Finalists for World Agri-Tech Innovation Challenge revealed

Cooperative Ventures, the investment arm of farmer-owned cooperatives CHS and Growmark, have picked three finalists for the World Agri-Tech Innovation Challenge.

The two groups created Cooperative Ventures, a venture capital fund investing with early stage startups, to accelerate innovation for cooperative members and farmers.

"New and emerging technologies collect massive volumes of field-level data and yet the insights and analysis which can be made from that data remain limited," says Ben Van Straten, director of innovation and sustainability at CHS. "Our goal is to work with companies who are turning the corner from collecting data to generating insights and recommendations."

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The challenge: Leveraging field-level data to deliver actionable insights and profitability to farmers. Some of the use cases include:

• Enhanced execution and timing of field operations
• Efficiency of equipment deployment
• Optimizing input procurement, delivery, and inventory management
• Integration of data from disparate technologies
• Validating the efficacy of products and practices

Competition finalists

Three finalists have been chosen from over 100 entries around the world. They will have the opportunity to pitch to the Cooperative Ventures team and global World Agri-Tech audience, with the winner to be introduced to leaders from both CHS and Growmark. This will give them the opportunity for mentoring, guidance, and consideration for trial, collaboration, or investment.

"The teams at CHS and Growmark work hard every day to bring solutions to our member-owners, growers, and customers. We do not take this role lightly," says Van Straten. "Our work in innovation, and this challenge, is just one way that we explore new technologies and innovations to help our growers and customers solve for their priority pain points and desired capabilities."

Autonomous Pivot, based out of Wichita, Kansas, is working to increase farmers profitability and sustainability in pivot-irrigated row-crops with the use of sensors and artificial intelligence (AI). Their "AI agronomist" combines sensor data, crop growth cycles, online weather forecasting, and intelligent learning to optimize the irrigation process.

To learn more about Autonomous Pivot, visit AutonomousPivot.com.

Precision AI, headquartered in Saskatchewan, Canada, is oriented to accelerate AI-based farming practices for healthier and more profitable farms. With their nimble drone technology, this startup plans to transform crop production decisions from a whole field down to the individual plant level, by reducing the industry's dependence on bulky technology.

To learn more about Precision AI, visit Precision.AI.

Ukko Agro is positioned at the intersection of plant science and data science, aiming to change agricultural system models to help predict when and where to apply crop inputs. Their Field Adaptive and Integrated Modelling (F.A.I.M) platform, ForeSite, is designed to generate field-specific staging information up to 14 days in advance, suggesting where and when to apply insecticides and fungicides.

To learn more about Ukko Agro, visit Ukko.ag.

World Agri-Tech

Delegates at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco on March 14-15 will watch the final pitches to the judges, before seeing the winner revealed live on stage. The summit takes place March 14-15, 2023, followed by the Future Food-Tech Summit from March 16-17. Registration for in-person and virtual access is available now. You can use the code FARMFRIEND for a 10% discount on in-person tickets. For more information, visit WorldAgriTechUSA.com.