“The satellites orbit the Earth on a regular basis and are constantly collecting images of every square inch of the earth,” said Regrow’s data scientist John Shriver.

“We use that time series of data to be able to monitor what’s happening on a field over time.”

The data Regrow collects includes shortwave infrared imaging that can reveal the health of plants, the proportion of green cover to soil in a field, and the amount of “crop residue” left over after harvest. The information gathered can be used by growers to adjust their inputs or crop type to boost yield, and calculate the carbon they emit or sequester by their farming practices.

Shriver said farmers often reduced their tillage practice or picked up planting a cover crop, rather than leaving fields bare, in response to Regrow’s data.

“The fewer times you till the field, the less carbon you’re releasing into the atmosphere. And if you plant a cover crop, so that could be clover, ryegrass, any kind of plant that’s going to grow over the winter, it holds on to the soil on the field and minimises the emissions over that winter season that bare soil is going to have,” said Shriver.

Loading

“What we can do is we can give the farmer some certainty in terms of what they’re going to be paid for adopting these practices and taking part in the carbon market.”

In May, while Volkova managed the evacuation of her mother from Ukraine, Regrow raised $50 million led by US investors including Tom Steyer and Katie Hall’s Galvanize Climate Solutions and Salesforce founder Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures. Last year the start-up raised $24 million in Series A funding.

Having access to decades of data on agricultural fields will help growers adjust to an environment made volatile by damaging floods and increased drought caused by climate change, Shriver said.

“In extreme rain events or extreme heat events where there’s a lot of drought, we can recommend different agronomic practices to help them maintain high yields even in the face of some of these new climate stresses.”

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.