Upload your soil analysis, and it becomes your plot
Without a measurement, FairGrow calculates with a soil map of the whole world. That is a good start, but it remains an estimate for the region. With your lab report, FairGrow calculates with the soil you actually farm.
A map estimates. A soil sample knows.
We set the carbon from SoilGrids, the soil map from ISRIC, beside measurements by arable farmers in four Dutch regions. The map came out higher everywhere.
Trust the map, and your soil looks richer than it is
A SoilGrids pixel is 250 by 250 metres: more than six hectares, with ditches, farmyard and neighbouring fields inside it. The map gives its own range, and it is wide: for the field on Noord-Beveland, 0.6 to 9.2% carbon.
- In all four places the map estimated 2.3 to 3.7 times more carbon than arable farmers in that region measured
- In the Noordoostpolder and near Dronten the map gave no value: it has no coverage there
- On clay, the map came closer to the measurement for clay percentage than for carbon
That is why FairGrow uses the map for what it does well: a first picture of your soil type, anywhere in the world. For the carbon in your soil, you want a measurement.
The best number wins
For each plot, FairGrow checks which source is available and takes the most accurate one. You always see where a number comes from.
An estimate for the region
SoilGrids from ISRIC, for every place on earth. With the range the map itself provides, so you can see how certain the number is.
Regional estimateA national soil map
Where a country has mapped its own soil, as the Netherlands has, that map takes precedence. Finer, and made for that country’s soil.
Soil mapYour lab report
Upload the PDF of your soil analysis or type in the values. From then on, FairGrow calculates with your soil for that plot, and your measurement always takes precedence.
MeasuredYour own starting point, and then a line
With a measurement, the carbon balance of your plot no longer starts from the region, but from what is in your topsoil.
- The balance starts at your measured carbon stock
- Your clay percentage determines how fast organic matter breaks down in your soil
- Every new analysis becomes a point on the line, so you see whether compost, straw or a green manure makes a difference
- Hot water extractable carbon shows a change sooner than the organic matter content
- For each plot you see what compost, manure or incorporating straw costs per tonne of carbon that stays in your soil
Your results straight into your client’s plot
A result that stays in a mailbox as a PDF does little. We are looking for laboratories that want to put their analyses directly into FairGrow, with the grower’s consent. The grower sees what it means for their plot, and you remain the source.
Only with consent
The integration runs per client. The grower switches it on and can always switch it off again.
Your name on every value
The plot shows which lab measured the value and when. So the grower knows who to go back to.
Across borders too
FairGrow runs in 57 languages. A lab with clients in several countries delivers the same way everywhere.
What we do not promise
FairGrow gives an indication of your carbon balance, not a certificate and not a carbon credit. Even with a lab report it remains a calculation: we show what it rests on, which source we used and how large the range is. A soil analysis does not replace the advice of your adviser, but it does give you both the same starting point.
Questions
Which soil analysis do I need?
A standard arable soil analysis with organic matter is enough to start. Better is an analysis with carbon (Dumas or elemental), clay percentage and bulk density over the topsoil. If it includes hot water extractable carbon, FairGrow takes that into account too.
So is a soil map useless?
No. For a first picture of your soil type, especially in places where nobody has ever measured, SoilGrids is valuable. FairGrow shows the map with its range and the label regional estimate. It is only too coarse for the carbon stock of your plot.
Who owns my soil analysis?
You do. FairGrow uses it for the calculations on your plots and shares it with nobody without your consent.
How often should I measure again?
Organic matter changes slowly. Every three to four years, at the same spot and in the same season, is enough to see a line. In between, FairGrow keeps calculating with your crops and fertilisation.
Turn the estimate into your plot
Put your soil analysis into Import lab report, in your crop records. FairGrow then works out right away how much carbon sits in your topsoil.
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