Advance On-Farm Stewardship and Profitability with Superior Ag and Truterra
A growing number of Americans are thinking about sustainability and their carbon footprint. This is leading consumers to cook more meals from produce and meat they've raised themselves, switch to reusable products over single-use products within their homes or purchase electric vehicles. In response to consumer trends & preferences, many companies have implemented sustainability initiatives which include a commitment to lowering the carbon footprint within their supply chain.
Agriculture is well-positioned to generate carbon credits, since our crop fields sequester massive amounts of carbon & store it in the soil each season. With this new demand for carbon credits from other industries, the agriculture industry is creating programs which offer a new revenue opportunity to farmers interested in selling credits to these companies. This is where Truterra comes into play.
Land O’Lakes launched their sustainability business, Truterra, LLC, in 2016. WinField United, Animal Nutrition (Purina), Dairy Foods (Land O’Lakes), and Truterra are the four business units of Land O’Lakes, Inc. Since the program was launched, 3,790 farmers have put their trust in the Truterra network to help them advance and accelerate stewardship on 29,000 fields. In 2023, Superior Ag partnered with Truterra to take on the challenge of working with farmers, agriculture retailers, food and consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs) to collect information and turn it into data to help better the future of on-farm sustainability.
Leading the partnership between Superior Ag and Truterra, Isaac Schroeder, Superior Ag Agronomist works with Amanda Bahn-Ziegler, Truterra Account Manager to keep our growers informed about the opportunities that Truterra can offer. In 2023, Superior Ag had growers participate in the Truterra® carbon program and the Truterra® supply shed benefits program. There were three growers totaling 189 acres that participated in the Truterra® carbon program generating $8,976 of revenue for their farm. The 30 growers that participated in the Truterra® supply shed benefits program enrolled 17,517 acres generating $87,585 of additional revenue for their operations. The company that sponsored the Truterra® supply shed benefits program will use the grower’s data that we collected in an aggregated form to tell their sustainability story.
As a Truterra farmer, you join a network of like-minded farmers, leading the way in sustainability. By working with Truterra and your local ag retailer, you’ll gain deeper insights into your operation that will help you participate in emerging markets like soil health, carbon, other ecosystem services markets, and sustainably produced commodities.
Programs available for this year include Truterra® financial assistance – a USDA supported program and the Truterra® carbon program. The Truterra® financial assistance is a USDA supported program for first-time adopters of no-till or cover crops. Enrollment for the Truterra® financial assistance – a USDA supported program will open in August. The Truterra® carbon program is industry sponsored and enables farmers to be rewarded for the conservation practices they’ve already implemented. Data collection for this year’s programs must be collected by July 31st, sign up for this program by June 16, 2024.
These programs provide an exciting, new opportunity for growers to continue their day-to-day farming practices and report back to Truterra, which potentially rewards them with dollars. If you think you could benefit from this type of program or are interested in learning more, please reach out to your local Superior Ag representative or visit https://www.truterraag.com/. If you are ready now, pre-enroll today by visiting www.truterraag.com/enroll. After all, who doesn’t want to add an additional revenue source to their operation?