The science that is sparking a farming revolution | Landline | ABC Australia
What this covers
Landline follows Mike Black and Daryl Lions, founders of Rainstick, a biotech start-up that applies specially tuned electric fields—mimicking the frequencies present during thunderstorms—to seeds before they reach farmers. The treatment aims to activate different metabolic pathways and increase root and shoot biomass without genetic modification or chemical input. The segment centers on whether this approach can solve a concrete economic problem: poor crop establishment costs Australian growers over $100 million annually on canola alone, with farmers losing hundreds of dollars per hectare even after investing in premium seeds. Pip Grant from a farming group and university researcher Jordi Nus present field trial results showing treated canola plants with notably greater root biomass in the critical early weeks, alongside metabolomic analysis indicating altered carbon and nitrogen pathways in treated plants.
The piece moves between lab science and on-farm validation, exploring how bioelectrical signals influence gene expression at the cellular level without altering DNA. It examines the practical appeal of the technology—seeds are treated before delivery, so farmers need no changes to their existing processes—and touches on early observations, including anecdotal reports of improved pest resistance. The work extends beyond commodity crops: trials with native species like the Pilbara grevillea and Darwin stringybark suggest potential for ecological restoration and reforestation. Daryl Lions frames the venture as a convergence of traditional Indigenous knowledge with modern science, while questions about whether improved early growth translates to final yield and the scalability of the tuning process remain open.
Rainstick argues that applying a specially tuned, thunderstorm-like electric field to seeds can alter gene expression without modifying DNA, producing stronger root and shoot growth and better crop establishment in a way that is frictionless for farmers.
- Bioelectrical treatment activates different metabolic pathways and increases leaf and root biomass without genetic or chemical modification
- Poor crop establishment costs the Australian cropping industry over $100M on canola alone, so seed treatments that improve establishment offer large productivity gains
- Field trials with farming groups and university researchers are validating lab effects in real broadacre conditions
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Growers are losing money due to low crop establishment rates even after investing in high-end seeds, and CSIRO and the Grains Research and Development Corporation estimate over $100 million is lost to the Australian cropping industry on canola establishment rates alone, so improving those rates with seed treatments like Rainstick's offers a chance to boost productivity.
“Work from CSRO and the grains research and development corporation has estimated it's over hund00 million lost to the cropping industry in Australia just on their canola establishment rates alone by improving those rates with seed treatments like Rainstick's technology.”
Measuring changes in carbon and nitrogen isotopes between control and treated plants gives indications of which metabolic pathways are initiated by the treatment, and nitrogen/carbon tissue percentages reveal whether the plant has taken up more nitrogen, is growing faster, or is more energy efficient — beneficial outcomes for farmers.
“by measuring those changes in isotopes and comparing them between the control and treated, I can uh have some indications of what kind of metabolic pathways are uh initiated with the treatment. And of course also just looking at nitrogen and carbon percentages in the tissue tells you if it has taken up more nitrogen or not. If it's growing faster, if it's more energy efficient,”
Poor establishment presents two key challenges to Australian farmers: wasted money (hundreds of dollars per hectare) and reduced yield, lowering overall productivity per hectare.
“So hundreds of dollars a hectare could be wasted in poor establishment rates which then impacts in yield. So the whole productivity per hectare is going to be a lot lower.”
The seed treatment is not genetic modification and not chemical; it uses bioelectrical signals to influence how genes express themselves without altering the DNA, aiming to give seedlings a stronger start that could last their entire growth cycle.
“Mike says it's not genetic modification and it's not chemical. This new seed treatment uses bioelect electrical signals to influence how genes express themselves without altering the DNA.”
Thunderstorms create electric fields in the air containing frequencies, and because biology at the cell level (including humans) operates on electrical signals, those frequencies can change certain reactions and effects in living organisms.
“when you do have thunderstorms come over it creates electric fields in the air and in those fields you have frequencies and at a cell level including us and everything that's living biology is electrical signal and those frequencies can change certain reactions and effect”
Metabolomic analysis of treated tomato plants reveals significant differences from controls, with different metabolic pathways activated, an increase in leaf mass after treatment, and measurable differences in stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes, indicating altered metabolic mechanisms.
“we plot them to metabolomic networks to try and have an idea if there's any changes in the metabolic mechanisms of the plant. And basically what we found is that there seems to be really quite some differences. Different metabolic pathways are activated.”
Treated canola plants show visually wild differences from control plants, with notably greater root biomass and more vigorous tap root growth in the early 2-to-4-week establishment period, though it remains to be confirmed whether this translates to yield after harvest and statistical analysis.
“it has actually been quite wild to see the difference in some of the treated canola plants versus the control canola plants and actually just visually comparing them. But of course we want to see what that actually means in terms of coming through to yield.”
Rainstick takes seeds and applies a specially tuned electric field similar to what happens during a thunderstorm, after which the treated seeds are shipped to producers to grow, creating a frictionless experience because farmers don't need to change any on-farm processes since the seeds were altered beforehand.
“We take seeds and we apply an electric field similar to what happens during a thunderstorm. And that's a specially tuned electric field that happens to the seeds and then those seeds get shipped out to the producer for them to grow.”
A leafy greens farmer reported that caterpillars did not eat one particular crop, which turned out to be the treated sample even though the farmer was not told which was treated and which was control.
“we had a leafy greens farmer say, "We noticed that the caterpillars didn't eat this particular one." And we're like, "Well, that's really curious because we didn't tell them which one was treated and which one was control." And and we were pretty happy to know that it was the treated one.”
The treatment formula consists of three basic elements — frequency, waveform, and treatment duration — and with potentially 50,000 different frequencies and any waveform shape or duration, the solution space cannot be brute-forced, requiring methodical step-by-step testing to achieve the desired effect without unwanted effects.
“We have our frequency, our waveform, and the duration of that treatment. And there could be 50,000 different frequencies, any way you can draw a squiggly line, and any duration. So, you can't brute force something like this.”
Working with companies at a very early stage allows the farming group to co-determine what the technology needs to look like for a farm business to actually receive a return on investment that justifies investing in it in the first place.
“the beauty of working with these companies really early is that we can work out okay well what does that actually need to look like for a farm business to actually receive the return on investment for them to invest in the technology in the first place”
Iconic native species such as the Pilbara grevillea and the Darwin stringybark, which have strong relevance to traditional owners across northern Australia, both have significant establishment issues, and early results show the treatment is starting to improve their establishment though more work remains.
“this is for probably up in northern Australia and the Darwin stringy barb again got a lot of relevance for a lot of the to across the KP or and also across all of northern Australia and they both have a big establishment issue so some of the early results showing we're moving the dial yeah we've got more work to do”
Traditional indigenous knowledge can have a huge global effect by being brought together with new science to help agriculture transition, a mission that is personal for Daryl Lions whose Marowelli ancestral country covered roughly 70 million hectares and whose great-grandmother was likely the only survivor of his people.
“very passionate about how I think traditional knowledge can have a huge effect globally by bringing that knowledge to create new bits of science to help us transition”
The bioelectrical technology represents a major opportunity for Australia to reforest mines and degraded areas to help with climate variation, and to assist farmers in establishing native vegetation belts on their properties to transition to more sustainable production.
“We've got to reforest mines. We've got to reforest areas globally to help with climate variation. And I think what I'm also passionate about is how do we assist farmers in getting some native belts in their properties to help them transition to more sustainable production.”