Agtech Action | Week of 05.29.21 - 06.04.21
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting current events in the world of agtech, and some light-hearted humor
Say bye bye to alcohol while flying, a cyberattack takes down the world’s largest meat processor, and world food prices are surging. McDonald’s is testing artificial intelligence in its drive-throughs, styrofoam packaging made from popcorn and cow masks (are maybe a thing). And the big announcement is finally here: the Sustainable Agtech Challenge for the Latin America and Caribbean regions. Read on for more details about that and this week’s agtech news.
Food and the World:
Judge denies approval of Bayer settlement for future Roundup claims
Brazil on drought alert, faces worst dry spell in 91 years
Lawmakers ask for $200B for USDA climate work
Land stewardship would get a modest increase from Biden
Chilean citrus season projects volume increase to the US market
Grocers helped build Tulsa’s Black Wall Street
Restaurant lobbying groups and CEOs
Iowa farmer forced to replant as late May freeze wiped out soybeans planted into no-till
China upbeat on trade talks with US, says both ‘seek common ground’
Will a native-led initiative spur an agricultural revolution in rural Alaska?
Ex-prisoners are going hungry amid barriers, bans to benefits on the outside
Alcohol restrictions in the friendly skies
World food prices are surging (0:05 mark)
Allergic to seafood? Don’t eat cicadas (1:15 mark)
Food industry ‘not very’ ready for cyberattacks
Global action is stepping up in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
Climate change fans spread of pests and threats plants and crops, new FAO study
Pesticides are killing the world’s soils
Nestle document says majority of its food portfolio is unhealthy
Eating at America’s gas stations
Agtech in the News:
Cyber attack on JBS N. America (0:05 mark)
Global assessment of soil production
Fly farming is a mini livestock industry poised to get big
Shield farmers from higher taxes for Biden projects, says House Ag chair
Western Growers launches AgTechX Ed initiative with CDFA Secretary Karen Ross
Update: JBS says all facilities operating after weekend cyberattack
Styrofoam-like packaging is made of popcorn—not plastics
Why Bayer’s former CEO joined a startup working on microbial crop protection
What does the JBS cyber attack mean for the food supply chain?
Nestle eyes strategy update amid criticism of unhealthy products
The uncanny, fluorescent world of the Costco influencer
Colorado indoor farm Spring Born goes organic
US says ransomware attack on meatpacker JBS likely from Russia
McDonald’s is testing drive-thru AI (0:45 mark)
This New York business calls cheese and regenerative agriculture a winning combo
‘There are ghosts in the land’: how US mega-dairies are killing off small farms
Online platform boosts women in agribusiness
CEA Food Safety Coalition details first indoor-farming standards
JBS ransomware hack was only the latest in a surge of cyberattacks on the US food system
Helpful Resources:
9 questions to ask before jumping into the carbon market
Fun:
Herd of cattle stop a police chase (1:10 mark)
The stories behind Mare of Easttown’s most memorable edible moments
AMC offers new perks for retail investors: free large popcorn
Interesting Reads:
Food security recovery is more affordable than you think
Farting cows are not the problem, AOC
Land O’Lakes drops the iconic logo of an indigenous woman from its branding
South Africa’s dairy sector strives to shake off its past
How the world ran out of everything
Finance:
Proterra Asia’s Tai Lin on the APAC food opportunity
Rabobank-backed IDH fund takes stake in fintech lending company
UK agtech startup Antobot raises £1.2M
HR management platform Ganaz raises $7M Series A funding from Trilogy Equity, AgFunder
Wesgro partners Stellenbosch Network to promote Tech Innovation in South Africa
Flagship-backed Invaio targets revenue after $89M Series C
Tenacious Ventures closes first fund on A$35M
Impetus Ag (St. Louis agtech startup) creating new insect control product raises $1M
St. Louis agtech firm Elemental Enzymes inks licensing deal with ag giant Corteva
Cell-cultured meat set to boldly clear US milestones
Arugga nets $4M for its indoor pollination robots
Jai Kisan nets $30M Series A funding from Mirae Asset, Syngenta
Ascent holds first close of Ascent Rift Valley Fund II
Goodwill Investments has announced the launch of a new €50M fund to support African SMEs
CPDQ launches in-house farmland and timber unit – exclusive
Sustainable Agtech Challenge and Policy Assessment:
The BIG ANNOUNCEMENT is finally here! I am thrilled to unveil the Sustainable Agtech Challenge and Policy Assessment for the Latin America and Caribbean region (LAC). Brought to you by the UN Environmental Programme and supported by the Yield Lab LATAM, Universidad de Austral and other partners, this open innovation challenge is focused around identifying AgTech Startups with a scalable business model, that can tackle some of the most pressing issues of climate change in agri-food systems in the LAC region.
We invite agtech startups, innovations, or teams to apply if they have a solution that fits this criteria. The selected applicants will get to work with our network of business and technical SMEs to support and advance their agtech innovations and solutions. And we will award prizes at the conclusion of the challenge in October. Apply here to the challenge by July 7th. Please share and circulate this newsletter with startups within your network and encourage them to apply.
In addition, we will be conducting a bolt-on policy assessment. We recognize that open innovation challenges are not enough in developing regions like LAC and that a more holistic approach must be taken. To that end, the applications and the information they submit will contribute to a policy assessment white paper final deliverable that will be published at the conclusion of the challenge. If you are interested in learning more about the policy assessment, contribute and/or support it from a research perspective, please reach out to me.
The big news of the week was the cyberattack that shutdown JBS meat processing plants in N. America and Australia. The obvious response to this ransomware attack is for food conglomerates to strengthen their cybersecurity measures but we are missing the underlying issue that created an environment for this to happen. And that is consolidation. Consolidation of major food supply chains (meat, dairy, poultry, commodities, etc.) create an environment where nefarious actors just have to go after one big food giant and that puts a major food supply chain, in this case beef, in jeopardy temporarily. We need to rethink our supply chains to be more nimble, robust and less vulnerable to attacks like these because our food security depends on it.
More to come from the Yield Lab Institute! Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to stay in the loop.
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.