Kia ora from Callaghan Innovation,

Welcome back to Global Signals, your monthly update of groundbreaking developments in the world of Agritech.

In this issue, we look at how CO2 can be transformed into feed, check out the tech reducing bycatch in fishing, and explore the benefits of using robots on farms. 

We’ve designed this newsletter to kickstart exciting conversations around the future of agriculture in New Zealand and beyond.

Kia pai te rā,

Melissa (FutureCentre.nz) and Shane (Callaghan Innovation)

PS: Join us on LinkedIn to stay connected.

Feed from thin air

Californian startup NovoNutrient transforms industrial waste carbon dioxide emissions into alternative protein food and feed ingredients using patent-pending microbes and bioreactors. The organisms transform emissions, along with hydrogen and oxygen, into complete, safe, natural single cell protein ingredients for food and feed.

With a production process that uses very little water or land, and no pesticides or fertilisers, NovoNutrient is combating two problems simultaneously: creating sustainable feed and combating climate change.

The company is testing its product with a pilot-scale plant which is expected to upcycle almost 200,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Could this offer a new closed loop for agricultural practices?

Seasonal workers just a click away

New Zealand-developed app Picmi is helping growers find workers the old-fashioned way - not through automation, but via the internet.

Developed by the daughter of a grower in the Tasman area, Picmi is essentially a platform that growers can send to potential job candidates with template job descriptions and contracts. It purports to save growers hours of administrative time, and has a far higher acceptance rate than traditional hiring methods.

This software-as-a-service approach to farm labour is not new - anyone wanting to be an Uber driver can sign up through the app. But for growers, it’s a refreshing approach to the increasing headache of finding enough hands every year.

As the industry inevitably turns to increased automation alongside human seasonal labour, how will this gig economy style of labour market keep up, simply shrink, or will growers upskill workers alongside automation investment?

Safety net for fishing industry

SafetyNet Technologies, a UK-based company, has developed tech to enhance the sustainability of fishing practices and address the issue of waste in the industry.

Their innovative technology aims to assist fishing crews in catching their target species while reducing unintentional bycatch. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, a staggering 38 million tonnes of sea creatures are accidentally caught each year, and most of this bycatch is discarded as waste.

The company’s product utilises coloured LED lights, which attract the intended species while simultaneously discouraging unwanted bycatch. Additionally, this feature enables fishing crews to save time and effort by reducing the need for sorting fish once caught.

New Zealand’s maritime territory is 15 times the size of our landmass, so we could have a big opportunity to make our mark in fishing tech.

What other aquaculture technologies would make good bait to ensure NZ reels in the next generation of investment dollars?

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Web 3.0 to disrupt carbon removal sector

UK-based company Isometric has secured USD$25 million in funding to continue its work providing carbon removal data to customers.

Isometric’s platform is designed to support actionable climate removal protocols, rather than emphasising what they see as avoidance-based carbon offsets in the wider market. Co-founder Eamon Jubbawy says that removing carbon from our atmosphere will be critical for the human race in the coming decades, alongside decarbonising the economy.

Carbon offsetting is facing serious credibility issues as a way to mitigate climate change. Could Web 3.0 be the catalyst for its growth?

What other aspects of agriculture could Web 3.0 potentially impact?

What I am reading

Our Shared Storm: A novel of 5 Climate Futures Andrew Dana Hudson

There are no future facts, and I get annoyed by people who want to create a singular vision of the future when we know that we are dealing with massive complexity.

This book takes one approach to scenario-building and creates narratives for five possible climate futures. It posits that we will probably do our best to adapt by ‘muddling through’, advancing and retreating, continuing to kick structural change down the road, installing solar. and changing our food habits.

The one area this book disappointed me is that it lacks an indigenous voice, and seems to have missed that the scenarios are pretty dominant in thinking from the northern hemisphere. What I like about this book is that each scenario is fully fleshed out with believable characters dealing with everyday situations.

Too many of the climate models out there are based on solid science, but have poor storytelling and even poorer futures theory. This book nails both.

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