Advanced agricultural technologies have gained significant momentum in recent years, with Nebraska playing a key leadership role, and a panel of entrepreneurs and business analysts spoke at length about the subject at a symposium held May 29 at the Nebraska Innovation Campus.
Presentations and discussions, part of the Heuerman Lecture Series, described Nebraska’s strengths in agricultural technology, including the diversity of the state’s startups, the rise of agriculture-focused venture capital and the large-scale strategic investments enabling innovation and commercialization of research.
“One of the key factors in our success is that we're located in the heart of agriculture,” said Jordyn Bader, director of industry partnerships at Marble Technologies, an agricultural technology company based in Lincoln. “There's no better place in the country for entrepreneurs and scientists who want to contribute to the food and agricultural innovation sector.”
Ambitious forays into agricultural technology development earlier this century faltered because they were led by coastal companies that lacked a deep understanding of agriculture, said Mike Jung, co-founder and managing partner of Grit Road Partners, an Omaha-based firm that provides investment support to agricultural technology entrepreneurs in the Midwest. This history shows that a solid understanding of agriculture is essential to the success of ag tech ventures, and Nebraska's agricultural expertise gives it a big advantage, panelists said.
A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report pointed to another strength for Nebraska: The state is second in the nation in its use of precision agriculture technology, said Josh Demers, program manager for The Combine, which supports food and agriculture startups in Nebraska.
Since 2019, Combine has raised $15.5 million, received $5.7 million in grant funding and supported 28 companies. Several of the startups on the discussion panel received early-stage support from Combine's business incubator at the Nebraska Innovation Campus.
The composition of the panel speaks to the breadth of innovation and business vision in Nebraska's ag tech ecosystem.
Marble Technologies uses machine learning and engineering innovations to automate meat processing. Sentinel Fertigation's advanced crop imagery and data analytics help producers realize nitrogen management savings. Grain Weevil's robotics innovations promote grain storage safety. Nave Analytics helps producers increase irrigation efficiency through data collection and climate modeling. ALA Engineering's software and hardware innovations enable feed truck automation.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln plans to expand its support for startups with the construction of an agriculture and natural resources-focused business accelerator on the Nebraska Innovation Campus. The accelerator will complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s adjacent National Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture Center, currently under construction.
The $160 million federal research institute will focus on innovation in advanced agricultural technologies and natural resource sustainability and is expected to double the number of USDA science and support staff at the university.
The UNL accelerator will turn the USDA center's research findings into business opportunities. Mike Bohm, vice dean for the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, described the new business accelerator as “a combine on steroids.”
Bohm said these strategic investments reinforce each other and demonstrate that “what happens first in agricultural innovation starts in Nebraska.”
Just a few years ago, venture capital investors and entrepreneurs showed little interest in advanced technologies for agriculture, but since then, ag tech has made impressive strides in terms of innovation and investment, said Grit Road Partners' Yoon, who has raised more than $11 million and made 18 investments in ag tech across the Midwest since 2021, including eight in Nebraska.
Nebraska ranked last among the 50 states for overall venture capital investment in 2011, but now it consistently ranks around 30th, said Ben Williamson, president and general counsel of Invest Nebraska, which provides investment capital to early-stage startups. Nebraska's ranking is a positive because it's higher than the state's economic output, which is 35th.
Panelists cited challenges common to startups, including early complexity and establishing certainty about markets and pricing. Jacob Hansen said his company, ALA Engineering, would benefit from federal regulatory clarity on robotics.
Chad Johnson, co-founder of Aurora's Grain Weevil, said startups will benefit from increased capital and support as potential “exits” are established as corporate interest grows and is absorbed.
Nebraska Investment Corp.'s Williamson said one reason it's hard to get corporate attention is because “the unit of measurement for progress in entrepreneurship is decades, not years, in terms of growing the ecosystem. But for the person starting the business, it's an eternity for the individual startup.”
Marble Technologies' Bader pointed to the university's Engler Agricultural Business Entrepreneurship Program as another strength of Nebraska's agricultural technology. The Engler program, which began in 2012 and now has more than 340 graduates, is “one of the jewels of the University of Nebraska system,” said Bader, an Ainsworth native and graduate of the program. More than 230 Engler graduates live, work and grow their businesses in Nebraska.
The Engler program has proven its value in giving students in-depth experience in a real business environment, Bader said: When her company sees an Engler connection on a job candidate's resume, “that means a lot to us.”
The Heuerman Lecture Series is made possible by a gift from B. Keith and Norma Heuerman of Phillips, Nebraska. The Heuermans are longtime supporters of the University with a strong interest in Nebraska's agricultural production, natural resources, rural areas and people.
