AcreTrader: Farmland Investing for All

United States farmland has historically outperformed most asset classes and other forms of real estate. In fact, since 1970, land values in the country have increased on average 6.7% per year, with stretches of well above 20%. Unfortunately, buying and maintaining farmland directly is extremely difficult. The few investment options that are available typically charge high fees, provide limited liquidity, and offer no choice over portfolio composition. Learn how one company is working on an easy, affordable solution to change this at “Farmland Investing for All,” a webinar featuring Carter Malloy, Founder and CEO of AcreTrader.

AcreTrader is a real estate investing platform that makes it easy to buy shares of farmland and earn passive income, starting with as little as $1,000. Through a proprietary online investment platform that uses some aspects of crowdfunding, AcreTrader aims to provide transparency, security, and liquidity to people wanting to invest in farmland. The platform removes the headaches traditionally associated with land ownership by handling all aspects of administration and property management, from insurance and accounting to working with local farmers and improving soil sustainability.

AgriFood Conversations: The Future of AgTech According to Women

According to some estimates, women make up roughly 30% of U.S. farmers and ag industry professionals, and yet they remain a little-known voice in the national conversation about the future of ag and the food systems. That’s changing, however, in large part to an emerging range of thought leaders in the space who also happen to be women. To close out Women’s History Month, Agrifood Conversations is hosting a panel discussion with several of these industry-leading women including Mary Shelman, Shari Rogge-Fidler, Melissa Brandao and Connie Bowen at “The Future of Agtech According to Women.”

Inari: Creating Personalized Seeds for Farmers

Inari is building what it calls the world’s first “Seed Foundry,” a technique that starts by inputting every detail about a grower’s local environment and determining the genetic traits that would best help a crop succeed there. Then, the company breaks down the genes themselves and, using CRISPR gene editing technology, alters the crop’s genetic sequence directly in order to achieve those desired traits. Through this transformational plant breeding technology, Inari is creating a new horizon in agriculture that is more predictive, efficient, affordable, inclusive, and respectful of the environment.

ImpactVision: Preventing Food Supply Chain Waste With Consistent, Premium Products

Every year in the United States as much as 30-40% of the food supply is thrown out, accounting for some 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food. Often this is due to spoilage or damage during the harvesting and production process, but it’s impossible to overlook the impact of this loss in an age when 40 million Americans are struggling with hunger. Learn how one company is working to reduce this number at “Preventing Food Supply Chain Waste With Consistent, Premium Products,” a webinar featuring Abi Ramanan, CEO and co-founder of ImpactVision.

ImpactVision is helping food companies to build a better system using hyperspectral technology, which combines the power of digital imaging with spectroscopy in order to perceive qualities which the human eye cannot detect, including freshness, ripeness and firmness. Different objects reflect light in a specific way, generating unique spectral signatures which represent particular food characteristics. ImpactVision is building a library of these signatures to help food businesses accurately identify products and predict their quality attributes during processing to prevent waste at the source.

Trace Genomics: Leveraging DNA to Unlock the Power of Soil

Each tablespoon of soil contains millions of organisms that tell a story about the environment it’s providing for crops. For this reason, soil is the foundation that supports every farm on the planet. Everything else — from seed, to water, to fertilizer — is an input. To best determine what’s happening above ground, we first need to find out what is going on below ground. That’s where the importance of soil testing comes in. Learn how one company is working to bring new insights to farmers at “Leveraging DNA to Unlock the Power of Soil,” a webinar featuring Poornima Parameswaran, co-founder of Trace Genomics.

Trace Genomics was founded on the belief that soil science should be accessible to all, so that farmers can make practical decisions in the field. Soil testing at the DNA level opened up a new layer of data that had never before been accessed at scale but, until now, that technology has been limited to a research environment. Trace Genomics is changing that, bringing soil DNA sequencing to every farmer, agronomist, and stakeholder working with soil. By analyzing soil DNA, the company is helping the industry increase yield and identify potential threats long before they are visible in the field, with actionable insights that make a real difference.