BetterSoil Alliance Rewards California Almond Growers for Sustainable Actions

Growers all over the world have been feeling the effects of climate change on their crops. The state of California has been facing drought, water scarcity, and rising temperatures that negatively affect the almond industry. An important asset in meeting these challenges is creating better soil, and Yara North America and Heliae® Agriculture are here to help.

At Heliae, we’re focused on improving your fields by innovating nature-based solutions for your soil’s microbiome. Our partners at Yara work to create value for growers with climate-friendly crop nutrition. Together, we have formed the BetterSoil Alliance to promote healthy soils, support the longevity of the California almond industry, and reward growers for taking practical and sustainable actions in their orchards.

“Better soil” isn’t a buzzword – better soil means better water productivity, better nutrient use efficiency, and better crops. Better soil doesn’t only support your orchards, it supports the planet by encouraging biodiversity and drawing down carbon from the atmosphere. Soil quality is measurable in the field and produces a wealth of benefits for growers and the environment.

Better soil affects us all, and the BetterSoil Alliance is here to support all aspects of the almond industry, from the soil up! The Alliance supports almond growers not only by providing education and sustainability rewards, but by gathering leaders in the almond industry all along the food chain to innovate sustainable solutions. Crop advisors, agricultural retailers, handlers and processors, and food companies are welcome to join the Alliance and make a different in the future of the almond industry.

Are you an agricultural innovator or a stakeholder in the almond industry invested in sustainable solutions? We need you! Help us meet sustainability initiatives, and improve quality and ROI across the industry. Learn more here.

The BetterSoil Alliance was created to help growers implement regenerative agriculture practices in their orchards, and reward growers who create better soil sustainably. Regenerative agriculture is focused on not only conserving current soils but building better soils through sustainable farming practices. Every acre is different, so regenerative agriculture focuses on outcomes. What can growers do to improve the soil on their land? What works best? How can we improve it?

Together with California almond growers, the BetterSoil Alliance will be putting sustainably focused solutions to the test to answer these questions. The data collected from BetterSoil Alliance growers will help agricultural communities thrive and move forward with innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions that work toward a climate-friendly food future. Growers who participate in the BetterSoil Alliance will have access to the agronomic expertise of both Yara and Heliae. They will receive support implementing crop nutrition and soil management solutions, including Yara’s low carbon footprint calcium nitrate fertilizer, YaraLiva™ and Heliae’s superior soil microbe food, PhycoTerra®. Participating growers will be recognized as an Alliance member and will be eligible to receive sustainability rewards based on their soil’s water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE).

Are you a California almond grower interested in creating BetterSoil? Join the Alliance here.

Soil health, Heliae and Yara go hand in hand (in hand). We’ve got plenty of soil knowledge for you – listen to the podcast we did together on soil health, featuring our very own Dr. Karl Wyant, Heliae’s VP of Ag Science, and Yara’s Director of Agronomic Services, Dr. Rob Mikkelsen.