A new cover crop, Nuseed Carinata, set to launch this fall in the south, should pique the interest of farmers looking to boost their bottom line in between main food crops.
For this episode of Cover Crop Strategies, brought to you by Verdesian Life Sciences, we’ll get the scoop from Nuseed North American marketing lead Roger Rotariu and Nuseed Carinata communications director Colleen Shaw.
Rotariu and Shaw provide insight on the brassica crop's profitability potential and what growers can expect when it hits the market.
Nuseed Carinata is targeting Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and the Carolinas for its debut in the U.S.
The Cover Crop Strategies podcast series is brought to you by Verdesian Life Sciences.
At Verdesian Life Sciences, we believe that supplying healthy water and soil for the next generation is just as important as supplying efficient nutrients for every crop farmers grow. For us, sustainability and profitability go hand in hand. That’s why we call ourselves The Nutrient Use Efficiency People. We have dedicated ourselves to providing prescriptive nutrient use efficiency solutions that improve plant uptake and reduce fertilizer losses, helping preserve the environment and make the most of your investment. Learn more at vlsci.com or talk to your ag retailer today about Verdesian products.
Full Transcript
Noah Newman:
Great to have you with us today on the Cover Crop Strategies podcast. I'm your host, Noah Newman, associate editor. Got some great stuff coming your way. Before we get started though, let's share a message from our sponsor, Verdesian Life Sciences. At Verdesian Life Sciences, we believe that supplying healthy water and soil for the next generation is just as important as applying efficient nutrients for every crop farmers grow. For us, sustainability and profitability go hand in hand. That's why we call ourselves the nutrient use efficiency people. We have dedicated ourselves to providing prescriptive nutrient use efficiency solutions that improve plant uptake and reduce fertilizer losses, helping preserve the environment and make the most of your investment. Learn more@vlsci.com or talk to your ag retailer today about Verdesian products.
Noah Newman:
Today, we're talking about a new cover crop. It's called Nuseed Carinata, set to launch this fall in the south, and it should peak the interest of farmers looking to boost their bottom line in between main food crops. For this episode of Cover Crop Strategies, we'll get the scoop from Nuseed North American marketing lead, Roger Rotariu, and Nuseed Carinata communications director, Colleen Shaw. So I spoke with them about a month ago about the crop's profitability potential and what growers can expect when it hits the market. Nuseed Carinata is targeting Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and the Carolinas for debut in the U.S.. So let's jump into the conversation. Here's Roger and Colleen.
Roger Rotariu:
I'm Roger Rotariu. I'm the North American marketing lead for Nuseed, based out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. So involved in the marketing direction for Carinata, as it relates to the growers, really getting the interest in the seed and the value of the seed crop to growers is how I participate in this program. So, Colleen?
Colleen Shaw:
Hi, Noah. I'm Colleen Shaw and I'm also based out of Calgary, although I work at my home office more than I'm in the office there with Roger. And my work has changed over from the global communications at Nuseed over to Nuseed Carinata specifically. And I work with all the regions on brand and brand representation. And also, I work with communications marketing, communications with the end use customers. So, with BP and on the end use part of the program. So, that's my background.
Noah Newman:
Well, thank you for joining us this morning. I know a lot of our readers will be really interested in this new cover crop, Carinata. If you could just give us the origin story, how it was created, and how it just came about.
Colleen Shaw:
Yeah, sure. So, it's been 10 years in development and we actually purchased the assets in 2018 for the Carinata program. So, we purchased specific technology assets. And with that, we've also recruited several of the developers team. So we have quite a few people from the Carinata development team on the Nuseed team here now. We are in our fourth season commercial production in Argentina. And so, that's really been our focus. Having purchased those assets, now we're in the commercial development phase of it. And we're really using our Nuseed seeds business as the core foundation for the areas that we're developing in. So, starting in South America with our team there and our developed business there, we have good sales team on the ground there and it's been going really well. We've just finished planting here in Argentina and are just wrapping it up now and things have really went well.
Roger Rotariu:
The only thing I would add to that comment by Colleen is quite simply, initiation of the program had advantages in South America in two or three ways, but most importantly, it was really proof of concept to that and proof of supply chain, that we were able to establish what Carinata could do and establish a supply chain model of which now we hope to implement in North America.
Noah Newman:
Yeah. So, if someone was interested in using Carinata, just how would you describe it to them and what are some of the benefits that could come from it?
Roger Rotariu:
Big question, and I'm sure Colleen and I will bounce it back and forth a little bit. I got my double screens going here, but the positioning statement of which we're working on today, Noah, is Nuseed Carinata delivering all the benefits of a cover crop with the added profitability potential through yield and sustainability. So, that's our positioning statement and there's a lot in that statement as there is in most value propositions.
Roger Rotariu:
First of all, it is a cover crop and has all the benefits of it. In the time I've spent in the southern U.S. States, data is somewhat old and you could probably have a much better handle on agriculture or crop statistics than I would have. But if you're saying that under 10% of the area is cover crop in winter months and I think the last stats I saw, 80% of that were in cereal covers. And whether it's oat or winter wheat or rye, it's used for, I would say, primarily for erosion prevention. It's a cereal crop. It's a grasses crop. So, how much can a grasses crop provide back into above the ground biomass or below the ground biomass? And when I look at something like a product like Carinata, with its high amount of biomass, both above soil surface in green leafy matter and potting and below the soil surface in root development, I think it's a substantial increase in the amount of organic matter and soil health benefits that are created.
Colleen Shaw:
Just to summarize, one of the important parts of it is really to call out, to add to what Roger just said, it's a harvested non-food contract cover crop. It's grown for certifiable low carbon fuel. So, that's its real purpose and it's those cover crop benefits, those soil benefits that cover crops have. It has all of those as far as decompaction, soil improvement, plus others, as well as it's harvested. So, there's a crop, there's a contract, and there's profitability in it for growers.
Noah Newman:
You're targeting the southern states for its release. Is there a specific reason why? What about the south that makes that the target for this?
Roger Rotariu:
The simple reason for the south is, quite frankly, as a Brassica crop and Brassica is the same family as mustards and canola, it can't freeze. So, it wouldn't do so well in Wisconsin in January. So as Colleen said, we got to have the benefits of a cover crop, but the profitability potential through yield. So, I hesitate to go deep into this conversation, but in the U.S. government's definition of cover crop, it isn't taken to harvest. It isn't taken to yield. And that's why we are very specific about the benefits of a cover crop with yield. Being so, we need yield and this plant can't freeze to protect its yield. We really need to be below the frost line in the United States. So, frost line, basically you draw a line across the southern Tennessee border and go straight east to west and that's close to the frost line.
Roger Rotariu:
So, that is the first area that we will move into with Carinata as we think it's best suited for those, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, north Florida, and let's say the southern half of Texas is really the areas that we see a great fit. And as well as the area you just came from, that Mississippi delta is another area that we're targeting. So again, mostly because of the need for yield and the need to protect that plant through the potential frost timings of January and February.
Noah Newman:
Back to the conversation in just a second. But once again, let's thank our sponsor, Verdesian Life Sciences, and they have the special message for you. At Verdesian Life Sciences, we believe that supplying healthy water and soil for the next generation is just as important as supplying efficient nutrients for every crop farmers grow. For us, sustainability and profitability go hand in hand. That's why we call ourselves the nutrient use efficiency people. We have dedicated ourselves to providing prescriptive nutrient use efficiency solutions that improve plant uptake and reduce fertilizer losses, helping preserve the environment and make the most of your investment. Learn more@vlsci.com or talk to your ag retailer today about Verdesian products. Now, back to the podcast.
Noah Newman:
I read that you're asking farmers to harvest the oil seed from the crop.
Roger Rotariu:
Yeah. So exactly, the oil seed that comes out, it looks like a canola or mustard seed is what it is. And yeah, the timing, again, depending on the timing of seeding, harvest would be sometime as early as February, as late as into April would be the harvest timing.
Colleen Shaw:
Yeah. So this past February 1st, we had a big announcement of where we announced an offtake in market development agreement with BP. And really what that does is that really gives that security of end use market to take the product that the growers are able to produce and harvest. So, we've got that secure end use customer for the contracts.
Roger Rotariu:
So, Noah, when you ask what do you do with the yield. So because of the BP offtake agreement and that it's the secondary reason where, again, the grower will get all the benefits of a cover crop, but now we have an organization that is looking to purchase the end use product and utilize it for, and probably there's a better statement for it, but renewable fuel usages. And with some of the standards, and again, it's beyond my depth of knowledge a little bit, but in essence, it's that food versus fuel debate. So, in order to maximize the revenue opportunity for growers, this can't replace a food crop. So that's the other reason why we look at it as a cover cropping opportunity, grown over the winter months where normally a food it is not replacing a food crop. Is that said close enough, Colleen, or do you need to-
Colleen Shaw:
Yeah, it's a non-food oil seed so it's high in the uric acid so it's not palatable for one thing. But then, it's also grown between primary crops to not displace any main crops for growers or for people at large. Just another thing to add to that on the end use, part of it is that low-carbon, it's really that certifiable low-carbon fuel market that we're focused on and focused on serving because it reduces emission area. It reduces carbon on a few levels. So, the first is that it is or it can be a replacement for fossil fuels. We've been listed by ICAO as equivalent GHG savings to waste and used cooking oil. So, that's your highest level of GHG savings for the similar feed stocks.
Colleen Shaw:
And so, it's that low carbon part of it. And part of that low carbon story is that the crop itself, not only does it replace fossil fuels for energy, it also like other cover crops, it sequesters carbon from the air and does a really efficient job of transferring it to restore soil carbon. So, that's the other layers of its carbon savings, as well as our program. Really, it identifies and then, rewards sustainable farming practices. So, lower nitrogen use, no till, those kinds of common practices that also keep the carbon in the soil and is part of that whole carbon savings, GHG savings, as companies like BP and governments and around the world reach for those net zero targets. This is a feed stock that is available today to help those companies and those organizations meet their net zero targets.
Noah Newman:
So, if one of our listeners right now in the south is thinking, "I want to try this out," when is this available and how would they go about doing that?
Roger Rotariu:
So right now, as Colleen mentioned earlier, we signed our agreement with BP in February. We've been working diligently since then to establish the North America and the U.S. supply chain model. We are very, very close to being able to announce, I would call them channel partners that allow us to move the grain from farm to the end use crushing points. So, stay tuned on that. And as soon as we do that, we have contracts that have been developed. We're just waiting for delivery locations and a few of those details before we put grower contracts in front of growers. So, it is our hope that we will have contracts in front of growers in the next 30 to 60 days, for sure. And with those contracts, we'll follow through the pricing, delivery, and seed availability options.
Noah Newman:
Anything else you want to add to let our listeners know? Or what excites you most about Carinata?
Colleen Shaw:
Really exciting opportunity. It's an exciting opportunity for growers, for our industry partners, for Nuseed, and for our end use customer, BP. This is a ready now solution that is there to help growers and there to help in the fight against climate change too.
Roger Rotariu:
Yeah. I think sustainability being a huge catch word in today, no matter where you go, and bringing a next level of sustainability to farming. I look at those winter acres, all those benefits that cover crops can bring, the low adoption rate for cover crops, the relatively low adoption rate for cover crops. And trying to peel the layers of the onion, to use that overused analogy, on why there's such low use of cover crop acres, especially with their benefits in soil and carbon and erosion. I just think this is a new, exciting opportunity for growers to get that two-pronged benefit, all those cover crop benefits as well as some profitability through yield, which really equates to a longer sustainability. I just think it's perfectly timed for farmers and for the marketplace today. And we really are excited about expanding the opportunity to those growers in the south.
Noah Newman:
Thanks to Roger and Colleen for joining us this week on Cover Crop Strategies. Before we go, let's thank our sponsor, Verdesian Life Sciences. At Verdesian Life Sciences, we believe that supplying healthy water and soil for the next generation is just as important as supplying efficient nutrients for every crop farmers grow. For us, sustainability and profitability go hand in hand. That's why we call ourselves the nutrient use efficiency people. We have dedicated ourselves to providing prescriptive nutrient use efficiency solutions that improve plant uptake and reduce fertilizer losses, helping preserve the environment and make the most of your investment. Learn more@vlsci.com or talk to your ag retailer today about Verdesian products. All right, that's going to wrap things up for this week. Thanks again for joining us. Hope you enjoyed the Cover Crop Strategies podcast. And until next time, remember, for all things cover crops, head to covercropstrategies.com.
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