Measuring Almond Farm Sustainability with BeCrop Rate

Doña Marina Farm, a family-owned almond farm in Andalusia, Spain, faced the challenge of measuring the sustainability of their farmland after adopting sustainable and organic management practices in 2018. They wanted to measure the difference in sustainability between two areas of the farm - one that adopted organic practices and another area that still used conventional methods. They needed a metric to communicate their progress toward soil recovery and sustainability.

The Solution

Doña Marina Farm partnered with Biome Makers to use their third-party rating system, BeCrop Rate, a metric to measure changes in soil biodiversity life that management practices affect. BeCrop Rate simplifies the complexity of soil nutrition, biodiversity, and pathogen testing into one specific number. Based on proprietary artificial intelligence, BeCrop Rate assesses the sustainability of farmland parcels once yearly and compares different farmlands independently of crops, farming practices, or geographic location. The outcome is a scorecard that provides an impact assessment of human intervention on agricultural lands and best management practices.

Results

Doña Marina Farm received two BeCrop Rate scores for their farm - one for the organic area of 14.2 ha and another for the conventional area of 31.4 ha. The organic area received a Balanced Farming BeCrop Rate of 74.4, while the conventional area received a lower Balanced Farming BeCrop Rate of 72.6.

With the help of BeCrop Rate, Doña Marina Farm was able to measure, improve, and verify sustainability while differentiating its products from the competition. The Balanced Farming scores received by the farm indicate a medium level of energy under agronomic, biological, and mechanical methods that promote and enhance the agroecosystem in a harmonic coexistence with natural systems.

BeCrop Rate has enabled Doña Marina Farm to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable farming practices, providing confidence to their customers that their products are environmentally responsible. By comparing the BeCrop Rate scores between the two areas of the farm, the landowners were able to quantify the benefits of adopting sustainable practices and make informed decisions about the future management of their farmland.