-Mars-owned natural pet food brand NUTRO™ awards $300,000 in Soil Growth Grants - part of its -GREATER GROUND™ initiative - to support farmers with the costs associated with the adoption of healthy soil practices. -The GREATER GROUND™ initiative has trained 108 farmers in the NUTRO supply network on healthy soil practices since its launch on World Soil Day 2022.

Natural pet food brand NUTRO™, proudly part of the Mars family of brands, is announcing the recipients of this year's Soil Growth Grants totaling $300,000. As part of the GREATER GROUND™ initiative, Soil Growth Grants help select farmers within the NUTRO™ supply network with the transition costs needed to implement healthy soil practices.

The 2024 recipients are Megan Bishop of Bishop Farms, Trey Hill of Harborview Farms, and Tyler Zimmerman of Zimmerman Farms. All grant recipients will use their funds to purchase equipment and/or cover crop seed that will help them implement healthy soil practices on their farms.

Bishop Farms: Bishop will use her grant to fund the purchase of cover crop seed and a broadcast spreader - a versatile tool that can distribute cover crop seeds into current crops or after the harvest of the cash crop. By integrating cover crops, Bishop is supporting soil health, including the ability of the soil to help absorb and retain carbon.
Harborview Farms: Hill plans to purchase a 60-foot roller crimper to help manage cover crop residue, which when left on the field, can help suppress weeds, conserve moisture, and in turn, help improve soil structure. Hill is an advocate for soil health, using his farm to demonstrate ways to successfully introduce cover crops.
Zimmerman Farms: As a supporter of soil health for the past 10 years, Zimmerman will invest in a roller crimper and cover crop seed, which will allow him to scale up cover crop implementation and more efficiently terminate the cover crop and prepare the soil for subsequent crops. Zimmerman follows the cover crop with polycropping, a method of planting multiple crops together, mimicking natural ecosystems by introducing diversity into a field.
The GREATER GROUND initiative, launched by the NUTRO brand on World Soil Day in 2022, aims to raise awareness about the importance of healthy soil and encourage select farmers to adopt healthy soil practices. A $5 million commitment was made through the GREATER GROUND program to provide farmers within the NUTRO supply network with training, support and funding to help with the implementation of healthy soil practices through 2027.

Each year, the NUTRO GREATER GROUND program offers financial support through Soil Growth Grants to help selected farmers within their supply network with the transition costs needed to implement healthy soil practices. In 2023, the NUTRO brand awarded the inaugural Soil Growth Grant to Schiff Farms Inc. in the amount of $150,000. The grant funded the purchase of an inter-seeder, an innovative tool that helps plant cover crops among their cash crops, which has benefited their own operations as well as some of the neighboring farmers. Views of their animated short fable, Tail of Two Farms, launched in 2023, drove the increase of the amount of Soil Growth Grants offered in 2024 to $300,000.

NUTRO believes working with their suppliers is key to encouraging farmers to adopt healthy soil practices and are collaborating with two suppliers participating in the GREATER GROUND Soil Scholarship trainings and on-farm data collection. This effort, with Healthy Food Ingredients, LLC (HFI), a key supplier of barley for NUTRO products, and Anchor Ingredients, a strategic partner supplying some of the peas, oats, barley, and flax for NUTRO, will help us better understand the status of soil health on farms in their networks.

Additionally, the NUTRO brand partners with Understanding Ag to facilitate training and mentorship for GREATER GROUND Soil Scholarships. By the end of 2024, 108 individual farmers will have received training through the program. This year alone, 51 hours of one-on-one consultations and workshops were conducted, helping farmers to begin or continue implementing healthy soil practices in their operations.

About Megan Bishop, Bishop Farms

Megan Bishop is on a mission to promote soil health not only on her own family farm, but beyond. As a second-generation farmer in Delaware, she is responsible for planting and harvesting her family's crops and operating her own custom applicator business. Her 2024 Soil Growth Grant will fund the purchase of cover crop seed and a broadcast spreader - a versatile tool that can distribute cover crop seeds into current crops or after the harvest of the cash crop. By integrating cover crops, Bishop is supporting soil health, including the ability of the soil to help absorb and retain carbon. The broadcast spreader will allow for more efficient cover crop application, helping to scale the healthy soil practices on her own farm, as well as the farms of those who utilize her services.

About Trey Hill, Harborview Farms

Trey Hill blends his roots in traditional agriculture with a commitment to healthy soil practices. With funds from his 2024 Soil Growth Grant, he will purchase a 60-foot roller crimper to help manage cover crop residue. This residue, when left on the field, can help suppress weeds, conserve moisture, and in turn, help improve soil structure. A roller crimper is specifically designed to flatten cover crops, creating a protective layer of plant residue on the soil surface. Hill is an advocate for soil health, using his farm to demonstrate ways to successfully introduce cover crops. He is optimistic that this equipment will create lasting benefits for his farm and community.

About Tyler Zimmerman, Zimmerman Farms

Tyler Zimmerman has been supporting soil health for 10 years, sharing his expertise and resources to advance healthy soil practices across his and neighboring North Dakota farms. His 2024 Soil Growth Grant will fund the purchase of a roller crimper and cover crop seed, which will allow him to scale up cover crop implementation. He practices polycropping, a method of planting multiple crops together, mimicking natural ecosystems by introducing diversity into a field. Zimmerman also helps host field days at his farm to share soil health practices with his peers, creating a supportive community of learning for those beginning their soil health journeys.

About the NUTRO™ Brand

Pet Health is in our Nature. The NUTRO™ brand is a leading brand of natural dog and cat food products. Since 1926, NUTRO has crafted nutrient-rich food from quality ingredients that nourish pets -to support their vibrant, energetic lives. The NUTRO™ PET PLEDGE™ outlines the brand's approach to pet food, offering recipes crafted with quality ingredients sourced from trusted sources that nourishes pet wellbeing. For more information, please visit www.nutro.com.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a $50bn+ family-owned business, our diverse and expanding portfolio of leading pet care products and veterinary services support pets all around the world and our quality snacking and food products delight millions of people every day. We produce some of the world's best-loved brands including ROYAL CANIN®, PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, CESAR®, DOVE®, EXTRA®, M&M's®, SNICKERS® and BEN'S ORIGINAL™. Our international networks of pet hospitals, including BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, VCA™ and ANICURA™ span preventive, general, specialty, and emergency veterinary care, and our global veterinary diagnostics business ANTECH® offers breakthrough capabilities in pet diagnostics. The Mars Five Principles—Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom—inspire our 150,000 Associates to act every day to help create a better world for people, pets and the planet.

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.