Ag Industry Brief: Y Combinator Sweet On Cultured Meat, Granular Partners with Planet, Another Startup Pays for Data, more

Granular Partners with Analytics Company Planet

Granular, the digital arm of DowDuPont’s agriculture vision has partnered with  Planet, an integrated aerospace and data analytics company to incorporate its global satellite imagery data into the company’s farm management software suite. Granular is a part of Corteva Agriscience, the new name for the agricultural division of DowDuPont. Granular will directly license and integrate Planet’s daily feed of satellite imagery. Read more.

Monsanto and AgriMetis to Collaborate on Insect Control

Monsanto signed an exclusive, three-year global licensing agreement with data company AgriMetis to continue its research with the company’s SpinoMetis platform. The platform includes insect protection compounds derived from naturally occurring bacterium, and Monsanto now has exclusive rights to use it in row, vegetable, and other crop research. Monsanto has the option to acquire exclusive rights at the end of the three-year contract terms. Read more.

Decisive Farming To Pay Farmers for Malt Barley Data

The Canadian farming management platform Decisive Farming Corp. is paying farmers $4 an acre for data about malt barley if they purchase a subscription for the company’s Optimize RX variable rate technology. The company is looking to work with farmers who aren’t currently using variable rate technology in their malt barley fields in order to collect data on the first year of implementation. Apply by April 6th, 2018. Read more.

Y Combinator Requests Applications in Cellular Agriculture and Clean Meat

Y Combinator has requested applications from startups working in cellular agriculture and clean meat for its summer 2018 funding cycle. Y Combinator is looking particularly for companies looking at scaling cellular agriculture and bringing it to market. The funding cycle runs from June-August 2018. Read more.

Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and the National Pork Board Collaborate on Swine Health Research Grants

Two million in funding for research into pig health, productivity, and well-being is available through joint support from FFAR and the National Pork Board. The grant program will support research, education and training. The organizations expect to award the bulk of the funds to a collaborative research project in areas including health, genetics, nutrition, facility design, management, monitoring, economics, and welfare. Read more.

Pivot Bio Launches Field-Scale Beta Testing Program

Pivot Bio launched the pre-commercial iteration of its nitrogen-producing microbes designed for corn farmers. The company develops microbial nutrient-fixing products for corn crops. Currently offering nitrogen-specific products, the company plans to expand to phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients. Read more.

Fleet Space Technologies Launches Precision Farming Trial

In collaboration with the University of Tasmania’s Industrial Transformation Research Hub, the nanosatellite startup Fleet Space Technologies is launching a local precision farming project in a remote Tasmanian town. The ‘telemetry’ project will measure farm temperatures and soil moisture alongside satellite images and compare the datasets. The researchers intend to use their analysis to identify problems in Australian agriculture and devise new industry tools. The project includes the additional partners Pathways to Market and Sense-T. Read more.

Other News That’s Fit to Chew

• Berry picking robots take to the fields, but NPR reports that so far, they lack in dexterity.
• McKinsey looks at how digital dairy is taking root in China.
• Reuters asks why Walmart has filed patents for agricultural drones, and reports on how Coca-Cola and the U.S. State Department are using blockchain to fight forced labor.
• The New Food Economy investigates whether young American farmers really are more diverse.
• The New York Times reports on how the dairy crisis is driving farmers to suicide.
• Civil Eats looks at where the food industry stands on gestation crates.