In America’s Heartland, farmers raise No. 2 yellow dent corn in huge quantities. As stewards of the land, they understand how to get the most out of their farms and they know every square inch of their fields. For these farmers, their land is their asset to make money, and they are always looking for ideas that will help their land produce more, and improve soil quality.
Like any business, farmers pay attention to trends and collect data. They use modern science and technology—and it has been helping them to increase the yield of each acre, preserve water, and enrich their soil, which allows them to reduce fertilizer use and increase the efficiency of their operations.
Technology Aids Verification
The data systems can upload to web-based data platforms that show trends, analyze trouble spots, provide action steps to rectify problems as the growing season progresses serves to create a record of field-by-field results, providing the farmer with a trackable, verifiable sustainability score for the produce brought to market. When properly tracked, audited, and verified by Gevo subsidiary Verity, the corn crop becomes a feedstock with built-in premium sustainability value, thanks to the the use of regenerative agriculture methods, including reduced tillage, integrated livestock management, use of cover crops, composting, and crop rotation, the carbon sequestered in the soil by the corn and additional benefits, which can then be passed on to the end users of products such as sustainable aviation fuel, additional bio-based renewable hydrocarbons, and also renewable chemicals that are components in the production of a host of consumer and industrial products.
Technology Increases Farm Efficiency
By leaving the organic matter from last year’s corn and diverse cover crops in the soil, that field also preserves nutrients from last year, held in the root and stalk of the corn left in the field after harvest and with cover crops, as well as the microbial biomass represented as soil organic matter that holds more water, more nutrients and aerates the soil. This complex ecosystem of nutrient-rich soil will help next season’s plants grow, and require less applied fertilizer to support this increased productivity. Most of the biomass used to produce Gevo’s advanced fuels comes from sources that use regenerative farming techniques that build soil organic carbon.
Gevo’s market-driven “pay for performance” approach regarding carbon and other sustainability attributes helps ensure value is delivered to our local economy. Through its Verity subsidiary, Gevo provides transparency, accountability, and efficiency in tracking, measuring, and verifying various attributes throughout the supply chain.
Verity Holdings, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gevo dedicated to providing full-service carbon project development through its proprietary digital Measure, Report, and Verify (MRV) platform, powered by distributed ledger technology. Verity tracks environmental attributes from feedstock to end product — from field-level carbon intensity scores for corn to process and production scores attributed to every gallon of fuel — giving customers audit-ready documentation of the carbon performance embedded in every gallon.
