Farmer Skepticism About New Biological Solutions

Farmer Skepticism About New Biological Solutions

Tim Hammerich
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich.

The idea of biological products displacing some agricultural chemicals certainly has merit. However, many new products are met with skepticism from farmers after years of new companies in the space overpromising and underdelivering.

Tristan Hudak is the Sacramento-based Vice President of Ag Biotech. A family-owned company that has been in the biological input business for over 25 years. He says this skepticism surrounding biological solutions is not new, and in many cases, it’s justified.

Hudak… “I know in the eighties there was a big surge of biostimulant products in the market. Many of which were considered snake oils and had that sort of moniker for years. And that was what we were able to withstand. And we knew that the only way to do that was with rigorous data with years and years and years on multiple crops built up. And that's the way that you can kind of avoid that stigma. And that's, I think, the due diligence that any biological company really needs to do.”

Hudak says Ag Biotech sells biological product all around the world, but makes sure their solutions are specific and backed up with data.

Hudak... “That's been kind of, my drive is really taking a hard look and building out the body of research around our products and making sure that we know the limitations of the product. Because if you claim everything under the sun, you shouldn't get the skepticism, because every product has limitations.”

Before purchasing or writing off a biological option, make sure you get a chance to look at the data.

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