Agtech Action | Week of 11.23.24 - 11.29.24
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting and commenting on current events in the world of agtech
Gro Intelligence’s IP acquired by another startup, incoming Secretary of Agriculture is picked, and Paine Schwartz acquires a supplement provider. Debates about impending trade wars heat up, PepsiCo to add more chips to address ‘shrinkflation’ criticism, and bats as crop protection.
Experience is the foundation of a successful entrepreneur. It is the barometer through which all entrepreneurs, and their teams, are judged upon. Agtech needs knowledge, technology and, I argue most glaringly, experience to succeed. We will describe and quantify what experience agtech needs in this week’s newsletter.
Food and the World:
Trump’s Expected USDA Secretary Pick: Former Senator and Business Leader Kelly Loeffler
Argentina’s Soy Planting Reaches Full Speed, First Plants Show Good Condition
Trump to Nominate Brooke Rollins of Texas as USDA Secretary
Agriculture Industry Reacts to Nomination of Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture
Iowa Supreme Court Upholds Land Survey Abilities of Pipeline Companies in Summit Case (more overreach by this pipeline company, when will this end?)
California Finds Bird Flu Virus in Raw Milk
Winter Wheat Condition Surges Again in Final Crop Progress Report of 2024
Trump’s reelection and its potential impact on global agriculture and seafood markets
3 Corn Pricing Strategies to Consider
Corn Harvest Wraps Up in Top 3 States as USDA Crop Progress Reports End
Voracious U.S. Demand Means Biggest Food and Ag Trade Deficit Ever
CoBank analyzes impact of tariffs on Canada, Mexico on groceries
Global beef quarterly Q4 2024: Navigating declining global production, uncertainty in 2025
Craig shakes up race to lead House Agriculture Democrats
Agtech in the News:
U.S. Farm Groups Want Trump to Spare Their Workers from Deportation
XPRIZE ‘Feed the next billion’ finalists learn there is no $10m grand prize: ‘It feels dishonest’ (read your legal agreements!)
‘Picking up where Gro left off’: Almanac acquires Gro Intelligence’s IP
Mismatch or meant to be? Is VC the best fit for agtech? (we’ve discussed this in past newsletters)
Forged Gras: Vow Becomes First Company to Launch Cultivated Meat in Hong Kong
Technology and Farming Practices Expected to Outpace Lost Acres
UK reports decade-low levels of antibiotic sales, resistance on farms
Report Outlines Potential for U.S. Agriculture to Be Greenhouse Gas Negative
Biosecurity in swine production: Impact on animal and gut health
Meet the start-up helping farmers make (and sell) their own biochar
Riceland, Hill’s Pet Nutrition announce sustainably grown rice collaboration
AI enables cameras to put ‘new eyes’ on your cows
Carbon markets: A COP-out or a step forward? (I don’t see COP making an impact)
How buoyant are global compound feed and agtech sectors?
Regen ag: ‘If 70% of farmers did it, we would end the climate crisis’
IFPA to address supply chain of the future starting with December meeting
Bats Save Billions In Agriculture Costs As Technology Helps Save Them
Why Distraction Is the Most Overlooked Issue for Agtech Companies Struggling with Global Expansion
Fun:
The Once-Great Tractor Innovator Lost to Time
Commentary: Why Doesn’t NYC Have an Agriculture Show?
Riding the baddest bulls made him a legend. Then one broke his neck
Ben & Jerry’s Vs. Unilever Is the End of Corporate Do-Gooderism
Hong Kong follows US to propose crypto tax breaks
Helpful Resources:
Q4 2024 PitchBook Analyst Note: Top US PE-Backed IPO Candidates and Outlook
Interesting Reads:
In Texas, advocates want to ban certain foods from schools
They’re Paid Billions to Root Out Child Labor in the U.S. Why Do They Fail?
Get To Know Brooke Rollins, Nominee for Agriculture Secretary
PepsiCo to add more chips to some Tostitos, Ruffles bags after 'shrinkflation' criticism
We Are Living in a Golden Age of Apples
The weird uncle of the animal protein family
Farming Small in Big Farm Country
Was Agriculture the Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race? (feeding people is a mistake?)
Montana Rancher, Divided Country
Recycled Carbon Dioxide May Be the Key to Bountiful Rooftop Farms
Kansas animal health commissioner says H5N1 vaccine getting closer
Safaricom to launch second money market fund
U.S. Farmers Are Struggling. They Will Lose More in a Trade War, This Ag Expert Says
Podcast: Private label growth is primed to accelerate in the US
Finance:
Hort Innovation and VC Artesian will plough $60 million into startups with a new agtech fund
Farmland buy-and-lease meets infrastructure
INVL nears midpoint of increased €200M Fund II target
Paine Schwartz acquires supplement provider
Source Agriculture Corp. Makes Strategic Investment in Ascribe Bioscience To Advance Sustainable Crop Protection Solutions (congrats to The Yield Lab N. America portfolio co. Ascribe!)
Centuria’s agriculture AUM rises by 21% in FY24
Kapsera raises €4.2M to deploy its first industrial units
AI-Powered Protein Engineering Heightened by Cradle Bio's $73M Series B
Theme of the Agtech Week: Experience
We know it when we see it—experience. It is that thing that we wish we had when we are younger and we wish we had more opportunities to deploy it when we are older. Agtech is challenging enough so you need to equip yourself with every tool at your disposal. Experience is the most valuable tool that agtech has. Why? Let’s double click on that:
It is hard to quantify but we know it when we observe it. We often measure experience by years but that does not do it justice. Types of roles, companies you’ve worked at or built, the number of people managed, products built and launched, those are a few ways we measure experience.
All experience is valuable experience. Launched an agtech startup? A product at a multinational? Very valuable experience? Did it fail, or succeed? We often punish the former and reward the latter. I argue the former is FAR more valuable experience.
Experiences are unique. We have our own experiences and therefore surrounding yourself with a diverse team is critical for that reason alone. Building agtech is all about getting as many data points as you can to make informed decisions. Experiences are those data points.
Lessons are universal. Experience is unique but the lessons are universal. Blow through your raised capital? Lesson is to watch your P&L. Experience is the best teacher and the lessons are common throughout people and history.
Time is not the only measure of experience. Yes, experience comes with time. But wisdom can be gained from others, events, and moments. Generate as many of those as possible.
If I were to look at all of the agtech startups that I have either worked or crossed paths with, the experience factor is a common trait that delineates those that succeed and those that do not.
And the thing about experience is that no matter how much you read and study it, you cannot replace the emotions, the decisions and lessons learned from it. A book, a case study or a paper cannot duplicate the experience. Grey hairs are a badge of honor, if you let them be.
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.