Clint Brauer

Yesterday's US corn planted progress report came in at 49%. We've worked out how to track likely reported crop progress values as a function of weather to help quantify the impact of weather on grain crops. The next data to track is how many days does will it take the corn crop to reach 75% planted progress from 25% progress. The graphic below shows the historical data of US corn production-weighted accumulated precipitation between 25% and 75% and the number of days between them for each year. The regression line is 9.6 Days + 3.06 days/inch of rain. It's rained 3.13 inches on the US corn crop since April 28th, when 25% progress was reached. The 14-day forecast calls for an additional 2.4 inches of rain across the #corn belt. So, a forecast of 75% planted progress is 9.6 Days + 3.06 days/inch * (3.13 + 2.4 inches) = 27 days to reach 75%. The average since 1980 is 17 days. We estimate the crop is 10 days behind the normal rate. This analysis suggests 75% will be reached on May 25. #commodities #graintrading #commoditytrading #futures

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"Agtech's 'great reset' continues" says AgTechNavigator in their analysis of Q124 PitchBook Agtech funding. -- Agtech has been around 2.2% of all VC deals since '18 but was 1.6% in Q1 -- Versus Q423, VC dollars ($1.2b) invested was down 26%, VC deals were down 20% (161) and exits dropped from 11 to 6. -- About 20% of all funding went into two deals, Oishii ($144m) and Inari ($103). Inari is sitting at a $1.65b valuation. -- Indoor farming funding was down 5x from its peak in 2021 -- Pre-money valuations were down 8.6% vs. 2023 -- Pitchbook did see some upticks in a few deal categories: 9 biomaterial, 28 plant biotech, 25 agribusiness marketplace, and 11 aquaculture deals. -- Pitchbook also sees promise in blockchain and called Indigo "ahead of the curve". Perhaps this report was published before Indigo's new CEO announced their reorg on 5/2 following three rounds of layoffs. Walt Duflock Seana Day Vonnie Estes Shane Thomas Better Food Ventures Michael Rose Chris Taylor Howard Chao Katie Grimble https://lnkd.in/gcdKSQEv

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What do you pay for high resolution #plantstand counting? #swatcam is $0.50/ac 🇨🇦 or $0.38/ac 🇺🇸 and utilized by farmers with #swatmaps to define the “why” of the reason they are high or low. Perfect for precision targeting of plants in your VR seed rate and hybrid/variety prescriptions in #precisionagriculture https://lnkd.in/g9AtC_ak

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I certainly don’t want to discourage efforts to gain a better understanding of consumer perceptions, but I really question the value of these kind of surveys. There is such widespread ignorance about modern production practices that the answer to most of these questions from most of the people really should be “I don’t know.” In fact, in this case, it was a pretty common answer. One of the most useless questions we always get in these surveys is “would you be willing to pay more for X?” It rarely asks how much more and they always say they will pay more, but when it comes down to it, very few of them will actually pay anything more and only a fraction will pay significantly more. I know it sounds like I’m dragging consumer research, but I really think it’s important. I just think we need to find better ways to do it. I have advocated for a long time for reactive surveys where you don’t ask people what they would do, but measure what they actually do and then ask them why. Alas, this is expensive and hard and consumer surveys are relatively cheap and easy to do. So, instead of paying 10 times more for a study that will be 1,000 times more valuable, we’ll fund 1,000 useless studies that are 10 times cheaper. https://lnkd.in/gYZh6HAv

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🌱 This Week's Development in AgTech! 🚀 🌱 Miraterra Inc.'s Milestone in Soil Health: Miraterra has successfully closed its seed funding round, led by At One Ventures, attracting significant investment from other major players like S2G Ventures and the Cisco Foundation. Focused on transforming soil analysis, Miraterra's Digitizer technology is set to make soil health measurements both affordable and reliable, enhancing environmental sustainability and climate resilience. 🇧🇷 SMARTBREEDER's Strategic Growth: Smartbreeder is celebrating a strategic investment of $2.74M from the EcoEnterprises Fund, recognizing its pioneering AI-driven solutions for sustainable agriculture in Brazil. This investment will fuel Smartbreeder's expansion across various agricultural sectors and support the launch of an innovative MBA program combining AI with agronomic expertise. 💧 CroBio®'s Innovation for Drought Resilience: CroBio has raised $1.55M in seed funding led by The Grantham Foundation to develop microbial technologies enhancing soil's water retention capabilities. This boost will enable CroBio to extend its field trials and expand operations, contributing significantly to global food security and climate change mitigation. 🌾 PowerPollen's Game-Changing Pollination Technology: PowerPollen has secured a substantial investment from the Liechtenstein Group to advance its on-demand pollination technology, which promises to revolutionize crop resilience and yield consistency. This development is a leap forward in sustainable agriculture, particularly in optimizing rice production. In tomorrow's newsletter, we also cover the financial results from AGCO Corporation, CNH Industrial & Syngenta, as well as the latest partnership between CNH & Intelsat. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the email tomorrow morning US time -> https://lnkd.in/eK_mszGa #AgTech #SustainableAgriculture #Innovation #Investment #SoilHealth #ClimateResilience

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I don’t understand the fascination with so-called #agtech #venturecapital media advisory / analytics experts and their hype - when they have dozens of investments and not a single succesful exit ever? They make fun of silicon valley and other investors? They think they know the agtech industry? Raising a fund is no different than a startup getting funding - it looks like success but the reality really hasn’t shown up yet. Unless you have a big exit you haven’t arrived. Right? If you don’t have the experience on investment exits - quit acting like an expert - because you arent one. Our investors are late in their careers - they have had many successful funds - with many successful exits. They get almost zero media hype. When we ask the questions they have stories - not ideas. It gives me confidence. Are you confident with your investors?

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Thanks for sharing our webinar in Upstream Ag Insights! #agdronesfeedamerica

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AgWise and Soil Regen are excited to roll out their new product, Foliar Scripts. With a plant analysis test, Foliar Scripts provides precision recommendations for nutrient application, saving a lot of farmers $10+ an acre.    Want to learn more? Check out this article by Farm Journal where Russell Hendrick and Sarah Martello, discuss how Foliar Scripts is removing the guesswork in nutrient application. https://bit.ly/3ScRqie     #Agriculture #Regenerative #ClimateSmart #FoliarScripts #AgTech   

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Check out The Cool Down magazine's recent article showcasing BetterSeeds contribution to both energy efficiency and drought resiliency in agriculture! Learn how our drought resiliency trait helps farmers use less energy while maintaining yields. #climateresilience #climatechange #crispr #tomatoes #droughtresistance #thecooldown https://lnkd.in/ddh_VVtn

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As we kick off our partnership conversation series over the coming weeks, we’d like to highlight the importance of choosing a hardware agnostic crop steering and crop analytics platform for CEA and commercial cultivation. Follow @grownetics to stay up to date with the latest innovations in #CEA, #indoorag and #cropsteering sensors. #agtech #doitforthehorticulture #grownwithgrownetics #automateoptimizeevolve

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🌱 Hemp update from our farmer’s crop consultant in Southwest Kansas. We work closely with our farmer and their team to give them the best opportunities for success. This consultant had his team doing population (stand) counts to determine emergence percentages. Data like that is critical to determining seed quality and/or planting condition. As a grower or processor making informed decisions from data is critical to longevity and success. ☀️ Kansas sunsets rarely disappoint. Especially out in Central and Western Kansas. There’s no trees or hills to block the view. #hemp #industrialhemp #kansas #drought #irrigation #hempfarmer #hempprocessor

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Midslope, composite sampling and applying fertility based on that is a joke. In this public example - a farmer would be OVER APPLYING regularly - wasting fertilizer, harming the environment and losing profitability. On the Ag in Motion site we have managed the precision ag applications for the Discovery Farm since inception. Of interest - the field average soil tests the lowest on residual N every year - despite receiving the highest N rates. The other zones receive less N (dry and saline areas) yet still always have high residuals. Midslope, composite sampling only - the standard practice - is a disaster. Stop acting like it’s a good practice - it is not.

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Watch our newest video in the Digging In series about the Pattern Ag Grower's Initiative. 🔍 Discover how we validate analytics, update thresholds, and gather invaluable feedback from commercial growers to enhance Pattern Ag testing.🌾 Here's a snippet about the program, but to "dig in" to the full video, go to: https://lnkd.in/gADVA-4v #predictiveag #predictiveanalytics

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As we gather data for the 2024 CEA Census — a comprehensive effort aimed at mapping the global terrain of controlled environment agriculture — distinct trends have emerged. First, and not surprisingly, there has been a noticeable decline in responses from vertical and indoor farms, with previous respondents’ emails bouncing and websites inoperative.

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“We’ve got to meet the farmer where they are.” 🤝   Overheard from Landus President & CEO Matt Carstens during his recent interview with Damian Mason on the Business of Agriculture Podcast. 🌾    Throughout the episode, Matt Carstens delved into the history and implications of consolidation for the agriculture industry. Click the link below to hear more about what Landus is doing to support farmers and understand the impact of consolidation for the modern farmer ⬇️   #Agriculture #FarmConsolidation #Farming

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