Agtech innovations expected to top the 2024 trend list

In today’s turbulent times of high interest rates, rising costs and ever-rising demands placed on farmers, innovation is often held up as the tool that will get the sector to much-needed solutions.

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It sounds simple enough, but innovation is a broad term that encompasses a wide spectrum of fields, from automation and robotics to artificial intelligence, alternative proteins and more. There are rapid developments in all these areas; so rapid that it can be hard to keep pace.

Why it matters: The general pressure on farmers and food producers around the world is to do more with less, and do it more quickly than in the past.

So, what do the experts say will be the big agri-tech trends this year? Opinions are varied in North America depending on the expert and the organization, but a few themes generate broad agreement as trends to watch for 2024.

Regenerative agriculture

According to Forbes magazine, farmland is one of the keys to carbon management, and soil management and regenerative farming will play leading roles in climate change mitigation. At the same time, more data is needed to connect on-farm practices with improvements in soil health and carbon sequestration.

Global consultancy Infopulse also lists regenerative agriculture on its top trends list, pointing to farm management software and precision farming tools as major ways farmers can improve soil health and boost yield while also managing agriculture’s carbon footprint.

A big challenge around regenerative agriculture and carbon sequestration activities, note various experts, is the lack of incentives for farmers to participate in more serious carbon management systems.

According to collaborative investor network FAIRR, only four of the large multinationals that have made public statements about the benefits of encouraging regenerative agriculture have actually put resources into grower incentives to adopt these kinds of practices.

Insurers and lenders are not yet recognizing or rewarding farmers who follow regenerative practices, which is seen as a barrier to more widespread adoption.

A related trending topic is innovations that will reduce methane production in livestock.

Last year, two companies received significant investments for seaweed-based solutions that will decrease cattle’s ability to produce methane, suggesting this is a category that will continue to attract interest.

Artificial intelligence

An Infopulse report pegs the value of artificial intelligence in agriculture at US$1.7 billion in 2023 and predicts it will skyrocket to an estimated US$4.7 billion by 2028.

This growth is evident in the smart tools that are popping up across the agri-food system. Companies are starting to use these applications in everything from robotics and supply chain risk analysis to more efficient processing.

AI will also play a role in analyzing the volumes of data being collected on-farm and extracting information and recommendations that farmers can use to support decision-making.

But don’t expect change to come overnight, suggests Agfundernews.com, where experts predict it will take time before the adoption of AI tools is widespread enough to enact true transformative change in the industry.

Alternative proteins

This encompasses everything from plant-based products and cell cultivated meat to precision fermentation for the creation of animal-free proteins like dairy.

Despite the setbacks experienced by plant-based food company Beyond Meat, Forbes notes that alternative protein products are improving, and the industry should prepare for a new wave of products, including in the cellular food space.

In fact, a report released by the Canadian Food Innovation Network last summer found greater interest in cellular food by companies and consumers. Although no Canadian cellular food products have been commercialized, more than 20 patent applications for cellular meat technologies had been filed in Canada at the time of the report’s release.

As well, the rate of internet searches in Canada on the topic was found to be on the rise.

The report identified some of the biggest hurdles faced by cellular food, including regulatory approvals, production capacity and consumer adoption.