The Reservoir, AGCO, Treefera, Ecorobotix, Kubota, Agtonomy, Complete Farmer, Protein Industries Canada, FMC Corporation, Koppert, Corteva Agriscience, Advanta, Wild Bio, Bayer, BrightFarms, Signify, Harvest House Partners, Source.ag, Bushel Boy Farms, Walmart, Lufa Farms

Anna: 00:00

Welcome to another episode of AgTech Digest, your go-to source for the latest in agricultural technology. In today’s episode, we spotlight emerging trends across precision Ag, plant science, and controlled environment agriculture. We'll explore a new nonprofit agtech incubator advancing real-world testing of robotics and sustainable practices on a forty-acre site, alongside a strategic expansion of precision guidance networks across North America. Significant funding rounds are fueling AI-driven platforms focused on supply chain transparency and lettuce crop optimization, while new partnerships aim to enhance operational efficiency in specialty crop production. In the plant science arena, innovations include a smartphone-based grain quality tool, breakthroughs in virus-resistant tomato varieties, and strategic acquisitions to improve corn genetics and fungicide access. Meanwhile, CEA continues to gain traction with autonomous plant-handling robots, precision LED lighting, and AI platforms streamlining yield forecasting for greenhouse growers. Retailers and foundations are also stepping up, with rooftop farming and large-scale berry production initiatives supporting local, sustainable food systems. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

Anna: 01:20

Exciting developments are shaping the future of AgriTech and Precision Ag, with new initiatives, strategic collaborations, and major funding rounds driving innovation across the sector. Kicking things off, The Reservoir has signed a long-term lease for 40 acres in Salinas, California to establish Reservoir Farms, a nonprofit incubator dedicated to agricultural technology startups. This site will support real-world testing of robotics, automation, and sustainable farming practices, with initial 10-acre test plots focusing on strawberries, leafy greens, and vegetables. The initiative aims to bridge the gap between innovation and deployment in agriculture, with plans to support over 50 startups, create more than 500 jobs, and promote environmental stewardship. Meanwhile, AGCO solutions with the newly launched PTx Trimble brand. By the end of 2025, AGCO intends to equip all North American production agriculture dealerships with PTx Trimble guidance and steering systems, backed by a robust Technology Dealer Strategy that will categorize its network into Base Technology and Full Line Precision Ag dealers. In another major move, Treefera has secured \$30 million in Series B funding, led by Notion Capital, to enhance its AI-powered supply chain intelligence platform. The funding will accelerate the development of real-time commodity tracking and regulatory compliance tools, while also supporting expansion across North America, APAC, and Europe—building on the momentum of a successful Series A round less than a year ago. This highlights the investor's confidence in the company’s approach to solving supply chain opacity. Elsewhere, Ecorobotix, a Swiss agtech company, has launched a new AI-powered lettuce thinning algorithm for its ARA Ultra High Precision UHP Sprayer, allowing users to automate tasks without requiring additional hardware or manual labor. This feature enhances crop uniformity and lowers labor costs, and is available to existing ARA users via subscription. Finally, Kubota and Agtonomy have announced a strategic collaboration to develop smart agricultural solutions for specialty crop cultivation across California, Oregon, and Washington. By integrating Kubota's machinery with Agtonomy's automation and data platforms, the partnership aims to reduce pesticide use, manual labor, and input costs while boosting operational precision. Sales, support, and commercial rollout of these solutions are already underway, marking a key step forward in smart farming innovation.

Anna: 04:00

In this week’s exclusive interview spotlight, a deep dive into Complete Farmer reveals how the company is revolutionizing African agriculture through cutting-edge technology and an inclusive impact strategy. Complete Farmer leverages satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, and soil data APIs to guide both smallholder and commercial farmers with precision and efficiency. The platform provides farming protocols that are directly aligned with buyer specifications, enabling increased yields and improved market access. Notably, smallholder farmers now represent over 70% of Complete Farmer’s user base, underscoring their central role in driving the company’s broader impact mission. Operating on a commission-based business model, Complete Farmer eliminates upfront costs for farmers, making its services highly accessible and scalable. Looking ahead, the company plans to expand into additional African countries while working to build an end-to-end digital ecosystem for agriculture. This positions Complete Farmer as a clear technology leader in the evolving landscape of African agriculture.

Anna: 05:06

Exciting developments continue to shape the future of Plant Science, as multiple industry leaders drive innovation through technology, strategic partnerships, and new product launches. Protein Industries Canada has announced a $3 million initiative to develop an artificial intelligence-powered, smartphone-based grain quality tool designed for Canadian ingredient manufacturers and food processors. The tool will enable real-time assessments of soybean quality using standard smartphones by employing computer vision and machine learning algorithms to analyze high-resolution samples, while complementing traditional testing methods. Sevita International will supply testing data, and Grain Discovery will lead commercialization efforts. Meanwhile, FMC Corporation and Corteva Agriscience have entered into a strategic agreement to expand access to the fluindapyr fungicide across the U.S. corn and soybean markets, allowing both companies to offer fluindapyr-based solutions targeting foliar diseases such as tar spot and southern rust. Corteva intends to launch its fluindapyr product during the 2026 growing season, pending EPA approval.In another strategic move, Advanta Seeds has acquired temperate corn germplasm and a hybrid pipeline from K-Adriatica, enhancing its European portfolio and integrating these assets into its global breeding program, further strengthening its presence alongside existing sunflower and sorghum lines. Simultaneously, Wild Bio, a startup focused on evolutionary biology and crop resilience, has partnered with Oxford University to launch OPTIMiSE, a project under ARIA’s Synthetic Plants programme aimed at improving chloroplast genomes to boost crop productivity and sustainability. The initiative focuses on modifying the chloroplast to unlock new pathways for agricultural improvement, with the goal of translating foundational scientific discoveries into applied agricultural solutions.Bayer has also made significant strides by introducing multi-stacked virus-resistant tomato varieties to combat the tomato brown rugose fruit virus, targeting beef, truss, cocktail, and cherry plum tomatoes. The hybrids use a multi-gene approach to provide long-term protection against viral mutations, with successful field trials confirming resistance even to resistance-breaking strains and a commercial rollout planned for 2025. Bayer's research focuses on developing long-term resistance strategies for crop protection.Finally, Koppert has secured exclusive distribution rights for Amoéba’s biofungicide—based on the amoeba Willaertia magna C2c Maky—in 18 European countries and the U.S. The biofungicide, developed for both greenhouse and open-field use, is expected to launch in early 2026. The agreement supports Koppert’s sustainable crop protection strategy and includes opportunities to expand to Brazil and pursue future co-development projects.

Anna: 08:04

Recent developments in controlled environment agriculture highlight exciting new technologies, strategic partnerships, and sustainability initiatives driving the industry forward. BrightFarms recently opened its 8-acre greenhouse in Macon, Georgia, operated under Cox Farms, marking its third major launch since summer 2024, with an expected output of 22,000 pounds of lettuce daily and plans to expand to 32 acres, creating over 125 new jobs and supporting local workforce growth. Meanwhile, Signify unveiled its new 4-channel Philips GreenPower toplighting force LEDs in 800W and 1040W versions, offering precise control over red, blue, white, and far-red spectrums; these LEDs integrate with Philips GrowWise control to enable dynamic light recipes, featuring patented Quadro Beam optics and an IP66-rated housing for improved uniformity and durability. Harvest House, Europe’s largest greenhouse vegetable cooperative, has teamed up with Source.ag to deploy the Harvest Forecast AI platform across more than 600 hectares of tomato production, automating daily yield forecasts integrated with CRM systems to support 30 million European consumers and optimize supply chains. On the other hand, Bushel Boy Farms has closed its facilities in Owatonna, Minnesota, and Mason City, Iowa, with assets sold to Best Boy Farms as of April 2025, following expansion efforts and labor-related penalties. In Canada, Walmart Canada partnered with Lufa Farms to offer hyperlocal produce from a 127,000-square-foot hydroponic rooftop greenhouse atop the Marché Central Supercentre in Montreal, providing daily fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers; this collaboration marks Lufa Farms’ first retail partnership and Walmart Canada’s first rooftop greenhouse produce initiative. Lastly, the Weston Family Foundation advanced to the Scaling Phase of its $33 million Homegrown Innovation Challenge, investing up to $5 million each in four Canadian teams from Simon Fraser University, Toronto Metropolitan University, Université Laval, and the University of Guelph, to develop sustainable, cost-competitive, year-round berry production systems under real farm-scale conditions.

Anna: 11:16

Other news in agriculture and technology reveals important advancements in automation, policy advocacy, strategic partnerships, and climate resilience. Arugga AI Farming has introduced its first autonomous plant lowering robot, "Louie," designed for greenhouse-grown tomatoes and cucumbers in Europe, capable of handling up to 300 plants per hour and covering 1 hectare, thereby reducing manual labor needs. Meanwhile, WeMove Europe staged an art campaign outside the European Parliament calling for reform of the European Union’s €386 billion Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with advocates arguing that the current framework disproportionately favors large-scale agribusinesses over sustainable small- and medium-sized farms. In Brazil, MyEasyFarm and Conectta Carbon formed a strategic partnership focused on regenerative agriculture and carbon farming in the MATOPIBA region, aiming to support soil restoration, biodiversity, and sustainable land management while generating verifiable carbon credits under the VERRA VM0042 methodology. Additionally, U.S.-based weather intelligence company Tomorrow.io partnered with the National Irrigation Administration in the Philippines to enhance climate resilience in agriculture by utilizing AI-driven models and a proprietary low-orbit satellite network to deliver micro-weather forecasts at the farm level.

Anna: 13:28

Looking ahead to upcoming industry events, mark your calendars for Reuters Events: Transform Food & Agriculture Europe 2025; GreenTech Amsterdam taking place from June 10th to 12th at RAI Amsterdam; the Commercial UAV Expo scheduled for September 2nd to 4th in Las Vegas, USA; Taiwan Smart Agriweek running from September 3rd to 5th in Taiwan; the Global Vertical Farming Show 2025 occurring on September 10th and 11th in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; SPACE from September 16th to 18th in France; AgraME slated for October 6th to 7th in Dubai; and the Vertical Farming World Congress from October 7th to 9th, 2025 in Amsterdam.

Anna: 14:13

That wraps up today’s episode of Agtech Digest. We explored the latest advancements transforming agriculture across Africa, Canada, Europe, and beyond. From Complete Farmer’s innovative use of satellite imagery and AI to empower smallholder farmers, to new AI-powered grain quality tools and strategic partnerships driving crop protection and sustainability, it’s clear the agtech sector is pushing the boundaries of precision, efficiency, and impact. Exciting developments in controlled environment agriculture and sustainable production systems also highlight the ongoing commitment to innovation and resilience in food systems worldwide. Thanks for joining me, I’m Anna, signing off. Stay inspired and keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible!