, Chief Scientist of Food Agility.
“Through advanced machine learning, scalable analytics, and predictive modelling this project has significantly enhanced the way soil carbon is estimated across Australian rangelands.
“It has also confirmed that adopting sustainable land management practices accrues significant benefit for livestock producers and land managers seeking to boost productivity and profitability in our extensive rangelands,” added Professor Lamb.
Among the practical outputs from the project are a high-resolution Soil Organic Carbon baseline map, developed alongside an advanced digital Integrated Model, providing a robust foundation for modelling and scenario analysis.
Head of Environment and Sustainability at AACo, Naomi Wilson, said the project delivered positive outcomes that could be factored into the company’s broader nature-led approach to beef production.
“AACo takes a holistic view of sustainability, that aims to balance the needs of people, our cattle and the ecosystems in our care,” said Ms Wilson.
“This extensive project, the outcomes and insights around property management, and the tools the project delivered will better position us to achieve those outcomes.”
This project has also delivered the data that confirms land management practices have a statistically significant influence on soil carbon sequestration and landscape resilience.
For producers with carbon targets and one eye on emerging market requirements, this project paves the way for them to participate in the carbon market through the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme.
Quotes attributed to project participants & partners
Dr Juan Guerschman, Cibo Labs
“Working closely across industry and academia has shown what’s possible when practical knowledge meets strong science. Together, we’ve translated complex research into clear, usable insights — giving land managers the confidence to back their decisions with evidence.”
Rob Crossley, CarbonLink
“The project fostered a culture where the skills and ideas from scientists specialising in a wide range of natural resource areas, data scientists, the AACo team and field crews were integrated to generate innovative solutions to the challenges presented.”
Dr Rob Waterworth, FLINTpro
“The project showed that we can solve some of the biggest challenges in land sector carbon accounting by integrating multiple technologies, teams and companies in a single project.”
Distinguished Professor Fang Chen, University of Technology Sydney
“This project shows how advanced machine learning and multisource environmental data can transform soil carbon estimation at the landscape scale. By combining large-scale soil sampling with predictive modelling, we have strengthened the scientific integrity of carbon estimation and provided robust, data-driven tools to support sustainable land management and climate resilience.”
Professor Renee Leon, Vice-Chancellor, Charles Sturt University
“This research represents a major step forward in understanding how we can manage Australia’s vast rangelands more sustainably. Charles Sturt University is proud to play a pivotal role in a project that brings scientific rigour, advanced digital innovation and genuine collaboration together at scale. The insights generated will empower producers, strengthen environmental stewardship and support resilient regional communities. This is exactly the kind of practical, leading‑edge research our university exists to deliver for Australia’s future.”
Prof Francisco Ascui, Federation University
“Rangelands store the bulk of Australia’s 28 billion tonnes of soil carbon, because they are so vast. We’re likely to lose millions of tonnes of carbon every year from rangelands due to climate change, so it’s extremely important to understand how to counteract these losses with improved management practices.”
Stephen Summerhayes, Food Agility CRC
“Like all problems worth solving, this one was complex and tricky. Apart from better understanding and managing our valued environment, a special outcome for me was the personal growth of team members (50+) who will continue to build upon and share their knowledge with others.”
