A soil carbon farming project involves storing carbon by increasing the amount of organic matter in the soil as a direct result of changes in property management.

Examples of ways carbon can be stored in soils include:

• Converting cropland to permanent pasture;
• Retaining stubble (crop residue) that was previously removed by baling or burning;
• Changing pasture species composition (for example annuals to perennials)
• Changing fertilisers or mulching practices to improve soil nutrients and water holding capacity.

Soil carbon projects are implemented on land in Australia for either 25 or 100 years. Land managers must measure the amount of carbon in the soil before the project starts (the baseline period), and they then measure the change in carbon over the life of the project.