Agtech For The Ag Coast
The United Nation’s median projection for the population of the world in 2050 is 9.7 billion people — an increase of over 25 percent in the planet’s population and 2 billion additional people from 2019. Although seemingly far off, 2050 is only a little over 30 years from now, meaning that most of us will live to see middle-age in a world with almost 10 billion people.[su_pullquote]Most of us will live to see middle-age in a world with almost 10 billion people.[/su_pullquote]
We will also live in a world where 10 billion people need to eat without exacerbating a climate crisis 30 years more developed than right now, which presents as many opportunities as it does challenges; it calls for extraordinary innovation—enough to boost worldwide food production by 50 percent from 2013, which the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN estimates will be required. The opportunity lies in agricultural technology. Solutions can be found and developed that enable more food production and in a way that can diminish greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. This calls for major changes, and the people and communities that can deliver those changes stand to profit enormously.
St. Louis is uniquely poised to be a major player in agtech (agriculture technology), partly because it already is. It has major plant sciences research centers such as Bayer Crop Sciences (formerly Monsanto) and the Danforth Plant Science Center as well as similar facilities for adjacent industries such as BioGenerator (for biotech). Additionally, local universities provide some of the foundations necessary for successful innovation. For example, patents often emerge from university backed research and some patents are licensed by the university—in the case of WashU in 2017 this resulted in $16.9 million in revenue and, in the same year, 8 new startups were founded by faculty. Likewise, higher education is a pipeline for talented labor for startups; for example, St. Louis Community College offers students a paid internship program at plant and life sciences startups (and cheap labor for the startups) that can lead to long term skill sets and employment.[su_pullquote]St. Louis is uniquely poised to be a major player in agtech.[/su_pullquote]
Furthermore, St. Louis is quickly becoming the “ag coast” of America—a label embraced by local and state officials—due to the heavy flow of agricultural goods (primarily grain) in barges on the Mississippi river– many of which are loaded and serviced by facilities in the St. Louis area. These factors, along with the fact that many surrounding regional communities have strong agricultural industries provide St. Louis with the resources it needs to become a center of agtech innovation—reaping the benefits in terms of jobs, investment, and status.
The rise of St. Louis as an agtech hub has already seen dividends; in a 2018 report the St. Louis Regional Chamber projected $90 million worth of venture investment in the St. Louis agtech sector for that year, a 440 percent increase since 2014. As fledgling companies grow—which, in agtech, can take many years— they will create additional jobs, investment, and technology that will drive greater efficiency and sustainability in agriculture. Ideally, these startups will form part of the network of resources that helped with their own formation and draw new startups into the St. Louis area.
While certainly welcome, the idea of St. Louis as the centerpiece of an industry dragging a new green revolution forward is uncertain. St. Louis should continue investing in resources supporting early stage agtech companies to ensure affordable access to lab space and improve access to early and middle stage capital. Secondly, the city and the state should adopt one of the key recommendations of the St. Louis Regional Chamber report—building an agtech brand in St. Louis.
St. Louis should promote the idea of the “ag coast” as the perception of St. Louis as the nationwide leader in agtech can help drive people to start or expand their startups here. Furthermore, foreign companies may choose to make St Louis their gateway to the United States and expand their organizations in the area, but only if they can be assured of a strong labor pool and accessible infrastructure. This international development would be necessary for St. Louis to lead the world in agtech moving forward.
Closer to home, Wash U can commit to offering more classes focused on agriculture and encourage prospective scientists to consider entrepreneurship as a potential career path.
The path to the world 30 years from now presents a host of challenges that will change the way the world works, and the way people live—if St. Louis can change too, it can help influence that path for the better and create its own place in that new world.
Zachary Sorensen ‘21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at zacharysorensen@wustl.edu.