Pivot Bio Highlights Farmer-Led Innovation at Climate Week NYC
Pivot Bio, a leading agricultural technology company focused on improving crop nutrition, returned to Climate Week NYC this year to highlight the role of agricultural innovation in building a more productive, resilient and resource-efficient food system. The company joined business executives, agricultural leaders, investors and climate technology experts for discussions centered on the future of farming and the technologies that can help address some of the industry’s most pressing challenges.
Chris Abbott, chief executive officer of Pivot Bio, represented the company at several Climate Week NYC events, taking part in conversations about the intersection of agriculture, biotechnology, investment and innovation. His participation focused on how scientific breakthroughs can move beyond research and development to create practical technologies that farmers can use on their operations.
On Monday, Sept. 21, Abbott spoke at the J.P. Morgan Sustainable Food Showcase at J.P. Morgan’s global headquarters in New York. The event brought together leaders from across the food and agriculture ecosystem to examine opportunities for creating a more sustainable and resilient food system.
Two days later, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, Abbott appeared on the Main Stage at The Nest Climate Campus for a session titled “From Petri Dish to Profit.” The discussion examined the journey of agricultural biotechnology from scientific discovery to commercial-scale adoption, including the importance of developing technologies that can deliver measurable value to farmers.
Using Biology to Rethink Nitrogen Fertilizer
At the center of Pivot Bio’s technology is a biological approach to crop nutrition. The company develops products designed to harness naturally occurring biological processes and deliver nitrogen directly to plant roots.
Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients required for crop production and remains an essential input for farmers around the world. Conventional synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, however, requires significant resources to manufacture and distribute. Nitrogen losses can also contribute to environmental challenges, including nitrate movement into waterways and greenhouse gas emissions.
Pivot Bio’s technology is designed to provide farmers with another option for managing crop nitrogen. By working with biological systems associated with plant roots, the company’s products are intended to help crops access nitrogen while allowing farmers to reduce their reliance on synthetic fertilizer.
According to Pivot Bio, the use of its products since 2022 has resulted in more than 130,000 metric tons of synthetic fertilizer being reduced. The company also reports that its technology has helped reduce more than 1.675 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, avoid more than 890 million gallons of manufacturing water use and prevent more than 138,000 metric tons of nitrate leaching.
The company views these outcomes as an example of how changes made at the individual farm level can contribute to broader environmental and resource-efficiency goals when adopted across large numbers of acres.
Growing Farmer Adoption
Farmer adoption has continued to be an important part of Pivot Bio’s expansion. In 2025, farmers used Pivot Bio products across millions of acres, replacing an average of 33 pounds of conventional nitrogen per acre while increasing yield, according to the company.
Across those acres, Pivot Bio estimates that its products helped reduce the use of more than 33,500 metric tons of synthetic fertilizer during the 2025 growing season. The company estimates that this reduction contributed to approximately 370,070 metric tons of CO2e emissions avoided, while also avoiding an estimated 229 million gallons of water used in fertilizer manufacturing.
The company also estimates that 35,658 metric tons of nitrate leaching were avoided across the acres where its technology was used in 2025.
Abbott said farmers play an important role in conservation because they have a direct and long-term interest in protecting their land and water resources.
“Farmers are the ultimate conservationists and care deeply about their land, water, and leaving their farms better for future generations,” Abbott said. He added that nitrogen remains one of agriculture’s most essential inputs and that technologies capable of improving fertilizer efficiency can support both farm economics and agricultural resilience.
According to Abbott, the impact begins with individual fields and can expand as more farmers adopt technologies that improve how agricultural resources are used.
Expanding the Agricultural Technology Portfolio
Pivot Bio also continued to expand its product portfolio during 2025. The company introduced four new products during the year, representing the largest number of product launches in a single year in its 15-year history.
The new offerings expanded the company’s work across crops including corn, cotton and sorghum, while also introducing additional application methods. The development reflects Pivot Bio’s effort to broaden the range of crops and farming conditions where biological nitrogen technology can be used.
For corn growers, Pivot Bio said its PROVEN® G3 product, when used alongside the company’s Best Management Practices, enabled growers to replace an average of 33 pounds of synthetic nitrogen per acre while gaining an average of 2.1 bushels per acre. The company reported overall win rates exceeding 90%.
Cotton has also become an important area of development. Across the 2024 and 2025 growing seasons, Pivot Bio said trials involving its CERT-N™ cotton technology represented more than 30,000 acres. Growers who replaced up to 20% of their synthetic nitrogen reported average lint yield increases of more than 50 pounds per acre, according to company results.
These field results are part of Pivot Bio’s broader effort to demonstrate that biological crop nutrition can provide measurable agronomic and economic benefits while supporting reductions in conventional fertilizer use.
Preparing Farmers for Fertilizer Uncertainty
Pivot Bio’s Climate Week participation comes as farmers continue to manage uncertainty surrounding fertilizer costs, availability and supply chains. Nitrogen fertilizer is closely tied to energy and manufacturing markets, making its price and availability important considerations for agricultural producers.
The company is investing in its next generation of nitrogen technology as it works to provide farmers with additional tools for managing these challenges. Pivot Bio is also expanding its domestic manufacturing and distribution capabilities while developing products and programs intended to support farmers through the 2027 growing season and beyond.
The company’s strategy reflects a broader shift within agriculture toward technologies that can complement conventional inputs rather than relying exclusively on a single approach to crop nutrition. For farmers, the objective is to maintain productivity while gaining greater flexibility in managing input costs, crop nutrition and environmental resources.
Measuring Long-Term Impact
Pivot Bio said it plans to release its 2025 global impact information in the coming weeks. The report is expected to provide additional details about the measurable effects of the company’s technology, operations and work with farmers and rural communities.
Impact measurement has become increasingly important across the agricultural technology sector as farmers, investors, food companies and other stakeholders seek evidence of how new technologies perform in real-world conditions.
For Pivot Bio, tracking reductions in synthetic fertilizer use, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and nitrate leaching provides a framework for evaluating the broader effects of biological nitrogen technology.
The company has also received recognition for its work in the climate technology and agricultural innovation sectors. Pivot Bio was named to TIME magazine’s World’s Top GreenTech Companies 2026 and America’s Best Greentech Companies lists. MIT Technology Review also recognized the company as one of 15 climate technology companies to watch.
Connecting Innovation With Agriculture’s Future
Pivot Bio’s presence at Climate Week NYC underscores the growing connection between agricultural technology and the wider climate innovation conversation. While farmers remain focused on practical issues such as crop performance, fertilizer costs and reliable production, biotechnology companies are increasingly exploring ways to address those needs while using fewer resources.
Through its biological nitrogen technology, new product development, manufacturing expansion and work with growers, Pivot Bio is seeking to demonstrate how agricultural innovation can operate at both the field and system levels.
The company’s participation in Climate Week NYC provided an opportunity to bring farmer experiences into conversations that often focus on climate technology, investment and scientific innovation. For Pivot Bio, the broader objective is to show how technologies developed through biotechnology can move from the laboratory to commercial agriculture and deliver measurable outcomes at scale.
As the agricultural sector prepares for future growing seasons, nitrogen management is likely to remain an important consideration for farmers seeking to balance productivity, profitability, input security and resource efficiency. Pivot Bio’s continued investment in biological crop nutrition represents one approach to that challenge, with the company aiming to expand farmer access to technologies that can complement traditional fertilizer programs while supporting the long-term resilience of agricultural production.
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