Seaweed Boom, (Micro)Chips & Cheese and Laser-Powered Robots
Welcome to Global Signals, your monthly update of new and interesting 'signals' in the world of AgriFoodTech. This month we’ve got a little bit of everything - from the seaweed boom, through to chipped cheese.
Global Signals inform the future of food, agriculture and technology developments. 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) June 2022
On the cusp of an infant formula revolution
A first-of-its-kind study has investigated how mammary cells change the composition of breast milk throughout the first two years of lactation. The results showed that levels of lactocytes decrease over time, and that there are also epithelial cells that express genes for proteins such as lactalbumin.
These results could prompt further research into boosting breast milk production and improving infant formula by more closely replicating the compositional changes over time.
The US infant formula crisis might lead to more investment in the production of bioidentical human milk formula for babies. Rather than making cow’s milk better for human babies, why not make human milk designed for each stage of development?
Researchers at Northwestern University have created the world’s smallest remote-controlled walking robot. It’s smaller than a flea and is modelled on peekytoe crab.
The robot isn’t run on hydraulics, electricity or otherwise complex hardware. Instead, certain parts are made of a “shape-memory alloy.” When heated, it transforms into its remembered shape. Through rapid heating with the help of lasers, the little crab is able to move.
In the future, researchers see robots like this performing tasks in small, difficult to reach areas.
This made me think about robotic bees and fruit pollination. Pollinators are declining globally. And while prevention would obviously be a better choice we may need a Plan B. Could that be robotic insects?
Italian cheesemakers, Parmigiano Reggiano, are putting microchips in their parmesan to prove its authenticity.
Much like how Champagne can only originate from France’s Champagne region, parmesan cheese, or Parmigiano Reggiano, can only be made by Reggiano makers in Italy. However, counterfeit parmesan cheese is fast becoming a multi-billion dollar industry.
To prove the authenticity of their products, Parmigiano Reggiano is using scannable p-Chip micro transponders to ensure transparency. This will also prove useful in the case of recalls or other issues.
The words “traceability” and “proof of provenance” have grown in popularity over the last 10 years often referencing the possibility of using blockchain to validate authenticity. Perhaps microchipping is a simpler approach. What other foods might this be applied to?
In 2022, 42% of King Salmon’s fish died. The company’s CEO is attributing the steep rise to increasingly warm summer seas, warning that the effects of climate change are being felt faster than people think.
When the salmon were towed to cooler regions, the mortality reduced to 37%, which is still alarmingly higher than the 10% mortality rate in 2018.
King Salmon will “fallow” three farms in the warmer Pelorus Sound, leaving one open for trials. They are looking to gain consent to farm king salmon in cooler waters.
King Salmon anticipated the impacts of climate change but didn’t expect them to come this quickly. What other industries are going to have a nasty shock as climate change impacts bite? If you have an interest in aquaculture, check out the suggested podcast below too.
Hokkaido based White Data Centre is diversifying its products it’s going into eel farming.
1,700 juvenile eels were originally procured. They now live in tanks supported by the facility’s cooling system. The facility reuses snowmelt to cool its hardware. In the process, the water is heated to 33 degrees Celsius, the ideal temperature for this species of eel.
The company experimented with other creatures such as sea urchins but has now focused solely on eels. The eels will grow to a weight of around 250 grams before being sold and shipped. WDC has set a target of selling around 300,000 eels by 2023, with them being worth $44,000 per kilo.
Prawn farming is a side hustle in the wastewater from Wairakei Power station. Are there other side hustles where food can be grown using industrial heat? As we decarbonise the food sector, could we use waste heat from other industries?
Scientists from the University of Florida have successfully grown thale cress in soil made from samples taken from several Apollo missions. The soil is considered comparable to lunar dirt.
As lunar dirt is composed mainly of rocks without accessible nitrogen, carbon or phosphorus, the scientists used soil amendments such as a water-based solution. Researchers will no longer have to take soil from Earth with them for lunar gardening projects. They now can create practical ways of fertilising it with some key amendments.
New Zealand has a rocket industry; where is our astrobiology investment? Terraforming might be the next big thing for biotech.
The seaweed business is booming and rapidly expanding.
Globally, the seaweed industry generates US$6 billion per year and is considered the fastest-growing sector of US aquaculture. Aquatic farms in New England, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska have all shown massive growth with production having increased from 18 tonnes in 2017 to 440 tonnes in 2021.
While seaweed is already used in a myriad of products, such as toothpaste, cosmetics and anti-inflammatory products, new applications for the seaweed continue to emerge. There is potential for seaweed to be used in the production of biofuel.
New Zealand’s abundant coastline ought to be perfect for seaweed aquaculture. What will the acidification of our oceans with climate change mean for this? Can New Zealand invest in companies like Agrisea and deeper research into propagatable seaweeds that will thrive in future ocean conditions?
Farmers have had no choice but to use synthetic nitrogen, until now. Pivot Bio has created an alternative to synthetic nitrogen fertilisers: microbes. They can be planted with corn and consume the waste products corn naturally produces, while the microbes provide accessible nitrogen directly to the corn.
Most importantly this isn’t dependent on the petrochemical industry for the production of nitrogen. Petrochemical production costs are through the roof with the Ukrainian conflict, and the pressure is on for climate change mitigation measures. We may look back at current nitrogen prices wistfully in the future as the lowest they have ever been.
Iron Ox is a California-based farm technology startup that is tackling sustainability in farming. Their Lockhart facility greenhouse serves as the blueprint for sustainable produce farming near urban centres and is home to two AI robots, Grover and Phil.
While Grover does the heavy lifting, Phil monitors the planter boxes’ conditions and needs, such as watering and harvesting. Together, they ensure that resources are not wasted and that yield is increased, so that leafy greens and fruit are produced sustainably.
Urban farming is gaining popularity as we combine distributed generation and more farms can go indoors into controlled environments. These can be certified organic, run with very few staff, and deliver produce directly to food service and consumers.
The podcast, Aquademia covers all things seafood & sustainability. This episode features a conversation with Nick Sullivan, author of the book, The Blue Revolution. Nick is fascinated by the growth of fish farming and aquaculture, especially New England’s approach to wild harvest and high-tech fish farming. Each chapter is like a long magazine article - so it’s easy to digest and can be read in any order.
This is a truly interesting podcast about the sector.
Imaginable: How to see the future coming… Jane McGonigal
Transworld Publishers Ltd, 2022
This book is a good read for people wanting to think about the future and futurism. McGonigal plays with a scenario in which climate change has expanded habitats for ticks; those ticks’ bites leave victims with a sugar allergy (based on a meat allergy caused by tick bites). She says the pandemic was ‘unimaginable’, but the US government had a detailed pandemic response plan and one of Trump’s first acts was to disestablish that team! So, a mixed bag of a book, but still worth reading in order to understand how a leading futurist thinks.
Sick of the current slew of miserable, dystopian views of how things are going to play out? Need a bit more hope? Same here. Films for Action have compiled this wonderful list of uplifting documentaries. I’m working my way through them.
“[Our] true nature calls us to choose determination over defeat, and resilience over despair.”
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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.
