NEW FARMCON PODCAST… Kevin Van Trump and Todd Loechler sit down to discuss their latest moves in the corn, soybean, and wheat markets. Kevin discusses why he likes making backend sales in both corn and wheat, but is a bit more hesitant in the soybean market. There’s some extensive talk about the importance of weather …
Vertical farming is not dead, but the version that captured nearly a billion dollars for players like Plenty, Bowery, AeroFarms, Kalera, and AppHarvest has clearly failed as a standalone, mass‑market replacement for field-grown greens. What is dying is the first-wave business model, meaning capital-intensive, energy-hungry factories trying to sell undifferentiated lettuce into a low-margin grocery …
Is Vertical Farming Dead… Great Lessons for Agtech Startups Read More »
The Supreme Court is poised to decide the fate of Bayer’s ongoing glyphosate litigation “Monsanto Company v. Durnell,” with oral arguments for the case scheduled to start today, Monday, April 27, 2026. The outcome is expected to significantly impact Bayer’s strategy for resolving roughly 65,000 outstanding Roundup lawsuits. The case focuses on whether federal pesticide …
Solinftec’s Solix robot and ALICE AI platform are being positioned as a practical, in-field autonomy stack for row crop producers. The solar-powered machine lives in the crop, paired with software that turns its data into decisions and, in some cases, fully autonomous actions. Solix is built as a lightweight, autonomous platform that patrols fields on …
Solinftec Brings Autonomous Scouting and Spraying to Row Crops Read More »
NEW FARMCON PODCAST… Kevin Van Trump and Todd Loechler sit down to discuss the latest in geopolitics and how long fuel and fertilizer prices might stay elevated, and what that means for corn, soybean, and wheat prices. Kevin also takes the time to explain his marketing game-plan for this growing season and what he is …
“Quercus Biosolutions” is part of a new wave of agricultural startups trying to rethink crop protection from the ground up. Instead of relying on conventional chemistries alone, the company is developing AI-designed “mini proteins” that could unlock new modes of action and help tackle herbicide-resistant weeds. Quercus Biosolutions is a St. Louis–based startup founded in …
How “Designer Proteins” Could Rewrite Weed Control for Farmers Read More »
The USDA’s new “National Proving Grounds Network for AgTech” (NPG-Ag) could mark an important shift in how agricultural technologies are evaluated, marketed, and adopted across the United States. Rather than leaving farmers and ranchers to sort through bold claims, demo videos, and limited pilot data, the program is designed to test tools in real-world conditions, …
USDA’s New Proving Grounds Network Could Help Build Trust in Ag Tech Read More »
NEW FARMCON PODCAST… Kevin Van Trump and Todd Loechler sit down to discuss their updated corn, soybean, and wheat outlook, along with recent sales and new price objectives. There are also some deeper discussions about the importance of “time” in our grain marketing programs. Kevin and Todd also discuss investing in the collectible tractor and …
The tenth annual “Feeding the Economy” report, a comprehensive study analyzing the economic contributions of the entire U.S. food and agriculture supply chain, finds that America’s food and agriculture industries generate more than $10.4 trillion in economic activity, an increase of nearly+ $894 billion year-over-year. That represents nearly 20% of the U.S. economy, and supports …
Global cotton production is expected to continue its slow decline in 2026/27. The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) is projecting global output to fall more than -4.5% to just 24.8 million metric tons (MMT). However, global demand is expected to exceed production next season, setting the stage for a global supply shortage if the trend …
