Meatless Meat

Climate and Tech Expected to Affect Ag Most This Year

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 19:43:28 GMT

Farm Journal’s Smart Farming Week is an annual week-long emphasis on innovation in agriculture. The goal is to encourage you to explore and prioritize the technology, tools and practices that will help you farm smarter. Innovation today ensures an efficient, productive and sustainable tomorrow.

Every year before the ball drops in Times Square, it seems everyone wants to pull out a crystal ball and prophesize what the new year will bring. And the ag industry loves a good prophet.

Before 2023 became history, Forbes Magazine took its shot at predicting agriculture’s highlights for 2024. So before Father Time turns the predictions stale, I thought it might be insightful, or at least entertaining, to provide some color commentary on the article, which focused on the following five areas where change in agriculture could be the greatest.

1. Farmland Holds the Key to Carbon Management
No different from last year or the prior year, agriculture has a bull’s-eye on its back when it comes to carbon intensity. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, U.S. agricultural operations are responsible for 10.6% of the nation’s overall greenhouse gas emissions. Climate scientists and Al Gore have told us this for years now. Expect the barrage of white papers and warnings to continue in 2024.

The good news, according to the pundits, is it will become increasingly clear this year that farmland is the key to carbon management. By default, nature has been seen as the most scalable way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. What is becoming more obvious to those outside the sphere of agriculture is that farmland is the best place to store it.

Look to see more announcements at the consumer packaged goods level regarding programs and collaboration across industries and sectors to foster regenerative practices at the production level. Companies such as Walmart, PepsiCo and General Mills are seeking programs able to scale such practices across millions of acres.

2. Alternative Proteins Will Recover From Their Sophomore Slump
Last year, the stock market and the population’s tastes soured on meatless burgers and chickpea chicken nuggets. Beyond Meat’s market cap plummeted from an all-time high of $14.2 billion to just more than $500 million at the turn of this year.

But don’t count out the alternative protein industry yet. Those quoted in the Forbes article anticipate 2024 to be a renaissance year for animal-based product substitutes.

The reason for such renewed hope is a tactical marketing change adopted by the second wave of alternative protein startups. Instead of taking full-blown consumer-ready products direct to the grocery store shelf and the fast food drive-through lane, they are focusing on selling alternative protein products as ingredients.

For example, the Every Company is touting that “the world’s first liquid egg made without the hen” could replace real eggs in thousands of processed food items. Rue the day these eggs find their way into my favorite lemon meringue pie.

3. Forget Counting Calories. Count Carbon
A new diet seems to be on the table every new year. This year, paring down the amount of carbon in your life may be as important as limiting your calories. Just like requirements for disclosing calories through food labels, the social, political and regulatory environment is forcing food companies to be fully transparent about their carbon footprints.

Instead of carbon credits, experts say carbon insets are needed to move the climate needle. With recently passed climate disclosure legislation, such as California’s SB 253, expect more food companies looking to measure, report and reduce their carbon emissions.

This switch will put pressure on producers as food companies off-load the burden of carbon reduction on them. Look for additional emphasis on cutting methane emissions from livestock through innovative feeds and carbon-capture techniques and improving soil health through biotech innovation, data and artificial intelligence.

4. Technology Will Make Ag More Hip and Exciting
Agriculture has long been characterized in literature, and even nursery rhymes, as boring and depressing—think Grapes of Wrath and Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Well, technology is continuing to turn this industry on its head.

Specialty crop operations’ use of automation will grow quickly as ag labor shortages persist. Meanwhile, the food prep industry is transforming as food- and medicine-focused companies take root. Think HelloFresh and Blue Apron meet your medical dietician. Companies such as ModifyHealth are tailoring chef-inspired medical meals to support consumers’ specific health needs, and companies such as Farmer’s Fridge allow you to select a green goddess salad or Thai noodle bowl instead of a Snickers bar from a vending machine.

5. Capital Investment in Ag Will Be Even More Deliberate and Disciplined
Once viewed as the hot new space for disruption, the ag tech sector is now weeding out the venture capital investors who entered it with hopes of quick wins. That culling really started in earnest two years ago and is predicted to continue this year.

But all is not gloom and doom in the ag startup arena. Investors see the market stabilizing and valuations returning to more realistic levels. Quality companies that are scaling, have good economic fundamentals and growing customer demand will likely find the capital they are seeking in 2024, but expect no more free lunches.

So there you have it. This recaps the Forbes take on agriculture in the new year: climate, carbon, technology, money and a world with eggs but no chickens.

If you think that’s weird, then just wait. The year has only begun. In agriculture, nearly anything can happen. Just wait a day.

Foresight for 2022: Watch These 4 Megatrends

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:13:42 GMT

You have two choices. As trends change, you can adapt your farm and capitalize on the opportunities, or you can stay the course and watch your business decline. “Today is the slowest rate of change we will experience,” says Jack Uldrich, a futurist and former naval intelligence officer. “Our world is not slowing down; the pandemic unexpectedly accelerated the future by five to 10 years.” What trends will shape the next year or five? Watch these areas.

BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

In somewhat simple terms, Uldrich says, blockchain technology is a distributed digital ledger. “What it allows businesses to do is have a secure, trustworthy and transparent view of the supply chain,” he says. “With blockchain in the not-too-distant future, both consumers and businesses are going to know exactly where their crops came from, how they were grown, how they were shipped, how they were stored, etc.”

On the farm level, Uldrich says blockchain technology allows companies such as Cargill, PepsiCo and General Mills to hold farmers accountable for their production practices and resource usage.

“I know this will not sit well with all farmers,” he says. “What I’m saying is customers will work with producers who they think are doing the best in limiting their water use, reducing methane or reducing CO2 emissions, and blockchain will give them the technology to do that.”

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Big food companies are betting on regenerative agriculture to thwart climate change, Uldrich says. That is translating into paying farmers to sequester carbon and adopt conservation practices.

“We’re seeing European governments be more aggressive on requiring agribusinesses and farmers to get more se-rious about regenerative agriculture, and the Biden administration will likely provide financial incentives for farmers to store carbon in their land. This is a huge opportunity for farmers; it’s not too soon for every farmer to begin getting up to speed on this issue.”

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

By 2025, electric vehicles could total $330 billion, according to consulting firm AlixPartners. Electric vehicles now represent 2% of total global vehicle sales and could be about 24% of total sales by 2030.

How many people are buying electric cars? Is battery technology improving?

“Pay attention to those trends because I think electric vehicles are going to take off faster than most farmers are currently estimating,” he says. “If so, demand for gasoline goes down, which means demand for ethanol goes down. If ethanol demand goes down, the demand for corn goes down. My point is not to say that will happen, but corn farmers should be prepared for that possibility.”

PLANT-BASED PROTEINS

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, plant-based meat sales soared to high levels.

“That had a lot of folks worried,” says Jayson Lusk, Purdue

University agricultural economist. “But, that sales growth seems to have leveled off a bit in the past few months.”

While the growth in sales has slowed, keep an eye on plant-based proteins (meat and eggs) and milk, Uldrich says: “Plant-based protein is going to begin eroding some sales of traditional meat, milk and eggs. It is not going to become 100% of the market, but I think that it’s going to grow faster than other food segments.”

Futureproof Your Farm

As a business owner, take time to think about the future, advises futurist Jack Uldrich. He offers these three ways to have an “AHA” moment about the future.

Awareness: Be aware of how fast the world is changing and what trends will affect us.

Humility: What served us well yesterday in our jobs or our industry might not be sufficient in the world of tomorrow.

Action: If your action solves the wrong problem, your efforts are worthless. Instead, ponder this question: What is the “tomorrow” problem you must begin solving today? That will help lead you to the best action.

FDA Approves Lab-Grown Chicken for the First Time

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 20:57:22 GMT

The FDA approved lab-grown chicken for the first time, greenlighting products from startup Upside Foods for human consumption. If Upside gets USDA approval next, the company said it could start pumping out 50,000 pounds of “no-kill” meat products every year.

The news follows Upside’s April announcement that it had secured $400 million in Series C funding, moving the company “from R&D to commercialization,” according to CEO Uma Valeti.

“Our team...continues to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges in our mission to make our favorite food a force for good,” said Valeti.

Upside, with 140 employees, has now garnered over $600 million in funding from names like Bill Gates and meat companies Tyson and Cargill.

Brian Sikes, Cargill COO, stresses his team’s commitment to meatless meat:

“Our continued support for UPSIDE’s innovative work underscores Cargill’s commitment to an inclusive approach to wholesome, sustainable protein that will meet customer and consumer needs now and in the future.”

Meanwhile, Beyond Meat announced it would lay off 19% of staff last month, and retail sales in the plant-based meat industry overall have dropped 10% in the past year.

More on lab-grown meat :

Beyond Meat Faces Lawsuit Over False Protein Content and Quality Claims
Hoxton Farms Raises $22 Million for Cultivated Animal Fat

Beyond Meat Could Be Valued at Up to $1.2 Billion in U.S. IPO

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 20:58:45 GMT

Beyond Meat Inc. , the maker of vegan chicken and beef substitutes backed by some of the biggest names in food and technology, is seeking to raise as much as $184 million in its initial public offering.

The company plans to sell 8.75 million shares for $19 to $21 each, according to a filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A listing at the top of that range would give the company a market value of about $1.2 billion based on the shares to be outstanding after the offer, according to its filing.

The company is one of several makers of plant-based meat substitutes or lab-grown meats that have attracted high-profile backers . Its investors include Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and actor Leonardo Dicaprio, as well as former McDonald’s Corp. chief executive officer Don Thompson. Beyond Meat’s biggest stakeholders are venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers LLC , which owns 16 percent of the company, and Twitter Inc. co-founder Ev William’s Obvious Ventures with 9 percent, according to its filings.

Tyson Foods Inc. , the largest U.S. meat producer, is accelerating development of its own alternative-protein products and is also a backer of Beyond Meat. Tyson has invested in Jerusalem-based Future Meat Technologies and, along with Gates, Richard Branson and Cargill Inc. , is an investor in Memphis Meats, a cultured meat producer.

Beyond Meat, founded in 2009 and initially focused on a frozen-chicken substitute, has taken advantage of vegan diet preferences to go more mainstream. Now, it’s best known for the Beyond Burger, which is made to “look, cook and taste like traditional ground beef,” according to its filings. Its products are sold by grocers such as Kroger and Whole Foods, as well as appearing on restaurant menus for TGI Friday’s and A&W Canada.

The El Segundo, California-based company’s latest filing shows its 2018 loss shrank, while its revenue more than doubled for the second year in a row. Last year, it lost $29.9 million on revenue of $87.9 million compared with a 2017 loss of $30.4 million on revenue of $32.6 million.

The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. , JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Suisse Group AG . The company has applied to list on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol BYND.