By Ellie Amesse

The Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology was created to link Western Growers members with innovators in the agtech space. Below are news updates from the Center’s startups, as well as updates on activities at the center and its popular podcast!

AgTools

Agtools is moving forward and has become a worldwide source of reliable data for private and public/government entities. Its founder was selected as one of the Microsoft-sponsored Women in Cloud, Top 100 Founders for 2023 in part by accelerating the usage of ESG and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. AgTools was honored by the city of Champaign, Ill., with a city proclamation during Agtech Week at the University of Illinois in March 2023. The company was also recently featured by the University of Florida in its research article on economies of scale and scope in fresh produce technologies. Also featured was AgTools’ white paper highlighting how geo-political and climate changes, plus over 76 variables, impact the supply chains for U.S. commissaries. These various honors have resulted in AgTools receiving multiyear contracts across the globe to continue providing curated data for optimum decision-making by farmers and buyers in the food supply chain.

Bluewhite

This February, Bluewhite participated in the World Ag Expo 2023 in Tulare, in which they were selected as winners in the International Agri-Center World Ag Expo’s New Products competition. Bluewhite’s team installed the award-winning Bluewhite Pathfinder on multiple manufacturers’ tractors, showcasing the Pathfinder’s autonomous system with multiple types of implements, such as the Exact harvester. Bluewhite and Exact Harvesting Systems announced a collaborative partnership to pioneer the industry’s first fully autonomous nut-harvesting solution during the event. Together, Bluewhite and Exact Harvesting Systems are reimagining what is possible for growers around the world by creating autonomous farming opportunities.

Carbon Robotics

Carbon Robotics, a leader in AI-powered robotics, empowers farmers to operate more efficiently by building innovative agriculture tools. The company’s revolutionary, high-precision laser weeding technology leverages sophisticated AI deep learning technology, computer vision, robotics and lasers to reduce weed control costs by 80 percent and improve crop yield and quality.

In February 2022, Carbon Robotics launched the LaserWeeder, a pull-behind robot that seamlessly attaches to the back of tractors and utilizes Carbon Robotics’ laser weeding technology to identify weeds and target them for elimination. The LaserWeeder’s 30 high-powered CO2 lasers use thermal energy to destroy the meristem of the weed with millimeter accuracy, without disturbing the soil or damaging nearby crops. The implement can kill up to 99% of weeds, eliminate up to 200,000 weeds per hour and weed up to two acres per hour.

Carbon Robotics introduced the industry’s first LaserThinning capability for its LaserWeeder in February 2023. LaserThinning targets areas where vegetable crops are purposefully overseeded and then thinned for optimal crop spacing, growth and yield. As a new software update, all LaserWeeders in the fleet will now be able to thin and weed on a single farm equipment platform.

To date, Carbon Robotics’ LaserWeeders have successfully eliminated over 500 million weeds across 50 different crops. Deliveries in 2023 will bring the LaserWeeder to farms in 17 U.S. states and three provinces in Canada. Pre-orders for 2023 are nearly sold out and pre-orders for 2024 deliveries are well underway.

EnSolución

En Solución’s fully automated ozone nanobubble system continues to help lower the cost of food safety while increasing quality control. We are pleased to be partnering with Braga Fresh to conduct pilot testing of our ozone nanobubble solution in their processing facility in Gonzales, Calif. In addition to shelf-life studies, we will explore the benefits of in-plant targeted placement of this innovative sanitizing technology. En Solución will also partner with JV Smith Companies at their JV Farms facilities in Yuma, AZ in support of En Solución’s latest grant award from the FDA. Under that award, En Solución will apply ozone nanobubbles to open water irrigation sources to improve water quality and enhance plant health and soil productivity. En Solución continues to seek additional installation locations with industry-leading partners across North America—let us know if you are interested in piloting with us!

FarmWise

After a successful product launch at the World Ag Expo last February, FarmWise is focusing on the start of the Salinas season and the building of its pre-order book for its new weeding implement, Vulcan. After years of experience providing best-in-class automated weeding services, the FarmWise team releases a radically different and unique architecture designed to provide unparalleled weeding performance in the field. Vulcan packs cutting-edge computer vision into a lightweight, open cultivator frame. Reliability, ease of operation, transportation and maintenance, and the ability to configure fast and leverage the implementation in any field are the core elements of Vulcan’s value proposition. The team also just filled a handful of critical roles within their engineering department, which will help accelerate the company’s effort toward successful deliveries of its first implements by this fall. To learn more about Vulcan and how it reduces growers’ weeding bills, please get in touch with Todd Rinkenberger, VP of Sales at FarmWise, and visit farmwiselabs.com.

HeavyConnect

Seven years ago, HeavyConnect Founder and CEO Patrick Zelaya was working on perfecting his pitch to present at the 2016 Startup Challenge Otter Tank. A few weeks later, his startup won first place in the Venture Division. Now, HeavyConnect is helping small farms keep track of operations in a manageable, simple interface. Using HeavyConnect, food supply chain workers can keep track of food safety compliance, connect with payroll services and more, all on one dashboard.

“What we provide is a solution that makes that process a lot easier so that they can keep being farmers and not just administrative record keepers,” said Zelaya. “Our goal is to keep growing that not just at the enterprise level, but also with the smaller growers.”

To make HeavyConnect a reality, Zelaya partnered with Brad Barbeau, director of the Institute for Innovation & Economic Development (iiED) at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), who suggested he hire student interns to work on the project.

Startup Challenge is an annual competition for new businesses that teaches, coaches, mentors, networks and connects entrepreneurs to the knowledge and resources they need to succeed in the marketplace. The event is organized by the iiED, an institute of CSUMB’s College of Business. According to Zelaya, Startup Challenge prepared him and his team to successfully pitch to other audiences in the tech industry.

For Zelaya, spending the most time with the growers and farm workers was a key part of HeavyConnect’s success.

“What we have been building isn’t your traditional software startup,” he said. “Our experience in spending the majority of our time in the field with the growers, with the farmworkers is not something that you find coming out of the Bay Area. That was very important to our success and has given us a lot of insight to build a platform that is very intuitive for our users.

Working in the industry and with farm workers directly has taught Zelaya what workers need to keep operations running smoothly.

“The common thing that catches people’s eye when we deal with growers is the user interface is so simple that everyone in the operation can adopt it quickly versus having a complex training and adjustment hurdle to overcome to make that digital transformation away from paper-based workloads.”

Today, HeavyConnect continues to grow throughout the country and internationally.

“We’re excited to keep growing and serving this need,” Zelaya said.

Nexus Robotics

Nexus Robotics is developing a weeding and scouting service that provides up-to-date information to farmers about the size and health of their crops. Our objective is to be the eyes and the hands of our customers, giving them local and global information on anomalies that need attention.

Nexus will commercialize the technology in May of this year by leasing the robots to farmers. The robots can be remotely monitored from our headquarters. The robot will soon become a platform technology for additional features, such as insect pest and disease detection as well as harvesting. As time goes on, the robot will become more intelligent and be able to offer more value to the farmers. Nexus is developing the next generation of farm equipment to ensure we have a stable and thriving food production system.

PickTrace

PickTrace, the winner of the 2022 AgTech Breakthrough award for Labor Management Solution, is the only all-in-one labor management suite for agriculture. It’s never been this easy to stay compliant, analyze labor costs and run payroll. With PickTrace Onboarding, users can rapidly hire/rehire employees, generate and digitally store their I-9 and W-4 documents, and bulk import employee data from PickTrace into their payroll system. Time and productivity are effortlessly tracked in real time, enabling you and your team to feel confident in your payroll compliance. Easily pay your workforce with PickTrace pay cards and provide your employees faster access to more of their hard-earned money. PickTrace recently increased its presence in Salinas and Yuma, focusing on delivering an exceptional customer experience, optimized field processes and operationalized data.

SWAN Systems

Our Swan Team is excited to welcome Shannon Rinkenberger! Expanding our California presence to the Central Coast, Shannon and her family’s farming background aligns perfectly with our efforts to serve growers.

The SWAN Systems software platform is adaptable for irrigators, ranch leads, managers, agronomists and water accounting. A new feature release in Spanish further enables irrigators with mobile devices and operational flexibility.

Swan optimizes irrigation technology from simple clipboard recordkeeping to over 100 industry hardware sensors and data points. The technology creates a single, safe place for your irrigation specs, crop-coefficients and farm know-how; allows for complex irrigation scheduling in minutes; and delivers reliable, repeatable software scheduling, even when the hardware is down.

Terrantic

External events are putting pressure on grower-packer-shippers and foodfor  processors: labor shortages, worker skills gaps, overtime laws, supply chain, geopolitical challenges, climate, etc. leave these operations vulnerable. Operational efficiency and innovation are how businesses can absorb the impact of these external challenges. New WGCIT member, Terrantic, is on a mission to utilize your existing data to improve your operations. You probably don’t use most of the data you already have. To quote Stuart Woolf from the Feb. 2023, Voice of the Valley podcast, “We collect a lot of data, but we don’t have a lot of information…to make better decisions, real-time decisions…” Terrantic solves this problem. Come find out how we use your existing data to drive labor efficiency, improve skills gaps, maximize yield, maximize shelf-life, reduce unplanned machine downtime, and much more.

“Fruit and vegetable growers need every tool in the toolbox because production is so challenging.” — Dr. Frank Wong, U.S. Industry Affairs Lead at Bayer.

The only thing better than having a powerful ally is having an ally that is also dedicated, motivated and smart. Bayer is that ally for the specialty crop industry and Western Growers. Bayer has supported the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology since its inception and has maintained the highest level of sponsorship with Western Growers for almost 30 years.

Bayer aims to provide solutions for farmers to plant, grow and protect their harvests using less land, water and energy. For Western Growers, Bayer brings a strong portfolio of tools for growers with both vegetable seeds and crop protection. Jenny Maloney, the Strategic Account Manager at Bayer Vegetable Seeds for North and South America, and Dr. Frank Wong, U.S. Industry Affairs Lead for Bayer Crop Protection, are key partners who tag-team with Western Growers to cover key issues.

“We support innovation in the industry,” said Jenny Maloney. “There are startups that are coming in and partnerships that have happened. There are all sorts of ways that we can get to where we want to go with innovation and technology, so we have been a huge proponent of that.”

Whether it’s through the work and support of WGCIT or its portfolio offerings and industry advocacy, Bayer’s influence and work is a strike point of impact for reverberating change. With strategy and ingenuity, the minds at Bayer are always working to plot the trajectory of genetics, biologicals and agtech to meet the future of the specialty produce industry with precision and accuracy in a way that will result in increased yields of nutrient-rich products.

Bayer considers the scope of the growing process from seed genetics, crop care and harvest. One of the products in its portfolio exemplifies this: the High Rise™ broccoli series.

“The High Rise™ portfolio includes two varieties—Eiffel and Hancock. The varieties grow tall and feature strong, clean stems with few large leaves and visible crowns that are firm and heavy. The uniform maturity, high yield potential and consistent product quality can help growers achieve efficient harvests through less harvest passes. In addition, varieties in the High Rise™ broccoli series are well-suited for time-saving machine harvesting, an ever-increasing request from growers.” (www.vegetables.bayer.com)

The unique morphology of the High Rise™ broccoli stem is a manifestation of the forward thinking of the minds at Bayer. The harvesting technology may not be ready to roll out and collect it, but the broccoli was genetically ‘engineered’—engineered through classic genetic work where traits were emphasized and bred for over years of careful seed cycles and grower feedback—to be ready for the day. In the meantime, the unique shape of the broccoli makes it easier for crews to harvest by hand.

Biological solutions are also in Bayer’s portfolio and continue to be a point of focus. “It is really, really difficult to develop biologicals,” Frank Wong said. “It’s not so linear compared to traditional small molecules and harder to find the gems in the rough. We are looking at ways to maximize discovery, application and effectiveness. For sure, there is a definite need for tools for West Coast growers, especially in California, to have something to control pests and to ensure that you have something sellable that comes out of the field. I fully support the positions and initiatives that Western Growers has taken to look for innovation in the biological space. That’s a big reason we’re supporting the conference [Salinas Biological Summit] that’s coming up in June.”

There’s no way to know what the future will bring, especially in the world of agriculture in the West, but the great minds at Bayer are working to ensure positive and productive outcomes, all while keeping close to the people who make it all work: the growers.

With the motto “From soil to health,” Probelte puts its purpose of being a player in the chain of environmental and human health front and center.

Hector Rodriguez, the CEO of Agronova—of which Probelte is the biological solutions subsidiary—has a keen eye on the future of biologicals in U.S. agriculture. In the broad framework of the Probelte catalog of products, there are three main goals for the products: what you feed the plant in its early stage, how you make it more vigorous as it grows, and how to treat it once it’s grown. “Our biological portfolio comprises from the fertilization to the vigor on the growth of the plant all the way to combatting pests through natural organisms, not using chemical products,” Rodriguez said.

By adding bacteria to the soil and supporting a strong microbiome, the plant is better equipped to capture nitrogen, which reduces the amount of nitrogen a grower has to supplement. Supporting the soil in the early growth stages offers a long tail of benefits: “The more robust and vigorous the plant grows, the heartiness of the plant, the less susceptible it is to pests and fungi and insects and pathogens.”

Probelte is existing in the best of both worlds: its new move to the U.S. market is backed by over 50 years of success in Spain. Like many companies in the space, Probelte started with a focus on chemical synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In a shift that occurred early in the story of biological solutions to these products, Probelte started developing its biological products in the early 1990s. For years, the family-owned company worked on the research and development to support grower organizations in Spain, content to stay within the country’s economy.

By the early 2020s, a private equity fund came into the holdings of the company and a different group of management came to usher in a new era for the company. Rodriguez was one of the members of this new management team. “We decided that the company was a bit of a sleeping dog. [It was working] under the radar. It had a very strong biological portfolio, but it had not been really exposed for what it was worth,” he said.

One opportunity for growth stood out: California. Similar in climate to much of Spain, the chance for California to benefit from the hundreds of field studies conducted in Spain over the years was clear. Probelte has two objectives to reach within the next few years: assist the U.S. agricultural market to benefit from the products it has had years to develop and create a data platform that will allow for predictive modeling to best use products—anyone’s products—efficiently in the field. With better tools, Probelte hopes to make crop care efficient and accurate, reducing overfeeding and overtreating. In other developments, Probelte is set to begin developing its products in the U.S. by 2024.

Rodriguez shared his expectations for the future: “This is a gradual process. This whole thing is going to be gradual. You can’t just go and replace all of your synthetic NPK products overnight.” He said Probelte is looking to grow and adapt to changes in tandem with the U.S. market. He understands that grower operations aren’t going to integrate biological options throughout the growing process all at once. The company’s objective is to meet growers where they are and offer solutions where they make the most sense at a given time. “It’s more of a pulling together with the grower rather than a pushing,” Rodriguez said. With the change in environmental regulations and requirements, the push may come from external sources, but having a biological solutions provider looking for a mutually beneficial outcome may ease the process.

Agronova will be present at the Salinas Biological Summit on June 20-21 to join a discussion panel and have a booth to share how their products offer biological solutions. Agronova will also be a sponsor of the event.

For many, standing at the edge of a growing crop—whether it’s a plot of land filled with thick and rustling broccoli leaves or swaying stalks of sweet corn—is a peace that borders on the sublime. The plants move in the breeze, capturing the gust to make sound. The soil is rich with minerals from careful cultivation and plant matter that has been churned into it over and over again. The smell is thick with the heady earth, a far rarer sensory experience than it had been in past generations but seems to pull at a genetic memory.

But the expanse is far more bustling than senses perceive. From microbe to insect, a grower’s crop is a chaotic burst of constant activity. For much of human history, the dialogue around utilizing nature for the benefit of our species has used words like “harness” and “tame.” But acting in opposition to a natural force requires energy, especially when nature finds a way around those efforts. There is a shift happening in agriculture now, a change in tactics. If nature always finds a way, let nature guide.

The Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology is recognizing the need and opportunity that exists within the biological space. In a drive to showcase international solutions for improving soil and plant health, Western Growers and Wharf42 will be bringing together key players in global agribusiness (which will include thought leaders from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Spain, Brazil and Israel) for the Salinas Biological Summit on June 20-21, 2023. The Salinas Biological Summit will be the first of this annual event where the discussion around biologicals in agriculture will be deep and thoughtful to address the opportunity to explore and fill a gap in agricultural use of biologicals that hasn’t been addressed before. The Summit will be a hub of activity to highlight advancements, provide networking opportunities, promote promising products and offer information.

Western Growers President & CEO Dave Puglia will speak at the event to usher forth the initiative to organize and accelerate the activity within the space of biologicals in agriculture. His experience with being at the forefront of major legislative and regulatory issues makes him uniquely equipped to lead the conversation. Since taking his position as the President and CEO, Puglia has supported the process of connecting influential participants in all necessary sectors to move progress, the Biological Summit being an example of such support.

But every journey into the new comes with uncertainty. With the known, there are standards, procedures and assurances. The market, the environment and regulators are pushing this initiative, pushing with many giving little guidance or regard to how it gets done as long as it does. The growers are the ones left to be the cartographers of this new terrain, but they aren’t alone. Innovators, seeing the opportunity of a new landscape to build products and businesses, are researching and bringing to market biological solutions to manage and grow crops in an environmentally cohesive and robust way. Organizations like Probelte and Bayer, profiled in this issue, are finding new ways to enhance the scope of the growing cycle with biologicals.

A key term in the conversation of biologicals is biostimulant. And defining it is an important step for research and regulation. According to the Plant Biostimulant Act proposed by U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) and Representative Jim Baird (IN-04), “The term ‘plant biostimulant’ means a substance, micro-organism, or mixture thereof, that, when applied to seeds, plants, the rhizosphere, soil, or other growth media, act to support a plant’s natural processes independently of the biostimulant’s nutrient content, including by improving nutrient availability, uptake or use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, and consequent growth, development, quality, or yield.”

According to a press release from Panetta: “Plant biostimulants are products that can be used in both agricultural and non-agricultural settings that improve natural plant nutritional processes, which can result in improved plant health, tolerance to abiotic and other environmental stresses, as well as improved growth, quality, and crop yield.” Bionutrients can promote micronutrient activity and improve absorption.

Companies offering biostimulant solutions provide products that work for and with the crop environment that preserves the quality and conservation of harvestable organs; generate stronger, better-structured roots; and deliver preventive maintenance of the crop under exogenous stress circumstances.

In the process of defining what means what and what falls under what category, biofertilizers fall under the umbrella term of biostimulants. One publication defined biofertilizers as “the substances containing variety of microbes having the capacity to enhance plant nutrient uptake by colonizing the rhizosphere and make the nutrients easily accessible to plant root hairs.”

In the book Biofertilizers Kamini Gautam, el al, the term is further explained: “Biofertilizers includes one or more beneficial microbes that facilitate better nutrient uptake, greater production of growth hormone and beneficial phytochemicals in crops leading to higher quantity as well quality crop production. Nitrogen-fixing microbes, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB), sulfur-solubilizing bacteria (SSB), potassium-solubilizing bacteria (KSB), and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) etc. are already being utilized in combination for making biofertilizers formulations for enhancing crop production but on small scale.”

As described in Biofertilizers, Probelte’s biofertilizer Biopron “has a high capacity for fixing atmospheric nitrogen, making it available to the plant; unblocks the existing phosphorus in the soil in such a way that the plant can easily absorb it; and provides the power to solubilize other macro (K) and micronutrients (Fe, Ca, Mg) present in the soil, which would otherwise be blocked. In this way, both nitrogen, phosphorus and other macro and micronutrients can be used efficiently in crop nutrition.”

Regulation of these biological products varies and is in a state of flux. The Plant Biostimulant Act looks to establish a regulatory framework to clear the path for research and development and use. An important feature of the Act is that it would officially define plant biostimulants and explicitly exempt them from regulation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. If there is to be a successful transition from traditional crop treatment option, it is in the best interest of regulatory bodies to support initiatives that encourage adoption of biologicals, both with clarity and space for adequate statistically backed research.

Those with a strong voice are speaking on behalf of change. Secretary of California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Karen Ross has been a valued ally to protect and promote California agriculture. In her continued support to “strengthened partnerships across government, academia and the non-profit sector in the drive to maintain and improve environmental stewardship and to develop adaptation strategies,” Ross will be a featured speaker at the Salinas Biological Summit in June.

The CDFA has outlined a few labeling guidelines for biologicals, stating, “If biotics are guaranteed, FFLDRS requires the following additional information per Section 2304 of the CCR: 1. Species name of each microorganism, name of each enzyme, or organism by-product, if claimed, as part of the statement of composition. (Provide the full name, not abbreviations) 2. Active Ingredients: a. Microorganisms: number of viable units per mL or g. (e.g. 100 CFU/mL) b. Enzymes: concentration in activity units per mL or g. (e.g. 100 u/mL) c. Organism by-product: concentration in percent by weight. (e.g. 10%).” As support for the need for an established definition of the term biostimulant, the CDFA states that, “There are no official definitions for the following terms. They are considered misleading and are not allowed on fertilizing material labels: Balanced, Biostimulant, Stimulant, and Complete.”

The Salinas Biological Summit also is a response to the investment interest within the agricultural industry. Venture capitalists are drawn to the shift to the biological solution entrepreneur arena, with billions already having been invested in startups. Agtech investment leader Kirk Haney, the Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Radicle Growth, is looking to continue his effort to accelerate the development and adoption of sustainable solutions within the industry at the 2023 Summit. His insight gained from extensive startup and investment experience—on both sides of the effort—is an invaluable resource for startups and growers alike. And innovation in agriculture can’t happen without grower expertise and guidance. One of the grower representatives speaking at the Summit is Don Cameron, Vice President and General Manager of Terranova Ranch, Inc. Cameron is driver of change and adaptation to a shifting environment. His input and guidance for what’s to come will have unprecedented value.

The Salinas Biological Summit is designed to draw venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, growers, policy makers and researchers together to connect and learn. It is these participants who will work together to find the way forward for biological solutions. This event will mark the beginning of the impetus that will shape development in the years to come.

The possibilities for progress and opportunity within the realm of biologicals is as plentiful as the environment itself. Thomas Edison once said, “We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Fortunately for everyone who relies on the fresh produce industry, those who work to grow food aren’t put off by overalls or work, so the opportunities won’t be missed.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.salinas-summit.com

There is a lot of discussion about biological solutions in agtech these days at trade shows and in ag media, and with good reason. The use of chemical inputs to help manage pests and disease is under massive regulatory pressure from both Sacramento and D.C.—in many cases following the playbook western Europe is already using. Restrictions that could result in reduced use or outright bans are currently being considered in many places. Investors see the pressure and are looking for innovations that can help produce new solutions that can help to reduce the usage of chemicals, increase the efficiency of the chemicals that are used, and adjust the portfolio mix toward biological solutions. Startup founders can see the tailwinds being created and are starting to innovate new solutions in labs and universities to help speed things up.

When there are this many tailwinds working in favor of a single agtech segment, it is always good to start making sure we define the segment with some specificity for two reasons. First, it helps legitimate players innovating in the space define it narrowly to keep faux players in the space out. Second—and this is equally important—it helps investors know that the legitimate innovators are going to pitch for funds with a clarity about what the space is and what it is not.

Both groups benefit from a very clear definition. This is why biologicals, having achieved the first target of being a hot segment with tailwinds, now must be clearly defined to help startups and investors who are trying to innovate and invest in the segment identify each other. If we get this right, we can help support the momentum of a hot space. If we get it wrong, we run the risk of creating the next CEA (see the carnage and fire sales in that space recently?) or alt-protein (anybody heard anything good about Beyond or Impossible burgers lately? As I’ve said before, with enough cheese and bacon I can choke one down but they still lose on taste and price for me so I’m just not that into them) and blowing through an awful lot of venture capital money with not a lot to show for the effort.

Here’s the key to defining the space: we can’t let startups and investors use “biological” as a descriptor for an agtech segment. It’s actually a descriptor for multiple spaces. Think about the problem we are trying to solve with biologicals—it includes everything from genetic innovations that help plants resist drought and disease to soil health solutions that measure and improve any number of metrics that can improve soil health to biofertilizers and biostimulants that encourage more growth and yield. That’s at least three different segments: genetics, soil health and inputs (each of which naturally breaks down into its own set of segments.) It’s understandable why startups from any of the segments would want to label themselves as biological solutions when the tailwinds above are getting more obvious daily to investors, and even potential customers, as regulatory pressures mount to start replacing chemicals with…biologicals (loose definition.)

Two things can be true at the same time. Western Growers and our membership will continue to advocate for science-based usage of chemical inputs while working hard to help support and scale innovators as the new solutions iterate and improve enough to continue successfully fundraising and getting products in a ready position for scale and international market entry. Attempts to go entirely without chemicals would likely lead to results like Sri Lanka (organic mandate results in lower yields, mass starvation due to lack of import capability, and becomes a significant factor in a government overthrow less than 18 months after the executive order was signed) or the Netherlands (government decision to use tax dollars to shut down 3,000 livestock operators under the guise of EU greenhouse gas emissions reductions resulted in a just-formed political party taking the most seats in the recently contested election, sending a clear signal that it wasn’t just farmers that were unhappy with the strong-armed approach that could and should have been driven by innovation instead of regulation).

So with all the tailwinds, everyone in the agtech ecosystem (that includes growers, investors and industry groups like Western Growers) has three jobs for biologicals.

First, if a startup says they are in biologicals, ask which part of biological solutions—genetics, soil health or inputs? Second, once the sub-segment is identified, ask what specific problem, or budget line item, the startup’s solution helps improve from a grower economics perspective (always helps when they can tie it to a specific line item on the financial statements). If these sound a lot like two of the first steps used in Lean Startup analysis, they should, and that’s the third job. Make sure that all biologicals startups are pushing their thinking through Lean Startup (aka Lean Canvas if doing Google search to identify the easy-to-use tool implementation of Lean Startup methodology) which will force them to think hard about the use case, problem statement and economic model they should pursue.

If we can do that for all biological startups, we will help them avoid bad R&D paths and ideally improve their chances of fundraising and/or successful fundraising depending on where in their life cycle the startup is at when you meet them. Pay it forward, folks. Startups are hard, we can help avoid some unforced R&D errors and wasted capital with these three simple steps. Helping everyone understand which biological solutions are dessert toppings and which are floor waxes is good for everyone in the long-term.