Building Momentum, PrairieFood Announces New Leadership Following the Launch of Its Groundbreaking Soil Treatment
Veteran agriculture and technology entrepreneurs take the helm at PrairieFood to broadly commercialize a new class of transformative soil health products.
PRATT, Kan., Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- PrairieFood, the complete soil nutrition company, co-founder and Chairman of the Board Rob Herrington announced today that Christopher Vincent was joining as the company's new COO to work alongside recently appointed CEO Jason Tatge. This announcement comes at a pivotal moment for PrairieFood after the launch of their latest product, Nitro, a soil treatment that growers can use with existing equipment to reawaken native microbial systems in their soil and rapidly restore their soil organic matter.
Jason and Chris join the company with a combined 70 years of experience in the agriculture industry. Jason Tatge started his career as a commodity trader before founding Farms Technology, an electronic marketplace to automate grain transaction and risk management processes. After a successful exit, Jason founded Farmobile to give farmers real time access and ownership of their digital assets. Farmobile was fully acquired by AGI in 2021. Chris Vincent spent the last 27 years in Agriculture. He began as Syngenta NK Seeds DSM before starting a greenfield location for an independent Ag retailer. He earned an opportunity to lead the Agronomy Team at Aurora Coopérative Elevator company where he took on roles in Sales and Marketing, at Sr. VP levels before his elevation to Chief Operating Officer and eventually President & CEO. Jason and Chris' combined experience and diverse business acumen will be crucial as PrairieFood prepares for the next stage of commercializing its soil treatment.
Under new leadership, the company is poised for exponential growth in a rapidly growing market. According to InsightAce Analytics, the soil treatment market in 2022 was $42.8B and projected to grow to $72.9B by 2028 at a 6.3% CAGR. The effects of healthy soil spread far beyond the crop and field; healthier, more nutrient dense crops means higher yields and thriving livestock. Farmers are quickly realizing the need for change and the impact this can have on the long-term resilience of their businesses and demand is surging.
"First and foremost, farmers are stewards of their land," said Jason Tatge, CEO, "but these unique entrepreneurs find themselves in an increasingly difficult position that forces them to choose between maximizing yields or minimizing costs. On one hand heavy synthetic fertilizer usage is proven to boost yields but is expensive and depletes the nutrients in the soil. On the other hand, weaning these depleted soils away from their dependence on synthetic fertility feels risky in the short term. PrairieFood works shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers and ranchers on beginning their soil transformation journey by rejuvenating the native microbes in their soils. PrairieFood is one of the most strategic things they can do for their soil, their operations, and the environment."
In addition to building more resilient fields, growers who continue to apply PrairieFood can also reduce their fertilizer budget. Because PrairieFood provides access to a naturally available and free source of nitrogen and phosphates, their customers have been able to decrease their input usage by 25% in year two, 33% in year three, and 55% or more in year four.
"Soil is under more pressure than ever before," Jason Tatge added. "An overreliance on costly crop management methods, coupled with monoculture practices, has depleted the soil of essential nutrients and microorganisms crucial for sustaining biodiversity and supporting healthy plant growth. We're seeing even more soil erosion, habitat loss, and an overall decline in biodiversity, but more striking is that the nutritional quality of crops has suffered, impacting both the environment and consumers' well-being."
PrairieFood's flagship product is an all-in-one micro carbon superfood for the soil that kickstarts the soil's sluggish biology and makes available the natural fertility, releasing nutrients to plants on-demand when the crop needs them most. Traditional soil amendments like humic acid provide some nutrition to some microbes, but a diverse microbial population requires a robust mix of sugars, starches, and amino acids. To date, PraireFood's product has been delivered in a slurry which deeply nourishes the field with the nutrients it needs, awakening the dormant microorganisms and activates their natural ability to promote the health and growth of crops. Their latest product, Nitro, is even easier to apply and delivers much of the same benefits but is designed to be used with existing sprayers and applicators.
"The old ways are simply not sustainable for the future," said Chris Vincent, COO. "Farmers and cattle producers often tell us they want to do something different. If they give us their worst field, and we believe they'll want to make the switch to incorporate PrairieFood Nitro and or Slurry into their whole farm plan. This is how we're going to build farms of the future that are not only good for the planet, but good for the bottom line."
Other soil treatments on the market can be hard to evaluate and difficult to assess and choose. In the past, they have been locked into yearly commitments that have diminishing returns and use the land as a storage device, playing a role in the reduction of our soil's organic matter, water holding capacity, and overall health. PrairieFood has a multi-year benefit that reduces your dependence on annual costs and commitments, returning independence and ownership back to the farmer.
Growers who have wanted to wean themselves off of synthetic chemicals now have the opportunity to see the impact on their field within a single season. Until now, the only other option has been to experiment with regenerative agriculture practices like cover cropping and crop rotation, no-till farming, agroforestry, etc. These practices promise to create more sustainable and resilient systems; however, they take inordinate amounts of time and investment before farmers see a return. PrairieFood offers a path to accelerating regenerative farming practices by providing a solution to those at the start of their journey who want to measure and see results sooner.
In their first year of field application, PrairieFood sold over 7000 gallons of its flagship product, Slurry. The following year, they increased sales to over 95,000 gallons. By 2023, their sales exceeded half a million gallons and brought in $1.44M in revenue. Currently, PrairieFood has been limited in production to a single plant in Kansas that can ideally serve a 200 mile radius. Over the next few years, the company plans to expand production and build new production facilities in local communities to service more farming operations throughout the midwest region.
About PrairieFood
PrairieFood is the complete soil nutrition company. We restore the symbiotic relationship between plant and soil for more resilient and productive crops.
Our line of products quickly stimulates and rapidly nourishes the soil to awaken the native microbial systems in any field.
With revitalized soil, our growers unlock a free source of nitrogen and phosphates, gradually reducing their dependence on synthetic inputs. All while re-building soil organic matter, improving water holding capacity, and increasing root mass. This is nature at her best.
We make PrairieFood with our patented CarbonShred™ process that transforms abundant biowaste into a micro-carbon rich soil superfood. In addition to both short and long chain carbons, PrairieFood inherits other key nutrients like N, P, K and Zinc from our feedstock. It's the right mix of carbons in the right ratios, 100% naturally.
PrairieFood accelerates the good practices you're already using. You'll see better results, faster, when you add PrairieFood on top of what you're already doing to take care of your soil.
PrairieFood is a team of farmers, agronomists, entrepreneurs, and operators proudly based in the heart of the Midwest, and we do 100% of our manufacturing within a few hundred miles of our growers. Learn more about PriaireFood here: http://www.prairiefood.com
Media Contact
Syed Ali Haider, Jones Dilworth, 361-793-1039, ali@jones-dilworth.com