AI in Agriculture: The Future of Smart Farming
AI is reshaping agriculture as the global market is projected to reach $16.9 billion by 2034, growing at roughly a 20% compound annual rate. Precision farming, AI‑driven analytics and autonomous robotics are delivering yield gains and cutting operating costs up to 31% per acre. Investment is accelerating, with notable rounds such as $105 million for Ecorobotix, $20 million (A$30 M) for SwarmFarm, $33 million (€30 M) for NeoFarm, and $5.5 million for TRIC Robotics. Yet high upfront expenses, data‑privacy worries and limited technical training continue to slow broader adoption.
David Sandelman on Why Cannabis Post-Harvest Is Still Operating in the Dark
Canachold’s COO David Sandelman adapted his vapor‑pressure control system, originally created to stabilize cheese aging, for cannabis post‑harvest drying. By managing temperature and vapor pressure instead of relative humidity, the Vapor Troll platform reduces trichome head rupture from 25‑30% to...
Syngenta Vegetable Seeds Opens R&D Technology Center in Almería to Combat Emerging Crop Pathogens
Syngenta Vegetable Seeds inaugurated a new R&D Technology Center in El Ejido, Almería, Spain, to develop pathogen‑resistant vegetable seed solutions and shorten breeding cycles for fruity crops. The facility adopts a field‑to‑lab model, integrating breeding, trait development, fruit‑quality testing, data science...
EarthOptics Opens 14,500-Square-Foot Raleigh-Durham Lab to Scale Soil Intelligence and Automate Analysis
EarthOptics has opened a 14,500‑square‑foot laboratory, office and warehouse in the Raleigh‑Durham region of North Carolina, adding to its existing Emeryville facility. The new campus colocates the analytics lab with the Sensor and Automation team to accelerate robotics‑driven soil measurement....
Mann Lake Acquires Apis Biologix to Integrate Pioneering Bee Nutrition Science Into Global Beekeeping Supply Platform
Mann Lake Ltd., the world’s largest beekeeping supply manufacturer, announced the acquisition of Apis Biologix, the creator of the Bio‑Activator and BIO‑Metabolic‑Fuel nutritional supplements. The deal brings Apis Biologix’s proprietary bee‑nutrition science fully in‑house, allowing Mann Lake to deepen R&D...
Easy Environmental Solutions’ Terreplenish Achieves 12% Rice Yield Increase with 50% Less Synthetic Fertilizer in Ghana Trials
Easy Environmental Solutions reported that its microbial fertilizer Terreplenish boosted rice yields by 12% in independent trials at the University of Ghana‑Legon while cutting synthetic fertilizer use in half. The yield lift translates to roughly one metric ton per hectare,...
Growers Edge and Sarga Agriscience Launch Pay-When-It-Works Biological Fertilizer Program for Tomato Growers
Growers Edge and Sarga Agriscience have introduced a performance‑backed, pay‑when‑it‑works program that lets tomato growers apply Sarga’s seaweed‑based biological fertilizer without any upfront expense. Growers only pay once the yield lift fully covers the input cost, eliminating financial risk. Field...
Planet Labs Signs Seven-Figure Contract with Czech Republic Agricultural Fund to Monitor 25,000 Farm Holdings via Satellite
Planet Labs, through its Sinergise Solutions unit, secured a two‑year, seven‑figure contract with the Czech Republic State Agricultural Intervention Fund (SZIF) to provide daily satellite imagery and AI analytics for 25,000 farm holdings. The service will automate crop‑type identification, harvest‑timing...
Protein Industries Canada Commits $5.1M to AI-Enabled Crop Insurance Framework Led by Agi3 and Aon
Protein Industries Canada has pledged roughly $1.0 million USD toward a two‑year, $1.33 million‑USD pea genomic‑selection initiative. The project will build a national database that integrates genetic, phenotypic, environmental and pedigree information for Canadian pulse breeders. Led by GIFS Ag Tech Enterprise with partners...
S2G Investments Closes $1 Billion Solutions Fund I to Back Growth-Stage Food, Energy and Agriculture Companies
S2G Investments announced the final closing of its Solutions Fund I at $1 billion, aimed at growth‑stage companies in food, energy and ocean systems. The fund targets the “missing middle” financing gap, backing firms that improve efficiency across agriculture, energy infrastructure, maritime...
Doriane Launches Bloomeo Breeding Platform with €10M Investment to Transform Plant Breeding Data Management
Doriane has unveiled Bloomeo Breeding, a workflow‑driven software platform that unifies genetics, environment and management data for plant‑breeding programs. The launch follows a €10 million (≈$10.8 million) four‑year development effort, with Doriane pledging an additional €2 million (≈$2.2 million) each year for ongoing enhancements....
Novin AgriTech Secures USDA SBIR Grant to Develop Nitrogen Use Efficiency Trait in Elite Wheat Cultivars
Novin AgriTech secured a $174,906 USDA SBIR Phase I grant to fund an eight‑month project that will embed a nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) trait into elite wheat cultivars using its proprietary InPACT transformation platform. InPACT is a genotype‑independent, tissue‑culture‑free system licensed...
U.S. Sugar Launches Largest Commercial Autonomous Tractor Fleet in American Sugar Industry
U.S. Sugar has deployed the largest commercial autonomous tractor fleet in the American sugar sector, operating five John Deere tractors equipped with Autonomous Solutions Inc.’s Vehicle Automation Kit across its 255,000‑acre South Florida operation. The fleet runs 24 hours a day, seven days...
Bioceres Crop Solutions Reports Q3 FY2026 Revenue Decline as Seeds Transition and Pro Farm Foreclosure Weigh on Results
Bioceres Crop Solutions posted Q3 FY2026 revenue of $39.4 million, a 23% year‑over‑year drop, as Crop Protection demand softened and the Seeds business continued its shift toward an asset‑light structure. Crop Nutrition was the only segment to grow, up 15% to...
Village Farms International Reports Q1 2026 Results with 118% Adjusted EBITDA Growth and Record International Export Sales
Village Farms International posted Q1 2026 net sales of $49.7 million, up 27% YoY, while Adjusted EBITDA surged 118% to $10.2 million, representing 20.5% of revenue. Record international export sales of $14.6 million, a 171% increase, were driven by strong demand in Germany and...
Adecoagro Reports Q1 2026 Results as Fertilizer Segment Surges and Sugar Operations Hit Crushing Record
Adecoagro posted a strong first‑quarter driven by a 4.3‑times jump in Fertilizers Adjusted EBITDA to $52.5 million, helped by higher urea output and a 16.4% price lift. The Sugar, Ethanol and Energy segment set a crushing record of 2.2 million tons, boosting its...
Apollo Agriculture and Kaleidofin Close Kenya’s First Private-Sector Smallholder Agriculture Securitisation
Fintech platform Kaleidofin and agri‑lending firm Apollo Agriculture have completed Kenya’s first private‑sector, local‑currency securitisation of smallholder farmer loans. The deal packaged KES 370 million of receivables, mobilising KES 276 million (about $2.1 million) for 23,839 borrowers, half of whom are women. Agusto assigned a...
ISS Expedition 74 Crew Conducts DNA Nano-Therapy and Space Agriculture Research
On Thursday, Expedition 74 crew members performed a suite of high‑impact experiments aboard the ISS. NASA engineer Jessica Meir used a spectrophotometer to study DNA‑like nanomaterials, data that could accelerate cancer‑targeting nano‑therapies. ESA’s Sophie Adenot tended alfalfa in the Veggie unit, probing...
EY Brazil Acquires MB Agro to Strengthen Agribusiness Consulting and Market Intelligence Capabilities
EY Brazil has agreed to acquire MB Agro, a leading agribusiness consulting boutique with decades‑long expertise in economic scenario analysis and market intelligence. The deal brings MB Agro’s full team, client portfolio, and subscription‑based intelligence products into EY’s Agribusiness Center...
Aplantex Closes $5 Million Bridge Round to Accelerate Shift to Production-Scale Green Biotechnology
Aplantex announced the close of a $5 million bridge financing round in 2025, exceeding its original target. The round was led by board member François Ravenelle with Investissement Québec’s Impulsion Fund as a principal backer. The capital will fund the company’s transition from...
Clean Energy Technologies’ Vermont Renewable Gas Reaches MOU with State Agriculture Agency for Lyndon Biogas Facility
Clean Energy Technologies' affiliate Vermont Renewable Gas (VRG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to address agricultural safeguards for its proposed 2.2 MW renewable energy facility in Lyndon. The MOU, filed with...
Loop Chemicals Licenses Sandia National Laboratories Technology to Localize Ammonia Production for U.S. Agriculture
Loop Chemicals has licensed a chemical‑looping ammonia technology from Sandia National Laboratories, co‑developed with Arizona State University, to build a distributed production platform. The startup will first target the U.S. fertilizer market, positioning small reactors near farms to cut logistics...
Avangrid Brings Thousands of Sheep Back to Solar Sites in Oregon and Washington for Vegetation Management
Avangrid has deployed more than 5,000 sheep across four solar farms in Oregon and Washington to manage vegetation naturally this spring. The initiative, run with Krebs Solar Grazing and fifth‑generation rancher Cameron Krebs, expands a 2023 pilot into a full‑scale...
AgriBank Reports Strong Q1 2026 Results with $294 Million Net Income and 99.2% Acceptable Loan Quality
AgriBank posted a robust first‑quarter 2026 net income of $294 million, delivering a return on assets of 58 basis points, surpassing its 50‑basis‑point goal. Net interest income surged 18.8% year‑over‑year to $320.2 million, fueled by wholesale and asset‑pool loan growth. Credit quality...
AdvanSix Explores Diesel Exhaust Fluid Manufacturing Expansion at Its Integrated Virginia Ammonia Site
AdvanSix signed a process design and licensing agreement with Stamicarbon to evaluate adding Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) production at its integrated Hopewell, Virginia ammonia site. The project would use Stamicarbon’s NX STAMI Urea technology to convert all urea melt into DEF, leveraging...
Yimutian Launches Wolaicai Sales Assistant, China’s First AI Agent for Agricultural Product Trading
Yimutian Inc. has introduced Wolaicai Sales Assistant, China’s first AI agent embedded in agricultural product trading, offering sourcing, pricing, procurement guidance, and transaction execution. A one‑week pilot with roughly 100 daily business customers generated about ¥1,000 (≈$140) in revenue per...
Greenhouse Farming: A Shift in the Industry
Greenhouse farming is experiencing accelerated global growth, with the market projected to rise from $2.9 billion in 2023 to $5.1 billion by 2030. Investment is spilling into new regions, notably the Gulf Cooperation Council, where Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 drives multi‑million‑square‑meter high‑tech projects....
Suterra Acquires Vestaron’s Biological Pest Control Product Lines and R&D Pipeline
Suterra, the ag‑tech arm of The Wonderful Company, has acquired Vestaron’s Spear and Basin biological pest‑control product lines, active ingredients, and the company’s R&D pipeline. The acquisition also includes assets from Vestaron’s Kalamazoo research facility. Suterra plans to launch its...
Phibro Animal Health Reports Q3 Fiscal 2026 Net Sales of $383.5M, Raises Full-Year Guidance
Phibro Animal Health posted third‑quarter fiscal 2026 net sales of $383.5 million, a 10% year‑over‑year increase, while net income rose 15% to $24.0 million and adjusted EBITDA grew 11% to $60.8 million. The Animal Health segment drove most of the growth, posting a 13%...
MyEasyFarm and Geocledian Partner on ESA Climate Smart Agriculture Project to Scale Satellite-Driven Regenerative Farming
MyEasyFarm, a B Corp‑certified regenerative AgTech firm, has partnered with German remote‑sensing specialist Geocledian to serve as the system integrator for the European Space Agency’s Information Factory Climate Smart Agriculture project. The collaboration, running through the end of 2027, embeds...
Nutrien Reports Record Potash Volumes and 30% EBITDA Growth in Q1 2026
Nutrien Ltd. posted a strong first‑quarter 2026, delivering $1.11 billion of adjusted EBITDA, a 30% year‑over‑year increase, and net earnings of $139 million. Record potash volumes of 3.51 million tonnes drove a 30% EBITDA rise in that segment, while nitrogen and retail divisions...
Intrepid Potash Reports Q1 2026 Adjusted EBITDA of $19 Million on Record Trio Margins and Higher Potash Prices
Intrepid Potash posted first‑quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $19 million, a 30% rise from a year earlier, driven by record Trio margins and higher potash prices. Continuing‑operation sales climbed to $98.7 million, while net income doubled to $6.9 million. The Trio segment generated...
PepsiCo and TalusAg Announce Low-Carbon Ammonia Attribute Agreement to Accelerate Fertilizer Decarbonization
PepsiCo and ag‑tech firm TalusAg have signed a low‑carbon ammonia environmental attribute agreement covering about 30,000 metric tonnes, with an option to add another 41,000 tonnes. The deal uses a book‑and‑claim system that separates verified emissions‑reduction credits from the physical fertilizer, and S3...
Pacific Hybreed Closes $1 Million Round to Scale Hybrid Oyster Seed Production
Pacific Hybreed, a Hawaiʻi‑based aquaculture biotech firm, closed a $1 million funding round led by Hawaiʻi Angels and Blue Startups. The capital will fund expansion of its commercial‑scale hatchery to meet rising demand for its hybrid oyster and clam seed. The...
TerraClear Launches AI Giant Ragweed Mapping Service to Give Organic Farmers Surgical Weed Control
TerraClear has introduced an AI‑driven Giant Ragweed Mapping Service that uses high‑resolution drone imagery to locate individual ragweed plants in large organic corn and soybean fields. Each ragweed can produce up to 10,000 seeds, creating a multi‑year seed bank that...
Soil Health Institute Launches Free Drought Resilience Calculator With Cargill Support
The Soil Health Institute (SHI) has launched a free, science‑based Drought Resilience Calculator (DRC) that lets farmers and agronomic advisors model how soil‑health practices affect water availability during dry spells. Built on open‑source simulation models and historical weather data, the...
AGCO Reports 14.3% Q1 2026 Revenue Growth, Raises Full-Year EPS Guidance and Increases Dividend
AGCO Corp posted first‑quarter 2026 net sales of $2.34 billion, a 14.3% year‑over‑year increase, driven by strong demand for high‑horsepower tractors and precision‑ag equipment. Europe and the Middle East led growth with a 20.3% sales jump and near‑record operating margins of...
Cibus Transfers Gene-Edited Herbicide-Tolerance Traits in Rice to Interoc Ahead of Latin American Launch
Cibus Inc. has transferred gene‑edited rice material that confers herbicide tolerance to its Latin American partner Interoc, meeting a scheduled development milestone. Interoc will begin testing and scaling production to launch Cibus‑enhanced seed varieties across the region. The transfer leverages...
John Deere Made Two Precision Ag Acquisitions in Three Months
John Deere announced two strategic acquisitions in 2025, buying Sentera in May and GUSS Automation in August to add drone‑based multispectral imaging and autonomous sprayers to its precision‑ag portfolio. The moves complete a layer‑by‑layer strategy that began with Blue River...
CF Industries and PepsiCo Partner to Deploy Certified Low-Carbon UAN Fertilizer Across Frito-Lay Potato Supply Chain
CF Industries and PepsiCo have signed a commercial agreement to supply certified low‑carbon urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) fertilizer to farmers growing potatoes for Frito‑Lay. The product, produced at CF’s Donaldsonville, Louisiana plant using carbon capture and nitric‑acid emissions abatement, earned...
Cattler Raises $2 Million Led by Homegrown Capital to Scale AI-Powered Cattle Operations Platform Across the Americas
Cattler, a beef‑industry software startup, announced a $2 million financing round led by Homegrown Capital with participation from Grit Road Partners and other AgTech investors. The capital will accelerate AI‑driven product development and geographic expansion across North and South America. Cattler’s...
H.A.R.V.E.S.T. AgTech Announces Inaugural Seven-Startup Cohort Focused on Biological Agriculture Solutions
H.A.R.V.E.S.T. AgTech, operated by The Yield Lab Institute, announced its inaugural cohort of seven startups developing biological solutions for agriculture. The cohort—Agragene, Impetus Agriculture, Invasive Species Corporation, NewLeaf Symbiotics, Pluton Biosciences, Prospect Growth and SugaROx—was selected by an independent advisory...
Haiti’s Development Network Foundation Launches Precision Agriculture Initiative to Transform Farming Productivity
The Haitian Development Network Foundation (HDN) announced a precision‑agriculture initiative on Haiti’s Agriculture and Labor Day, targeting pilot projects in key farming regions later this year. The program will provide soil sensors, satellite imagery, and targeted irrigation systems, coupled with...
CNH Industrial Reports Q1 2026 Net Income of $10 Million as Agricultural Equipment Demand Hits Cyclical Low; Reaffirms Full-Year Outlook
CNH Industrial reported flat Q1 2026 revenue of $3.83 billion, but net income collapsed 92% to $10 million. The agriculture segment’s adjusted EBIT plunged 81% to $27 million as North‑American and South‑American equipment volumes fell sharply amid historically low demand and tariff pressures. Construction...
Farmland Partners Reports Q1 2026 Results: NOI Rises 6%, Dividend Raised 50%, Series A Preferred Units Redeemed
Farmland Partners Inc. posted Q1 2026 net income of $0.6 million, a 69% drop year‑over‑year, while net operating income rose 6.1% to $8.6 million. The REIT lifted its quarterly cash dividend by 50% to $0.09 per share and redeemed all 68,000 Series A preferred...
Itafos Reports Q1 2026 Revenue of $142.2 Million and Record MAP Production at Conda as Sulfur Costs Compress Margins
Itafos Inc. posted Q1 2026 revenue of $142.2 million, a 5% increase year‑over‑year, helped by higher monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and superphosphoric acid (SPA) prices and record MAP output at its Conda plant. Adjusted EBITDA fell sharply to $18.4 million and net income to...
Precision Agriculture Funding in 2025 Reached $668M — But the Distribution Tells a More Complicated Story
Precision agriculture attracted $668 M in equity funding across 37 rounds in 2025, but the capital was heavily skewed toward a handful of late‑stage deals. Four Series C and D rounds alone accounted for 47% of total dollars, while early‑stage seed activity...
BASF and Nutrien Partner to Help U.S. Farmers Access Low-Carbon Biofuel Markets
BASF and Nutrien have launched a joint initiative that links BASF’s xarvio digital farming platform with Nutrien’s on‑farm agronomy network to help U.S. corn growers document and lower the carbon intensity of their crops. The xarvio BIOENERGY tool records field‑level carbon...
Netafim Reports 7% Revenue Growth in Q1 2026, Orbia’s Precision Agriculture Segment Advances on Turkey, Brazil, and Africa Demand
Orbia’s Precision Agriculture unit, branded as Netafim, posted Q1 2026 revenue of $290 million, a 7% year‑over‑year increase driven by strong sales in Turkey, Brazil and project work across Africa. EBITDA rose modestly to $34 million, but the margin slipped to 11.8% as...
BTG Pactual TIG Closes $1.24 Billion Latin American Reforestation Fund, the Largest of Its Kind on Record
BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group closed its Latin American Reforestation Strategy with $1.24 billion in commitments, creating the largest reforestation fund on record. The fund targets 660,000 acres across Brazil’s Cerrado and other degraded lands, splitting the area between native‑forest restoration...