Efita Newsletter 1063, dated January 30, 2023

Still Wrong! New Year’s Paul Ehrlich Interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, By Marian L. Tupy

The reason the planet matters is that we are here to perceive it and to enjoy it with our senses.

1. The World Database on Protected Areas reported that 15 percent of the planet’s land surface was covered by protected areas in 2017. That’s an area almost double the size of the United States. Marine protected areas covered nearly 7 percent of the world’s oceans. That’s an area more than twice the size of South America. Plans are afoot to increase the size of the protected areas substantially.

2. The world is urbanizing. By 2050, 80 percent of humanity will live in cities. In other words, we are withdrawing from land, thereby increasing, not decreasing, the space available to plants and animals.

3. The Rockefeller University environmentalist Jesse H. Ausubel estimates that due to the continued improvements in the efficiency of farming practices, including rising crop yields, the world will see “a net reduction in use of arable land (i.e., land used for farming) in about 50 years totaling 10 times the area of Iowa, and shrinking global cropland to the level of 1960.”
See humanprogress.org

VISION Conference: Despite Current Challenges, CEA (Controlled-environment agriculture) Offers a Positive Long-Term Future

Today’s troubles are a hiccup on forward progress for controlled-environment agriculture, according to a VISION Conference panel.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Ag Tech Talk Podcast: Traction Ag’s Cloud-Based Accounting Software

Traction Ag CEO Ian Harley discusses the importance of ag-specific accounting software and how consolidation in the industry could affect financials.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Cattle returning, late afternoon, by François Ortmans (1826 - 1884), École de Barbizon

03 - 30/01/23

How Agro.Club Uses Technology to Empower Any Farmer to Trade Grain Globally

Agro.Club's global grain marketplace has the potential to become a key component in ensuring global food security.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Sabanto Releases First Autonomy Kit for Kubota M5 Tractors

Autonomy kit allows operators to turn tractors they already own into autonomous machines.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

CNH Industrial Takes Minority Stake in EarthOptics

CNH Industrial will begin a pilot testing phase of EarthOptics’ soil sensing technology through our Case IH brand in 2023.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Virtual Cropping Creating Big Picture for Growers

AquaSpy's Kathleen Glass, a presenter at this week's VISION Conference, shares insights on virtual cropping and how it will affect agriculture.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Berger et son troupeau sur la colline, par Charles Ceramano (1831-1909), École de Barbizon

04 - 30/01/23

Quantum Computing Forwarding Logistics, Market, and Field Machinery Solutions

VISION Conference speaker Santiago Nunez-Corrales shares where quantum computing is poised to take us in the next 10 years.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Ag Tech Talk Podcast: Bringing AI and Humans Together to Solve Edge Cases

In this AgriBusiness Global podcast, Michael Kohen, Founder and CEO of Spark AI, shares insights on artificial intelligence and the future of farming.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Rising Food Prices Could Create Opportunities in Ag Tech

Learn how AgriFORCE is developing agtech innovations and building out a robust IP portfolio to creatively solve industry problems.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Siemens and 80 Acres Collaborate to Scale Vertical Farming

Siemens technology is aiding 80 Acres Farms and its technology subsidiary, Infinite Acres, in expansion to meet global food supply demands.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Precision AgTech Buying Intentions Survey: How Ag Retailers Will Invest in Technology in 2023

Although overall sales will be flat, retailers in 2023 plan to spend most of their tech dollars on newer segments — except drones.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Best Agriculture Apps for 2023

These agricultural apps will help you farm smarter and do your job more efficiently this year and beyond.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

World’s First Agri-Focused Satellite Prepares for Launch from Cape Canaveral

EOS SAT satellite constellation to provide the agriculture and forestry industry with high-quality data to support efficient and sustainable practices.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Berger et son troupeau, par Charles Ceramano (1831-1909), École de Barbizon

05 - 30/01/23

Ag Startup Engine and Farmwave Form Joint Partnership

Farmwave is the latest company to be added to the Ag Startup Engine portfolio, a premier seed program for agricultural startups.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Corteva, NEVONEX Collaborate to Explore Advanced Digitally Enabled Crop Protection Opportunities

Companies aim to deliver prescriptive crop protection product performance and farmer ROI through advanced data capabilities.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Raven Advances Precision and Autonomous Agtech with Two Raven Autonomy Product Debuts

Raven debuts Driverless Tillage and Driver Assist Harvest Solutions at the recent CNH Industrial Tech Day Event.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

New families

01 - 30/01/23

You are happy

02 - 30/01/23

New Breakthrough Institute Report Highlights Massive R&D Funding Gap for Agricultural Climate Action

Analysis from The Breakthrough Institute calls for policymakers to embrace agricultural science and innovation to accelerate climate mitigation.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Start 2023 with The VISION Conference and Harness the Power of Ag 4.0

The VISION Conference convenes industry leaders from across the rapidly expanding agtech ecosystem.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Lindsay Corp. Forms Partnership with Ceres Imaging

High-resolution imagery incorporated into Lindsay's FieldNET irrigation management tool offers increased visibility of crop and field conditions.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Crop One Expands U.S. Operations With New Vertical Farm in Pennsylvania

Facility marks the first of 10 farms the company plans to build as part of its five-year roadmap.
See globalagtechinitiative.com

Europe's foodtech top 10 deals in Europe Q42022

03 - 30/01/23

Europe's foodtech top 10 deals in Europe in 2022

04 - 30/01/23

How on-farm artificial intelligence can help horticulture supply chains
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Data is the lifeblood for AI, and we see that members of our industry are at different stages of their digitalisation roadmaps, so for those looking to start the journey towards AI-powered farming, a great first step is to identify the key inputs, processes and outputs of your farming business.

Then for each of those, take stock of what data you are currently collecting, where this data is stored, if it can be easily accessed electronically, and if there are any key gaps.

Those gaps could be plugged by investing into new sensors and data loggers to make sure key inputs and outputs are being captured digitally. It will also be useful to think about the level of resolution that your data should be at, to be useful for you and your business.

For example, if you're a horticultural grower thinking about using AI for harvest yield predictions in the future, a key enabler will be having a solid record of previous yields at the level of granularity you wish to predict at, such as per hectare, per block, site or regional/national levels for commercial growers.

An upfront investment in equipment that helps record inputs and accurate yield tonnage volumes at harvest is an essential starting point.

As more digital tools are implemented on farm, data can unlock more pieces of the farming system puzzle. This will allow farmers to manage their production with greater insight and confidence in decision making.

It's exciting to see how data and information technology systems can contribute to more resilient food and agricultural systems for the future.
See theyield.com

After the forest fire, Fontainebleau, by Charles Ceramano (1831-1909), École de Barbizon

06 - 30/01/23

Harvest Prediction Accuracy - How our customers’ benefit
.../...
Using the Digital Playbook with patented microclimate predictions, The Yield's customers can realize up to a:

57% reduction in water requirements
47% increase in safe spray windows
150% better extreme weather event identification
20% improvement in harvest predictions
"Our platform is architected to be hardware agnostic - we already use data from other weather station providers in our apps and analytics," Harvey said.

At this year's Hort Connections, The Yield will kick off a million-dollar Food Agility CRC Research Project using optical metrics from robots (what they did and their observations) to improve their Digital Playbook harvest predictions.

"Working closely with Yamaha Motor Corp., our customer, Treasury Wine Estates, and the University of Technology Sydney, this project will help us to 'close the data loop,' i.e., take data from robots and feed this into our algorithms to improve AI predictions delivered by The Yield.
.../...
See theyield.com

Maison de Théodore Rousseau, par Georges Gassies (1829-1919)

07 - 30/01/23

Future Farming

> AvL Motion, Exobotic, InsightTRAC, Naïo and Nexus finalists for Ag Robot of the Year 2023
The AvL Motion Compact S9000, Exobotic Technologies Land-A2, InsightTRAC Rover, Naïo Jo and Nexus Robotics La Chèvre robots are the finalists for the first-ever global Ag Robot of the Year award. An expert jury selected them from 16 candidates.

> Who do you think should win the Ag Robot of the Year Award?
The AvL Motion Compact S9000, Exobotic Technologies Land-A2, InsightTRAC Rover, Naïo Jo and Nexus Robotics La Chèvre robots are the finalists for the first ever global Ag Robot of the Year award. Besides the jury’s winner, we would like to know who you think should win the award. Cast your vote!

> First autonomy kit for Kubota M5 tractors released by Sabanto
Sabanto's autonomy kit for Kubota M5 tractors is now available. Sabanto's system retrofits onto existing Kubota M5 tractors, allowing operators to turn tractors they already own into autonomous machines.

> Machine Vision is Key for Agriculture 4.0
Did you know that machine vision is part of many automation and robotics applications used in agriculture? The software products of MVTec enable innovative technologies and best-in practice solutions.
Read more about farming machinery, greenhouse automation, precision farming and livestock farming in our whitepaper

> Modular crop scouting robot Tom lets SRC swarm out globally
Small Robot Company (SRC) has launched version 4 of its crop monitoring robot Tom. Its modular design helps SRC to build more robots and cover larger farms globally.

> Field robot Dood to compete in new Ag Robot of the Year election
EarthAutomations’ autonomous field robot Dood is taking part in the new Ag Robot of the Year election and is challenging the other contestants.

> CNH Industrial invests in soil sensing technology
CNH Industrial announces a minority investment in the US-based ag tech company EarthOptics through its Ventures arm. EartOptics develops soil sensing technology.

> Direct starter fertilizer application – a breakthrough
John Deere will very likely be the first company that can offer direct starter fertilizer application metered per seed - a breakthrough in precision agriculture worldwide.

> High fertilizers’ prices: How are farmers worldwide coping with it? | Part III

> A look at the revolutionary SoilReader before it reaches market

> Oscar autonomous irrigation robot makes every drop count

> New technology to help save on fertilizer costs

> Making fertilizer from wastewater is feasible, study shows

> Fertilizers’ market: Prices remain high, but cost relief is on the horizon
30 in-field robots in demos

> Autonomous machines for a sustainable agriculture have now entered the farms. February 7 to 9, World FIRA 2023 will welcome farmers and industrials into the fields, around 30 robot demos on 2 ha of cultivated plots. the Agrobiopole, near Toulouse (France) will also host a large exhibition zone, debates and pitches, and networking times.

> Robots for field crops, veg, vine and trees

> Running two machines from one cab

> Who will become Ag Robot of the Year in 2023?

> Integrating robots: what farmers expect

See futurefarming.com

IBF Servizi (Italy)

Per le aziende agricole, agroalimentari e per le filiere IBF Servizi è presente sul mercato nazionale con servizi e prodotti a marchio Agronica.

ALL-in-1: Agronica
Agronica è la piattaforma più completa e performante al servizio dell’agricoltura 4.0

Agricoltura 4.0: Agronica offre una suite completa a servizio di quella che sarebbe diventata l’Agricoltura 4.0

La Gestione della Campagna: Una gestione puntuale e aggiornata dei piani colturali è alla base di un’azienda agricola moderna

Qualità, Sostenibilità, Tracciabilità: Mette a disposizione degli strumenti fondamentali per il controllo della qualità e per il tracciamento della filiera produttiva

Processi Gestionali: Agronica è in grado di fornire una soluzione integrata e ad-hoc per tutte le fasi aziendali dal campo alla vendita

Web: Internet è ovunque e con esso Agronica: nei terreni, nella macchine, nelle persone e nel commercio
Visitare ibfservizi.it/

Few female Heads of State or Head of Government

05 - 30/01/23

Despite economic uncertainty, agtech adoption is up for farmers around the world, says McKinsey, AFN, by Jennifer Marston

“Farmers are willing to innovate, despite macro uncertainty,” says a new global survey of farmers from global consulting firm McKinsey. That’s good news for agtech adoption, as many farmers plan to try new products and practices over the next couple of years.

The survey of 5,500 farmers across nine countries found that 70% of farmers expect profits to remain stable or increase. High crop prices around the world are fueling this cautious optimism.
…/…
See agfundernews.com

Where Delta and Omicron Caused the Most Damage?

06 - 30/01/23

Letter from 2023: a vintage year to invest in foodtech and agtech, AFN, by Louisa Burwood-Taylor

2023 could be the best year yet to invest in foodtech and agtech.

Sure, we’ve all said this before; that’s part and parcel of being in an industry since the beginning. And with all the amazing innovations we’ve seen over the last 10 years, it’s been hard not to get overexcited about the potential to transform our food and agriculture industries for the better.

But looking back, have the innovations actually been that amazing?

Not really, according to my friend Johan Jörgensen from Sweden FoodTech. Jorgensen wrote a great piece for us earlier this week about the current backlash against certain foodtech sectors like vertical farming and alternative protein, where sales have slumped. “I have looked at the ingredient lists and tasted loads of new protein products over more than a dozen years in food tech and so far nothing has matched the products they try to replace,” he writes of alt protein.

Last week, I interviewed Elliot Grant, CEO of Mineral, the ag data company that Google parent Alphabet has just officially revealed. He reiterated what I hear frequently these days from the farmtech industry: that we still do not have enough farm data to provide truly useful and actionable insights for farmers and agribusinesses. “It is still early days for AI/ML and sensing in agriculture. I love how much innovation is happening — and we need it desperately — but this industry is still at day zero for maturation,” he said. (Responses to that article and Grant’s thoughts are coming in thick and fast so please do email me your thoughts as they probably warrant a follow-up article: louisa(a)agfunder.com.)
.../...
See agfundernews.com

Dangerous times for young Americans

07 - 30/01/23

New Green Revolution gene discovery sows hope of drought resilient wheat

Reduced height, or semi-dwarf, wheat varieties with improved drought resilience may soon be grown in fields across the globe following an exciting scientific discovery
See jic.ac.uk

Farmers Cultivate Golden Rice in the Philippines for the First Time

For the first time, farmers in the Philippines have cultivated Golden Rice on a larger scale and harvested almost 70 tonnes of grains this October.This nearly never-ending story began at ETH Zurich.

This autumn will probably go down in agrarian history. In October, farmers in the Philippine Province of Antique harvested a substantial amount of beta-carotene-enriched Golden Rice for the first time – namely a total of 67 tonnes from 17 fields.

The dried and polished grains are going to be distributed to households with pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers or preschool children who are at risk of diseases caused by vitamin A deficiency.
.../...
See ethz.ch

India super, France not too bad

08 - 30/01/23
See theguardian.com

EarthOptics nets $27.6m Series B to advance soil sensing and data platform, AFN, by Lucy Ngige
.../...
Soil analysis has always been core to farmers’ operations and is now more important than ever with concerns around soil erosion and loss across the globe during to damaging farming practices such as over-tilling and extensive use of synthetic inputs damaging soil health. Estimates predict this loss to be worth $400 billion per year.

Soil analysis usually involves sending soil samples to a lab for testing which is not only laborious but time-consuming, something farmers often do not have on their side.

EarthOptics is using data to unlock soil’s potential. It claims to produce real-time data on soil health and structure using ground-based sensors, satellites, machine learning models, and agronomic expertise.

With this financing, EarthOptics says its technologies will be more accessible to its users who comprise farmers, suppliers and food companies. It believes this will increase the delivery of ‘hyper-accurate soil insights’ to farmers, saving costs for them, informing their tillage decisions and determining their carbon output.
.../...
See agfundernews.com

Intérieur de bergerie, par Charles Jacque (1813-1894)

08 - 30/01/23

2022 India AgriFood Startup Investment, AgFunder

India has overtaken China as the best funded agrifoodtech ecosystem in Asia-Pacific.

In this fourth iteration of the India AgriFoodTech Investment report, in collaboration with Omnivore, we detail a record-breaking $4.6 billion in investment in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.
See agfundernews.com

2022 Asia-Pacific AgriFoodTech Investment Report, AgFunder

Investment in Asia-Pacific agrifoodtech startups broke records in 2021 when it reached $15.2bn, taking investment to over $55 billion in 10 years, and accounting for 30% of global foodtech and agtech funding.
See agfundernews.com

Here’s Why the Fusion Breakthrough-Decades in the Making-Matters. by Robert Zubrin, December 15

A tiny amount of energy but a very big deal.

.../...
Eighty years ago this month, on December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi’s Pile-1 team achieved the first critical nuclear chain reaction under the University of Chicago’s original Stagg Field. Following this success, Arthur Compton, who was there representing FDR’s science advisory group, picked up the phone and called James Conant in Washington, saying, in an impromptu code, “The Italian navigator has landed in the New World.”

We’ve just landed in another.

Human Progress: an optimistic view (?)

According to the United Nations, the world’s population reached 8 billion people on Tuesday. Not everyone is excited by the news. As one source noted, “humans use as much ecological resources as if we lived on 1.75 Earths.”

If that were true, we would expect resources to become scarcer as the population grows. However, in their new book, Superabundance, our editor Marian Tupy and his coauthor Gale Pooley show that resources have become far more abundant over time.

How is that possible? In a word, innovation.

Every new human being comes to the world not only with an empty stomach, but also a pair of hands, and, more importantly, a brain capable of creating knowledge. With that new knowledge, we can get ever more value out of a finite number of atoms.
…/…
See mailchi.mp/humanprogress

The Woodcutter par Jean Baptiste Georges Gassies (1829–1919)

Rain in Chelm (Jewish joke)

Two men of Chelm went out for a walk, when suddenly it began to rain.

“Quick,” said one. “Open your umbrella.”

“It won’t help,” said his friend. “My umbrella is full of holes.”

“Then why did you bring it?”

“I didn’t think it would rain!”