Loïc Fauchon, president of the World Water Council, was one of more than 120 global speakers and 400 participants who gathered at the recent Water for Food Global Conference in Nebraska to discuss innovative ways to improve water and food security by increasing farmers’ resiliency to a changing landscape. “Water and food are two of the most important priorities of …
Pluton Biosciences Closes $16.5M Series A Funding Round
Pluton Biosciences, a startup working to discover microbes to fight climate change, has announced the close of a $16.5 M Series A funding round co-led by Illumina Ventures and RA Capital. “The funding will accelerate the development of Pluton’s flagship product, the Microbial Cover Crop™, through field trials and towards commercial partnerships,” remarked Elizabeth Gallegos, CEO of Pluton. “It will …
Precision Ag News 5/24/23
CNH Industrial and ONE SMART SPRAY, a joint venture between Bosch and BASF, have signed a collaboration agreement to integrate the latter’s advanced spraying system within CNH Industrial’s agricultural brand product portfolios. The system’s integration will be led by the Raven team and will be commercially available via the global Case IH and New Holland Agriculture brands. The American Farm …
Cargill Expands Regenerative Agriculture Program to Europe
Cargill is moving its award-winning regenerative agriculture program into Europe, allowing farmers in Germany, Poland, Romania, and France to receive financial compensation for adopting climate-friendly farming practices. Building on two years of success in North America, Cargill RegenConnectTM will also expand from 15 to 24 states, introducing the program in nine new states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, …
Custom Agronomics Appoints New Chief Financial Officer
Custom Agronomics, a leading provider of private-label liquid plant nutrition and other specialty products for the agriculture, turf, and ornamental markets, has appointed Jerry Cook as Chief Financial Officer. “We are excited to have Jerry join our executive leadership team,” said Brian Scott, Custom Agronomics co-founder and co-CEO. “He is a skilled financial leader who will help manage our growth …
Passing of Charlie Stenholm
Former Texas Democrat Rep. Charlie Stenholm died last week at the age of 84 and many in ag media fondly remember the man as part of the famous “Great Debates” at Ag Media Summit with Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh, former ag economist at Kansas State University, who passed away in 2020. Stenholm served in the House of Representatives for 26 years …
Animal Ag News
Researchers at the University of California, Davis have released a pre-print study finding that lab-grown or “cultivated” meat’s environmental impact is likely to be “orders of magnitude” higher than retail beef based on current and near-term production methods. Researchers conducted a life-cycle assessment of the energy needed and greenhouse gases emitted in all stages of production and compared that with …
Land O’Lakes CEO Includes Water Security in Ag Challenges
Land O’Lakes President and CEO Beth Ford was the guest speaker for the May 8 Heuermann Lecture at Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln, Neb., which coincided with the 2023 Water for Food Conference and she shared why water is at the top of her priority list. “Food security is national security,” Ford said. “Fresh water demand will outstrip supply by …
Des Moines to Host 3rd Annual Tech Hub LIVE
Des Moines will once again host the third annual Tech Hub LIVE Conference and Expo, bringing together tech-enabled, data-driven agriculture practitioners for a groundbreaking conference, July 24-26 at the Iowa Events Center. Tech Hub LIVE, powered by CropLife Media Group™, will kick off with a 1990s-themed welcome party, sponsored by the Greater Des Moines Partnership, on July 24 at 5:30 …
MyLand Grows Leadership Team with New VP
MyLand Company, a soil health company, is pleased to announce the continued growth of the company’s leadership team with the appointment of Jerry Trotter as Vice President of Technology and Manufacturing. In his new role, Trotter will focus on integrating the technology and manufacturing teams to drive MyLand’s pioneering improvements in healthy soil on a global scale. A North Dakota …