Case study
Case study
Case study
Landed estate
Landed estate
Landed estate
How the Duchy of Cornwall built a soil carbon baseline across the UK’s diverse landscapes
How the Duchy of Cornwall built a soil carbon baseline across the UK’s diverse landscapes
How the Duchy of Cornwall built a soil carbon baseline across the UK’s diverse landscapes
About
Duchy of Cornwall
Established in 1337 and approaching its 700th year, the Duchy of Cornwall’s rural estate extends over 52,000 hectares in the South West of England, spanning farmland, woodlands, rivers, coastlines, islands, and uninhabited archipelago terrain. The estate is pursuing a transformation organised around three strategic pillars: Healthy Communities, Nature Rich, and Net Zero. Delivering on all three pillars requires consistent, field-level soil data across a diverse tenant farm network, both to establish where the estate stands today and to track whether management changes are producing the outcomes the strategy depends on.
About
Duchy of Cornwall
Established in 1337 and approaching its 700th year, the Duchy of Cornwall’s rural estate extends over 52,000 hectares in the South West of England, spanning farmland, woodlands, rivers, coastlines, islands, and uninhabited archipelago terrain. The estate is pursuing a transformation organised around three strategic pillars: Healthy Communities, Nature Rich, and Net Zero. Delivering on all three pillars requires consistent, field-level soil data across a diverse tenant farm network, both to establish where the estate stands today and to track whether management changes are producing the outcomes the strategy depends on.
About
Duchy of Cornwall
Established in 1337 and approaching its 700th year, the Duchy of Cornwall’s rural estate extends over 52,000 hectares in the South West of England, spanning farmland, woodlands, rivers, coastlines, islands, and uninhabited archipelago terrain. The estate is pursuing a transformation organised around three strategic pillars: Healthy Communities, Nature Rich, and Net Zero. Delivering on all three pillars requires consistent, field-level soil data across a diverse tenant farm network, both to establish where the estate stands today and to track whether management changes are producing the outcomes the strategy depends on.
United Kingdom
location
United Kingdom
location
United Kingdom
location
28,364
hectares
28,364
hectares
28,364
hectares
257
Farms
257
Farms
257
Farms
61,877 tCO₂e
Programme reach
61,877 tCO₂e
Programme reach
61,877 tCO₂e
Programme reach
challenges
Building an evidence base across a diverse rural estate
The Duchy’s strategy commits to net zero, nature recovery, and a regenerative transition across its tenant farms, but without consistent, estate-wide soil data, the estate had no evidence base to direct investment, measure progress, or support tenants in meeting the standards that its own strategic goals and the new rFBT require.
challenges
Building an evidence base across a diverse rural estate
The Duchy’s strategy commits to net zero, nature recovery, and a regenerative transition across its tenant farms, but without consistent, estate-wide soil data, the estate had no evidence base to direct investment, measure progress, or support tenants in meeting the standards that its own strategic goals and the new rFBT require.
challenges
Building an evidence base across a diverse rural estate
The Duchy’s strategy commits to net zero, nature recovery, and a regenerative transition across its tenant farms, but without consistent, estate-wide soil data, the estate had no evidence base to direct investment, measure progress, or support tenants in meeting the standards that its own strategic goals and the new rFBT require.
challenge 1
No quantified soil health baseline
The estate had no quantified soil health baseline across its holdings, which meant the Nature Rich and Net Zero pillars had no measured starting point. Stewardship and land management programmes could not be evaluated against outcomes, and the Duchy and its tenants had no way to determine which practices built soil carbon and which did not. As the estate moves toward the rFBT model, which requires tenants to achieve and maintain third-party regenerative verification, the absence of a baseline meant there was no independent evidence of where each farm stood before the transition began.
challenge 1
No quantified soil health baseline
The estate had no quantified soil health baseline across its holdings, which meant the Nature Rich and Net Zero pillars had no measured starting point. Stewardship and land management programmes could not be evaluated against outcomes, and the Duchy and its tenants had no way to determine which practices built soil carbon and which did not. As the estate moves toward the rFBT model, which requires tenants to achieve and maintain third-party regenerative verification, the absence of a baseline meant there was no independent evidence of where each farm stood before the transition began.
challenge 1
No quantified soil health baseline
The estate had no quantified soil health baseline across its holdings, which meant the Nature Rich and Net Zero pillars had no measured starting point. Stewardship and land management programmes could not be evaluated against outcomes, and the Duchy and its tenants had no way to determine which practices built soil carbon and which did not. As the estate moves toward the rFBT model, which requires tenants to achieve and maintain third-party regenerative verification, the absence of a baseline meant there was no independent evidence of where each farm stood before the transition began.
challenge 2
A complex geography for conventional sampling
The estate’s physical geography made conventional soil sampling impractical at the required scale and frequency. Holdings span mainland farmland, coastal areas, non-farmed woodland and river corridors, and the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago including uninhabited islands and hard-to-access terrain. Coordinating physical sampling across that footprint would have been prohibitively expensive and logistically unrealistic, and the Duchy’s nature recovery commitments also extend to non-farmed land where conventional agricultural sampling would not apply.
challenge 2
A complex geography for conventional sampling
The estate’s physical geography made conventional soil sampling impractical at the required scale and frequency. Holdings span mainland farmland, coastal areas, non-farmed woodland and river corridors, and the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago including uninhabited islands and hard-to-access terrain. Coordinating physical sampling across that footprint would have been prohibitively expensive and logistically unrealistic, and the Duchy’s nature recovery commitments also extend to non-farmed land where conventional agricultural sampling would not apply.
challenge 2
A complex geography for conventional sampling
The estate’s physical geography made conventional soil sampling impractical at the required scale and frequency. Holdings span mainland farmland, coastal areas, non-farmed woodland and river corridors, and the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago including uninhabited islands and hard-to-access terrain. Coordinating physical sampling across that footprint would have been prohibitively expensive and logistically unrealistic, and the Duchy’s nature recovery commitments also extend to non-farmed land where conventional agricultural sampling would not apply.
challenge 3
One dataset, two levels of access
The Duchy manages land through a dispersed tenant farm network, which creates two distinct requirements for any data programme. The measurement needs to work across multiple holdings without placing a reporting or data-collection burden on individual farmers, because an approach requiring farmer-level input would add cost, coordination risk, and data-quality inconsistencies across the estate. The data also needs to be accessible at two levels: the Duchy requires a portfolio-wide view across all of its farms, holdings and tenants to inform strategic decisions under its Healthy Communities, Nature Rich, and Net Zero pillars, while each tenant only needs to see the specific land they manage. Any solution that could not support both views from the same dataset would have created either an access problem for the estate or an information overload problem for its growers.
challenge 3
One dataset, two levels of access
The Duchy manages land through a dispersed tenant farm network, which creates two distinct requirements for any data programme. The measurement needs to work across multiple holdings without placing a reporting or data-collection burden on individual farmers, because an approach requiring farmer-level input would add cost, coordination risk, and data-quality inconsistencies across the estate. The data also needs to be accessible at two levels: the Duchy requires a portfolio-wide view across all of its farms, holdings and tenants to inform strategic decisions under its Healthy Communities, Nature Rich, and Net Zero pillars, while each tenant only needs to see the specific land they manage. Any solution that could not support both views from the same dataset would have created either an access problem for the estate or an information overload problem for its growers.
challenge 3
One dataset, two levels of access
The Duchy manages land through a dispersed tenant farm network, which creates two distinct requirements for any data programme. The measurement needs to work across multiple holdings without placing a reporting or data-collection burden on individual farmers, because an approach requiring farmer-level input would add cost, coordination risk, and data-quality inconsistencies across the estate. The data also needs to be accessible at two levels: the Duchy requires a portfolio-wide view across all of its farms, holdings and tenants to inform strategic decisions under its Healthy Communities, Nature Rich, and Net Zero pillars, while each tenant only needs to see the specific land they manage. Any solution that could not support both views from the same dataset would have created either an access problem for the estate or an information overload problem for its growers.
Our response
A phased baseline across the estate’s most complex terrain
Downforce delivered a phased programme that established a consistent soil carbon baseline across the estate’s most complex terrain without requiring any on-site activity or farmer input, giving the Duchy the evidence layer its net zero, nature recovery, and regenerative tenancy commitments require.
Our response
A phased baseline across the estate’s most complex terrain
Downforce delivered a phased programme that established a consistent soil carbon baseline across the estate’s most complex terrain without requiring any on-site activity or farmer input, giving the Duchy the evidence layer its net zero, nature recovery, and regenerative tenancy commitments require.
Our response
A phased baseline across the estate’s most complex terrain
Downforce delivered a phased programme that established a consistent soil carbon baseline across the estate’s most complex terrain without requiring any on-site activity or farmer input, giving the Duchy the evidence layer its net zero, nature recovery, and regenerative tenancy commitments require.
response 1
Historic soil carbon mapping
Downforce used its continuous SOC records dating back to 2017 to map historic soil organic carbon across the Duchy’s Focus Farms, establishing a field-level baseline that showed how soil carbon had changed under different management practices over the preceding years. This gave the estate its first quantified view of which approaches had been building soil carbon, and which had not, and provided the measured, time-stamped evidence the rFBT model will require tenants to maintain going forward.
response 1
Historic soil carbon mapping
Downforce used its continuous SOC records dating back to 2017 to map historic soil organic carbon across the Duchy’s Focus Farms, establishing a field-level baseline that showed how soil carbon had changed under different management practices over the preceding years. This gave the estate its first quantified view of which approaches had been building soil carbon, and which had not, and provided the measured, time-stamped evidence the rFBT model will require tenants to maintain going forward.
response 1
Historic soil carbon mapping
Downforce used its continuous SOC records dating back to 2017 to map historic soil organic carbon across the Duchy’s Focus Farms, establishing a field-level baseline that showed how soil carbon had changed under different management practices over the preceding years. This gave the estate its first quantified view of which approaches had been building soil carbon, and which had not, and provided the measured, time-stamped evidence the rFBT model will require tenants to maintain going forward.
response 2
Consistent analysis across the Isles of Scilly
Downforce extended the analysis to approximately 1,600 hectares across the Isles of Scilly, covering 37 tenant farms alongside non-farmed areas and uninhabited islands. The remote sensing approach meant complex, hard-to-access terrain could be studied with the same consistency and resolution as any mainland site, which was critical for the Duchy’s nature recovery objectives on land outside the scope of conventional farm-level measurement.
response 2
Consistent analysis across the Isles of Scilly
Downforce extended the analysis to approximately 1,600 hectares across the Isles of Scilly, covering 37 tenant farms alongside non-farmed areas and uninhabited islands. The remote sensing approach meant complex, hard-to-access terrain could be studied with the same consistency and resolution as any mainland site, which was critical for the Duchy’s nature recovery objectives on land outside the scope of conventional farm-level measurement.
response 2
Consistent analysis across the Isles of Scilly
Downforce extended the analysis to approximately 1,600 hectares across the Isles of Scilly, covering 37 tenant farms alongside non-farmed areas and uninhabited islands. The remote sensing approach meant complex, hard-to-access terrain could be studied with the same consistency and resolution as any mainland site, which was critical for the Duchy’s nature recovery objectives on land outside the scope of conventional farm-level measurement.
response 3
Shared tenant and portfolio views
Downforce delivered individual results to each tenant farm through the platform, giving both the Duchy and its growers a shared, visual, field-level picture of soil health. Because the analysis required no input from tenants, the platform served as a resource for farmers rather than a reporting obligation. For the Duchy, the same dataset aggregates into the portfolio-wide view needed to report progress against its strategic pillars and to support the Farming and Nature programme through which it provides carbon auditing, biodiversity monitoring, and specialist support to its tenants.
response 3
Shared tenant and portfolio views
Downforce delivered individual results to each tenant farm through the platform, giving both the Duchy and its growers a shared, visual, field-level picture of soil health. Because the analysis required no input from tenants, the platform served as a resource for farmers rather than a reporting obligation. For the Duchy, the same dataset aggregates into the portfolio-wide view needed to report progress against its strategic pillars and to support the Farming and Nature programme through which it provides carbon auditing, biodiversity monitoring, and specialist support to its tenants.
response 3
Shared tenant and portfolio views
Downforce delivered individual results to each tenant farm through the platform, giving both the Duchy and its growers a shared, visual, field-level picture of soil health. Because the analysis required no input from tenants, the platform served as a resource for farmers rather than a reporting obligation. For the Duchy, the same dataset aggregates into the portfolio-wide view needed to report progress against its strategic pillars and to support the Farming and Nature programme through which it provides carbon auditing, biodiversity monitoring, and specialist support to its tenants.
Key findings
Evidence at work
Key findings
Evidence at work
Key findings
Evidence at work
01
Remote measurement matched mainland accuracy on complex island terrain
The Isles of Scilly analysis demonstrated that Downforce’s earth observation approach delivered the same data quality on archipelago terrain, including uninhabited islands and non-farmed coastal land, as it would on a conventional mainland farm. Geography did not limit the scope or reliability of measurement.
01
Remote measurement matched mainland accuracy on complex island terrain
The Isles of Scilly analysis demonstrated that Downforce’s earth observation approach delivered the same data quality on archipelago terrain, including uninhabited islands and non-farmed coastal land, as it would on a conventional mainland farm. Geography did not limit the scope or reliability of measurement.
01
Remote measurement matched mainland accuracy on complex island terrain
The Isles of Scilly analysis demonstrated that Downforce’s earth observation approach delivered the same data quality on archipelago terrain, including uninhabited islands and non-farmed coastal land, as it would on a conventional mainland farm. Geography did not limit the scope or reliability of measurement.
02
Eight years of historic data revealed management practice performance
The SOC records dating back to 2017 across the Focus Farms showed which land management approaches delivered soil carbon gains and which did not, giving the Duchy its first evidence-based view of management effectiveness across those holdings.
02
Eight years of historic data revealed management practice performance
The SOC records dating back to 2017 across the Focus Farms showed which land management approaches delivered soil carbon gains and which did not, giving the Duchy its first evidence-based view of management effectiveness across those holdings.
02
Eight years of historic data revealed management practice performance
The SOC records dating back to 2017 across the Focus Farms showed which land management approaches delivered soil carbon gains and which did not, giving the Duchy its first evidence-based view of management effectiveness across those holdings.
03
Tenant farms gained individual, field-level visibility
All farms, including those on the Isles of Scilly, received access to their own soil carbon data through the Downforce platform. This created a shared evidence base between the Duchy and its tenants for conversations about soil health, practice change, and long-term land management priorities.
03
Tenant farms gained individual, field-level visibility
All farms, including those on the Isles of Scilly, received access to their own soil carbon data through the Downforce platform. This created a shared evidence base between the Duchy and its tenants for conversations about soil health, practice change, and long-term land management priorities.
03
Tenant farms gained individual, field-level visibility
All farms, including those on the Isles of Scilly, received access to their own soil carbon data through the Downforce platform. This created a shared evidence base between the Duchy and its tenants for conversations about soil health, practice change, and long-term land management priorities.
04
No farmer input or site access was required
The Duchy had already collected approximately 700 soil samples across the estate through the Farm Carbon Toolkit, and Downforce incorporated those existing samples to calibrate and validate its findings. This meant the full analysis covered 1,665 hectares without requiring additional farm visits, new sampling rounds, or any duplicative fieldwork. Downforce carried forward the existing investment in physical sampling rather than repeating it, using it to deliver accurate SOC data across the entire estate. For an estate with this level of geographic and logistical complexity, this removed the operational barrier that would have made a conventional measurement programme impractical.
04
No farmer input or site access was required
The Duchy had already collected approximately 700 soil samples across the estate through the Farm Carbon Toolkit, and Downforce incorporated those existing samples to calibrate and validate its findings. This meant the full analysis covered 1,665 hectares without requiring additional farm visits, new sampling rounds, or any duplicative fieldwork. Downforce carried forward the existing investment in physical sampling rather than repeating it, using it to deliver accurate SOC data across the entire estate. For an estate with this level of geographic and logistical complexity, this removed the operational barrier that would have made a conventional measurement programme impractical.
04
No farmer input or site access was required
The Duchy had already collected approximately 700 soil samples across the estate through the Farm Carbon Toolkit, and Downforce incorporated those existing samples to calibrate and validate its findings. This meant the full analysis covered 1,665 hectares without requiring additional farm visits, new sampling rounds, or any duplicative fieldwork. Downforce carried forward the existing investment in physical sampling rather than repeating it, using it to deliver accurate SOC data across the entire estate. For an estate with this level of geographic and logistical complexity, this removed the operational barrier that would have made a conventional measurement programme impractical.
05
The baseline triggered a three-year, estate-wide expansion
Results from the Focus Farms and Isles of Scilly phases led directly to a planned three-year programme covering the full 52,000-hectare estate, integrating Downforce soil carbon metrics with soil sampling and whole-farm carbon footprinting to support the estate’s net zero ambition.
05
The baseline triggered a three-year, estate-wide expansion
Results from the Focus Farms and Isles of Scilly phases led directly to a planned three-year programme covering the full 52,000-hectare estate, integrating Downforce soil carbon metrics with soil sampling and whole-farm carbon footprinting to support the estate’s net zero ambition.
05
The baseline triggered a three-year, estate-wide expansion
Results from the Focus Farms and Isles of Scilly phases led directly to a planned three-year programme covering the full 52,000-hectare estate, integrating Downforce soil carbon metrics with soil sampling and whole-farm carbon footprinting to support the estate’s net zero ambition.
customer perspective
“The Duchy of Cornwall’s plan to reach net zero involves harnessing the power of nature, and the insights from Downforce Technologies help us to do exactly that.”
Matthew Morris
Land Steward, Duchy of Cornwall
customer perspective
“The Duchy of Cornwall’s plan to reach net zero involves harnessing the power of nature, and the insights from Downforce Technologies help us to do exactly that.”
Matthew Morris
Land Steward, Duchy of Cornwall
customer perspective
“The Duchy of Cornwall’s plan to reach net zero involves harnessing the power of nature, and the insights from Downforce Technologies help us to do exactly that.”
Matthew Morris
Land Steward, Duchy of Cornwall
On-farm outcome
The programme gave the Duchy and its tenants field-level insight into soil health that had not previously existed across the estate. The data shows what is working where, informing management programmes designed to improve soil condition and support more sustainable food production across the tenant network. As the Duchy rolls out its Regenerative Farm Business Tenancy model, the Downforce baseline provides the measured starting point against which each tenant’s progress can be tracked and verified. The three-year expansion across the full 52,000-hectare estate will extend this to every farm, feeding into the Duchy’s broader commitments under its Nature Rich and Net Zero pillars and the Farming and Nature programme through which tenants receive carbon auditing, biodiversity monitoring, and specialist support for the regenerative transition.
On-farm outcome
The programme gave the Duchy and its tenants field-level insight into soil health that had not previously existed across the estate. The data shows what is working where, informing management programmes designed to improve soil condition and support more sustainable food production across the tenant network. As the Duchy rolls out its Regenerative Farm Business Tenancy model, the Downforce baseline provides the measured starting point against which each tenant’s progress can be tracked and verified. The three-year expansion across the full 52,000-hectare estate will extend this to every farm, feeding into the Duchy’s broader commitments under its Nature Rich and Net Zero pillars and the Farming and Nature programme through which tenants receive carbon auditing, biodiversity monitoring, and specialist support for the regenerative transition.
On-farm outcome
The programme gave the Duchy and its tenants field-level insight into soil health that had not previously existed across the estate. The data shows what is working where, informing management programmes designed to improve soil condition and support more sustainable food production across the tenant network. As the Duchy rolls out its Regenerative Farm Business Tenancy model, the Downforce baseline provides the measured starting point against which each tenant’s progress can be tracked and verified. The three-year expansion across the full 52,000-hectare estate will extend this to every farm, feeding into the Duchy’s broader commitments under its Nature Rich and Net Zero pillars and the Farming and Nature programme through which tenants receive carbon auditing, biodiversity monitoring, and specialist support for the regenerative transition.