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CEDAR CITY — What if farms across Utah could boost crop yields — improving soil health in the process — all while conserving water?
This idea may seem too good to be true.
It certainly did for Jeremy Andra, founder and vice president of Cedar City-based Bactelife. Bactelife is an agriculture-focused company that distributes the “climate-smart” products H2Organix and Micromin for agricultural and commercial use.
Its products include advanced microbial and organic nano-minerals for agriculture and lawns as well as water and soil remediation. Essentially, they improve soil health and plant root networks, resulting in healthier, stronger yields and growth while simultaneously reducing the amount of water needed to grow the crop.
“This is huge for agriculture,” said Andra, who sits on the World Trade Center Utah board of directors. “There is no chemical base like your traditional fertilizers, these are all healthy natural fertilizers.”
Andra and the rest of the Bactelife team not only reduced the amount of water by 70% after one year, but also increased crop yields by 20%.
This success led Bactelife to be awarded a $1 million Air and Water Innovation grant from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity.
How the products work
Andra uses natural bacteria and microbiomes that support plants and soil, unlike conventional fertilizers and pesticides that are petroleum-based and harmful to soil health.
The products are integrated into the existing irrigation system, which eliminates additional equipment.
“The reason it’s called Bactelife … we’re bringing the soil back to life, and two, we’re doing it primarily with bacteria,” Andra said. “Often, when you think of bacteria and fungi, you think of negatives. These are positives, like probiotics.”
H2 Organics provides a microscopic support system for crops that makes nutrients more accessible to plants, creates a natural water supply network and increases plant health, according to Bactelife’s website. In addition, the “natural network” created by the product allows plants to access more than 700 times more resources without it.
Micromin is a mixture of 78 nano-sized organic minerals and microbes essential to crops and lawns.
“Once your soil is enriched with these organic fertilizer minerals, it will be more beneficial by passing its life-giving energy to crops and lawns,” the website reads. “Micromin, as an organic fertilizer, contains the nutrients a plant needs to reach its full potential and transfers these nutrients to the person or animal that eats them.”
Andra says these two products absorb water and nutrients better than traditional fertilizers and pesticides without compromising soil health, creating a healthy, deep and strong plant root system.
“We’re trying to bring things back to nature. A long time ago, someone said, ‘Let’s make these plants grow,’ but our plants today grow really, really fast and look really nice in the grocery store. But the way we’re doing things, we’re losing a lot of nutrient value,” Andra said. “What we’re seeing is not just better quality (and) bigger crops, but farmers are seeing more reductions in their yields…so for every cut you make, not only are they reducing more. . .”
Finally, Bactelife plans to combine the two products and offer both products at the same time, reducing the cost to farmers.
How the products are used
Andra said Bactelife’s primary focus right now is getting its products into the hands of Utah and Idaho farmers. The water saved on one Idaho farm was enough to supply the entire city of St. George for three days, Andra said.
While Bucktelife is focused on the region (for now), it took a big step in May, with the goal of bringing together a delegation of more than 30 Utahns — including business leaders from various industries and politicians — on a trade mission to Ukraine in August. Such as Utah Senate President Stewart Adams – Ukrainian Ambassador to the US, various Ukrainian ministries such as Agriculture, Technology, Defense and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“They (Ukraine) are the breadbasket of all of Europe,” Andra said. “Ukraine plays an important role in our world economy.”
He added that although Ukrainian soil is healthier than American soil, water supply and quality are the main aspects Bactelife helps in Ukraine, along with soil remediation.
“Our product also cleans pollution. We can go into polluted water and clean it, we can go into oil spilled water (and) clean it with these bacteria,” Andra said. “They want to try it. They want to get it out there.”
In addition to shipping its products to Ukraine, Bactelife said it is working to help the country become self-sufficient in microbial and bacteria-based fertilizers and pesticides.
Despite international humanitarian work, Bactelife is first and foremost committed to helping farmers in the beehive state.
“The amount of water we can save on these farms is enough for our new population (and) growth,” Andra said. “Utah is growing, not shrinking … We need to find water solutions here and we think we have that solution. We really do.”
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