by Eric Spell and Dana Mull and Joe Opaleski – InterSearch USA

The agricultural technology industry (AgTech) plays a major role in the future of food production, with its leading scientists at work developing solutions for population growth, climate change and other issues expected to have a major impact on farming in the next 100 years.

Experts say the products developed by AgTech companies are crucial to our future, but the farmers they sell to aren’t always eager to weigh the pros and cons of using these products in their daily operations, especially when it could affect their bottom line.

To align AgTech companies with the farmers they serve, we’ve seen an increased demand for executives who can foster a better understanding between parties at both ends of the spectrum.

Charles Aris Executive Search has worked with a handful of AgTech firms throughout the past year that specifically request branding and marketing talent who can bridge the gap between themselves and farmers. This position has become invaluable, especially as climate change takes a front seat in conversations about agricultural science.

It’s a common misconception that farmers aren’t interested in being good stewards of the environment. Farmers typically have a deep desire to fight climate change – but using transformative AgTech to contribute to this fight requires financial incentive. Otherwise, there’s no reason for farmers to hedge the initial investment.

GPS technology is a prime example of when AgTech firms struggled to align their ideas with those of individual farmers. At the advent of GPS mapping for roads, field boundaries and irrigation systems, few farmers were excited to invest. After all, they had been doing these tasks for years and the process didn’t appear to need fixing. But as this technology evolved to be a gamechanger for day-to-day efficiency, it was eventually adopted as the gold standard.

Now, as AgTech products sound even more like science fiction, it’s up to the individual firms to communicate potential value to farmers. This is especially true of AgTech firms that expect their products to become integral parts of the food production industry.

New technology like biorationals, also known as soil stimulants, sound like a farmer’s dream; imagine having molecularly optimized soil on hand to enhance crop yields. But since these products are so new, implementing them on individual farms requires a great deal of faith in the technology-centric companies that produce them.

Having an expert communicator working at the executive level in any given AgTech firm adds one more tool to their arsenal when deciding how to market such products to farmers. Laying out exactly how emerging technologies can change the future of farming while also explaining how they can increase a farmer’s bottom line is key to successful implementation. The right person in this role will also be able to develop more personal relationships between farms and firms, increasing trust and offering the proper resources when needed.

While new technologies always face challenges when they are first brought to the market, the onus falls on their developers to adequately communicate the benefits, big and small, to the customer base they rely on.

 

To learn more about the Charles Aris – InterSearch USA Agriculture Practice, contact Eric Spell at (336) 217-9116 / eric.spell@charlesaris.com or Dana Mull at (336) 217-9118 / dana.mull@charlesaris.com.

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