We tell the stories of innovators at the intersection of agriculture and technology to answer the question: what really is agtech and why should you care?
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A podcast exploring the "how might" and the "what if" behind the end of foundational elements of the agrifood system.Learn more at https://www.theendofagriculture.com/
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What will you be eating in 2050? How will it get to your table? How we grow, purchase, and eat our food is changing. New technologies and food products are playing a key role in shaping that change. In this podcast, we speak to the people driving that future, from entrepreneurs and venture capital investors, to farmers and food businesses. Welcome to Future Food!
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Can robotics solve farm labor challenges? with Sophie Thorel and Connie Bowen
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43:35
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43:35Ask any farmer what their biggest challenge is right now and most will say ‘labor’. But what if, instead of trying to get more farm workers, we focused on changing the types of jobs available on farms? That’s where robotics comes in. Unfortunately, successfully commercializing robots in agriculture has been extraordinarily difficult, especially rel…
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Are agtech startups just digital agribusinesses? Mark Kahn, Omnivore
29:39
29:39
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29:39The term ‘agtech’ now encompasses so many different types of businesses and innovations, that from an investment perspective, it can look overly complex. However perhaps the opposite is true? Mark Kahn, Managing Partner of Ominvore, shares his ‘agtech-agribusinesss convergence theory’; where agtech startups eventually grow to look like a more conve…
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How “Food is Medicine” Could Change Food and Farm Economics with Brad McNamara
39:16
39:16
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39:16“Food is Medicine” is extremely popular right now, and a few facts suggest it might be more than just a trend. The U.S. alone spends something like $1.5 trillion annually on diet-related diseases, and key issues like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other diseases are on the rise around the world. There are costly interventions available …
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How Policy Hamstrings AgTech in California with Walt Duflock
38:30
38:30
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38:30When it comes to the production of high-value food crops, California is, without question, a global leader. Plus, much of the state’s thousands of acres of farmland lies within close proximity of Silicon Valley, where high-tech tools and solutions are endemic. And yet, many California farmers are struggling to continue their work, and agtech startu…
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Is AI the Secret to Next Gen Soil Sampling? with Jack Oslan and Nate Storey
36:40
36:40
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36:40Finding the right solution often starts with finding many, many wrong solutions. When it comes to some of agtech's most beguiling challenges, like real-time, granular soil testing, many startups have found the wrong solution– either ones that simply don’t work, don’t work at the right price, or don’t work in a way that makes them useful enough. But…
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Disrupting the AgTech Ecosystem with Ron Adner
42:48
42:48
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42:48Longtime listeners have heard Sarah and Matthew talk about ideas like “ecosystem disruption” and “adoption chain risk” and “value architecture,” all of which stem from the works of Ron Adner. Ron is a researcher, strategist, and professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University, and the author of two books, The Wide Lens and Winning …
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Making Sense of Recent AgTech Acquisitions with Shane Thomas
35:55
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35:55Despite a persistent sense of uncertainty in the AgTech market lately, we’re still seeing startups get acquired– even if information about those acquisitions is opaque. Case in point: Syngenta recently purchased Intrinsyx Bio, a biologicals company, for an undisclosed sum. Why do companies conceal this information? And in this moment when everyone …
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How GLP-1 Drugs are Reshaping the Food and Ag Landscape with Mary Shelman
37:34
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37:34Over the last few decades, a lot of products and technologies have promised to disrupt the diets and food buying habits of the world’s consumers. But nothing has made true on that promise quite like the emergence of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. These (as of now) injectables are changing the way people– and their households– eat …
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Beyond VC: Redeemable Equity in AgTech with Connie Bowen
34:36
34:36
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34:36Big news from Tenacious– WE’RE HIRING! Do you share our mission of unlocking impact at scale in agri-food systems? Check out our open roles here. ... Is agtech a good fit for venture capital, and vice versa? This question - existential for some - is flying around in the ether right now. We’ve been thinking about both the bearish and bullish answers…
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Merging AgTech Startups to Multiply Value and Impact with Ron Hannam
33:27
33:27
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33:27Between COVID-19, Avian Influenza, and African Swine Fever, ordinary consumers are more aware than ever of the risks of infectious diseases on animal and human health, and to society at large. Ag technology that helps farmers better prevent the spread of diseases is more relevant than ever, and that was a big part of the motivation for today’s gues…
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Paying for Ag R&D When Consumers Won’t with Brooke Sauer of Boolah
36:40
36:40
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36:40For commercial farming operations, determining whether or not new tools, technology, and practices work can be a big undertaking. From install and setup costs to helping the team involved climb the learning curve for effective use, even when technologies lead to big benefits, it can be tough to get the ball rolling. One farm that we’ve learned abou…
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A Business Model for Novel Ingredients with Jake Berber At Prefer
35:56
35:56
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35:56For years the food tech space has been rife with companies eager to replace familiar standbys– from protein to sweeteners to colorings– with cheaper, more healthful, or more climate friendly alternatives. There have certainly been a few successes, but there have also been some big and spectacular failures. Whether we’re emerging from the dust of th…
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Solving for Adoption and Channel in AgTech… So what? with Shane Thomas
36:10
36:10
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36:10There are a few topics in agtech (and in the tech startup world more broadly) that are truly perennial– problems that must be solved again and again in new and innovative ways as markets, customers, and businesses evolve. Adoption is one of those challenges, and go-to-market strategies are another. We’ve been thinking about the challenge of adoptio…
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From Demo Farms to Adoption with Wine Australia
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38:31When your organization is tasked with the job of getting growers to adopt new technology, there are a few tried, and frankly, not-so-true options to choose from. The world is lightly littered with various flavors of demonstration farms– properties where technologies can be piloted, field days can be hosted, and farmers can be converted from tech sk…
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Killing Weeds Without Poison with Liam Hescock at Azaneo
36:27
36:27
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36:27Controlling weeds on farms is a sticky, two part challenge. First, you’ve got to identify the weeds, as distinct from the plants you want to grow. Then, you’ve got to destroy the undesirables and keep the rest. For today’s farmers, these two tasks can seem straightforward, but to do them at the scale required in modern agriculture– not so much. Ide…
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2025 in AgTech… So what? with Shane Thomas
33:33
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33:33As the new year gets underway, we’ve been thinking about the likely ups and downs ahead for the agtech world. We’ve been searching for insights in the recent announcement that FMC’s corporate venture capital division is shutting its doors, and thinking about what a trend in CVC pullbacks might mean for the lay of the land in agtech. We’ve also been…
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How Business Model Innovation Changed AgTech in 2024
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34:14There’s nothing like the end of another year to have us reflecting on the recent successes in the world of agtech, and the many challenges still left to overcome. One thing that has continued to stand out to us in 2024 is the vital need for more business model innovation. There’s so much amazing technology that already exists, but for one reason or…
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