Agtech Action | Week of 05.30.20 - 06.05.20
Curfew creates confusion in NYC, China retaliation hurts ag, and price fixing in the poultry industry.
A happy and safe agtech action Friday to all. A lot of stories in ag and around the world to get to, from an depth look at the price fixing in the poultry industry, to an alarming piece on the disappearance of black farmers in America, and a Nebraska farmer’s attempt to explain ‘farm to table’ (finally!). And we just concluded the Manure Innovation challenge and we have a winner of the $50k non-dilutive prize! Read on to find out who it is!
Food and the World:
From the Great Depression to today, a long history of food destruction in the face of hunger
COVID-19, ‘This global tragedy,’ flattens US ag exports
China tells state firms to halt purchases of major US farm products – sources (all that progress from the trade deal going down the drain!)
Feeding refugees on the US-Mexico border was always a challenge. Now there’s COVID-19
For this N. Dakota grocery, the pandemic is personal
Drought concerns eyed for the corn belt, analyst says
Record USDA support flowing, but farmers say more federal assistance will be needed
USDA issues first Coronavirus Food Assistance programs payments
Retailers and restaurants across the US close their doors amid protests
‘We should not help them one micron,’ and other dispatches from a vast chicken conspiracy (this is a big deal that is not getting enough attention)
COVID-19 is spreading amongst farmworkers, and it may get worse
Agriculture in the News:
There were nearly 1M black farmers in 1920. Why have they disappeared?
Fertilizer supplies, prices remain low and stable amid coronavirus concerns
Warmer temps on the way will promote crop emergence
When COVID-19 hits a rural meatpacking plant, county infection rates soar to 5x the average
US corn, soybean crops are progressing well, USDA reports
Chicken industry executives, including Pilgrim’s Pride CEO, indicted for price fixing
Bayer pauses sale, distribution, and use of Xtendimax following court decision
Beef and pork exports run ahead of 2019 pace despite pandemic
To buy milk wholesale for its food boxes, the USDA is paying well above retail prices
Abrupt NYC curfew sparks confusion for restaurant and food delivery workers
Helpful Resources:
Where to look for science & tech careers? In ag, of course! (I’ve been saying this all along!)
Cover crop information map centralizes research and farm trial data
Researchers develop way to trace global spread of major plant disease
Fun:
A small joy of the pandemic: watching my daughter discover carrots, strawberries and Cheerios
Interesting Reads:
Open letter reiterates animal agriculture importance during COVID-19
How the influenza pandemic popularized lemons
Is the meat processing bottleneck just a US problem?
Arkansas moms use food boxes to distribute tips on storing guns safely
What does ‘farm to table’ mean? A Nebraska farmer explains
Livestock’s ‘race to the bottom’ has exposed it to coronavirus shocks
How one young, farmer’s daughter is carrying on her family’s legacy
How remote sensing informs conservation ag practices
Tracking the billion-dollar bug (Bayer launches 2nd season of corn rootworm tracking tool)
Farmers today do more with less. That’s good for the animals, too.
Finance:
New Jersey public pension plan to boost fund commitments to agriculture
InvestEco closes 3rd sustainable food fund on $100M
Kenya’s Apollo Agriculture raises $6M Series A for farming services platform
Greeneye Technology secures $7M in seed funding for next generation weed control platform
Trendlines Agrifood fund chooses precision irrigation startup Saturas for 3rd investment
NextProtein to scale up insect protein production with €10.2M Series A (mmm, yummy grasshoppers!)
Blue Oceans backs nextProtein to achieve insect feed market scale
S2G logs uptick in LP interest as it maps coronavirus impact on ag
Coronavirus: Interest in US midstream assets rises as farmland appeal falls – EY
Export restrictions threaten developing world hunger challenge – FoodChain ID
Farmland to provide ‘port in a storm’ in coronavirus downturn – Rabobank
Abu Dhabi’s ADQ acquires 50% stake in Al Dahra amid food security push
We are pleased to announce the winner of the Manure Innovation Challenge $50k non-dilutive prize is Digested Organics! We would like to congratulate Robert Levine and the Digested Organics team on their great pitch! Our 8 participating startups all made great pitches during our live virtual event this week as they each show great promise in moving forward sustainability, circular economies on the farm and creating new revenue streams from waste by-products. Thank you to our partners WWF, Newtrient LLC and Dairy Farmers of America and to our sponsors Cargill, The Maschhoffs and WeWork Food Labs. Thank you to our judges Aidan Connolly, Evan Fraser, William Goure, Quinten Eggink, Guy Harari, Paul Duncan, Aaron Magenheim and Joost Matthijssen. Thank you to the mentors Jonathan L. Hua, Aaron T Ratner, Kraig Westerbeek, Mark Stoermann, Chris Kopman, David Darr and Hansel New. Special thank you to Sandra Vijn, Connie Bowen, Zachary Sorensen, Jamie Vander Molen, Heather Tansey, Michael Kondrath, MBA, Cristy Tran, Patrick Maschhoff, Thad Simons, Erick Hunt, Brian Furrer, Scott Severson, Lucas Huntimer and others. We are excited to see where the manure innovation space grows and expands and hopefully to the benefit of farmers, agriculture, livestock and sustainability.
The Yield Lab Institute is pleased to announce that the Soy Innovation Challenge has extended its application deadline to June 20th. This is a challenge centered around business mentorship, entrepreneurial networking with the Yield Lab's and the USB's network to help those soy innovations with the most promise grow, scale and commercialize. Our focus is on those technologies, innovations and ideas that better communicate market signals from the demand side back upstream to the farmers, and those ideas that are able to capture sustainability, environmental impacts and monetize that more directly back to farmers.
We invite startups, teams (research and project teams are welcome) with innovations all along the soy value chain that align with our outlined mission of capturing value back to farmers. Each selected participant gets assigned a business mentor for the duration of the challenge (1 year) and they are eligible for $100k in non-dilutive prizes. Apply now before the June 20th deadline.
This has been quite a week; I hope everyone is safe, healthy and positive. The economy is turning around and we have put the coronavirus hopefully behind us. Stay positive, be safe and be kind.
If you would like to get involved or support the Yield Lab Institute initiatives, please email me at brandon@theyieldlab.com. Stay safe and wash your hands.
Brandon