The Future Is Bright: Big Ag Part 4

The Big Agriculture companies invest a tremendous amount annually into R&D. In other words, they work hard to find new amazing solutions for Farmers. The folks they hire are top notch. The innovation pipeline looks bright for our food system.

by Chad Steiner

The future of farming and our food system is incredibly bright. And, as my prior blog posts have emphasized, Big Ag will be a vital part of our future success. The ability for Big Ag to help scale, create efficient systems and its teams of amazing people are what will support our future. No one else in the industry spends more on Research and Development (R&D) than companies in Big Ag – I’ll explain further. Then, once new products or technology are ready for the market, the United States Retail and Distribution companies are experienced and ready to bring farmers up to speed. Lastly, I’d like to list some examples of what’s on the horizon. From being more precise with resources to having more organic tools in the toolbox – options for creating a better and more resilient food system are more plentiful than ever before.

Research and Development is what fuels innovation. Small companies are great at this, but Big Ag invests heavily. As I spoke of previously, many small companies or technologies get purchased by the big ones – offering rapid access to the market. But let’s focus on the Big Ag companies – both on the amount they invest and the “institutional” R&D systems they operate. When I worked at Syngenta, at the time it was publicly traded. The published numbers would show a spend of over 10% on R&D. Pause for a moment to consider the amount of dollars if each of the Big Ag companies invests this much in R&D. They are all in the “billions” of dollars in revenue. 10% of 1 billion dollars is $100,000,000 dollars. Those dollars fuel research centers, contract research, equipment – and most importantly some of the best scientists in the World. Literally, some of the best and smartest folks are attracted to work in R&D at Big Ag companies. All these components combined is a recipe for continual discovery of new products and technologies ready for farmers.

As new technology is created for farmers – introducing it to them, servicing it and handling all the logistics is what our retail and distribution system excels at. Think companies like Wilbur-Ellis, Helena, Nutrien and Simplot. In some parts of the country these companies have locations ready with salespeople, logistics teams, equipment, trucks, warehouses and more in every major farming town. The sheer scale of these companies provides the ability for rapid implementation with farmers. If the proper steps have been taken to “prepare” a product or technology for market – the U.S. retail and distribution system can quickly bring it to many farmers.

At a West Coast Tree Nut and Vine Wilbur-Ellis meeting in the fall of 2022 I was amazed at the confidence and amount of organic pesticide options for wine grapes. In my experience since then it’s become evident how more organic tools are rapidly emerging. There are small companies like Organishield focused on individual products and large companies like Syngenta investing in R&D as well as acquiring great organic or biological products and/or their company. Whether we like it or not, when we grow things in monoculture, when we disturb “nature” by planting a seed – fungus, insects and weeds can abound. Organic products to help boost plant defenses, organic fungicide to help control powdery mildew and the list goes on. Farm Tech is also proliferating. Whether it be automation to help with labor or electric tractors or water management technology – we’re seeing companies and technology solutions emerge never seen before that will improve our food system. Lasering weeds, driverless farm produce hauling (Burro), driverless tractors (Monarch), real time water capacity (Probe Schedule) and many more. Side note: Probe Schedule was created by an individual who then sold his company to Wilbur-Ellis who is now deploying the technology around the U.S.. For me, all of this innovation makes a path to regenerative farming more possible than ever. The key with any type of farming system we choose is its ability to still provide an abundant amount of food for our growing population. However, nutrient dense food is what we need to focus on for our future. Regeneratively farmed foods can be packed with nutrition – check out Gabe Brown’s book, “Dirt to Soil”, he’s got some amazing examples from his farm in North Dakota. A step in becoming regenerative is farming organically with minimal to no tillage. The technologies and products coming to market via Big Ag are exciting and will be accessible.

Take a moment to soak all this in. 1. R&D companies investing heavily annually in solution for growers, 2. A retail and distribution system ready to take these solutions to farmers, 3. More tools in the toolbox than ever seen before geared directly at farming in a regenerative organic way. You bet the future is bright. As consumers we want nothing more than healthy, nutritious food for ourselves and our families. Farmers want nothing more than to take good care of their land and earn a healthy living to continue on their family legacy. What’s available today and what’s coming is incredibly exciting. In the meantime – help create demand for healthy, nutritious regenerative organic grown food by looking for farmers growing it. But rest assured, the foods you’re eating, whether organic or not, have been grown by farmers supported by Big Ag with people invested in making safe products for those crops. I’m excited about the future and the tools in the toolbox. As a small grower we feel like we have incredible access to many of these products and technologies. But it definitely takes Teamwork to make the dream work.