Australian owned agricultural technology company Agrimix is set to release a toolkit that will see the cost of soil carbon measurement cut up to 90 per cent.
Agrimix’s scientifically backed state-of-the-art toolkit will allow Australia’s farmers and rural landowners to access the carbon credit market, which has previously been cost-restrictive to many, while also providing mixed accuracy results due to the current measurement technologies.
“The opportunities to increase productivity and sequester carbon in Australia are large based on improving pasture land performance, however major barriers to landholders realising carbon credits have been high cost and variable accuracy,” said Ben Sawley, CEO of Agrimix.
“Currently the cost to measure soil carbon through drilling soil cores and transporting them to a lab for analysis can be more than $30 per hectare, which makes the carbon credit market unattainable for a significant proportion of landholders. We are focussed on delivering the most accurate, scientifically proven and economical soil carbon measurement and modelling toolkit available.”
As the first company in the country to commission scientific research at this scale into eddy covariance flux tower technology, Agrimix in working with Queensland University of Technology’s Peter Grace and David Rowlings, has seen support from major players in the industry.
Such support coming from the likes of Meat & Livestock Australia and regenerative cattle property investment company Packhorse.
“As organisations globally pledge net zero targets, an increasing quantity of carbon credit units will be required to offset emissions. Soil carbon is a key low-emissions technology, so further development of affordable and accurate technology such as flux towers and soil carbon models is a game-changer,” said Tim Samway, chair of Packhorse Investments Australia.
“The carbon credit market grew to US$851m in 2021 so it is exciting to be a part of developing Australian-led initiatives that enable landholders to participate and profit from this fast-emerging market.”
Tracking carbon and water flows in and out of plants soil over the last 12 months through a network of flux towers across Queensland and NSW, remotely measuring at a of rate of twenty times per second, plant growth and carbon sequestration can now be understood in greater detail.
“We believe the eddy flux technique and our reference network will be a key component in modelling agricultural systems, enabling landholders to simulate soil carbon and productivity changes under different management practices, before starting their projects,” added Sawley.
Agrimix has been able to create a platform for farms to monitor and drive productivity and ESG outcomes, by combining the years’ worth of data with internationally recognised soil carbon models and state-of-the-art remote sensing technologies.
The flux tower-based technology was developed and validated by QUT including Packhorse’s 10,029-hectare Moolan Downs property.
“The carbon credit market grew to US$851m in 2021 so it is exciting to be a part of developing Australian-led initiatives that enable landholders to participate and profit from this fast-emerging market,” concluded Samway.
