Why scientific credibility and standards compliance are vital for farming and rural communities

Find out why scientific credibility and standards compliant natural capital analytics are critical for farming and rural communities

Written by Anna Woodley from Trinity AgTech

Agriculture is evolving in ways we’ve never seen before, needing to address both challenges and exciting opportunities. It’s been made crucial for us to rethink how we approach these changes. Clinging to old perspectives and methods won’t cut it anymore; we need a fresh outlook and new ways that truly reflects the realities we’re all facing. We know that navigating the unknown can be intimidating, and it’s natural to want familiarity. Some of us might consider taking the easier route or stick to old ways, hoping things will just get better on their own. But history shows us that we can’t go back to simpler times; big change is here, and now part of our journey. By embracing these complexities with open minds, we will adapt and agricultural business can thrive.

At Trinity, we believe in aiming high rather than settling for less. Our focus is on utilising rigorous, yet user-friendly analytics grounded in the latest credible science and standards rather than choosing short-cuts and cutting corners. The answer lies in the complexity of farming itself. Agriculture is a dynamic web where soil health, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and water cycles are intricately connected, each influencing the others and impacting broader ecosystem services. For farmers and stakeholders, overlooking these complexities can lead to poor decisions, wasted resources, and missed opportunities for profitable and sustainable farming.

By adopting a systems-thinking approach, we recognise that farms natural assets, each with its own intricacies, don’t operate in isolation. It’s vital to understand how changes in soil carbon, for example, can affect biodiversity, water retention and yields. Without applying rigorous science to credibly evaluate, measure and monitor these dynamics and interdependencies, our hopes for effective and efficient outcomes for farming and rural communities will fall flat.

While it’s tempting to gravitate toward short-cuts; vanity project and box-ticking will do injustice to the inherent complexity of agriculture and will ultimately compromise the livelihood of our farming communities. The rigor and credibility of the science we use and the rigor and consistency of our methods across a farm’s natural assets, provide the necessary foundation to unlock the full potential of on-farm production now and confidently bestow a healthy legacy to the future generations. Without it, we risk everything, undermining the resilience of our farms, hindering cost management, and limiting investment opportunities, all of which are essential for securing our food and farming future.

There’s a common misconception that natural capital assessments, particularly for carbon, lack standardised methods. This is simply not true and is a perpetuated falsehood which often stems from an unwillingness to work through the complexity, scientific delivery and digital mechanisms required to appropriately meet the requirement of those high standards. In reality, globally recognised standards—like ISO 14064-2, ISO 14067, and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Land Sector and Removals Guidance—play a crucial role in ensuring that carbon and ecosystem service assessments are robust and comparable. These frameworks provide a solid scientific foundation, allowing the natural capital space to grow with integrity.

For instance, by aligning with initiatives like the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), we can create the certainty needed to attract private sector investment in agriculture. These standards help bridge the gap between agronomic realities and financial markets, enabling investors to make informed decisions about where to allocate their resources. This means farmers can access the tools they need to improve their operations, while stakeholders throughout the food supply chain can trust that the farm’s productive health as well as sustainability efforts are based on credible analytics. As we know, ultimately, adhering to high-quality standards isn’t just a technical necessity—it’s essential for building at-scale trust, credibility, and investment.

Businesses across the food supply chain are increasingly committing to these standards, with ALDI recently announcing their support for SBTi FLAG. National and international standards ensure that any analysis of natural capital aligns with the latest science and methodologies, guaranteeing high quality and integrity. Trinity’s Sandy platform stands out as the only carbon and natural capital assessment tool that adheres to all these standards and reporting requirements.

Internal Health and Performance of Farm Businesses

In today’s complex and volatile environment, farmers urgently need credible insights into the health of their businesses, particularly regarding their natural capital utilization, its overall health and value, and their income-generating capacity. We now understand that assessing the health of a farm isn’t just about tracking traditional financial metrics; it’s also about evaluating natural assets—like soil, water, and biodiversity—that are crucial for productivity. Natural capital provides essential ecosystem services for food production, from pollination to water filtration. Farmers need reliable assessments of these assets to manage risks, optimise inputs, and maintain resilient, productive farming systems.

A systems-thinking approach helps us see how a farm’s natural capital health is closely linked to its economic health. For example, poor soil health can lower yields, increasing reliance on synthetic inputs that may degrade biodiversity and water quality. By taking a holistic view of business health that considers these interconnections, farmers can enhance their long-term sustainability and resilience against challenges like soil erosion and flood risk.

Accurately assessing a farm’s natural capital—covering carbon, soil health, biodiversity, and water—is essential for farmers to gain a clear picture of their operations, manage risks effectively, and make informed decisions. With farm businesses facing unprecedented vulnerabilities, optimizing decision-making for resilience in our food supply chain and financially thriving rural communities is more crucial than ever.

Maintaining scientific credibility, recognised standards, and consistency across natural assets provides the necessary integrity and assurance for all stakeholders to benefit. Aligning with globally recognised standards, such as those outlined in Defra’s ‘Harmonisation of Carbon Accounting Tools’ report, is a vital step. This alignment fosters collaboration among stakeholders—banks, private investors, retailers, farmers, and policymakers—allowing us to tackle challenges at scale, unlock investment in agriculture, and achieve positive outcomes for everyone.

Transparency is key to facilitating capital flow into agriculture. Private investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders need to know that their investments are driving measurable, verifiable, and scalable results, effectively mitigating the risk of greenwashing. Together, we can build a stronger, more sustainable agricultural future!

If we rely on vanity reporting and use low-quality natural capital data and analytics, we expose ourselves to significant risks:

1. Slower Capital Flow into Agriculture: To meet the global demand for nature-based solutions by 2050, we need a staggering $11 trillion—$2 trillion by 2030 and another $9 trillion from 2030 to 2050. While governments have a role to play, they can only cover about 85% of this funding gap. Private sector investment is crucial, but without reliable analytics backed by the latest standards, investors won’t feel confident enough to contribute the necessary capital.
2. Compromised Farm Futures: Misguided decisions and a lack of investment in agriculture could lead to farm closures and the decline of rural communities. This would be a tragic outcome for our food systems and those who depend on them.
3. Nature-Based Solutions Will Struggle to Scale: We’re relying heavily on nature-based solutions to tackle urgent environmental issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation. However, these solutions are failing to gain traction due to insufficient collaboration and a lack of confidence in the underlying data.
4. Weaker Retailer Commitments and Resilience: Retailers in the food supply chain need high-quality Scope 3 information to enhance their sustainability efforts. We’re at a critical juncture—if farmers don’t engage soon, the supply chain may conclude that capturing reliable data is too difficult and seek alternatives. This could undermine farmers’ negotiating power and reduce opportunities. Retailers are eager to reward farmers for their environmental advancements, but they need solid evidence to do so.
5. Diminished Consumer Commitment to British Produce: If we rely on weak data and analysis to support our environmental claims, we risk losing consumer trust and confidence. This could lead to greater commoditisation, shrinking margins, and decreased investment from farmers in environmental initiatives.

A Natural Capital, Systems Thinking Approach to Agriculture and Food Production

While the challenges we face are significant and complex, they are absolutely solvable. By adopting a systems thinking approach and recognising that key elements of farm systems—such as soil, carbon, biodiversity, and water—are interconnected, we can create impactful solutions. Trinity AgTech’s Sandy is designed to be at the heart of this transformation. With a blend of scientific rigor, trusted standards, and a holistic perspective, we can cultivate the conditions necessary for a resilient, sustainable agricultural sector and thriving rural communities to flourish at scale!

To find out more about our unique approach to nature-based solutions, contact our team.