Trials have shown a greater than 12 percent average improvement in yield

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Cool Planet announced the successful completion of its 100th quantifiable, independent trial of Cool Terra, the company's flagship soil health product. The trial was conducted by the University of Florida on bell peppers, and it marks the 100th time the company has conducted a randomized yield improvement test of Cool Terra on specific crops with an independent university or researcher.

"Today marks an exciting milestone for Cool Terra as it becomes the most studied biochar-based soil amendment on the market," said Jim Loar, CEO of Cool Planet. "In agriculture, you never get done conducting trials, but the results we have achieved over the past three seasons give growers great confidence that Cool Terra can deliver for them."

The 100th study was conducted by Josh Freeman, associate professor of horticulture at the University of Florida. He studied the growth rates of bell peppers under different Cool Terra application rates and found clear trends. Overall marketable yields improved substantially, by 12 percent, compared to the grower standard, especially in the most valuable class size of peppers.

"Cool Planet has made a commitment to research that is both impressive and rare for companies in the agriculture industry. They are putting real numbers and science behind their products and that should give farmers confidence," said Associate Professor Freeman. "The results of our bell pepper study were promising with clear improvement in yields at a low application rate. Because Cool Terra is an organic matter, this improvement in yield comes with the additional benefits of greater nutrient holding capacity, greater water holding capacity, and greater abundance of microbials."

The 100 Cool Terra field trials have taken place over the last three growing seasons and have been conducted on over 40 different crops in a variety of regions. The trials have shown that Cool Terra delivers, on average, a 12.3 percent improvement in marketable yield when compared to the grower standard while generating a 3:1 grower return on investment.

Cool Planet has developed a trial program with the goal of establishing the efficacy of Cool Terra and creating the gold standard for trial programs in the agriculture industry. The company has partnered with over 50 independent third-party university or agricultural researchers to conduct studies on a wide variety of crops in a diverse array of growing regions. The program utilizes standard design methods for all of its trials, including randomized complete block and replicated design where fields or orchards are divided into units to account for soil variations.

"I appreciate how the company has shown a commitment to conducting independent research to evaluate the effectiveness of Cool Terra for farmers," said Tim Coolong, associate professor of vegetable production at University of Georgia. "In the trial we conducted with Cool Terra, we saw numerical increases in yields compared to the control. Cool Terra shows a lot of promise and could be a good way for growers to incorporate carbon into soils with low organic matter."

Cool Terra Organic is the company's premiere Engineered Biocarbon™ technology product. When used in soil-plant systems, Engineered Biocarbon™ technology works to support soil vitality and add value in specialty and commodity crop farming, turf and lawn care, tree transplanting, nursery and ornamental operations, green roofing, and LEED / SITES certification projects. Cool Terra Organic is available for sale through Cool Planet's extensive distribution network.

About Cool Planet
Cool Planet is an agriculture technology company that develops and markets Engineered Biocarbon™ technology products for soil health. The company's first commercial product line is Cool Terra®, an award-winning soil amendment, which works to unlock key soil performance characteristics for greater plant growth and quality. Cool Terra® is also carbon negative. Over 100 independent, 3rd party field trials have shown that Cool Terra® delivers, on average, a greater than 12% increase in yield while generating a 3:1 grower return on investment. Cool Terra® provides sustainability and profitability for agriculture, landscape, turf, nursery and ornamental markets. Cool Planet is also innovating animal nutrition, microbial, and seed germination products to address the growing global concerns of sustainability and food security. Learn more about Cool Terra® and Engineered Biocarbon™ technology at coolterra.com, on Twitter at @CoolPlanet and on Facebook at facebook.com/CoolTerraNews. Contact the company about Cool Terra at coolterra@coolplanet.com or (888) 564-9332.