We’re joined by Chris Tolles, Co-Founder and CEO of Yard Stick, a soil carbon measurement company that's helping unlock the data needed to scale regenerative agriculture by affordably and accurately delivering the ground-truth data that proves the ROI of regenerative practices.
Chris walks us through the graph that convinced him soil carbon was the climate solution to bet on — and why most current measurement methods are too expensive, too slow, or too inaccessible to meet the moment. You'll learn how Yard Stick's field-based spectroscopy technology changes the game, and why ground-level measurement will always matter more than watching from space.
We also explore how Yard Stick is working with carbon project developers, land funds, and food brands — why these partners want the data, how they're using it, and what outcomes its helping them achieve.
Plus, Chris tells us what it actually looks like to measure soil carbon on a thousand-acre farm, he gets real about the limitations of consumer demand to spur a regenerative revolution, unpacks the driver behind the underfunding of nature-based climate solutions, and shares his perspective on what the voluntary carbon market might look like in 10 years.
Episode Highlights:
🌍 Improving soil carbon measurement to help reverse climate change
🧲 The one powerful graph that created his soil carbon conviction
💰 Why measuring soil carbon costs so much today
🧪 Replacing costly lab analysis with real-time soil spectroscopy
🤝 How they work with project developers, investors, and brands
💪 Reducing supply chain volatility with soil health insights
📉 Why nature-based solutions are still underfunded
💭 What will the voluntary carbon market look like in 10 years?
👀 Unpacking the bearish case for regenerative consumer demand
🌽 Embracing paradox and finding the “both and”
Links:
Yard Stick – https://www.useyardstick.com
Soil Carbon Capacity + Cost Graph Image - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ETYnXsxVoeqnuwWBBP4HbJb9UUO6kbll/view
Soil Carbon Capacity + Cost Graph Study - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aabf9f
Yard Stick Probe In Action Video - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bNPASc0WwtFP43EHtkpueOU3RSeEi4Ya/view?usp=sharing
Yard Stick Efficacy Scientific Paper - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706124003811
Soil Health Institute’s ECONOMICS of Soil Health Systems on 30 U.S. Farms - https://soilhealthinstitute.org/our-work/initiatives/economics-of-soil-health-systems-on-30-u-s-farms/
NYC Climate Week Soil + Ag People Walk/Run - https://luma.com/phvuguac
Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) - https://carboncredits.com/what-is-the-voluntary-carbon-market/
Measurement, Reporting, Verification (MRV) - https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2022/07/27/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-measurement-reporting-and-verification-mrv-of-carbon-credits
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) – https://www.risd.edu
Soil Health Institute - https://soilhealthinstitute.org
Clear Frontier - https://www.clearfrontierag.com
SLM Partners - https://www.slmpartners.com
General Mills - https://www.generalmills.com
Organic Valley - https://www.organicvalley.coop
Regrow - https://www.regrow.ag/
Perennial - https://www.perennial.earth/
Maui Nui - https://mauinuivenison.com/
Sol Simple - https://solsimple.com/
Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202403012
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R0956&qid=1757442852061
Indigo Ag – https://www.indigoag.com
Verra (Carbon Registry) – https://verra.org
Quantis – https://www.quantis.com
Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) – https://sciencebasedtargets.org
Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) - https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/chapter/chapter-7/
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