Charley Cummings

Florida sued over lab meat ban, winter wheat planting is underway, and USDA to allow H5N1 vaccine trials for dairy cows. Farmer confidence is falling, Impossible and Motif end legal dispute, and a new app matches strangers for a meal. Common questions I get from ag stakeholders: What #agtech should I be looking for? Do I need agtech? Where do I go to find the right agtech? What should it cost? It’s difficult to navigate the dynamic agtech landscape. We could use a trusted advisor in agtech. The agtech entrepreneurs that become trusted advisors will unlock enormous value. I’ll explain how in this week’s newsletter. #agtechfriday #agriculture #advisor #trust #startups #innovation #trustedtech #agtwitter #agtechadvisor https://lnkd.in/gBgcGDEy

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Looking to transition into Green Jobs in Agribusiness and Utilities? Here’s how to get started: With sustainability becoming a priority for industries worldwide, there’s growing demand for professionals in both utilities and agribusiness to drive green initiatives. If you’re passionate about contributing to environmental sustainability, these sectors offer exciting career opportunities. Here are some key areas to explore: Renewable Energy Engineers Design and implement sustainable energy solutions like solar, wind, and bioenergy systems to reduce carbon footprints. Opportunities are booming as the world shifts away from fossil fuels. Environmental Engineers Help solve critical environmental challenges by creating systems for clean water management, air pollution control, and waste reduction. These professionals are essential in both utilities and agribusiness. Agricultural Marketing Specialists (USDA) Work with innovative farming technologies to promote sustainable farming practices. The USDA offers roles focused on food security, climate solutions, and conservation. Sustainability Managers Oversee and lead sustainability initiatives within organizations, from reducing energy consumption to improving efficiency in operations. Where to start • Explore opportunities with organizations like USDA for agribusiness roles. • Check platforms like USAjobs.gov for roles in environmental engineering and policy. • Companies focusing on green tech and sustainability (e.g., BrightFarms) are also great places to find green jobs. 🌍 Start building a career that not only benefits you but also makes a lasting impact on our planet! #GreenJobs #Sustainability #Agribusiness #Utilities #Jobs #Careers For more info, check out job boards like Indeed or Green Collar Jobs, or explore roles at USAjobs.gov.

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AgTech Ecosystem - looking forward to joining Renée Vassilos (Director of Agriculture Innovation for The Nature Conservancy), Charlie Andersen (CEO of Burro), Michael Roth (Director of Conservation and Innovation - PA Dept of Agriculture), and Fred Slezak of Lone Maple Farm tomorrow at the Ag and Robotics Summit in Pittsburgh. It's day 1 of the Summit, and we'll help kick things off on the opening night with the panel leading right into the reception. The topic will be Ag Robotics - what will drive it and what are some of the macro trends? Renee has the moderator chair. Charlie brings the perspective of a successful specialty crop AgTech automation startup that is starting to achieve scale - and he's been at the front on this journey as founder and CEO. Michael will bring the perspective of the PA Department of Ag and the role the state can play in facilitating innovation. Fred brings the most important role - the grower using the AgTech. I bring the specialty crop automation topic to the table, and for specialty crops it's all about getting more of the key labor task areas automated with economics that work for the grower. At the moment, things look good for weeding, thinning, spraying, planting, and harvest assist. On the not so good side - harvest will still be a while. On the emerging front, AI is accelerating a lot of development work for AgTech startups and the massive data sets the robots are capturing will help the acceleration even more once we figure out how to make it all interoperable. Thanks to Maialen CAZENAVE and Gwendoline Legrand, our FIRA USA partners at GOFAR (Global Organization for Agricultural Robotics), for helping to organize and promote the event. It will be a fun couple of days at the Robotics Factory! (Did I mention FIRA USA will be Oct 22-24 in Sacramento/Davis?) #agtech #robotics #carnegiemellon https://lnkd.in/gzGZEqzh

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What role can regenerative agriculture play in reshaping our food systems and meeting the rising consumer demand for sustainable and nutritious products? I discussed this and more with Melissa Gonzalez on MarketScale's Retailed Refined Podcast. Listen below:

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Interesting to see the Biden administration announce today a tougher position than expected on turning US corn ethanol into jet fuel for #SAF (via AtJ) by requiring farmers to adopt CSA practices to reduce lifecycle emissions. It could leave the US short of SAF in the near term, but ultimately should leave more space for the waste and CO2-based SAF (#PtL) which don’t have the same impact on land and competition with food. https://lnkd.in/g8DCA7pR #sustainableaviation #saf #jetzero

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FL bans lab-grown meat, bird flu virus likely travels from cow to cow via milk and Mattel releases ‘Barbiecue’ sauce. Senator Stabenow proposes 2024 Farm Bill, EU crop gene editing regulations could be reformed and can ag retail go paperless? Observation: #agtech experiences a lot of categorization. We are quick to put agtech into categories. This can be helpful but it can also be limiting. Let’s examine when categorization is good for and bad for agtech in this week’s newsletter. #agriculture #startups #category #innovation #categorization #agtwitter #agtechfriday #categories #venture https://lnkd.in/gXApG5zE

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Honestly, does anyone have any idea what to do with all the soybean meal? The push to SAF and Renewable Diesel may be helping with climate, but generates large amounts of meal, driving down feed prices (sort of good), but also destroying farmer profits and supply chain profits. The drive to RD/SAF is subsidy-driven. A decision to redirect capital allocation to help climate. Meanwhile, as US production of soy increases, we have to import fresh vegetables. The trade to renewable foods reduces access to healthy food in the US. Driving up healthcare costs. Normally, markets would work this out. However the subsidy pressure from climate triggers divergent market pressure that overproduces meals. Frankly, we should probably be looking at Palm Oil and other crops for RD oil. How does this end? Shari Rogge-Fidler Brad Fruth Jim Borel Mac Marshall Mark Purdy

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