Editor’s note: Agtech Seedlings is a weekly roundup of the latest in agriculture technology news, digging into venture funding, product announcements and other innovation milestones. Have news to share? Email us here.
Google accelerates water conservation with Arable
Google is linking up with crop technology provider Arable in a new partnership to help farmers in southwest Nebraska conserve water.
The collaboration will provide farmers with Arable's field monitoring technology to get real-time visibility of the water requirements of their crops, which then can be used to make decisions optimizing irrigation, according to a release.
Google is funding the deployment of Arable's tech across 25,000 acres in the Twin Platte Natural Resources District in southwestern Nebraska, while Arable will monitor the success of the program and provide farmers with training.
The partnership ultimately aims to reduce groundwater pumping from the Platte River system, which has experienced drought, pollution and rising salinity levels over the years as a consequence of overuse.
Google has made water conservation a central pillar of its corporate sustainability goals, setting a target of replenishing more water than it consumes by 2030. The company is investing $1.2 billion in a Nebraska data center, which uses water as part of the cooling process.
"We’re excited to collaborate with leading organizations like Arable to promote water conservation in agriculture and complement our commitment to climate-conscious cooling within our own operations," Google Data Center Sustainability Manager Suzie Shine said in a statement.
Fresh Del Monte names head of innovation
Produce giant Fresh Del Monte appointed a director of innovation to lead projects transforming agriculture practices, including the company's initiative to turn pineapple residue into sustainable fertilizer.
Dr. Nizar Haddad has joined as director of innovation and business development, and will act as general manager of the company's biofertilizer offshoot De l’Ora Bio, which is operated in partnership with Vellsam Materias Bioactivas.
Haddad was the former director general of the National Agricultural Research Centre in Jordan, and established the region's first agricultural innovation incubator. At Fresh Del Monte, he will help lead the company's innovation strategy and explore new opportunities to innovate in agricultural sustainability, according to a release.
“Dr. Haddad embodies the innovative spirit that drives our organization, and I believe that under his leadership and with his expertise, we will continue to break new ground in sustainable agriculture," Fresh Del Monte CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh said in a statement.
Deere-backed HabiTerre raises $10M to become 'industry leader' in farm climate data
HabiTerre, a startup aiming to provide a more holistic view of farms' impact on the environment, raised $10 million in first round funding to scale its digital monitoring platform and become the "global standard" in agricultural sustainability metrics.
Founded by Dr. Kaiyu Guan, a professor at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, HabiTerre quantifies a farm's greenhouse gas emissions and shows how much carbon can be sequestered through improved agricultural practices. The model measures the agricultural ecosystem both above and below ground, and can be used in croplands, grasslands, forests and wetlands.
Deere led the investment round, according to AgFunder, which CEO Nick Reinke said is “a powerful signal” of the technology's potential to be deployed at scale. The agricultural equipment giant previously invested in HabiTerre's seed round in 2022, and has worked with the startup on pilots.
“This is an exciting new launching point for HabiTerre,” Guan said in a statement. “We have the ambition to become a global standard to quantify agricultural decarbonization and sustainability metrics.
