On-farm monitoring of subsurface carbon sequestration in regenerative agriculture

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Potential widespread adoption of regenerative agricultural practices, such as cover cropping, has documented capacity to contribute to net-zero emissions goals at the national level, often by sequestering carbon in soils through plant-mediated activity. However, there are methodological challenges in knowing if a management change has, or will result in, increased carbon sequestration in soil. Our research will develop technologies and techniques that can enable farm-level monitoring and decision making of plant-mediated, regenerative solutions for achieving carbon sequestration goals. Specifically, we will advance existing technologies of near-surface and sub-surface imaging of plant roots as potential sources of carbon inputs to soil, and make first steps in the development and calibration of novel electro-chemical bio-sensors to track metabolites of carbon inputs into longer-term pools of soil carbon. We will contextualize our research and findings with diverse farmer groups' feedback on regenerative practices and potential carbon and soil health monitoring tools, and perceived importance in achieving long-term management goals. Our partnerships will deepen the relevance and expand the potential end use of our research through i) increased reach with farmers through knowledge translation and transfer workshops and ii) in ensuring our approach has feasibility for on-the-ground industry application in measuring, monitoring, and verification of carbon and soil health changes on farms. Results from our research will increase the tangible near- and long-term capacity for farmers to quantify soil carbon sequestration - which can facilitate participation in carbon offsetting programs, but also more generally can bolster bottom-up capacity in running climate-smart farm operations.