Don’t say, “I’m going to double your yield”
And other things I learned from a panel of large California growers.
Another amazing THRIVE AG accelerator meeting: We met four large growers and listened to their unmet needs, how they find new technologies, and what not to say.
Western Growers ran a panel of four large growers in California. They covered every sector of agribusiness from growing a very large spectrum of crops to dairy, packing, shipping, and marketing. Even though their main farming operations were in California, some had operations in Arizona and Mexico. Since Pheronym is developing solutions for pest control for crops, we were most interested in unmet needs related to crops. The row crops included alfalfa, cotton, maize, and wheat. The specialty crops included berries (strawberry), fruits and nuts (almond, cherry, pistachio) and vegetables (cabbage, carrot, lettuce, spinach, tomato).
Each grower told us about their operations and then told us their unmet needs. They all agreed that their most pressing problem was the labor shortage. Particularly seasonal workers during harvest time. Harvesting specialty crops is very labor-intensive, as it is still primarily done by hand. Any innovation that would reduce the labor required to harvest strawberries would be welcome. The second was water shortage. Going into another year of drought in California, they want to make the best use of the available water they can. They were also interested in solutions for crop protection, fertilizers, and soil health.
These growers are very smart and sophisticated. They monitor new policies and proactively search for solutions that are compliant with the new policies. They browse the UC Davis website, reach out to UCANR extension agents, go to trade shows, read trade journals, talk to pest control advisors (PCAs), and attend chemical companies’ seminars. I was surprised to learn that while they watch each other’s practices, they do not recommend solutions to each other.
Growers are very clear on what they don’t want. They do not want the solutions for non-existing problems and don’t come to them claiming that your product will double their yields. They do not want “snake oil” and recognize it on the spot.
Their main drivers for decision-making are yield and harvest. They said that they are really looking for long-term solutions that are safe and promote soil health.
Author: Dr. Fatma Kaplan is the CEO/CSO of Pheronym and Activate Berkeley Fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Cyclotron Road Division. She is also an entrepreneur and an accomplished scientist with experience in both biology and chemistry. She has a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology and postdoctoral training in Natural Product Chemistry with a focus on isolating biologically active compounds. Dr. Kaplan discovered the first sex pheromone of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and published in Nature. Then she discovered that pheromones regulate other behaviors in both parasitic and beneficial nematodes. Dr. Kaplan conducted the first agricultural biocontrol experiment in Space at the International Space Station in 2020. She has very high impact publications and her dissertation (beta-amylase’s role during cold and heat shock) was cited in textbooks within 5 years of publication. Dr. Kaplan worked as a scientist at NASA, the National Magnetic Field Laboratory, and the US Department of Agriculture — Agricultural Research Service. Dr. Fatma Kaplan and Mr. Karl C. Schiller co-founded Pheronym to bring nematode pheromone technology to the market and to provide effective, non-toxic, sustainable pest control for farmers and gardeners.
