Woodland Carbon & Peatland Codes
Carbon Codes: How It Works
The end-to-end sequence, stage by stage, with nothing skipped.
The module is modelled as an explicit state machine with 8 stages. Every record knows which stage it is at, what has to happen to move on, and what is blocking it if it cannot. The UK carbon codes are credible, standardised and widely misunderstood, principally because the pipeline of pending units dwarfs the number actually verified. This module manages project registration, validation, monitoring and verification, shows the true unit position, and provides the price benchmarking and buyer matching that make a sale possible on informed terms.
End to end
How Carbon Codes runs, start to finish
The module is modelled as a state machine, so at any point the business knows exactly which stage every record is at and what has to happen next.
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1
Assess eligibility and additionality
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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2
Model sequestration over the project life
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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3
Register the project on the code
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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4
Complete validation
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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5
Deliver and monitor the project
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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6
Verify at scheduled intervals
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
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7
Record issuance on the registry
Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
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8
Sell or retire units with full disclosure
The cycle closes here, and what is learned is carried into next season's plan rather than lost.
Sequence
The order things happen in
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Stage 1
Assess eligibility and additionality
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
-
Stage 2
Model sequestration over the project life
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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Stage 3
Register the project on the code
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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Stage 4
Complete validation
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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Stage 5
Deliver and monitor the project
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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Stage 6
Verify at scheduled intervals
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
Before you start
What you will need, and what the module handles for you
Most of this comes across automatically once your holding is registered. The list is here so nothing arrives as a surprise.
In practice
Six things Carbon Codes changes on day one
None of these requires a new process. They all come from recording the work you already do, once, in a form the rest of the platform can use.
Project eligibility assessment against code
Project eligibility assessment against code requirements including additionality.
Project registration and documentation assembly
Project registration and documentation assembly.
Validation process management with validator
Validation process management with validator coordination.
Carbon sequestration modelling by species
Carbon sequestration modelling by species, yield class and management.
Pending Issuance Unit and verified
Pending Issuance Unit and verified unit position tracking, clearly distinguished.
Monitoring schedule with field survey
Monitoring schedule with field survey and evidence capture.
Payment schedule
What is due, and when it lands
Farm support arrives in instalments from several bodies on different calendars. Set against your own overdraft, the question is not how much but when — so the ledger is ordered by date, not by scheme.
| When | Payment | From | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March | Woodland Carbon Code | Scottish Forestry on behalf of all four governments | — | Expected |
| March | Peatland Code | IUCN UK Peatland Programme | — | Agreed |
| September | England Woodland Creation Offer | Forestry Commission | — | Eligible |
| May | Nature for Climate Peatland Restoration | Defra / Natural England | — | Eligible |
| June | Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
| March | Countryside Stewardship | Defra / Natural England / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
- — Agreed and scheduled
- — Claimed, awaiting payment
- — Eligible, unclaimed
What the statuses mean
- Agreed
- Under a signed agreement with a scheduled payment date.
- Expected
- Claimed and assessed; payment date per the published standard.
- Eligible
- Your holding appears to qualify but nothing is claimed yet.
Questions answered
What people ask about Carbon Codes
Does this replace the software I already use?
Not necessarily. Agrivencia integrates with authoritative sources and mainstream packages rather than insisting on replacing them. Where an incumbent does one job well, the platform connects to it; where the job spans several systems and nobody does it, the platform does it.
Will it work where I have no signal?
Yes. Field capture in Carbon Codes is offline first, storing locally and synchronising when a connection returns. Only around a fifth of UK farms report reliable signal across the whole holding, so this is a design assumption rather than a feature.
What happens when the scheme rules change?
Scheme rules are held as data rather than code, so a rate change, a cap change or a window closure is a content update that takes effect the same day. The platform also alerts you to what the change does to your own position.
Who owns the data I put in?
You do. The Farm Data Charter gives you a complete export in open formats at any time, and every instance of data sharing requires an explicit, revocable consent that is visible in your account.
Does it work if I farm across a border?
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons the platform exists. A business with land in more than one nation sees one reconciled view rather than two portals, with obligations and deadlines from both administrations in a single calendar.
Can my agronomist or land agent use it too?
Yes. You grant scoped, time-limited access per holding and per module, and you can revoke it in one click. Advisers never get a shared password or a blanket view.
What is the biggest limitation of this module?
Pending units mistaken for saleable inventory. Mitigated by explicit separation in every view. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.
What we are hearing
The problems people describe to us
These are composite statements drawn from user research conversations, not attributed customer quotes. We publish named references only with written consent.
I am not short of software. I am short of one place where the same field means the same thing in all of it.
The scheme closed on a Tuesday evening. I had the application half built. Nobody told me the budget was nearly gone.
We farm on both sides of the border. Everything takes twice as long and I still cannot see the whole position on one screen.
Audit week costs me three days. Every single record they ask for is already written down somewhere on this farm.
See Carbon Codes running on your own holding
Thirty minutes, using your parcels, your schemes and your enterprises rather than a sample farm. No obligation and no sales script — if it does not fit your business we will say so.
- Free tier available
- No card required
- Your data stays yours