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UK-based crop production giant Frontier Agriculture has announced a significant investment in CCm Technologies, a pioneering tech company dedicated to developing low-carbon fertilisers. This strategic move is set to aid farmers across the UK in reducing their carbon emissions.
CCm Technologies has engineered an innovative process that combines captured carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with recycled nutrients derived from agricultural waste, such as livestock manure and digestates.
The result is an "organo-mineral fertiliser" known as CCm Growth.
CCm Growth stands out by incorporating nitrogen, phosphate, and potash, akin to typical fertilisers. However, it adds fiber that returns organic matter and carbon to the soil, enhancing soil health and sustainability.
Frontier Agriculture has secured an exclusive distribution agreement for CCm Growth across England, Scotland, and Wales as part of this deal. This will ensure that farms throughout these regions have access to this groundbreaking fertilizer. Additionally, the investment will fuel CCm Technologies' expansion efforts, including developing new plants and boosting production capacity.
Andrew Flux, Frontier's Group Commercial Strategy Director, emphasized that the company's expertise in sustainable crop production and grain marketing positions it to provide valuable industry insights and technical knowledge. This collaboration aims to enrich the CCm proposition further and advance the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices across the UK.
"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," he said. "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."
Pawel Kisielewski, chief executive of CCm Technologies, welcomed the new investment. "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," he said.
The deal will enhance CCm Technologies' engagement with farmers across the country, including those it is already working with through a major partnership with PepsiCo.
Since 2020, CCm has been collaborating with multinational companies to supply low-carbon fertilizers to its oats and potato farmers across the UK. This initiative is part of PepsiCo's ongoing effort to decarbonize its value chain.
David Wilkinson, Head of Agricultural Procurement at PepsiCo Europe, expressed the company's enthusiasm, stating they are "delighted" to collaborate with Frontier and CCm in the next phase of CCm's expansion. This partnership aims to advance sustainable farming practices further and support the broader agricultural community in reducing emissions.
"The next phase of work with CCm and the collaboration underway with farmers and consumer businesses is exciting," he said. "It demonstrates the importance of long-term partnerships in our industry if we are to meet our collective net zero targets and environmental goals while safeguarding food production and continuity of supply."
Frontier's investment in CCm Technologies follows a successful three-year trial period, during which the companies collaborated to test the fertilizer as part of Frontier's '3D Thinking' research program.
The trial involved deploying CCm Growth at Frontier's Haywold and Bleasby demonstration sites. Here, CCm Growth was rigorously examined as a direct comparison to standard fertilizer products and combined with them. The results of these trials paved the way for Frontier's decision to invest in and support the wider rollout of this innovative, low-carbon fertilizer across the UK.
Frontier said it had seen "positive results" at the trials at both sites in 2022 and 2023. "2023 wasn't quite as good as 2022, but much of that was potentially down to environmental factors during a challenging season," said Edward Downing, national crop nutrition technical manager at Frontier. "Despite that, the results were still really pleasing. It was great to see it perform on par with typical fertiliser, both in terms of yield and protein."
Downing added that there was "nothing like this product on the market today" and pointed to analysis from the Carbon Trust which showed the product had a negative carbon footprint.
"It's literally taking carbon out of the atmosphere and adding it to the soil," he said.
Following the investment, Frontier planned to expand its research into seven new trials this year, including 16 on-site farm comparisons.
According to the update, during these trials, Frontier said it would work directly with growers to test the spread and accuracy of the product, as well as the logistics of handling and storing it on the farm.
"There's a real focus on the practicalities – for example, can it be applied using the farm's existing fertiliser spreader?" Downing said of the upcoming work. "Growers rightly need to understand what else might be required and how it shapes up against what they are using already. Though the product isn't commercially available while this work continues, pricewise it should be comparable to typical fertiliser products on the market."
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