An Investing Cornucopia

According to research done at scores of universities, revealed by institutions as diverse as the Rodale Institute, the World Bank and the United Nations, the same relative food yields can be achieved using “regenerative” techniques.

Regenerative techniques are more refined than organic farming in general. Tilling, rotating crops and using natural fertilizers, among many other practices, are leveraged to regenerate soils and make them more productive. Moreover, healthy soil re-sequesters carbon into the soil, making it even healthier and more productive.

“Carbon is the new black gold, and the production of food is already seeing an emerging bandwagon of interest from investors to energy companies to governments,” Kopald says. “Healthier food means healthier populations. Greater food security means more efficiency and reduced global conflicts. Allowing soil to naturally sequester carbon again means reversing climate change. For investors, it’s a smorgasbord of opportunities.”

For an interesting take on regenerative farming, read about The Carbon Underground at www.thecarbonunderground.org.

Dylan Ratigan, former talk-show host and best-selling author, now a hydroponic farming entrepreneur Ratigan rather famously left his highly rated talk show on MSNBC in 2012 and turned his sights on a hydroponic construction and engineering firm, among other ventures, after being inspired by “veterans who went to war for global security.”

He says he realized the path forward for global security is a revolution in global resource systems.

“In order to form an opinion on equipment and technology that are best supplied for global ag, you have to first understand why there is a lack thereof. The drivers of decent ag are increasing scarcity of fertile soil and access to water,” Ratigan says.

“Hydroponic technology can, utilizing 90% less resources, increase yields three times the amount as traditional farming, three times as quickly.”

Hydroponic technology encompasses different forms of growing plants in aquatic-based, soil-less or hyper-reduced soil environments. Hydroponics uses mineral nutrients to feed plants in water, without soil, or with not much soil. Drip systems are perhaps the oldest and with most well-known types of hydroponics, whereby nutrients are fed directly through a network to plants. Other more advanced methodologies include utilizing growth trays—and even aeroponics, which uses air as the growth medium—as the primary growing medium.

Machinery systems are key to hydroponic farming, and Ratigan has been testing a proprietary growing system. He quips that much like how pornography promulgated Internet technology, marijuana farmers over the last 30 years have paved the way for hydroponics. Hydroponic farming can be done in just about any climate and in just about any sized environment. Think greenhouse.

Less than 1% of agricultural production is aided by hydroponics, so the growth potential is massive.

“It’s a hedge against water scarcity and soil quality with climate benefits,” Ratigan says.

More information on his ventures and adventures can be found at www.dylanratigan.com

The Farm 2050 Collective
Enveloping all agricultural corners and aspects is FARM 2050—a venture launched by a consortium of tech investors: Innovation Endeavors (Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt’s venture capital fund) and Flextronics Lab IX.

FARM 2050 says its aim is to advance the future of food through supporting “AgTech” entrepreneurs and start-ups: “We are excited about how entrepreneurs can apply cutting-edge technologies to improve food production today and how advances in data science and robotics now enable us to rethink the way we seed, cultivate and harvest food. As resources are not growing, we believe that innovation is fundamental to overcoming this challenge.”

Farm 2050 brings together researchers, farmers, entrepreneurs, manufacturers and distributors to accelerate the path for new disruptive AgTech ventures. It is actively soliciting start-ups to invest in.

To be sure, hedge funds have been in the game of purely investing in agriculture. But FARM 2050 is venture-oriented in scope and practice.

Check out its website www.farm2050.com.

It’s conventional wisdom to invest with your head. But the new food movement may have many investors turning to their stomachs for choice.