Regenerative agriculture is the new buzz word in farming as the world copes with climate changes and comes to terms with mitigation efforts. In fact, regenerative ag can be a big part of the solution as it is a proven method of not only reducing carbon emissions but taking carbon out of the environment and sequestering it in the soil.
For Heliae Agriculture, the concept is in perfect sync with its core product, PhycoTerra, a cultivated microalgae soil treatment that greatly improves the health of soil to both increase yields and sequester carbon.
Norm Davy, chief revenue officer for the Gilbert, AZ-based company, said soil degradation is a huge problem for the environment and for agriculture.
“We lose 2.5 tons per acre of topsoil because of wind and water erosion,” he told The Produce News. “That’s actually a big improvement; we used to lose four tons per acre. Soil degradation happens every time you work the land -- when you plant, when you harvest and when you plow after the season.”
Activists across the globe are touting best soil management practices, including the use of cover crops, reducing chemical use and no tillage farming, as a proactive measure to reduce carbon in the atmosphere.
Heliae believes that changing soil structure through its product can be an important part of the best practices recipe for agriculture. Davy said all those aforementioned best practices are related to improving the soil over time, which is also the mission of PhycoTerra and PhycoTerra Organic, its two soil amendment products for these two sectors of commercial production.
“Our technology rebuilds soil health,” he said.
In technical terms, PhycoTerra contains microalgae grown mixotrophically, which is a production platform that harnesses the collective energy of sunlight and carbon feedstock. Harnessing the best from both phototrophic (sunlight-driven) and heterotrophic (other carbon source-reliant) growth systems results in a product with unique properties. Heliae grows select microalgal cultures under optimal conditions, then harvests and processes the culture biomass to the full concentration and then blend this highly concentrated material with other ingredients to make a stable formulation ready for application through conventional irrigation systems.
Davy said the result is a product sold in 2.5 gallon and one-quart containers that has demonstrated superior plant growth efficacy, and that has remarkably higher cell densities compared to traditional production systems, resulting in increased yields.
PhycoTerra is applied in differing amounts depending upon the crop. For some of the broad field crops, an application of one quart per acre for the season is sufficient. For high-value specialty crops, it typically requires a couple of quarts per application multiple times during the season. But in each case, Davy said the $10 per quart cost will have a return on investment ratio of a minimum of 3 to 1 and more likely closer to 10 to 1 -- or even more.
He said extensive trials have been done on almonds with great results. “We have shown that a grower can get 25 to 35 percent increase in trunk diameter after one year. That’s going to lead to faster orchard development and higher yields per acre,” he said, adding the cost for a full treatment on almonds would be about $120 per acre with an ROI of about 8:1.
On strawberries and other berries, he said the cost would also be about $120 per acre with a return of 8 to 1 on conventional strawberries and about 10 to 1 on blueberries.
“Organic strawberry growers are realizing a 40 to 1 ROI,” he said.
According to Davy, Heliae has done trials on about 20 different crops, including many leafy vegetable crops averaging a 20 to 1 ROI. “We have done about 400 trials across the country. Farmers like to see a 3 to 1 ROI and we are well beyond that.”
He added that PhycoTerra tends to perform best – in terms of ROI – when the crop is faced with a stressful situation, such as adverse weather. “The ROI is in direct relation to stress. That’s where we shine.”
While Heliae labels PhycoTerra as a soil amendment, California classified it as a “soil microbial food,” which Davy called a great description.
Heliae has been developing PhycoTerra and trialing it for a number of years, and now it has been registered and is available for purchase.
“We are ready to go,” Davy said in late April.
The company has backed up its claims about the product with a unique guarantee: If a grower will include an untreated control check strip on his or her crop that is treated with PhycoTerra, the grower can get a refund if the treated acreage does not perform and, at the very least, have an ROI covering the cost of PhycoTerra.
