S3E6: Why Nori Doesn't Use Soil Sampling (Yet)—w/ Rebekah Carlson, Nori's Agriculture Supply Lead

When Nori awards carbon credits, of course, we want to be as precise as possible and ensure that each Nori Carbon Removal Tonne or NRT actually represents a metric tonne of carbon removed from the atmosphere and retained in the soil. At the same time, we can’t let perfect be the enemy of the good, and right now, soil sampling for carbon is imprecise and incredibly expensive. So, rather than wait for soil science to catch up, we’re incentivizing farmers to implement regenerative ag practices NOW. How do we quantify carbon in the soil? And what constraints of running a business factored into our decision? Rebekah Carlson is the Agriculture Supply Lead at Nori and author of the recent Medium piece, ‘Nori’s Stance on Soil Sampling: Why Soil Sampling Isn’t (Yet) a Silver Bullet for Carbon Credits.’ On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, she sits down with Ross to discuss the two different schools of thought for measuring soil carbon and explain why Nori uses modeling rather than soil sampling. Rebekah describes the network of soil sample research stations that feed into crop models and responds to the argument that modeling is a ‘cop out.’ Listen in for insight into the COMET-Farm modeling tool Nori uses to measure soil carbon and get Rebekah’s predictions for when soil sampling might be precise, cheap, and scalable enough to work in our carbon removal marketplace. Key Takeaways [0:32] Why Rebekah wrote the Medium article, ‘Nori’s Stance on Soil Sampling’ [2:40] The 2 schools of thought for measuring soil carbon—crop modeling vs. soil sampling [5:29] The pros and cons of soil sampling [7:28] What factors might cause an inaccurate soil sample [8:54] The network of soil sample research stations that feed into crop models and why some areas have more research stations than others [10:55] Why it makes more sense for Nori to use crop modeling to measure soil carbon and Rebekah’s response to the argument that crop modeling is a ‘cop out’ [13:47] The challenge around setting aside a parcel of land as a control in soil sampling [16:04] The COMET-Farm modeling tool Nori uses to measure soil carbon and award carbon credits/acre [18:24] Why it’s not feasible to verify modeling with direct measurement [20:08] The handheld soil sampling devices and satellite and drone technologies being developed to measure soil carbon [21:11] Why Rebekah anticipates that soil sampling will get more precise over time [22:48] Why Nori can’t wait for soil science to solve the issues around precision and permanence [25:18] Rebekah’s prediction that the future holds better tools and more standardization re: what it means to measure carbon in the soil [26:39] How long it might take for soil sampling to be precise, cheap and scalable Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Resources Rebekah’s Medium Piece on Nori’s Stance on Soil Sampling COMET-Farm