Pivot Bio growers receive $6M+ since FY2022 for improved nitrogen management

Date:02-21-2024

Pivot Bio, a leading sustainable agriculture company, announced that its sustainability program, N-OVATOR™, has paid over $6 million to growers for implementing better nitrogen management practices since its launch in 2022. N-OVATOR™ provides prompt, annual payments to growers and is the first insetting program to focus on nitrous oxide emissions.

Repeatable by design and flexible by nature, the Pivot Bio N-OVATOR™ program compensates farmers every crop cycle for using a more reliable form of nitrogen by connecting them with companies looking to achieve Scope 3 emissions reduction goals. The growing list of N-OVATOR™ partners includes major consumer packaged goods companies, ingredient suppliers, spirit producers and grain buyers who are working to improve the sustainability of their agricultural supply chains. 

This year, downstream companies participating in N-OVATOR™'s insetting partnerships made payments to reward Pivot Bio growers for their practice change following the 2023 harvest.

The largest transaction to date was the sale of 100,000 nitrogen credits to a global food and beverage company. The credits from this transaction represent 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent that was avoided by over 450 farmers across 300,000 acres within the company's supply shed. In total, the growers in this insetting partnership replaced over 10 million pounds of synthetic fertilizer.

"The size and scope of N-OVATOR™'s partnerships represent a major shift in how companies are investing in sustainable agriculture," said Karsten Temme, chief innovation officer of Pivot Bio. "By partnering directly with growers in their supply sheds, companies are taking impactful steps to improve their environmental footprint while reducing their Scope 3 emissions."

Participating growers receive revenue for the sustainability benefits generated on their farms as a result of using PROVEN® 40 – a microbial nitrogen that can replace up to 25% of growers' total nitrogen needs – ultimately helping them earn a higher return on investment for more efficient nitrogen management.

"By providing growers with a tool to measure the impact of their nitrogen management practices and serving as a bridge to companies that want to partner with them directly, we're creating a new, low-risk revenue stream for our customers, while delivering a scalable solution to companies with ambitious climate objectives," said Temme.

In 2022, N-OVATOR™ recorded the avoidance of more than 80,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent by replacing synthetic nitrogen fertilizer with PROVEN 40 on 725,000 acres. That's roughly the same amount of CO₂e generated from the annual electricity use of 15,000 households.

The full results of the FY2023 program will be shared once all 2023 insetting partnerships are complete in the spring of 2024. We expect to see the impact of the program grow significantly and are in partnership discussions with numerous other global companies that are looking for ways to meet their climate objectives.

Pivot Bio will seek to enroll more growers, acres and corporate partners in the 2024 program this spring.