#68-Eddy Mejia (US Army) – Earnest Agriculture

“Consistency is a huge problem with biologicals. It works one year, it doesn’t work another year. It works over here, it doesn’t work over there.”

This quote from our guest this week is referring to the early struggles of biologicals where it was extremely difficult to consistently produce a product with a living organism as the primary benefit.

Our guest this week is Eddy Mejia – CEO for Earnest Ag – an ag biotech startup developing a variety of organic microbial products that help farmers provide plant nutrients and protect against disease. Eddy is a US Army telecommunications veteran with a background in computer engineering who managed to find his way into the niche world of microbials after meeting his co-founder at a university startup program. This type of business partnership is not uncommon in the world I frequent, where veterans find the right sources and partners and build something with a bigger purpose in mind.

Have a listen as this young man from the suburbs of Chicago with parents from the agricultural epicenter of Colombia makes his way into the world of microbial production, how their product is attempting to standout in a saturated market, the logistics of keeping a living organism alive on a seed as a coating, and how COVID turned out to be good timing for Eddy and his team.