PhycoTerra Increases Microbial Activity, Enhances Soil for Growers

Founded in 2008, Heliae is the pioneering microalgae food and ag tech company that is 100% focused on meeting the urgent challenges of global climate threats.

“Through our unique research and development capabilities and specialized teams of experts, we are harnessing microalgae for commercial scale production of the products and solutions necessary to create sustainable, world changing impacts,” said Shelley Baugh, global marketing and communications manager for the company.

Originally founded in 2008 in Gilbert, AZ, Heliae first operated as a spin off from Arizona State University focusing in microalgae research and development. After a period of discovery and developing technologies, it successfully launched the sustainable and regenerative agriculture product line, PhycoTerra.

“PhycoTerra Organic is powered by innovative microalgae that boosts the soil microbiome naturally,” Baugh said. “The inclusion of PhycoTerra Organic into a crop production program fuels increased microbial activity that drives improved aggregation while helping the soil hold more water.”

The product is compatible with many organic fertilizers and can be applied with common agricultural equipment, including spray nozzles, drip systems, sprinklers, and flood irrigation. 

“PhycoTerra Organic strongly complements organic production systems and can help a grower derive more value from plant and animal-based fertilizer inputs,” Baugh said. “The Heliae Agriculture division is proud to produce quality microalgae products for a variety of sustainable soil solutions.”

Organic growers everywhere are facing issues maintaining their soil structure while simultaneously finding economic solutions that allow for lower input costs to increase their ROI while benefiting their yield. With that in mind, it is Heliae’s goal to provide organic growers with sustainable and regenerative soil solutions that can have an immediate impact on the soil structure and soil moisture improvement program.

“As a cost-effective solution, PhycoTerra Organic can improve profitability and soil health while promoting regenerative agriculture,” Baugh said. “Organic growers are challenged by all the problems that conventional growers face yet have fewer tools in the toolshed to deal with them.  PhycoTerra Organic is fully OMRI and CDFA certified and ready immediately to go to work on the farm.”

The benefits of PhycoTerra are greatest in the most challenging fields—those where soil organic matter is low, where abiotic stress is high, and where crops just aren’t as resilient as they should be. Baugh noted that by utilizing PhycoTerra, it will help make an average field perform more like a best-yielding field.

“Heliae is important because we can provide the tools today to impact the next 50 years of crop production,” she said. “With the global population increasing, we know that farmers need us now more than ever to produce the food that is needed. Our innovative crop technology pays dividends for both the crop as well as the soil.”

Furthermore, PhycoTerra Organic stimulates the microbes, particularly bacteria, which then acts like a glue in the soil to improve the microbial life and provide an ideal environment for nutrient entrapment and protection against environmental stresses.

“With proven success, our proprietary soil microbe food has improved the relative abundance of beneficial microbes by as much as three times,” Baugh said. “With one application of PhycoTerra, you can retain the soil that you have, improve the soil that remains, and restore the soil that you have lost. After one year with application of PhycoTerra, we have seen up to a 34% increase in almond trunk diameter.”

It has also had success in potatoes, strawberries, lettuce, leafy greens, and on more than 20 additional crops.

“We stand behind our success. At Heliae Agriculture, we want to empower the grower,” Baugh said. “If you do not see break even on your field with PhycoTerra Organic soil microbe food on your crops this season, relative to a control plot, we confidently offer to refund the price paid for our product by the grower for enrolled acres, up to the suggested retail price as a credit to the retailer.”