Bags of money in a canola field.

Is it time for a farmer venture fund?

Reading Time: 2 minutes A growing number of funds want to invest in companies that are starting new businesses or expanding in agriculture and I can see that change from the first Agri Tech Venture Forum I attended a few years ago. That’s great news, as the agriculture startup world was bereft of alternative finance options until about five years ago.



Farmer checking the soil on his field

American company growing larger roots through gene editing

Cquesta plans to decrease drought risk, increase carbon sequestration

Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – An American company is gene editing roots to make them grow larger so plants can better tolerate drought and sequester more carbon. Cquesta CEO Michael Ott told the Agri Tech Venture Forum in Ontario earlier this spring that half the human impact on carbon released to the atmosphere can be accounted for […] Read more



Marco van Leeuwen is the president of the International Seed Federation and managing director of seed company Rijk Zwaan. Photo: John Greig

World Seed Congress addresses global supply chain challenges 

The World Seed Congress is on in Rotterdam, Netherlands with a discussion of the major issues facing the seed and crops sector. The major issues on the agenda include the challenges that the decline in free trade and globalization brings to major suppliers of seeds, the acceptance of gene editing and the technology involved in that process.

Getting acceptance for gene editing

Getting acceptance for gene editing

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology offers recommendations to ensure plant breeding tech continues to benefit agriculture

Reading Time: 2 minutes The rapid pace of change brought by genome editing tools has created many new opportunities for the agri-food industry, but they aren’t without challenges. Regulatory hurdles must be considered, and the tools must benefit society as well as the agriculture industry.