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San Francisco and Amsterdam, 5 September 2023 - Regrow Ag, the leading Agriculture Resilience Platform provider, and Soil Capital, the agronomy firm that helps farmers and companies accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture, have announced a new partnership to accelerate their efforts in Europe. The partnership will be made public during the Regenerative Agriculture and Food Systems Summit in Amsterdam.
Under the partnership, Soil Capital is expanding its suite of calculation techniques to include two of Regrow’s most powerful tools:
- DNDC (DeNitrification-DeComposition) - a scientific model for quantifying soil carbon sequestration, which will be used by Soil Capital alongside the Cool Farm Tool (CFT) to quantify GHG emissions
- OpTIS (Operational Tillage Information System) - a remote sensing system that uses satellite-based data to monitor and verify the adoption of sustainable farming practices, like the use of cover crops and specific tillage systems
Soil Capital operates the longest running, certified carbon payment programme for farmers in Europe, with more than 1,000 farmers enrolled and some four million euros dispersed. The programme rewards the environmental services provided by farmers, while bringing them into contact with companies that are committed to contributing to a more resilient agricultural system. The science behind Soil Capital’s programme, which is externally verified each year by a third-party auditor, combines soil analysis, modelling and remote sensing to calculate the greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of the practices implemented by individual farmers.
Regrow’s Agriculture Resilience platform is used by more than 100 agribusinesses, retailers and food companies worldwide including General Mills, Cargill, Kellogg’s and PepsiCo. Monitoring 1.2 billion acres and powering more than two million acres of farmer-facing programmes, Regrow enables programmes that help farmers to financially benefit from practice change.
Chuck de Liedekerke, CEO and co-founder of Soil Capital, commented:
“Partnering with Regrow to add its science to our regenerative agriculture transition programme is entirely consistent with our philosophy of continuous improvement.
Companies still face regulatory and standards uncertainty on climate action and nature recovery. We are convinced that the quality of the agronomy and science Soil Capital now brings together enables companies to act. The integrity of our programme allows our clients to be confident that their actions today will be future-proofed.”
Dr. Anastasia Volkova, CEO and co-founder of Regrow, said,
“Regrow's purpose-built Ag Resilience Platform supports the industry's transition to nature-positive outcomes with high integrity and at scale. We rely on partners like Soil Capital to reach the farmers in the key agricultural regions, such as Europe. This important alliance with Soil Capital further advances our global mission to enable on-farm programs that support the world’s climate targets.”
Regrow’s proprietary soil carbon model, DNDC, has already achieved widespread recognition by regulators and standard setters around the world. In August 2022, it was granted the first generalised approval by the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) under their Soil Enrichment Protocol (SEP). It has also been approved for use in carbon markets and by regulatory organisations such as the California Air and Resources Board (CARB) and the Ecosystems Market Consortium (ESMC). Applicable in any geography, DNDC is adjusted to the conditions of local markets using field data sourced from those markets.
About Soil Capital
Founded in 2013, Soil Capital is a B Corp company whose mission is to support farmers in adopting more profitable and regenerative practices for the soil. Operating in France, Belgium and the UK, Soil Capital has developed a carbon programme based on an online greenhouse gas (GHG) assessment platform to help farmers make the regenerative transition. The programme rewards the environmental services provided by farmers, while bringing them into contact with companies that are committed to contributing to a more resilient agricultural system. Soil Capital enables farmers to certify their carbon, while giving (agri-food) companies the guarantees of a reliable certification programme and methodology and thus the means to make a concrete commitment to a sourcing approach that actively improves the health of farmland soils. Soil Capital certificates align with SBTi FLAG requirements, are measurable and verified by third parties. They are also rooted in agronomy and the reality of farmers. More than 1,000 farmers in Europe are already involved in the Soil Capital Carbon programme using an App designed by Soil Capital developers to measure the carbon footprint of their farms and generate carbon certificates to reward the reduction of CO2e emissions and carbon sequestration in the soil. 4 million euros have been distributed so far by Soil Capital to 400 farmers over two years.
About Regrow
Regrow Ag powers Agriculture Resilience for today’s leading retailers, CPGs, processors, and farmers. Recently named one of the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2023, Regrow’s rapidly growing list of partners includes Cargill, General Mills, and Kellogg’s. With Regrow’s Agriculture Resilience Platform, companies across the ag supply chain gain the ability to perpetually ensure profitable supply and protect operational integrity by accelerating the needed scale of GHG emissions reduction, adoption of regenerative farming practices, and proactive adaptation to the changing climate. Regrow earned the standing of No. 41 on Fast Company’s list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2023 and was named the No. 1 Most Innovative Company in Agriculture.
