If there’s one thing to know about independent seed companies, Chris Latham says they all share a phenomenal trait: humbleness. Seed businesses are humble about what they do, though most people looking into the industry would say they’re doing the globe a huge service ensuring that populations are fed and have access to fuel and feed.
Though, sometimes this humbleness can backfire — it can be hard to talk and brag about what you’re doing and achieving in your business. That communication is imperative for seed businesses. It not only explains to consumers what the seed sector and agriculture sector as a whole are achieving, it helps get positive messages about farming to the world.
“If you think about the seed industry, and particularly the independent seed industry, it goes aback 100 years to Henry Wallace, Norman Borlaug — all the things they did saving billions of people from starvation with new innovations,” Latham, co-owner and CFO of Latham Hi-Tech Seeds and incoming president of the Independent Seed Association (IPSA), says during a Giant Views interview in Tucson, Ari.
“There are fewer and fewer people that can tell that story,” he adds. “Organizations like IPSA can stand up to tell our story and advocate for innovations and the free market. We want viability for the future, not only for us. If we’re not part and active in helping to tell that story, we’re not doing ourselves justice and we’re not doing our customers justice.”
As Latham steps into his role of president of IPSA at the end of IPSA’s annual conference, communication and advocating for independents will remain top-of-mind.
Make sure to watch the entire conversation with Chris Latham above.
