5 Things Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About Agriculture
“Betting the farm” isn’t just a saying, writes Michael Gilbert at Entrepreneur. It’s something farmers do every year. When a farmer invests in new technology — be it a new irrigation system or a self-driving tractor — they’re often, quite literally, betting the farm. If the tech doesn’t deliver, it could spell financial ruin.
As startups developing agricultural technology proliferate, too many investors and founders are neglecting this key fact. Farming isn’t just another “sector,” and there’s far more at stake than meets the eye. To be sure, investments in agtech are exciting and needed. To feed a growing population, we need to double global food production by 2050, but we can’t double agricultural acres. We need more food per acre. That’s where technology comes in.
There’s a reason even Bill Gates is buying up farms and bankrolling ag innovation. Agtech helps farmers deliver bigger harvests even as water and land grow more precious and inputs more expensive. Indeed, the value of precision farming is expected to more than double to $14.44 billion by 2027.
But as a scientist and CEO of an agtech company that partners with growers to ensure tech yields practical benefits, I’ve seen the sometimes jarring disconnect between Silicon Valley norms and the (as yet) inviolable laws of nature. Here are five truths funders and innovators must understand to accelerate innovation and put real-world solutions in farmers’ hands:
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1. Fail fast doesn’t work for farmers
Rapid experimentation is a tenet of lean startup philosophy, embraced by consumer tech companies in a race to find “what sticks.” But agtech customers don’t have that luxury. Apart from the inherent risks of “betting the farm,” there’s the fact that a farmer won’t be able to assess the value of new technology until after a full season of usage. A glitchy gadget or mid-season product update could negatively impact an entire harvest. That means we must refine tech before putting products in the field.
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