Aurvio co-op has partnered with Farmeye to roll out a soil carbon monitoring and improvement programme on farms across the north-west.

A carbon baseline will be established on participating farms in year one of the programme, with GPS- located soil cores taken from 0-30cm and 30-60cm.

These results will then be mapped across the farm before soil carbon management advice is provided to the farmer by both Aurivo and Farmeye.

Annual soil carbon sequestration will be estimated based off the practices each farmer agrees to carry to out.

In year three, fresh soil cores will be taken and tested from the same locations on farms and these samples will show any changes in soil carbon level on the first samples taken.

The co-op’s general manager Stephen Blewitt welcomed the partnership with Farmeye.

“We believe the data and information from the farms involved will be of great benefit to all farmers in our region and demonstrate the positive effects farm practices can have on carbon sequestration,’’ Blewitt said.

Measuring sustainability

Co-founder of Farmeye Brendan Allen explained that the ag-tech firm has the ability to measure, report on and verify farms’ environmental metrics, such as the soil carbon levels that are the focus of Aurivo’s project.

“Our purpose is to improve the lives of farmers and the environment. We know that soil health is the basis of all great farming,” Allen commented.

“Our technologies allow the food producer and farmers to measure, monitor and demonstrate the sustainability metrics of their farms.

“We aid farmers to navigate their way through a sustainable future for their enterprises.”

He added that the Aurivo programme is seen by Farmeye as a “huge step” in understanding and using farm-specific data on the environment.