Loam Bio today announced that work is underway with iconic agribusiness GrainCorp to assist Australian growers in building and monetising carbon in their soil.
The companies are developing a program that pairs GrainCorp’s grower customers with Loam Bio’s soil carbon inoculum technology, to increase the amount of carbon stored in agricultural soil.
Loam Bio’s Tegan Nock said the goal is for growers to become active in the carbon market, while increasing productivity and driving better soil health and resilience.
“Our goal is to make the benefits of increased soil carbon available to growers, including improved soil health, diversified revenue streams and greater resilience to drought,” she said.
“Backed by years of scientific research and on-farm trials, we have developed a microbial seed coating that increases a plant’s natural ability to store carbon in soil.
“Working with GrainCorp will help us to ensure a smooth pathway for growers to build their soil carbon and access the carbon market.
“This season, we are working with growers to plant barley and canola crops that have been inoculated with our novel soil carbon fixing technology, across 1,500 hectares in New South Wales and Victoria.”
The collaboration was announced at the National Carbon Farming and Conference Expo today, in Albury, NSW.
GrainCorp’s Chief Innovation and Growth Officer Jesse Scott said the pilot program is part of the Company’s broader strategy to build a sustainable future for the agriculture industry.
“We’re excited about the potential of Loam Bio’s technology not only to improve soil health and resilience in a volatile climate, but also to help growers capture value by diversifying their revenue streams.
“We’re confident in the science and we’re hopeful that the results of this pilot will show us how to provide the best support for growers to maximise their outcomes.”
Jesse Scott
The program will develop and facilitate methods of trading soil carbon specifically designed for farming businesses, giving farmers a fair price and a transparent economic opportunity for their new commodity.
“As the carbon markets quickly evolve and expand, we want to make sure they do so in a ‘farmer-first’ way,” Ms Nock added.
“This program enables us to collaborate with GrainCorp to deliver potential carbon trading mechanisms for farmers to generate and trade carbon credits.”
About Loam Bio:
Loam Bio is a fast-growing Australian biotech company, enabling farmers to capture and store stable carbon in the soil while gaining significant environmental co-benefits, such as increased soil health, nutrient-rich crops and higher yields. This boosts revenue for growers and provides a critical path for generating high-quality carbon offsets.
Backed by research collaborations with leading Australian and North American universities and multiple seasons of on-farm trials, Loam Bio has developed a microbial seed coating that supercharges a plant’s natural ability to store carbon in soil.
The grain seed is coated with the microbial inoculum before sowing, and the plants and the microbes work together to build and retain that carbon in the soil.
About GrainCorp:
GrainCorp has the largest grain storage and handling network on the east coast of Australia, operating more than 150 regional receival sites and seven bulk port terminals. It partners with growers and producers to offer a global end-to-end supply chain, from origination to the end user.
GrainCorp’s agribusiness and processing operations connect grain growers with domestic and international customers, to process grain and oilseeds into food and feed ingredients.
GrainCorp stores and markets wheat, barley, canola, sorghum and specialty commodities, connecting growers with more than 1,000 end-market customers across the food, beverage, edible oils and animal feed industries.
