Fodder system gets accelerated
Two more companies join World Dairy Expo Tech Spotlight
A company that produces self-contained, fully automated, shippable fodder-growing systems based in Utah has been admitted into the F3 Tech Accelerator Program.
GrowBox claims to be able to match the annual dry matter output of a 50-acre field of alfalfa hay with one of its 45-foot shipping container units. The system recaptures water used during the growing process. The company claims only 250 gallons of freshwater are needed to grow and harvest 2,000 pounds of feed. Their system also injects ozone into the recirculating water to combat mold and fungi that tend to grow inside closed fodder systems.
Over the course of the three-month accelerator that starts in September, GrowBox will receive expert guidance from F3 Tech mentors in business development, marketing, legal and finance. The accelerator requires no equity from participants, a unique value proposition for many early-stage companies.
Ag tech conference reports on the common mistakes
of ag tech start-ups
I enjoyed reading this article that summarizes a session from a recent ag tech conference. It’s a good one for any cow tech start-up to read. Here were two points from it that I thought were interesting:
1.
Successful innovations add to the farmer’s experience, seamlessly integrate with their existing systems and practices, and are simple to operate.
Adding to the producer’s user experience is a broad statement, but I think it’s accurate for what start-ups need to do. That will mean different things to different operations. “Seamless integration” and “simple to operate” are no-brainer requirements. Producers will trust those start-ups that have a safety net of good customer service to fill in where integrations unexpectedly fail and operations are still adapting from complex to more simple.
2.
[Startups] must also have an understanding of how [their] integration will be reflected on a producer’s income statement. Does it reduce expenses? Increase profits?
Producers are always going to ask this question to a cow tech start-up. Can your start-up answer it? It’s even better if it can quantify the cost savings or increase in profits.
Read the whole article here.
Two more companies join World Dairy Expo Tech Spotlight
ZISK and Madcap Dairy Software will join the virtual dairy tech spotlight event on Sept. 16. ZISK is a free margin projection app and boasts more than 1 million cows in the U.S. already using its technology. Madcap Dairy Software is a milk supply chain management software owned by Contec Group International Ltd that is used on 60,000-plus farms worldwide.
Register to see these and nine other start-ups for free here.
Also, don’t forget to sign up for Vyla’s public launch of its new app on Sept. 9 – Ascend. You can register for the virtual event here.
Profit projections from ZISK
Projected profitability for two dairy herd sizes have IMPROVED in profit projections from ZISK.
ZISK is a profit-projection smartphone app that tracks individual dairy farm profitability based on current CME board prices. Projections for a 1,000-cow dairy producing an average of 80 pounds of milk per cow and a 2,500-cow dairy producing an average of 85 pounds of milk per cow are provided.
12-month dairy farm profit projections (as of Sept. 3, 2021):
1,000-cow dairy = $177,050 (UP by $86,200 since the middle of August)
2,500-cow dairy = $1.132 million (UP about $220,600 since the middle of August)