Feature Story AGROLOGY’S INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE By Julia Nellis, Social Media Manager
The topic of carbon capture is increasingly important as the carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in our atmosphere reach record highs. The Paris Agreement, enacted on Nov. 4, 2016, saw nearly 200 countries commit to limiting global temperature increases to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with an aim to cap the rise at 1.5°C. Achieving this requires significant efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century to prevent severe climate impacts, such as droughts, heatwaves and unprecedented rainfall. Data indicates that greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 and decrease by 45 percent by 2030. The agriculture industry is uniquely positioned to combat climate change. Farmers, as stewards of the land, are driven to maintain healthy soil, native vegetation and water bodies. Approximately 10% of the Earth’s land is used for farming, and soil-based carbon sequestration is seen as a promising “negative emissions” technology to remove excess CO₂ from the air. Regenerative Agriculture: A Key Solution Regenerative agriculture focuses on restoring and enhancing soil and ecosystem health. This approach goes beyond sustainability, actively improving soil organic matter and biodiversity. Techniques like cover cropping, reduced tillage and crop rotation help sequester carbon dioxide, turning fields into “carbon sinks.” However, the carbon markets often undervalue farmers’ contributions, offering low prices for agriculture-related carbon credits. Many farmers are eager to adopt regenerative practices but face high costs for new technology, soil amendments and crop management. These financial barriers particularly impact small and mid-sized farms in the U.S. and may serve as a deterrent. Farmers currently receive little financial incentive to offset the costs of transitioning to regenerative agriculture, despite their interest and understanding of its long-term benefits. Agrology: Empowering Farmers with Technology Emerging technologies are making carbon capture and sequestration more accessible for growers. In 2019, Agrology co- founders Tyler Locke, Adam Koeppel and Kevin Kelly developed a solution using sensors and machine learning to guide farmers in this process. Their goal was to create an affordable, robust system that withstands seasonal changes and provides predictive services to assist growers in staying ahead of potential problems in the field. Agrology, a public benefit corporation, equips growers with affordable tools to enhance sustainability and address urgent agricultural challenges. The company’s IoT system offers a
user-friendly approach to agtech, providing real-time monitoring and insights into a field’s carbon sequestration, soil health and GHG emissions. This predictive platform also helps farmers measure and manage soil moisture, nano-climates, air quality and many other agronomic conditions in real time. “Building soil biology can be complex, time-consuming and disruptive to current operations. Agrology helps derisk the transition to climate-smart practices through education and support, as well as our ground truth carbon flux data to help guide the way. We are proud to help growers navigate these changes and challenges with our partners like Western Growers. It’s inspiring to see growers use Agrology data to close the feedback loop between their soil and management practices, enabling them to grow one of their most valuable assets: their soil,” said Charlie Dubbe, Head of Regenerative Partnerships at Agrology. Innovative Technology and Principles Agrology’s platform is built on several key tech and design principles: 1. Consumer Approach: By applying consumer technology principles, Agrology’s sensors are rugged, affordable and easily replaceable at no cost to the growers. 2. Ground-Truth Data: Real time in-field data to close the feedback loop between farming practices and their impact on ecosystem health, soil health and carbon sequestration. 3. Machine Learning and AI: Leverages real-time forecast and historical data to predict trends and alert growers to potential issues, allowing them to stay ahead.
20 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com July | August 2024
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