Mar 9, 2023

New regenerative initiative tracks soil carbon in real time

Organic grower Braga Fresh and predictive agriculture company Agrology have partnered on a regenerative initiative to track and quantify soil carbon in real time.

The Agrology arbiter carbon monitoring system features machine learning model tracks and interprets data to monitor soil carbon flux and soil microbiome health. It issues weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual carbon reports, enabling growers to report on and quantify carbon emissions.

“The future of climate-smart farming is here,” Adam Koeppel, Agrology co-founder and CEO, said in a news release. “Sequestering, storing and keeping carbon in the soil is the best way to rapidly and affordably remove atmospheric carbon. Agrology is helping farmers do just that. For the first time, growers can comprehensively monitor carbon projects, own their carbon data and use this data to offset their carbon footprints or earn money with carbon credits.”

Braga Fresh, a USDA- and California Certified Organic Farmers-certified company which offers a range of products including organic salad mixes, installed the Agrology soil carbon monitoring system in July 2022 as part of a regenerative trial program.

In addition to soil carbon respiration and soil health, Agrology’s ground-truth sensors and tech platform help Braga Fresh manage crop irrigation, water management, insects, plant disease and air quality. Trialing regenerative practices is helping Braga Fresh identify low-tillage practices for fresh vegetable production while maintaining the quality and food safety expectations of retailers and consumers.

“Soil health and testing has long been a part of the Braga Fresh organic farming program, and quantifying these practices with real-time data is key,” said Eric Moran, Braga Fresh vice president of environmental science and resources. “The soil carbon monitoring system is the best tool we’ve seen to help us evaluate our regenerative trials.”

Agrology’s monitoring system:

• Monitors soil carbon flux, soil carbon changes, soil carbon respiration, soil carbon sequestration and soil conditions.
• Tracks soil carbon sequestration by evaluating soil carbon flux and delivers data to growers in real time.
• Gathers carbon data from an entire project geography, enabling growers to know what is happening ecosystem-wide.
• Characterizes soil composition changes including soil carbon flux, soil moisture release curves and soil fertility/salinity.
• Alerts growers to significant soil or atmospheric events that affect carbon levels so regenerative practices can be adjusted.

The system, installed and maintained by Agrology, is available as a monthly subscription service starting around $600 a month.

“Braga Fresh has ambitious plans to enhance soil carbon sequestration and cut carbon emissions, and we are honored that they are testing our technology in its fields,” Koeppel said. “Sequestering and keeping carbon in the soil is the best way to remove atmospheric carbon rapidly and affordably, and that’s where regenerative agriculture practices come into place.”