Fact: soil health fanatics can be the life of the party.
Also fact: soil health fanatics might just be saving the world.
Or at least that’s what one Arizona-based soil science startup is trying to do. MyLand is a soil health company that believes “healthy soil gives us healthy food, healthy people, and a healthy planet.”
And Canada-based Ag Growth International (AGI) is saying “us too!” They are acquiring a minority stake in MyLand so they can have a seat at the board table and install some of the MyLand systems throughout North America.
Soil systems service: The systems AGI wants to install would extract live, native microorganisms from a farmer’s soil and reproduce them in mass quantities. Those organisms are then integrated in a farm’s irrigation system to deliver them back to the ground. It’s like a chocolate fountain, but with soil.
Laying the groundwork: The MyLand system has been in development since 2010 and is unique in that it’s a service-based subscription model with a monthly fee. There’s no up-front cost, and farmers get full benefits of the cost savings, increased yields, increased land values, and carbon captures.
The president and CEO of AGI says this implementation of regenerative agriculture technology like MyLand’s is “critical from a sustainability perspective.”
Successful soil story: A farmer in the Arizona desert was able to increase organic matter from less than 1% to more than 3% in a three-year period. Of course, the total impact of the technology depends on plenty of variables, but the company has proven results that continuous use of the MyLand System reduces input costs and increases yields.
Next up: The company is planning flagship soil health centers in Florida, California, and Texas to increase interaction with farmers.