b'Every farm is unique in its soil health starting point, long-term goals and available human, equipment and financial resources. But all can agree that any implementation is better than no implementation. The Bottom-LineIn southeast Iowa, Mitchell Hora is the seventh generation to farm his familys land, a responsibility he doesnt take lightly. The Continuum Ag founder and regenerative agriculture champion is leveraging the ag conservation leadership that has always been a part of his familys farming operation with his ambition to help farms around the world achieve soil health through regenerative practices. The conservation side of things has been ingrained for a really long time, and, I think, thats why were at the spot that were at, Hora says. Dad started using no-till in 1978 and weve been using cover crops since 2013. Washington County, where were at, has a long history of conservation farming. Were all trying to push the envelope and drive further. For us, its about making money and were using the cover crops and the no-till in these conservation systems as offensive management tools. Theyve got to drive dollars to our bottom line.This MyLand Boost system set up allows farmers to supercharge Hora says that on the 700 acres that makes up his familysnaturally occuring microalgae in their soils.farming operation, every decision and action must be profitable. We have to be profitable now, we cant wait, he says. Today, soil biology is the driver of both Horas on-farm andtakes a 1,000-years to develop an inch of topsoil. We know now entrepreneurial business models.that we can do it much faster, so that a farmer can benefit in Soil is very biologically driven and its the biology thats goingtheir lifetime, and biologically based tools are one of the ways we to help you manage your fertility, he says. Its not us as caretak- get there, says Nichols.ers of the land. Were actually farming those microbesthoseAnd theres plenty of interest in supporting and enhancing microbes know how to farm a crop way better than we do, andsoil biology. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global now with the Haney test, were able to understand how to betteragricultural biologicals market size was valued at $7.42 billion in farm microbes.2018. By 2026, that value is projected to reach $20.59 billion. Through the Haney testwhich provides a test and gauge ofAnd companies are getting creative in how they deliver the biological activity occurring in the soil, proprietary soil healththose biological advantages. It doesnt get much more simplistic software and a network of soil health expertsContinuum Agthan using graphite to lubricate seed in the planter box, a fact works to equip farmers in 36 states and 14 countries with theVerdesian Life Sciences is leveraging.knowledge and resources they need to better farm the microbesWith their SEED+ technology, Verdesian is also giving both that farm their crops.organic and conventional farmers alike, the opportunity to try Our goal is simple, Hora says, We want to implement thebiostimulants without any modifications to their existing system. principles of soil health and manage fertility to protect yield on aMike Canady, director of agronomy, specialty crops for year-to-year basis. We want to make sure that a farmer is goingVerdesian, says that the adoption these technologies are seeing to have success economically and understand the logistics ofis nothing short of exciting. how to get there successfully.Were seeing it mostly adopted in conventional corn and soybean cropping systems, even though it is certified for organic Scalable Fundamentals production. I think a lot of that is due to the fact that it is an eco-Today, Nichols serves as the principal scientist and researchnomical product, it really delivers a lot of cost and time efficiency director for MyLand, a company approaching soil health as afor any type of production.service. The company allows a farmer to supercharge the natu- These regenerative solutions and the many more in the pipe-rally occurring microalgae present in their soils and implementline couldnt come at a better time. The push to steer agriculture the technology across their acres without significant changes todown a more holistic road has never been greater, and the brunt their farms infrastructure. The model works by extracting nativeof those demands seems to be landing squarely on the shoulders organic microorganisms directly from a farms soil, rapidly repro- of the farmer. But Nichols says that there is hope. ducing them and then delivering those live microorganisms backPart of the hope in soil regeneration is not to force farmers into the same soils they were extracted from via irrigation.into practices but to provide them with opportunities and options What were doing at MyLand is exciting because of the accel- to address their bottom line as well as climate change.SWeration it provides. Weve been taught through academia that it 62/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2022'