Agriculture is exposed to a complex tangle of laws, trade agreements, and competing visions of the future. For farmers, adjustments by legislators at any level of government can have an impact. So while policy is often an afterthought for operators in tech, the pressure for farmers to be engaged and represented in the formulation of new policy is real.

Back in May, we published an experimental bonus episode called “The Three Fears of Farm Data”. The conversation centered around the legitimacy of fears held by farmers about sharing their farm data, and kicked off with a particularly hot take:

“We in agtech have completely f*****d farmers by making them afraid of sharing their data.”

The episode got a huge reaction from around the industry - both positive and critical. It’s clear that the conversation around farm data is one that everyone in agtech, from farmers and startups to analysts and operators in agribusinesses, seem interested in continuing.

Autonomous farming equipment and robotics in ag is more crowded than ever. Every new acquisition from an incumbent or deployment of venture capital into the space creates more buzz to sort through in the inboxes of analysts, entrepreneurs, and farmers.

With the industry growing so quickly, it’s helpful to have a bird’s-eye view of what’s happening, and what it means for the future of agriculture.

So, in this week’s episode we give listeners a framework to understand the rapidly moving world of autonomy in ag. Our guest is Andrew Bate, Co-Founder and CEO of SwarmFarm Robotics, who joins us to share his observations on the three major categories of autonomy that are emerging in ag.

When it comes to designing carbon programs in agriculture, there is a very real tension between the science and the commercial realities of drawing down carbon at scale. Particularly, the question of how to incentivize on-farm practice changes is one that many companies in ag carbon have failed to answer.

Working at the intersection of these tensions is our guest this week, Emma Fuller, Carbon and Ecosystem Services Portfolio Leader at Corteva Agriscience. An accomplished data scientist and ecologist, Emma began her career in agrifood systems publishing research on West Coast fisheries in the US, before jumping into the world of startups at Granular. After their $300M acquisition by what is now Corteva Agriscience, today Emma designs programs that credit farmers for reducing greenhouse gas emissions or sequestering carbon in their soils.

This week we're bringing you the final episode in our three-part series on the future of ag insurance. Sarah is joined by Matthew Pryor to talk through their learnings in a live attempt to develop an investment thesis for ag insurance.

For a traditionally low innovation industry, things are starting to heat up in agricultural insurance.

While it remains something of a black box for many people in agriculture, the forces of climate change and technological innovation are creating the right mix of incentives that could change how the whole industry manages risk.

This second episode of our exploration of ag insurance considers a digitally-native product in the hands of farmers today. While still in their infancy, these digitally-native reimaginings of insurance as it exists will be the difference between farmers spending hours, days, and weeks dealing with brokers and getting payouts, compared to almost instant quotes, claims, and reimbursements.

Climate change will mean more frequent, extreme weather and more risk exposure for farmers around the world. This increased risk should be a driver for the business of agricultural insurers. But, it’s not easy to predict how climate change and digital-disruption might transform one of the world’s oldest industries.

Actually, we’ve come to realize it isn’t easy to understand how agricultural insurance works at all.

So, in the spirit of learning out loud, we’re releasing TWO episodes this week. This first one dives into the mysterious world of ag insurance with a 101-style conversation with Matt Coutts, Chief Investment Officer of Coutts Capital, and Tenacious Ventures General Partner Matthew Pryor.

Recently the whole team here at Tenacious Ventures had the chance to get out of town and on to the farm. And not just any farm – we visited Jigsaw Farms, home to sheep farmer and long-time friend of the show Mark Wooton and his wife Eve. While out at Jigsaw, Mark and Eve gave us an update on their vision for “sustainable intensification” and their ethos for farm management.

It isn’t surprising that most farmers have to be expert planners and investors. But getting an inside view into how a farmer plans for the future of their business is a rare opportunity.

In this episode, you’ll hear firsthand how Hallie Shoffner, a sixth-generation row crop farmer in the Mississippi Delta, makes decisions for her farm and company, SFR Seed. While Hallie is an enthusiastic adopter of new farming innovations, this conversation shows that every decision must be well supported by reliable data and the right incentives.

Have we in agtech completely f*****d farmers by making them afraid of sharing their data?

Listen in to Matthew Pryor and Sarah Nolet from Tenacious Ventures, and Shane Thomas, agronomist and author at Upstream Ag Insights, work through an emerging theory that uncertainty and fear about farm data is a largely unfounded barrier to adoption.

There are many different views about the future of autonomous farming. One is that, out of the emerging autonomous equipment providers and established blue chip suppliers, there will be clear winners and losers in the battle for on-farm dominance. Another is that farming in the future will involve all kinds of autonomous solutions. This second possibility presents tons of opportunities to add value for farmers.

Our guest on this week’s episode is Iftach Birger, Co-Founder and COO at FieldIn, a farm data and autonomous equipment startup founded in Israel. Rather than wade into the fray playing out between new autonomous equipment players and established corporations, FieldIn is attempting to create a platform that allows a mixed fleet of equipment to interact seamlessly.

Every decision made by founders, farmers, and leaders in agriculture shapes the future of our food system. Whether it’s the cost per hectare of a biological or the value of a ton of carbon sequestered, the different goals and outcomes that end up in business plans inevitably define how time, energy, and capital are spent.

But there are many outcomes of a healthy food system that don’t fit in a business plan. How do leaders today account for the broad connections between people, ideas, and identities? It’s this fabric that reflects who we are, what we value as a society, and how we interact as humans along the agricultural value chain.

Let’s talk about eggs.

Hardly anything can match the egg for complete versatility. Eggs are a critical ingredient to unlock the tastes, textures, and experiences we take for granted in everything from a simple home omelette to food manufactured on an industrial scale.

So, how would you approach replacing the egg with a plant-based alternative?

This week on EggTech…So What?, we spoke with alternative-protein entrepreneur Tanja Bogumil. Tanja is the Co-Founder and CEO of Berlin-based Perfeggt, a company working to bring plant-based egg alternatives to market, starting with a liquid substitute for scrambled eggs and baking.

Life is moving pretty fast for founders and investors working in agtech.

Recent years have seen record flows of capital into agrifood, driven in part by agriculture potential to provide climate solutions. And the massive disruptions of COVID-19 meant developed markets received a historic taste of what changes will be needed in a world impacted by climate change and further uncertainty.

So, how have the last few years impacted agtech founders looking to raise capital, and investors on the lookout for opportunities with impact?

For this bonus episode, Tenacious Ventures’ Partners Sarah Nolet and Matthew Pryor asked a group of founders and investors to share what they’ve learned and observed about the state of agtech investing in 2022. As a dedicated agrifood venture fund “born in the teeth of COVID-19”, Sarah and Matthew also offer their take on what has changed and what has stayed the same as we look to the future.

Biologicals in agriculture have a wildly exciting future. It’s a segment responding to innovation in science, changes in markets, and the urgent pressures of adapting to climate change. And while the buzz from new entrants inspires thinking about the future, New Edge Microbials (NEM) is an established player with products in the hands of farmers today.

Managing Director and veteran agribusiness executive Ben Barlow has spent years executing a growth strategy that has weathered all of these forces, plus the additional logistics chaos of COVID-19 in recent years.

According to Jessie Deelo, Chief Hub Officer at Vayda, leading companies are moving toward sustainability targets that are measurable, integrated, and connected to the real world challenges of on-farm sustainability. In her work improving the environmental and social impact of supply chains, Jessie is seeing a huge opportunity for farmers that already embrace sustainable production methods to connect with brands that need inputs with impact.

AgTech companies make promises to investors to grow fast and be quick to iterate or change direction. But they also make promises to customers who think more in seasons instead of product development cycles, and who value long-term relationships with a mutual investment. These are difficult pressures for agtech marketers to manage.

For Marissa Cuevas Flores, Founder and CEO of MicroTERRA, contributing to massive global challenges like preserving fresh water or feeding the world took on a number of iterations before her team settled on a value proposition that worked.

Managing the genetic quality of a herd can be a wicked challenge for Australian farmers. We’re a country with a small number of animals relative to the rest of the world, and formidable, complex biosecurity protocols.

Fortunately, Belinda Cardinal, Founder of breeding and genetics company Caprotek and career dairy goat farmer, enjoys spending time on wickedly difficult problems. After years spent strengthening the genetic diversity of her herd of dairy goats, Belinda attracted all kinds of coverage after importing the genetic material to breed the nation’s first Valais Blacknose Sheep in 2021.

The science and technology of soil is rapidly evolving, but translating it into a scalable business that can offer viable products to farmers has long been a tricky proposition. But it’s one that Adam Litle, the CEO of Sound Agriculture, has devoted much of his career to answering.

Adam was part of the executive team at Granular, the farm management software company acquired by Dupont (now Corteva) for $300M. Now, at Sound Ag, he’s leading a company that’s raised more than $95M to develop a product which activates microbes in soil to increase the uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus, thereby enabling farmers to use less fertilizer.

Mark “Ferg” Ferguson is a sheep geneticist who’s paying attention to how both consumer demands and emerging technologies are impacting growers. Drawing on his experience with dozens of clients around Australia and New Zealand, Ferg shares:

• insights for agtech companies, like the importance of personas and how to build relationships in a digital world;

• what the future of extension and consulting in livestock looks like;

• the role of cutting edge technologies in the sheep industry; and

• a vision for the future where consumers expectations are met and growers are profitable.

It’s fair to say most entrepreneurs (and farmers!) aren’t big fans of government rules and regulations for fear of being slowed down by red tape and bureaucracy. However, the political environment in which a startup develops can have a big impact on its ability to find investment and support, especially in agtech, where ecosystems are still very new for most countries.

The United Arab Emirates is investing heavily in agtech, seeking to make Abu Dhabi the global center for innovation in agriculture. Salvatore Lavallo is the Head of Foreign Direct Investment at the Abu Dhabi Investment Office. He’s had a unique, and perhaps unlikely journey, to this position. Growing up in Indiana, his interest in economic development led him to become, at the age of 27, one of the youngest people to travel to every country in the world. Along the way, he became a farm owner in Tanzania, and a consultant with McKinsey in Africa and the Middle East.

Where are all the women founders in agtech, especially at later-stage startups? What does an acquisition really feel like, and when does it make sense? In this Bonus episode, we answer both these questions, as well as build on the key insights from our latest series: “Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons”.

This episode features Anastasia Volkova , co-founder and CEO of Regrow, an independent measurement reporting and verification platform. Regrow, (formerly Flurosat), recently acquired US agtech company, Dagan, and raised $17 million in Series A funding.

Farmers Business Network is one of the most well-funded startups in agtech. Just recently, they announced a $300M Series G round, bringing their total funds raised to $870M and their valuation to nearly $4 billion.

So, where did it all begin?

In this episode, FBN co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Charles Baron, explains how his Silicon Valley upbringing unexpectedly collided with rural Nebraska, resulting in an idea for a new kind of agribusiness- one that would connect farmers and increase their bargaining power for chemicals and seeds.

Charles talks about several key factors in the company’s success, including questioning Silicon Valley’s ‘founder obsession’ to instead create a ‘farmer-centric’ ideology.

Paul Lightfoot is a serial entrepreneur who has learned several lessons the hard way, from raising money to communicating purpose to hiring (and firing). After spending much of his career as a software CEO, Paul wanted to follow his “calling” to enter the world of sustainability and foodtech.

But this meant moving from a familiar career trajectory to an industry that, 10 years ago when Paul was entering it, barely even existed. In 2011, Paul founded BrightFarms, which uses hydroponic greenhouses to produce locally sourced packaged salads in the US. Along the way, he has made several critical decisions for his startup’s success, including voluntarily stepping back from the role of CEO.

In this 3-part series, we’ll share the lessons from agtech startup founders who have grown their agtech companies from idea to at least 100 employees.

This episode features Michael Gilbert, CEO and founder of Semios, a crop management platform initially focused on tree fruit, nuts and vines, based in Canada. Michael has a PhD in chemistry and started his career in pharmaceuticals and biotech, before realizing his knowledge could be applied to agricultural inputs.

This initial idea has led him on a journey from biologicals, to creating a company with more than 300 employees and over $225 million in external capital raised to date.

Venture investment into technology companies that have the potential to scale regenerative agriculture is accelerating. However, it is a relatively new domain for venture capital, and it comes with its own unique set of challenges.

So what role can VCs play in the regen ag landscape? And what technologies and trends are VCs looking at to guide their investments?

This bonus episode features a discussion from a live panel conversation at the Regenerative Food Systems Investment Forum (RFSIF), in California.

Does the average citizen actually need to care about how their food is produced? This is the central question Australian author and journalist, Gabrielle Chan, set out to answer. Her latest book, “Why you should give a f*ck about farming” details her firm conclusion, that yes, if you eat food, you should in fact care about agriculture.

While the old days of agriculture as the top contributor to GDP is over for most Western countries, Gabrielle argues the future of food and farming is becoming increasingly important for a raft of other reasons such as climate change and food security.

The divide between farmers and startups can seem like a chasm. Tech culture and agriculture have evolved from completely different backgrounds, and even seem to have their own languages. So how can agtech bring together two very different groups?

In this episode, you’ll hear practical tips from farmers and agtech experts on how to build mutually beneficial relationships. For startups, this includes approaching farmers as partners, rather than ‘customers,’ and understanding ‘grower economics’. And for farmers, it’s about finding opportunities to access and help shape new products as the startup iterates.

Dr. Ken Henry became well-known in Australia for his bold economic reforms as the Treasury Secretary throughout the 2000s. His approach to conservation and agriculture is equally as bold, advocating for the natural environment to be valued, and even predicting “an explosion” in financial instruments to measure soil carbon, vegetation, biodiversity and other aspects of nature.

As an economist, former Chair of the National Australia Bank, and current board director of Accounting for Nature, he brings a unique perspective to agtech and agriculture.

Brooke is a digital agriculture manager for McGregor Gourlay. On this episode, she discusses drones, working with startups, and personal relationships in AgTech.

Allison Kopf is the CEO and Founder of Agrylst, a software company providing indoor farmers with a virtual agronomist. Allison is a veteran in this industry, and an advocate for more women in agtech.

Kevin Heikes is an agtech veteran with a new idea for how to improve agriculture and the farmer’s bottom line using technology.

Seana Day brings experience in technology, finance, and agriculture to the agtech space where she is raising a fund, exploring the livestock space, and more.

Dr Rosie Bosworth is an investor, storyteller and food futurist from New Zealand. In this episode, we discuss the rise of alternative protein and the industry’s response.

Nathan Dorn is an agtech entrepreneur with a long career in the agriculture industry. In this episode, we discuss the future of robotics, how ag has changed in the last 100 years, and just how important it is to know the problem you’re solving.

Tony Holt, Partner at Square Peg Capital, is now an agtech investor after announcing that Sydney-based agtech startup AgriDigital joined their portfolio in early 2018. In this episode, recorded at the Sydney AgTech Meetup, Tony discusses this investment and their views on agtech in general.

Renée Vassilos is an Ag Economist, who's started her own consultancy to help growth-stage agribusinesses. Last month, Renee and I set out on a ten day, whirlwind trip through the midwest of the U.S. to explore the intersection of ag and agtech. Here's a bit on what we learned.

Chris Sounness is the CEO of Birchip Cropping Group, where he's working to ensure the future productivity and competitiveness of Australian agriculture through digitization and improved ag + agtech engagement. 

Zack Armen, formerly a senior associate at venture development firm Flagship Pioneering, is currently Director of Business Development at Incredible Foods. In this episode Zack talks about Flagship's unique model for commercialization, the intersection of foodtech an agriculture, and how VCs look at agtech. 

Welcome to season two of the Bushtech Podcast! We kick off this season with a serial entrepreneur, Matthew Pryor, who is one of very few agtech founders with a successful exit.

Airlie Trescowthick, Founder of Farm Table, shares her journey into agtech, her passion for helping farmers, and what it's like to launch a product before it's ready. 

Nick Addison, CTO of AgriDigital, gives us a lesson in blockchain 101 and the "so what" for agriculture.  

In this episode, Sam Trethewey, General Manager of SproutX, digs in to the agtech landscape in Australia, how farmers can get involved, and low hanging fruit of innovation for Agriculture.

In this episode, Kevin Baum, CEO of AgriWebb, shares his hard-earned lessons for creating and selling an agtech product, and building an agtech company. 

Olympia Yarger farms maggots. And crickets. And mealworms. Her company, Goterra, is using technology to create a new and protein-focused farming industry...based on insects!

Phil Morle on the Deep Tech opportunities for agtech, and how Main Sequence Ventures is looking to spend $200M.