Agtech Action | Week of 04.06.24 - 04.12.24
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting and commenting on current events in the world of agtech
Brazil to expand cropland by over a third, worms in space, and vertical farming without light. Climate fundraising tops $9B, April WASDE shows increase in corn demand and Iowa governor signs law on foreign farmland ownership regs.
We are in planting season for farmers. It’s a time when farmers plant the seeds for what they hope is a bountiful harvest later in the year. There are a lot of parallels to planting and innovation. We’ll discuss those parallels, and lessons, in this week’s Agtech Action.
Food and the World:
Drought concern in 16 top corn growing states as the 2024 planting season begins
Less corn land is needed than soy to satisfy SAF goal
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law on foreign farmland ownership regulations
USDA to halt July cattle report and some crop data, citing budget levels
Corn Planting is Now Already Underway in 7 States
Washington Insiders Now Think We Could Get a First Look at a New Farm Bill as Early as Next Week
Farmers have 3% of corn planted
USDA finalizes WIC changes, expands fruit and vegetable benefits
April WASDE shows increase in corn demand
Crop planting is underway in Iowa amid lingering concerns about deep soil moisture
Pipeline company, environmental group strike unique ‘community benefits’ agreement
Agtech in the News:
For fundraising, spring break is over
Governor Hochul Latest News: Boosts Urban Agriculture with $1M in Grants
Six Questions One Industry Veterinarian Says She Is Asked Most Often About HPAI
What’s New with Agriculture Drones?
This Alabama Startup Is Literally Flying On The International Space Station Right Now
Plug and Play Topeka Announces New Cohort for Spring 2024 Accelerator Program
Fun:
Tracks and tires: Father & son restore Caterpillar crawlers
Farmer saves $2 million in inputs with no-till system
Power vs. Privacy: Landowner Sues Game Wardens, Challenges Property Intrusion
Spring Madness: In Farming and Basketball, Team Players Accomplish the Most
Helpful Resources:
10 tips for planting season success
Q1 2024 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor First Look
6 Lessons Adventure Trekking Teaches About Navigating Entrepreneurial Stresses
Here's Why Analysts Are Scratching Their Heads After USDA's New WASDE Report
Q3 2023 PitchBook Benchmarks (with preliminary Q4 2023 data)
Interesting Reads:
Food Weaponization Makes a Deadly Comeback
How Aus is shrinking trees, boosting yield with GE
Scientists Cultivate 'Naked Clam' Superfood That's Sustainable Solution to Hunger
Do We Really Want a Food Cartel?
Trump looms over UN plastics treaty talks
More startups raising $1M+ in Africa
Hog farmers hope to fly past bird flu
It's a No-Go for Corn Planting in Central Illinois
Brazil, an agricultural giant, could expand cropland by 35%, say analysts
Bird flu pushes U.S. dairy farmers to ban visitors, chop trees
Going dark: Company explores indoor vertical farming without light
Do you Roll the Dice Now and Plant Soybeans Early?
China Moves from a 'Cultural Revolution' to an Agricultural Revolution
Finance:
Climate fundraising tops $9.4B with World Fund’s latest effort
Global carbon accounting regulations give managers ‘angst’
Aliment backs berry producer looking to grow global footprint
Texas ranching company acquires stake in AGR-backed Cobalt Cattle
Seso Closes On $26M Series A for Ag Workforce Management Platform
TerraClear Raises $15M to Integrate AI In End-To-End Rock Management Platform
Onego Bio Closes $40M Series A For Animal-Free Egg Protein
Theme of the Agtech Week: Planting
Planting season is very similar to innovation. First, the start of planting is always uncertain and beyond your control (talk to a farmer in IL, IA or anywhere right now in the Midwest). As in innovation, you make a plan to launch your tech but it never launches exactly to your timeline. Second, the feedback loop is not immediate and typically at the mercy of external forces or conditions. Farmers plant, then 5-6 months later they find out if planting was successful or not. In innovation, you launch your tech, sell it, you get feedback (based on sales or lack thereof), and iterate your tech again then go back to the market. For farmers, those forces are weather, input costs, labor availability, among other issues. For innovators, those forces are economic cycles, capital, market timing, world events, and so on.
Third, there is a sense of hope and optimism with planting that even if this time it doesn’t go right, I’ll get another shot at it again next year. This is true in innovation; there is truly no finality. Even if your tech fails miserably in the market, you will always have another chance at it. It may not be in its current form, company or product, but the tech will continue on, by you or someone else. You always get another shot at it.
Planting and innovation are so similar. There is a fine line between success and failure, optimism and dread, taking the chance and not taking the chance, and farmers and innovators do it ALL THE TIME. Thank a farmer because they are planting the seeds for your food right now. Thank an innovator because they are planting the tech that will push the food system forward.
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.