The nitrogen fertilizer the whole world runs on is made from natural gas, and it releases an enormous amount of carbon. So what if we coated "microbes" onto seeds and let them pull nitrogen out of the air to feed the roots instead? That's the promise of this era — and the reason it hasn't been as easy to pull off as everyone hoped.
Mosaic Launches Renuvis Enzara Enzyme Product After $273 Million Quarterly Loss
Mosaic Biosciences, a unit of The Mosaic Company, launched Renuvis Enzara, an enzyme-based treatment designed to speed up crop residue breakdown, on August 17, less than two weeks after Mosaic reported a second-quarter net loss of $273 million, a sharp reversal from the $411 million profit it posted in the same quarter of 2025. The product uses endoglucanase enzyme technology that works in soil as cold as 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Mosaic also trimmed its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to $1.2 billion from an earlier $1.25 billion, sold its Carlsbad, New Mexico, potash mine during the quarter, and lined up a $1 billion term loan to refinance and extend its short-term commercial paper, while keeping its regular dividend at $0.22 per share. Second-quarter revenue came in at $2.8 billion, but the company posted an operating loss of $36 million and adjusted EBITDA fell to $407 million from $566 million a year earlier, with Phosphate swinging to an operating loss of $104 million from a loss of $8 million and Mosaic Fertilizantes moving from operating earnings of $109 million to an operating loss of $41 million. Potash was the one stable segment, generating $278 million in adjusted EBITDA, essentially matching the $278 million it produced a year earlier.
Syngenta and Amoéba Sign Exclusive European Biofungicide Deal
Syngenta Crop Protection AG and Amoéba have announced an exclusive supply and distribution agreement for a next-generation biocontrol fungicide, formulation AXP20, targeting cereal diseases across the European Union, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Switzerland. The binding long-term partnership, which converts a November 2025 memorandum of understanding, covers all cereals except corn and aims to control septoria tritici blotch and yellow rust, which together affect an estimated 9 to 12 million hectares annually. First market registrations are expected in the third quarter of 2028, with initial sales in core EU markets by the end of that year for spring 2029 use. The product, based on the lysate of the amoeba Willaertia magna C2c Maky, received EU approval in 2025 and is classified under FRAC Group BM02 with low resistance risk. Amoéba's managing director, Jean-Marc Petat, called the agreement a defining milestone, noting that Syngenta's screening selected AXP20 as the highest performing biofungicide among many biological solutions.
Cibus pushes Latin America rice launch to 2028, sees $20M-$40M biofragrance opportunity
Cibus updated its Latin America rice launch timing to 2028 while outlining a potential $20 million to $40 million annual revenue opportunity from biofragrance partnerships. CEO Craig Wichner, on his first earnings call, emphasized scaling revenue and capital discipline, while CFO Carlo Broos reported cash and equivalents of $20.4 million as of June 30, 2026, sufficient into early Q1 2027. Q2 revenue was $1 million, with six-month revenue up 35% to $2.7 million, and net loss was $22.1 million, or $0.29 per share. Management expects royalties to start flowing in 2028 and build through 2029, and reiterated expectations for additional biofragrance scale-up orders in the second half of 2026.
China Resources Double-Crane to Acquire 23.50% Stake in Lier Chemical for 5.656 Billion Yuan in Cash and Gain Control
China Resources Double-Crane announced plans to acquire a combined 23.50% stake in Lier Chemical through a cash payment, with a total consideration of 5.656 billion yuan, and will gain control of Lier Chemical upon completion. Specifically, it will purchase a 20% stake from Sichuan Jiuyuan Investment Holding Group and a 3.50% stake from Sichuan Huacai Technology, at a transfer price of 30.07 yuan per share, totaling 188 million shares. Lier Chemical is the largest domestic producer of chloropyridine pesticide technicals and formulations, and also a large-scale producer of glufosinate and refined glufosinate technicals. China Resources Double-Crane has been building its presence in the biomanufacturing sector since 2022 and has stockpiled multiple synthetic biology pesticide products but lacks an industrialization platform. This acquisition can rapidly achieve the industrialization of its technology and products, building a second growth curve in synthetic biology.
Bezos Earth Fund awards $34 million to reinvent textile materials
The Bezos Earth Fund, where Lauren Sánchez Bezos serves as vice chair, announced $34 million in grants to develop breakthrough materials for the fashion and textile industry. The funding is split across four research tracks: Columbia University and the Fashion Institute of Technology will share $11.5 million to grow textile fiber from bacteria fed on agricultural waste, UC Berkeley receives $10 million for a biodegradable fiber inspired by spider silk, Clemson University gets $11 million to gene-edit cotton with built-in color and performance, and the Cotton Foundation receives $1.5 million to restore a non-GMO cotton seedbank. The announcement came days before the 2026 Met Gala, where Bezos and Sánchez Bezos served as lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs, sparking protests over worker exploitation at Amazon and accusations of image laundering. Critics also questioned the sincerity of the move given Amazon's position as the world's largest clothing retailer and its rising absolute carbon emissions, while the fund aims to drive performance up and premiums down for next-generation materials.
Cibus Welcomes Landmark EU Decision on Non-Transgenic Crop Breeding
Cibus welcomed a landmark European Union decision on June 17, 2026, under which crops improved without adding foreign DNA will be treated like conventionally bred crops rather than transgenic GMOs. The new rules distinguish between transgenic GMOs and the precise, non-transgenic improvements Cibus makes to a plant's own genes, opening a path for European farmers to grow cleaner crops more productively with fewer chemicals. President and COO Peter Beetham said the EU completed a science-based review and recognized that crops with changes that could occur in nature or through traditional breeding should be regulated accordingly. Cibus also announced leadership changes on June 9, appointing board member Craig Wichner as CEO, while Beetham continues as President and COO.