Agtech Action | Week of 01.20.24 - 01.26.24
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting and commenting on current events in the world of agtech
Deere announces its latest startup collaborators, Burger King will know if you’re hungover and will grain prices rally? ADM under investigation by the SEC, Oatly wins trademark dispute and hemp seed could be in livestock meal.
What makes an innovator successful? Be curious. Curiosity—the theme of the agtech week—is the most important characteristic that an innovator should have. Why? I’ll share my reasons, and tease a big announcement, in this week’s newsletter.
Food and the World:
Duvall: Biggest problem facing agriculture is lack of labor
EPA: Nutrient runoff is widespread waterway stressor
How fruit and vegetables are driving snacking occasions and sales
ADM Puts CFO On Leave with Ongoing Investigation in Cooperation with SEC
U.S. States Flex New Power to Steer Antitrust Lawsuits
Budget is roadblock for farm bill, says Farm Bureau leader
Federal audit: More information on foreign-owned agriculture land needed
2024 Ag Economy: What's Causing Rural Bankers To Be Pessimistic
FDA launches tech-enabled traceability video series
Fight brewing over Biden climate funds that help farmers in Republican-leaning states
House conservatives oppose higher subsidies in new farm bill
Cattle Industry Faces Headwinds, But Many Remain Optimistic
USDA and Partners Deliver Lasting Protections with Farm Bill Funding
December Egg Production Up On Year
Farmers face 66% income loss from rising temperatures in Kansas
Will the Soybean Market Adjust 2024 Acres in Time?
Analyst: Record U.S. corn and soybean crops are possible this year
Are you ready for a grain price rally?
Agtech in the News:
EU Farmers Demand Immediate Talks on Costs and Regulations
Spilt milk: court sides with vegan Oatly in trademark dispute
Successful farmers are committed to their own research and development
Biofuels and climate markets could stem loss of farms, says Vilsack (so it’s okay to lose farms?!)
Precision Livestock Technologies Unveils AI-Based System
Organic Valley Launches Carbon Program for Organic Farmers
Bayer Unveils Groundbreaking Solar Energy Projects at Sites in New Jersey and California
Probe inside crop giant ADM raises questions about nutrition bet (it sure does among other agtech trends!)
Pluri Inc. Launches Innovative Cell-Based Coffee Business
Hemp Seed Livestock Meal Receives Green Lights On Way to Federal Approval (congratulations to the New West Genetics team on this important milestone! New West is a Yield Lab portfolio co.)
John Deere Announces 2024 Startup Collaborators
Sipcam Agro USA Announces Commercial Launch of Mevalone
Agronomics Announces First Commercial Sale of Cultivated Beef
Cultured Unagi: Forsea Foods Unveils ‘World First’ Cultivated Eel with Tokyo Eatery Saido
Steakholder Foods Adds Plant-Based Shrimps to Expanding Range of 3D-Printed Seafood and Analogues
New Study Shows Promise for Genetically Modified Pig Organ Transplants
Fun:
Don’t Give Away Your Risk Premiums
3 Questions to Consider About Carbon Programs
Helpful Resources:
Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act Passes Out of House Ways & Means Committee
2023 Annual European Venture Report
3 Strategies for feed buyers as prices trend lower
4 Ways Your Business Might be Green Hushing
How to Get Land Out of a C Corporation
Q1 2024 PitchBook Analyst Note: Fintech - State of the Industry
Interesting Reads:
Amazon Prime Video is discontinuing support for local originals in Africa and Middle East
Naspers looking for African startups to pump money into
A Viral Solution to Farming’s Antibiotic Addiction
A Lab Error Just Upended Years of Work on the GMO American Chestnut Tree
Are $18 Big Macs the price of falling inequality?
Why there's a storm brewing about global food aid from the U.S.
U.S. companies are skittish about investing in China—unless it’s in fast food chains or cappuccinos
Pee-cycling: Turning human urine into fertilizer (No!)
Burger King Giving Discounts If Facial Recognition Thinks You're Hungover
Combined, Fintech & Energy represented 69% of all funding raised in Africa last year
Exxon sues to block shareholder climate proposal
Climate tech start-ups in Africa raised $1B+ in 2023
China approves several GMO soybean, corn varieties - agriculture ministry
USDA Invests $207M in Clean Energy and Domestic Fertilizer Projects
A Viral Solution to Farming’s Antibiotic Addiction
Ethanol is just comically inefficient solar energy
Finance:
4 charts: 2023's VC investor pullback
Louis Dreyfus and Nature Conservancy collab could grow to solicit capital
ArcTern Ventures Closes Fund III Oversubscribed at $335M For Global Decarbonization
PhageLab Secures $11M in Funding
Political risk in agriculture flares up again in Germany
Q&A: How to make struggling startups ‘PE ready’
Neatleaf Secures $4M in Funding from AgFunder
Bluewhite raises $39M to bring sustainable autonomous innovation to farms
New Forests’ Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 holds final close on $130M
On BlackRock's expansion into everything
IBERS Receives £3.3M Grant For Research On Clover
Crysp Farms Secures $2.25M in Pre-Series A Funding
ArcTern Ventures Secures $335M for Climate Tech Fund
The Pros and Cons of Rando Rich People Investing in Your Startup
Roc Partners to buy 25% stake in New Zealand land portfolio
Eatable Adventures’ New 30M Euro Investment Fund for Foodtech Startups
Apollo Agriculture Secures USD 10M Investment for Expansion
African Agritech Innovators Advance in MIT Solve Program
Armed with $8.7M in fresh capital, Nasekomo builds insect ag franchise model
Exclusive: Marama Labs cements €1.75M funding for its revolutionary winemaking technology (congratulations to a Yield Lab Europe portfolio co.)
England and Wales farmland prices hit record high
Theme of the Agtech Week: Curiosity
Curiosity may have killed the cat but it will not kill the innovator. I have worked with many talented innovators and the ones that seem to rise above all are those that remain curious. There are some core reasons as to why that is.
The curious innovator comes from a mindset of:
Always learning.
Humility to know that they do not have the answer.
Enjoying the process rather than the end.
I’m not a psychologist but I believe that this mindset has an effect on performance. That effect is:
Iterative approach to developing innovation.
Commitment to the creative process.
Persistence, perhaps stubbornness, to obstacles that you will encounter.
Openness to help and assistance.
An interesting thing that I’ve noticed from these same curious innovators is that they are some of the smartest, most talented people that I know but they are enormously humble, almost to a fault about it.
You’re wondering: what is the opposite of a curious innovator? Well, its:
Someone who does not ask questions.
A self-proclaimed ‘expert’ after reading a bunch of literature or spending little to no time in that sector.
Overly concerned about the end and wants to get there at all costs.
Does not ask for help nor is open to help.
This goes without saying: be curious, don’t act like you know it all. Be the former, not the latter. And here’s a big secret about being curious: almost EVERYONE wants to work with a person like that! In fact, you won’t struggle to find allies and partners because they will be tripping over each other to help.
The big announcement of the Soy Innovation Challenge 2023 finalists is coming! Stay tuned!
Have a great weekend and stay safe.
BD
Brandon Day is the Chief Operating Officer of The Yield Lab Institute, the global agtech think-tank, ecosystem builder, non-profit arm of The Yield Lab global network of venture capital funds. The views, opinions and commentary expressed are solely those of Brandon Day.