Loam Bio

Loam Bio is an Australian agricultural biotechnology company that develops microbial products intended to increase the amount of stable carbon stored in cropping soils. Its lead product, CarbonBuilder, is a fungal seed inoculum applied as a dry powder at sowing; when the seed germinates, the microbes bind carbon drawn down by the plant through photosynthesis with microaggregates in the soil, favouring recalcitrant (slow-decomposing) carbon fractions rather than labile carbon. The company states the approach also improves soil structure, nutrient retention, water outcomes and crop yields. CarbonBuilder is used with FurrowMate, Loam's precision air-injection application system, across crops including wheat, barley, canola and pulses, and is distributed through agricultural retailers in Australia.

Alongside the input product, Loam runs SecondCrop, a carbon project service through which growers can register and administer soil carbon projects. Loam assists with scheme registration and administration, land management strategy, and measurement and verification, removes the upfront costs typically associated with entering carbon markets, and offers the option to train and pay a grower's existing agronomist. The company reports that its first carbon credits have been issued under the Nicholson Project.

Loam's R&D spans a microbial library of more than 2,000 unique fungal and bacterial isolates collected from natural and managed landscapes in both hemispheres, screened through a four-tiered genetic, laboratory, controlled-environment and field process. The organisms used in products are not genetically modified. The company reports academic collaborations with Western Sydney University, the University of Queensland and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.