Abstract: A system and method for determining optimal sampling parameters is described. The method gathers soil data from a soil data source, which is associated with a soil organic carbon (SOC) project area. The crop prediction engine then determines that the soil data is less than optimal, but that the soil data is sufficient to generate an optimal sampling plan. The method completes a Monte Carlo simulation, which generates an empirical sampling distribution. The optimal sampling plan is determined by defining a margin of error, which provides a deviation from a predictive analysis of measured soil chemistry for a plurality of collected soil samples, and performing Monte Carlo simulations that include one Monte Carlo simulation having a lowest sampling density that satisfies the margin of error. The optimal sampling plan has the lowest sampling density and includes one or more sampling locations.