We recently connected with Carlos Perea and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Carlos, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I co-founded the agriculture technology company Terra Vera and our mission is to shape the future of sustainable agriculture, as well as do our part to ensure a more food-secure future. We develop and offer crop management solutions and chemistries that replace conventional chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers with products that are safe for people, pollinators and the planet. Recently we announced our launch of a new division and brand, ApiVera, for products that are specifically designed to preserve declining bee populations, which are vital for our food supply. This mission is meaningful because we want to help the planet. We want to protect our food supply, treat our crops better, and in turn protect our environment and the people who depend on these crops.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve long been passionate about agriculture, as my interest was greatly formed by growing up on my family’s farm in New Mexico, with its crops of chilies, alfalfa and apples. Terra Vera’s crop management chemistries, which are based on biomimicry technology, emulate nature’s autoimmune systems, stem from my tenure running a water treatment company called MIOX Corp. MIOX employed technology first developed by the U.S. Department of Defense for controlling pathogens in water and making it safe to drink. With Terra Vera, we found we could adapt this water purification technology to generate a new set of chemistries that are highly effective on many diseases and pests that can damage or destroy crops.
Today, Terra Vera provides farmers, growers and cultivators a holistic approach to agriculture with solutions that are inspired by nature. We design our solutions to unlock economic value for the farmer including increased yields and simplified operations. Our environmentally and economically sustainable solutions are amino-acid based, including a 25(b) minimal-risk pesticide that targets pests and pathogens, as well as foliar nutrients. All of our products can be easily integrated into an existing IPM (Integrated Pest Management) strategy, and often, our customers replace multiple products with our solutions because of their safety, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.
In addition to our amino acid-based solutions for crops, I’m extremely proud of our work and ongoing expansion into the beekeeping space. We have started initial field trials utilizing our solutions to optimize the health of bee hives, a critical piece to our agricultural system that has been declining rapidly. In fact, nearly half of all honey bee hives were lost in the United States last year, the second deadliest year on record. Honey bees alone pollinate 80% of all flowering plants, including more than 130 types of fruits and vegetables. Initial studies of Terra Vera treatments on colonies have shown efficacy against the Varroa destructor mite (the number one threat to honey bees worldwide) and no bee mortality. We also recently brought on Dr. Jeff Pettis, a renowned entomologist who specializes in apiculture and honey bee health, as an advisor and industry consultant.
Any advice for managing a team?
We’ve been fortunate at Terra Vera, as we’ve experienced very little undesired attrition. We challenge our employees and make sure they know what is expected and provide both strong support and feedback on progress. We provide all employees ownership potential via stock option programs and this aligns interests and allows individuals to share in the value they create. We believe in investing in employees as well as challenging them to grow their contributions and responsibilities. However, I believe the key reason we are able to attract and retain top talent is that we have an ambitious, high impact mission that often resonates on a personal level. This means employees have the potential for emotional dividends as well as a fair financial paycheck.
Have you ever had to pivot?
We’ve actually pivoted at Terra Vera recently, but it’s been an extremely positive and organic development: we’ve expanded our focus to address the critical issue of declining bee populations, which are crucial for our food supply. These increased efforts have led us to introduce a new division and brand of Terra Vera known as ApiVera, which is dedicated to developing bee-specific chemistries and products that combat stressors leading to bee mortality, such as the Varroa mite, a parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees. This comes at a critical time, as the population of honey bee colonies continues to spiral downward. Bee colonies, however, are a crucial part of the earth’s ecosystems and directly impact food supply by pollinating 30% of the world’s food crops.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://terravera.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tryterravera
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-perea-12227
- Twitter: https://x.com/terraveratweets
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tryterravera
Image Credits
Images courtesy of Terra Vera