November 22, 2022

photo credit: Bridgestone

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Ok, so this isn’t technically investment deal news, but how often do we get to discuss guayule farming and natural rubber production? Almost never!

If you’re anything like me, your first thought might have been, ‘I’ve never heard of guayule…’ So let’s start there.

Native to the arid regions of northern Mexico and the southwest U.S., guayule is an evergreen shrub that has a very similar rubber constituent to para rubber trees (the primary source of natural rubber), but due to its ability to be grown in more challenging climates, is expected to become a new, more sustainable source for natural rubber.

The process of making rubber from guayule consists of grinding the whole plant, solvent extraction, and removal of impurities, making it more complex than the process for making rubber from para rubber trees, which only calls for coagulation and drying of latex. However, Bridgestone noted that the promise in guayule lies in the “expansion and diversification of renewable resources” that can be produced in a more climate-friendly way. 

In 2012, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) launched its first research project in the U.S. dedicated to developing Guayule as a commercially viable source of rubber. At that time, BATO was scouting land on which to establish its first pilot farm and rubber process research center in the southwest U.S.  Later that same year, a site was announced – a 281-acre agricultural site in Eloy, Arizona. 

In 2015, Bridgestone announced it had produced its first tire made entirely from natural rubber-containing components derived from guayule, and in 2018, partnered with Versalis, a major producer of polymers and elastomers, to expand its R&D and deploy a comprehensive tech package to commercialize guayule in the agricultural, sustainable-rubber and renewable chemical sectors. That same year, another collaboration was forged with NRgene for a domestic guayule natural rubber breeding program to develop new high-yielding varieties. 

“We are looking forward to utilizing NRGene’s capabilities and experience in agricultural genome analytics to move our guayule breeding program to a new level that will ultimately benefit our customers and society,” said Nizar Trigui,CTO, Bridgestone Americas, said at the time. “This will quickly bring the most advanced molecular breeding capabilities previously found only in advanced row crops to guayule, an undomesticated species.”

This brings us to mid-November of this year, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded Bridgestone and its partners (University of Arizona, Colorado State University, OpenET, Environmental Defense Fund, Tohono O’odham Nation and Colorado River Indian Tribes, and eight regional growers) a $35 million grant to continue investment in desert shrub guayule as a climate-smart, domestic solution to natural rubber production amid an ongoing drought crisis across the U.S. southwest. 

Made as part of the USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Initiative, this grant will enable  Bridgestone to expand the production of natural rubber in the U.S. at lower greenhouse gas emission levels, while creating a foundation for the region’s farmers and Native American tribes to build a rubber bioeconomy integrated with climate-smart and sustainable practices.

“At Bridgestone, we have been committed to guayule as a domestic source of natural rubber since our research initiative in this desert shrub began in 2012 to offer a more sustainable solution for both our environment and economy,” said William Niaura, director, Sustainable Materials and Circular Economy, Bridgestone Americas.

“By participating in this larger industry-wide initiative led by the USDA, we can continue our commitment to establishing a natural rubber industry domestically in a climate-smart way alongside other industry thought leaders who are similarly dedicated to sustainable commodity production that will provide meaningful benefits for domestic growers.”

Bridgestone stated that it will use these funds, which are to be distributed over a five-year period between 2023-2027, to attract additional guayule growers among U.S. southwest farmers and Native American tribes, offering education on how to cultivate this crop in a drought-stricken region in a climate-smart manner, including carbon sequestration in desert soils, water utilization, soil health, nutrient delivery, and the ecological benefits of guayule.

In August of this year, Bridgestone announced it was investing $42 million to establish commercial operations, with additional investments and expansion projects planned through 2030. During this time, the company is targeting 350 new acres of guayule to be planted in 2023, and an increase in capacity of up to 25,000 acres of farmland for planting and harvesting at scale in collaboration and partnership with local U.S. farmers and Native American tribes.

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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