Agtech Action | Week of 09.18.21 - 09.24.21
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting current events in the world of agtech, and some light-hearted commentary
African Swine Fever hits Haiti, fat from dairy may be good for your heart, and McD’s is phasing out happy meal toys to be more green. A carbon neutral pig (great video by USFRA), more cyberattacks on ag organizations this time grain co-ops, and Thanksnuggets make their triumphant return. We have two big events coming up in the Yield Lab family: The Global Aquaculture Challenge Finale, brought to you by the Yield Lab Asia Pacific, and the Sustainable Agtech Challenge Finale brought to you by the Yield Lab Institute. Details on both follow in the newsletter.
And as always, the theme of the agtech week is unfortunately more of a warning—food interruption. As in be prepared for some foods not being on grocery aisles. But have no fear, food and ag is resilient and this is momentary. Read on and enjoy.
Food and the World:
Vilsack touts new ag productivity coalition as counter to EU
Vilsack defends U.S. farm practices on world stage
What does the Biden Vaccine Mandate Mean for Rural America?
Ask FDA about plant-based ‘meat’, says USDA
Congestion at CA ports (0:05 mark)
FedEx hiking rates average of 5.9% next year (0:40 mark); up from annual increase of 4.9%
The Biden administration is developing a federal heat standard to protect vulnerable workers
Struggle over tax break for inherited farmland churns below surface in Reconciliation Bill
Row Crop Recipe: Practices to Help Agriculture Reduce Nitrogen Loss, Cut Carbon Footprint
Major economies pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30%
Washington Conference looks at critical food safety issues
NC Pig Farmer: Change Has Got to Start Somewhere
U.S. farmers face supply shortages, higher costs after Hurricane Ida
‘Fairness for Farmers’ campaign targets market power of big companies
Ag groups praise Newsom for AB 616 Veto
As California’s drought deepens, water use drops a meager 1.8%
A couple wore masks inside a TX restaurant to protect their newborn son. The owner kicked them out[BD1]
Kyrsten Sinema’s Grapes of Wealth
Insurance Losses Mount as Hurricane Ida Could Become Top Five Costliest Hurricanes in History
Brazil renews protection of little-seen Amazon tribe for six months
USDA Statement on Confirmation of African Swine Fever in Haiti
Haiti sees first African swine fever outbreak in 37 years -OIE
Costco expects prices to increase (0:05 mark)
DFC to Invest $1 Billion in Food Security and Agriculture Projects
Agtech in the News:
AgriFood Trade Solution DiMuto Raises US$2.35million Series A Funding to Advance Its Global Network and Agri-financial Services (congratulations to the Yield Lab Asia Pacific team)
Volvo plans to go leather-free by 2030 (0:40 mark)
MoU Signed With Gates Foundation For Improving India's Livestock Sector
Alitheia IDF leads $3m Series A investment round in ReelFruit
Hackers target Iowa grain co-op in $5.9M ransomware attack
This Singapore startup is using insects to turn trash into treasure
BASF Digital Farming commits $300,000 in support of HyperLayer Data Concept
US and EU team up to tackle emissions (0:05 mark)
Iowa farm services firm: systems offline due to cybersecurity incident
Africa’s top investors of 2021
$5.9 million ransomware attack on farming co-op may cause food shortage
The American West is running out of water—and Big Oil, of all things, can help fix it
N.J. to pull $182M out of Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s and Israel
DiCaprio invests in cultivated meat start-ups Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms
Bet on the collaborative-ists (great newsletter on the livestock, beef, dairy innovator space)
Goterra CEO Olympia Yarger on grief and growing
Finance Leaders Join Forces to Launch Good Food Finance Network
Cargill Partners with Regrow to Give Farmers Access to Ecosystem Markets (Regrow is a Yield Lab Institute Soy Innovation Challenge grand prize winner!)
USDA wants to make farms climate-friendly. Will it work?
2nd cyber attack on grain co-op in a week (0:05 mark)
Fun:
Thanksnuggets return (1:10 mark)
Farm Toymaker Crafts Masterpieces of Wood
McDonald's Is Phasing Out Plastic Toys From Happy Meals In A Push To Be More Green
Stop checking your social media, but when you do ...
Cattle break out in IL town (1:05 mark)
Kansas kid grows pumpkins to save for college (1:10 mark)
Fat from dairy may actually be good for your heart (0:05 mark)
Tree market looks good for Christmas (0:45 mark)
World’s whitest paint (1:10 mark) (works like an air conditioner, reflecting most sunlight)
Helpful Resources:
GRAPHIC: Corn and soybean production could approach record highs this year
40 seasons: how it pays to be an unconventional rancher
Soil health through the lens of the tech stack
How Joe Biden’s Green Agenda Threatens the Alaskan Wilderness
Pregnant farmers must take extra precautions
Pathway to Climate Neutrality for U.S. Beef and Dairy Cattle Production
In-Depth 92-Page Introduction to Tilapia in Sub-Saharan Africa
1 change that can fix the VC funding crisis for women founders
CoBank Report Asserts Precision Services are Essential to Future of U.S. Ag Retail
Radicle and UPL Carbon & Soil Challenge
Interesting Reads:
Renewable diesel boom is wild card for U.S. soybeans
How to make an unloved job more attractive? Restaurants tinker with wages
How can the most endangered ecosystem in the world be saved?
The High Stakes of the UN Food Systems Summit
Africa is not a monoculture, we reject the plan to make it one
New $5B cover crop initiative in climate package
High food prices are here to stay
Lab-grown meat is supposed to be inevitable. The science tells a different story
CNH Industrial Joins 5G Open Innovation Lab
Beef sustainability: tell your story
How Can Farmers Coexist With Wolves?
Here’s why your food prices keep going up
Consumers, growers differ on sustainability leadership
Four Specialty Crop Sustainability Insights From My California Trip
The Heretic Farmer: Jon Stevens’ Big Adios to Mainstream Ag
Lab-grown coffee brewing in Finland as scientists develop cells from plant biotechnology
Protecting the birds and the bees
Research finds valuable stingless bee honey created in bee guts
David Welch on GMO Controversy and Its Lessons for the Cell-Cultured Meat Industry
Finance:
BTG Pactual looks to existing assets for climate and capital gains
Nuveen timber unit GreenWood taps ex-BTG exec for expansion
Gates gives record $922M for nutrition, urges others to 'step up'
Advanced Farm to Accelerate Robotic Harvesting Technology After $25 Million Funding Round
Ripple Foods raises $60M, outpacing alt-dairy category by 3x
Our Series A funding announcement — What it means for ZELP and our fight against global warming
Lever VC announces final close on Fund I at $80M; plans Fund II for early 2022
GOOD Meat raises additional $97M, bringing latest round to $267M
Calysta eyes global expansion with completion of $39m funding round
S2G’s Krishnan ponders how food systems could ‘colonize healthcare’
AIMCo targeting permanent crops while balancing timber
Impact-linked carry is good news – if you can pull it off
Global Aquaculture Challenge Finale hosted by the Yield Lab Asia Pacific
The Animal AgTech Innovation Summit is thrilled to partner with the The Yield Lab to co-host the grand finale of the Global Aquaculture Challenge 2021, advancing sustainable solutions for the aquaculture industry. Register here.
The Yield Lab has selected its GAC2021 Cohort of eight start-ups, who will pitch their breakthrough technology solutions to an international audience of aquaculture experts and investors during a live webinar on Thursday October 7 at 1pm UTC (8am CDT, 2pm BST, 9pm SGT).
With a prize fund of $1.6m USD, watch the grand finale live to see which entrepreneurs will be awarded cash prizes and investor facing opportunities, including the chance to pitch at the summit on October 19-20.
Sustainable Agtech Challenge: Final Cohort is Revealed
The final cohort of 8 is revealed for the Sustainable Agtech Challenge, brought to you by UN Environment Programme, The Yield Lab Institute, and #GO4SDGS in partnership with FONTAGRO, IDB Lab, Gerencia Ambiental, AgriGate Global, The Yield Lab LATAM, and Universidad Austral, Buenos Aires and sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
We are excited to share with you this diverse group of innovations, technologies and solutions that have great potential to move forward the #sustainability needle for #agriculture.
Let's welcome the cohort of 8:
Climate Sense
Stay tuned for more details on the exciting finale event of the Sustainable Agtech Challenge and news about the prizes, and policy assessment.
In case you missed the kickoff event, you can find the recording here: https://lnkd.in/esA6bFzs
Theme of the Agtech Week: Food Interruptions
I wish I had better news but with Costco declaring that food prices to increase, General Mills preparing for labor shortages and supply chain issues, and congestion at shipping ports expect food interruptions to happen very soon. Not to get you in a panic but you may have to get used to not seeing ground beef, flour or other items readily available in grocery stores. Be prepared, have a plan and no need to panic buy. Food and ag value chains and stakeholders are resilient and this will hopefully be temporary. And look at this as an opportunity to buy local and support your local grocer, farmer, rancher, producer or anyone that contributes to the ag value chain.
We’ve been here before and we will figure it out. Thanks 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.