Truterra expands Sustainability Services

Truterra recently announced the launch of Truterra Sustainability Services to provide farmers with a comprehensive suite of agronomic and financial resources. The launch aims to engage more farmers with regenerative farming practices by removing barriers to practice changes.

"Every grower is at a different spot and they're not all ready to implement cover crops or no-till," says Tom Ryan, president of Truterra. "We've tried to build out offerings that can meet them where they're at and help build a comprehensive plan delivered through our retail partners on where they want to go."

The program has three core components: soil health assessments, market access, and a carbon program.

Soil health assessments allow farmers to establish a baseline and can provide a roadmap for those looking to implement sustainable practices.

"The soil health assessment looks at several key factors around things like aggregate stability, organic carbon, soil compaction, nutrient mineralization, pH, and plant available water," Ryan says. "After a really successful 2022 pilot, we're expanding that across a wider geography and on a much bigger acre target."

Market access acts as an on-ramp for farmers by providing opportunities to participate in sustainability services.

"There is a high data lift associated with any of these programs, and market access is a payment to the grower that starts that data collection and begins to establish that baseline measurement of their farm that they can then build upon through some of our other programs," Ryan says.

Finally, the carbon program offers payments between $15 and $30 based geography and the sustainable practices and crop rotations they implement.

Truterra has focused on building relationships with farmers and retailers to help plan, make, and maintain sustainable practice changes.

"Our ability to work with and through retail to build this comprehensive sustainability plan using Truterra's insights and tools is a great foundation for farmers to build off," Ryan says. "From that plan, we can look at the pathway to change and how we can support farmers with tools, technology, and innovation to make it profitable. Lastly, we want to make sure farmers are rewarded for making transitions, because ultimately the are the ones assuming the risk."

Farmers interested in joining the program should speak with a Truterra-aligned retailer or visit www.truterraag.com.

Context Network

This article is part of the SF Carbon Connection, a joint carbon market project between Successful Farming magazine and The Context Network, West Des Moines, Iowa. We are developing editorial content regarding existing carbon markets and carbon programs available to farmers. Each month, Successful Farming magazine and Agriculture.com will contain stories that enable farmers to dig deeper into carbon markets. Future carbon market coverage may also convey information through other media platforms.