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WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 33 Engineered biocarbon shows promise to improve soil health Naturally Helpful In agriculture, growers are always looking for ways to increase their yields and profitability. In recent years sustainability has become another important consideration when determining the best methods and materials to use on the farm. Improving soil health is seen as a way to help achieve each of these objectives. Engineered biocarbon is a consistent soil amendment product that's showing impressive results in helping to improve soil health. Engineered biocarbon is currently produced by ag technology company Cool Planet using the company's proprietary process. The way Cool Planet manufactures engineered biocarbon differentiates it from conventional biochar and other carbon-based soil amendments. The process starts with sustainably harvested agricultural biomass and crop residues as the input material. This biomass is then heated in the absence of oxygen—a process known as pyrolysis—which prevents complete combustion of the biomass. The resulting raw material, biochar, is then modified through a proprietary upgrading technology Cool Planet calls Demetra. This is a critical step that delivers an optimized and consistent soil health- enhancing engineered biocarbon. "The proprietary process used to manufacture engineered biocarbon creates a soil amendment that has been de-toxified and has much more uniformity and utility than a conventional biochar," says Cool Planet president and CEO Jim Loar. "Engineered biocarbon has a highly porous physical structure that contributes to increased plant productivity and more efficient use of water and nutrients when incorporated into the soil, and can help nurture microbial life in the soil." "Think of engineered biocarbon as a house for microbes, much like a coral reef is a home for marine life," says Brian Buege, Cool Planet's head of technology and product development. "Adding engineered biocarbon to the soil can help those microbes fulfill their purpose, which is healthier soil and plant life." Cool Planet's team of biologists, chemists and materials scientists has researched engineered biocarbon for more than four years. Buege says the material should not be confused with biochar. "We use raw biochar as an input ingredient, but from there we make something very different," he says. "We upgrade it and make it into the consistent product it is today." Cool Planet is making its Cool Terra engineered biocarbon products more commercially available to growers in 2017, following promising results in independent field trials conducted in 2016. The field trials demonstrated that Cool Terra products can contribute to increased crop yields and more efficient use of inputs for growers. Studies have shown that these products help to improve the soil by creating an effective habitat for the growth of beneficial microbes and enhancing root development in plants, while sequestering fixed carbon in the soil. "Independent researchers conducted more than 50 field trials in 2016 with consistent, positive results," says Drew Jackson, the company's segment leader for production agriculture. "In the large majority of trials, we're seeing yield increases that could create a significant return on investment for the grower in a single season." Field trials conducted in 2016 by third-party researchers and universities included a variety of fruit, vegetable and commodity crops grown under different soil and input conditions. Two potato trials run by third-party researchers in the Pacific Northwest showed significant yield increases in plots where Cool Terra engineered biocarbon was incorporated into the soil, compared to control plots under standard growing programs. There were also shifts toward larger potatoes in both field trials where Cool Terra was applied. Confidence in the trial results led Cool Planet and its agricultural distribution partners to launch commercial sales in 2017 to growers of five crops, including potatoes. Large agricultural distributors such as J.R. Simplot and Helena Chemical Company have seen the value of engineered biocarbon for use in increasing sustainability and profitability for growers and are now partnering to distribute the product to their respective growers. Cool Planet is planning more than 100 field trials of engineered biocarbon in 2017, which will include expanded trials in potatoes and more than 20 other crops. A Cool Planet scientist examines Cool Terra engineered biocarbon in the company's lab in Camarillo, Calif. biocarbon in 2017, which will include expanded trials in potatoes Naturally Helpful Diggin' In Diggin' In Diggin' In Diggin' In Diggin' In Diggin' In SOIL HEALTH | Industry Report