Biome Makers adds AI soil carbon capacity metrics to its BeCrop platform

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Biome Makers has added two carbon metrics to its BeCrop soil platform. Maximum Carbon Capacity uses a proprietary AI model, fed with biological soil data, physicochemical readings and spectral environmental indices, to estimate the most carbon, in CO2-equivalent per hectare, a soil could in theory hold. It is live for BeCrop Farm users on version 4.0, at no extra charge. Carbon Saturation Percentage then compares current carbon with that ceiling, for new farm projects set up with the pH/Ch Carbon dimension.

The idea is that knowing the ceiling, not just today's level, helps regenerative agriculture programmes decide which farms to prioritise and where to direct money. Until now, said co-founder and chief scientific officer Alberto Acedo, carbon measurement "tells you what's there, but not what's possible."

Across more than 11,000 samples in the company's database, 99% of soils sat below half their modelled maximum, average saturation was 3.1%, and the average gap was 153 tonnes of CO2eq per hectare. The company adds that not every soil will reach its modelled ceiling, which is a reasonable caveat to attach to an average of 3.1%.