The short answer. Soil carbon measurement is the annual check of the one asset on the farm whose condition is not routinely monitored. Once a year, at the same point in the year, we take physical samples from your fields, analyse them in an ISO-accredited laboratory, tie them to satellite imagery at 100 readings a hectare, and report the change against your own baseline, field by field, with the accuracy stated. This guide covers why farms measure, how it is done, when, what it costs and what you get, and links to the detailed guide on each.
Why measure soil carbon
Soil is your core asset, underpinning business performance and future land value. Soil organic carbon governs structure, infiltration, water holding and nutrient availability. When it declines it declines invisibly, and the first evidence is often significant yield loss in a poor growing season. Measured once a year against a baseline, the change becomes something you can see coming and act on. Soil carbon change is the early warning system for the condition of your production machine.
Five annual monitoring cycles on more than 300,000 hectares, across more than 250 projects in 11 countries, now show an emerging relationship between soil carbon change and yield stability. In the UK those five years included two droughts. The fields that held their carbon held their yield. Read soil organic carbon and yield for what the measurements show, including two farms on the same clay loam that went in opposite directions in the same wet year.
One measurement serves five uses:
- Manage the farm. See whether the decisions of this year built or lost soil resilience, in time to correct.
- Report to your buyer. Supplier-specific data to the standards their auditors will use from 2027.
- Evidence risk. Measured resilience for lenders and insurers pricing your business.
- Prove water outcomes. What your land contributes to holding, cleaning and slowing water, to access water company reward.
- Enter carbon markets. Registry-accredited, so you can sell insets or offsets when the opportunity arises.
How it is measured
Real soil samples on every farm we monitor, analysed by dry combustion in an ISO-accredited laboratory. Our AI ties those samples to satellite imagery at 100 readings a hectare, a value every 10 metres, giving a map and a more accurate field total rather than a list of sample points. Nothing is estimated from a list of practices you say you follow. The full method, step by step, is in how soil carbon is measured.
Accuracy stated
The error of extending the samples across the field is measured against samples the AI never saw and deducted in full before anything is reported, so every result carries its accuracy and holds up in front of an auditor. The method went through four rounds of independent scientific review to earn Regen Registry accreditation and its own credit class, is audited by Carbon Direct and Nova-Cert, verified to ISO 14065 and rated by BeZero in the global top 30%. See how the accuracy is stated.
When: once a year, in the autumn–winter window
Soil carbon has to be sampled at the same point in the year for the change to be real, and every year for a bad year to show up while the fix is still cheap. The 2026 autumn–winter sampling window is open until the end of February 2027. Miss it and your baseline is delayed by a year, with sampling beginning again in autumn 2027. Why this matters, and what a year looks like, is in why soil carbon is measured once a year.
What it costs
Pricing depends on the size of the holding, the number of fields and the tier you choose. Larger holdings cost materially less per hectare, because the fixed work of a round is spread over more ground. We do not publish a rate card; we send a written quote within two working days of receiving your SBI number and your hectares. A small deposit secures your place in the sampling season, the balance for the baseline round is invoiced once it is complete, and annual monitoring is invoiced each year. We charge for the service and never take a commission on your carbon. What sets the price per hectare goes through the three things that move it.
The 150-hectare minimum
Our minimum project area is 150 hectares, and it does not have to be your whole farm. Start with the block that matters most and add fields in a later round. What 150 hectares means in practice explains why the minimum exists and how farms choose their fields.
One measurement. Three tiers.
Every round is measured the same way whichever tier you are on. The tier decides what we do with it, so you are never paying for a service you have not asked for.
- 01 Measure: soil carbon monitoring. Annual measurement, field by field, against your own baseline, with the accuracy stated. Shows which of your practices are working and catches decline while you can still act.
- 02 Report: emissions reporting. Add when your supply chain asks for it. Full IPCC Tier II emissions calculation, reported to the standards the auditors of your buyers will use from 2027. Both sides of the ledger: what the farm emits and what it removes.
- 03 Access: credit origination. Add when there is real demand for insets or offsets. Registry-accredited project, verified removals issued in your name, sold on your terms and commission-free.
We have separated measurement from reporting so you are not paying for a carbon project you may not need yet. Registry submission is held back until there is direct demand for insets or offsets. The measurement is the core value, allowing you to manage risk and reduce yield variability. A carbon credit is the cherry on top.
What you get, and who owns it
A report, field by field, showing change against your own baseline with the accuracy stated, and a map of each field at 10-metre resolution. The results are yours: if you stop working with us you take your baseline and every measurement with you. Because we track annual change in soil carbon, management practice, yield and emissions across every project we monitor, we can tell you not just what happened on your farm but what worked on farms like it.
Who is behind the measurement
Ecometric has measured more than 300,000 hectares across more than 250 projects in 11 countries through five annual monitoring cycles. We were commissioned by WWF to write the soil health measurement paper for Codex Planetarius, its proposed global standard for the environmental performance of traded food, published in December 2025, and nominated in 2024 for The Earthshot Prize and the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Solutions Collaborative. You cannot apply to either; both are nomination-only. The science is set out on Leading with Science.
Getting started
- Your SBI number.
- A short call to agree field boundaries and sampling access.
- Half a day on farm for sampling.
- The records you already keep.
- Your results are yours.
Questions we are asked
Is this a carbon credit scheme?
No. It is measurement first. Credits are an optional third tier, added only when there is real demand for insets or offsets, and every round is already measured to the Registry standard that makes them possible.
Do I have to change how I farm?
No. We measure what your management actually does to the soil, in each climatic year. We tell you how your soil is reacting. You decide how to adapt.
Who owns the data?
You do, throughout. Our fees are for the service and never a commission on your carbon, so the timing and the terms of any sale stay yours.
How do I get a quote?
Send us your SBI number and your hectares and we will send a written quote within two working days. Minimum project area is 150 hectares. Get a quote.
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