The living fertilizer company
—
Feeding the world sustainably
The living fertilizer company
—
Feeding the world sustainably
The cHALLENGE
Fertilizer hasn’t changed in over a century—it’s costly, limits productivity, pollutes, and poses a growing national security risk. Without it, we don’t have enough food. It’s critical, not optional.
A CRITICAL NEED
Fertilizer is the bedrock of crop production, supporting food security worldwide.
national security
Supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions are driving price volatility for fertilizer-importing countries, threatening food security and highlighting the need for localized solutions.
Affordability
Fertilizer is expensive, accounting for about ⅓ of farmers’ crop input costs. Rising prices make affordable and reliable food production impossible.
Energy Demand
Fertilizer production is highly energy-intensive—nitrogen fertilizer alone uses as much energy each year as all U.S. homes combined.
Stewardship
Almost 50% of applied nitrogen fertilizer runs off fields—polluting water, degrading soil, and harming natural resources around the world.
The solution
We engineer naturally occurring microbes that produce fertilizer directly on plant roots—reducing costs, runoff, and supply chain risks by making fertilizer on the farm, where it's needed.
produce
We produce microbes and formulate them into a powder. Each ounce of powder contains billions of sleeping microbes.
Apply
Farmers rehydrate microbes to awaken them and apply at crop sowing.
Grow
Microbes first proliferate alongside germinating plants. More microbes, more nitrogen!
feed
Through a proprietary mechanism, microbes then switch on nitrogen fertilizer production.
The problem
Today we make commercial fertilizer with fossil fuels, releasing over a gigaton of CO2 equivalent emissions every year—about the same as all of the cars in the United States—along with other issues like:
our situation
Fertilizer is the foundation of global agriculture — without it we could not grow enough food to support humanity.
national security
Supply chain challenges and geopolitical conflicts put fertilizer importing countries at risk.
global inequality
Those who need it most cannot afford fertilizer, contributing to food insecurity - and prices keep rising.
Energy costs
Commercial fertilizer manufacturing runs at massive temperatures and pressures, using ~2% of global energy.
pollution
Excess fertilizer runs off into rivers, lakes, and oceans - threatening aquatic life and destroying biodiversity.
The solution
We engineer naturally occurring microbes to become sustainable fertilizer producing factories directly on the roots of plants.
produce
We produce microbes and formulate them into a powder. Each ounce of powder contains billions of sleeping microbes.
Apply
Farmers rehydrate microbes to awaken them and apply at crop sowing.
Grow
Microbes first proliferate alongside germinating plants. More microbes, more nitrogen!
feed
Through a proprietary mechanism, microbes then switch on nitrogen fertilizer production.
The Challenge
Fertilizer hasn’t changed in over a century—it’s costly, limits productivity, pollutes, and poses a growing national security risk. Without it, we don’t have enough food. It’s critical, not optional.
A CRITICAL NEED
Fertilizer is the bedrock of crop production, supporting food security worldwide.
national security
Supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions are driving price volatility for fertilizer-importing countries, threatening food security and highlighting the need for localized solutions.
Affordability
Fertilizer is expensive, accounting for about ⅓ of farmers’ crop input costs. Rising prices make affordable and reliable food production impossible.
Energy Demand
Fertilizer production is highly energy-intensive—nitrogen fertilizer alone uses as much energy each year as all U.S. homes combined.
Stewardship
Almost 50% of applied nitrogen fertilizer runs off fields—polluting water, degrading soil, and harming natural resources around the world.
The solution
We engineer naturally occurring microbes that produce fertilizer directly on plant roots—reducing costs, runoff, and supply chain risks by making fertilizer on the farm, where it's needed.
produce
We produce microbes and formulate them into a powder. Each ounce of powder contains billions of sleeping microbes.
Apply
Farmers rehydrate microbes to awaken them and apply at crop sowing.
Grow
Microbes first proliferate alongside germinating plants. More microbes, more nitrogen!
feed
Through a proprietary mechanism, microbes then switch on nitrogen fertilizer production.
The problem
Today we make commercial fertilizer with fossil fuels, releasing over a gigaton of CO2 equivalent emissions every year—about the same as all of the cars in the United States—along with other issues like:
our situation
Fertilizer is the foundation of global agriculture — without it we could not grow enough food to support humanity.
national security
Supply chain challenges and geopolitical conflicts put fertilizer importing countries at risk.
global inequality
Those who need it most cannot afford fertilizer, contributing to food insecurity - and prices keep rising.
Energy costs
Commercial fertilizer manufacturing runs at massive temperatures and pressures, using ~2% of global energy.
pollution
Excess fertilizer runs off into rivers, lakes, and oceans - threatening aquatic life and destroying biodiversity.
The solution
We engineer naturally occurring microbes to become sustainable fertilizer producing factories directly on the roots of plants.
produce
We produce microbes and formulate them into a powder. Each ounce of powder contains billions of sleeping microbes.
Apply
Farmers rehydrate microbes to awaken them and apply at crop sowing.
Grow
Microbes first proliferate alongside germinating plants. More microbes, more nitrogen!
feed
Through a proprietary mechanism, microbes then switch on nitrogen fertilizer production.
our situation
Fertilizer is the foundation of global agriculture — without it we could not grow enough food to support humanity.
The problem
Today we make commercial fertilizer with fossil fuels, releasing over a gigaton of CO2 equivalent emissions every year—about the same as all of the cars in the United States—along with other issues like:
pollution
Excess fertilizer runs off into rivers, lakes, and oceans - threatening aquatic life and destroying biodiversity.
Energy costs
Commercial fertilizer manufacturing runs at massive temperatures and pressures, using ~2% of global energy.
national security
Supply chain challenges and geopolitical conflicts put fertilizer importing countries at risk.
global inequality
Those who need it most cannot afford fertilizer, contributing to food insecurity - and prices keep rising.
The solution
We engineer naturally occurring microbes to become sustainable fertilizer producing factories directly on the roots of plants.
1.produce
We produce microbes and formulate them into a powder. Each ounce of powder contains billions of sleeping microbes.
2.Apply
Farmers rehydrate microbes to awaken them and apply at crop sowing.
3.Grow
Microbes first proliferate alongside germinating plants. More microbes, more nitrogen!
4.feed
Through a proprietary mechanism, microbes then switch on nitrogen fertilizer production.
Led by Tim Schnabel, the Switch Bioworks team is made up of almost exclusively scientists and bioengineers, all focused on the engineering grand challenge of creating a sustainable fertilizer.
Meet the team →
