Investments in ag tech doubled in 2015

Feb 25, 2016

There were $4.6 billion worth of investments last year

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Farm income and general profits may have been down in 2015, but investments into agricultural technology startups were up by a record pace.

“There’s definitely been a downturn in the broader market, but ultimately the direction of agriculture is going towards a more technology driven future,” said AgFunder CEO Rob Leclerc in an interview with Reuters.

According to a report by AgFunder, in 2015 ag tech startups saw a total of $4.6 billion worth of investments – up from $2.36 billion in 2014.

When it comes to precision ag, there were 96 deals, totalling $661 million worth of investments.

Some 49 per cent of the investments were placed in drones, while 27 per cent of the investments were placed in satellites and imagery.

Soil crop technology saw 35 deals in 2015 for a total of $168 million worth of investments.

Food and E-Commerce had 137 deals in 2015 for a total of $1.65 billion worth of investments.

As far as investment destinations, where the money is being invested, the flavor is heavily European with some North American influences.

The top 10 investment destinations were:

United Sates
India
Canada
United Kingdom
Israel
France
Germany
China
Netherlands
Switzerland

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.