Using the Tools
Method for Calculating SOC Change in Land Management Analysis
Method for Calculating SOC Change in Land Management Analysis
Downforce's Land Management Analysis (LMA) tool shows you how your farming practices are building (or losing) soil carbon. Whether you want to see results for a single field, multiple fields, or compare different farming methods, LMA gives you clear before-and-after measurements.
Downforce's Land Management Analysis (LMA) tool shows you how your farming practices are building (or losing) soil carbon. Whether you want to see results for a single field, multiple fields, or compare different farming methods, LMA gives you clear before-and-after measurements.
How LMA measures soil carbon changes
Downforce's Land Management Analysis (LMA) shows you how your farming practices are building - or losing - soil carbon. Whether you want results for a single field, multiple fields, or a comparison of different farming methods, LMA gives you clear before-and-after measurements.
Think of soil carbon like a bank account
Soil carbon goes up and down through the year with weather, seasons and farming activity. To see whether you're actually building wealth - soil carbon - you need to look at longer-term trends, not daily fluctuations.
LMA uses full-year averages to smooth out these ups and downs, so you can see the real impact of your farming decisions. It's like comparing your average bank balance this year against last year, rather than checking what you had on any single day.
How it works
Step 1 — we calculate the average soil carbon for a full year before your farming activity starts
Step 2 — we calculate the average soil carbon for a full year after your activity ends
Step 3 — we compare the difference to show the real impact
Step 4 — we apply the same analysis across all your fields and every season in the farm records you've uploaded to LMA
An example
Say you sowed corn in May 2018 and harvested in April 2019. Here's what LMA does:
Soil carbon before sowing — the average from November 2017 to October 2018 (the year centred on May 2018)
Soil carbon after harvesting — the average from October 2018 to September 2019 (the year centred on April 2019)
Your impact — LMA calculates the difference between the two, showing how much soil carbon your corn crop added or removed over its cycle
Why this approach works
It works for any timeframe — whether you're growing 3, 6 or 12-month crops, or rotating several crops strategically, the same logic applies
It gives reliable results — it filters out short-term fluctuations like weather and seasonal noise to show the true trend
It's conservative — if LMA shows you're building soil carbon across multiple occurrences of the same activity, you can trust the gains are real
A few things to note
Early 2017 data may be less precise, since we don't have a full year of prior measurements to average against
Very recent data (the last six months) will be updated with your next soil assessment for complete accuracy
The bottom line
LMA shows which farming practices are actually building soil health on your farm. When you see positive results, you can be confident they're real - not just good weather or seasonal luck. That helps you double down on what's working and adjust what isn't.
How LMA measures soil carbon changes
Downforce's Land Management Analysis (LMA) shows you how your farming practices are building - or losing - soil carbon. Whether you want results for a single field, multiple fields, or a comparison of different farming methods, LMA gives you clear before-and-after measurements.
Think of soil carbon like a bank account
Soil carbon goes up and down through the year with weather, seasons and farming activity. To see whether you're actually building wealth - soil carbon - you need to look at longer-term trends, not daily fluctuations.
LMA uses full-year averages to smooth out these ups and downs, so you can see the real impact of your farming decisions. It's like comparing your average bank balance this year against last year, rather than checking what you had on any single day.
How it works
Step 1 — we calculate the average soil carbon for a full year before your farming activity starts
Step 2 — we calculate the average soil carbon for a full year after your activity ends
Step 3 — we compare the difference to show the real impact
Step 4 — we apply the same analysis across all your fields and every season in the farm records you've uploaded to LMA
An example
Say you sowed corn in May 2018 and harvested in April 2019. Here's what LMA does:
Soil carbon before sowing — the average from November 2017 to October 2018 (the year centred on May 2018)
Soil carbon after harvesting — the average from October 2018 to September 2019 (the year centred on April 2019)
Your impact — LMA calculates the difference between the two, showing how much soil carbon your corn crop added or removed over its cycle
Why this approach works
It works for any timeframe — whether you're growing 3, 6 or 12-month crops, or rotating several crops strategically, the same logic applies
It gives reliable results — it filters out short-term fluctuations like weather and seasonal noise to show the true trend
It's conservative — if LMA shows you're building soil carbon across multiple occurrences of the same activity, you can trust the gains are real
A few things to note
Early 2017 data may be less precise, since we don't have a full year of prior measurements to average against
Very recent data (the last six months) will be updated with your next soil assessment for complete accuracy
The bottom line
LMA shows which farming practices are actually building soil health on your farm. When you see positive results, you can be confident they're real - not just good weather or seasonal luck. That helps you double down on what's working and adjust what isn't.