Agtech Action | Week of 03.16.24 - 03.22.24
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting and commenting on current events in the world of agtech
CEA is shining in the Lone Star State, US has first case of avian influenza and new tech to increase sunlight capture in corn. Farmer faces jail for breeding ‘mutant sheep’, TX wildfires kill 7,000+ cattle and is python the new sustainable meat?
‘Be your own best advocate’ is great advice for agtech. But I think it is more useful to leave the advocacy for others. Agtech would do better to let external groups and individuals advocate for them instead of doing it themselves. I’ll argue why in this week’s newsletter.
Food and the World:
Republicans would put half of climate funding into commodity subsidies, says Stabenow
USDA report looks at ways to grow biomass market
Texas wildfires kill 7,000+ cattle
Droughts, complicated by climate change, result in U.S. beef herd hitting historic low
U.S. wheat farms declined 40% in last 20 years
Iowa bill proposing legal immunity for pesticide manufacturers advances
Why Cultivated Meat's Route to the Mainstream Will Be Through Brand Partnerships
US has first instance of avian influenza in goats (hope it doesn’t transfer from species to species)
Publicly traded US poultry producers to report emissions
University of Missouri report warns falling prices could squeeze farmers
Agtech in the News:
New Technology to Increase Carbon and Sunlight Capture In Corn
America’s Top GreenTech Companies 2024 (congratulations to CoverCress and Bayotech, both The Yield Lab portfolio co., and CHONEX and Regrow Ag, Yield Lab Institute startups, for making the list!)
Reflecting on Indoor Ag-Con’s Vision for CEA
John Deere, Kinze, and Ag Leader announce collaboration agreement
Oobli Receives FDA Acceptance for Revolutionary Sweet Protein as Sugar Alternative
Novozymes And Chr. Hansen Complete Merger
Climate Change Is Coming for Your Favorite Condiments
How CEA is shining bright in the Lone Star State
INTENT Latest News: Launches INNOVA
FREEN Studies Impact of Small Wind Turbines On Agriculture
Oscar Mayer is launching a plant-based hot dog
Bosman Van Zaal Latest News: Unveils Innovative Cannabis Grow Container
Treetoscope Expands Seed Round, Adds New Investor to Drive Sap Sensor Tech
Compeer Financial® partners with Bushel® to improve digital experience for ag lending
Transgenic cows boost human insulin production by 10x
Benson Hill headcount falls nearly 40% amid divestitures, cuts
CHS Opens New Crop Science Research Center
Fun:
Are Used Combine Values On the Decline?
Eminent domain bill advances in the Iowa House (hope this quells government overreach)
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
Helpful Resources:
Is it a good idea to use paid-off land as collateral to purchase land?
There's a New Way to Cash in on Your CI Score on the Farm, Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act
Q1 2024 Quantitative Perspectives: Cleared for Takeoff?
Farmers’ tax liability to rise as tax breaks expire in 2025
Overcome Family Dysfunction with the 3 C’s
2023 Annual Global Private Debt Report
Q1 2024 PitchBook Analyst Note: The State of Private Market ESG and Impact Investing in 2024
Interesting Reads:
Concerns Grow Over Concentration in U.S. and Global Fertilizer Markets
Farmer wonders how he can keep paying for others' mistakes
‘The Lifeblood of the Community’: States Invest to Save Rural Grocery Stores
Micro Solar Leases: A New Income Stream for Black Farmers in the South?
There’s a generation gap in American farming, but some millennials are trying to fill the void
The High Plains Aquifer Is Approaching a Point of No Return
Potato farming reimagined: Navigating the future of potato production with advanced technologies
Could Supercharging Starch Production Secure Our Food Future?
Farmer faces jail for breeding ‘massive mutant sheep’ (ok for universities to breed, genetically modify animals but not for private citizens)
Anti-animal agriculture group sues over cattle grazing in Arizona
Why Value Investing Requires Thoughtful Arrogance
The Pros and Cons of Being an Early Adopter
What's in store for regional startups in 2024?
Rising Demand for Soybean Oil in Renewable Diesel Production Spurs U.S. Capacity Expansion
Why People Rage at Recipes: On the Current State of Online Food Discourse
Of Course America Fell for Liquid Death
Want a more sustainable meat for the grill? Try a 13-foot python steak (so now we are going to raise snakes to slaughter for meat? This is one of the dumbest ideas ever)
Why Massive Numbers of Farmed Salmon Are Dying
Finance:
Generational wealth transfer for family offices to spark windfall for VC
Winners Announced: UPL Corp Leads US$1.75M Investment in Biological Ag-Tech Innovators (Congratulations to Solasta Bio and Impetus Ag for winning! They are The Yield Lab portfolio startups!)
Cauldron raises $6.25M Series A to scale continuous fermentation tech
ANREV: Australian farmland returns fall below zero
Corteva Launches Investment and Partnership Platform Corteva Catalyst
Ag-tech Start-Up WeedOUT Raises $8.1M to Fight Weed Resistance
HeavyFinance launches €50M debt fund
What’s happened to farmland buy-and-lease strategies?
Why Fiera Comox waited six years for Innoliva to present itself
Greensphere Capital gets £50M commitment from UK Infrastructure Bank
Female-Led Startup Poseidona Raises €1.1M for Innovative Algal Protein Ingredients
Theme of the Agtech Week: Advocate
Agtech needs advocates, make no mistake about that. But that job should not be left to agtech startups and entrepreneurs alone. There are several reasons why:
There are organizations and individuals who’s sole task is to advocate on behalf of food and agriculture. And they are VERY good at advocacy. Let them do their job.
Advocacy takes significant time and resources, especially if you want to do it right. Those are resources that agtech does not have a plenty.
Conflict of interest. As an agtech, if you have to both advocate for and sell your technology, the market will inherently view that as a conflict and you won’t be rewarded for it.
Attention is at a premium. Focus on building technology and a business, not advocacy.
Legal ramifications. Advocacy sometimes can dip into the realm of policy and that is a tricky situation that agtech does not need to be in.
Advocates play a distinct and important role for agtech.
They bring broader attention to important technologies and the people building them.
They can help overcome the adoption concerns for agtech.
Serve as an objective, neutral 3rd party for potential users to review and evaluate agtech. A repository if you will.
Agtech should seek out advocates, in the form of organizations and individuals, that are aligned in industry, mission or goals. Find your advocates, work with them and let them do their thing.
We will be sharing a few updates on the Soy Innovation Challenge so stay tuned! Thanks for reading.
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.