Burn It Down, Light It Up: Disruptive Ag Tech Innovations to Watch
November 27, 2024 Fall is my favorite season. Growing up in northeastern Ohio afforded me all the joys the chilly air of autumn ushered in — going to football games, pulling my wool sweaters out of storage, and raking leaves into a pile for a bonfire.
Recently, I was reminiscing about fall with our Senior Editor, Dan Jacobs, and bemoaning the fact that my current environs are now distinguished by prickly pear cactus and an occasional tumbleweed. The glorious bonfires of my youth have been downgraded to a humble stone fire ring in my backyard.
There’s one thing that I still do this time of year, however. I take a clear-eyed look at my life and commit to adjusting where it’s needed, from a little tweak here or there (sparking change) to a dramatic overhaul (this is a job for the bonfire!)
Sometimes adjustments are self-imposed, other times they’re uninvited, uncomfortable, but strangely transformative.
Innovations can be disruptive, as author and educator Clayton Christensen explained, or they can manifest more like a slow burn. They can be tangible, like self-driving tractors, or behavioral and intellectual, with a touch of audacity and provocation.
In the agriculture industry, innovations that stand out for me in terms of their ability to disrupt include See & Spray technology, 3D printing, CRISPR, and drones, to name a few.
Here are a few more companies and innovations that are truly lit …
Applied Carbon designs automated biochar production machines that convert in-field agricultural crop waste into biochar. The biochar goes right back onto the field where it boosts soil health, reduces lime and fertilizer requirements, and provides a durable carbon removal and storage solution.
According to Applied Carbon, carbon removed via biochar is one of the safest and most permanent atmospheric carbon removal methods currently available. In 2023, over 90% of the durable carbon removal sold to commercial buyers came from biochar, a trend that is expected to continue.
LanzaTech recycles carbon with biology to supplant the use of virgin fossil carbon in everyday products and materials, explains the company.
Waste carbon is captured from energy-intensive industries and converted into sustainable raw materials.
Not only is the company a big player in the sustainable fuel market, but its technology has also been used by the likes of H&M and Adidas to make clothing and shoes from recycled carbon emissions.
Innovation has fueled agriculture for thousands of years, and it’s the one thing that will assure it can meet the demands of the future.
Here’s to keeping the flame alive.
Let’s get growing!
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