Funding innovative solutions to help farmers

Farming and ranching are tough jobs. Cooperatives are driving advances in crop production, supply chain efficiency and sustainability to help their owners succeed.

In this episode of the It Takes a Co-op™ podcast, Beth Kearns discusses why CHS and Growmark teamed up in 2021 to create Cooperative Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on finding innovative solutions and encouraging emerging technologies that deliver a positive impact on farming and agriculture.

Kearns, a partner in Cerity Partners Ventures, is an advisor to Cooperative Ventures. She explains how two of the largest cooperatives in North America can offer a view of on-farm needs and help startup companies test technologies in real-world situations.

"It takes a co-op, and it takes the voice of the farmer to really have an impact on innovation within the agriculture ecosystem," Kearns says. "In any industry, it's hard to commercialize. In agriculture when you're talking about getting to the farmers, that can be a pretty big chasm for potential commercialization. Cooperatives [can play] a unique role to help with that."

Investments

Kearns helps identify, analyze and assess investment opportunities and potential commercial impact of startup companies that may offer ag tech advances to solve on-farm challenges. Cooperative Ventures has invested in the following companies:

• Traction Ag: A farm accounting and management solution company uniquely built for the cloud, integrating actual accounting numbers with field operations. It provides farmers with real-time financial analysis for timely, informed decision-making.
• Sabanto: A hardware and software company on the forefront of developing autonomous capabilities in tractors. The company's autonomous upgrades for existing vehicles and machinery provide solutions for labor shortages, reduce capital expenses and add more hours to an operator's day.
• EarthOptics: A soil data measurement and mapping company offering technologies to create accurate, real-time data maps. It uses advanced field sensors and lab analysis to deliver a complete view of soil potential.
  
  

"We're looking for opportunities to help commercialize solutions and bring them to our constituents, ultimately the farmers and the cooperatives," Kearns says.

Moving forward

Kearns says the pipeline of startup companies that could help farmers is robust.

"The cooperatives have this really unique role, to not only provide innovation broadly within the ecosystem, but also to help the cooperatives survive and thrive. Because there's going to be innovation coming from all different directions."

Each month on It Takes a Co-op, we introduce you to people working in agriculture and energy, inside and outside of CHS, whose ideas and insights will help you, and your cooperative, succeed.

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