CMI Orchards and Royal Family Farming's joint venture, The Soil Center (TSC), is focusing on agricultural sustainability. Breaking ground later this spring, TSC was established to repurpose agricultural byproducts—from orchards, row crops, dairy, and beef operations—into carbon-rich soil amendments supporting healthy, robust crop production and reducing the need for synthetic soil additives.
© CMI (Columbia Marketing International)TSC's biochar reactors will transform more than 20,000 tons of biomass into biochar annually.
Through practices such as vermicomposting and biochar production, TSC is upcycling organic waste into agriculture products such as garden soil blends, compost, worm castings and biochar. Rochelle Bohm, vice president of marketing at CMI Orchards said the company has made a zero-burn commitment for removed tree wood, opting to process and upcycle this wood in the world's largest worm farm at Royal Family Farming in Royal City, WA. "Liquid cow waste is filtered through chipped orchard wood and converted by worms into nutrient-rich compost, closing the loop in our operations," she said.
Beginning this year, TSC will process over 100,000 tons of dairy manure, chicken manure, culled fruit, and woody waste on an annual basis. Its three biochar reactors will transform more than 20,000 tons of woody biomass into biochar annually, sequestering an estimated 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the soil for generations to come.
"The Soil Center will support a full circle carbon economy leading to essentially zero organic waste for all our owners. We plan to break ground on the Soil Center and have a full estimate on carbon credits in just a couple weeks," said Michael Hebdon, VP of regenerative agriculture at Royal Family Farming and General Manager of The Soil Center.
© CMI (Columbia Marketing International)L-R: Rochelle Bohm, Rose Vejvoda
TSC is also pursuing Direct Environmental Benefits (DEB) status through Washington's Cap and Invest program, aiming to qualify its carbon credits for verified environmental impact.
The carbon-rich soil amendments created at The Soil Center will first be supplied to the CMI grower network and eventually the larger agricultural community.
CMI Orchards and Royal Family Farming (RFF) also served as Gold Sponsors of the North America Regenerative Agriculture Summit, held March 25–27, 2025, in Chicago.
© CMI (Columbia Marketing International)The team at the North America Regenerative Agriculture Summit.
Bohm and RFF president Austin Allred led two roundtables focused on implementing regenerative practices on a commercial scale. The sessions addressed topics including consumer-driven demand for regenerative products and the development of profitable, sustainable farming models.
CMI Orchards has also added Rose Vejvoda as sustainability manager. Vejvoda brings a master's degree in Climate Science and Solutions, along with certification in Greenhouse Gas Accounting and a background in sustainability programming and reporting.
"I'm excited to contribute to a company at the forefront of regenerative agriculture and sustainability. Our goal is to regenerate the health of our planet while bringing value to growers and retail partners," said Vejvoda.
For more information:
Kaci Komstadius
CMI Orchards
kacik@cmiorchards.com
www.cmiorchards.com