b'Growers today are operating undertools for education, not just marketing.tighter margins and higher expectations.This is a great business, Davis says. Input costs continue to rise, sharpeningWe have to find better ways to show scrutiny on every purchasing decision. that.Theres no doubt theyre getting higher input costs, including seed costs,Efficiency is No Longer OptionalDavis says. Rising costs, labor constraints and trade Davis argues that rebuilding value atuncertainty make efficiency less of a the farm gate requires clarity rather thancompetitive advantage and more of a persuasion. Growers are not looking forbaseline requirement.hype. They are looking for performanceWe have to invest in efficiency, Davis that reduces risk. says. Were going to have to do it with We only focus on vegetable andless people.flower breeding, he says. Were notThat reality applies across the value Sakata trial plots assess vigor, uniformityspread out. chain. Seed companies, like growers, must and market-ready traits before varietiesThat focus allows Sakata to framedo more with fewer hands.move toward commercialization.PHOTO: SAKATA value in practical terms: fewer sprayCan we embrace AI and new tech-passes, reduced water use, labor effi- nologies and really leverage them? Davis ciency and consistent performance. asks.Seed business is a three-leggedWere not just trying to sell the nextTariffs and global trade friction add stool, he says. Youve got research,shiny thing, Davis says. urgency.product development and production. He then distills the paradox that hasCosts are going up all over the world, When one leg lags, failure is predict- long defined the seed business. he says. We have to be nimble.able. Seed is the smallest input, he says. The product development team saysBut it has the largest impact. Built From the Ground Upthis is the best thing since sliced bread,Davis perspective reflects a career and then the production team cant pro- Five Years, One Big Gap shaped by movement across functions duce it, Davis says. Well, everyone fails. When Davis looks ahead, technology israther than a straight climb. He started For Davis, alignment is not aboutnot his primary concern. People are. in seed production, moved into planning avoiding blame. It is about protectingIn the next five years, theres goingand leadership roles, transitioned into speed and credibility. to be a lot of retirements and successionsales and now bridges supply chain, qual-Bring the supply chain in early, hegoing on in the seed business, he says. ity and commercial operations.says. Make sure somethings producibleDavis started at Sakata as an intern inBeing in production made me a from the start. 1995. Many of the people who trained himbetter sales manager, he says. And are still in the industry, carrying decadesbeing in sales made me a better produc-When Genetics Get Crowded of institutional knowledge that existstion person.As breeding tools become more acces- largely outside formal documentation. That cross-functional view makes sible, Davis expects differentiation toTrying to teach 30 years worth ofrising quality expectations impossible to compress. Traits that once took decadesknowledge in two or three years is reallyignore.to develop may soon be replicated in justhard, he says. Back in the late 90s, we paid bonuses a few cycles. for 93% germ, Davis says. Now custom-Theres going to be a lot of geneticsThe Coming Brain Drain ers are turning down 96%.that are quick, he says. That loss of experience is not unique to In that environment, competitiveseed, but Davis says agriculture feels itCulture as an Edgeadvantage shifts away from noveltyacutely. As standards rise and timelines com-alone. Execution becomes the separator. Were seeing this across agriculture,press, Davis believes culture increasingly The difference is the quality of thehe says. At seed companies and at thedetermines whether companies can seed and how fast we can deliver it,grower level. execute under pressure.Davis says. Recruitment alone will not solve theWere big enough that were danger-That shift places new pressure onproblem. The challenge is how to transferous, but small enough that were still a organizational structure and culture.judgment, intuition and field-level under- family company, he says.Teams that operate in silos struggle tostanding to the next generation. Protecting that culture as Sakata execute at speed. What tools can we leverage to getgrows, he adds, is not sentimental. It is Take the walls down between depart- the next generation engaged and excitedstrategic.ments, Davis says. Lets turn these wallsabout this business? Davis asks. That, Davis says, is the secret into drawbridges. He points to digital platforms, mediasauce.SWand new learning models as underutilized Value Starts at the Farm10/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2026'