Part 1 of a series about the challenges and potential solutions to bringing cutting-edge technology to the agriculture market. This series is based on panel discussions from the first ever Agri-Food Innovation Summit recently hosted by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. 

Agriculture faces boundless issues, from climate change and irrigation limitations to herbicide resistance and invasive pests. In addition, the growing global population amplifies concern. Between now and 2050, the population is expected to increase by 2 billion – totaling nearly 10 billion people worldwide. 

This boom will inevitably heighten the demand for food, fuel, and fiber, putting greater emphasis on agricultural innovation to enhance the future of crop production and processing. Innovative efforts of this magnitude require research, funding, and the cooperation of many to make a societal impact. 

However, agricultural and biological technologies often face a gamut of challenges and lengthy timeframes from project development through commercialization. Recently, a well-rounded group of 200 attendees filled the halls of the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences in Fayetteville, Ark., to discuss such challenges.  

Participants included representatives from five universities, an array of venture capitalists, and a number of government agency personnel – all ready to collaborate and troubleshoot. Discussions throughout the two-day event focused on bridging the gap between research laboratories and the marketplace.  

Related:New USDA investments aim to bolster school nutrition

The collective assent was that public-private partnerships and a clearcut regulatory process are essential to making research and entrepreneurship a reality. Of course, being in Arkansas, many echoed that the Natural State is well positioned to take the lead in ag-tech and biotechnology to solve problems from the regional level to the national stage. 

“This is a full system, from farm to fork. When we talk about the state of Arkansas broadly, one quarter of all grocery sales originate with the conversations here in Arkansas,” said Trey Malone, assistant professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “There is no place on earth that operates the same way we do as it relates to the whole system. “ 

Research based on significance 

For research to have a significant impact on real-world problems, it takes collaboration and keen foresight to prepare for downstream barriers in the process. 

Ranu Jung is the executive director at the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research at the University of Arkansas. She emphasized that the goal of research is to deploy a solution, and she advises her students to work backwards through the process of commercializing an innovative idea. 

Related:From space to soil: Solving agriculture’s challenges with sensors

“I tell my students to first write their impact statement. Then write their significance statement. If the research has no impact and you cannot define the significance, then it doesn’t matter how well you did the work,” Jung said.  

Taking this approach makes it easier to sell the idea, Jung noted. It also identifies gaps from start to finish, to build a collaborative team that can address the full scope of the project.  

Jung said, “Often researchers are connecting to just researchers, but to get solutions deployed, there may be other barriers. If we keep in mind the ‘go to market plan’ we want at the end, we can bring along the right team from the beginning.  

“In developing you should include some policy people with you, some economic people with you, some political people with you, all thinking about the barriers beforehand.” 

Mickey LaTour, dean of the college of agriculture at Arkansas State University, agreed and suggested it may be beneficial to rethink how innovative ideas are pitched in the future. 

“When you look at the level of endowments at the University of Arkansas, Arkansas State University, and other institutions out there, they are surrounded by people who are very passionate about those institutions and they give,” LaTour said. 

“For the most part, those individuals understand commercialization, business, and what it takes to move an idea forward because they come from the business world,” LaTour continued. “So why not start with the donor base and talk about creating research with those who are passionate about the institution or a particular area of the state where they want to invest?” 

Public-private partnerships are key 

A considerable portion of the summit focused on USDA funding through programs like the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR). Many panelists commented on their own experience and success with these programs.  

However, they noted that limitations arise when solely relying on government programs to bring ag and biotechnologies to market. 

“The challenges with SBIRs and STTRs is the total investment for those programs was about $4.4 billion across each sector of the federal government in 2022,” said Marty Matlock, professor of bio-ag engineering and researcher at the University of Arkansas. 

That is not much in the grand scheme of agriculture and innovation. While venture capitalists also invest in the agriculture sector, Matlock noted only a small fraction, estimated $12.6 billion of the U.S. gross domestic product, goes toward venture capital in agriculture. 

“How do you start something with nothing?” Matlock asked. “That is the downside. How do you innovate when there is no money? 

“The upside is nobody else in this space is reaching out to make this happen. Arkansas could do it, but it is going to take everything we are doing here in these conversations – like innovations in policy, government tax codes, incentive programs and core funding sources – to start this process. It will take a force of action to push this rock up a hill,” Matlock said. 

From his perspective, deliberate collaboration is key to developing public-private partnerships capable of this force. “I want to encourage industry to reach out to academia, and I want to encourage the inverse,” Matlock added.  

LaTour agreed that collaborative opportunities are essential in moving the needle. “Today is a perfect example,” LaTour said, pointing out the diversified group of attendees from both public and private sectors.  

“I suspect that a number of you are looking around and wondering who you could partner with to take yourself to the next level,” he continued. “It is venues like this where we can move things forward. Whether it is a very high level with a national project, or whether it is a farmers’ market, the reality is that level of expertise exists right here in Arkansas to solve state problems as well as national problems.” 

Regulatory process needs reform 

Collaborative efforts must also focus on streamlining the regulatory process, because regulatory hurdles often lengthen the time it takes to commercialize intellectual property. 

These hurdles include anything from licensing to politics, and Sylvia Wulf, CEO of AquaBounty Technologies, has met such challenges head on. Her company produces genetically engineered salmon and was the first genetically engineered animal food product approved for use in the U.S. 

“It took us 25 years to get regulatory approval for our salmon. There was a pathway, but we ran into political challenges that took us several years to overcome to allow us to farm in this country,” Wulf explained. “No investor wants to wait 25 years to see their investment provide a return.  

“We need a predictable, transparent, regulatory approval process,” Wulf said, emphasizing the need for government agencies to work collectively to coordinate a framework. 

“Our university system in Arkansas is second to none as far as I am concerned. We need to be able to leverage that capability and that research with what it takes to bring something to market. The more we figure out how to do that and accelerate the pace of public-private partnerships, the more capital we will be able to attract,” Wulf added. 

For more on these conversations, follow the developing parts to this ag innovation series centered around access to capital and opportunities for innovation in the agriculture sector.