UUSTILA

Creating scientifically robust and resource‑efficient information

The Uustila research project aims to develop and test scientifically grounded, farm‑level indicators that consistently measure carbon sequestration, biodiversity, soil health and economic performance. The indicator framework will be built using remote sensing data, field measurements and analyses of farm decision-making and economic metrics.

The tools and indicators developed in the project will help farmers respond to increasingly complex environmental, stakeholder and economic pressures. The goal is to identify actions and metrics that produce real benefits and have broad impacts across all research themes. When positive effects can be demonstrated concretely, information is more likely to translate into practical action.

Farm‑level knowledge is most effectively scaled through peer‑to‑peer learning and multi‑level dialogue among different stakeholders. Facilitating this dialogue is one of the essential goals of the research.

Farm‑level research

The project will monitor ten farms between 2025 and 2029. The sample includes four dairy farms and six arable farms located across different regions of Finland. Each year, diverse remote sensing and field monitoring data will be collected from multiple fields on each farm. The study also includes systematic monitoring of farm economics and decision‑making processes.

Farmers already use remote sensing data for precision farming and crop planning, but rapidly advancing technologies could be applied much more broadly. Uustila will evaluate existing remote sensing methods that can already assess photosynthesis, biomass production, carbon inputs to soil, field water dynamics and even pollinator communities at the field‑parcel level. These data will be compared with field measurements to ensure their validity.

The multi‑year, multi‑field design—while following the same farms and parcels—supports the project’s goal of developing validated and practically applicable indicators.

Relevance for stakeholders

Environmental footprint data collected at the farm level is also important for many stakeholders. Companies need concrete and reliable information about the environmental impacts of their value chains. Agricultural policy, in turn, is shifting from area‑based subsidies toward result‑based schemes that reward genuinely impactful environmental outcomes.

Collecting scientifically verified, farm‑specific data through fieldwork is labour‑intensive and costly. The remote sensing methods developed in the project will enable cost‑effective, comparable and relevant data collection at scale.

Previous collaboration among project partners

The organisations involved have jointly developed regenerative agriculture with farmers, companies, public authorities and researchers for more than a decade through numerous research and development projects as well as commissioned studies. Much of this work has been brought together on the Carbon Action platform. Other key initiatives include OSMO, which focused on soil health, and the Multa project, involving SYKE, the University of Helsinki, BSAG and FMI.