Headstorm: https://headstorm.com/
AGPILOT: https://headstorm.com/agpilot/
ELO Life: https://elolife.com/
Pairwise: https://www.pairwise.com/home
New Leaf Symbiotics: https://www.newleafsym.com/
Harpe Bio: https://harpebio.com/
"Biologicals are ‘economically unfeasible’ According to Report: The Shortcomings and Opportunities" by Upstream Ag Insights: https://www.upstream.ag/p/biologicals-are-economically-unfeasible
I considered a title for this episode that was something like “The Biological Revolution Coming to Agriculture”.
I decided against it, and not just because it’s over-dramatic and the word ‘revolution’ is tossed around way too much, but because it would give many listeners the wrong idea of what this episode is about.
This is not an episode about biologicals, which has become a catch-all term for things like biostimulants, biopesticides, biofungicides, and bioherbicides. I’m not a fan of trying to categorize things as “biologicals” for the following reasons:
With all of that said I do believe that advancements in biotechnology will have the single biggest impact of any technology on the future of agriculture. And that’s what I want to talk about here in this episode and highlight four companies that are doing some fascinating work driven by biology, that I had the chance to sit down with at World Agri-Tech this year.
So that intro might sound like I’m both criticizing biologicals and calling them the future of agriculture. Let me clarify: my point is that we need to stop lumping everything into this biologicals category and making judgments about a vague category and instead look at how companies and products can stand on their own merits and the value they offer to farmers and consumers.
In today’s episode, I’ll feature two companies in ELO Life and Pairwise that are using biotechnology, specifically gene editing, to change the game on certain agricultural products and ingredients. What they can do it mind-blowing - they are like the Willy Wonka’s of agriculture.
Then we’ll dive deeper into a New Life Symbiotics, which is more of a biological company in the classic sense of the word in that they sell microbes used as biostimulants and biopesticides. This is will give you a great look into some of the challenges and opportunities of these types of products.
Finally we’ll take a peak into what Harpe Bio is doing with their natural chemistry made from plant extracts to provide a new suite of herbicide products.
All of these examples are enabled by advancements in our understanding of biology combined with the data science and other tools that I think will accelerate innovation in agriculture faster than just about anything else out there today.
But let’s not evaluate these stories on how the products were developed, but what problems they solve what value they can offer.
FoA 262: Specialty Crops and Agtech with Allan Fetters
FoA 261: The Digital Dairy with Jordan Lambert of VAS
FoA 260: The Lentil Underground with Dave Oien of Timeless Seeds
FoA 259: [Tech-Enabled Advisor Series] Shannon Winny, Owner and Senior Agronomist at GroWest Ag Ventures
FoA 258: The Power of Peptides with Anna Rath and Ben Cicora from Vestaron
FoA 257: Bringing Ag Innovation to the Desert with HE Dr. Tariq bin Hendi
FoA 256: Agtech Collaboration and Data-Driven Decision Agriculture with Jim Ethington of Arable
FoA 255: [Tech-Enabled Advisor Series] Matt Larson, Agronomy Sales Manager at CHS
FoA 254: The Digitization of Global Agribusiness with Syngenta Chief Information Officer Greg Meyers
FoA 253: Social E-commerce and Gamifying Groceries with Xin Yi Lim of Pinduoduo
FoA 252: Local Meat Processing, Marketing and Logistics with Adam Parks
[Bonus] Ag Labor and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act with Shay Myers and Representative Cliff Bentz
FoA 251: Agtech Opportunities in Developing Markets with Igor Buchatskiy
FoA 250: Helping Smallholder Farmers Manage Risk with Sonu Agrawal of Weather Risk Management Services
FoA 249: A Global Perspective on Tree Nuts with The Almond Doctor
FoA 248: Regrow Merges Agronomic Insights with Sustainability Metrics
FoA 247: How to Stop Herbicide-Resistant Weeds
FoA 246: Unlocking Grazing Potential with Virtual Fencing
FoA 245: Agtech Product Strategy with Climate Corp Chief Product Officer Ranjeeta Singh
FoA 244: Farm Data Analytics with Aaron Gault of Advanced Agrilytics
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