Organic grower Braga Fresh recently partnered with predictive agriculture company, Agrology, to install a regenerative agriculture technology platform to track and quantify soil carbon in real time.
Braga Fresh has been field testing the Agrology platform to measure soil carbon respiration changes based on cultural practices employed in its regenerative farming trials. Braga Fresh is the first large-scale fresh vegetable and leafy greens farming operation to install such a system.
“Soil health and testing has long been a part of the Braga Fresh organic farming program and quantifying these practices with real-time data is key,” said Eric Moran, vice president of environmental science and resources. “The Agrology soil carbon monitoring system is the best tool we’ve seen to help us evaluate our regenerative trials.”
The Agrology arbiter carbon monitoring system helps growers track and quantify soil carbon in real time. Agrology’s machine learning model tracks and interprets data to monitor growing challenges such as soil carbon flux and soil microbiome health. Arbiter issues weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual carbon reports, enabling growers like Braga Fresh to report on and quantify carbon emissions.
“Braga Fresh has ambitious plans to enhance soil carbon sequestration and cut carbon emissions and we are honored that they are testing our technology in their fields,” said Adam Koeppel, co-founder and CEO of Agrology. “Sequestering and keeping carbon in the soil is the best way to remove atmospheric carbon rapidly and affordably, and that’s where regenerative agriculture practices come into place.”
Braga Fresh installed the Agrology soil carbon monitoring system in July 2022 as part of a regenerative trial program. In addition to soil carbon respiration and soil health, Agrology’s ground-truth sensors and tech platform help Braga Fresh manage multiple factors including crop irrigation, water management, insects, plant disease and air quality. Trialing regenerative practices is helping Braga Fresh to identify feasible low tillage practices for fresh vegetable production while maintaining the quality and food safety expectations of retailers and consumers.
About Braga Fresh
In 1928, Sebastian and Josie Braga started farming California’s fertile soil on what is now known as the Braga Home Ranch in Soledad, California. Today, the third generation continues the family values of sustainable-organic farming. Braga Fresh sets aside 10% of farmland to beneficial habitat. Now vertically integrated, Braga Fresh combines innovation with tradition to grow, harvest, and process fresh vegetables and leafy greens through the Josie’s Organics and Braga Farms brands.
