Global decarbonization requires radical changes in the way humanity manages the world's soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. Yet many soil C solutions face significant credibility challenges and MRV uncertainty.

As a new generation of improved solutions transition from science demonstration scale to commercial deployment in the millions of acres, high-rigor SOC MRV will be the crux of the value creation question. The need for precise, scalable, and cost-effective soil organic carbon (SOC) stock measurement has become increasingly critical.

Voluntary carbon markets, compliance obligations such as CBAM and CRCF, and national inventories all require high-quality soil C MRV at massive scale to ensure SOC stocks are managed well, yet proximal MRV technologies which are high-rigor and low cost are sorely lacking.

Yard Stick addresses this need with an innovative in situ VisNIR probe technology designed to increase SOC stock quantification accessibility while preserving scientific integrity.

Our presentation will outline the experimental design and modeling strategies that have enabled us to approach parity between in situ VisNIR-based stock predictions and traditional laboratory-derived stock assessments. We’ll highlight results from three projects at commercial scale in the US, showcasing how a strategically sparse calibration set enabled robust carbon stock predictions. Through these case studies, we will share new insights into the unique challenges of VisNIR spectroscopy to characterize high SOC soils across different study conditions, and welcome a conversation on the soil C MRV needs of different emerging market incentives to preserve and restore SOC stocks at scale.

Unless high-rigor MRV can build a new foundation of trust in innovative new SOC solutions, business value and climate impact will be elusive. Done right, we can achieve highly credible climate benefits, improved soil and ecosystem health, and rock-solid economic value to land managers and companies along the value chain. In collaboration with its research partners, Yard Stick believes its technology offers a promising path forward for SOC MRV at scale.

Soil Aggregate stability is an important indicator of soil health. Aggregate stability corelates to critical soil ecosystem functions including water infiltration and storage, erosion resistance, and plant rooting. Unfortunately, traditional measures of soil aggregate stability are time- and labor-intensive which limits the applicability of aggregate stability as a widely available soil health indicator. Recent research efforts have developed image-based methods for aggregating stability measurements which generate comparable results to traditional methods in significantly less time. The Soil Health Institute and their partners at the University of Sydney have developed a smartphone application for measuring soil aggregate stability using image-based methods. The application, Slakes, is available for free on both android and iOS devices. was created by the Soil Health Institute in conjunction with the University of Sydney. The app calculates an aggregate stability index by monitoring changes in aggregate size before and after being submerged in water for 10 minutes. This method, while different from traditional approaches, has been shown to be sensitive to changes in agricultural management practices (e.g. cover crops and reduced tillage) and is a viable indicator of soil health. In this workshop, we will discuss the measurements of soil aggregate stability, guide users through aggregate stability measurements using Slakes, and discuss integrating Slakes results into soil health monitoring efforts.