What is EAGIC?
EAGIC stands for Early Adopter Grower Innovation Community. The EAGIC project provides a pathway for farmers to drive innovation in production agriculture.
The EAGIC project wants to cultivate a new pathway for innovation to get to the farm. Rather than farmers having to sort through the growing myriad of options pushed at them, we want to talk with farmers and find out what their needs are and then find potential solutions to those needs and help test them on the farm.
How does it work?
We recognize that farmers are already a central figure in ag innovation. But the current adoption process has its faults. Farmers are presented with lots of options for spending their time and money on new tech. The trouble is deciding if, and where, to invest your time. Farmers must evaluate not only the new tech, and whether it has an application in their operation, but they also need to determine the motives of the person offering the tech…not to mention setting aside time to properly evaluate a solution that seems to have potential. All that confusion and indecision delays adoption.
That’s where EAGIC can help. We are starting with the farmer and asking what their needs are. What pain points do they have. Where could they use help in their operation. Knowing what farmers want, we can use our network to identify potential solutions.
Finding a potential solution, we can help design an on-farm evaluation. We will work with the farmer, the innovator, and a researcher to create a rigorous pilot program to determine if the innovation addresses the need. Did it work? What was great? What could be better?
Why should I participate?
Drive innovation. Stay ahead of the technology curve. Learn.
We want to make the experience worthwhile. While we would like to find a solution to every problem, that is not likely to happen. By participating in EAGIC we will keep you up to date on the needs and solutions tried by farmers in the project. We will share with you our unbiased analyses of piloted solutions.
We will also provide you regular updates on what we learn through our network and at the conferences and tech visits we make across the U.S. and other countries.
You get to share your needs and drive development of solutions address those needs.
What do I have to do?
We ask for a bit of your time and that you share your thoughts on what could be better. We start by talking about your operation and ideas about innovation. What needs you have. What the pain points are. What would be a useful tool in your operation.
We can do this in a number of ways:
We can schedule a personal visit at a convenient meeting spot for you. As a farm kid I always enjoy farm visits and can come right to you.
We can do a phone call, or email, or text…however it works best. I had one farmer ask if I use Marco Polo. He wanted to use the app to record his thoughts as he was in the combine and share the video with me. Now that’s an innovative approach.
Whatever works for you will work for me.
We can do a phone call, or email, or text…however it works best. I had one farmer ask if I use Marco Polo. He wanted to use the app to record his thoughts as he was in the combine and share the video with me. Now that’s an innovative approach.
Whatever works for you will work for me.
What does it cost to participate?
There is no cost to the farmer for participating in EAGIC. What we are looking for are farmers who like to try new things and tinker with new ideas in their operation.
If we find an innovation that fits your need and you decide to do a pilot project, we will work with the innovator to find the best means of running the test. If the pilot requires product or special gear we will work with the innovator to find a mutually agreeable approach.
Who runs EAGIC?
It is a project of GlobalSTL which is an initiative of BioSTL.
BioSTL is a St. Louis based public private partnership created to attract innovative companies to the Midwest. It has helped create and promote the unique and supportive ecosystem for business in St. Louis. Through 20 years of work, BioSTL has grown St. Louis as an attractive option for innovative startups in agriculture, food, medicine, and other industries. By helping large companies in the area identify their pain points and innovation needs, BioSTL created shopping lists for innovation for these companies. Having these shopping lists helps BioSTL recruit companies to the region. A qualified innovation company can bring their solution directly to a potential customer. The innovator gains a ready market and the company solves a need. It’s a win-win.
Of course, BioSTL does more than just match up solutions to needs. They also provide innovative startups a powerful ecosystem to help develop their business through expertise, infrastructure, and investment.
BioSTL knows innovative companies from all around the U.S. They show startups that the Midwest is a great place to do business. St. Louis and the region provide a unique innovative ecosystem and offer startups a competitive alternative to the East Coast or Silicon Valley. And the startups recruited are not just U.S. companies. GlobalSTL, an initiative of BioSTL, has dedicated people searching and recruiting the best innovations from around the world.
What's in it for EAGIC?
There are a lot of great ideas out there that just might fit what a Midwest farmer needs. If we successfully bring the right innovation to the right farmers and find a winner, that's our motivation.
If we can help farmers find a quicker path to adopting new technologies, everyone wins. Farmers win because they get new innovations quicker. Tech companies win because their innovations get tested and adopted quicker, speeding sales and return on investment. That shorter time to market helps attract more investment to the sector seeding more innovators and the cycle builds to create a terrific ecosystem for innovation.
Ultimately, if the innovator sets up an office in the Midwest, as opposed to the coasts, we stimulate the regional economy and that makes it better for everybody in the region.