b'SIMON WATT Will AI Chat Bots Make CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION OFFICER,Agronomists Obsolete?ACTIVATE AG LABSsimon@activateaglabs.comactivateaglabs.comIMAGINE SITTING ACROSStheconversations are handled by AI table during an interview with anchatbots. According to an April agronomist candidate. The can- 2023 article from tidio.com, 88% Is Seed Application the Nextdidate can recall every soil type,of customers have had at least one every slope percentage, the detailschatbot conversation in the last Big Step for Biostimultants?of every disease over the past 20year. This will likely be 100% soon. years and the performance of everyAccording to Grandview Research, seed variety on every acre sincethe chatbot market size was $5.13 BIOSTIMULANTS AREarguably the biggest step1999. Congratulations, you justbillion in 2022 and is expected to forward for agriculture in several decades, and werehired an AI chatbot! grow at an annual rate of more than just on the leading edge of biostimulant research. OneThe new abilities of AI chatbots23% until 2030. When you combine of the biggest areas of potential in biostimulants is inare being reported almost everythis with the trend of humanizing seed application.day. They can write a hit song, com- chatbots with more natural-sound-Right now, most biostimulants are foliar or soilpose a romantic poem, get an A oning voices and the ability to read applied, often multiple times throughout the growinga college term paper and even passemotion in a conversation, its easy season, and usually starting once the crop is well estab- medical school entrance exams. If(and a bit unsettling) to see a future lished. Biostimulants are viewed as effective but rela- AI can do all this, at what point doin which we talk to computers as tively short-acting (and therefore necessarily frequent)agronomists become obsolete? much as other humans.boosters to plant health and growth.Hiring quality field agronomistsSome of this is already happen-Butand product support positions ising on the farm. Growers can get Rather than applying to leaf or soil after crop estab- one of the most challenging tasks adisease identification by uploading lishment, could seed-appliedbiostimulants set the cropseed brand has. Quality candidatespictures to an app and use drone or up for enhanced success from the start, possibly pro- need to have knowledge of thesatellite imagery to see which areas viding longer-term benefit and a replacement of later- areas soils, disease and pest pres- of the field are impactedseason applications? Is there a multiplier of benefitssure, weather patterns and have aBut for now, getting mud on from mixing multiple modes of biostimulant action?deep understanding of the germ- your boots is still the best way to Our industry has much to learn. Companies like oursplasm they are representing. Everysupport your seed varieties on the are and working hard to build the necessary data.farm is different and the interactionfarm. Agronomists are more than Heres what we do know: between the environment and thejust a collection of facts and figures. Biostimulants achieve one of five specific but oftengermplasm is nuanced and changesThey are a key piece of the farm-interrelated goals: boosting stress tolerance, improvingevery year. The job is gettingers brand experience and humans plant growth, enhancing nutrient use efficiency, increas- tougher to do and the pool of can- are still better at building trusting ing quality and improving yield. Conditions in earlydidates is getting smaller each year. relationships than computers. At season are often some of the most stressful a plantThis exact situation is happeningleast, so far!must withstand anytime in the growing season, and arein other sectors as well. Customer made more difficult because the plant is at its small- service jobs used to be outsourced est and most vulnerable. A seed-applied biostimulantto countries that had lower wage that supports early season stress tolerance could haverates, but now many of the routine meaningful impact on crop establishment, uniformity and ultimate yield. . Since leaf applied biostimulants require multiple applications, seed treatment could offer a lower-effort solution to biostimulant application. Seed application could prove more cost effective too, since it requiresJIM SCHWEIGERTonly a small fraction of the product compared tofoliarPRESIDENT, GRO ALLIANCEor soil application.jim.schweigert@groalliance.comAsking the right questions will be key to gaininggroalliance.commaximum benefit from biostimulants.@jim_schweigertJUNE 2023 SEEDWORLD.COM /35'