Future quality of life hinges on agriculture satisfying demands for not only food, feed, fiber and fuel, but also serving and improving the health of our planet. It is encouraging to see that farmers seek out innovation that now promotes both farmer profit and sustainable soil health globally. The investor community and ag innovators are responding with an unprecedented pace of new technologies being introduced, often at breakneck speed and with mere anecdotal evidence supporting its value proposition. But how does a potential grower decide whether a new product’s claims are wishful thinking or backed by real results? At Kannar Earth Science, Ltd. we defer to reliable, defendable, third-party data, and specifically setting aside personal biases.
The adoption of agricultural biologicals suffered in its earliest days in the U.S. market (and to a lesser extent in Canada too) because certain unscrupulous companies offered outlandish claims without adequate (or sometimes any!) evidence. We and other contributors who have remained and built sustainable market bases have done so by offering the real deal: effective technologies backed by reliable, defendable, trial-driven proof.
The key to that level of proof is trialing by respected external researchers. To bring data and good science to our potential licensees, we rely on private contractors, universities and extension researchers.
We start by identifying several top-notch researchers who have the expertise to manage the kinds of replicated trials we need. We look for respected, credible researchers with expertise in the crop segment and specific geographic market our product targets. But that’s not our only requirement when we seek out a research partner. Just like we’re passionate about innovation, we seek researchers who are deeply passionate about their field also: specifically, data! We appreciate the researchers who are so excited that they want to talk your ear off about the minutest detail and the smallest variations in results. Also, the scientists who ask meaningful ‘what if’ questions and aren’t satisfied until they’ve sought out the full answers. That’s the kind of passion and competence we seek! Our innovations may be game changing but they’re only market-ready if we can offer rock-solid, detailed third-party data about how those technologies perform across a spectrum of field conditions, soil types, geographies and environmental conditions.
We’re currently in our second year of trials on our drought-buster, Koasis™, a super-absorbent polymer that helps soil retain moisture and the crop withstand drought stress. We’re delighted with the success of trials so far and we hope to soon partner with multinationals for commercialization. As we seek licensees, several researchers from multiple institutions are working behind the scenes to help us build a full data set about Koasis™. They started by simply asking, ‘does the data prove this technology is effective?’. When those results came back resoundingly positive, they widened their research to ask additional questions, like: How does Koasis™ work alongside conventional chemistries and/or fertilizers? Is the best application in furrow or deep in the soil during strip tilling? Is seed application effective? Can we blend value-add biologicals successfully alongside? As we’ve gained solid, reliable data, we’ve not only gained insight and the answers our licensees need, we’ve also gained confidence in this amazing product and its consistent performance.
We celebrate all ag innovators who, like Kannar, value quality data!
