May 13, 2015

by Lynda Kiernan

It is increasingly clear that agriculture and technology have a united future. Last year there were 264 agtech financing deals carrying a value of $2.36 billion, marking a 170% increase over 2013, and propelling agriculture ahead of the clean energy sector, which saw $2 billion in financing deals over the same time period according to AgFunder.

With every day that passes, the macro trends driving the need for higher agricultural output to be achieved in a more sustainable manner, such as population growth, lack of arable land, climate change, water management, and pollution are becoming more urgent, and are playing an ever larger role in agricultural production, and investment decisions.

Knowing there is a sought-after end result – a higher level of sustainable agricultural production, agtech companies are rising to the challenge in a myriad of ways, but farmers have a warning for entrepreneurs who are familiar with technology but might not be so familiar with farming – talk to farmers to find out if the technology they offer will adapt and fit well with agricultural conditions and production systems before telling farmers they need it.

“Walk the fields with us — and not on a sunny day, but on a rainy day when the lettuce can’t be pulled mechanically because the machine can’t go through the field,” Dave Murray of Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce tells GreenBiz, explaining that technology that cannot adapt to the elements can quickly lose value.

Another example of this disconnect is discussed in a recent article from GreenBiz about water reuse systems. Farmers are very supportive of technology that promotes water reuse, but they want to be able to control the source and the quality of the water being used so they can assure their buyers, and their buyers’ customers, that the water used to grow their food was clean – specifically making an on-farm water reuse system ideal.

In addition, farmers are interested in how big data systems can help them achieve their highest yields, but also want to know that their information is secure and remains under their control.

Solutions are abundant, but if they cannot be smoothly integrated into a farmer’s life and adapt to the specific challenges found in agriculture that are not faced in other sectors, then they will not be successful as a business. Agtech entrepreneurs are advised to talk to farmers – spend time on the farms for which they are designing solutions, in order to gain insight into nuances of the business they might not be aware of or consider important. In addition, it is important to provide solutions that are ‘bundled’ and address multiple issues facing farmers such as soil condition, water, and nutrition, while also providing tech support along with a new tech product to ensure continued use and success.

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