Perennial, the leading full-service measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification (MMRV) company, today announces the release of the first tool for use in the carbon markets to embrace AI-powered soil carbon quantification. VT0014 was approved by Verra, the world's leading standard setter for climate action and sustainable development, for use in the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program. The tool enables digital soil mapping under Verra Agricultural Land Management (ALM) methodologies, wherever soil organic carbon quantification is required or needed. By reducing soil sampling burden and enabling rigorous quantification in remote or data-scarce areas, the tool can improve projects' return on investment and expand access to carbon markets, regenerative project financing, and sustainability programs in regions that have historically been excluded from participation.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, soils can sequester the equivalent of around a tenth of manufactured carbon emissions over 25 years. Regenerative farming and smart land management offer a powerful climate solution but scalable and affordable measurement that accurately captures field-level outcomes across regions, land uses and crops has long been a barrier. Perennial's vision is to unlock the financial incentives to regenerate 100 million acres of land across the Earth.
Built over four years of scientific collaboration with input from more than 30 science and industry experts, VT0014 changes that. Perennial led the development of this tool for use in the VCS Program, the world's leading most widely used voluntary carbon market standard greenhouse gas crediting program. The tool brings cost-effective, rigorous soil carbon quantification to even the most remote and underserved regions in a way that is methodologically robust and enables projects to register in high-quality carbon crediting programs.
“This tool is a quantum leap forward in soil quantification. Not only does it lower barriers for MMRV in areas where projects are already underway, it unlocks new regions, new carbon projects and new opportunities for climate finance,” shared Perennial co-founder and Chief Product Officer, David Schurman. “We're already starting to see this unfold with partners like rTek, a project developer regenerating 500,000 hectares of degraded grasslands in Kazakhstan who can now access carbon markets under Verra's VM0032 methodology.”
How Digital Soil Mapping Works:
Digital soil mapping uses soil samples, machine learning and biogeochemically-informed predictors to quantify soil organic carbon (SOC) at scale.
Perennial's proprietary, peer-reviewed model, ATLAS-SOC, has now integrated over 350,000 soil samples. For each project, ATLAS-SOC is trained on a set of strategically selected local samples. The fine-tuned model then fills in the gaps between sample points, producing hundreds to thousands of times more SOC data points than sampling alone. By requiring a fraction of the samples required by traditional methods, it reduces measurement costs, increases project ROI and minimizes farmer disruptions, all while improving accuracy.
Verra-approved Digital Soil Mapping with VT0014
VT0014 enables digital soil mapping under select methodologies in the VCS Program. The tool is designed to:
- Apply across Verra ALM methodologies —including VM0042 Improved Agricultural Land Management, VM0032 Methodology for the Adoption of Sustainable Grasslands through Adjustment of Fire and Grazing
- Bring consistency to digital soil mapping model use —with clear guidance on how models must be selected, calibrated, validated, and applied throughout the project and crediting period
- Expand access to carbon markets — with the potential to reduce sampling burdens and measurement costs while enabling high-resolution SOC quantification anywhere
“Digital soil mapping is critical to reducing the costs associated with the implementation and scaling up of Agricultural Land Management projects,” said Mandy Rambharos, chief executive officer of Verra. “We're excited to see this scalable solution come to life, as it will meaningfully strengthen access to soil carbon markets for farmers and ranchers worldwide, while ensuring the highest standards of integrity and transparency for project developers and corporate buyers alike.”
A diverse range of leading players in the carbon markets have already committed to the implementation of this tool with Perennial as an MMRV partner, including Bayer, rTek, Anthesis, and Cool Path. Spanning six continents, their projects aim to unlock financial benefits for thousands of farmers and ranchers across millions of hectares.
“Bayer is committed to advancing the transition to regenerative agriculture globally, and we are proud to partner with an innovative technology provider that can scale alongside us,” stated Leo Bastos, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Commercial Ecosystems at Bayer. “After extensive validation studies, we chose Perennial as one of our global MMRV partners due to their exceptional ability to deliver precise results with minimal sampling. The joint development efforts with Perennial not only enhance our trust in their expertise and technology but also position us at the forefront of agricultural innovation, empowering us to better reward farmers for their stewardship of the land.”
To learn more about VT0014 and how digital soil mapping can be used to advance carbon projects and Scope 3 programs, visit perennial.earth/verra
About Perennial
Perennial is a full-service MMRV (measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification) company that delivers outcome-based measurements for any land use—anywhere in the world. Its proprietary digital soil mapping model drastically reduces sampling needs and eliminates geographical limitations, making it the most cost-effective, streamlined, and scalable way to measure, report, and verify emissions reductions, carbon removal, and sustainable outcomes. Based in Boulder, CO, Perennial has raised over $25M from leaders in climate, technology, agriculture, and carbon markets, including GenZero, Bloomberg LP, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, SineWave Ventures and Augment Ventures.
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