The Holganix Blog

She Wears Many Hats: Happy Women in Ag Month!

kkirschbaum@holganix.com (Kendall Kirschbaum) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:42:20 GMT

In agriculture, no two days look the same—and neither do the roles women take on.

They’re leaders, problem-solvers, caregivers, and innovators. Women in agriculture don’t just keep up with the pace, they set it. From the field to the office and everywhere in between, women are stepping up, taking on more, and driving agriculture forward every single day.

Why March Matters

March is Women in Ag Month at Holganix! With National Women in Ag Day recognized on March 21 and Women in History Month celebrated throughout the month, it's the perfect time to shine a spotlight on the women who make an industry difference.

Who Inspires You?

We asked the 30+ women of Holganix who inspires them, and their answers are as diverse and inspiring as the women themselves. Inspiration comes in many forms; these are the individuals who inspire our women in agriculture:

Despite their differences, they are united by a common purpose, to drive positive change. Let this be a reminder for who inspires you, and how you can be an inspiration for the up-and-comers.

Planting Seeds For Tomorrow

Inspiring the next generation of women to be involved in agriculture ensures the industry continues to thrive with fresh ideas, energy, and perspective. Agriculture offers countless ways to contribute, whether in the field, behind the scenes, in leadership, or through innovation, there’s truly a place for everyone to make an impact and help shape the future.

To wrap up, here’s some advice from our own team to inspire and empower the next generation of women in agriculture:

"This is a diverse industry, and there are so many unique experiences you can miss if you're not willing to take the risk!" - Kate Michael, Talent Acquisition & Onboarding Coordinator

"Never stop learning. Ask the question. Connect with a mentor. Be a sponge." - Jessica Alderson, Regional Sales Manager

"Don't be afraid to make mistakes, those moments are often the greatest opportunities to learn and grow." - Joslynn Masters, Operational Sales Support Representative

The future of agriculture is brighter when women lead, innovate, and grow together. Give thanks to the women making a difference in every hat they wear.

Happy Women in Ag Month!

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Webinar: From the Field - Grower Insights on Bio 800+ Revive

rpatel@holganix.com (Ritu Patel) — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:12:55 GMT

Ever wonder what your fellow farmers are planning to do differently this season, and what’s actually working so far?

Join us for a live grower roundtable webinar on March 17 @ 10:00 AM CST/11:00 AM EST, where farmers from across the country share what they're seeing in their fields as the season gets underway.

From soil conditions and root development to crop resilience and plant health, you’ll hear firsthand how farmers are approaching soil health, and where Bio 800+ fits into their crop strategies.

Meet the Grower Panel:

Alongside Holganix Regional Sales Managers Jessica Alderson and Cord Mumme, you’ll hear directly from growers using Bio 800+ Revive on their farms.

They’ll share how they’ve integrated Bio 800+ into their crop programs, what they’ve observed over recent growing seasons, and how their fields are responding.

Expect practical insights and honest perspectives from farmers applying these practices in real-world conditions.

What You'll Learn In The Webinar:

Whether you’re already using Bio 800+ Revive or thinking about trying it on your farm, this grower panel offers relatable and relevant insights into:

How growers are seeing more developed soil structure after applying Bio 800+
Changes they’re noticing in root development and plant health, including deeper, more fibrous roots and more vigorous, uniform crop growth
How Bio 800+ supports crop resilience during stressful conditions
What’s new, what’s working, and what’s not worth your time
How farmers are thinking about soil health practices for the future
Live Q&A to get your questions answered directly

Webinar Details:

From The Field – Grower Insights on Bio 800+ Revive

Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Time: 10:00 AM CST / 11:00 AM EST

Host(s): Jessica Alderson and Cord Mumme, Holganix Regional Sales Managers

Panelist(s): Holganix Growers

Don’t miss the opportunity to gain timely, practical advice straight from farmers who are walking the walk.

Join the conversation and hear what farmers across the country are seeing in their fields.

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Horizons: Seeing Your Fields More Clearly, One Decision at a Time

hwalker@holganix.com (Hayden Walker) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:15:00 GMT

When you spend enough time working with growers, one thing becomes pretty clear: everyone has data, but very few feel like they have clarity.

Soil tests live in one place. Imagery lives somewhere else. Notes get scribbled in trucks or buried in phones. By the time you sit down to make a decision, you are piecing together a puzzle that never quite feels complete.

This is the problem Horizons aims to solve.

Horizons is Holganix’s new soil intelligence platform, and at its core, it’s about bringing everything together in a way that actually makes sense on a real farm. It doesn’t just give you more information, but a better perspective.

Why Horizons Matter

We built Horizons because we kept seeing the same challenge. Growers care deeply about their soil and their crops, but turning soil health data into day-to-day decisions isn’t always easy.

You may know something is off in a field, but not exactly where or why. Or you may see variability on a yield map after the fact and wish you had caught it sooner.

Horizons helps close that gap.

By combining satellite imagery, soil test data, scouting observations, and field-level weather, Horizons gives you a clearer picture of what is happening across every acre. Instead of guessing, you can see patterns. Instead of reacting late, you can respond earlier.

Putting Horizons to Work

Something I appreciate most about Horizons is how practical it is. You log in and immediately see your fields, current imagery, and any alerts that need attention.

If something changes in a field, Horizons flags it in real time. Those alerts are sent directly to your phone as notifications, so you don’t need to be logged in or actively checking the platform to stay up-to-date. The information comes to you, wherever you are, helping you respond quickly when it matters most.

You can zoom into a single field, compare imagery layers, and look at soil health data right alongside what you are seeing from above. Soil tests automatically show up as scouting reports, which makes it easier to visualize and understand in context. Weather data is tied directly to each field - not just a general forecast for the area.

Our goal wasn’t to give you just another piece of software. It was to give you a tool that easily shows how your farm is performing, and that can complement what you’re already doing daily.

Built Around Real Agronomy

Horizons is grounded in agronomy, not just technology. The insights are designed to support real conversations about fertility, biology, and management decisions. Whether you’re evaluating how a field responds to a biological program or planning adjustments for next season, the platform keeps everything connected.

Another perk - Horizons works alongside the systems you already use. It’s not here to replace your existing tools. It pulls the most meaningful data – from all your tools - together into a single platform, allowing you to focus on decisions instead of data management.

Long-Term Value Beyond One Season

What excites me most about Horizons is not just what it does in-season, but what it builds over time. As seasons stack up, you’ll start to see soil health trends, management impacts, and patterns that are hard to catch otherwise. That long-term view makes it easier to fine-tune inputs, measure return on investment, and build confidence in the direction you’re heading.

Horizons also plays a key role in Farm Possible by serving as the backbone for soil health tracking and carbon measurement. It ties together the work being done in the field with the data needed to document progress and outcomes.

Available to Farm Possible Growers

Horizons is available exclusively to growers enrolled in the Farm Possible program. Acres enrolled are automatically monitored inside the platform at no additional cost. If you are already part of Farm Possible, Horizons is there waiting for you.

If you have questions or need help getting started, your Soil Health Specialist is always a great first resource. You can also reach out directly to Logan Johnson, Horizons Product Lead, at ljohnson@holganix.com.

Horizons isn’t about adding more noise. It’s about seeing your fields more clearly, making decisions with confidence, and building healthier soil season after season.

Learn More? Join us for a Webinar.

A New Horizon in Agriculture: A Live Look at Horizons, Holganix’s Soil Intelligence Platform

Date: Thursday, February 19

Time: 11:00 AM CST / 12:00 PM EST

Host(s): Logan Johnson, Holganix Horizons Product Lead, and Hayden Walker, Holganix Digital Agronomist

A Love Letter to Soil

zrichardson@holganix.com (Zoe Richardson) — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Did you know that nearly half of all life on the planet lives below ground?

Soil isn’t just dirt. It’s a living, breathing organism.

Like any living system, it has to be cared for, and not just once, but day after day.

That kind of care has a name. It’s love.

Not mushy or sentimental love. Not candy hearts and roses.

No, soil needs the same kind of love that people do—unglamorous and attentive.

No one knows that kind of love better than a farmer.

This month, we tip our hats to growers everywhere who are leaving things better for the next generation, starting with their love for the soil.

Because love, like soil, is the unseen foundation of our lives.

It can erode. Hard times can thin its life.

But love, just like soil, can also regenerate. Through daily action, it grows deep and rich.

And from that healthy foundation, life flourishes.

Crops, families, and communities grow strong.

With healthy soil—grown with care, attention, and love—we thrive.

Check out the 2-minute video below, where Holganix growers share why they love healthy soil. If you’re viewing this via email, click here to watch the video.

This month, we’re celebrating love, one of our core values. Follow along on Facebook and Instagram for more grower stories.

5 Takeaways from Davos: How Resources, Resilience and Risk Are Quietly Rewriting Strategy

tweaver@Holganix.com (Tim Weaver) — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:18:01 GMT

Last week, the world’s biggest opportunities (and challenges) were compressed into a few square miles of Swiss mountain real estate – along with CEOs, officials, investors, and assorted leaders in sensible shoes trying to make sense of it all. I was able to navigate it all without slipping on any ice, which I consider my biggest professional victory of the week.

Davos is part policy summit, part investor meeting, and part group therapy for global systems under stress. This year felt different from recent editions, somehow less theatrical and more forensic. I saw fewer slogans but more spreadsheets.

As one CEO shared with me about their company’s goals for the week, “We’re not here debating ideals. We’re comparing insurance deductibles and cost of capital. Markets are learning how to price fragility.”

That single sentence framed the entire week.

Across industries and continents, six themes kept resurfacing—on stage, in private meetings, and in the late-night conversations where far more honesty tends to surface.

1. Water is becoming a strategic asset (and it’s beginning to be priced)

Water security has crossed the line from an “environmental issue” to a “board-level risk” for many companies and most nations.

It surfaced in conversations about semiconductors, food inflation, data centers, insurance pricing, and sovereign stability. Capital is quietly becoming more expensive for water-stressed regions, companies, and projects. Insurance is retreating in some places. Credit committees are asking hydrology questions.

Water is becoming a balance-sheet variable, not merely an operating constraint.

I get to see this weekly at Holganix in grower dashboards, not as theory. Fields with depleted biology shed water like pavement and suffer runoff after short rains, crop stress after long ones, and expensive inputs wash away. Fields with healthy soil hold water and nutrients like a savings account.

Healthy soil doesn’t just grow crops. It stores water like capital.

When soil goes into water bankruptcy, everything downstream—literally and financially—follows. Sophisticated operators and investors are already acting on this.

2. “Sustainability” put on a suit and joined the risk committee

The S-word—a four-letter word to some today—certainly appeared on fewer badges and panel titles than in years past, but it hadn’t disappeared.

It had matured.

Executives spoke less about targets and more about continuity, insurability, weather exposure, and what nature is doing to their cost of capital. When lenders widen spreads and insurers walk away, philosophy turns into math.

Several executives noted that the center of gravity is shifting from reporting impacts to engineering around them. Carbon, water, and land constraints are no longer handled by ESG teams after the fact; they are showing up upstream in plant location decisions, supplier selection, product architecture, and long-term capital planning.

Nature-related risk is following the same arc cyber risk did: first ignored, then modeled, eventually priced, and now unavoidable.

Data is driving much of this evolution. Now that these impacts can be measured—along with their financial consequences—bankable transitions are becoming more common than public commitments. Banks, insurers, private equity firms, and sovereign funds are embedding water stress, soil degradation, energy reliability, and political volatility directly into underwriting and valuation models.

My finance friends discuss volatility the way my farmer friends talk about weather: inevitable, inconvenient, and obviously someone else’s fault.

Volatility is no longer the exception. It’s the business model.

3. Soil is being recognized as financial infrastructure

This one felt personal—and, of course, a little self-serving.

Across sessions on food security, climate adaptation, economic development, global water impact, and more, soil kept reappearing—not as dirt to expense annually, but as a productive system to capitalize.

Agricultural land has been treated like a rental car far too often, with similar depreciating results. We are entering a time when growers, bankers, companies, and countries will see soil as a factory-like asset—a system that requires investment, maintenance, and disciplined management to keep producing:

a yield stabilizer
a water regulator
a carbon storage system
a rural economic engine
a volatility buffer
an input-efficiency indicator

If roads move goods and fiber moves data, soil moves food, water, carbon, and stability. Neglect it, and you don’t just lose crops. You lose optionality.

Growers, companies, and countries can neglect soil health season after season (many always have). Data is now showing that those who do pay a price for that choice that spans decades.

Tim during a panel at Newsweek speaking on “Higher Yields, Lower Impact: Farming for More with Less”.

4. Agriculture, for better and worse, at the forefront of geopolitics

Food systems used to sit politely in the background of global strategy.

Not anymore.

At Davos, agriculture was discussed the way energy has been in the past: as national security infrastructure. Tariffs. Export controls. Fertilizer supply chains. Diesel costs. Sanctions. Climate migration. Strategic grain reserves. For multinational companies, this means sourcing, investment, and market entry are becoming political decisions, not just economic ones.

Efficiency now has to include resilience. Optimization must address redundancy. Cheapest is giving way to what is most reliable.

Two deeper shifts are underway.

First, data and biology are becoming strategic assets. Seed genetics, soil data, yield models, and biological inputs are now discussed in the same terms as rare earths and energy reserves. Who controls the data layer of food production—and who owns the underlying biology—will shape trade leverage in the way ports or pipelines do.

Agriculture is becoming geopolitical leverage.

Second, food security is quietly reshaping alliances. Several conversations hinted that future trade blocs may form less around ideology and more around protein, calories, water, and fertilizer access. Nations with reliable surplus production and resilient soils will carry disproportionate diplomatic influence. Those without it will face constraints no amount of monetary policy can solve.

The next decade of agriculture will be shaped as much by diplomacy as by agronomy.

5. Carbon is ready for a financial-markets methodology

For years, carbon markets were built like academic projects: scientifically rigorous, carefully bounded, and structurally small. That made them credible. It did not make them functional at scale.

What I heard shifting in Davos was not enthusiasm, but intent.

Executives, financiers, and policymakers spoke about carbon less as a moral instrument and more as a missing piece of market plumbing—something that needs liquidity, standards, risk models, contract structures, clearing mechanisms, and price discovery.

Several global market makers described how financial methodologies are being redesigned to accommodate institutional capital, long-duration offtake agreements, and sovereign participation. One leader put it plainly: “The drought of market creativity in carbon is ending.”

Carbon is being pulled into the same framework as energy, metals, and agriculture—not because it is fashionable, but because companies and countries now need it to manage three converging pressures:

regulatory compliance
supply-chain resilience
land and water security

Soil-based sequestration sits at the intersection of all three, which explains why it kept surfacing not only in climate sessions, but also in conversations about food security, trade exposure, and national planning.

The voluntary phase is ending, and with the growing depth of data to drive it, the infrastructure phase has begun. What follows is less romantic, but far more consequential: pricing models, counterparty risk, insurance treatment, accounting standards, and integration into procurement strategies.

One investor joked they will soon be recruiting soil scientists the way they once recruited software engineers. I don’t think they were joking.

The quiet opportunity learned from the very loud party

For all the talk of risk, Davos wasn’t pessimistic.

It was, however, pragmatic.

It was meaningful and fascinating to sit with leaders who have spent decades navigating booms and crises, bubbles and resets. By the end of the week, most shared the same posture: bullish on resilience, bearish on sleep.

The common thread wasn’t climate. Or technology. Or geopolitics.

It was that resilience is being redefined as a financial strategy.

The next generation of winning companies and nations will be the ones that:

treat natural systems as productive long-term assets, not annualized expenses
actively design for volatility advantage instead of assuming passive stability at the supply-chain, corporate, and national levels
understand that soil, water, data, and trust will compete on reliability as much as they will on price

Not because any of this sounds virtuous.

Rather, because it pencils.

At Holganix, we see clearly this convergence of soil, data, water, and finance daily. Davos simply confirmed that it’s now global.

Until next year, Davos!

What We Learned at Farmcon 2026

rpatel@holganix.com (Ritu Patel) — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:34:05 GMT

FARMCON 2026 once again proved why this event has become a must-attend for people shaping the future of agriculture. Hosted by the Van Trump family, FARMCON isn’t just a conference. It’s a collision of business strategy, culture, and real-world farm experience. It’s where hard conversations happen, bold ideas surface, and the ag industry takes a hard look at where it’s headed next.

With farmers, founders, executives, and innovators all in one room, the energy was high, and the takeaways were clear. Below are some of the biggest themes we walked away with. These ideas challenge how we lead, how we tell our story, and how we show up every day in agriculture.

1. Authenticity Always Wins

One of the strongest messages from the week came from Erika Ayers Badan, CEO of Food52, and it was refreshingly simple: authenticity isn’t optional. It’s everything.

If you’re not who you say you are, or not what you appear to be, people eventually notice. And when they do, trust erodes fast. Erika laid out a few principles that hit home for a lot of us:

Love your customers genuinely.

Super-serve them and their teams on their timeline and in the places they live.

Be spontaneous and consistent.

Stop pretending to be perfect.

Don’t apologize for what you’re not.

Build for who you actually are, not who you think you should be.

The bottom line? Authenticity has to be 24/7. In a world where people are constantly marketed to, the brands and leaders who win are the ones who show up real, human, and honest every single time.

2. Building and Scaling Businesses in Agriculture

One of the most meaningful moments of FARMCON came during the Building and Scaling Businesses in Agriculture panel.

Jordan Van Trump, founder of AgSwag, shared a reflection that resonated deeply. What he has built isn’t just a swag company. It is a business centered on celebrating the American farmer. Just as importantly, it is something he built with his family. That reminder that success does not have to come at the expense of values or relationships landed hard.

The conversation naturally expanded into the importance of culture and core values. Barrett Ersek shared a candid moment from his own leadership journey, explaining that just 14 months ago, his leadership team could not clearly articulate the company’s core values. That realization forced a reset, and that is okay. What matters is not ignoring the problem. By facing it head-on, realignment happened, and today those values are actively lived out, not just written down.

Check out this 14-minute video by Holganix CEO Barrett Ersek on flow, leadership, and building a values-driven culture. Reading this blog via email, click here for the video link.

Cam Camfield, CEO of Stratovation Group, added another powerful layer to the discussion by making the case that farmers need to do more to market themselves and tell their story. He emphasized the hard, heroic work that often goes unseen. Barrett built on this by sharing his “Bloody Billionaire” story, illustrating that people outside of agriculture are craving authentic farmer stories. They want something real, not polished perfection.

Culture, values, and storytelling were not side topics this year. They were front and center.

3. The Farmer Is the Hero

This theme kept surfacing across sessions and conversations: the farmer is the hero.

It’s something we talk about often, but FARMCON 2026 reinforced how important it is and how aligned the industry is becoming around this idea. Any opportunity to put farmers in front of people and let them tell their story should be taken.

That doesn’t mean farmers have to do it alone. Ag companies play a critical role as connection points by helping amplify those stories, creating platforms, and serving as bridges between farmers and audiences who need to hear what agriculture is really about. Whether through video, social content, events, or partnerships, telling the farmer’s story authentically matters more than ever.

Conclusion: Be Real. Build with Purpose. Tell the Story.

If FARMCON 2026 made one thing clear, it’s that success in agriculture today goes beyond yields, technology, or scale. Authenticity, culture, values, and storytelling are no longer optional; they are essential.

The ag industry doesn’t need to pretend to be something it’s not. The real stories, real people, and real work happening every day on farms across the country are powerful enough on their own. When we lead with honesty and put farmers at the center, people listen.

And that’s where real impact begins.

Soil As Infrastructure: How the Real Asset Beneath Our Feet Is Being Repriced

tweaver@Holganix.com (Tim Weaver) — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:02:54 GMT

With the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos approaching, many of the conversations shaping global markets are shifting—from ambition to execution, and from narrative to performance.

From his position working at the intersection of agriculture, environmental markets, and global supply chains, Tim Weaver has a front-row seat to how those shifts are playing out on the ground—and in capital markets. What he sees is a growing recognition that food security, water risk, and climate resilience are no longer peripheral sustainability concerns. They are economic fundamentals, increasingly tied to inflation, fiscal stability, insurance exposure, and geopolitical risk.

Soil As Infrastructure: How the Real Asset Beneath Our Feet Is Being Repriced

For some, the global sustainability conversation has entered a different phase.

What began as frameworks, pledges, and disclosure regimes is now being tested by markets, geopolitics, and systems stress. Food security, water scarcity, and climate resilience are no longer just side conversations for ESG panels. For many global corporations, governments, and their financial backers, these dynamics have become economic fundamentals – with direct implications for inflation, fiscal stability, supply chains, and political risk.

At the center of it all sits the asset we still struggle to describe correctly:

Soil.

Not as sentiment.
Not as symbolism.
But as infrastructure.

From Output to Reliability

When one opens up the aperture, food security today is more than a measure of how much we can grow in a good year. It’s increasingly about whether systems perform when conditions deteriorate. Volatility across weather, inputs, and geopolitics has turned yield variability into price shocks, insurance losses, and political pressure.

From a financial perspective, degraded soils shorten the productive life of land and amplify downside risk. Functional soils do the opposite: they stabilize output, reduce dependency on inputs, and extend asset durability. Markets are increasingly recognizing the differences. As a result, governments and corporations are beginning to price soil performance, quietly and unevenly for now, but with growing intent and consequences.

This isn’t ideology presented in the chords of a folk song. It’s system performance.

Water Is the Constraint Everyone Knows Yet Few Can Hedge

Water is one of the least diversifiable risks in the global economy. It’s local, immobile, and increasingly constrained.

Farmers understand this intuitively. Too much, too little, or at the wrong time can collapse the economics of a season—and sometimes a community.

Corporations are catching up. Water has moved from a sustainability disclosure to a sourcing risk and, increasingly, a cost-of-capital issue much like energy once did. The difference is that energy can be hedged. Water, however, cannot be shipped in. Dry basins don’t respond to spreadsheets.

Governments already live downstream of this reality. Water scarcity sits upstream of food prices, insurance losses, infrastructure strain, and political instability. It is non-fungible and unforgiving.

What has been known to science, and is now becoming clear to the markets, is that water performance depends on soil performance. Biologically functional soils absorb rainfall, store it, and release it predictably. Healthy soil offers a scaled solution to groundwater issues that continue to mount. Degraded soils convert precipitation into runoff, erosion, and loss, in places also pulling from that limited resource of water in our aquifers.

As water risk moves from narrative to underwriting through insurance, credit, and sourcing decisions, soil function becomes a first-order variable.

Climate Resilience Is Built, Not Offset

Resilience doesn’t scale through abstractions or algorithms. It scales through systems that behave better under variability. Working at the intersection of growers, global supply chains, and environmental markets through Holganix, I see this play out daily.

Soils with structure, biology, and carbon depth moderate extremes. They absorb heavy rainfall, retain moisture through drought, and maintain productivity through disruption. These characteristics translate directly into reduced volatility, improved reliability and longer asset life.

This is a pattern familiar to infrastructure policy, development, and financing, a pattern with predictable outcomes.

Environmental Assets Are Entering the Capital Markets

For years, environmental assets were shaped by committees and groups that were thoughtful, principled, and often theoretical. The result was constrictive standards without liquidity and credits often unprotected by market scale that suffered from both lack of confidence and well-meaning attacks.

That phase of this market’s development is transitioning into something more tangible. Carbon, water performance, nutrient efficiency, and resilience are evolving from abstractions into commodities—and in some cases, financial instruments. And once finance holds the pen, the questions become familiar:

Is the asset measurable and repeatable?
Does it perform adequately under scrutiny?
Can it be produced at scale?
Will capital trust it through cycles?

Markets don’t scale on intent. They scale on performance.

A Reframing for Davos

Historically, infrastructure meant roads, ports, and power grids. In a world defined by volatility and supply-chain challenges and advantages, soil belongs on that list.

Healthy soil infrastructure underpins food systems, water availability, and climate resilience simultaneously. When it degrades, risks compound. When it performs, systems stabilize and thrive—economically, environmentally, and politically.

This reframes soil from an agricultural ingredient into a strategic asset—one with direct implications for national stability, fiscal exposure, and long-term growth.

As leaders gather in Davos, the question is no longer whether these fundamentals matter. It is which political and financial leaders have already begun treating soil systems with the seriousness applied to any other critical infrastructure.

Academic frameworks opened the door.
Markets are now walking through it.

Like all financial, political, and even biological systems, performance will decide what grows and flourishes once through the door and into the arena.

How Carbon Gets Dirty: The Science of Moving Carbon From Air to Soil

lmarsh@holganix.com (Lauren Marsh) — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Carbon Isn’t Just A Climate Challenge

Carbon isn’t just a climate challenge, it’s a molecule that moves through air, plants, soil, oceans, and living organisms as part of a much larger global cycle. It’s constantly on the move, shifting between different parts of the Earth system. What has changed in recent history is not the carbon cycle itself, but the pace and volume of carbon entering the atmosphere.

In this blog, we explore how carbon travels from atmosphere to acre — how it moves, how plants capture it, and why healthy soils are one of the most practical places to store it. Think of it as a closer look at how carbon “gets dirty”: how it moves underground where it can do the most good.

How Carbon Enters The Atmosphere

For most of human history, natural carbon inputs and outputs were roughly in balance. But human activities have shifted that equilibrium through a number of ways such as:

Burning fossil fuels releasing carbon that was stored underground for millions of years.
Land conversion exposing carbon-rich soils to oxygen, causing rapid CO₂ release.
Intensive tillage accelerating microbial respiration and carbon loss.
Soil degradation reducing the land’s ability to reabsorb and store carbon.

Carbon is always in flux. CO₂ is released through a number of processes in nature such as respiration (animals, plants, microbes etc. “breath out”) and decomposition (organic matter breaks down). At the same time, plants are pulling CO₂ out of the atmosphere via photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis: Nature’s Carbon Capture Technology

Plants take in CO₂ through tiny pores on their leaves called stomata. Once inside the leaf, that CO₂ is converted into sugars using sunlight. These sugars become the building blocks for everything the plant grows — leaves, stems, grain, roots — and the fuel the plant uses to live.

But plants are not just capturing carbon; they are also releasing it. Plants respire, and microbes (and soil organisms) break down organic matter as they use energy. So at any moment, carbon is moving both into and out of the living soil system.

Whether an ecosystem acts as a carbon sink or a carbon source depends on which process is winning:

If photosynthesis brings in more CO₂ than plants and microbes respire, the system is a sink (net carbon gain).
If respiration exceeds photosynthesis, it becomes a source (net carbon loss).

This balance is called net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and it’s defined from the atmosphere’s point of view. A negative NEE means that more carbon is being stored in biomass and soil than in the atmosphere. That is what we aim for in regenerative systems: more carbon building the plant and soil than being respired back into the air.

When conditions are right — healthy plants, sunlight, moisture, thriving microbes — more carbon moves into biomass than out. This sets up the entire pathway for carbon to enter the soil. The total carbon captured through photosynthesis is called gross primary productivity (GPP); after plants use some for respiration, the carbon left for biomass growth and soil inputs is net primary productivity (NPP). When NPP is high, more carbon is available to enter the soil through roots, residues, and microbial transformation—laying the foundation for long-term soil carbon storage. One of the main pathways for that carbon to reach the soil is through root exudates.

Root Exudates: The Underground Carbon Highway

Once plants create sugars, they don’t keep all of them. A surprising amount — sometimes up to 40%— is pushed out through the roots into the soil as root exudates. These are liquid carbon compounds that act like food for soil microbes.

As microbes consume these compounds, they “breathe” too, releasing CO₂ through microbial respiration. The more active the microbial community, the more respiration you see — but this isn’t a bad thing. It means the system is alive, cycling nutrients, and building soil structure. The key is timing: as long as the plant is capturing more carbon than the microbes release, the ecosystem remains a net sink.

Root exudates do more than feed microbes. They help:

Form soil aggregates
Improve soil porosity and bulk density
Strengthen nutrient cycling
Increase water retention
Create microhabitats where carbon can be protected from rapid breakdown

This constant exchange — photosynthesis bringing carbon in, root exudates transferring carbon below ground, and microbes transforming it — is how carbon begins its journey into Soil Organic Carbon (SOC).

Soil Organic Carbon: Where Carbon Actually Gets Stored

By the time carbon reaches the soil, it has already moved through several steps — captured by plants, cycled through roots, and transformed by microbes. What stays behind becomes Soil Organic Carbon (SOC).

We go deeper into SOC and bulk density in our last blog, but here’s the simple version: healthy, well-structured soils create the spaces where carbon can settle in and remain. When soils have strong aggregates and good bulk density, they hold water better, support thriving microbial communities, and physically protect carbon from breaking down too quickly.

This is why soil health matters so much. The better the soil structure, the easier it is for carbon to enter, stay longer, and eventually become part of the stable carbon pool. Regenerative practices and microbial inputs help build these conditions, allowing more carbon to move from the atmosphere into the soil where it can do the most good.

A Living System In Balance

Carbon never stops moving. It cycles between atmosphere, plant, and soil in a constant exchange, one that is microbially mediated and deeply dependent on soil health. When soils are degraded, the cycle breaks down because stressed plants capture and absorb less CO₂ through photosynthesis, while microbes may continue releasing it through respiration. But when soils are thriving, the system becomes balanced again: plants capture more carbon, soil stores more carbon, and ecosystems become more resilient.

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Holganix Case Study: Stance Capital

lpost@holganix.com (Liz Post) — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 14:36:49 GMT

How Stance Capital and HGX are redefining what it means to invest in a low-carbon, high-impact future.

Driving Measurable Impact Through Sustainable Investment

Stance Capital believes that investment should be a force for good - a driver of measurable change as well as financial return. Through its collaboration with Holganix’s environmental asset platform, HGX, Stance is demonstrating that the future of finance lies in connecting portfolios directly to regenerative outcomes on the ground.

Investing Beyond Paper Decarbonization

As investors seek to align portfolios with climate goals, many face a fundamental gap: the difference between paper decarbonization and real-world impact. Stance Capital wanted to go further - to neutralize its portfolio’s footprint through verified carbon removals, while creating tangible co-benefits for U.S. farmers and rural economies.

A Partnership Rooted in Regeneration

Stance Sustainable Beta ETF (CHGX), an index-tracking, 100-position, equal-weight, and fossil-free strategy, was built to challenge convention. Unlike traditional market-cap-weighted approaches, it offers concentration risk protection while targeting companies that drive both performance and purpose. To extend that purpose beyond the markets, Stance partnered with HGX - Holganix’s platform for verified environmental assets - to link its sustainability goals with measurable agricultural outcomes.

Turning Strategy into Soil Impact

Through HGX, Stance purchased verified, high-quality carbon removals generated by regenerative practices on U.S. farmland. Each credit reflects not only a tonne of carbon sequestered but also improved soil health, water retention, and farmer income - all verified and traceable to specific regions tied to Stance’s core investment footprint.

Key Highlights

Verified, high-quality carbon assets sourced directly from U.S. farmland
• Traceable removals with regional and social relevance
• Localized social impact via new income streams for real farmers
• Brand-ready narrative connecting portfolio performance to measurable outcomes

Partner Perspective

"Partnering with HGX has been a win-win: we gained high-quality, verifiable carbon removals we can trust, while supporting farmers and rural communities where we invest." 

— Bill Davis, Founder & Portfolio Manager, Stance Capital

Real Impact, Growing Together

This partnership is more than a financial alignment - it’s a story of connection. By linking investment capital to living soil, Stance is proving that sustainability and performance don’t have to exist in separate worlds. Each acre supported through HGX strengthens not just the land, but the communities that depend on it.

As Stance continues to grow its Sustainable Beta strategy, partnerships like this one show what’s possible when capital is rooted in regeneration: stronger farms, resilient ecosystems, and a financial system that measures impact in more than returns.

Interested in learning how investment can grow climate resilience?

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To learn more about Stance Capital, click here: https://stancefunds.com/contact

A Season of Gratitude from Barrett Ersek, CEO Holganix, Inc.

bersek@holganix.com (Barrett Ersek) — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 13:45:00 GMT

This Thanksgiving, I’m reminded once again why gratitude is one of my favorite Holganix core values. It’s not happiness that brings gratitude—it’s gratitude that brings happiness. And this year, I’m feeling especially grateful.

At Holganix, we’re more than a company. We’re a family. We are a community rooted in agriculture, stewardship, innovation, and the belief that healthier soil creates a healthier world. None of that happens without the people who walk alongside us.

Gratitude For Our Community Of Growers, Teammates, And Partners

This season gives us a chance to pause, reflect, and appreciate the blessings we’ve received. At Holganix, we are deeply grateful for our incredible community—our teammates, growers, partners — each of whom plays a role in driving our mission forward.

Every achievement this year is a direct result of your contribution.

A Heartfelt Thank You

Thank you for your trust, collaboration, and ongoing support. As a company dedicated to improving soil health, we know that the foundation of our work is built on individuals like you. Your commitment to better farming practices not only strengthens the land – it helps secure the future of agriculture for generations to come.

From The Holganix Team – A Gratitude Montage

Our team put together this short video filled with messages of gratitude for the growers, partners, and teammates who make Holganix special. We hope it brings a smile to your face and reminds you how appreciated you are. If you’re viewing this via email, click here to watch the video.

As You Gather This Season

In this season of gratitude, I encourage everyone to take a moment to reflect on what they are grateful for. At my Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll be expressing my gratitude for all of you—our Holganix family.

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving! May your homes be full, your hearts be peaceful, and your soil be healthy.

With Gratitude,

Barrett Ersek

CEO & Founder, Holganix, Inc.