New AWI project to test scalable carbon for Australian wool
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) has funded a new project to demonstrate a practical, and scalable way for Australian woolgrowers to measure, model and verify the carbon performance of wool production systems.
The 2-year project, Biogenic carbon flux measurement in sheep production systems, is being delivered by Agrimix Pty Ltd, with Integrity Ag, Achill Station and LI-COR.
As sustainability reporting requirements continue to increase across global textile and fashion markets, demand is growing for robust evidence behind low-carbon and environmental claims. For wool, this includes understanding both livestock and production emissions, as well as measured and modelled carbon removals in pasture biomass and soil.
The 2-year project will use a commercial wool enterprise as a demonstration site to test a measure-model-verify approach. An eddy covariance flux tower will be installed to measure net ecosystem carbon exchange, showing how carbon moves in and out of the monitored grazing system across seasonal and management conditions.
These measurements will be combined with soil, climate, pasture, livestock and management data to calibrate Agrimix Flux, a digital twin modelling system powered by the DayCent-CABBI ecosystem model. Integrity Ag will contribute life cycle assessment, whole-farm carbon footprinting, insetting protocol development and verification pathway documentation.
The project is designed to produce a measured and modelled, verification-ready whole-farm carbon footprint for a commercial wool enterprise. The footprint will include livestock and production emissions, together with biogenic carbon flows and removals in pasture biomass and soil.
A key aim is to demonstrate whether robust results can be generated without requiring a flux tower on every farm. By using high-quality flux tower data to calibrate and validate the model at the demonstration site, the project will test a more practical and cost-effective pathway that could be applied across similar wool-producing properties in future.
AWI Environmental Sustainability Manager Edward Fernie said the project would help support the wool industry’s response to increasing market, supply-chain and regulatory expectations around environmental reporting.
“Global brands and supply-chain partners are increasingly seeking robust data to support carbon and sustainability reporting,” Mr Fernie said.
“This project will help test a practical pathway for measuring and verifying biogenic carbon flows in wool production systems, while supporting woolgrowers with information that is useful, credible and relevant to market expectations.”
Agrimix Research Program Manager Chloe Kempe said the project was designed to connect on-farm measurement with the type of reporting increasingly required by wool supply chains.
“This work is about demonstrating a credible and scalable approach to quantifying the net carbon footprint of wool production,” Ms Kempe said.
“By combining flux tower measurement, soil and management data, Agrimix Flux modelling and Integrity Ag’s life cycle assessment expertise, the project aims to produce a whole-farm carbon footprint that accounts for both emissions and biogenic removals.
“The long-term opportunity is to give woolgrowers, advisors and supply-chain partners a more practical way to substantiate the environmental performance of wool.”.
The project is scheduled to conclude in early 2028.
For more information please contact:
Edward Fernie
Environmental Sustainability Manager
Australian Wool Innovation
E: Edward.Fernie@wool.com
M: 0456 398 261
Chloe Kempe
Research Program Manager
Agrimix Pty Ltd
E: chloe.kempe@agrimix.com.au
M: 0431 982 777
About Australian Wool Innovation
Australian Wool Innovation is a not-for-profit enterprise that conducts research, development and marketing along the worldwide supply chain for Australian wool on behalf of Australian woolgrowers who help fund the company.
About Agrimix
Agrimix Pty Ltd is an Australian agribusiness focused on developing and commercialising practical research-based solutions for grazing systems, pasture improvement and carbon measurement. Agrimix leads the Agrimix Flux measure model-verify platform, which combines carbon flux measurement, ecosystem modelling and farm data to support scalable carbon accounting for grazing enterprises.
