Despite warming temperatures, spring frost is a growing threat to fruit and nut crops globally, and growers have few scalable and cost-effective tools to protect their crops. Brekland is developing an easy-to-apply biodegradable insulative coating for frost protection.
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Eric Bellefroid
Eric Bellefroid is the founder and CEO of Brekland, an agricultural technology company building the tools to strengthen farmers’ resilience against climate change. After growing up on a 900-acre dairy and grain farm, Bellefroid completed a B.Sc. at McGill University and a Ph.D. in geochemistry at Yale University. Before starting Brekland, he worked at McKinsey & Company as an engagement manager focusing on business strategy and innovation in chemicals and agriculture.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
Climate change is increasingly impacting global food production, with billion-dollar events becoming more frequent. Heat and drought are the most recognized threats, and innovators are rushing to combat these challenges. However, there is a growing "long tail" of impacts. Spring frost—when unseasonal cold weather damages spring buds and blossoms—is a major and growing cause of loss for fruit and nut crops. A frost in April 2017, for example, caused €3.3 billion (~$3.6 billion) in losses across Europe. As spring frost frequency is increasing, and frosts are getting colder, growers are ill-prepared to meet this challenge.
Technology Vision
Existing systems manage air temperatures above crops, either by mixing air to prevent cold sinks or warming it with heaters, or by spraying water. Both methods have limitations—either a low maximum temperature limit or high resource intensiveness (e.g. CO₂, water). Brekland is taking a different approach by combining precision application and sustainable material chemistry to develop an insulating coating to protect crops. Applied by a mobile sprayer, the insulator offers several benefits, including higher protection levels, better operational flexibility, and lower upfront capital costs than existing crop-protection systems.
Potential for Impact
Frost events, which are typically regional, not only impact growers but have knock-on effects on local food processors, food vendors, and local economies. Spring frost events not only present a risk to our food supply and local economies but ironically can lead to further environmental degradation, as several existing solutions are highly resource-intensive. Brekland promises a lower cost, more flexible, and lower impact solution to boost growers’ and local communities’ climate resilience.
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