Bovine blockchain, right to repair and abundant apple pickers
Welcome to Global Signals, your monthly update of new and interesting 'signals' in the world of AgriFoodTech.
What is a Signal? Signals are small, specific, or localised innovations that have the potential to grow. While they aren't predictions of the future, they may identify trends before they unfold.
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Kia pai te rā,
Melissa (Futurist) and Shane (Callaghan Innovation) April 2022
Hello, Helaina (submitted by George S.)
Helaina is a company that produces “first-of-its-kind infant milk,”. Helaina’s whole milk promises provide calories, and to build infants’ immunity against bacterial, viral and fungal agents. Like other emerging human breast milk companies, such as TurtleTree or Biomilq, Helaina uses precision fermentation.
Helaina has secured $20 million in Series A funding. This will be put towards manufacturing and commercialisation, particularly of lactoferrin — a valuable ingredient in the infant formula business.
Will the current bovine-ovine based infant formula industry be disrupted by the development and commercialisation of human-bioidentical infant formula? Will people continue to buy infant formula based on calves’ milk with an assortment of additives if a human version is available? Will the ingredients market be the first to be disrupted? Will infant formula companies start buying “human” lactoferrins made in a lab, rather than in a cow?
Rob Jennings created CattleProof to put information about specific cows on the blockchain. A cow’s provenance, history, genetics, age, inspection records etc. is a lot to keep track of, especially if it passes through many hands. CattleProof allows farmers to put a spreadsheet’s worth of information into a non-fungible token (NFT). This makes it easier to trade, track, and collect metadata about cows. Jennings found that blockchain enthusiasts were excited about this prospect but farmers were more hesitant.
Has New Zealand actually got our heads around where blockchain, crypto, NFTs, and the metaverse could take us? Good, bad or ugly? What applications could blockchain and crypto have in New Zealand’s agritech/agrifood space? Do we even understand it well enough to dismiss it as a fad?
John Deere manufactures more than half of the farming equipment used in the US. It also controls the repair market for its products. Subsequently, farmers and advocacy groups have filed a 40-page complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against John Deere and calling for the right to repair their John Deere equipment with independent dealers.
What does it mean when the machines we use every day order their own replacement parts directly from the manufacturer? Does this provide a better service? Or lock farmers into relationships they don’t want? What are the implications for NZ agritech providers who want to lock customers into maintenance and service contracts? How are you handling these issues?
Abundant’s apple-picking system automates picking without damaging the fruit. The machines can solve potential problems on the fly, like how to pick multiple apples off a branch at a time.
More than 10 billion pounds of apples are picked in the US each year, and most of those are picked by hand. The sheer volume of fruit needing to be picked, coupled with labour shortages means this industry is “ripe for mechanisation”. Abundant’s apple-picking system is aiming to be on the market by the third quarter of 2023.
These machines are more complex than they look. They require machine vision in order to identify and pick apples (rather than other objects), along with safety features and the ability to delicately handle apples. What is the next fruit that’ll be ripe for Abundant’s picking?
CottonAce is an artificial intelligence (AI) that aims to reduce the large amount of cotton lost to pests every year. To counter this many farms use high levels of pesticides which are dangerous to farmers and to the soil. CottonAce from Whadwani AI acts as a solution to this problem. The AI will provide ways to optimise how pest traps are deployed on cotton farms, reduce pesticide use, and increase cotton yield. This initiative won the H&M Foundation’s Global Change Award.
Many farmers have experienced pressure from consumers, and therefore governments, to reduce pesticide use. Glyphosate gets a lot of international attention, for example. How might we use AI in NZ to target the right crops, reduce pests and increase yields, while reducing the use of harmful substances?
French mealworm company, Ynsect, produces protein for the aquaculture and poultry industries. Recently, they have started work using their insect protein to make food fit for humans. Ynsect runs the biggest insect farm in Europe and is expanding into Nebraska, USA, and recently received US$404M in funding.
Ynsect has created prototype burgers and has set its sights on protein powder. A recent study suggests that insect-based protein powder performs as well as whey powder - making it a possible substitute. Compared to a kilogram of beef, insect protein has the same amount of protein but requires 90% less land and produces 200x less greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite the pet food industry being huge globally, the insect protein market is only worth USD$250M currently. Will people choose to eat worm protein? Will they feed it to their pets? Or is this a niche really limited to aquaculture and poultry production?
Inventor Minsob Logou has created a mini tractor designed exactly for its environment and uses. Logou noted how many tractors in West Africa are sourced from overseas, only to later be left abandoned. The large machinery doesn’t last and repairs can be difficult. Repairs may have to go through a parent company, such as John Deere, and parts may not be available locally. Many parent companies are moving to subscription-based models for their machinery, meaning that equipment will be leased to, rather than owned by, local farmers.
The prototype mini tractors were made from salvaged parts. They’re now on the market and a lower-cost tiller is also in the works.
NZ is a long way away from big manufacturers, and our terrain is tough. As the big players move to subscription models, will there be stranded assets in NZ? Who will buy second hand farm equipment when it will be leased rather than owned in the future? Is there an opportunity here for a home company to use all the spare parts that will be sitting around?
The International Space Station (ISS) recently received crops to be grown in microgravity in space. These types of crops are unique, as they are grown without soil. Instead, they use technology based on aeroponics and hydroponics. These technologies have been gaining popularity on the ground, and are now being developed to be used in space. The ISS and NASA now want to learn if these systems can be utilised at larger scales for longer exploration missions.
With NZ’s burgeoning space industry, where is our related astrobiology industry? Could NZ become a centre of excellence for feeding people in space?
The Ember Cube uses Ember’s temperature-controlling technology to keep its contents cold. It was originally intended for the transport of medical supplies, such as vaccines, that require specific temperature conditions.
The Ember Cube is extremely durable, lightweight, and self-refrigerating. With its LTE-connected radio, the box can be tracked across the world in real-time. There may be other applications for the Ember Cube such as the transportation of perishable food items.
With the value of chilled food generally higher than the value of frozen, can this technology help prolong shelf life and therefore increase revenue back to NZ from our exports?
Uplifting conversation between some cute UK kids and Jane Goodall. We promise it’s not as twee as it sounds, this podcast is an absolute delight. While you might assume Jane’s favourite animal would be the Chimpanzee… it isn’t. You’ll have to tune in to find out who her best friend is.
What exactly is nature? Did you know that trees can affect the rotation of the earth? Or that wolves can alter the course of a river? The natural world is an intricate web of connections, many of which we rarely notice or understand. Drawing on science and decades of experience as a forester, Peter Wohllben shows us how plants, rivers, animals, rocks and weather systems cooperate.
This film tells the deeply moving story of South African naturalist Craig Foster and his friendship with an octopus.
The documentary, shot off South Africa’s south-west coast over the course of a decade, opens the viewer’s eyes to life under the sea, and the day-to-day life of this intriguing creature.
The UK government recently initiated legislation which would deem cephalopods, squids and lobsters as sentient beings.
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