Agtech Action | Week of 10.30.21 - 11.05.21
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting current events in the world of agtech, and some light-hearted commentary
The Deere strike continues without an agreement, gene editing and sustainable agriculture, and vaccination rule applauded by unions at meatplants. Global food prices rise, the first peppers grown in space and your Thanksgiving meal as ice cream?! A new VC fund model announced by Sequoia could be impactful for investing, particularly in the agtech space and the produce industry calls for government action to resolve the supply chain crisis.
The theme of the agtech week hits on a tweet back and forth between Musk and the WFP—transparency and accountability—and how that is driving change to the current food and agriculture system. Let’s dive into that and more in this week’s newsletter.
Food and the World:
Keeping Cattle on the Move and Carbon in the Soil
ELEGY FOR A SCHOOL: The lunch ladies were my first role models in social justice
Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use
CoverCress feature in the NYT (Yield Lab portofolio company)
Deere Reaches Tentative Agreement With UAW
Soils: The Missing Link In Carbon And Climate Change Conversations
The Corn Harvest Is Three-Fourths Finished, USDA Reports
Effort to cut methane emissions (0:05 mark)
Frozen turkey inventories down (0:45 mark)
Maine voters to consider “right to food” constitutional amendment
Making food allergies the focus of food equity
‘Temperatures continue to rise and farmworkers continue to be at risk’
Deere Strike Set to Continue As Workers Reject Second Contract
Crop Production Costs Rise, Farmers’ Optimism Drops, Ag Barometer Shows
U.S. lifts duties on European steel and aluminum
Launching agriculture innovation mission for climate
World Leaders Are Placing Big Bets On Agriculture In The Growing Climate Crisis Debate
Organic produce market to grow up to 10% in 2022
NGA delivers plea for help with labor, trucking shortage and retail concentration
Global food prices continue to rise (0:05 mark)
Deere details best and last offer (0:40 mark)
Centering Global Food Security for Global Prosperity
Veterans Protect National Food Security By Becoming Beekeepers
Weaning Preparation: Experts Discuss Transition Diets And Calf Performance
Vaccination Rule Applauded By Unions At Meat Plants
Farmers on the Front Line: Agriculture's Role in Fighting Climate Change
Agtech in the News:
Perdue Farms expands pasture-raised chicken program
The State of Technology and the U.S. Ag Retailer
Plant Breeding AI Gets Schooled in New Ag Tech Hackathon
Bayer, CHS Collaborate To Expand Farmer Carbon Program Access
Joyn Bio Announces Opening of New Facility to Develop Engineered Microbes for Crop Protection
Farm Margins Squeezed From Every Angle
Musk’s offer to end world hunger (0:40 mark)
How Gene Editing Can Support Sustainable Agriculture
Kenya’s Twiga raises $50M to scale food solutions across Africa
Here Are The Top Three Scalable Technologies To Combat Food Insecurity (according to one ag leader)
Peppers grown in space (1:15 mark)
Produce industry calls for ‘urgent government action’ to resolve supply chain stress
Fun:
Kraft Mac & Cheese introduces club (1:10 mark); sign me up!
Thanksgiving meal as ice cream (1:10 mark)
Farmville is back! (1:05 mark)
Helpful Resources:
Taking stock of national climate action for forests
What Property Qualifies for 1031 Exchange
A Creative Approach To Weed Management
All In: Female Founders in the US VC Ecosystem
Interesting Reads:
Is Sequoia's fund restructuring really a game-changer for VC?
Restaurant Work Can Destroy Your Body — But It Doesn’t Have To
The ex-fitness trainers creating a Black-owned ranch: ‘We need a new system’
Why Farmworkers Were Left Out of Striketober
The Food Waste and Climate Connection
Critics say it’s time to stop using the term “food deserts”
Can Hatch green chiles outlast the climate crisis?
How Sustainable Food Brands Can Build Trust
Does this Election Foreshadow what Comes Next?
Food vs. fuel debate reemerges over soy oil
Mylkcubator kicks off its first edition with four startups
John Phipps: How Dire is the World's Energy Crisis?
Hearth site in Utah desert reveals human tobacco use 12,300 years ago
U.S. dairy cows too expensive to feed
End of the avocado: why chefs are ditching the unsustainable fruit
Soils : The Missing Link In Carbon And Climate Change Conversations
Packers: Cow Processors Outpacing Fed Cattle Plants
Organizations Worry USPS Delays May Disproportionately Harm Rural Communities
How Gene Editing Can Support Sustainable Agriculture
What is Cell-Based Chocolate? Here’s How It Can Help the Planet
Finance:
Centuria buys Flavorite glasshouse from Roc Partners
Stafford Capital Partners appoints Brett Himbury as chairman
IGS banks $58m to cement its place as the John Deere of vertical farming
Shenandoah Growers rebrands as Soli Organic with $120m to build more soil-based indoor farms
McDonald’s USA Commits $5 Million To Implement Climate-Smart Farming Solutions
Food security investments grow in scope and importance
$250M continental investment Fund established in Kigali
Proterra targets $500M for credit fund after $150M first close
BGH Capital acquires majority stake in Hazeldenes Chickens
Shenandoah Growers Raises $120M, Changes Name To Soli Organic
DeHaat Raises $115m Series D; Largest Agtech Funding Round In India
Latest $64.5M Investment Makes Pure Harvest Top Funded Agtech Company In Menasa Region
Al Gore-Chaired Generation Investment Management Launches New Climate Fund Backed By Heavy Hitters
Former Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario joins climate-focused ReGen Ventures
Virtual grain tour generates $12.4M in projected sales
Offset markets support developing world forestry – Fitch
JBS wins shareholder approval for Huon Aquaculture takeover
Northern Territory cotton set for huge 2022 expansion
Industry Growth Forum: April 13-14, 2022 in Denver, CO
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory will be hosting the Industry Growth Forum 2022 in Denver, CO. Entering its 27th year, the nation’s premiere cleantech commercialization-acceleration event aligns promising, preselected startups with venture capitalists looking for their next great investment.
The IGF provides many opportunities to accelerate your company's growth, including the chance to present to over 500 of the world's leading cleantech investors, entrepreneurs, and industry professionals. This is your chance to showcase your company’s cleantech solution to investors via pitch sessions or the exclusive 1-1 networking session. You can use promo code APPLY10 for 10% off your application fee; the application fee also includes admission to the event. Applications to the IGF close on December 6, 2021 and can be accessed here.
The 2022 Industry Growth Forum will be held April 13-14, 2022, in Denver, CO. To learn more, check out the IGF website. For questions, please email the NREL IGF team at igf@nrel.gov.
The Theme of the Agtech Week: Transparency and Accountability
When David Beasley, Director of World Food Programme, tweeted that if he could have 2% of Elon Musk’s net worth, he could solve world hunger. Not a stranger to the media, Elon prompty responded that if Mr. Beasley and the WFP outlining a detailed, and transparent, plan with what they would do with that money, Elon would gladly sell his Tesla stock and do it. While this back and forth is good theatre, it highlights a key phenomenon in food and agriculture that is driving innovation and change: transparency and accountability.
The consumer no longer takes for granted where their food comes from; they are demanding to know how it is sourced, how it is harvested, the carbon footprint among other requirements. And with those demands comes a slew of technologies looking to solve that, like Connecting Food, and at the farmer side of the value chain, farmers are increasing becoming incentivized to be more transparent about the inputs on the farm. Technologies like ucrop.it present an interesting traceability solution to better manage and demonstrate that transparency.
The other facet to this is that the Musk/WFP kerfuffle highlights that we have tried to tackle these food and agriculture issues before, with funding but to no avail. It is increasingly becoming clear that if funding is to continue to be funneled towards these issues, it must be accountable, focused and intentional towards solving the problem. To illuminate those issues, food and agriculture can no longer be wasteful, bulky and inflexible, and vulnerable to disruption as evidence by COVID. And that drives even more innovation and technologies to food and agriculture, because the funding is only part of the solution; technology and innovation must pick up the rest.
As always, thank you for reading.
BD
Brandon Day is the Chief Operating Officer of the Yield Lab Institute, the think-tank, non-profit arm of The Yield Lab global network of venture capital funds and accelerator programs.
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