Agtech Action | Week of 12.11.21 - 12.17.21
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting current events in the world of agtech, and some light-hearted commentary
Bayer faces another lawsuit, Kraft wants you to buy less cream cheese and food tech comes to the CES. Key mechanism for photosynthesis is elucidated, poop startups and is indoor ag headed for disillusionment?
The theme of the agtech week, or the year depending on your perspective, is precursor. More succinctly, the activities of the past agtech week are a precursor for 2022 and where food and ag is poised to go. A few more weeks before we wrap up 2021 and there’s so much to talk about in food and agtech. Digest it all in this week’s agtech Friday newsletter.
Food and the World:
Tyson Foods Plans to Spend $1.3 Billion to Automate Meat Plants
Biogas from America’s favorite meat: pollution solution or a prop for poultry?
Ghost riders: the invisible lives of Johannesburg food couriers – photo essay
US National Chicken Council submits comments on labeling of cell-cultured meat, poultry
Washington Week in Review: Dec. 9, 2021: House Ag Chair David Scott, D-Ga., on 2022 agenda
Food prices continue surge, White House lashes out at meatpackers
New York State announces milestone in construction of New York State Regional Food Hub
USDA Opens 2022 Sign-Up for Dairy Margin Coverage
Will new bacon law begin? California grocers seek delay
CBO Report Shows True Cost of Biden Administration's Build Back Better Plan Closer to $5T
Mayfield Grain Company Demolished by Rare Mid-December Tornado that Ravaged Rural Kentucky Town
USDA Just Announced Relief for Hog Producers Impacted by Pandemic; Here's Who Qualifies
Food prices continue to rise (0:40 mark) to their highest in 40 years
Online shopping for groceries increases (1:10 mark)
61 million acres voluntarily conserved in America, 2020 report reveals
USDA publishes proposed changes to the apple crop insurance policy
Natural disasters cost $105B this year (0:40 mark)
Pork product recall grows (0:40 mark)
Dangerous high winds (0:05 mark)
High winds produce dust storms in Midwest (0:05 mark)
White House has a plan to get more truckers on the road (1:10 mark)
Why we're actually in love with airplane food
China Lifts Embargo of Brazilian Beef
Ag Groups Urge Biden Administration to Grant Travel Exemptions to South African H-2A Farm Workers
Kraft wants you to stop buying cream cheese (1:05 mark)
FDA adds Listeria monocytogenes investigation
Mixed feelings as India farmers vacate protest sites near capital
China to Levy Higher Tariffs on Pork Imports in 2022 Amid Supply Glut
Producer Price Index jumps nearly 10% in November compared with year ago
Agtech in the News:
The Millions of Tons of Carbon Emissions That Don’t Officially Exist
John Deere Invests In Electrification of Its Future
SAS and Cotton Inc. to Enhance Use of Analytics in the Cotton Industry
Greenhouse banana growers in Turkey increasingly popular
Fiberstar Inc. citrus fiber for clean label meat alternatives launched
15 Minutes With… Finistere Ventures
Bayer faces German class action suit over Monsanto deal
Kansas farmers find the worth of partnering with dairies to obtain cow manure for soil health
New Center of Excellence Aims to Provide Alternatives to Synthetic Nitrogen Fertilizer
G7 development finance institutions create platform to boost investment in fragile states
Cassava Technologies & Mitsui Sign a Memorandum of Understanding to Accelerate Digital
Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund announces first close; fund will make African investments
Israel's 50+ FoodTech Unicorns, Soonicorns and Futurecorns
Winners Announced for the $1 Million Wonderful Innovation Challenge
Can farmer facing agtech startups IPO?
Diving into Israel's technological innovation
Key mechanism of photosynthesis elucidated
Supreme Court asks U.S. government for views on Bayer weedkiller case
SDG Leadership Labs: Supporting UN Country Teams to Achieve Agenda 2030
11 Mission-Driven Agritech Startups in Africa You Should Know About
Investments in Poop Startups are Piling Up
Vertical farming is headed for the ‘trough of disillusionment.’ Here’s why that’s a good thing
Motif Foodworks’ New HEMAMI Receives GRAS Status From FDA
Farmers Are Not Guinea Pigs: 5 Mistakes Ag Tech Startups Make
California FarmLink receives a $2 million Wells Fargo grant
Why did Upside Foods fire its co-founder just weeks after his team’s scientific triumph?
Tractor giant John Deere opening office in Fulton Market, hiring up to 300 tech workers
Fun:
NASCAR Great Loves being behind the wheel again
Trash tornado in one CO town (0:30 mark)
The Corporate Cheat Guide to Beating the Innovators Dilemma
Snake spotted in Christmas Tree (1:10 mark) in South Africa
Trust In Beef Joined by U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef
Helpful Resources:
7 Winter Listens for Livestock Farmers
Asia and the Pacific – Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2021
Crazy, Amazing, Unbelievable: 2021 Farmland Market is One for the History Books
Soil Resilience Needed to Fuel Second Green Revolution
Pension Funds and Private Equity in Nigeria – Dec 2021
PitchBook Analyst Note: Archetypal Investing into Climate Tech
Will You Be Able to Deduct Prepaid Farm Expenses?
Produce stocks underperforming - for now
What is Going on With Fertilizer Prices?
Who were the winners of the 2021 IPO jackpot?
The Future of Biologicals and What Producers Should Be Doing Next (VIDEO)
Interesting Reads:
Integrating Human and Artificial Intelligence
European supermarkets pull beef products linked to Brazil deforestation
Lawsuit against EPA over pesticide-coated seeds cites honeybee die-offs
New China import rules bring headaches for food and beverage makers
Independent Cattle Ranchers Continue Fighting Against National Checkoff Program
Ivory Coast's cashew processors driven into bankruptcy by Asian competition
Netherlands looks set to pursue reduction in livestock numbers
16 Women You Should Know Who Are Creating a More Sustainable Food System
Tough love: ag’s not perfect and neither are we
Ecuador opens Latin America’s first insect-meal production plant
New chip design could lead to smartphones with week-long battery life
Surgeons successfully transplant pig kidney into a human body
Starbucks workers vote to unionize in Buffalo
President Biden assails Kellogg’s plan to replace striking workers.
Will Digital Ag, Agtech and a Soil Health Focus Spark a New Farming Era?
Pairwise moves closer to creating seedless berries
United Just Completed First Flight Fueled by SAF, Here's Why Soybean Growers Should Take Note
Airlines get lift from corporate allies in shift to sustainable fuels
‘Spot Market’ Program Aims Pandemic Aid at Hog Farmers
Fast food workers are using 911 call logs to draw attention to a hidden “crisis of violence”
Wild Weather This Week Could Bring Needed Drought Relief to Withered West
White House Points Inflation Finger at Meatpackers
Innovating to net zero: An executive’s guide to climate technology
White House Calls Out Meat Packer Profits
Truck rates continue to push higher
Soil Erosion Trends in the U.S.
Will new bacon law begin? California grocers seek delay
Biden Urges Hearings in Congress on Meat Industry Consolidation
5 reasons why the GMO debate is over
Q&A With Jackie Applegate, Head of Bayer Crop Science North America
Getting youth into farming is the 'first element' of sustainability
Finance:
This Montana investment firm is betting big on ranch land in the West
CIBO and Continuum Ag partner on regenerative ag project
Institutional Investors Target Food & Drink Companies to Drive Better Nutrition
Boston nonprofit lands $2M from Gates Foundation for agriculture technology
Agtech Booms as Investors Target Climate-Friendly Technology
A Dutch vertical farming company has just been valued at over $1 billion
Ventures Platform announces first close of its $40M pan-African fund
Levi’s collaborates with Stony Creek Colors for denim dyeing systems
Wonder of fruit waste: Dole targets 2022 commercialization for high-value upcycled products
Australian farmland returns hold steady in Q3 2021 – ANREV
Proterra breaks up Corinella portfolio with A$360M-plus sale to 27 buyers
E-grocer Flink goes from seed to unicorn in less than a year with Series B
Eat Well Group Announces Up to $5,000,000 Marketed Private Placement of Special Warrants
Gresham House hits £200M second close on forestry fund
Amp Americas Triples Carbon-Negative Portfolio Via Two Acquisitions
Proving the link between natural capital and farm profits
BREAKING: Phytoform bags $5.7m to boost crop resilience through genome edits
NREL IGF Industry Growth Forum 2022: April 13-14 in Denver, CO
Will you be joining us for this exciting event!? Register here: https://bit.ly/3q1006L
Theme of the Agtech Week: Precursor
From the record level of investment in agtech, to the push to build facilities to accommodate new markets like alt proteins and the push for climate and nutrition driving more innovation, food and agtech is showing no signs of slowing down as 2021 comes to a close. You would naturally conclude that this is a precursor to 2022 as another big year for food and agtech, BUT I would say not so fast. While as a whole we could see even more activity and investment in food and agtech, I posit that for some verticals that may not happen. I would point to stories like: Agritecture’s leader indicating indoor/CEA is headed for the trough of disillusionment, coupled with the poor Q1 results from AppHarvest, and maybe appetite for indoor/CEA is waning.
Another vertical that could be headed down that path is alternative proteins; evidenced by Beyond Meat stock performance, slowed alt meat sales overall and poor performance of particular products and brands. The recent news could be a precursor to 2022, which could eventually end up being an overall great year for agtech but tempered expectations for particular agtech verticals. Let’s see how it unfolds!
Have a wonderful weekend and 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.
Create your profile
Only paid subscribers can comment on this post
Check your email
For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.
Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.