Agtech Action | Week of 11.09.24 - 11.15.24
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting and commenting on current events in the world of agtech
CAFO prohibition measure does not pass in CA county, Zeldin to run the EPA under the next administration, and is scurvy making a comeback? Bayer cuts earnings target, guac-tech and the pouchification of American food.
Build a venture, sell and scale it, then exit. That is the goal of any agtech entrepreneur. The unfortunate reality is that most are surviving let alone have the chance to thrive. In fact, agtech tends to bring it upon itself—a self-destruct mechanism. There are ways for agtech to avoid self-destruction and I’ll explore that in this week’s Agtech Action.
Food and the World:
USDA trims soybean, corn harvest estimates; FAO says global food prices spiked in October
Illinois Farmers Welcome Much-Needed Rain Amid Soil Moisture Concerns
Veterans Protect National Food Security by Becoming Beekeepers
An Oversupply of Used Equipment Offers Opportunities in a Tough Market
Corn Exports: Rocket Ship to Where?
Trump Picks Ex-Congressman Zeldin to Run Environmental Protection Agency
Winter Wheat Condition Improving
2024 Harvest Prices and Revenue Insurance Payments for Corn and Soybeans
AFBF Terminating Illinois Farm Bureau Membership After Dispute
Cash-Strapped U.S. Farmers Switch to Generic Crop Chemicals, in Blow to Big Manufacturers (opportunity for new products, biologicals, etc.)
What’s Going on With Illinois Corn and Soybean Harvests?
Farm Financial Aid Draws Increased Interest in Lame-Duck Session
Almost One-Third of Winter Wheat in This State Rated Very Poor/Poor
Agtech in the News:
Wilted greens: How a leaf-eating pathogen, failed deals brought down Bowery Farming
$151 billion needed annually to close ‘critical’ climate finance gap for smallholder farmers
Bayer Cuts Earnings Target, Posts Net Loss on Agriculture Weakness
Co-Founders' Letter: Brightseed's Evolution & Leadership Change
Agtech Seedlings: Deere partners with Mississippi State on farm automation
Where Boundaries Are Being Broken for Growing Raspberries
Innovafeed gets $11M USDA grant to bring insect fertilizer to the US
Biotope Ventures on turning groundbreaking research into profitable companies
Fun:
7 Homemade Wildlife and Pest Control Hacks to Try on Your Farm
California authorities say they broke up farm equipment theft ring
Helpful Resources:
Q4 2024 PitchBook Analyst Note: Evolving Economics of 10-Year VC Funds
PE wants retail investors’ money—but are they eager to give it?
Q3 2024 US VC Valuations Report
Q4 2024 PitchBook Analyst Note: Corporate Buyers Maintain an Advantage in Upcoming M&A Recovery
Q4 2024 Quantitative Perspectives: Turning the Tide
Q1 2024 Global Fund Performance Report (with preliminary Q2 2024 data)
Interesting Reads:
The Commodity Producer's Dilemma
For Citrus Growers, The Way Forward May Not Be Citrus At All
Shipping Food Is Dirty Business. Can Sailboats Fix It?
Should We Be Farming in the Desert?
Trump’s tariffs won’t help US agrifood industry, says ex-Congressman Charlie Dent: ‘There are no winners’ (so you can predict the future? Let’s reserve judgment before anything is enacted)
Vegan versus meat-based dog food: Guardian-reported health outcomes in 2,536 dogs, after controlling for canine demographic factors (the differences are not staggering and do not validate certain diets)
How Beef Became a Marker of American Identity
Too Much Income, Too Little Food: Why Hunger Plagues Troops
Will US convenience stores find the secret to selling better food?
Are Organic Foods Really More Nutritious?
The Great Pouchification of American Food
Soda is making a comeback (as in real soda?!)
Roaches, mice and mold: What is happening to airplane food?
AI protein-prediction tool AlphaFold3 is now more open
atNorth Expands Iceland Data Centers, Partners with AgTech Startup for Heat Recycling
Measure J - Prohibition on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Simple Majority (did not pass)
Potential for U.S. agriculture to be a net-negative greenhouse gas emitter
Mycotoxins likely to pose bigger problem in 2024 harvest
North Star and Lone Star States Get Together on Livestock Biosecurity
Finance:
IFC hunts partners as it looks to double agribusiness investment to $9B
Pymwymic collects €71.5M for second fund focused on healthy food systems
At last blended finance may have its time in the sun
Climate-resilient crops are here – it’s time to scale them
New Forests acquires 91,000 – acre timberland asset
German Agtech Startup Klim Secures $22M in Series A Round to Advance Regenerative Farming
US Impact Investor Acumen Catalyzes $1.5B in Climate Finance for Smallholder Farmers
Oceanloop raises €35M for indoor shrimp farming technology
The pursuit of better farming, and futures, through tech
NitroVolt gets €3.5M to realize its green ammonia plan
Foreign ownership of Australian farmland: statistics
Theme of the Agtech Week: Self-Destruct
Building agriculture technology is hard. You have so many variables to deal with that are external (capital markets, economic policy, personnel, press, etc.) and some of these are beyond the entrepreneur’s control. But I’ve witnessed many well-intended, and funded, agtechs fail because they create their own problems—they self-destruct. Why does this happen, what are examples and how to avoid it?
There are a few tell tale signs, and they are:
Money. Not just well-funded, but notably funded (see tons of press about capital raise). The funding seems to coincide with news reports, emerging trends and other press.
Scale. Agtech needs to scale but at the right time and at the right pace. Too many agtechs feel they need to scale rapidly, likely due to investment commitments. That is self-destruction.
Concessions. When agtech is at the beginning stages, they often make unnecessary concessions. Those concessions include giving up equity (too much or to the wrong partners), exclusivity rights, IP rights and ownership, or unfavorable financing terms. Even at the early stages, there is no need for agtech to give up so much.
These are the top signs that I have witnessed working with agtech and its entrepreneurs. And the most savvy agtechs avoid them by doing the following:
Restrictive with resources. Do you need money? Why not focus on selling what you build? I get it if you are building your tech and have nothing to sell. Look for funding that is less restrictive, like debt, convertible note, non-dilutive, grants and other sources.
Speed not urgency. Yes, agtech needs to grow and scale—at its own pace. Arbitrary timelines do not, and will not, help agtech. Whether imposed by investors, partners, the press, or other, agtech sets its own pace. And often that pace is set by agriculture and its players. Play the game.
Negotiate. Even if you do not think you have something to offer, you do. My agtech startups think that at the early stages, they do not have much to offer. Yes you do! You have an opportunity for investors and partners to get in early on a journey. A journey that could yield significant dividends. So negotiate like you do!
I want to read about more stories of success in agtech. I am extremely hopeful that we will be reading about more acquisitions, JVs, breakthroughs and exits in agtech—I’ve touched on this in a prior newsletter. But agtech needs to stop the self-destruction. There are plenty of mines, we do not need to step on the ones we can see.
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.