New Partnership Supports Growers and Addresses Demand for Sustainability in Agriculture
MINNEAPOLIS, February 24, 2022 – CIBO, the science-based technology company that supports growers and enterprises on their journey to regenerative agriculture, has announced its first CIBO Carbon Bridge partnership with Bushel to bring visibility to sustainable practices throughout the supply chain. Bushel, a Fargo, ND, software company focused on building the digital infrastructure for the grain industry, has committed to collaborating with companies that provide new market opportunities for growers.
Carbon Bridge provides significant pay-for-practice financial incentives that help farmers meet the early-year financial investments required to transition to regenerative farming. Using Carbon Bridge, growers can access the best per-acre payments available starting year one, based on real-world cost estimates. The program also gives agronomic support for qualifying growers interested in adopting new practices.
“The new partnership with Bushel is helping to increase the pace and penetration of regenerative adoption and setting the stage for more collaboration across the ag value chain,” said Nitzan Haklai, VP, Business Development at CIBO Technologies. “But just as importantly, we’re focused on helping farms make the transition, and meeting those early-stage investment costs that can truly become very real roadblocks to a better future for farmers and consumers.”
Regenerative agricultural practices like cover-cropping and no-till are effective at reducing greenhouse gasses (GHGs) while building climate-resilient soils. But for growers, the early-year costs of implementing new practices slow adoption for individual farms and at scale across the country. Traditional carbon marketplaces pay growers for carbon sequestration via regenerative practices, but many of these marketplaces come with costs that outpace the costs of early-year implementation, and it can take farms years to realize financial rewards. Carbon Bridge was launched to change this dynamic.
“We believe that bringing visibility to these new programs is a critical piece of helping US growers, and hopefully the rest of the value chain, realize the operational and financial benefits of climate-smart agriculture,” says Bushel’s Director of Sustainability, Allison Nepveux. “We believe that creating reductions in carbon emissions will be one of the first true monetizable business opportunities for food and agriculture supply chains. That starts with making sure switching to regenerative practices is economically viable for growers. The CIBO program is a great example of testing and enabling that. We hope this collaboration is just the beginning of a much bigger vision for our grain facilities and their growers.”
Bushel provides software technology solutions for the agricultural industry with its flagship mobile application used at nearly 2,000 grain facilities. Last year, Bushel acquired FarmLogs, a leading provider of technology farm management systems for row crop farms. This creates a digital infrastructure to connect the farm gate to the grain facility onto downstream customers with permission from all parties. This expands sustainability opportunities for both growers and grain facilities through verified on-farm practices from field to CPGs, and eventually the end consumer.
Individuals and farms can pre-qualify for CIBO Carbon Bridge and sign up to see when the program is available in their area
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About CIBO
Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2015, CIBO applies advanced technologies to deliver a deep understanding of agricultural systems to help mitigate climate change, advance food system resilience, and improve grower outcomes through driving the adoption of sustainable practices. CIBO is a 2021 Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards finalist and was named 2021 AgTech Breakthrough “AI-based AgTech Company of the Year.” Learn more at cibotechnologies.com.
About Bushel
Bushel is an independently owned software company and leading provider of software technology solutions for growers, grain buyers, ag retailers, protein producers and food companies, headquartered in Fargo, N.D. Since launching in 2017, Bushel’s platform has grown rapidly, now powering nearly 2,000 grain facilities across the U.S. and Canada with real-time business information for their producers. Bushel’s platform now reaches 40% of grain origination in the United States, resulting in inarguably the largest technology network effect among growers and grain buyers in the U.S. today. Bushel’s product suite includes its flagship mobile app, websites, trading tools, market feeds, API services, FarmLogs and a custom software division focused on agriculture. Bushel has been focused on building software since the company was founded in 2011. Data privacy is a cornerstone of Bushel’s philosophy.
