A Collaboration between Downforce Technologies and Jordans Cereals to Accelerate Sustainable Agricultural Solutions Across the Food Industry.
The Jordans Farm Partnership
Downforce has partnered with Jordans Cereals to deliver scientifically robust, actionable soil health data to farmers across the Jordans Farm Partnership (JFP). In collaboration with LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) and The Wildlife Trust, Jordans Cereals supports farmers across 27 farms and 14,600 hectares (ha) to farm with nature, and enhance biodiversity. As wildlife continues to decline across the UK, healthy soils play a crucial role in restoring habitats and reversing biodiversity loss. By revealing how land management affects Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), Downforce’s data gives JFP farmers the evidence they need to improve soil health, restore habitats, and build long-term resilience across their farms.
Farmer Spotlight: Ralph Parker
Ralph Parker is a Jordan’s farmer, growing oats on his 400 ha Highfield Farm in Cambridgeshire. With the goal of achieving long-term sustainability on his farm, from both an economic and environmental perspective, working with Downforce has been transformational in driving more sustainable land management practices. Actionable soil health data is empowering Ralph with a greater understanding of SOC variability across his farm, validating his farming practices and informing future decisions around delayed drilling, catch crops and wildflower margins to accelerate habitat creation. This is driving sustainable oat production across the Jordan’s supply chain.
Actionable Soil Health Data
To meet Ralph’s goal for greater long-term sustainability across Highfield Farm, we are empowering Ralph with actionable soil health data. Our product combines ground-based data including historic soil samples with satellite observations, using a combination of machine-learning and statistical analysis, to measure SOC levels from 2018 onwards. By overlaying crop rotation data, we are empowering farmers with insights on the impact of the rotation on soil, and providing a greater understanding of how soil carbon fluctuates across space and through time. Delivering data with the highest levels of integrity and accuracy by aligning with the global standards, including the GHG protocol, SBTI FLAG and the ISO 14064 standard, we are working closely with farmers to interpret and understand their data, showing clearly how SOC levels are changing across the farm every year since 2018 to the present day.
Across Highfield Farm, since 2018 the soil has stored an additional 5,302 tonnes of CO2e, increasing by 4.5% between 2018 and 2024 (from 118,705 tCO2e to 124,007 tCO2e). By storing an average of +360 tCO2e over 8 years, Downforce data highlights the benefits of adopting sustainable land management practices to support habitat creation. Farmland bird species are beginning to thrive, with additional plans to help make sure species continue to have access to year-round food, shelter and nesting habitats.
Resilient Food Systems
Storing more carbon in soils leads to stronger, more resilient agricultural systems. Increasing SOC improves soil health by boosting water storage capacity, nutrient availability, and biodiversity—resulting in healthier, more productive, and nutrient-dense soils. These improvements create a more reliable and sustainable food supply, helping companies secure sourcing and build resilience to climate change.
Since 2018, the farms that Downforce have analysed across the JFP (2,000 hectares) have stored 14,000 tonnes of CO2e which is equivalent to 46,000 one-way flights, London to New York. Partnering with the JFP to deliver scientifically robust soil health data is verifying sustainable impact. Together, we are driving:
- An increase in SOC levels demonstrating improved soil health
- The implementation of sustainable land management practices, including the encouragement of winter stubble growth for greater wildlife cover
- A sustainable crop of oats for Jordans Cereals to use across their food products
Ralph commented, “Downforce Technologies have helped me to understand SOC changes on my farm. This insight supports us in making informed decisions around farm management and gives us confidence in the positive progress of our soil health.”
Our collaboration with Jordans Cereals is driving systems transformation across the food industry – from individual farms to sustainable food supply chains. Together, we are accelerating the global transition towards sustainable agriculture which in turn will drive greater farm profitability, productivity and long-term climate resilience.
Download the full Case Study here.
To learn more about our approach for measuring SOC levels to accelerate sustainable agricultural solutions across the food industry, connect with our team: info@downforce.tech
