Kempner certainly wouldn't be out of nowhere and say so much nonsense for nothing.

He smiled and said, "The first purpose of inviting you here this time is to talk to you about the use of your Amaranth virus. The second is to talk about this issue. If other countries can have that standard, why can't we have it? The word green can't be used in many states in the United States. But we can set the standard for pollution-free business in the United States. ”

"America's pollution-free standard?" Hearing his words, Link's heart was also moved. "Can you elaborate on your thoughts?"

"I've thought about it deeply. I think that in order to develop new standards that are fully in line with public acceptance, we need to consider American values. ”

Link agrees: "You're right, some unnecessary clauses in the current organic food standards are just to cater to some of the ideas of some Americans. ”

"But it's too early for us to compete with organic food. Organic food standards have been in place in the United States for more than 30 years. And I don't think that standards that want to balance environmental and agricultural yields are more satisfying to those hypocrites than organic standards. ”

Link laughed and said, "Okay, though I don't want to say that someone is hypocritical. But I have to agree with you. Organic food does take into account the environment, public safety, and the psychology of consumers. For this reason, it is difficult to give up the yield, and it is really difficult to cater to the public psychology more than organic standards. ”

Kempner laughed too. "Indeed, I should not call them hypocritical," he said. He paused and continued. "Organic food now accounts for about 10% of food consumption in the United States. The main audience is the wealthy and white-collar workers. Of course, there are also ordinary middle-class families, and even some ordinary working-class people who occasionally spend. ”

"I remember when I was just graduating, I heard some middle-class people talk about organic deforestation. For example, 'all the salaries are spent in the supermarket', I think that means that the price of organic food is unaffordable for many middle classes. ”

"Of course, there's a lot of organic food that's starting to make its way into the big retailers," he adds with a smile. There are also large processing enterprises that have entered the industry. That brought the price of organic food back down slightly. He recalled, and then said. "I remember last year's data, the price of organic food should be generally more than 30% higher than that of non-organic food. Individuals are twice as high. The middle class in the United States, on the other hand, does not have a lot of disposable income. I don't think most people in the U.S. can afford to spend more than 30 percent on what they eat. ”

Link looked at him and said, "So, you also think it's a good idea to establish a standard for healthy food at a low price?"

Neil said, "Yes." Of course, those of us don't care about that expense. However, the vast majority of the public is unable to consume organic food on regular expenses. According to statistics, more than 80% of people in the United States have chosen to buy organic food. That shows that the concept of food health and safety has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but the vast majority of people cannot afford that kind of consumption. ”

"Neil, you're right. I've also had a structure do the survey. Kempner said with a smile. "The results of the survey show that only about 10% of people say they are willing to choose healthier foods and are willing to pay more for them. And 64% said they would like to choose healthier foods, but would like to see them cheaper. In terms of price, 71% of respondents believe that if they are healthier, they are willing to accept a price difference of no more than 10% for non-organic foods. ”

Although Neil agreed with his idea, he poured cold water on him on the matter: "However, there is a problem here. After the standards were formulated, how to implement the organic system, which was led by the federal government behind the scenes. And now the pollution-free standards you are talking about may not be supported by the government. ”

"That's really the biggest problem. Kempner nodded. He said with a deep groan. "And that's a standard that has to be implemented by more farms than organic standards. ”

However, Link doesn't think the farmer's attitude is the underlying problem. He feels that agriculture has reached a point where it has to change. If there is a healthy food standard that can be accepted by the public and can protect the interests of farmers, it is sure that it will gradually attract farmers to join and eventually become a universal standard, which is only a matter of time.

He had previously thought about promoting organic crops. But from the organic certification association's approach to him, it now seems that it is not so easy to do.

Although there are more than 80 organic certification agencies in the United States, as long as you want to certify organic, you can apply for any of them. However, they are an association. That is, they are actually in a gang.

It also made him realize that if he wanted to promote organic food, he would have to be constrained by those certification bodies.

At the same time, the cost of organic certification is too high, and the yield is too low, it is indeed impossible to promote it nationwide. If there is a way of doing business that can also be considered safe and healthy, it may be equally acceptable to the public.

It's just that you have to set a standard and have others follow it. That's never easy. In particular, such standards must be recognized by the government before they can really be accepted by the public. And only when the public agrees can it be credible.

Kempner thought for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "We'll discuss this later." Link, now let's talk about your Amaranth virus?"

"Of course, what do you want to know?"

"I want the amaranth in the Holland Ranch to be cleared all at once. I wonder if your product can do that?"

"Experiments we have done have proven that within 15 days of using our products, more than 99% of the herbicide-resistant Amaranth will be killed, no matter how many herbicide-resistant they can carry. We'll take care of the rest. In addition, the Amaranth virus will form cysts and remain in the land without a host. After the germination of new Amaranth seeds, the viral cysts reactivate to infect the new Amaranth. The virus is not inactivated until a certain number of replicates have elapsed. ”

Amaranth is an annual plant that dies every year. The dense and thick shells of the seeds prevent virus infection. But when the seeds break out of their shells, the virus can take advantage of it.

"I did hear that your Amaranth virus is inactivated within a certain period of time. Is it for the sake of the environment or for ......" Kempner came up with a less sharp statement. "Maintain a customer base?"

Link is also not afraid to tell the truth: "Both." Prevents the unrestricted replication of the virus, which can avoid mutation and prevent the possibility of infecting other organisms. And the self-inactivation mechanism of the virus is like the resistance to cold viruses that cannot exist in the human body for a long time. If you have a cold, you have to take cold medicine. ”

Kempner listened to him and laughed, "I think it will cost me more checks every year, but I can't contradict you." ”

Link has a high reason: to protect the environment. This is political correctness. Who's to say anything about him?

"I heard that the price of your company's services is eight hundred dollars per acre?"

"Yes, but the $800 is the total cost of six years of service. Because after the first year, there will be very few amaranth on the customer's land, and the customer may be able to solve it himself, or he may still need to use our products. But there may be no way to solve it. For example, farms like Holland Ranch are likely to see a large number of amaranth every year. In addition, we have entered into this long-term service contract, which is a contract that can add value. If we launch a new herbicidal virus, existing customers can enjoy our additional services for free or for a small fee. ”

After listening to what he said, Kempner thought for a while, nodded and said, "This is indeed a novel approach. ”

He paused for a moment, then added, "Listen to Neil." You warrant that your products will not cause any harm to livestock and crops, and will not affect the sale of products due to viruses. ”

"Yes, as long as it's not a shadowy restriction. If it is true that the loss is caused by the virus in the agricultural product, our company can purchase and destroy the infected product at the market price. ”

"In that case, what are we waiting for, and if the contract is signed, when will you send someone to solve my trouble?"

"Our product will be available in three days. I can make it a priority for you. ”

"That's great. Maybe we can sign the contract as soon as possible. ”

"Thank you for your trust. I'll get someone to contact you as soon as possible. ”

Kempner smiled and raised his glass to touch him. After taking a sip of his wine, he said, "I suddenly had a new idea. Replacing pesticides with microorganisms is a new model of agriculture. Link, have you ever thought about using this product to create a new standard for agriculture?"

"For example, pollution-free?"

That's what Kempner offered to interview Link. He felt that if Link's virus could really achieve the effect that Link said, it would definitely subvert the current agricultural model. And that's pollution-free to a certain extent.

"One of the main manifestations of the public harm of agriculture to the environment and society is the overuse of pesticides," he said with a smile. If herbicides and pesticides can be replaced with microorganisms, there will be no pesticide residues in food that endanger public health, and the damage to the agricultural environment will be much reduced. This is in line with the concept of pollution-free. ”

Link had thought that Kempner might want to see him for this, but the other party hadn't made it clear before, so he didn't take the initiative to say it.

Now I heard the other party finally say it. He smiled and said, "After listening to what you said just now, I also have a vague idea, but I haven't thought it through yet. ”

Establish a healthy food standard that sits between organic and non-organic. He had to say it was a very good idea, but there was a lot more to it. Without the support of the government, the cost of the need can also be high. So he felt that he should think carefully before making a decision.