Kannar Earth Science, Author at New Kannar Group

microplastic free seed treatment success — Kannar successfully develops environmentally friendly seed finisher free of microplastics

Seed companies seek peace of mind and confidence when switching from a high-performing hydrocarbon-derived seed treatment solution to a natural alternative. The challenge with natural alternatives is that nature does not always deliver products with the same high consistency achieved through chemistry. Kannar is thrilled to have found a solution. The new microplastic free seed finisher, SlipShine, is a success!

Urgently Needed Technology

Kannar listened to seed companies’ desires and developed a microplastic-free seed lubricity agent. It was important to get ahead of impending EU regulations banning the use of microplastics in seed treatment formulations. In 2020, Kannar Earth Science, Ltd. introduced SlipShine, a high-performing, dry seed finisher. Now any wet seed treatment is confidently applied dry, trouble-free.

Early in SlipShine’s development, Heather Lewis, Kannar’s seed lab lead, studied many natural, microplastic-free candidates to evaluate their performance when used in a dry product. Some essential requirements were to provide lubricity on the seed surface, reduce dust-off, and improve seed appearance and safety.

“We looked at how the ingredients come together by testing from many different angles,” Lewis says. “We wanted to make sure that the finished product performed well and that the elimination of microplastics would not come at the expense of something else. We always want to make sure the seed’s look is as enhancing as the technology itself. To accomplish all these different factors, we examined quite a few different possibilities.”

Meanwhile, in Kannar’s microbial lab, Justin Kwiatkowski evaluated the product’s compatibility with various seed-applied microbes. These could be gram-positive or gram-negative. Kannar’s agronomy team studied various products’ effects on crop establishment, germination safety, the impact on the rhizosphere, on the roots, etc.

The agronomic development of SlipShine was guided by one of Kannar’s core values: promote ideal agriculture. “Our decisions were made for us as we selected whatever was best for the environment, best for the growers, best for the workers, and best for our company,” Kwiatkowski explains. “We are always looking to grow, to make additions with biologicals or additional chemistries.”

First-Year Success

Kannar was pleasantly surprised with the seed industry’s initial adoption of SlipShine 6300 dry seed-finisher. As the world’s first microplastic-free, dry seed-applied technology, SlipShine promotes on-seed drying of seed treatments and increases seed integrity and handling speed. In the 2020-21 crop year, SlipShine was applied to about 50 million lbs. of peanut seed. It was also well-received by field crop seed companies globally.

Seed processors immediately noted stunning performance improvements concerning the speed of seed handling. “The seed just bags faster,” was the frequent feedback. Once SlipShine goes through its polymerization phase within the first minute after application, it creates a slick, eggshell-like coating on each seed. This shell promotes greater flowability and protects seeds against further mechanical damage during handling.

“Seed bridging in tenders, wet-treated seed not drying, and seed requiring growers to reduce planting speed because it is sticking to planter plates: these are real problems,” says Sam Cloete, Kannar CEO. “With SlipShine, we offer a solution that can be easily adopted without disruption of existing technologies. That is a real solution.”

One of Kannar’s core values is to keep the environment in mind while reaching its goals. Considerable work and research were devoted to developing ingredient ratios. Additionally, cost analyses from both the company’s perspective and also the perspective of its customers were considered. “We always want to make sure we don’t make the salad cost five times as much as the fries, so people still want to go for the fries,” Lewis says. “For example, we put our treated seed through different seed handling and planting apparatus to make sure that dust-off was not a problem. We made sure it would flow well through everybody’s equipment from start to finish. We looked at the product from quite a few different perspectives to develop a product optimal for use, performance, and appearance.

“We never want to look at something we brought to market and consider that it is the best it could be,” Cloete says. “Even if a product is something we really like, we continually wonder how it could be improved. “We never stop working to improve our products.”

Contact Kannar to learn which SlipShine product is right for your seed treatment needs.
Ready to start treating your seed with a microplastic free product? Click here!

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Modified from article in SeedWorld Magazine, Apri 2021

Searching for Corporate Soulmates

What do you stand for and value? Where do you invest yourself, in your career and in life? These are the type of questions we ask ourselves daily – both individually and corporately. We ask these questions to potential alliances as well because we seek alignment only with others who are as passionately devoted to innovation and growth as we are.

Catalysts for Change

At Kannar, our mission – in fact, our daily passion – is to promote ideal agriculture through incremental positive changes. What does that mean in real terms? We’re committed to making the world better, one crop establishment technology innovation at a time. It’s why we invested in the world’s first microplastic-free seed fluency aid; it’s why we’ve persevered in optimization and development of bio-pesticidal microbes from discovery to patents; it’s why sustainability and regeneration are part of every one of our corporate conversations.

Ultimately, our company is successful when we help make farmers more successful. We deeply believe that farming success – both today and into the future – depends on all of us pushing past the status quo towards more efficient, more effective, more earth-friendly innovations.

Our Partnerships

We are humbled whenever collaborators seek us out. Some find us attractive because of our geographic reach. We’re one of only a few seed treatment technology optimization companies not located in the heart of corn and soy production states. This means we have access to markets such as peanuts, rice, cotton, sorghum, sunflower, fruits, and vegetables in addition to corn, soy, sugar beets, and wheat. Some future partners come to us because of our proven history and appetite for innovation, our treatment expertise, and our established industry relationships. However, by far the collaborators we are most excited to work with, whether a business partner or career leader, come to us because they share our belief and commitment that we can make a meaningful difference in the world around us.

Please also watch this video to learn more about our approach to relationships. If you see yourselves as changemakers, let’s talk!

Current Kannar Earth Science Career Openings

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

FOR INFORMATION: BRIAN TULLEY 888-GET-DUST

SAM CLOETE 678-475-1155

Calamus, Iowa and Buford, Ga. February 23, 2021—Low Mu Tech, the patent owners of Dust™ announces an agreement giving Kannar Earth Science, Ltd. global exclusivity on its world-wide patent for a micro-plastic free seed applied fluency aid. This allows Kannar to offer exciting innovations of seed applied technologies to seed companies around the word.

“This agreement follows our principle to provide innovative solutions to seed companies; enabling them to help address common problems farmers face,” said Brian Tulley, Managing Partner of Low Mu Tech.

“This agreement powers improved seed treatment solutions for farmers via seed treaters,” said Sam Cloete President and CEO of Kannar Earth Science. “The collaboration with Low Mu Tech has lead to the creation of the SlipSHINE™ range of seed treatment products, a microplastic free seed applied finishing powder that also promotes drying, flowability and stunning appearance of treated seed.

“This alliance, is more than the sum of its parts,” said Tulley. “The innovation of SlipSHINE™ leverages the strength of both companies with the ability to provide outstanding products to seed companies, seed treaters and farmers alike.”

“This technology introduces innovations from a company that we are proud to work with. Open collaboration leads to a focus on solutions for a broad breadth of stakeholders,” said Tulley. “Our considerable investment in practical research and development for farmers seeking alternatives that are safe for the farmer, made from US soy, and microplastic-free continues to take root.”

Low Mu Tech is the Calamus, Iowa innovator of the “Cleaner. Safer. Soy™” alternative for graphite and talc known as Dust™. Kannar Earth Science is the Buford, Ga, based leading developer and provider of liquid and dry seed applied technologies.

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Passion and tenacity motivate Kannar Earth Science to develop effective, spot-on solutions for customers’ seed treatment challenges

A grower can reasonably expect to have 40 growing seasons to create a legacy and contribute to the financial security of their family and community. Only the bravest of the brave, those willing to work tirelessly, can achieve their goals, says Kannar Earth Science, Ltd., CEO Sam Cloete.

With a passion for helping growers create their financial legacy, Cloete chose seed companies and seed treatment to be Kannar’s route to value creation. To build growers’ legacies, Kannar works through products and technologies backed by data and science related to yield optimization and environmental stewardship. Kannar understands that anytime human efforts produce food, fiber or fuel, production comes at the expense of something.

Maximum Results with Minimal Environmental Impact

“Our passion is to minimize the environmental impact and maximize the utilization of resources. Kannar brings tools and seed-applied technologies to growers through seed companies. We share most growers’ belief that we have a responsibility to leave our resources and our growing environment in a more wholesome condition than how we receive them. We do this by never giving up when looking for simple, effective answers,” says Cloete.

Limited Seed Workspace

Seed treatments are an effective vehicle for delivering crop protection technologies to a grower’s field. A limitation is the amount of space on each seed. The challenge is to optimize that space when considering technologies that help with crop establishment, early-season pathogen protection, and yield enhancement. Kannar must overcome the chemical, physical and biological limitations, not to mention the limits to the actual amount of chemistry that can be applied to the seed.

“And we work with limitations to seed safety also,” Cloete says. “We know that some products, which can be applied foliar or in-furrow, may not be safely applied as a seed treatment without reformulation. Another limitation is illustrated by micronutrients. We cannot apply enough micronutrient material to the seed to satisfy that crop’s micronutrient demand throughout the growing cycle and still be within the physical planting limitations of getting seed placed in the soil.”

“We find ways to bring multiple solutions to the seed. It may take thousands of attempts over several years until we find an answer, but we resonate with the end-user by finding real solutions to their real problems.”

A successful solution for Kannar is one that allows everyone to sleep well at night. That can only happen when the answer is backed by sound research, thorough data, and extensive testing. It goes beyond just offering a relationship and a product in a keg or tote. It means Kannar goes on-site, multiple times as needed, to observe the application of chemistries. The team then verifies that full-scale production produces the same results as indicated from smaller scale lab experiences.

“We try not to be limited by existing beliefs or others’ experiences. Tenacity and perseverance mean willingness to make minor adjustments with the product until we determine the solution is spot on. It means we often compete against ourselves; especially when we believe that we already have a great product. But we pause and ask ourselves, ‘How can we make it even better?’ “Ultimately,” says Cloete, “our goal is to provide an environment where the seed can achieve its genetic potential and help our growers create their legacy and financial security.”

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Modified from publication in SeedWorld, January 2021

Advanta Seed and UPL develop new seed treatments to elevate the profitability and image of sorghum for U.S. growers. Kannar Earth Science provides lab analytics and blend management.

In 2006, when UPL, a manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, acquired Advanta Seeds, its U.S. team wanted seed research data verification and product innovation to all take place on U.S. soil. It took time and patience to develop new seed treatment chemistry that met the company’s high standards for U.S. growers.

Advanta had been using Syngenta’s seed treatments including Concep, a seed safener, on its sorghum seed. For many years, Syngenta’s Concep was the only acceptable product on the market that would allow growers to make a preplant, preemerge application of Group 15 herbicides. Post-emerge herbicide options for sorghum are limited. When growers were on the fence about whether to plant sorghum or another crop, weed pressures and limited herbicide options often pushed them to go another route and avoid sorghum.

When Advanta developed igrowth, the first herbicide-resistant sorghum, they included a high-performance treatment for the seed. UPL’s seed treatment team constructed a new, comprehensive premium seed treatment blend, Vertix Premier, for Advanta which includes MESH, a superior alternative to Concep for safening Group 15 herbicides. The blend also contains RANCONA, which is known for its premium systemic and contact control of a broad spectrum of seed and soil-borne pathogens. The blend is rounded with time-proven solutions of STartUP IMIDA and METXL to complete the insecticide and disease protection.

“We are bringing new Vertix Premier brand seed treatment to improve growers’ all-around experience with sorghum seed,” says Advanta Sales and Marketing Manager Tanner Antonick. “Advanta has worked with UPL to put the product through several years of testing to confirm its safety on the seed. It has subsequently become a very positive product with a high level of seed safety. Even when treated seed is stored for several months before planting, the seed remains in exceptional condition.”

“We have created a new liquid formulation of MESH that is more versatile and flexible,” says Andy Hurst, UPL Seed and Soil Health Business Manager. “MESH safener in sorghum is actually not a new active. With their unique research focus, UPL took this superior safener and developed it further into a liquid formulation that can easily be used at the treater or in custom blends for sorghum.”

Tested and On Target

Kannar Earth Science aided in the transition by providing logistics and associated lab work. They verified that Advanta’s seed treatment recipes were on target and on spec. Kannar continues to make the custom seed treatment blends used to treat Advanta seeds and aid in on-site advertisement.

“Creating custom seed treatment blends requires attention to every detail to ensure it can be safely blended and combined with other seed treatments,” Hurst adds. “This testing improves the efficiency of application and simplifies the process for treating sorghum seed.”

The other part of the MESH and Vertix Premier story is that UPL has set up a new global R&D Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Hurst says their new lab is set up to conduct compatibility, stability, bio-assays and greenhouse testing as well as treating and planting characteristics of seed treatments. Its resources and scientific expertise have enabled the company to make great strides in several seed emergence technologies.

Elevating Sorghum’s Image

“When people look at Advanta, we hope they will see a company that is committed to bringing continual innovation to the sorghum industry. Our UPL alignment enables us to bring seed treatments to our growers that meet the highest standards of seed quality,” Antonick says. “This was incredibly important as we launched igrowth this past summer. We want growers to get the best value for their dollar and be able to make the best choices for their acres.”

“We know that growers appreciate having choices when they make their crop and seed decisions,” adds Hurst. “UPL is committed to offering unique solutions for growers that contribute to their bottom line.”

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Published in SeedWorld, October 2020

Cotton Seed Treatment Controls Thrips

Controlling thrips is one of the most significant, early-season issues facing cotton farmers. The pest has developed resistance to several seed-applied insecticides, but not to acephate. Applying acephate as a cotton seed treatment for thrips control would be an ideal solution, except that it is difficult to apply or even handle seed treated with acephate. Acephate just does not lend itself to being blended into seed treatment, nor does it adhere evenly to seeds. Growers do not reliably know what rate of efficacy they are getting across their fields, so they frequently make a foliar application to limit future injury after thrips have already done seedling damage.

Addressing the Issue

A few years ago, Americot, Inc., an independent cotton seed company, wanted to develop a reliable cotton seed treatment incorporating both acephate and high-performance STartUP IMIDA, imidacloprid from UPL, Ltd. to provide early-season seedling protection against thrips

“We were told by several ‘experts’ that it could not be done, that acephate could not be successfully applied as a seed treatment,” Americot General Manager Chiree Fields recalls. “That is when we approached Sam Cloete and his team with Kannar Earth Science. We wanted a collaborator to develop a new formulation to enhance our existing CottolyST^TM seed treatments. We needed something innovative and different from the rest of the industry that could control seedling thrips and position Americot as an industry leader.”

Together the three companies were inspired to find a solution. The thinking that prevailed was, “how can we help growers?” The ideal solution would be a seed treatment that combines acephate for immediate protection with imidacloprid that provides lasting control over thrips. These insecticides needed to be further combined with a comprehensive fungicide package that includes STartUP Rancona, AZOXY and METXL.

Not an Overnight Solution

Kannar’s seed lab manager Heather Lewis, worked with Americot to determine what enhancers are needed to promote seed safety, stability while in storage and how to apply the technology. Working together, Americot, Kannar and seed treatment manufacturer UPL perfected the offering to growers.

“I would offer that we did not get it right the first time before we brought it together for high-scale production,” Heather says. “Kannar had been working behind the scenes since 2010, even before we knew what the demand would be, and that contributed to a successful and comprehensive seed treatment offering. There are a lot of things that can go wrong in a scenario like this. Combinations are prone to kick out with some kind of apple sauce or cottage cheese-like reaction. That means you go through a lot of options to discover and verify success. There were about 40 trial entries in our first round of potential ingredients. Kannar’s K5™ growth enhancer and SlipShine™ 6200 Flowability Enhancer technologies came in handy. Our final solution to growers is a seed treatment that provides thrips protection from the moment the seed is planted. For our customers, the result is more uniform growth and seedling emergence, along with essential control of disease and pests.” (Our new K7 is available by contacting Kannar or online as well.)

Traditionally, most of the seed Americot has been selling into West Texas included only their base seed treatment. But now growers are seeing new challenges in their fields. Americot can address those challenges with CottolyST Enhanced. Americot promotes their higher-level seed treatment because growers see it is as a valuable enhancement for early crop establishment. Farmers know both the challenges and potential benefits of acephate seed treatment. So, when an Americot sales representative educates growers that CottolyST Enhanced can successfully keep acephate on the seed, then the rep immediately has the grower’s attention.

To find out more about Kannar’s custom blend program, please visit www.kannargroup.com/cropestablishment

Modified from article in Seed World, November 2020

Kannar Earth Science integrates and optimizes seed applied technologies for crop establishment peace of mind

What do you consider for seed applied technologies (SATs)? The essential seedling protection against pests and soilborne diseases? Maybe you’re looking for something to specifically help crop emergence?

Well, there is an alternative solution! What about finding a seed treatment technologies and solutions group that provides the total package for crop establishment?

Kannar Earth Science is here for one reason: to promote ideal agriculture through the design and manufacture of the combination of innovative SAT’s which may consist of active ingredients (AI’s), synergistic fertilizers and related seed applied inputs.

“We provide total confidence,” says CEO Sam Cloete (pronounced “Clue-TAH”). “We use several Rancona based blends with STartUP™ branded components from UPL, such as STartUP IMIDA, METXL, AZOXY and more. We trust these due to excellent efficacy and high quality of the formulations. This ensures reliable stability, compatibility and treating characteristics of the complete package. (Click HERE to request more information and to see the variety of crops we treat.)

“Kannar has invested significant time and resources to develop SeedKOTE™ polymers, pigments, stabilizers and other value-added additives,” he says.

“With total confidence comes total value. We often hear customers mention that we provide the best value because we help them sleep well at night. And the process is simple: Given our dedication to excellence, we replace real problems with real solutions, all backed by science.”

Communication is Key

Cloete says that the quality of the seed treatment on the seed shows a grower just how much technical expertise can be associated with the chemistries on the seed and how it is applied.

“Think about what happens when a seed company shows a grower treated seed: consider the coatings appearance with regard to uniformity, visual appeal, and the seed’s flowability, even in terms of how much less dust is in the seed display cup,” he says. “The industry has really caught on to the value of seed coating by communicating these traits and intellectual property of the treated seed.”

Now, Cloete says, the race is on for seed companies to communicate the importance of treated seed to promote crop establishment for that very grower.

“What do you think of when you think of crop establishment?” he asks. “For a grower, crop establishment relates to all the elements of crop protection, such as your insecticide and fungicide; the high performance of biologicals, whether an inoculant or other yield enhancing technology that is applied alongside the AI treatment; high germination coupled with uniform and rapid emergence across the field. The seed coating contributes significantly to that achievement.”

This is where seed companies can have difficulties arise. When you hit the crossroads of crop protection through traditional AI’s, seed applied fertilizers, micronutrients, hormones and microbials, companies can inadvertently promote undesired outcomes in terms of crop establishment or worse, create sub-par yield.

“It could actually create a yield drag or an emergence concern,” Cloete says. “That’s where Kannar comes in to help.”

Kannar brings the expertise of knowing exactly how all the chemistries on the seed will react, and how to place it properly on the seed to prevent sub-par quality issues when it comes to crop establishment.

Customized Attention

Kannar can devise a strategy to help differentiate the seed in the marketplace by way of appearance and crop establishment performance. Cloete notes that with one seed company, they worked closely to create a seed coating strategy. Once competition caught up there was no need to panic. Instead, it became a mere indication that it was time to deploy the next offering – remaining ahead of the competition.

“We also offer custom ready-to-use blends, saving time for our customer to focus on what they do best — sell seed, service the grower relationship and treat the seed excellently and quickly,” Cloete says. “That helped them to distinguish themselves in the marketplace from their competitors.”

In the end, there’s one thing to take away: Kannar is a reliable, full-service provider of seed treatment equipment, your foundation of seed treatment AI’s and everything that goes with it.

“We might be the new kids on the block, but we have an impressive history developing and working with seed treatments,” Cloete says. “And we have serious expertise to go along with it.”

To find out more about Kannar’s custom blend program, please visit www.kannargroup.com/cropestablishment

Modified from article in Seed World, October 2020

Choosing the right crop input distributor for you and your product or technology

Agriculture is in a very exciting time with many new innovations. Yield enhancing crop input technologies are more diversified and complex than ever before. Indeed, we live in an exciting time where any one person or a small company can make positive and lasting changes in how we grow and cultivate crops. Consumers and growers are demanding newer and more efficient technologies. Growers have evolved and are also more adoptive of new technology. Finding the right distributor relationship, with good communication and similar goals, will help you take advantage of the opportunities and see great success.

But finding the ideal distributor for your unique crop input technology can be challenging. The big questions:

Does an ideal distributor already market technologies similar to what you have?
Do they already market a competing technology?
Or, ideally, do they not have offerings like what you may bring them?

These questions are important to ask to ensure that your product receives the attention it deserves and the resources needed to allow for commercialization. If the targeted distributor is already marketing a similar product, they may have a conscious or subconscious motivation to keep competing technologies off the market. They may view your new product as a threat to the investment of time, money and resources they’ve already made.

If you are a foreign entity trusting your technology with a new distributor in a new country, the last thing you want is for your technology to be strategically tied up by a group that represents themselves as the ideal distributor of your technology. You can try and overcome this potential pitfall with performance guarantees only to learn a year or two later that this “ideal distributor” never intended to even try and achieve market penetration and meet or exceed the performance guarantees. What you’ve lost in time can be irreplaceable in terms of economic loss. In fact, you may have provided the industry with an opportunity to invent “me too” products. Essentially, if you don’t have a motivated distributor, you’ve spent a lot of money educating your competition.

So, what SHOULD you look for in your ideal crop input distributor?

First and foremost, you want a distributor that is hungry for market penetration. The distributor needs to WANT your technology and have a strong appetite to commercialize it.

The right distributor will have industry understanding and use appropriate restraint.

The distributor should demonstrate a degree of technical appreciation and understanding of what you bring to agriculture. Your “technical language” should be well understood. Your representative should comprehend principles behind your technology and appreciate the mode of action, the uniqueness and the value add it brings to the industry. They should even be able to add to your story to help market to the local grower. A simple indication that you are in good company would be that at the end of your presentation, they should be able to verbalize what they hear from you in a language that makes sense to you.
Restraint is important because it’s simply not feasible to market to all places at once. The right distributor will focus on specific geographic regions and crops, especially at first. In contrast to smaller agricultural countries, the United States’ scale is so much larger and the ideal distributor understands the amount of work and the nuances involved in each sector. Given that the United States is one of the biggest crop producers in the world, one can appreciate that the market is more complex when compared to a small country. The ideal distributor should not promise to go after all sectors right away.

If they can’t state it back to you, then they don’t understand you. You should hear, “WOW – that’s amazing. We don’t have that here. We know exactly where this product would be a good fit.”

Your right distributor has resources available to commercialize your technology.

Financial: They should have the financial means to undertake U.S. trials and, if needed, product registrations and further research and development of marketing material.
Manpower: There should be experts to analyze the data and share the message in the marketplace.
Contacts: Not only should a distributor have a strong base of industry contacts, but they should also be willing to freely share with you the contacts that would help get the word out. This includes but is not limited to agronomists, academics, key growers, retailers, and even possible manufacturers.
A sense of humility and ability to overcome challenges when things don’t go as planned is important. The ideal distributor will be cautious before making any guarantees of performance while also taking responsibility for the successes and failures related to their marketing efforts.
For instance, trials in the U.S. may inadvertently show negative or undesirable results only to find that it was due to the seed quality, an unusual weather pattern, a translation mistake or even an accidental spill.
- EX: a spray herbicide was used and the tank wasn’t washed completely so that when a fertilizer was added to the tank and then used, the crop was killed from the application of the herbicide residue

Don’t be afraid to ask what the budget would be or to give you a business plan that allocates what resources will be used to market your technology and include what they do in case things don’t go as planned. These answers are insightful.

In general, be wary if a distributor already has similar technology, but don’t refrain from having a discussion. They may not be satisfied with what they already have and appreciate that you may have something that addresses a real need in the marketplace. They may be willing to entertain marketing your product provided it doesn’t impact any contractual obligations they may have already agreed to.

If they don’t have your technology, they may initially lack minor areas of expertise, but you should see a strong motivation to offer good technology in the marketplace. They will learn by working with and for you.

Kannar has experience in just how difficult it is to fully understand and appreciate a new technology. It takes commitment to learn, and perseverance and follow through to self-educate when needed. We’re fortunate at Kannar that our team has a nearly insatiable demand to learn more and apply what we learn. We are wary of partnering with people – team members and clients – that claim they know it all. It takes vulnerability to admit you don’t know something, but we will be honest with you if we don’t know something and commit to learning more.

If you were to introduce a new technology, you should outline what success looks like. For instance, there may be agreement that in year one we should have 200,000 acres of treated crops, but in year five it would be one million acres. This discussion should lead to a commitment to evaluate what goes right and what goes wrong. If there is a solid partnership, needed actions will be taken to address areas of concern.

Contact Kannar to start the discussion today. We are excited about the new opportunities in agriculture and want to see if we’re a good fit for your product and maximize your exposure.

Are you an established company located outside the United States seeing success with an agricultural crop input? Do you think your product could be a game changer and that everyone is ready to love and pay for that product? Marketing in the U.S. – the world’s biggest breadbasket – is an exciting prospect! You can reach a large number of stakeholders and have long-term stability by trading with the U.S. dollar. BUT…

Before you jump on a plane looking for a distributor, here are the top 5 things to be clear about.

Understand what you have. Is your product a fertilizer with minimal registration demands or a pesticide with more onerous time and dollar registration requirements? Or maybe it’s equipment used to more effectively treat seeds. Whatever it is, you must have a clear description for not only your potential customers, but for the U.S. Government as well.
Know what your product does! You may be excited and feel that your product will ultimately increase yield or save growers input cost, but unless you know the very specific function of your product, you will have difficulty finding an engaging audience.

For example, you may have a microbe that increases yield by stimulating root growth. Saying that it’s a microbe that is yield enhancing is not specific enough. Customers need to know specifics so that they ensure they are using products to address their specific needs.
Know how the crop input makes its way to the plant. There are many ways to impact the plant. Some of these are pre-planting, others are post-emergence. Is your product a seed treatment? Is in an application in furrow? Does the product require foliar spray? Maybe the input is a chemigation. Whatever the input method, you need to be very clear upfront about how it reaches the plant to impact yield.

The best way to communicate the product’s application requirements is through concise documentation, including step-by-step instructions. These instructions should be presented in U.S. equivalents. Too often we see companies present data using liters per hectare and not fluid ounces per acre. Removing the extra step of conversion for a potential client will allow them to assess the product more easily and more quickly.
Know how it works. KNOW THAT IT WORKS. Results are the bottom line. Your potential customers want to know that your product works – and that it works consistently. It is imperative that you have data that backs up the success of your product. This means detailed – and time tested – data.

Too often a company comes to market with only one year of test data, or worse, data for only one location on one crop. This is not a big enough sample size. Potential customers will see this as too dangerous to invest in. You will need multiple years, on multiple locations of the target crop, to prove that your crop input works. Without this data you risk being in a weak bargaining position. The more you know about how it works, down to even the cell level, the more you can help your distributor and sales/marketing team have the knowledge to market the product and work with regulators to meet requirements.
Registration requirements in the U.S. The United States likely has different requirements for product marketing than countries you’ve previously worked with. In many countries, products are regulated depending on mode of action. In the U.S., however, input products are regulated based on claims made.

One example:
You have a fertilizer that also acts as a bio fungicide. The claim can be made in other countries that it’s both. However, in the U.S., because it’s primarily fertilizer, it can only be sold and marketed as fertilizer. Yet, it can be priced as both. In the United States, if you make a fungicide claim you are subject to FIFRA (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act), which equals more dollars and time for approval.

Working with a distributor that is fully versed in federal, and state, agricultural laws is important so that you don’t spend unnecessary time and money getting your product correctly marketed.

While the United States market is big, it attracts a lot of competition. You must be willing to sacrifice significant margin to get your product into the supply/demand chain. You may have to incentivize distributors to buy and deliver your product. It is unwise to try and sell direct to customers because you don’t want to shut out an established distribution chain. You want as many people in the target market – from distributors to end users – to be excited about the success of your product. But they won’t back an unknown sales product, so it is incumbent on you to provide the data they need and even a test sample of your product so that they can see real world results.

Stay tuned for more information on bringing your product to the United States. Upcoming topics include “Choosing the right distributor fit for you and your product” and “Getting ready for the first meeting with a distributor – what do you need to do?”

The corporate and agricultural worlds have many differences, but there may be one area that bridges both in a way that is vital for sustainable growth. Every day, things happen good, bad, or generally indifferently in all our lives; however, when money and other resources are on the line, those more negative situations impact our operations’ ability to thrive.

Event Management

In Bill Schwarz’s book, The Generative Organization, and his related training concepts, he describes these situations as events that must be managed from a place of curiosity and mindfulness. In our Kannar Kulture, we call this Event Management, but simply put, it means taking a closer look when things go wrong, so they’ll go right next time. We won’t go into all the tips and techniques (that’s how Bill butters his bread!), but here are a few considerations that can quickly change how we handle mistakes, messes, and goof-ups in a way that makes our processes AND relationships stronger as a result.

Mindset and Perspective

The starting point and most important part of Event Management is mindset/perspective, which involves training our teams and ourselves to approach situations with mindfulness and curiosity. Often, we get upset when negative-impact events occur. There’s too much dust with this polymer, nematodes are reducing our yields, the hydraulic speed sensor keeps causing the ECU to cut off – these events can cause our emotions to flare resulting in blame, quick fixes, and poor decisions.

Step one is identifying if we’re upset (mindfulness) and take a deep breath or two – it’s going to be much more difficult to come up with effective solutions if we’re still ticked off.

Step two is actively stating in our minds or out loud to others that this situation is “happening for me” (curiosity). It’s a subtle difference but changing the narrative from this is “happening to me” puts us mentally in a place of action rather than victimhood. It can definitely be difficult staring out at acres of struggling or damaged crops to think in such a positive manner, but taking the leap of faith that you/we can figure this out, in the end, is a great way to propel us forward to the eventuality of new and exciting heights.

Seeds ready for shipment. — Seeds Ready For Shipment

The last step we’ll cover today is blame-free idea generation. Wow, lots of fancy phrases in this article. Basically put, this is rounding up any parts of your team that are ready and available and throwing out ideas. An important consideration here is being sure to respectfully consider each idea that comes up. This is a chance for you and your team to be brave and bold and put yourself out there for the betterment of the whole operation. Anyone (young or old, new or experienced, highly-educated or school of hard-knocks) can come up with the next great idea that takes your team from struggling to success. Be sure not to belittle anyone and focus on ideas that will keep this event from happening in the future (extra credit if the idea saves time and money). As soon as an idea pops up that generally everyone agrees might work – give it a shot.

Following the steps above will help address the immediate issue, such as fixing the spill that occurs each time you transport between containers. But over time, those ideas will add up to an operation that exhibits sustainable growth and a balance that makes work much less stressful day in and day out.

Author name: Kannar Earth Science