Kia ora from Callaghan Innovation,

Welcome back to Global Signals, where we share groundbreaking developments from the world of agritech.

In this issue, we look at the luxury plant-based food items coming to market, hear how a by-product in the wine industry is being repurposed, and check out the technology that’s addressing labour shortages in the meat industry.

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.

Deere decarbonises

For over 185 years, agribusiness stalwarts - and inventor of the steel plough - John Deere has been re-inventing itself.

Their latest investment has seen the acquisition of battery technology provider Kreisel Electric Inc. a leading innovator focused on the development of immersion-cooled battery modules and charging packs including commercial vehicles, off-road vehicles, and marine applications.

With growing demand for off-road electrification in the agriculture sector and all the investment dollars going into electric infrastructure, electrification is all but inevitable. 

How can New Zealand tech companies move past fossil fuels as a backstop when it comes to power?

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Employee of the month

The labour shortage has hit New Zealand agriculture hard, and the meat processing industry has felt the blow particularly badly. Over in the United Kingdom, they can’t process enough pigs due to staffing shortages as a result of Brexit-induced labour issues.

Scott Technology has created a solution that uses a combination of robotics and computer vision to automatically butcher lamb carcasses with precision. This system increases productivity, helps bridge the labour gap and saves meat suppliers time and money. 

Work is now underway to create a version that works for beef which has a far bigger market than lamb. 

Could the combination of robotics and computer vision provide a sustainable advantage over traditional labour within the meat industry? 

We could be heroes

For the first time US legislators have firmly acknowledged the link between climate change and agriculture and have made a step to support farmers who reduce their carbon emissions. The Inflation Reduction Act has allowed a $19.5 billion contribution to farmers under the Agriculture Department’s Conservation Programme to encourage clean power, energy-efficient buildings, and electric vehicles.

Looking at the USA, what role can the central Government play in assisting the agriculture industry to become more sustainable?

Waste not, want not

Addressing food waste is arguably one of the biggest growth areas for food suppliers over the next ten years. While the meat industry has been practicing whole-animal utilisation for many years now, the same cannot yet be said of fruit and vegetable production.

Israeli start-up Nutrilees is tackling wine waste by introducing a new antioxidant-packed ingredient using a byproduct of wine fermentation, wine lees.

Wine lees are the dead yeast cells left over after the fermentation process and are often discarded due to their sour taste and smell. But, Nutrilees have fine-tuned the process to remove the tart taste leaving a tasteless, purple powder superfood that’s high in protein, dietary fibre, polyphenols, and minerals.

Where should we focus our first efforts at whole-plant utilisation in our fruit and vegetable production?

Wood-Munching Fungi Developing A Taste for Plastic

Researchers have discovered that fungi isolated from rotting hardwood trees can break down polyethylene, a common type of plastic used in shopping bags, food wrap, and bottles. These fungi, which are capable of degrading lignin in hardwood, demonstrate the ability to adapt their metabolic behavior depending on the environment.

While this finding holds promise for potentially tackling plastic pollution, more research is needed to understand the specific enzymes involved in the decay process and to explore the fungi's potential to break down other materials. 

Cleaning up our own mess would be a lot easier if we could get some hungry fungi to help. Where in the supply chain would you add this fungi to give breaking-down a head start?

What I am reading

Time Shelter, Georgi Gospodinov

This is a Booker Prize-winning novel written by a Bulgarian author between the Brexit referendum and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Time Shelter takes on the weaponisation of nostalgia and asks if there is a time we would like to go back to. In the novel, European countries have referenda as to which era or decade the citizens would like to return to.

The main character, Gaustine, sets up clinics for people with Alzheimer’s Disease, so they can live in an apartment they are

familiar with, for example from the 1950s. People without disease start coming too, wanting shelter from the present in an idealised past.

Why is it that we (and especially some of our leaders) seem to idealise the past, and not create the kind of future we really want? Can we shelter from the present and the future?

Thanks for reading this month's Global Signals!

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Don’t forget to share with us any signals or interesting innovations you’ve come across so we can spread the word. We enjoy seeing NZ companies be creative, innovative and push the boundaries, it makes for insightful reading.