WEST FARGO — Technology is as prominent as tractors at this year’s Big Iron Farm Show.
Producers and ag-tech startup companies are connect to use new and developing technologies to find solutions for farmers and ranchers.
When you think of hotbeds for AI and tech startups, your mind might jump to Silicon Valley, not a soybean field, but AgTech Engine in North Dakota is working to change that.
“We actually bring the startups and farmers together, whether that’s having farmers be a part of the review process for startups we’re looking to fund, or embedding the startups on farms in North Dakota for them to actually interact together,” said Michael Frank, director of On-Farm Innovation for NSF AgTech Engine.
AgTech Engine launched its seed funding program earlier this year. They have been working with startups already but will now be able to fund them directly.
“That’s up to $50,000 of non-dilutive funding for startups to apply to that are looking to help get them over the the the hump, if you will, of of commercialization and to to grow their their business,” Frank said.
Ag Launch in North Dakota has the same mission.
“When we usually look at new technology in agriculture, it spends years and years in an R&D department or in a university setting. We want to actually bring that technology to the farm faster and more effectively by utilizing a network of farmers across the nation,” said Thomas Greenlee, director of Farm Innovation at Ag Launch.
Greenlee says they’ve helped 42 companies work directly with 74 farms.
What does AI in agriculture even look like?
“It helps growers take public data, private data, put it into one software, and start making decisions on their farm,” said Carter Quam, a representative for Terrain, an ag tech company that deals with water and land management.
It gives information like deeper soil readings, where water runs naturally, and can find and fix the least productive areas in fields, he said. In just four months, Terrain IQ is already active on more than 30 farms. They hope to capitalize on the seed funding to grow that number, he said.
The first round applications for the
are currently open, closing Oct. 16.
