News & Events

The Duchy of Cornwall and Downforce Technologies are working together in a pilot to monitor soil carbon levels at scale

May-15-2022

15 March 2022

The Duchy of Cornwall and Downforce Technologies are delighted to announce the launch of a pilot to study the behaviour of soil organic carbon. The study will focus on the Duchy’s seven natural capital ‘Focus Farms’ over the last five years and evaluate the potential for storing additional carbon in the soil as part of the Duchy’s commitment to net zero carbon across their entire estate.

The Duchy of Cornwall estate extends to just over 130,000 acres of land and comprises some 260 fully equipped farms of different type and scale, from livestock farming in the uplands of Dartmoor to arable farms in Herefordshire.

Downforce Technologies provides accurate measurements and insights into nature-based solutions to tackle climate change. Its remote and scalable soil measurements allow farmers and land stewards to accurately determine the amount of carbon held in their soils and the realisable potential for their land to store additional carbon.

Increased soil carbon helps farmers build resilience to climate change and increase productivity of their land while supporting their path to carbon neutral production.

Matthew Morris, Land Steward for the Duchy of Cornwall: “This is incredibly exciting and potentially a game changer. If we can combine this technology with what we are discovering with our farmers through our soil health initiative we will be able to tailor our land use plans, monitor our progress, and deliver on our pathway to net zero.”

Jacquie McGlade, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Downforce Technologies: “We are delighted to be partnering with the Duchy of Cornwall, a longstanding advocate of sustainable farming practices, in order to accurately demonstrate the outcomes of soil management interventions and the realisable potential for carbon storage in UK soils.”

This pilot will form part of a wider suite of measures for assessing and monitoring natural capital and carbon assets across all the Duchy’s property portfolio. This will provide farmers and consumers transparent and reliable outcomes-based information and support the Duchy’s Net Zero journey. Downforce Technologies seeks to support large scale carbon capture initiatives in the UK and around the world.

About the Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate established in 1337 which funds the public, private and charitable activities of The Duke of Cornwall and his family.

The Duchy’s estate extends beyond the geographical boundaries of Cornwall – covering 52,789 hectares of land across 21 counties, mostly in the South West of England. It comprises arable and livestock farms, residential and commercial properties, as well as forests, rivers, quarries, and coastline. Under the guidance of the current Duke of Cornwall, the Duchy team seek to deliver a vision of ‘Sustainable Stewardship – for Communities, Enterprise and Nature.’

The Duchy of Cornwall recognises that climate change is the challenge of our lifetime and is therefore making a commitment to reach net zero across its varied and diverse portfolio.

About DTL
At Downforce Technologies we have developed a revolutionary platform to measure natural capital at scale. Nature-based solutions are critical to help solve climate change; we provide the measurements to enable companies, landowners and financiers to design, implement and monitor nature-based solutions.

We are helping food supply chains including livestock, wine and produce, embark on their net zero journeys. We provide remote, outcome-driven measurements of soil carbon and water going back 5 years at 10m2 resolution with over 90% accuracy compared to traditional soil sampling. Our comparative, locally-driven analysis enables us to rate the relative performance of your land and predict its realisable potential.

Growers, buyers and those financing the transition to more sustainable practices can rely on our consistent and scalable measurements to inform land management decisions, monitor outcomes, enable green financing and achieve their net zero targets. Our measurements help improve sustainability and resilience to climate change for producers and provide transparency to consumers around the world.