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 who are willing to work tirelessly, can achieve their financial 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 treatments to be Kannar’s route to value creation. To build growers’ legacy, 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.
“Our passion is to minimize the environmental impact and maximize the utilization of resources. We bring 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.
Limited Seed Workspace
Seed treatments, an effective vehicle for delivering crop protection technologies to a grower’s field, are provided by most seed companies. 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. It is challenging because of chemical, physical and biological limitations, not to mention the limits to the actual amount of chemistry that can be applied to a 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 and verify 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 more likely achieve its genetic potential and help our growers create their legacy and contribute to the financial security of their family and community.”
