12 Aug Agriculture Innovation
Do you know why John Deere has a presence at South by Southwest and CES? Specifically, because they need to attract top tech talent. Most people outside agriculture have no idea how advanced modern agriculture is, by attending these conferences they can show the world the next-gen technology they are bringing to market.
For the past 30 years, we’ve helped leading brands and unknown start-ups bring industry-changing products to the market. Whether we are attending CES or a local farm show, we are always on the lookout for next-level innovative products.
Here are some areas that are on the precipice of dramatic expansion in agriculture.
Robotics / Automation
Autonomous equipment is already a mainstay of agriculture, irrigation pivots (Lindsay), drones (Rantizo), and sprayers (Guss). As this trend expands to other field operations, the question is how long will it take for new technology to displace manned machines?
Our past work in construction equipment has shown that the adoption of new equipment will happen as older equipment in a fleet is retired. How do construction company owners decide on what equipment to buy? They see it at a show, demo the product and then they buy. This adoption schedule is based on capital expenditure plans and how often they turn over equipment.
In agriculture, since most equipment will be utilized for ten-year plus and tillage equipment might be longer, the adoption of automated equipment may still be a few years out. Labor shortage could accelerate automated equipment adoption.
Some of our favorites:
Tractors like Monarch
Fertility applicators like Rowbot
Field weeders like Naio
Produce Harvesters like Harvest Croo
Nanotechnology / Natural / Sustainable Products
There is a big shift in crop inputs happening right now, that is spurred on by high prices, carbon markets, and supply chain disruptions. Farmers, agronomists, and ag retailers are gravitating toward green alternatives and Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE) products.
They are looking for NUE products that can help them be more efficient, meaning grow a bigger crop with fewer inputs, products that perform better than traditional chemical products, and have a net benefit on soil, water, and environmental quality with a lower carbon footprint.
Some products already delivering on these promises:
Adjuvants like NanaPro from AquaYield
Fertilizers like Natures Source and AminOrganix
Sustainable, functional formulation ingredients like those from Borregaard
Advanced Soil Testing
Soil testing has changed drastically over the past 20 years, and that change is accelerating. Today you can test your soil using DNA sequencing to understand what microbes are present to better understand soil quality, soil health, nutrient cycling, and how biological inputs will perform on an individual farm.
After that, you can utilize gamma radiation for hi-resolution soil property maps to understand field variations and further fine to fertilizer and soil amendment recommendations and applications. This further helps growers be more efficient with their crop inputs delivering higher yields with less applied products
Two testing options we like:
High-resolution soil testing from SoilOptix
Soil biome testing from Biome Makers
Whether you are bringing battery-powered products to the construction industry, new bio-based crop inputs to agriculture, or need to attract talent from other industries, we can help you develop a winning go-to-market and marketing strategies. Give us a call.
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