News and Blog

At Soil Steam, our focus is on one thing: soil health.

We believe in a better way to keep soil healthy. We know that if we can restore health to our soils, we are restoring our soils to health.

In just 20 years, Soil Steam International has evolved: from a hobby project devised to satisfy the curiosity of three Norwegian farmers, into the professional technology company it is today.

A small Norwegian company we may be, but we know we can make the world a better place.

Share in our progress through our news releases and blogs.

Posts

07/06/2022, Agricultural Post

Food safety

At Soil Steam International, we replace herbicides and pesticides with pure steam, distributing that steam in the soil to reduce weeds, pests and fungus by 95–100%. The farmer can then grow their fruits, vegetables or berries free of problems related to weeds and soil-borne pests and diseases. Herbicides and most pesticides are no longer necessary,

17/02/2022, Agricultural Post

What happens when we steam the soil?

A lot of different organisms live in the soil – everything from single-celled animals and microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, to nematodes, arachnids, earthworms and insects. A multitude of organisms in the soil live in symbiosis, meaning they are interdependent. In untouched soil, there is a whole community of organisms that depend on

24/01/2022, Agricultural Post

Soil Steam goes to Spain

When winter came to Norway, we travelled to warmer regions. We loaded our machine onto a truck and drove to Spain. There, we steamed soil for several customers, testing different locations, areas, soil types and produce. We spent one day steaming each location so we could test as much as possible – both for our

23/12/2021, Hans Kristian Westrum

2021 – a summary

2021 has been an incredible year. Our company has grown by more than 100%, and our team now comprises 16 people, with three more members of staff set to join us at the beginning of next year. Soil must be treated carefully; too much has already been destroyed. 95% of the food we eat comes

05/12/2021, Agricultural Post

World Soil Day 2021

Do you know what day it is today, the 5th December ? Yes, it is the second Sunday in advent, but it is also World Soil Day. World Soil Day is held on 5th December each year to draw attention to the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil

04/11/2021, Agricultural Post

Soil – a valuable asset

Maybe you had to read that sentence twice? It sounds dramatic, but the truth is that, if the world continues to waste soil at the same pace as in the last 50 years, scientists believe that we will completely run out of soil. In only 60 years. Ten years from now – although hopefully earlier

30/09/2021, Tobias Glemming

2021 – So far

After 4 months in our new offices in Sandefjord, daily routines have begun to settle down. The coffee machine is diligently used, and our meeting rooms are named in line with our industry – Sanden and Silten, two soil types! It feels also good to have our own 400 m2 workshop downstairs in order to build, test and modify our

12/04/2021, Tobias Glemming

We’re Growing…Join Our Team!

we are hiring!

29/01/2021, Agricultural Post

Meet Our New Board Member: Anita Krohn Traaseth

Anita Traaseth becomes board member in Soil Steam International AS!

20/01/2021, Soil Steam

Oversubscribed! Rights Issue A Sell-Out

One of Norway’s leading investment houses, Canica, has taken the lead in SoilSteam’s recent NOK45M (US$5.3m) rights issue, picking up an investment of NOK20M. One of the country’s largest pension funds was also attracted to the sell-out rights issue, together with local investors, SoilSteam board members and its employees. Einar Abrahamsen, Chairman of the Board,

06/01/2021, Agricultural Post

European Investment Bank publishes an article about Soil Steam International.

Today The European Investment Bank published an article about Soil Steam International. https://www.eib.org/en/stories/organic-farming-technology @EIBInstitute and #SITAlumni

04/01/2021, Tobias Glemming

Welcome Soilsteam’s New CEO

As of 1 January 2021, Oddbjørn Bergem joins SoilSteam International as CEO. For more than three decades Oddbjørn has been immersed in innovation and technology, leading and nurturing several companies from their early-stage phase to success as global players in their respective fields. “I’m very excited to take the lead in SSI,” said Oddbjørn. “This

26/12/2020, Soil Steam

2020: The Year In Review

As we reach the end of the year, it’s always good to look back at where we’ve been and what we’ve achieved – especially after the year we’ve just had. But despite the difficulties, at Soil Steam we’ve had successes and developments that have put us firmly on the road towards achieving our goals. Perhaps

14/12/2020, Agricultural Post

Soil Steam International has received a NOK 9 Mill funding from Forskningsrådet

Soil Steam International AS is going to cooperate with @Nibio, @Toten Løkpakkeri, @Larvik Løk, @Lindum, @NMBU and @Statens Vegvesen in a project that will use steam in order to fight and control harmful pathogens and weeds (alien invasive species) in soil and biological waste. We look very much forward to start this project and work

08/12/2020, Soil Steam

Soil Steam International AS is a finalist in the top 500 foodtech list!

We are thrilled to announce that Soil Steam International has been selected as a finalist for this year’s @ForwardFooding #FoodTech500, the world’s first definitive list of the global entrepreneurial talent at the intersection between food, technology, and sustainability. With over 2000 applicants from over 60 countries, we are so pleased that our innovation within the food system

05/12/2020, Agricultural Post

Soilprep2020 has been awarded the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label.

Following the success of the first solar flight around the world, Bertrand Piccard and the Solar Impulse Foundation has launched the second phase of their action: selecting #1000solutions worldwide that can protect the environment in a profitable way, and bringing them to decision-makers to help them adopt more ambitious environmental targets and energy policies. Now Soil

18/11/2020, Agricultural Post

Soil Steam International is expanding from 2 to 10 employees during Corona pandemic

In the beginning of 2020, there was 1 person full time and 1 person working 80% in Soil Steam International. Since we established the company in 2016, most of the owners were contributing with everything they could, but that was not enough anymore. There is a limitation for how much people can contribute when they

22/10/2020, Soil Steam

The importance of a strong board of directors

When Soil Steam International AS was established in 2016 all the founders were members of the board. The board was both a technical team and a board. The board made decisions in both strategic questions as well as technical questions. As the company got external investors it was naturally some expectations towards a more professional

16/09/2020, Soil Steam

Soil Steam trials at Nibio in Norway (photo: Soilsteam.com)

Documentation of our technology

Soil Steam International AS is one of the first companies in the world which develops equipment for pasteurizing soil and therefore fight weeds and seeds in a non-chemical way. Since there is no one that has made this kind of equipment before, we also have to document what we are doing (and not doing). We

03/08/2020, Tobias Glemming

Customer testimonial

Last year we treated a carrot field in Arendal which had nematode problems. After harvesting this year, you can read the statement from our customer and his experience with Soil Steam International. This is the kind of feedback which motivates us to keep working hard for sustainable agricultural production: In the fall of 2019, I

13/07/2020, Soil Steam

New great results and documentation on our technology

Last fall we were steaming to the carrot producer Øystein Fredriksen at Tromøya in Norway. Because of limitation in available soil, it is very difficult for him to keep up with crop rotation, and because of this, he has a problem with Nematodes. On the picture under you can see what nematodes cause in carrots.

17/06/2020, Soil Steam

Soil Steam selected to the top 50 impact companies in the Nordics.

We have been selected Nordic Top 50 Impact Companies by @The One Initiative as one of the 50 most promising impact startups in the region. We will match us with 200 investors and other business opportunities at Nordic Impact Business Summit on 17 September in Copenhagen. See all of the 50 companies here:https://www.oneinitiative.org/nordic-top-50/#NordicTop50ImpactCompanies#NordicImpactBusinessSummit

20/05/2020, Soil Steam

Soil Steam International AS is opening in California

Wow. This is a big milestone in the Soil Steam history. We have been working closely with Ph. D. Steven Fennimore from UC Davis and many important nurseries and berry producers in California since 2017. After Hans Kristian (our CEO) was visiting California and traveled around there for 10 days in February this year, there

15/04/2020, Soil Steam

FAO: Healthy soil provide the largest store of carbon on earth..

http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/39058c2c-991b-4a24-a0bd-ccd0544e8320/?utm_content=buffer1efe3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer In the fall of 2018, we were contacted by Nibio and asked if it was possible to use our technology to prevent soil from being degraded. The truth is that there are enormous amounts of soil being degraded every year and that more than 30% of all productive soil so far has been degraded.

08/04/2020, Soil Steam

New website, new logo and blog!

New logo, new website and blog! Happy easter!

23/02/2020, Soil Steam

Visite Ph. D. Steven Fennimore and partners in California

USA journey 2020. It feels fantastic to visite California and meet some of the biggest companies in the world and the berry industry that needs our technology.

08/12/2019, Hans Kristian Westrum

SSI invited to keep a presentation on Agciscape in Abu Dhabi

SSI invited as 1 out of 3 European Agri tech start ups for presenting in Abu Dhabi agriculture conference.

08/11/2019, Soil Steam

Winner of Innovation Price Norsk Avfall

SSI wins new price for the new stationary machine we are developing!

19/09/2019, Soil Steam

NRK with article about SSI will save the soil in the world..

Article about SSI at NRK..

08/02/2019, Soil Steam

8 founders become 7

There were 8 people all together that started Soil Steam International in February 2016. All men. When so many different personalities work very close and very much together there will be conflicts…

08/12/2018, Soil Steam

Winner of European Venture Contest in Dusseldorf

SoilSteam is winner of European Venture Contest!..

30/11/2018, Soil Steam

Winner of Gründerprisen i Vestfold

SSI are winning the startup prize in Vestfold. It is a great pleasure..

07/11/2018, Soil Steam

Landtek October 2018

Soil Steam is prested at Landtek 2018.

26/10/2018, Soil Steam

World AgriTech in London

Soil Steam on the stage talking about future agriculture during World Agri-Tech in London..

08/10/2018, Soil Steam

New challenge for Soil Steam International AS

Can the technology from Soilsteam help big companies like Vegvesenet and Banenor?

07/10/2018, Soil Steam

Meeting with the Minister og agriculture

Today we had a meeting with the Norwegian minister og agriculture to discuss sustainable agriculture..

07/09/2018, Soil Steam

Knaskerøtter improves harvest by 44%

Knaskerøtter improves harvest by 44% on the steamed soil!!

07/08/2018, Soil Steam

Summer 2018 First Investors

Read what happened when Trond Riiber Knudsen and some other investors joined SSI…

17/07/2018, Soil Steam

No weed and larger harvest at Lier Grønt!

Here you can see pictures from Lier Grønt were we steamed the soil this spring. You can clearly see the difference between the steamed and the not steamed soil

12/06/2018, Soil Steam

June 2018 European Venture Contest Viborg

In the same time as my colleagues are working in the field I got an invitation to a contest in Viborg. It is a contest where European investors are seeking the most promising start ups in Europe.

07/05/2018, Soil Steam

May 2018 – FAO (UN) soil conference in Rome

A small start up company is inivted to keep a speach in FAO… Read more about it here..

07/03/2018, Soil Steam

USA trip to visite Professor Fennimore and his partners

It is a big moment for us to be invited to meet some of the biggest berry growers in the world. Read more about our trip here..

02/02/2018, Soil Steam

Winner of Landbrukets Innovasjonspris 2017, january 2018

It is a great recognition for the work we have done when we now first were nominated and then later won this price.

07/01/2018, Soil Steam

New spesialist involves in Soil Steam..

Do you remember we wrote about the cybernetic company Idcon and Cornelis Arnoldussen? He is responsible for the technology including AI and data collection of our machines

20/12/2017, Soil Steam

Seal of Excelence from Horizon (EU)

Horizon is the name of the biggest EU contribution for European companies. This is a place where good ideas can get money for development of their great ideas. It is several thousand companies and ideas that competes for this funding. It is extremely difficult to get funding, but the best ones get up to EUR 2,5 million.

07/12/2017, Soil Steam

Winner of Innovation Prize Sandefjord

In the end of 2017 we won an other prize for our work. Sandefjord Nærginslivsforening has chosen us as the winner ot his year innovation prize in competition with great innovative companies such as Jotun and Grans. We are very humble and honored. Thank you!

02/11/2017, Soil Steam

Visit from Ph. D. Steven Fennimore from UC Davis, California.

The demonstration that we did in both Norway and Germany during the summer of 2017 showed that we still had some way to go, but in the same time we were capable of getting the steam deep enough in the soil and faster and more effective than anyone else.

17/07/2017, Soil Steam

16 july 2017: Soilprep400 in Germany

Soilprep400 is a big machine and we have already seen that it probably is too big (Even the people which came from USA to watch our equipment in Germany thought it was too small !!).

20/05/2017, Soil Steam

May 2017: Soilprep400 in the field at Knaskerøtter.

After several thousand hours of work in 4 months, a tired soil steam team is ready to start testing with Tor Fuglestein and Knaskerøtter in Kvelde, Norway.

11/04/2017, Soil Steam

Building of the soilprep400 automatic soil steamer

Our market research was that we knew from year of experience from the farmers that there was a need and a wish from the farmers to be able to control weeds, fungi and nematodes in the soil by other solutions than chemicals.

16/01/2017, Soil Steam

Introduced to Idcon and Mr. Cornelis Arnoldussen

When you build a complete machine from the bottom you need several different people involved. You need the economics in order to figure out how much and where to get the money.

23/02/2016, Soil Steam

23.02.2016 – Registration of the company

Today Soil Steam International AS is registered. It has been a long journey before we got here, but now we were finally here and ready to register the company

14/10/2015, Soil Steam

Fall 2015

Hans Kristian called up Arvid and Olav the morning after the conversation with Eva-Lena.

08/06/2015, Soil Steam

The paradoxes in life

In the fall 2015 Hans Kristian Westrum and his wife Eva-Lena are talking about the paradoxes in life. Her father is about to retire, and he is one of the best welders in Sweden, Responsible for the work on welding in companies like Rolls Royce etc.

07/04/2015, Hans Kristian Westrum

The history behind Soil Steam International AS

Even though Soil Steam International AS was established in February 2016, this story starts a long time before that. Kjell Westrum, Arvid Laksesvela and Olav Wirgenes were all farmers and were running their own farms.

Latest Post

Food safety

Posts

Food safety

What happens when we steam the soil?

Soil Steam goes to Spain

2021 – a summary

World Soil Day 2021

Soil – a valuable asset

2021 – So far

We’re Growing…Join Our Team!

Meet Our New Board Member: Anita Krohn Traaseth

Oversubscribed! Rights Issue A Sell-Out

European Investment Bank publishes an article about Soil Steam International.

Welcome Soilsteam’s New CEO

2020: The Year In Review

Soil Steam International has received a NOK 9 Mill funding from Forskningsrådet

Soil Steam International AS is a finalist in the top 500 foodtech list!

Soilprep2020 has been awarded the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label.

Soil Steam International is expanding from 2 to 10 employees during Corona pandemic

The importance of a strong board of directors

Documentation of our technology

Customer testimonial

New great results and documentation on our technology

Soil Steam selected to the top 50 impact companies in the Nordics.

Soil Steam International AS is opening in California

FAO: Healthy soil provide the largest store of carbon on earth..

New website, new logo and blog!

Visite Ph. D. Steven Fennimore and partners in California

SSI invited to keep a presentation on Agciscape in Abu Dhabi

Winner of Innovation Price Norsk Avfall

NRK with article about SSI will save the soil in the world..

8 founders become 7

Winner of European Venture Contest in Dusseldorf

Winner of Gründerprisen i Vestfold

Landtek October 2018

World AgriTech in London

New challenge for Soil Steam International AS

Meeting with the Minister og agriculture

Knaskerøtter improves harvest by 44%

Summer 2018 First Investors

No weed and larger harvest at Lier Grønt!

June 2018 European Venture Contest Viborg

May 2018 – FAO (UN) soil conference in Rome

USA trip to visite Professor Fennimore and his partners

Winner of Landbrukets Innovasjonspris 2017, january 2018

New spesialist involves in Soil Steam..

Seal of Excelence from Horizon (EU)

Winner of Innovation Prize Sandefjord

Visit from Ph. D. Steven Fennimore from UC Davis, California.

16 july 2017: Soilprep400 in Germany

May 2017: Soilprep400 in the field at Knaskerøtter.

Building of the soilprep400 automatic soil steamer

Introduced to Idcon and Mr. Cornelis Arnoldussen

23.02.2016 – Registration of the company

Fall 2015

The paradoxes in life

The history behind Soil Steam International AS

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