Rupert Mudoch-owned Cavan Station sells soil carbon offsets to Microsoft

Microsoft will use soil carbon offsets generated on a NSW farm owned by Rupert Murdoch to offset its carbon emissions.

Soil carbon offsets generated at Cavan Station near Yass in NSW have been sold to Microsoft. Picture: John Feder

A southern NSW farm owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch has sold its soil carbon offsets to global technology giant Microsoft.

In a statement today, support software company MaiaGrazing said the credits were generated on the 10,000ha Cavan Station, near Yass in the NSW Southern Tablelands, which has been owned by the Murdoch family since the 1960s.

MaiaGrazing said the sale was the second major transaction of offsets generated through farm management supported by the company, following a similar sale by northern NSW-based Wilmot Cattle Company in January.

Wilmot’s parent company, Macdoch Group, is chaired by Alasdair MacLeod, who is Mr Murdoch’s son-in-law. Mr Murdoch is the executive chairman of News Corp, publisher of The Weekly Times.

In the statement, MaiaGrazing chief executive Peter Richardson said the latest soil carbon sale would contribute to Microsoft’s goal to offset 1.3 million tonnes of historic CO2 emissions.

“These NSW farms have been in a position to support the Microsoft carbon pledge because they have used data-informed grazing management that helped to boost their soil carbon over a period of time,” Mr Richardson said.

Cavan Station general manager Matt Crozier said the business had just emerged from years of difficult drought which forced them to make crucial decisions on stocking numbers and pasture availability. “An added bonus for making these sound business decisions has been the extra revenue generated from the carbon credit sale,” Mr Crozier said.

According to a report in The Weekly Times in 2019, Cavan Station runs about 35,000 mostly Merino sheep and 1300 Angus cattle.