Braga Fresh and Agrology take home IFPA’s science and technology award

Climate tech start-up Agrology, along with grower Braga Fresh, were jointly honored with the Science and Technology Circle of Excellence Award at the International Fresh Produce Association’s recent Global Produce and Floral Show.

IFPA Chief Science Officer Max Teplitski presented the award to Eric Morgan of Braga Fresh and Charlie Dubbe of Agrology, according to a news release.

The annual honor recognizes changemakers for their contributions and accomplishments in the produce and floral industries that advance the industry through innovation, collaboration and superior leadership, the release said. Braga Fresh and Agrology received the honor for the work they did to monitor, measure and quantify soil carbon flux and soil respiration, key indicators of soil microbiome health and activity, IFPA said in the release. In the fall 2022, Braga Fresh was the first grower to install the Agrology’s Arbiter Carbon Monitoring System — a continuous soil carbon monitoring system — on its regenerative crop trials, the release said.

“A key piece of our regenerative agriculture journey has been Agrology’s systems for measuring and monitoring soil health and carbon flux,” Eric Morgan, Braga Fresh vice president of environmental science and resources, said in the release. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and the Arbiter has enabled us to measure the impact of our regenerative trials and make better-informed, data-driven decisions. It essentially closes the feedback loop between the soil and farming techniques.”

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Since installing Arbiter, Braga Fresh said it has been able to track its in-field carbon footprint and soil health, as well as drive farm management decisions and improve the environmental impact of its regenerative farming practices.

The Braga Fresh team also is implementing regenerative farming experiments, and Agrology has enabled them to measure the effect of those practices on soil health and carbon stocks in real time, which allows them to continuously iterate and improve on their regenerative program, according to the release. Agrology also monitors soil moisture, irrigation events, and a variety of other climate data points to help Braga understand what's happening in their fields, the release said.

“Braga Fresh inspires us to dig deeper into our ability to develop technology that adds value and clearly demonstrates the efficacy of regenerative farming practices,” Charlie Dubbe, head of regenerative partnerships at Agrology, said in the release. “Braga Fresh is the perfect example of what success looks like in regenerative farming and it’s an honor to be their partner in this industry award.”

In September, Braga Fresh and Agrology hosted a webinar, “The ROI of Regenerative Agriculture,” covering a variety of topics, including the return on investment in regenerative agriculture. The webinar specifically covered the practice changes and production methods Braga Fresh employs in their regenerative trials and is available to watch on YouTube.

“The soil microbiome is the future of regenerative agriculture and to be successful you have to have the right measurement tools in place,” Morgan said in the release. “It has been a big team effort with Agrology, and we are extremely optimistic about the direction it’s taking us.”