Agtech Action | Week of 10.26.24 - 11.01.24
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting and commenting on current events in the world of agtech
CME Group approved to establish futures merchant, Johnnie Walker trials paper bottles and ‘electro-agriculture’ grows food in the dark. Study finds supermarket baby foods are unhealthy, agtech hits the TIME best inventions of 2024, and McD’s can finally fix its broken ice cream machines.
Harvest is about to wrap up in the Midwest and the crop figures will tell a story to the markets. Once harvest concludes, farmers look towards the next season but you cannot do that without planting seeds. Similar to successful farmers, successful agtech must plant seeds for its future. Those seeds are much like the ones farmers plant in the field. I’ll explain how in this week’s newsletter.
Food and the World:
Harvest is winding down, farmers are looking ahead
South America Poised to Expand Soybean Acreage, Further Pressuring Soybean Prices
Surge in Million-Dollar Operating Loans to Farmers
McDonald’s Customer Visits Fall After E. Coli Outbreak
E15 Gasoline Finally Coming to California?
Corn harvest over 80% complete
4 States Still Have 35% or More of Their Corn to Harvest
What’s Going on With Iowa Corn and Soybeans?
Bird Flu Found in Eight Dairy Herds in Utah, 15th State
U.S. Detects H5N1 Bird Flu in a Pig for the First Time
What Is Going on With Wisconsin Corn and Soybean Harvest?
Agtech in the News:
Biofuel Producers Shutting Down Without 45Z Guidance
The FTC is trying to find out if John Deere’s repair policies broke the law
A 50-Mile Art Road Trip Celebrates the Culture in Agriculture
Johnnie Walker trials paper bottle in on-trade
Danforth subsidiary launches new startup
Sharing our full Q3 Round-Up deck, and a quick zoom on Kenyan numbers
Dual-use rules can alleviate concern over solar farms, says rural group
Rare Earth Global raises $1.3M to expand access to industrial hemp products
CME Group Receives Approval to Establish Futures Commission Merchant (this could pave the way for futures trading in new crops)
Higher Ag Productivity May Be Cheapest Way to Reduce Carbon Emissions
Pivot Bio makes the TIME best inventions of 2024
Mitsubishi Corp Backs Finnish Aquaculture Tech Company Amid Wider Funding Round
'Electro-agriculture' grows food in the dark with 94% less land required (very interesting and novel, in tandem with soilless agriculture)
Peak3 and DJI Launch Innovative Insurance for Agriculture Drones to Boost Smart Agriculture
High-tech vegetable factory ensures healthy dietary for astronauts in space
Uzbekistan partners with Korean firm to grow new grape varieties
A Farmer Can Dream, right? Tesla Robots As the Farm Labor Force of the Future?
Integration of Technology in Urban Agriculture
Fun:
Halloween Treats (with Recipes!)
Harvesting and Storing Pumpkins
McDonald’s may finally have a fix for its broken ice cream machine epidemic
North Dakota Farm Organizations mixed on Property Tax Measure One Week Before Election
Helpful Resources:
Fintech startup Moniepoint defies Africa’s VC slowdown with $110M Series C
Q3 2024 Carbon & Emissions Tech Report
Navigating the Used Farm Equipment Market in 2025
Interesting Reads:
‘The first order of business is to listen’ – deal execution with Indigenous Peoples
A year on, war has not undone Israeli VC—but leaves indelible mark
Market Map: Digital care and treatments stabilize digital health’s vitals
Tough Times for Mushroom Workers
Can Human Urine Fertilize our Crops?
Thousands of Farmers Could Unknowingly Face Federal Fines or Jail Time (is this what we do now!? So ridiculous and a waste of our time and taxpayer money)
MDA Announces Animal Disease Traceability Rule Change
Why Are Farm Groups Opposing Climate Disclosures?
Farmers Are Finally Ready to Put the Paper Check out to Pasture
Americans are losing faith in food safety. Is the system to blame?
How Starbucks Became a Sugary Teen Emporium
Weight-loss drugs are a hot commodity. But not in low-income neighborhoods (this is madness! First we feed them crappy, unhealthy food and secondly now we want to give them these harmful drugs!)
Study finds many supermarket baby foods are unhealthy. Here’s what parents should know
Democratic Republic of the Congo: FAO sounds alarm over persisting high levels of hunger
Australia: chaotic commodity producer to bastion of high-quality beef
Capital-gains tax hikes in new UK budget draw private market protests (stay away from our gains!)
Green Plains Announces Successful Startup of Clean Sugar Technology™ Facility
The Coming Collision Between Whales and Tankers on British Columbia’s Coast
Score premium sports coverage with The Athletic
The Surprising Story of How Peaches Became an Icon of the U.S. Southeast
Does ‘Greedflation’ Explain High Prices? (Stop passing the buck! It’s due to overspending by the government!)
Finance:
AMERRA Capital Management Exits Brazilian Sugarcane Mill in Smooth Stroke of M&A
Nordic Startup FarmDroid Secures €10.5 Million for Solar-Powered Ag Robots
Craigmore Sustainables raises NZ$100M for forestry fund
How evergreen funds are taking root in the secondaries market
AMERRA exits Brazilian sugar company
Foreign pension funds farm Aussie fields as local supers stay away
Why Patria Investments is taking a $100M dip into LATAM reforestation
Theme of the Agtech Week: Seeds
You cannot have a bountiful harvest without planting a seed. This is true in farming and in business. Farmers and agtech entrepreneurs operate in very distinct yet similar worlds. They anticipate the now, plan for the future and prepare for the worst. Much like farming, agtech has to plant seeds in order to grow. Those similarities don’t end there. Moreover, those similarities include
Time. Like farming, agtech requires an investment of time. And like farming, agtech does not have a luxury of time. You have to get it right or you risk running out of time or having to waste resources until you get another shot at it.
Resources. Agtech must expend resources to build, test, iterate, re-test, then deploy. Agtech’s seed is expenditure of people, equipment, capital and more resources. Like farmers, it has to be strategic with planting certain seeds.
Risk. Farming is risky; agtech is risky. Some risk is understood and some is misunderstood. Seeds of risk are real for agtech and farmers.
Hope. Getting to the softer side, agtech must plant seeds of hope. Farmers have done this since they first planted seeds in their ground. They do so with hope and optimism for a bountiful harvest. Agtech has the same mindset, building in hopes of greater opportunities and timing it right.
Commitment. There is a commitment that farmers do when they plant a seed. They commit to all of the aforementioned and then some. Agtech is the same. By building tech, and testing it with the market, they commit to themselves to bringing value. And both farmers and agtech hope that commitment yields dividends.
This time of year most businesses wind things down. They hunker in, preserving time, resources and commitment and prepare to allocate that towards the following year. Like farming, agtech experiences that affect as well where activities are paused. But that does not mean things grind to a halt. Harvest ends yet planting commences. Agtech builds and then it tests. Agtech tests (and it tests) and then it launches. Seeds are emblematic of the past, present and the future. Building upon the past, planting now and hoping for future harvest.
Thanks for reading.
BD
Brandon Day is the Chief Operating Officer of The Yield Lab Institute, the global agtech think-tank, ecosystem builder, non-profit arm of The Yield Lab global network of venture capital funds. The views, opinions and commentary expressed are solely those of Brandon Day.