From commodity market pressures to an evolving regulatory environment, farmers are facing compounding risks that add uncertainty to an already volatile business. New research from AgriNovus Indiana shows that while challenged, farmers are also the unlock to the industry’s innovations of the future.
Just picture it: farmers serve as advisors, co-creators and early adopters working alongside companies on the development of new solutions that directly impact challenges facing the farmgate. In Indiana, this effort is well underway, says AgriNovus CEO Mitch Frazier. “Innovation starts with solving a problem to a solution, not the other way around. Delivering innovation that meets the needs of farmers while also boosting return on investment isn’t just critical to the future of the industry, it’s required to participate.”
This is true in places like Indiana, a top-five producer of corn and soybeans in the United States, that is susceptible to market fluctuations and demand changes. While innovation holds potential for improving a wide range of factors on the farm—sustainability, financials, efficiency, and beyond—a lack of farmer input can yield products and services that fail to deliver a clear return on investment or tangible results in their operations.
Frazier says while farmer input should be common sense, it isn’t always the case. “It seems so simple in theory but can lack in execution. Farmers thrive because their needs are met and they’re generating more margin, and companies are developing technologies with scalable impact in an industry required to feed the world.”
AgriNovus, a non-profit coalition focused on growing the agbioscience economy, set out to better connect innovators with farmers with the launch of the Producer-Led Innovation Challenge in 2020 In partnership with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance, the nine-week accelerator helps innovators – from college students to venture-backed companies – develop solutions to tackle farmers’ most pressing operational challenges and awards them $25,000 to accelerate commercialization of their solution.
The challenge serves as a springboard for agbioscience innovation. Every winner of the Producer-Led Innovation Challenge has either received follow-on funding or has gone on to be acquired, including companies like iYOTAH Solutions, Regrow Ag, and Aker Technologies. “These are farmer funded, defined, consulted and judged to put their needs and interests at the center of where solutions are being developed and scaled,” says Frazier.
Bridging the gap between farmer and innovator has the potential to ignite a cycle of value creation in agriculture. Tech-driven farmers partner with innovators to co-create and shape solutions. That direct access creates new companies aptly focused on innovations that deliver net farm income.
The biggest hurdle is the next step, says Frazier. “U.S. net farm income experienced the steepest two-year decline in history from 2022-2023. There’s never been a more important time to accelerate innovation and enable American farmers and innovators to work together to build the next chapter of our agriculture economy even stronger.”
The winner of AgriNovus’ 2024 Producer-Led Innovation Challenge will be announced in December. Learn more about the challenge – get connected with the AgriNovus team.