Big Ideas Born in the Field

Farmers Upfront

The teams at AgLaunch and AgVentures Alliance are assembling a network of farmers from the Mid-South through the Midwest to link together precommercial startups with farmers who can provide their acres, data and insights.

“We’ve all bought something that after we used it, we discovered it wasn’t near what it was thought to be,” says Johnny Dodson, a Tennessee farmer and adviser to AgLaunch. “That’s everything from the electronic gadgets to seed production — it’s all of the above.”

On his farm, Dodson navigates the balance between product promise and real-world potential.

“I know there are a lot of ideas out there. Agriculture is full of ingenuity. We need to not only kick the tires but have dialogue and build trust,” he says.

In this new model, the incubation process for new ideas is proving there is more than bushels to be gained; it’s equity to be shared.

Entrepreneurs benefit from the feedback farmers share for product development. More than two dozen startups have advanced their ideas in this network. In addition, more than $40 million in investment capital has been raised, and more than 100 jobs have been created.

Gaining traction, this new model puts farmers in the driver’s seat.

“We’re catapulting ideas forward through alignment with the farmer,“ says Pete Nelson, executive director at AgLaunch. He says digital and biological technologies need access to farmers to build, prove and scale.

“Fully invigorating the potential for aligned capital from the farm community will take this to the next level,“ he says.

Bankable ideas

One mechanism specifically designed to help springboard technologies closer to farmers is a 2002 farm bill program called Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC), says Matt McKenna, former USDA senior advisor.

USDA licenses newly formed for-profit entities as RBICs, which then use the equity raised to make venture capital investments mostly in smaller businesses.

“There is so much liquidity in the system, but the difficulty comes with scale,” says McKenna, now a principal at Open Prairie, and a board member at Innova, both USDA-certified RBIC funds. “Most investments in rural America are smaller-sized, and RBICs are a vehicle that allow money to find its way to those investments.”

Since its formation, seven RBICs have raised more than $800 million in private capital, primarily from a group of a dozen Farm Credit banks.

The additional benefit of the technology development taking place on farms is the resulting rural economic development.

“We see our small towns fading away,” says Scott Fullen, Tennessee farmer and AgLaunch network member. “What if we can change that? If we can get some of those technology companies to build in our rural incubation network, it can help everyone.”

Think of it as a circular cycle: startups bring ideas to farmers, farmers help startups develop their products, startups raise money and set up headquarters close to their small-town customers.

It’s that proximity to the end user helping fuel this idea. “The closer you are to the farmer, the more likely your idea will find success,” McKenna says.

Businesses Born On the Farm For the Farm

DIY Irrigation App Saves Time, Labor, Fuel and Stress

Nathan Holmes was sick of waking at 2 a.m. in a cold sweat: had he turned off a particular well pump on his farm. Maybe? Maybe not? Weary of fighting a logistical nightmare, Missouri row-crop farmer Holmes initially created a DIY smartphone remedy solely for his operation, and then partnered with a tech company to take the solution to market. The result is PumpTrakr, a simple and low-cost irrigation app that manages pump locations, activity, fuel, maintenance and more.

Read More at AgWeb.com/PumpTrakr

A Digital Solution for Farm Labor Bottlenecks

Kevin Johansen saw a trend — producers were using social media to find part-time help. As a fifth-generation Missouri producer, he had felt the labor pinch himself. Through a little brainstorming, the idea for a mobile app, AgButler, was born. The mission is simple: connect employers to laborers. Johansen and his team connected with a developer and built a demo in September 2018. Favorable reviews and rankings in ag tech competitions, as well as being awarded a grant help seed their finances and business plan. Now available in app stores, AgButler includes jobs in crop, livestock, transportation and construction industries.

Read More at AgWeb.com/AgButler

Manure Opens Doors for Family Farm to Expand

Get a load of this — manure management provided one family with the opportunity to create a new business. Zimmerman Manufacturing started with the clear goal to use manure nutrients better. Raymond Zimmerman of Cantril, Iowa, created the Contour King Swivel for a way to inject manure faster, smarter and more precisely than products without the attachment. The business started in partnership with a local dealer. Today they have dealers from the Midwest to the East Coast.

Read More at AgWeb.com/ZimmermanManufacturing

To hear AgLaunch experts share how you can leverage data, expertise and acres for new technology, visit AgWeb.com/AgLaunch