CMI Orchards and Royal Family Farming marked a milestone on June 30, 2025, with the groundbreaking of The Soil Center, a pioneering agricultural sustainability operation that will transform farm and orchard waste into carbon-rich soil amendments.
The groundbreaking included a tour of Royal Family Farming, followed by a formal ceremony. The tour offered a look into the farm's operations, from livestock to waste management, and it concluded at The Soil Center's construction site, where farm byproducts will be upcycled into nutrient-rich soil amendments through practices such as vermicomposting and biochar production.
© CMI (Columbia Marketing International)
The Soil Center is a pioneering agricultural sustainability operation that will transform farm and orchard waste into carbon-rich soil amendments.
The Soil Center is projected to upcycle over 100,000 tons of manure, culled fruit, and woody waste annually. Soil amendment products include garden soil blends, compost, worm castings, biochar, and worm and compost teas. The biochar production will use three reactors to transform more than 20,000 tons of woody biomass from CMI Orchards into biochar annually, sequestering an estimated 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the soil for hundreds to thousands of years.
Upcycled soil products from The Soil Center are designed to support healthy, robust crop production by enhancing soil structure, water retention, and nutrient availability, while cutting down on gas emissions from the soil. The products also reduce the need for synthetic soil additives, which lowers the cost of operations for growers.
"The Soil Center is more than a regenerative project. It's a blueprint for the future of farming and a legacy we're proud to build," said Bob Mast, president of CMI. "At the same time, we're offering our customers the ability to purchase verified carbon insets and reduce emissions within their supply chains. This isn't just about checking a sustainability box. It's about growing the first proven carbon-negative apples, pears, and cherries, and helping our customers tell a story of real impact that today's shoppers deeply care about."
© CMI (Columbia Marketing International)
CMI says The Soil Center is a blueprint for the future of farming.
The Soil Center is actively pursuing Direct Environmental Benefits (DEB) status through the Washington State Cap and Invest program, aiming to quantify its carbon credits for verified environmental impact. The Soil Center will generate about 500,000 carbon credits annually, with plans to sell the credits as insets, empowering supply chain partners to make meaningful strides towards emissions reductions within their supply chains.
"We are humbled to stand on the shoulders of farmers that have come before us and provided a legacy of innovation and sustainability here," said Michael Hebdon, general manager of The Soil Center. "As we honor our past, we are empowered and duty-bound to pioneer a new future."
Construction will continue throughout the year, with operations slated to begin by the end of the year.
For more information:
Kaci Komstadius
CMI Orchards, LLC
Tel: (509) 888-0536
[email protected]
www.cmiorchards.com
