Driving On-Farm Practice Changes through the N-OVATOR Program

The next generation. Ask farmers what motivates them, and you’re likely to hear some version of that – taking care of the farm so that their kids or family members can take over. That means both taking care of the land and taking care of the business. It’s hard work that lasts a lifetime, but it’s work worth doing.

Making that work just a bit easier for growers is what motivates us at Pivot Bio and what led to the creation of the N-OVATOR program.

“PROVEN® 40 and RETURN® give farmers access to biological nitrogen that can benefit the economic and environmental sustainability of their businesses,” says Randy Minton, who leads Pivot Bio’s commercial sustainability group.

A 40-year veteran of the agricultural services industry, he has a difficult time containing his enthusiasm when he talks about his work. “Through the N-OVATOR program, we have a chance to help transform how we think about nitrogen. That is really exciting,” says Randy.

In 2022, he and his team launched a pilot to collect farm management data—such as historical nitrogen management data, the boundaries of the fields where PROVEN® 40 was used, and how much synthetic nitrogen was replaced with the product— from Pivot Bio’s customers, with the goal of developing a new revenue stream for them. The project enrolled 725,000 acres of U.S. farmland. Randy was stunned. Based on his decades of work in production agriculture, he knew the scale of these acres could have a major impact. “It blew our socks off,” he says.

With a proof of concept in hand, the team began looking for partners, which ultimately led them to connect with Emily Johannes, the director of sustainable sourcing at Nestlé USA. Emily leads Nestlé’s work to reduce emissions across its ingredient supply chain. One of the main ways to do this is through encouraging on-farm practice changes within the areas Nestlé sources from.

“As we accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture in our supply chains, Nestlé needs partners who are working directly with farmers to help reduce emissions. Our goal is to help reward growers who are making the practice changes,” says Emily. “The Pivot Bio N-OVATOR program encourages growers in our supply sheds to replace their synthetic fertilizer with microbial nitrogen, which can help reduce the amount of nitrogen needed, decrease waste and reduce emissions.”

In 2023, growers enrolled in the N-OVATOR program replaced, on average, 37 pounds of their synthetic nitrogen per acre with PROVEN 40, Pivot Bio’s product for corn, and received revenue for the sustainability benefits generated on their farms by the practice change. For example, in 2023 Nestlé USA purchased nitrogen credits that were generated from the impact made by Pivot Bio customers across 300,000 acres of farmland within Nestlé’s supply shed and participating farmers received payments for their practice changes.

“What we offer that’s different from other programs is an annual practice change that can help growers take care of their land, reduce emissions, and make their operation more profitable, while also providing a new line of income,” says Jane Franch, Pivot Bio’s senior director of climate impact.

Last year, Pivot Bio built insetting pilots with other well-known companies that are also dedicated to achieving ambitious sustainability goals. Jane sees that as a significant opportunity – to increase the use of Pivot Bio products, of course, but more importantly, to help growers in the hard, long-term work of taking care of their land, improving sustainability and growing their bottom lines.

The 2024 N-OVATOR program will have even more opportunities for growers to participate in innovative partnerships like these, which can generate significant revenue for Pivot Bio customers within the year and lead to practice changes that can help reduce on farm emissions.