Agricultural Silos: Innovation & Production
When Kannar Earth Science, Ltd. was a flicker of an idea in my head, I noticed a big problem with agricultural innovation, especially in the chemical and seed treatment arenas. Innovation and production functioned in completely different silos. The companies that innovated didn’t really understand the complexities, challenges, or opportunities of large-scale production. The companies that commercialized were limited by ‘doing rather than dreaming.’
That disconnect between big ideas of innovation and realities of production meant the kind of big and necessary ideas that push agriculture forward were stifled and stalled, or maybe never even dreamed up at all.
I decided to start Kannar because I knew there could be a better way.
Bridging between agricultural silos
The single most common question people ask us at Kannar is: why would an innovation company also have hard assets and do production, too? It’s a reasonable question. After all, companies typically choose to innovate, to produce, or to distribute and commercialize, but never all. Our answer? For an innovation to get off the ground, Kannar must believe in, invest in, and walk it forward from start to success. We know that carrying an innovation from the idea stage to the producers’ doors gives us the whole-system perspective necessary to achieve and deliver industry game-changers.
Selecting silos carefully
Here is the critical thing: because we are responsible for and understand the challenges of every stage from innovation to commercialization, we are incredibly careful about what we choose to pursue. We say ‘no’ far more often than we say ‘yes.’ No when the timing isn’t right; no to almost-but-not-quite-right products; no to companies that ask to partner but aren’t ready or able to add value. When our ‘yes’ comes, it follows saying ‘not yet’ or ‘not good enough’ to dozens of other not right opportunities.
Also, consider most toll manufacturers. Conventional toll manufacturers are happy to produce trainload quantities of product that they can forecast months or a year in advance. However, that requires the product to be at full commercial adoption. Who blends a product in its early stages of development, when it’s just 10 gallons for a sample or 100 gallons for an initial launch? In today’s world, essentially no one. That’s why our full-service, state-of-the-art lab is so critical to the early stages of product development. We can create those tiny volume blends, but we’re also prepared, under the same roof, to scale up production to meet each subsequent step of the development and commercialization process. Though all the initial leg work might seem like we spend a lot of time on the runway, there’s nothing as exciting as helping innovations launch, then watching them fly high!
I’m proud of what we have accomplished at Kannar. I’m more excited about what we will accomplish in the future. We’ve asked a lot of questions. We’ve listened to agriculture stakeholders. We’ve been willing to make mistakes to grow. And now, we’re ready to show that agricultural silos don’t have to exist!
Kannar exists to promote ideal agriculture through designing and manufacturing innovative seed coatings, synergistic fertilizer technology, and related crop inputs. We continually strive to find economical and practical ways to bring successful technology to growers.
Modified from April 2022 SeedWorld Magazine article
