Agtech - So What?

Dr Rosie Bosworth is an investor, storyteller and food futurist who is extremely passionate about the future of agriculture, especially in Australia and NZ. She holds a PhD in environmental innovation and sustainable technology development from the University of Auckland Business School.

In this episode, we discuss several questions, some quite controversial and though provoking, including:

* What is the role of pastoral agricultural systems in the future?

* What are “clean meat” “alternative protein” and “plant-based” protein...and what do they taste like?

* Does alternative protein and dairy need to taste like their traditional counterparts to gain market share?

* How is industry responding to the growth of alternative protein? How can farmers respond to this emerging trend, if at all?

Nathan Dorn has seen all aspects of the agriculture supply chain, from commodity farming in the Nebraska where he grew up, to corporate agribusiness, to agtech entrepreneurship in California. He’s committed to using technology to add value to the industry through consulting and with his startup, Food Origins.

In this episode we discuss:

* A step by step walk through of how agribusinesses procure technology solutions

* Just how critical it is to do customer discovery and really understand the problem you’re trying to solve

* How ag has and hasn’t changed over the last 100 years

* A deep dive on the labor challenges in specialty crops, and what Nathan’s company Food Origins is doing to help

* The realities and challenges of raising capital in agtech

Why everyone wants a robot, and just how far away commercially viable robotic solutions are for agriculture

Tony Holt is a Co-Founder and Partner at Square Peg Capital, one of Australia's largest Venture Capital firms. Though not a sector-specific fund, Square Peg has recently invested in agtech startup AgriDigital. In this podcast, captured from the Sydney Agtech Meetup, Tony discusses:

* How critical it is for entrepreneurs to have deep knowledge of the problem they are solving

* How Square Peg looks at different investment opportunities within and outside of agtech

* Differences (and similarities) between agtech and other sectors

* Lessons for startups selling software in the agriculture industry

* The role of corporate investors and sector-specific funds in agtech

Bruce Finney is the Executive Director of the Cotton Research and Development Corporation. The CRDC invests in research, development and extension to improve productivity and profitability for Australia’s 1250 cotton growers. In this podcast, Bruce shares:

His journey from farmhand to Executive Director of the Cotton RDC

How rural RDCs are funded and the difference between industry-owned and statutory authorities

* The CRDC’s journey in supporting and eventually directly investing in startup Flurosat, and whether they’ll do more direct investing

* Areas of research the CRDC has been funding, and future areas of interest

* Evolving the rural RDC model to deliver more outcomes from research and commercialisation

Doug Fitch is the CEO of AgWorld, a global farm management platform that provides an integrated and centralized software solution for data collection and decision-making. Reflecting on AgWorld’s journey to 40,000 users in more than 15 countries, in this interview Doug shares his thoughts on:

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How to apply the best practices of data standards to agriculture

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Whether VC is a good fit for agtech

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Challenges of global expansion and the importance of relationships in agriculture

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Agworld’s biggest competitor in the US and in Australia (might surprise you!)

How Agworld thinks about failure and why they spend $100k per year on coaching for their team

Sarah travels through the midwest of the US with AgriBusiness Consultant Renee Vassilos. Renee is an Ag Economist (and AgThentic Collaborator), who started her own consultancy to help growth-stage agribusinesses and bring profitability back to the farm. Last month, Renee and Sarah set out on a ten day, whirlwind trip through the midwest of the U.S. Across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas they spoke with over 60 farmers, agronomists, extension agents, researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, co-ops, seed companies, equipment dealerships, and consultants all working at the intersection of ag and agtech. They weren’t sure what they would find, but everyone was incredibly generous, and they learned a ton

Chris Sounness is the CEO of Birchip Cropping Group, a not-for-profit agricultural research and extension organisation led by farmers from the Wimmera and Mallee regions of Victoria. Chris has been working at the Intersection of ag and Agtech for many years, and has strong views about what is and isn’t working, as well as just how critical digitization is for Australian agriculture. In this episode chat about:

* The role of membership organizations in agricultural R&D

* Challenges for tech adoption in agriculture, and new models for tech + ag connectivity and engagement

* The importance of problem definition, trust, and investing in travel to get farmers and agtech startups in the same room

* Data ownership and usage concerns (and why farmers say “show me the money”)

Lessons from failed and successful partnerships, opportunities to partner with BCG, and new models in the works for supporting beta testing of agtech products

Trent Loos is a 6th generation rancher from Nebraska. One day 20 years ago, he got fed up with consumers not knowing where their food comes from so he started a radio program to close this gap. Now he has over 4 million radio listeners all over the world on his programs Rural Route ans Loos Tales.

In this episode we discuss:

* Rural urban divide and tips for how to close the gap (honesty is the best policy, even with potentially touchy subjects!)

* Why Trent doesn’t farm organic, and how he does farm

* The tech Trent is using on his farm and his challenges with ear tags for pigs

* Who’s getting saturated with tech options in livestock and who’s not

* Why Sarah asks all the questions and what Simon and Trent know about chicken wings and the NFL ;)

* Ag social media and the internet: what’s working and where farmers are getting information these days

* The best “small world” story I’ve ever heard (featuring a bull named Woof’s Choice)

* The importance of resilience in farming and entrepreneurship

Sam Marwood is an environmental scientist, Director of Operations at Odonata and a co-founder at Cultivate Farms a marketplace to help aspiring farmers connect with investors (and farms). Sam's mission is to rejuvenate regional communities and help answer a critical question he gets all the time, "how do I become a farmer?"

In this episode, Sam tells us:

* What it’s like to quit your job to become an entrepreneur

* The power of social media to reach your audience, even (or especially) in agriculture

* How aspiring farmers can get “investment ready” with Sam's help, and where to start

* The balance of having a for profit business with a social good, and constantly having to assure investors he's not looking for, or giving, any handouts!

Apologies in advance for a bit of background noise at the end...we caught Sam on his way to work on the train!