EAGIC is the Early Adopter Grower Innovation Community, it is a project of BioSTL. 

 

The goal of EAGIC is to create a new pathway for innovation to come to farmers. Currently, farmers are receivers of innovation. It is coming at them from all angles and sources. A farmer not only has to deal with the various technologies, they have to figure out which ones will be cost effective on their farm. It can be overwhelming. The current model is also flawed in that farmers are asked to buy the innovation and learn to implement it at their own risk and expense. Farmers are holding the risk bag for innovation. All this leads to indecision and delay in implementing innovations on the farm. That long time-horizon to adoption and scale of an innovation limits investor interest in agriculture. If they can expect a quicker return elsewhere, why invest in ag. All this reduces grower productivity. Instead of leveraging innovation for enhanced efficiencies, farmers are burdened by the choices of options offered.

 

EAGIC looks to create a new pathway for innovation reaching farmers. By starting with the needs of farmers, we will use our domestic and global networks to find solutions for these needs. We will curate the innovations and bring to the farmer innovations that look to address their needs and have a sustainable business model.