Agtech Action | Week of 04.16.22 - 04.22.22
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting current events in the world of agtech, and some light-hearted commentary
NFTs and agtech, the Mexican pizza is back at Taco Bell and the Dutch make a record investment in cellular meat. The FDA is investigating Lucky Charms, the FBI puts ag on alert for ransomware attacks and despite inflation, AriZona ice tea remains 99 cents (how do they do it?!).
Protection is the theme of the agtech week, inspired by Earth Day. As in, food and ag must go beyond protecting resources, inputs—we must protect what already works. More on that later.
Food and the World:
Stabenow, Boozman announce first Senate farm bill hearing
‘It will be hard to find a farmer left’: Sri Lanka reels from rash fertiliser ban
White House announces new FSA, RD appointments
Corn Belt sees Little Change in Drought Conditions Week over Week
USDA announces $9.98 million in grants awarded to strengthen the specialty crop industry
Ag Groups Urge USDA to take Over Regulation of GE Animals
Time Ticking Away as Dry Season Approaches Brazil’s Safrinha-Growing Regions
Bird Flu Found in 29 States, from Idaho to Pennsylvania
35% chance of a recession in the US within the next 2 years, according to Goldman Sachs (0:00 mark)
FDA looking into Lucky Charms (0:30 mark); more than 100 customers claim illness
Corn Planting Increases to 4% and Soybeans to 1%, USDA Says
What In-Season Plant Tissue Tests can tell you About Fertility
IMF downgrades outlook, global growth cut to 3.6% for 2022 (0:00 mark)
Farmers planting in Ukraine (0:35 mark)
Farmland prices up 20% (1:05 mark); high commodity prices and low-risk investment
Inside the FY22 Appropriations Package: Wins for Sustainable Agriculture
The Midwest has lost 57 billion metric tons of topsoil over the last 160 years, new study finds
Research seeks portable paper-based tool to detect fecal contamination
War in Ukraine: Risks and Opportunities for U.S. Farmers
Organic fresh produce sales up 4% in the first quarter of 2022
McDonald’s franchises planned to pay tens of millions in PPP loan dollars to corporate HQ
How Three Cattle Owners Make a Unique Ranching Arrangement Work
GAO: Trump administration used flawed analysis for ERS-NIFA move
Amid bird flu outbreak, meat producers seek ‘ventilation shutdown’ for mass chicken killing
Agtech in the News:
Impact of Agricultural Inputs on Soil Health: Assessing Farmer Interest
Climate-Friendly Rice Provides Missouri Farmer Price Premium, New Carbon Credit Income
Rural Partners Network to Provide one-on-one Support for Rural Communities
$19M project aims to breed low-emission livestock
Rockefeller Foundation Commits $105M to New Good Food Strategy
NFTs and Agtech (interesting take on value, NFTs and their role in ag)
Median time and value multiplier between key finding rounds in Africa
In-Depth 96-Page Report About the Transformative Power of Digital Aquatech
Pork Industry Innovation Challenge (brought to you by NPB)
Evidence, causes, and consequences of declining nitrogen availability in terrestrial ecosystems
Indigo Ag Accelerates Biological Innovation with Novel Biofungicide
How Temasek became a leading food tech investor
Industry update: Alternative seafood
Local Bounti ‘pauses’ $40M Pasco greenhouse
Farmers Edge Welcomes Maple Leaf Foods’ Investment in Regenerative Agriculture Carbon Offsets
ADM planning expansion and new innovation center in Illinois
Agrify Announces Launch of VFU Rapid Deployment Pack
Less Is More: Netafim Is Turning Floods Into Drips Worldwide, Increasing Farming Yields
6 Israeli Companies Curbing The Global Water Crisis
Sea-farmed supercrop: how seaweed could transform the way we live
CK Ingredients to introduce fava bean plant protein in October 2022
Fun:
Kindness is the Key to Defeating Envy
Taco Bell is bringing back the Mexican pizza (1:00 mark)
As inflation soars, how is AriZona iced tea still 99 cents?
Researchers say increased avocado consumption could lower risk for cardiovascular disease
Sumbi#@% Farmer Shatters Convention, Earns Big Seat at Agriculture’s Table
Helpful Resources:
Anti-Russia sanctions spur VCs to unravel ties to 'toxic' money
How to Get a VC's Attention at an IRL Event
Q1 US venture capital trends in five charts
Proposed Tax Increase on Farmland Gets Pushback from U.S. Representative
Interesting Reads:
Five charts that show why our food is not ready for the climate crisis
The campaign for “bird-friendly beef”
FBI Puts Ag on Alert: Ransomware Attack Potentially Timed to Critical Seasons
Climate change and farming driving insect decline
China Is Hatching a Plan to Find Earth 2.0
How America’s farmers got cut out of the supply chain
Are we about to see a unicorn selloff?
$10.2B: Cost of climate reporting proposal according to the SEC
No bean, no problem: Brands race to develop alternatives to chocolate and coffee
‘The Truth is California Does Not Have Enough Water’
Seed banks: the last line of defense against a threatening global food crisis
It's So Dry in Texas that Some Areas Now Resemble the Dust Bowl, And It's Fueling Cotton Futures
Can California’s Agriculture Survive Extreme Drought? Should It?
How is inflation hurting retail produce demand?
Why the world is hungry — and how to help
Study to assess prepartum aspirin to improve cow comfort, performance
Scientists Say they Partially Destroyed Tumors with Sound
Will Insects be the New Ingredient in your Animal Feed?
Technology Holds Key to Agriculture’s Aging Problem
How Antiquated Real Estate Laws are Stopping Farmers from Fighting Climate Change
Why ‘Alt-Protein’ Won’t Save the Planet
Tops shoppers help divert 500,000 pounds of food waste
Scientists develop indoor-active photocatalyst for antiviral coating against various COVID variants
Researchers create miniature wide-angle camera with flat metalenses
Study finds feeding industrial hemp to cattle reduces stress
Supply chain companies play a ‘critical’ role in reducing dairy emissions – report
Q&A: Tindle’s Rohit Bhattacharya on the trials & tribulations of being an alt-protein CFO
SuperMeat's Shir Friedman says cultivated meat is "definitely scalable
GeneusBiotech Awarded with Grant for Furoid
Kirin partnership develops electrified chopsticks to enhance foods’ saltiness while slashing sodium
Finance:
Briefing: Dutch government to invest €60M in cellular ag ecosystem
Plant-Based Meat Company Nowaday Closes $7M Seed Round
Indonesian plant-based meat producer bags $1.7m seed funding
Israel Innovation Authority Grants $18M To Cultivated Meat Consortium
Changing Consumer Demands in Packaging: Sustainability, Recyclability, and Clean Labels
Agritech Eeki Foods raises $6.5 million in Series A led by General Catalyst
Largest redwood estate in Australasia hits the market
Upside Foods raises $400M Series C
Blockchain-Powered Agritech Startup TraceX Raises $1M in Funding
Tushop secures $3m pre-seed funding to scale affordable community eGrocery in Kenya
Faster and more efficient protein production with new technology: the Robolector
Aussie ag minister ‘doesn’t want’ foreign buyers in way of family farm succession
SoftBank shakeup puts Vision Fund in charge of Latam team
LACERA approves $100M in commitments
Genvax Technologies Accepted to Ag Startup Engine Portfolio: Funds to Support Work on African Swine
Farm Credit System shines light on fluctuating farmer fortunes
Seso raises $25M to Ease U.S. Ag Labor Shortage
Husqvarna Group Ventures Invests $7.5M in Nanobubble Technology
Vertical Harvest Raises $8.35M Series A for Indoor Vertical Farms with a Social Mission
Ginkgo Bioworks, Elanco Launch Animal Health Company BiomEdit with Support from $40M Series A
Dutch government invests record €60M to boost cellular meat & agriculture
Theme of the Agtech Week: Protection
Inspired by Earth Day, the theme of the agtech week is protection. Today is an important day to remind ourselves of the things we want to and should protect—water, biodiversity, soil, land, minerals or in aggregate—Earth. There will be plenty of posts today that espouse these talking points, I would rather focus on those things that food and agriculture stakeholders should protect because they work.
I often read content that talks about how food and ag is not equipped to handle the climate crisis, or how food and ag is the largest contributor of GHGs (when did we forget about the FF industry?!); and this content is used as the basis for arguing that we need to protect Earth from food and ag and its destructive practices. Let’s focus on what is working in food and ag; we look no further than commodity, row crop farming. The US grows an abundance of grains, wheat and other commodities that we export a significant portion of that to nations like China, who are currently stocking up on said commodities. We can argue about the inputs to grow said commodities, but let’s agree that the current US commodity system creates abundance for the global market.
What about breeding and genetics? Regardless of where you lie on the GMO, non-GMO side of the fence, genetics and breeding has created such wonders as golden rice, increasing yield, enhanced harvest (mechanization), pest and pathogen resistance, among many other traits that result in healthy, nutrient dense and year round produce.
I highlight these two examples to illustrate the point that while food and ag has its well-documented challenges, we do not, and should not, break it all down and start over. Keep what works and accelerate innovations that value-add. That’s all.
BD
Brandon Day is the Chief Operating Officer of The Yield Lab Institute, the global agtech think-tank, non-profit arm of The Yield Lab global network of venture capital funds and accelerator programs. The views, opinions and commentary expressed are solely those of Brandon Day.