Agtech Action | Week of 04.30.22 - 05.06.22
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting current events in the world of agtech, and some light-hearted commentary
Big investments in climate smart agriculture in Africa, farmers expect cost increases into 2023 and Brazil is on a ‘fertilizer diplomacy’ mission in North Africa. White House to host first food insecurity conference in 50 years, space weed and astronauts health, and can fungi-based meat alternatives save our forests?
Timing is the theme of the agtech week; I share a story about one of our startups and how quickly they garnered momentum for their innovation and it all had to do with timing. From a hard time to the right time. Enjoy this week’s edition.
Food and the World:
UN calls for global land restoration through modern agriculture
One Of the Wettest Starts to May in 30+ Years for the Corn Belt, Weathertrends360 Projects
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Was Not Arrested Last Week
Corn Planting Progress the Slowest Since 2013
World food prices down 0.8% (0:00 mark)
74% of Americans expect restaurants to cut portion sizes (0:35 mark); 54% would be willing to pay extra if explained why
Producers Boost Profits and Avoid Meatpackers with Integrated Livestock Processing
UAW Members at CNH Industrial in Wisconsin and Iowa Vote to Strike
John Deere Dealership, Grain Stocks in Ukraine Plundered by Russian Troops
Many Farmers Expect Cost Increases Will Last Into 2023
How some big grocery chains help ensure that food deserts stay barren
Sharp Drop in Open Interest for Meal and Oil; Long Liquidation
Avocado consumption has room to grow, Rabobank analysts believe
Greenhouses increasingly where the heart is for berries
Report: Iowa’s Hyper-Consolidated Hog Industry Drives Income Inequality
Brazil plans 'fertilizer diplomacy' trip to North Africa, Jordan to secure more imports
Millions of tonnes of grain stuck in Ukraine, says German UN official
Agtech in the News:
Cotter Agritech launches a new sheep handling, weighing and targeted worming system
IFPA Fresh Field Catalyst Names Winners
Forget The Fish, Cape Town Places Cultured Meat On The Table
Market conditions are the real innovation arbiters
34 companies changing the world through food
5 African climate-smart agriculture investors helping close a $106bn climate finance gap
4 Ways to Unlock Carbon Finance in Agriculture to Drive Climate Action
Canada invests in black soldier fly facility for animal feed
IndieBio Startup CellCrine is Developing Serum-Free Growth Media that Reduces Costs by 90%
Researchers in the rye: Alberta scientists studying environmental benefits of perennial grains
Why this former bee-honey industry executive is creating honey without the bees
Startups Are Leading the Way in Agtech and Food Innovation
Vertical Farming Startup Future Crops Announces New Investment Round
Fun:
Farmer Asks If Giving Assets to A Son-In-Law Will Cause Problems
The Truth About Slushies Must Come Out
Anglo-Saxon Kings Made Sure to Eat Their Vegetables, Study Shows
The Korean Immigrant and Michigan Farm Boy Who Taught Americans How to Cook Chow Mein
Helpful Resources:
How to be Paid for Reducing Nitrogen Use
Late-stage VC investment lags despite record deal count
Global Fund Performance Report (as of Q3 2021 with preliminary Q4 2021 data)
How To Spot 5 Common Cattle Diseases
Interesting Reads:
Report: The Majority of Farmers Applying to USDA Conservation Programs Are Being Rejected
Africa Startups: April closes with $430M in transactions
Despite Legal Changes, Women Still Face Barriers to Inheriting Farmland
How to Hook Gen Z On U.S. Dairy
No Farms, No Food: Uniting Farmers and Environmentalists to Transform American Agriculture
The delicate dance between store and grower brands
30% of Farmers Still Having Trouble Finding Essential Crop Inputs for This Year
The Next Frontier of Labor Organizing: Food-Delivery Workers
White House will host first food insecurity conference in 50 years
U.S. Black farmers lost $326B worth of land in 20th century -study
Farm Data Fears — More Harm Than Good?
North American Plastic Recycling Volumes Highlight Need for Immediate Solutions
Beneo to build fava bean processing plant
Could vertical farms help cities feed themselves?
40% of Consumers Purchase Plant-Based Meat and/or Dairy, Health Is the Top Reason: Acosta Survey
Bringing "big-picture thinking" to vertical farming through supply chain modeling and simulation
Hydroponic Lettuce Was Seen as Safe From Salmonella, Until an Outbreak
The rise of indoor farming is exploding, but Canada is lagging behind
Park rangers use butterflies to take planet's pulse in a biodiversity hotspot
Extreme' plants grow faster in the face of stress
Space Weed Could Keep Astronauts Healthy
Fungi-based meat alternatives could help save Earth's forests
‘I have to choose between food and heat’: demand soars at food bank in Tory-held Wandsworth
Projected environmental benefits of replacing beef with microbial protein
Record Fertilizer Prices Drive Investors, Farmers to Microbes
A story on the Resnicks, a family that just donated to Caltech to build a sustainability center
Finance:
Our debut awards confirm the asset class’s standard bearers
Solinftec Closes On $60 Million Led by Lightsmith Group
Yamaha Motors Leads $7.5M Series A For Precision Ag Startup Verge Ag
Australia’s Agridigital Raises $17.65M to Digitize Grain Value Chain
Warakirri Diversified Agriculture Fund makes 5th investment
Brazil’s Decoy scores $2m seed round to bring biologicals to animal ag
Neptune’s Talseth assumes Avramar CEO role
Pachama nets $55m Series B to bring accountability to forest carbon markets
Infrascreen nets $1.5m for its efficiency-boosting greenhouse nanomaterial
Theme of the Agtech Week: Timing
‘Timing is everything’ is a very popular phrase that I apply to a lot of things in my life. But in this instance, let’s apply it to agtech. The news of CoverCress Series C round, coupled with the partnership with Bunge, and the JV with Chevron is not a matter of coincidence but timing.
For those not familiar with CoverCress, they are domesticating a weed, called pennycress, and harvesting the seed which has characteristics that are ideal for several end markets, including biorenewable fuels. The weed is typically used as a cover crop, typically in between corn and soy rotations, for corn and soy farmers. Cover crops are typically not cash crops, namely revenue generating crops; they are used simply to protect the soil from erosion, biodiversity loss, etc. CoverCress aims to create a 3rd cash crop, from a historically non-cash cover crop, for corn and soy farmers.
Rewind to 6-7 years ago, and you would be hard pressed to find commercial interest in a cover crop that has biorenewable applications. Well with the volatility in fuel prices, corn and soy export markets taking a beating, and the push for the aviation industry to be ‘green’, and you have a perfect storm for CoverCress to provide an innovative solution. Factor in that this CoverCress crop can be put in between rotations for most of the 89M acres of corn and soy in the US, hence the investment by Bunge and Chevron into processing facilities for this CoverCress seed to fulfill this new biorenewable market.
Full disclosure, the Yield Lab was an early investor in CoverCress, hence why we know their trajectory and commercial path. I share them as a great example that staying the course and timing with the market is essential. Often a startup faces early obstacles like skepticism, investors unable to see future market, or other external conditions. But if you can truly see, and validate, the end use, the market and its potential, your time will come.
I can bring countless other examples, like our startups from The Manure Challenge in 2019, where not many folks were paying attention to manure innovations. Soaring fertilizer prices and one of the largest potash, phosphorous suppliers (Russia) in the world effectively taken out of the global market, and I can tell you folks are now giving a poop about my poop startups.
‘It’s just a matter of time.’ Thanks for reading.
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.