The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7–2 in favor of Monsanto owner Bayer, holding that federal pesticide law preempts state-level claims requiring additional cancer warnings on Roundup, significantly reducing Bayer’s litigation risk and reinforcing the primacy of federal regulators like the EPA. The decision is expected to lead to dismissal of most existing lawsuits and limit future claims, while shifting debates about glyphosate safety from courtrooms to regulatory arenas.
While industry groups praised the clarity and regulatory certainty provided by the ruling, critics argued it undermines accountability and restricts legal recourse for those alleging harm, fueling ongoing controversy over glyphosate’s safety and broader questions about the balance between regulatory authority and public trust in agricultural policy.
The SAI Platform has launched the Regenerating Together Programme (RTP) to scale regenerative agriculture by providing a flexible yet consistent framework for measuring and verifying outcomes across diverse farming systems. Backed by over 40 global agrifood companies, the RTP emphasizes independent verification, outcome-based metrics, and farmer agency, aiming to address challenges of inconsistent claims and fragmented reporting. Developed through multi-stakeholder collaboration and tested in 25 countries, the programme shifts the focus from defining regenerative agriculture to implementing it at scale with practical, farmer-friendly tools.
The UK government’s 25-year Farming Roadmap is positioned as a pivotal reset for English agriculture, aiming to boost profitability, resilience, and productivity while emphasizing nature-based solutions and long-term sector certainty. Industry bodies broadly welcome the vision and clarity but warn that the plan lacks sufficient funding, actionable delivery mechanisms, and strong legislative backing, risking its success. Concerns center on the absence of Treasury commitment, the need for accessible support for all sectors, and potential derailment due to political instability. While the roadmap’s direction is praised, its impact will depend entirely on effective execution and partnership between government and industry.
Switzerland channels the highest global share of its venture capital into deep tech, with 63% of funding supporting science-driven start-ups, according to the Swiss Deep Tech Report 2026. The country leads in Europe for deep tech investment per capita, driven by strengths in AI, robotics, and advanced computing, with ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne fueling a robust start-up pipeline. Despite record funding and growing international investor interest, a domestic late-stage funding gap persists due to Switzerland's small market size. This focused investment positions Switzerland as a concentrated global hub for frontier technologies, with start-ups increasingly staying local before expanding internationally.
Kubota has increased its investment in French agtech startup UV Boosting to accelerate the adoption of UV-C crop technology across Europe, aiming to reduce pesticide use and promote sustainable farming. UV Boosting’s “UV flash” tech uses short-wavelength ultraviolet light to trigger natural plant defenses, resulting in reduced disease incidence and increased yields, especially in vineyards. The partnership leverages Kubota’s distribution network and industrial capabilities to scale the technology, aligning with Europe’s sustainability goals and the broader agtech trend toward non-chemical crop protection solutions.
Micropep taps into the biological opportunity in Latin America, registering its peptide-based bio-fungicide in Paraguay and Brazil, with more product in the pipeline.
The £2.6 million SLIMERS project, led by BOFIN and funded by Defra, is in its final phase, aiming to transform slug control in UK agriculture through predictive risk mapping, AI-powered detection, and precision application of treatments. Researchers have developed models that identify slug hotspots within fields, enabling farmers to target treatments and reduce blanket pellet use. Partners are also advancing AI multispectral imaging for in-field slug identification and engineering ultra-narrow, autonomous spray systems for targeted interventions. The initiative seeks to create a sustainable, data-driven standard for pest management as chemical control comes under increasing scrutiny.
Brazilian farmers and ag stakeholders raise concerns about a disconnect between its country’s renewable energy and sustainability policies and EU mandates.
Nina Vinot of Cybèle Agrocare argues that agriculture can learn from advances in human microbiome science by treating soil as a living system, where biological complexity drives crop nutrition and health. She highlights gaps in data, investment, and soil decontamination innovation as barriers, emphasizing the need for better measurement of soil biology and nutritional quality. Vinot points to the promise and variability of microbial inputs, the importance of understanding local soil history, and the growing threat of contaminants like microplastics and PFAS. She calls for greater integration of human health considerations into agriculture, more research, and advanced soil intelligence to unlock the full potential of microbiome-based farming.
Swiss agtech company OneSoil has launched AI Agronomist, an in-app assistant that consolidates fragmented farm data into clear, field-specific recommendations for farmers. Built on seven years of satellite intelligence and shaped by in-house agronomists, the tool uses AI to interpret various data streams and deliver actionable insights through a conversational interface, aiming to reduce the time and expertise needed to manage complex agricultural information. Targeting small- to mid-sized farmers and operating alongside existing farm management systems, AI Agronomist seeks to democratize advisory services and address labor constraints in both developed and emerging markets. The platform is already used by over a million people worldwide, with the AI-driven upgrade expected to further help farmers save costs and make better decisions.
HiveTracks, co-founded by Max Rünzel, James Wilkes, and Laura Dye, is a global startup leveraging data from bees to monitor ecosystem health and quantify biodiversity. The company offers tools for beekeepers to track hive health and for organizations to assess habitat quality, positioning bees as biosensors that provide valuable environmental insights across large areas. HiveTracks' system enables companies and landowners to measure and market their environmental impact, comply with regulations, and potentially unlock new biodiversity markets through auditable, AI-assisted data collection. The ultimate goal is to create a marketplace where changes in nature can be monetized and ecosystem resilience can be enhanced.
Saudi start-up Terraxy, a KAUST spinout, has raised $3 million in a Seed-2 round led by Wa’ed Ventures, Aramco’s venture arm, to scale its proprietary soil-regeneration technology for arid environments. The funding will enable Terraxy to move from pilot to industrial scale, including building a commercial facility in Al Zulfi, and deploy its Carbosoil soil enhancer, which claims to boost plant growth and carbon storage in degraded desert soils. The company’s dual focus on productivity and carbon capture aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and broader sustainability goals, with strong backing from research institutions and regulatory frameworks.
Corteva and FMC Corporation are partnering to expand access to a dual-mode-of-action herbicide at a time when the former prepares for a Q4 spin-off and the latter seeks to pay down a $1 billion in debt.
The European Parliament has adopted new rules for plants developed using new genomic techniques (NGTs), shifting the EU from process-based to product-based regulation and aligning with models promoted by global agribusiness giants like Bayer, Syngenta, and Corteva. The legislation introduces a two-tier system: NGT-1 plants with changes comparable to conventional breeding will be fast-tracked and treated like traditional crops, while NGT-2 plants with more complex modifications will remain under GMO oversight. Industry groups have welcomed the changes as promoting innovation and competitiveness, but NGOs argue this amounts to deregulation, warning of risks to consumers, farmers, and organic supply chains. As the rules move toward implementation, debate continues over transparency, labelling, and safeguards.
Michael Lee of Syngenta Group Ventures examines the mental “algorithms” that guide venture capital investment in agtech, contrasting it with biotech and public markets to highlight the need for disciplined valuations and realistic exit expectations. He argues that agtech’s structurally smaller market, limited buyer pool, and reliance on M&A exits—rather than IPOs—demand conservative valuation assumptions, capital efficiency, and early strategic alignment with potential acquirers. The essay concludes that inflated valuations are harmful, high burn rates often lead to poor outcomes, and investors should focus on realistic exit values and capital discipline to improve agtech investment returns.
Growers are grappling with tight margins and increasing labor expenses, but the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act is helping to provide much-needed support and change.
Rainbow Crops, an agtech start-up specializing in AI-powered multiplex genome editing, has raised €9.7 million to expand its Trait Foundry™ platform and move toward commercial deployment. The funding, led by LIFTT and supported by strategic and industry investors including Corteva, will help the company scale its technology aimed at accelerating the engineering of complex crop traits like yield and climate resilience. Rainbow Crops’ approach integrates artificial intelligence, precision breeding, and automated phenotyping to overcome the limitations of traditional, slow breeding cycles, with proof of concept already demonstrated in corn. The company now focuses on broader deployment across multiple crops and delivering real-world field impact through innovative partnerships.
Anterra Capital has secured the first $100 million for its third fund, targeting $200 million to invest in AI-driven innovation in food and agriculture, despite a broader decline in agrifood funding. The firm sees a pivotal opportunity as AI enables productivity gains and faster R&D in a sector long limited by manual processes, with early investments including platforms for food distribution and animal health. Anterra’s approach focuses on scalable, science-led companies that integrate with existing infrastructure, attracting support from institutional investors and operators managing over 13 million acres. The move highlights a growing conviction that AI is a bright spot in an otherwise subdued market.
Alltech has expanded its EU Applications Laboratory in Dunboyne, Ireland, to accelerate the transition from scientific discovery to on-farm adoption, focusing on animal nutrition, renewable energy, and environmental management. The lab aims to shorten the development cycle for innovations such as biogas production enhancements, nutrient preservation, and emissions reduction, moving from lab validation to commercial deployment in as little as 12-30 months. By testing solutions under real farm conditions, the facility targets improved farm profitability, efficiency, and sustainability, while supporting collaborations and new income streams for farmers. This initiative positions Ireland as a hub for applied agricultural innovation amid increasing pressure on European agriculture to meet environmental and economic goals.
Bayer and Aphea.Bio have entered a strategic partnership to co-develop bioinsecticides targeting sap-sucking insects, marking a broader industry shift toward nature-based crop protection. The collaboration combines Aphea.Bio’s microbial metabolite pipeline with Bayer’s global development and commercialization capabilities, initially focusing on fruit crops with plans to expand further. This move reflects the increasing investment by major agricultural companies in biological solutions as key growth drivers, amid regulatory pressures and resistance challenges facing conventional products. Bayer’s diversification into biologicals is further driven by ongoing litigation over glyphosate, though the company maintains that its strategy is focused on performance and innovation rather than a direct response to legal issues.
SWARM Engineering, a San Francisco-based decision intelligence startup, has raised $10 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-driven platform for agri-food and manufacturing operations. The company’s domain-trained AI compresses planning cycles from days to minutes by embedding industry-specific decision logic and handling fragmented data, enabling faster, real-time decision-making in volatile markets. Early deployments with major companies like Ardent Mills and Springs Window Fashions have demonstrated significant reductions in planning time and improved operational outcomes. SWARM’s platform, which can be deployed in under ten weeks and works with imperfect data environments, is positioned as a crucial tool for agri-food businesses facing operational complexity and frequent disruptions.
Swiss start-up Sixteen44 is piloting its methane removal technology on a Swiss farm, aiming to prove it can eliminate diffuse methane emissions from cattle without interfering with the animals. The company’s system targets low-concentration methane in indoor livestock environments, converting it into water vapor and CO₂, and claims a 97% reduction in warming impact. The pilot will test real-world performance, with results independently validated and designed to support both carbon credit generation and compliance with tightening emissions rules. Sixteen44, founded in 2025, is targeting the removal of one million tonnes of methane by 2035 as part of its commercial strategy.
A new United Nations University report warns that by 2030, AI’s growing demand for electricity, water, and land—especially from data centres—could have severe global environmental impacts, with resource consumption often underestimated due to a narrow focus on carbon emissions. The report highlights that most AI energy use comes from everyday operations rather than training, and notes that efficiency improvements may drive even higher usage.
Despite these concerns, agribusiness giants like Syngenta argue that AI’s environmental costs are outweighed by its potential to make agriculture more sustainable through resource-efficient tools and practices. The report and industry both stress the need for responsible, transparent management to ensure AI’s promised environmental benefits are not undermined by its rapidly expanding footprint.
Livestock tech start-up 701x is hitting profitability and expanding its global presence as the company contemplates another round of funding that would bring in venture capital.
Switzerland’s agtech sector is renowned for its world-class innovation and strong start-up ecosystem, driven by scientific talent and robust research institutions. However, the country faces challenges in scaling its agtech companies into global players due to cultural tendencies towards small business, a limited domestic market, and a lack of late-stage domestic funding, with most investment coming from abroad. Efforts are underway, such as new funding initiatives and collaborative projects, to address these barriers and help Swiss start-ups grow into global leaders, though significant change has yet to materialize.
A new FAO-led study warns that global antibiotic use in livestock could rise by nearly 30% by 2040 but finds that improving productivity could cut this use by up to 57%. Amid growing pressure to reduce antimicrobial resistance, the livestock sector is increasingly investing in innovations such as bacteriophage therapies, monoclonal antibodies, precise diagnostics, and eubiotics to boost animal health and reduce antibiotic reliance. Major industry players are shifting towards prevention-led approaches and data-driven management, with initiatives like FAO’s RENOFARM supporting this transition. The study underscores that enhancing productivity is now central not only to economic growth but also to achieving sustainability and AMR reduction targets.
A large-scale study by Soil Capital of over 1,200 French farms found that regenerative agriculture significantly reduces crop yield losses during drought, with the most regenerative farms losing three times less yield compared to conventional ones. The dataset, notable for its size and independent verification, demonstrates statistically significant resilience benefits, reinforcing regenerative practices as a financial risk management tool rather than just a sustainability measure. Soil Capital’s results-based carbon payment model provides farmers with ongoing income for measurable environmental performance, addressing funding challenges for transitioning. These early findings suggest that large-scale adoption of regenerative agriculture could reshape the economics of farming and supply chain risk management in the face of climate change.
Agtech investment has shifted from a growth-at-all-costs approach to one prioritizing capital efficiency and proven commercial traction, resulting in a sector shakeout where only companies with strong unit economics and real-world integration survive. The rise of Physical AI—combining robotics, automation, and adaptive intelligence—is now delivering tangible on-farm value, driven by labor shortages and advances in AI that enable scalable, reliable automation.
Key investment themes include precision agriculture through genetics, physical AI, and soil health, with a focus on solutions that align farmer profitability with sustainability. However, regulatory and capital hurdles, particularly in the UK, continue to challenge the sector’s full potential.
Nufarm reported strong H1 FY26 earnings growth, with Europe delivering a standout 17% EBITDA increase in local currency despite regulatory challenges. The company’s strategic shift toward margin-focused products and disciplined cost control drove record gross margins and improved profitability, even as overall revenue declined by design. While Europe outperformed, other regions saw mixed results, highlighting the impact of regional execution and portfolio strategy over macroeconomic conditions. Nufarm’s performance suggests that, despite stringent European regulations, profitability is achievable through targeted strategy and operational discipline.
Reservoir incentivizes new members to join its agtech innovation community with a new free tier, while start-ups navigate a challenging capital environment.
Kristjan Luha, co-founder of eAgronom, argues that most food companies’ Scope 3 climate programmes fail to engage farmers because they are designed around corporate reporting needs rather than farm realities. The disconnect stems from supply chain complexity, misaligned incentives, and a lack of practical support, leaving farmers burdened with data requests and risk without clear benefits. Luha contends that successful decarbonisation relies on trust, farmer-centred incentives, and genuine collaboration, with new regulations pushing the need for evidence and direct engagement with farmers. He warns that only companies demonstrating real farm-level change, not just improved reporting, will succeed in the next phase of sustainability.
Europe’s agricultural sector is facing a succession crisis as its farming population ages and too few young farmers step in, threatening the sector’s long-term resilience. In response, EIT Food and the PepsiCo Foundation have launched the Future Harvest programme across five countries to equip 900 next-generation farmers with skills in sustainable practices, business management, and innovation. The initiative combines online and hands-on learning, mentoring, and peer exchange, aiming to build lasting support networks and accelerate the adoption of new practices. By focusing on those already involved in family farms, Future Harvest targets both continuity and resilience in European agriculture.
Renaissance Philanthropy, a nonprofit established two years ago, has mobilized over $533 million to pioneer a venture capital-inspired approach to philanthropic funding in science, particularly agricultural innovation. By shifting from project-based grants to time-bound, thesis-driven programs, the organization targets high-risk, systemic challenges like crop resilience and climate-driven threats, aiming to bridge gaps left by traditional funding. Its strategy blends early-stage research, company creation, and stakeholder engagement to ensure solutions are scalable and impactful. The model seeks to de-risk ambitious innovations and accelerate their adoption, positioning Renaissance Philanthropy as a catalyst for transformative change in global food systems.
European farmers are facing significant growth constraints due to capital being locked in expensive machinery, with rapid technological advancements accelerating equipment obsolescence and making long-term returns uncertain. Many farmers wish to reinvest in sustainable technologies but are hindered by financial rigidity and concerns over end-of-life equipment management. While there is growing openness to leasing and flexible usage models, barriers such as limited supplier options and unfamiliarity persist. The sector is undergoing a structural shift in financing, with increasing demand for next-generation, future-proof equipment and a move away from traditional ownership models.
Syngenta Vegetable Seeds has opened a $10 million R&D Technology Centre in Almería, Spain, at the heart of the world’s largest greenhouse cluster, aiming to accelerate the development of disease-resistant crops as pathogens evolve rapidly. The facility uses a “field-to-lab” approach, integrating real-world grower challenges directly into the breeding pipeline and consolidating scientific disciplines to halve breeding timelines. By leveraging data analytics, AI, and biosafety infrastructure, Syngenta seeks to respond quickly to threats like Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus and other emerging diseases. Insights from the centre will inform global R&D efforts, helping develop resilient crop varieties for diverse regions.
Forty leading global food and agriculture companies have signed a joint declaration to accelerate regenerative agriculture, aligning behind SAI Platform’s Regenerating Together Programme to create common frameworks and metrics. While this marks a significant move towards industry-wide action, the core challenge remains unresolved: financing the transition at the farm level, where upfront investments and financial risks often fall on farmers. The success of scaling regenerative agriculture hinges on developing new economic incentive models and shared responsibility across supply chains. Ultimately, real progress will require deeper collaboration among industry players, financial institutions, and farmers to ensure economic viability and lasting impact.
The White House and Congress are working together on a number of efforts to boost domestic production of fertilizers as farmers struggle to keep up on higher input costs.
Tilda has expanded its sustainable basmati rice programme in northern India to 3,840 farms, embedding Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) as a standard practice to reduce water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and improve farm economics. The initiative has achieved up to 45% reduction in methane emissions, 36% lower CO₂e emissions per tonne of rice, over 36 billion litres of water saved annually, and increased farmer incomes and yields. As the programme scales, Tilda is addressing the challenge of nitrous oxide emissions from fertiliser use by trialing bio-fertilisers with the University of Cambridge, aiming to further optimise sustainability and economic returns.
UK agri-tech leaders have warned Parliament that while the country excels in early-stage research, it struggles to scale innovations into commercial successes due to fragmented funding, limited access to patient capital, regulatory hurdles, and weak routes to market. Despite robust public R&D investment, the lack of coordination and conservative private funding are causing talent and intellectual property to flow overseas, leading to a "graveyard" of failed start-ups. MPs are now looking to the Dutch model, which features strong integration between government, academia, and industry, as a blueprint for reform. The sector’s future depends on whether the UK can streamline funding, attract patient investment, and build commercial-scale testbeds to bridge the gap from innovation to market.
