A Rantoul-based agricultural biotechnology company is turning to nature’s own solutions to address mounting challenges facing American farmers, developing microbial products that increase soybean yields while reducing chemical dependency.
Earnest Agriculture has developed Prairie Power Soybean, a natural microbial treatment that has demonstrated consistent 6% yield increases across more than 14 states during 2023 and 2024 field trials. The product delivers an average return of $53 per acre for farmers who invest $15, combining increased yields of 4.5 bushels per acre at current market prices with nitrogen savings of approximately 20 pounds per acre.
The company’s approach differs fundamentally from conventional agricultural biologicals. Rather than using genetically modified organisms or imported microbes, Earnest’s research team discovers beneficial bacteria in native prairie lands where plants have thrived without human intervention for millennia. These naturally occurring microbes help plants grow stronger, absorb nutrients more efficiently, and resist environmental stress without genetic modification.
“Farmers don’t care about flashy tech—they care about whether it works in their soil, with their crop,” says co-founder Eddy Mejia, a military veteran and serial entrepreneur. “That’s what we built Earnest to deliver: performance backed by proof.”
The agricultural biotech company employs a data-driven platform that uses phenotyping, sequencing, and proprietary algorithms to identify optimal combinations of bacteria. This approach, which the company likens to the “Moneyball” strategy in baseball, creates powerful microbial communities designed to perform under real-world field conditions rather than relying on single bacterial strains like most biological products.
“Nature already solved the problem—we’re just decoding it,” adds Dr. Gabe Price, the company’s co-founder who spent a decade studying plant-microbe interactions. “Our job is to match the right microbes together so they help each other—and the plant—thrive.”
The timing appears strategic as farmers face escalating input costs, declining soil health, and diminishing returns from traditional chemical applications. These challenges have created growing interest in biological alternatives that can maintain or improve yields while reducing environmental impact and input expenses.
Earnest Agriculture has garnered support from established agricultural institutions including AgLaunch, IndieBioNY, and the University of Illinois, along with farmer networks throughout the Midwest. The company is now preparing to scale operations significantly, with plans to treat more than 50,000 acres with Prairie Power Soybean in 2026.
To support this expansion, the company is launching a $4 million fundraising round on August 1st, targeting closure by the first quarter of 2026. The capital will fund increased production capacity, regulatory compliance, and market expansion efforts.
The company is also extending invitations to Midwest farmers managing 1,000 or more soybean acres to trial Prairie Power Soybean on 40-acre test plots during the 2026 growing season. Additionally, Earnest Agriculture is seeking partnerships with major seed developers, agricultural retailers, and research institutions interested in incorporating its microbial platform into their product development pipelines.
With Prairie Power Corn scheduled for launch in 2026, the company is positioning itself as a serious player in the agricultural biologicals market. The combination of proven field performance, institutional backing, and a science-based approach to product development suggests that prairie-sourced microbes may offer a viable path forward for farmers seeking to balance productivity with sustainability.
As the agricultural sector continues to grapple with economic and environmental pressures, companies like Earnest Agriculture are demonstrating that solutions may lie not in laboratories but in the very soil that has sustained prairie ecosystems for thousands of years.