DORA - A new process and metric to measure ecosystem performance of farms

Under the pressures of climate change and a growing population, traditional agricultural practices are increasingly insufficient to meet the rising demand for food and soil carbon sequestration. To address this challenge, regenerative agriculture has emerged as an approach—emphasizing the understanding of soil dynamics, promoting ecological restoration, and harmonizing with nature. However, transitioning from traditional methods to regenerative agriculture is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Achieving outcomes across all fields or applying uniform practices for all farmers is impractical. Instead, it demands robust monitoring of fields and their surrounding regions to tailor practices effectively to specific conditions. Remote sensing and advanced statistical techniques provide insights into agricultural practices, but these tools are largely confined to research-level applications and often cater to technical audiences. The most critical step in ensuring the success of regenerative agriculture lies in effective understanding of context and communication between farmers, farms and advisors. While remote sensing techniques are powerful, they are not always accessible or practical for end-users. To bridge this gap, we propose DORA—a user-friendly dashboard designed to make regenerative agriculture measurable and actionable. DORA provides outcome-based, benchmarked targets for sustainable agricultural practices, translating complex data into easy-to-interpret reports for farmers. With the images acquired from Sentinel 1, Sentinel 2 and landsat 7,8 and 9 satellites, DORA visualizes the adoption of regenerative practices on farms or within sourcing districts. It generates annual metrics for plant performance and soil cover for each field, including fields within a buffer zone. Furthermore, DORA prepares an eight-year field map, showcasing the stability of different zones and identifying problematic or high-performing areas. For instance, when a farmer delineates field boundaries on the platform, the system analyzes satellite data to compare biomass and soil cover trends. DORA f.e. can reveal that a farm generally performs above the region but produces less biomass during dry years, suggesting a need to improve drought resilience. An overall positive trend and increased soil cover compared to plant performance might indicate a shift from main crops to catch crops, pointing to issues with cover crop management or weed infestations. It can also point to unsuccessful fertilization, tillage or similar activities. Historical analysis of crops, such as sunflowers or potatoes, might highlight practices that reduced performance unless mitigated with vegetation between ridges or no-till methods with cover crops. With DORA, farmers and advisors can make data-driven decisions to optimize performance, enhance soil health, and align with regional sustainability goals. By combining innovative technology with practical application, DORA ensures regenerative agriculture is not only measurable but also accessible and impactful for farmers worldwide.