Less questions, more answers.
What is ruumi?
ruumi enables farmers to restore and maintain soil heath on livestock pasture. This means more productive farms with reduced inputs and lower emissions.
How does ruumi work?
To enable farmers to restore soil health, ruumi provides technology, know-how, and finance:
- Technology: our grazing app and soil sampling allows you to baseline your farm, implement changes and show evidence for the improvements you make over time.
- Know-How: we build a soil improvement plan with you in order to make the transition to more sustainable processes as seamless as possible.
- Finance: Get rewarded for adopting more sustainable practices: through subsidies, buyers with sustainability requirements, or through carbon credits.
How does ruumi’s technology work?
We use a range of technologies. Our grazing app uses data from multi-spectral and radar satellites, from ruumi plate meters, and from ground truth readings you the farmer collect. For farmers who choose to follow a soil improvement programme, we use soil carbon samples (taken by our partners) and advanced carbon modelling.
Is ruumi free to use?
Our grazing app is free and you can start using it straight away. If you decide you want to join our programme to improve your soil health, there is no joining fee and we will fund you to make the change. Talk to us about the range of finance options we have available. Check out this page for more.
Why does soil health matter?
Healthy soil is essential to a sustainable farm business. Improving your soil quality improves crop and livestock health and yield, and makes your farm more self-sufficient and resilient against future change. Soil is also one of the largest carbon sinks on earth. Building and maintaining biodiverse soil gets more carbon out of the atmosphere and into your land, critical to mitigating future climate change.
How does ruumi help me improve my soil health?
We help you improve soil health with an easy to use app, implementation guidance, scientific expertise and finance. The technology includes a grazing app and soil sampling to baseline your farm and understand the improvements made over time. The know-how includes building a soil improvement plan with you to make the transition to more sustainable processes as seamless as possible. The finance options include subsidies, access to buyers with sustainability requirements, or selling carbon credits.
How does the soil improvement plan work?
ruumi's soil improvement plan helps farmers transition to more sustainable farming practices over 5 years. We want the best outcomes for your farm, so your individual plan is the result of consultation with grazing experts and in-house research, tailored to your needs and priorities. We keep in touch throughout implementation and keep you posted with insights to make your progress visible. We’ll study your soil at the start and end of the contract to benchmark and verify emission reductions including changes to soil organic carbon.
How does ruumi collect the soil samples and how long does it take to get the readings?
We partner with a soil sampling company specialised in measuring soil carbon stock. They aim to have the sampling result back to you within a month.
Why do I need to follow a soil improvement plan?
Reducing emissions on your farm while maintaining yield can be complex and daunting for farmers who embark on a journey to become sustainable. ruumi has worked out how to do this successfully across multiple farms. Our tailor-made soil improvement plans can now help you get the best results.
What if I am already undertaking improvements myself?
ruumi can work with a range of farms and farmers at different stages in their journey to improve soil health. Regardless of where you’re at, we’d love to chat and see if we can support you in furthering your sustainable transition.
Will I be penalised if I can’t follow the full soil improvement plan?
We’re here to help farmers, but understand things don’t always go according to plan, so our financial incentives are as flexible as your implementation.
How long does the soil improvement plan last?
Farm improvement takes time and the future can feel uncertain, so our initial agreement length is five years, but we’re hopeful you’ll renew for years to come: you and your soil benefit most if we work together long term.
How can I track the progress of improvements?
If you decide to join the soil improvement programme, we will work together on creating an implementation plan that takes into consideration your specific needs. Your soil will also be tested and analysed at the beginning and end of the programme, and you will receive a report so you can understand your soil better.
Annual reviews are a part of the programme, where we discuss how the various changes are working, and you have an open line to our team at any stage in the case that you have questions. As we progress, more and more features will be added to our grazing app to let you know if you’re on track and what improvement you’re making as you go. We’re always keen to know what questions you have and how we can better support your needs.
Lastly, we believe you’ll see the improvement to your grazing platform with your own eyes after the first year.
Will changes I make impact my farm’s productivity?
Our research supports that it will. All the changes we recommend are designed to maximise natural carrying capacity of the land. Change will take time but once implemented will be long-lasting and impactful over time.
How does the ruumi grazing app work?
The grazing app uses data from different places to estimate how much dry matter is in a field at any one time. We use multi-spectral and radar imagery from satellites, a grass model to predict growth rates between satellite passes, and farmer plate meter readings. The more grass readings farmers input to ruumi, the better our grass model becomes, and the better our estimates get. The ruumi plate meter integrates directly with our app, increasing accuracy further. Sign-up for one here.
What does the grazing app do for me?
In short the ruumi grazing app helps you to grow more grass while reducing artificial nitrogen and supplementary feed. Here are some of the key features that help us to do this:
- Set post grazing targets so you know to move your animals out of a field before it’s been overgrazed which protects the living root and soil below.
- Assign fields to grazing rotations so you can perfectly time the period between grazing events to maximise grass regrowth.
- Use our grass wedge to take proactive decisions about when to cut for silage and preserve quality or choose which field to move animals to next with confidence.
- Control turn-in and turn-out dates using Average Farm Cover to extend each grazing season as long as possible, while preserving pasture for the next season.
How much does the ruumi grazing app cost?
The grazing app is free and farmers can start using it straight away: Sign-up here.
Side note: Our plate meter is also free for farmers with a soil improvement plan.
How accurate are the grass readings?
Satellite readings can be inaccurate at times, but once readings from the plate metre are added, the accuracy is good enough to make decisions about your grazing management. We recommend farmers to ground-truth ruumi data with a plate meter whenever necessary. ruumi calibrates to your data inputs, which means the app becomes increasingly accurate for your farm over time.
The most accurate way to get a dry matter measurement is to cut pasture from a fixed area, then dry it and weigh it. But cut and weigh is a costly and time-consuming process.
How do I get financially rewarded for improving my soil health?
Farmers are financially rewarded for improving soil health through supply chain programmes, or through trading high quality carbon credits. We are always looking for more sources of income to support farmers. Whatever finance source we use, we provide full transparency and ensure the highest standards.
Why does ruumi want to finance my improvement?
Our vision is a future where farming enriches the earth. This vision of healthy pasture as part of a thriving agricultural sector cannot be achieved over night and there are costs.
To get started with a transition, farmers need to purchase things like multi species sward seed mix and invest in new fencing. We want to minimise the cost for farmers and provide extra financial support to help their business prosper.
What type of supply chain programs does ruumi have?
Direct Sales: We can work with any supply chain selling produce derived from cattle or sheep. This often refers to food but also other products. For example, leather.
Insetting: With multiple farms supplying any one organisation, the supply chain emissions (scope 3 emissions) connected to this organisation can be substantial. When an organisation wishes to certify scope 3 emissions reductions, it’s referred to as ‘Insetting’. ruumi can work with the Insetting partner (organisation in question) and their farmers to implement on-farm change and certify the reductions.
MRV: If a corporate partner doesn’t want to implement change in their farm supply chain, we can also provide all parties with better primary data for improved visibility of farming practices.
How can ruumi help me sell soil carbon credits?
From the get-go, you don’t actually have carbon credits to trade: we work with you to generate the credits first, in order for them to exist and be sold. Our five year soil improvement plans are specifically designed to do this. ruumi can then trade certified soil carbon credits on your behalf. You will receive payments throughout your plan, from the point of signing to completion.
We help with your soil analysis, finds buyers, do the paperwork for you, and continually build tools to help you manage your grazing platform. For this we take a 20% fee, leaving you with 80% of the proceeds.
Can I be part of other sustainable programmes on the side of ruumi?
In most cases it’s fine to take part in other sustainability programmes alongside ruumi. We’ll ask you to disclose programmes you’re currently enrolled in during our onboarding process to make sure it doesn’t impact your eligibility for our programme.
What will my buyer think of me working with ruumi?
It’s best to ask them! We want you to maintain the best possible relationship with your buyer. That’s important for you and for us. If you’d like us to speak to your buyer on your behalf or join the conversation, just let us know.
Why should I start the ruumi carbon farming programme today?
We can’t reward any changes you make outside the program, so why not let us help you. The sooner you transition to regenerative practices, the sooner your business becomes financially (and environmentally) sustainable.
Do I need to offset my own emissions
There is no need to offset your own emissions; we can, however, help you sell your emission reductions, though your improved soil health and lower future costs are an added bonus.
I’m renting all or some of the land of my farm. Is ruumi still for me?
Absolutely. Just provide is with your landlord’s approval
I don’t farm livestock. Is ruumi still for me?
Unfortunately, at the moment, we work exclusively with livestock farmers.
Do I have to pay a penalty if I cancel my agreement with ruumi?
We will do everything we can to ensure your plan runs successfully. If you have to cancel your agreement due to reasons outside of your own control, you can keep all payments up until that time but not participate in future revenue sharing. If you cancel your agreement because you no longer want to participate, you’ll be asked to pay back all proceeds received from ruumi during the accounting period.
My soil is already in a good state. Is ruumi still for me?
Even if you think your soil is in good shape, we still encourage you to get in touch - you might be surprised at the improvements that are possible!
In the meantime, we’re working to find products and services that will reward you financially even if your soil is already in top shape. Please continue to use our free grazing app and keep in touch meanwhile.
Can I access the data to prove I am a sustainable farm?
Yes! You can access this data via the grazing app.