Our Story

Persistent BioControl™ was founded in 2019 to help distribute our persistent nematode technology to farmers across the country. We are a veteran owned business headquartered in Austin, TX with locations in Grand Junction, CO and Cortland, NY.

The seeds for our company were planted in 1986

Elson Shields, a newly hired Cornell professor, was asked to tackle an invasive insect pest in Upstate New York.  Alfalfa Snout Beetle is a major alfalfa pest in Northern New York, costing the state's dairy farmers millions each year.

25 years spent finding the right blend

Elson isolated and cultivated the perfect blend of persistent nematodes that would control Alfalfa Snout Beetle and eliminate it's economic impact on New York's dairy farmers. Through the years of research, Elson held one guiding principle - the solution needed to be scalable, easy to apply, and affordable for farmers.

By 2010, new crops were identified

Those same persistent nematodes were shown to control Western Corn Rootworm and over the next 9 years, field trials were conducted in New York, Texas, Colorado, Iowa, and New Mexico to confirm this effect.
Professor Elson Shields teaches a group of dairy farmers about persistent biocontrol nematodes at a farm field day.

Our Team

Keegan Shields
Keegan Shields
Chief Executive Officer

Keegan spent his childhood as free labor for various research projects at the Shields' Cornell lab and escaped to the Marine Corps at 18.  He has a background in technology commercialization, business operations, and finance.

Tony Testa​
Tony Testa​
Chief Operating Officer

Tony brings 30 years of nematode rearing expertise to Persistent BioControl and is responsible for many of the innovations that have made it possible.  He manages the company's supply chain and production.

Elson Shields
Elson Shields
Chief Technology Officer

Elson discovered persistent biocontrol nematodes and pioneered their use in agriculture. He retired in 2022 after 36 years as a professor in the Dept. of Entomology at Cornell University and received the 2018 NYS IPM award for his nematode research.

Get Started with Persistent

If you have any questions or need additional information, we will be happy to assist. Please take a few moments to fill out our contact form. Our team will be in touch to answer any questions and discuss your specific needs.

We look forward to working with you and helping you get Persistent results.
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Message:

Persistent BioControl™ nematodes are backed by 25+ years of university research and have been successfully applied in 12 states including New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and New York.

Our biocontrol nematodes have never failed to establish in any field where they’ve been applied and the original test plots are still showing persistence over 20 years later!
Better roots, better results
Your crop root system is the foundation of your farm. Consider adding persistent biocontrol nematodes to your integrated pest management strategy.
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