EarthOptics maps and measures record number of farmland acres

Since 2021, the company has measured and mapped land across four continents and 45 US states, at a current rate of 10 000 physical soil samples a day and 100 000 acres measured and mapped each month. EarthOptics is also the number one carbon measurement company for grassland and rangeland acreage, with 300 000 t of sequestered carbon tallied to date. As the company scales its SoilMapper platform, it is significantly advancing regenerative agriculture practices with comprehensive soil data driving better decisions on tillage, fertilizer, planting, and soil treatments. The platform enables land owners to drive down operational costs and nurture the land sustainably while simultaneously increasing carbon capture.

“EarthOptics has become a trusted partner for Grassroots Carbon. Their expertise in rigorous deep soil sampling and best-in-class measurement protocols enables us to verify and certify high-quality soil carbon drawdown credits on behalf of our network of US ranchers. Together with trusted partners like EarthOptics, we are helping reward ranchers for their regenerative soil health practices by generating measured and verified soil carbon credits that meet the rigorous requirements of our leading corporate carbon credit buyers,” said Brad Tipper, CEO of Grassroots Carbon.

The company’s proprietary platform combined with ground truth soil samples, is training its artificial intelligence to read key soil attributes – nutrient levels, ground compaction, carbon content, and moisture – accurately and quickly. The data signalled from ground-penetrating radar combined with electromagnetic induction scanning is analysed alongside physical soil samples, giving growers actionable insights into the physical characteristics of their soil. The insights from SoilMapper help lead to better decisions on regenerative land practices – through precise data for tillage zones and depth, guidance for variable-rate fertilizer applications, grazing plans, crop rotations, and opportunities for boosting carbon capture.

CEO Lars Dyrud said, “Our vision for next generation soil data integrates physical samples with multi-sensor data, enabling farmers and ranchers to make their operations more efficient, sustainable, and profitable.”

The company has covered many acres, through which it has learned to execute efficiently across diverse landscapes, often in remote grazing terrain across varying elevations. The efficiency improvements result in better accuracy and value to customers. Plus, the soil scans covering more than a million acres have been verified with physical samples – both feeding EarthOptics’ machine learning system and constantly improving the accuracy of its automated intelligence. Together, this drives down customer cost as EarthOptics is able to glean comprehensive soil insights with fewer samples. The company has been able to reduce the number of physical samples taken by a factor of five.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/product-news/04012024/earthoptics-maps-and-measures-record-number-of-farmland-acres/