On July 26, Gro Alliance announced that it had enrolled as a Program User with Leading Harvest. Our goal is to connect sustainable practices for the entire food, feed, fuel and fiber supply chain all the way back to the seed. This will give any company that partners with Gro Alliance for its seed production a leg up on the competitors that aren’t growing their seed production using sustainable practices verified by a third party.
Just One Step on Our Sustainability Journey
The Leading Harvest announcement wasn’t our last step, or even our first into becoming a more sustainable business. We aren’t just doing this for the headlines!
Rather, it is part of an intentional plan to position the company as the most sustainable, future-focused seed supply chain partner in North America. How the world uses resources matters and we’re proud to be on the forefront of changing an industry.
On June 7, we announced a new partnership with BioLumic to bring its UV light application system to commercialization. This is a completely “new category of seed treatment with improved crop performance programmed into seeds with light.” The “world-first” UV light recipes are “clean, green and GM free.”
Back in February of 2021, we announced our partnership with plant trait technology company, ZeaKal. ZeaKal’s PhotoSeedä technology “helps plants capture more carbon and sunlight, leading to healthier, nutrient-rich food and feed grown on a smaller environmental footprint.” Maybe it’s best described as it was in a recent Bloomberg article: as a soybean trait “that promises to soak up more carbon while yielding more vegetable oil and protein.”
Fewer Passes Make a Big Difference
The announcements above highlight major milestones along our journey, but even the small steps make a big impact. We continually research and evaluate innovations to reduce chemical and fuel usage while improving yield and quality. For example, we use on-seed products that allow us to spread the male inbred pollen window without making an additional planting pass. That might seem small but according to Iowa State, each planter pass saved can reduce diesel fuel usage by 0.55 gallons per acre. The additional benefit is that you can avoid planting into poor conditions to try to hit the right pollination timing as the seed is already in the ground. This improves uniformity and stand quality.
Stay tuned for more sustainability announcements from Gro Alliance as we work to redefine seed production!
