Agtech Action | Week of 03.09.24 - 03.15.24
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting and commenting on current events in the world of agtech
Startups dialed back hiring in 2023, more biodiesel plants may close in 2024 and Southwest Airlines invests in SAF. USDA restricts the use of ‘Product of USA’ label, food inflation dips lower and a laser to measure cow burps.
Origination equals control. When you are the originator of all the inputs of your product/technology, you exhibit control on the market. Food and agriculture value chains make this hard to do but when done, it is an effective lever for agtech. I’ll outline how it’s done and some examples in this week’s newsletter.
Food and the World:
How is fresh produce faring amid inflation?
Is it time for corn buyers to become more aggressive?
Americans expect high food inflation to persist
USDA restricts use of ‘Product of USA’ label to U.S.-grown meat, poultry, and eggs
Tyson Foods to close Iowa pork plant with 1,200 workers
DoorDash partners with more grocers to expand SNAP/EBT payment offerings
Food inflation dips lower, to 2.2 percent
With California’s Prop 12 now law, pork producers adapt while lobbying groups continue to fight
USDA report looks at ways to grow biomass market
Agtech in the News:
FoodVentures Joins Dutch Greenhouse Delta to Drive Global Horticultural Innovations
Mastronardi Produce Unveils Large-Format Greenhouse-Grown Romaine Lettuce
Planet Adds to its Planetary Variable Product Suite with Automated Field Boundary Detection
Can A Scouting Technology Increase Farmer Trust?
Intelinair Launches New Postseason Data Analytics Suite For Full-Season Crop Management
How Technology Can Unite Farmers And Their Trusted Advisors
United Soybean Board announces 2023 Soy Innovation Challenge finalists (check out the great feature about the Soy Innovation Challenge in Successful Farming!)
More biodiesel plants may close in 2024, says ag analyst
Break Down The Barriers In The Biological Space
Natural tech for ‘dimming’ genes brings transformative potential to agriculture
Injectable Microchip Tracks Animal Health
AI turns conceptual flavors into reality, yet trust remains imperative, says GlobalData
Plenty Unlimited News: Launches New Spring Mix
Colorado scientists developed a laser to measure cow burps
Fish Farming Is The Sustainable Solution To Overfishing
OpenAI Calls Elon Musk’s Claims ‘Incoherent’ in Court Filing (see you in court!)
Cultivated meat consolidation begins as UMAMI Bioworks to merge with Shiok Meats
Fun:
World record soybean yield winners share how to take soybean yields to next level
11 creative chicken coop tips you have to try
Ranchers Face Prison Time, Millions in Fines for Tampering with Rain Gauges
Helpful Resources:
Q1 2024 IPO Pipeline: Identifying Potential VC-Backed IPO Candidates in 2024
H2 2023 MENA Private Capital Breakdown
Q1 2024 PitchBook Analyst Note: Surfing Turbulent Cash Flow Waves
Early-stage startups seeking venture debt find investor prestige isn’t enough
2024 Southeast Asia Private Capital Breakdown
Q4 2023 Emerging Tech Indicator
11 workshop tips you have to try
‘Green Book’ Proposals Could Mean Substantial Tax Increases
2023 Annual US PE Middle Market Report
4 Point Checklist To Bridge The Data Gap With Farmers
Interesting Reads:
One year after SVB, the throne sits empty
Flutterwave shuts down Barter as it refocuses on enterprise and remittance business
Senator to Big Tech: ‘Collectively, your platforms really suck at policing themselves’
African investors investing in Africa
What is the U.S. public perception of precision livestock farming?
The Enshittification of AgTech (interesting way to describe a problem in agtech)
AI in Agriculture Market to Reach US$4 Billion by 2028
Cold plasma could be hot stuff for grain growers, say researchers (and there is a startup called NanoGuard, a Yield Lab portfolio co., developing this exact technology)
Startups significantly dialed back their hiring in 2023
Introducing a Brand New Game: Global Agritech 101
The Rio Grande Is Getting Saltier. Texan Farmers Are Desperate for a Fix.
Inside the Beef Industry’s Campaign to Influence Kids (how is this any different from big food companies commercials aimed at kids?)
Finance:
Australian farm incomes to rebound after drop in 2023-24
Capgemini and Westfield push Mirova climate fund to €195M
MEAG strikes €166M deal for Finnish forestry asset
Southwest Airlines Invests $30M In LanzaJet to Produce SAF From Ag Residues
ProteinDistillery Closes On Impressive €15M in Seed Funding
Water trading and farm subsidies take center stage at ABARES
Nuveen eyes Australia’s imminent biodiversity market
PE firm ABC Impact backs UK-based food waste management startup Winnow
Tierra Biosciences raises $11.4M Series A to expand designer protein-to-order platform
Lithuania-based HeavyFinance closes €50M fund to decarbonise agriculture
New Forests appoints Macquarie Asset Management COO as global head of funds
Arable Capital acquires Progressive Produce stake for $120M
Theme of the Agtech Week: Origination
Origination equals control. When you think of origination you may be thinking origination of product, technology, or innovation. That is only part of the equation. The other part, the most important part, is origination of all the inputs required for said technology. What are some examples of agtech that do not fall into this originator category?
Software — most software offerings require the user to provide their data, which then uses that data for better insights or for other users to have access to said data
E-marketplaces — for a lot of the same reasons as software, they are more effective as more users are on them. Think of FBN, Indigo for example, that provide a platform for the exchange of services, products or other value but don’t originate the seed, fertilizers, and other inputs required for those services.
What about agtech that does originate all of its inputs?
John Deere equipment — it is basically a microprocessor in a tractor, and by having their piece of equipment cover all that farmland, they effectively originate all that data.
Bayer seeds — think of all the corn, soy and other crop plots that they own, lease or operate AND add that to all the farmland that utilizes their seeds, for R&D and commercial production, that is origination of crop genetics.
Big 4 Commodity traders — they are an interesting example because on the one hand they do not grow corn and soy, but on the other hand they procure commodities that they then process for food, fuel and other products. All those commodities that they trade, enabled by tech, allow them to be a better solution provider. By transaction, they do originate.
What does origination allow agtech to do?
Control of its costs and therefore its margins.
Set the market price for your tech. Price maker not a price taker.
Your tech becomes a must have rather than a nice to have.
Think about the 3 examples and how they each effectively control their costs, set the market price and is there any doubt that they are a must have? This is a lesson for agtech that origination is the key and you do not have to achieve scale to do that. How? For another newsletter.
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.