Collaborating with Bunge to Advance Agriculture

Established in 2023, the partnership between Bunge and Nutrien has made progress in promoting farm management solutions among U.S. farmers. This strategic alliance aims to expand sustainable agricultureᶦ practices across shared supply chains in North America.

As part of this alliance, Nutrien provides farmers with crop consulting services, custom applications of fertility and chemistry, analytical testing of soil, water, and tissue, as well as traceability and data collection through the proprietary digital platform, Agrible. Bunge, a world leader in oilseed processing and a major producer of specialty plant-based oils and fats, then contracts with those farmers to manage harvest and post-harvest commercialization. The initial focus of the program was on soybeans grown near Bunge's crushing facilities in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Decatur, Indiana. Farm management solutions include conservation practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, nutrient management, and crop rotation diversification.

Justin McAllister, Regenerative Agriculture Lead with Bunge, reflected on the progress made since the initiative's inception on Nutrien’s FARMSMART Podcast. "We’ve released this program at two of our locations and had a great mix of growers engaged," he said.

Dr. Sally Flis, Director, Nutrien Sustainable Ag Programs, emphasized the importance of measuring the impact of conservation practices. "If we can't show what a grower has done and what the practice changes that they're making is, we can't measure that impact," she stated. The good news for farmers is that there are various pathways Nutrien Ag Solutions offers to help growers with data collection, ensuring they have data available to help make informed decisions.

The program's success continues, with a growing number of farmers showing interest in participating. Dusty Weis, FARMSMART podcast host, noted, "The fastest way to get people to adopt new changes is to get their neighbors to adopt the new changes. As folks are out there participating in this program, seeing the benefits from it, seeing the revenue from it.”

As the partnership continues to grow, Bunge and Nutrien are targeting more acres this year and have expanded the program to include three more facilities in the Eastern Corn Belt and additional crops, such as corn and wheat.

"The exciting thing about working at Nutrien Ag Solutions is that we get to work for our growers everyday with innovative ways to increase return on their agronomic investments. Our partnership with Bunge provides us an opportunity to reward them for the conservation practices they currently run on their operations as well as incentivize them for adopting new practices. It is rewarding when we can build a crop plan that directly led to a solution with value added revenue streams to their operations. At the location level, we have been able to build stronger business relationships with our customers by providing these solutions that tie back into the agronomic needs of our grower customers,” says Nick Sommers, Nutrien Precision Ag Specialist, Central Indiana Division.

This initiative is another example of Nutrien’s support for our farmer customers who are at the center of everything we do. We continue to leverage our partnerships and influence in the industry to help develop farm management solutions that aim to increase productivity, profitability and environmental stewardship.

To listen to the full FARMSMART Podcast episode 54 about the Nutrien and Bunge partnership: https://nutrienagsolutions.com/blog/farmsmart-podcast-episode-54