June 4, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Crops utilize only about half of the synthetic nitrogen applied to fields, and a portion is emitted as nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide and other nitrogen gasses. This has resulted in nitrogen becoming the top source of crop-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Green nitrogen fertilizers aim to address these environmental impacts by capitalizing on more ecologically sound production methods and involving more controlled nutrient release mechanisms. Often derived from renewable resources like plant residues, animal waste, or even bacteria, these alternative inputs are less energy-intensive and recycle organic matter back into the soil.

UK-based CCm Technologies is an environmental tech company combining captured carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with recycled nutrients from agricultural waste such as livestock manure and digestates to produce organo-mineral fertilizer. 

The company’s flagship product is CCm Growth. Containing nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and natural organic material, CCM Growth holds valuable fiber to help deliver organic matter and carbon back into the soil for improved soil health and sustainability. 

Frontier Agriculture, the UK’s leading crop production and grain marketing business, has made a direct investment backing CCm Technologies and its product line through an agreement that includes an exclusive distribution clause giving Frontier Agriculture exclusive rights to distribute CCm Technologies’ products across England, Scotland, and Wales.

“There’s nothing like this product on the market today,” said Edward Downing, national crop nutrition technical manager, Frontier Agriculture, “which is why we were excited to see how it performed in comparison to standard nitrogen and NPK fertilizers.”

“CCm Growth® is one of several fertilizer products and emerging technologies helping to decarbonise supply chains, which is really positive news,” continued Downing. “Analysis carried out by The Carbon Trust showed that the carbon footprint of the product is not only low – it’s negative. It’s literally taking carbon out of the atmosphere and adding it to the soil.”

“It therefore supports a holistic approach to crop nutrition. For example, if CCm Growth® contributed a third of the nitrogen within a fertilizer programme, its negative carbon footprint from manufacture could outweigh the positive carbon footprint associated with the manufacture of the remaining conventional fertilizer. This doesn’t include the carbon emissions associated with applications of nitrogen fertilizers to fields but it could be a real game changer, a step towards not only decarbonising fertilizers, but also food production.”

This investment follows a period of collaboration between the two parties, with 2024 marking the third year of trials undertaken via Frontier Agriculture’s 3D Thinking research program. To-date, CCm Growth has been trialed at Frontier’s Haywold and Bleasby demonstration sites with positive results for both the 2022 and 2023 harvests. 

“As the only shareholder with specialist expertise in sustainable crop production and grain marketing, we’re well-placed to add key industry insight and technical knowledge to further enrich the CCm proposition,” said Andrew Flux, group commercial strategy director, Frontier Agriculture. 

“We’re always looking to develop the solutions we provide to both our farmer and consumer customers, ensuring they meet the challenges faced now and in the future. Being directly involved in the development of CCm’s technology going forward means we can better support all parts of the supply chain to meet reduced emissions targets, contributing to more sustainable food production systems overall.”

As exciting as the results have been, Downing stressed that ongoing research remains a priority. 

“We’ve been able to share initial results and now some food manufacturers are interested to understand how it might work in their own supply chains, which is great news and supports wider collaboration across our industry,” said Downing. “For example, in one project we’re looking at a slightly different version of the product which is based on food waste.”

This research has been expanded to seven replicated trials this year, with the partnership also conducting 16 on-farm “comparisons” to test the spread and accuracy of the product as well as the logistics of handling and storing it on-farm. 

“There’s a real focus on the practicalities – for example, can it be applied using the farm’s existing fertilizer spreader? Growers rightly need to understand what else might be required and how it shapes up against what they are using already,” noted Downing. 

Pawel Kisielewski, CEO of CCm Technologies, added, “The expertise of Frontier Agriculture’s specialists will greatly enhance our engagement with farmers supplying CCm’s key customers, in particular its ‘Global Preferred Partner’, PepsiCo.”

“We are delighted with this collaboration which brings an alignment of interest with the UK’s leading provider of crop production advice and grain marketing solutions and will further speed the expansion of our production plans.”

~ 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. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

*The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company HighQuest Partners is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and HighQuest Partners are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.