Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional - Week of April 27th 2025 ◼︎◼︎◼︎ This week's essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders includes: 1. ICL Group Acquires Lavie Bio and Assets for $18.25 Million: Insights and Analysis into Financials A dive into the public materials of Evogene to look at how Lavie made out, plus a look at the ICL biostimulant acquisitions and strategy. 2. Q1 2025 Earnings Results Highlights and Analysis: Bayer AGM, Yara International and Valmont Industries, Inc. A look at glyphosate loss implications, DSO stats, and how tariffs are impacting Yara and Valmont. 3. Most ag retailers and cooperatives are playing to play | Dan Schultz Differentiation occurs when being disproportionately focused on something others aren’t. A look at examples for ag retails. 4. MCP in Ag LLMs: What Agribusiness Professional Need to Know 5. DPH Biologicals® Study Announces Clear Modes of Action for TerraTrove® AmplAphex: The Importance of Understanding MoA in Biostimulants. 6. Corteva Agriscience Catalyst Invests in Puna Bio A look at Corteva's investments to date, how they compare to other crop protection companies in biologicals and what extremophiles are. 7. Agtech VC: Bear Case, Bull Case, and what comes next | Sarah Nolet 8. BioLumic Funding Round Accelerates a New Category of Non-GMO Seed Traits + more! #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture Upstream Ag Insights Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional Big Three Stories of the Week ◼︎◼︎◼︎ An overview of what agribusiness leaders will find in this weekend's edition of Upstream Ag Professional: 1. ICL Group Acquires Lavie Bio and Assets for $18.25 Million: Was it a good deal? A detailed look at the financial details of Evogene and Lavie Bio to assess the outcome, what it means for Evogene's strategy, along with a look at how Lavie fits into the acquisitive ICL Growing Solutions segment. 2. Upstream Ag Insights Q1 2025 Earnings Results Highlights and Analysis: Bayer AGM, Yara International and Valmont Industries, Inc. I listened to the entire Bayer AGM this morning and highlighted the key details, quotes and sentiment from the event along with looking deeper at glyphosate second order implications, DSO and the crop protection business. Plus, how are tariffs impacting businesses like Yara International and Valmont Industries, Inc.? 3. Corteva Agriscience Invests in Puna Bio A look at extremophiles in agriculture along with a summary of the Corteva Catalyst investments at just over a year since launch (image attached). Plus more, including news from BioLumic, a look at ag retail strategy (Dan Schultz), Gen AI news for agribusiness professionals, and the importance of biological mode of action (DPH Biologicals)! Become an Upstream Ag Professional subscriber today and get all of this direct to your inbox this Sunday! www.upstream.ag #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture Upstream Ag Ventures

Are Ag Inputs More like Wine or Diamonds? ◼︎◼︎◼︎ This week in Upstream Ag Insights, Dan Northrup of Galvanize Climate Solutions shared his view on what is needed to move crop input purchasing from being like wine, to being more like diamonds. Check out his full guest article here: https://lnkd.in/gJ62hs9f What do you think is needed to improve certainty of effect and outcome with crop inputs? #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture Upstream Ag Ventures

A Deep Dive into Stratus Ag Research's Evolution of Channel Influence Study ◼︎◼︎◼︎ 20% of farmers are using a digital portal provided by their ag retailer. That number might sound low. Retailers often frame portals as a transaction layer. But that misses the point. Digital experiences, like airline apps, are not just about buying the ticket—they're about augmenting the entire experience. This matters because the farmer’s buying process is complex. Think about the process at its most basic: 1. Planning: What’s my pest pressure risk? What’s my yield goal? 2. Research: What’s the right product? What data backs it up? How does it fit my farm? 3. Pricing & Availability: Is it in stock? What size package? What’s the price? How does it compare to a generic? 4. Order & Credit: Can I get it delivered? Is my credit in place? Will I know when the application is made? 5. Payment: When and how do I pay? Is it convenient? 6. Post-Sale Support: Did the product work? What if it didn't? What’s next? Every single step can be enhanced—or hindered—by how the digital layer is built. And according to Stratus, the interest is there: Farmers want real-time alerts, access to programming info, inventory availability, and invoice tracking—on their phone. Just like they expect from any other modern business. But what really jumps out is who’s asking for this: 40% of farmers are "Data-Driven Solutions Seekers." Of those, over 50% are early adopters. And they buy 82% of their inputs from their main retailer. This is not a fringe customer. These are the most loyal, most growth-oriented, most valuable customers in the market. All of this at a time when FBN interest and engagement is growing. This isn’t a signal that retail is dead. It’s a signal that the experience layer is important in differentiating and reducing friction. Retail strategy needs to evolve. One component of that is considering the farmer experience. For a deeper dive into the data from Stratus Ag Research, including a look at how crop input manufacturers can consider their evolution, check out the link below. What do you think? Is it important? Are other things more important? What's setting retailers apart the most? AgVend Bushel Smartwyre GROWERS Ever.Ag Barchart TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods CamoAg AgVantage Software Nutrien Ag Solutions Simplot Grower Solutions Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC GROWMARK, Inc. SEEDZ GreenPoint Ag WinField United Federated Co-operatives Limited Richardson International Upstream Ag Insights Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional - Week of April 20th 2025 ◼︎◼︎◼︎ This week's essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders includes: 1. Are Ag Inputs More like Wine or Diamonds? A Guest Article by Dan Northrup of Galvanize Climate Solutions exploring the improvement of outcomes for farmers with input utilization. 2. The Theory of Innovation Adoption in Agriculture A look at the under appreciated aspects beyond ROI that go into a farm, or agribusinesses, adoption of technology. Psychology, circumstances, value chain dynamics and more all need to be considered. There is no silver bullet, but the article shares a framework for looking at and evaluating technology within agriculture to improve adoption outcomes. Framework image attached for reference. 3. Farmers’ Favorite Weedkiller Nears Its End, Bayer Warns 2025 could be the last year US Farmers have access to glyphosate. Why it actually might be the best move for Bayer from a business perspective. Bayer financial results scorecard for FY 2024, along with glyphosate revenue, attached. 4. Cultura Technologies Emphasizing Supply Chain Connectivity: A look at Constellation Software Inc. and their Approach in Agriculture Is Cultura positioned well? Can they actually execute on this grand vision? Value chain image attached. Plus, Private Equity and Ag Software, a look at control points and the need for skills beyond "ag experts" to drive successful outcomes in the software space. Matt Waits Alexander Reichert Jake Joraanstad Remi Schmaltz Ernie Chappell Scott Sexton Nathan Faleide Jeff Schreiner 5. FMC Corporation receives first product registration in Brazil for Sofero™ Fall pheromone - What does the approach and model look like? 6. Indigo approaches a megaton of carbon removals stored in US cropland - What dollar per credit is Indigo going to get? What would their revenue look like? 7. What’s next for precision spraying technology in battling weeds? The emphasis of farmers plus the Upstream Ag Insights and AgTech Advisory Collective Precision Report for those looking to dive even deeper. Patrick Honcoop + more! Join thousands of Upstream Ag Professional subscribers to receive all of this and more direct to your inbox every Sunday at upstream.ag #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #innovation #strategy Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional Big Four Stories of the Week ◼︎◼︎◼︎ An overview of what agribusiness leaders will find in this weekend's edition of Upstream Ag Professional: 1. Are Ag Inputs More like Wine or Diamonds? + The Theory of Innovation Adoption in Agriculture A guest article from Dan Northrup of Galvanize Climate Solutions plus another look at adoption dynamics of technology and ag products. 2. Farmers’ Favorite Weedkiller Nears Its End, Bayer Warns In March when covering Bayer's 2024 Results, I brought up the question: When does Bayer burn it all down surrounding their glyphosate business. In the month since, Bayer has beat the drum increasingly about the potential to pull back entirely on glyphosate because of litigation risks, along with positioned the litigation as an attack on innovation, a risk to their entire R&D pipeline and a challenge for farmers. Are there other strategic implications for Bayer? Is there a bigger risk to crop protection companies if Bayer does pull back? 3. Cultura Technologies Emphasizing Supply Chain Connectivity: A look at Constellation Software Inc. and their Approach in Agriculture + Private Equity and Ag Software and building from control points and experts vs. business builders. Alexander Reichert Remi Schmaltz Jake Joraanstad Ernie Chappell Nick Horob Matt Waits Nathan Faleide Scott Sexton Kyle McMahon 4. Indigo approaches a megaton of carbon removals stored in US cropland A look at growth, potential pricing for issued credits and what that might mean for Indigo revenue. + more! #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #strategy #innovation Upstream Ag Insights Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional Big Four Stories of the Week ◼︎◼︎◼︎ An overview of what agribusiness leaders will find in this weekend's edition of Upstream Ag Professional: 1. DunhamTrimmer LLC 2024 Global Value-Added Fertilizer Report Highlights and Analysis An exclusive look at Dunham Trimmer's exceptional report on Value-Added Fertilizer (including biostimulants), including market sizing, segment sizing and regional looks at growth. Plus, what does the convergence of technology with value-added fertilizers look like? Images of biological efforts and information below from Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, FMC Corporation, Nutrien, The Mosaic Company, ICL Group, Yara International, and Syngenta 2. The Power of Constraints: What Ag Retail Can Learn from Switzerland We often learn from habits, cultures, skillsets and strategies of non-ag industry companies. But, what can agribusinesses learn from a country like Switzerland? They have the largest GDP for a landlocked + non-resource rich nation that established itself as a leader in everything from luxury watches to pharmaceuticals? In my mind, there is a lot we can learn. 3. Who should own the future of Ag Tech? A good article by Matt Waits of TwelveFive. Is open-sourced viable for ag retailers? Can agronomic software be the control point for a retailer? What are the limitations? 4. Carbon Robotics Lawsuit Follow up Carbon Robotics filed a suit against Laudando & Associates LLC and their laser weeding technology last year. This week Carbon Robotics filed a preliminary injunction to keep Laudando from being able to sell their laser weeding modules because it "threatens to harm Carbon's reputation as an innovator and market leader" and "undercut Carbon’s profit margin and lead to irreparable price erosion." A look at Christopher Laudando's unique and unprecedented approach of making the details behind the L&Aser product publicly available. Plus more on SwarmFarm Robotics and counter positioning strategy, Ascribe Bio with Loveland Products, Inc, Bushel's State of the Farm Report and a look at the holy grail of soil testing. Subscribe at upstream. ag for all of this and more. #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #strategy #innovation Upstream Ag Insights Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional - Week of April 6th 2025 ◼︎◼︎◼︎ This week's essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders includes: 1. The Insight is the Edge: Vive Crop Protection The newest instalment of The Insight is the Edge series overviews Vive Crop Protection and their world view that enables them to find unique opportunities in a segment dominated by giants that invested more than $8 billion into R&D in 2024. 2. Carbon Robotics Introduces Tractor Autonomy Solution: An Illustration of Complements 3. The $1B Lie: Why Agtech Doesn’t Fit the VC Fantasy 4. 2024 Global Crop Protection Market Review and 2025 Outlook A look at the crop protection market size by year. Images attached with data from AgbioInvestor 5. Stratus Ag Research: Evolution of Channel Influence Study 2024 Highlights and Analysis 6. UPL Corp and Provivi, Inc. Join Forces 7. 10-Years of Integrating Geospatial, Transactional and Agronomic Information Ernie Chappell Ever.Ag 8. Lindsay Corporation Q2 2025 Highlights 9. John Deere, AGCO Corporation face deeper slump from tariff tensions + CNH + more! Check out upstream. ag for a full look at this week's edition! #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #innovation #strategy Upstream Ag Ventures Upstream Ag Insights

Upstream Ag Professional Big Two Stories of the Week ◼︎◼︎◼︎ An overview of what agribusiness leaders will find in this weekend's edition of Upstream Ag Professional: 1. The Insight is the Edge: Vive Crop Protection The newest instalment of The Insight is the Edge series overviews Vive Crop Protection and their world view that enables them to find unique opportunities in a segment dominated by giants that invested more than $8 billion into R&D in 2024. An image conveying the variance in innovation strategy's between crop protection and seed companies is below. What the image isn't great at conveying is how insight is inexpensive and the biggest deliverer of innovation into a market. Darren Anderson Syngenta Group BASF Bayer Crop Science | Innovation Ecosystem FMC Corporation UPL Nufarm 2. Carbon Robotics Introduces Tractor Autonomy Solution: An Illustration of Complements There is a lot of buzz around this week's autonomous product announcement. The product launch is smart and augmentative to the Carbon Robotics business and I think applying the framework of complements best explains why this is a noteworthy announcement. Paul Mikesell There are a number of other stories this week, including a look at VC IRR and what that might mean for AgTech Investment funds, an overview of the last 12 years in agrochemical sales globally, an image conveying the value of transactional (financial) + geospatial + agronomic data and a look at how Lindsay Corporation explains the impacts of tariffs on their business. Subscribe at upstream. ag to get all of this and more direct to your inbox this Sunday. #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #innovation #strategy Upstream Ag Insights Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional - Week of March 30th 2025 ◼︎◼︎◼︎ This week's essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders includes: 1. Stratus Ag Research: Evolution of Channel Influence Study 2024 Highlights and Analysis A detailed look at findings from the Evolution of Channel Influence study, including Farmer's Business Network, Inc. uptake, farmer digital portal preferences, influence of the independent consultant, how various touchpoints influence a crop protection sale and how all of this ties together to influence retail strategy and crop protection manfuacturer grower strategy in the coming years. D. Kent Fraser Krista MacLean 2. What the Fall of 23andMe Could Signal for Soil Genomics Companies in Agriculture A look at the economics of soil testing, the needs with a data driven business, how workflow and distribution influences soil testing lab adoption and what drives success of labs, specifically early on. 3. Syngenta Group FY 2024 Financial Results A breakdown of the Syngenta financial results, including highlights by business segment and region and then a look at the biological business compared to other crop protection businesses and a look at what Syngenta could be doing to illustrate value creation in their digital business beyond “hectares.” 4. TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods Business: Is it on the Chopping Block? A look at TELUS’ cash demands, TELUS’ spin-out challenges to create shareholder value and the performance of their Ag and Consumer Goods business plus what that means for the future of TELUS Ag & CG within TELUS 5. CNH Industrial Precision Spraying Strategy: Leaving Out the High End? Three Shades of Value for AgTech Startups A look at the value of an integrated tech stack and CNH acquisitons, and a look at what CNH strategy might be in green-on-green. ONE SMART SPRAY, a Joint Venture of Bosch and BASF 6. Enhanced Rock Weather and Eion Carbon's New Partnership with GROWMARK, Inc. 7. Three Shades of Value for AgTech Startups A great article from J. Matthew Pryor of Tenacious Ventures. 8. Demand management in Ag is broken: Here’s how to fix it Smartwyre + more! Check out upstream. ag for more. #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture Upstream Ag Insights Bayer | Crop Science Corteva Agriscience FMC Corporation UPL Nufarm BASF Agricultural Solutions Upstream Ag Ventures