Date: Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Time:  11:40 a.m. - 1:10 p.m.
Room: City Beautiful D/E

Innovation can come from anywhere. But in agriculture, the best ideas for the farm are typically born on the farm. This farm-centric model is the focus of the AgLaunch and Farm Journal AgLaunch365 program. For 2024, ten ag tech startups will go through the two-year program, which includes business coaching, support from a national network of mentors and on-farm trials. During these trials, AgLaunch Farmers work hand-in-hand with startups to trial, provide feedback, share data and ultimately aid in the success of the company.

The entrepreneurs behind these companies will pitch their technologies at the 2024 Top Producer Summit.

Earnest Ag 
Earnest designs probiotic consortium that increase crop yields for farmers; increasing profits 7x. Our probiotics protect against disease, insects, and weeds; promote nutrients, soil health, and drought tolerance; and perform 80% better than the leading biological competitors. Earnest is aneasy and sustainable choice for farmers to increase yields.

Gather 
Gather builds simplified robotic tools for specialty crop farms. Our first product is an easy-to-use and affordable crop transportation robot that increases harvest efficiency and farmworker safety.

Gripp Ag 
Gripp revolutionizes AG activity & equipment tracking through a simple, yet powerful QR code + mobile App approach. From trees to trucks, once tagged, Gripp enables the easiest way to capture the unrecorded events from daily activity logging to flagging equipment issues. Gripp works 24/7 to keep all your operational data handy & audit-ready.

Quorum Bio
Quorum Bio is engineering the next generation of microbial bio-fertilizers using their novel gene-editing platform. Quorum's first product enhances nutrient availability in soil, so growers can achieve better seed vigor and crop yield with less fertilizer. 

Reazent 
Reazent has developed a patented agri-biological technology platform that provides high-efficacy sustainable alternatives to synthetic agrochemicals. Our biological technology utilizes specific Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria strains that exhibit improved root colonization in the soil and increased production of plant-beneficial metabolites enabling them to exhibit enhanced plant growth and crop protection effects.

RhizeBio
RhizeBio™ uses advanced tools to measure changes within the rhizosphere microbiome to reveal biodiversity, functionality, hormone production, stress adaptation, and nutrient cycling potential. RhizeBio technology uses shotgun metagenomic sequencing paired with proprietary bioinformatic AI to comprehensively sample all genes and microorganisms present in a rhizosphere sample. The rhizosphere is the dynamic region in proximity of plant roots where plants and microbes exchange material, energy, and information. By capturing data on the rhizophere microbiome, RhizeBio™ helps farmers make decisions about fertilization, and bioinoculant use based on their unique farm's soil health.

Share Farm 
The Next Generation in Food Sourcing and Sustainability Reporting. Share Farm is an impact-sourcing platform reshaping the agricultural industry by directly linking underserved farmers and food hubs with unique offerings to major buyers and manufacturers. This digital conduit unlocks significant market opportunities while upholding strict sustainability and ethical standards. With its sophisticated tracking and impact reporting system, Share Farm guarantees that each transaction fosters environmental stewardship and social accountability. It provides large-scale buyers a dependable channel for diverse, ethically sourced agricultural goods. It gives farmers and hubs a powerful ally to expand their market reach and aggregate total volume, all underpinned by verifiable impact accounting and reporting.

SoilMetrix
SoilMetrix helps growers use artificial intelligence to maximize the fertility of their fields through continuously improved soil management practices.

Upstream Biotechnology
Global drivers for boosting crop productivity will continue to shape the ag markets through 2050. The challenge now is to do this in the face of climate change and the push toward sustainability, while maintaining profitability for growers. Upstream develops new solutions toward crop resilience in soybean through proprietary genetics for multi-pathogen disease resistance across multiple environments.

Wandering Shepherd
Wandering Shepherd, developer of the Wireless Rumen Bolus (WRB), monitors the health and location of over 200 different species of animals, both domestic and wild. Hidden inside the stomach away from prying eyes, the WRB differs from current RFID ear tags that are easily removed or fall off and therefore don't provide any anti-theft protection.
By monitoring the temperature of the livestock, we can detect situations like: Breeding and calving cycles, illness up to 48 hours before physical signs appear like droopy ears or even if the animal has been drinking water.
The WRB will save ranchers money by reducing their labor costs associated with monitoring their herd.  Will save time on having to physically check on their herd and reduce the stress with a maintenance and worry-free solution knowing their herd are safe and healthy.