EPISODE · Aug 28, 2026 · 11 MIN
The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level since 1951, and investors just put $27M behind the platform tracking what's left of it.
from AgTech Digest
The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level since 1951 — and investors just put $27 million behind the platform tracking what's left of it.Consolidation defined the week. CropX Technologies acquired lab-analysis firm SCIO — its eighth acquisition since 2020 and its largest to date, terms undisclosed — while Indigo Agriculture spun its microbial crop-protection science out as a standalone company, ENAI. At the other end of the cycle, 54-year-old horticultural distributor BFG Supply filed for Chapter 11 with $342.5 million in debt and a $55 million DIP loan, targeting a going-concern sale by October 22 after cutting nearly a third of its workforce.Also this week: Breedr raised a $27 million Series B led by Partech, with more than 2 million cattle listed and close to $500 million in livestock trading this year; Saudi Arabia's NADEC agreed to pay $22.7 million for a six-hectare Pure Harvest greenhouse in Haradh under Vision 2030; TerraBlaster closed a $12.5 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures for its Mars-derived soil-chemistry sensor; VitalFluid raised a $19.9 million Series A co-led by Invest-NL; Blue Radix took an undisclosed follow-on from Navus; AGCO unveiled new Fendt, Massey Ferguson and PTx equipment at the Farm Progress Show alongside lidar plans with GUSS Automation; Solinftec became the first ag-robotics company to sell parts via Amazon as its Solix fleet grew 15-fold to over 55,000 acres; USDA and HHS committed up to $95 million to the Harvest to Hallways initiative; Al Dahra activated a five-year, $500 million wheat framework with Egypt; Reservoir landed a $10 million R&D partnership with John Deere; Halter expanded virtual fencing onto BLM lands in New Mexico and Wyoming with nearly $3 million from the Foundation for America's Public Lands; and three nonprofits sued Driscoll's over its sustainability marketing.The premium edition goes deeper: Big Ag Is Buying Its Way Into Biology maps crop protection's pivot from synthetic chemistry to biology — at least seven biological specialists absorbed into strategic hands, funding back above $500 million in 2026, the first new herbicide and fungicide modes of action in roughly 40 years, and the deleveraging of legacy portfolios at FMC and Bayer.In this episode: (00:00) Cold Open (00:31) The Impact Scorecard (03:21) Corporate and Financial Shifts (04:47) Innovation and Public Strategy (07:17) Market Signals and Operations (09:40) CloseConnect with Us!Be sure to subscribe to our other shows: Vertical Farming Podcast: https://vertical-farming-podcast.captivate.fm/listen Greenhouse Success Stories: https://greenhouse-success-stories.captivate.fm/listenSubscribe to our Newsletters: https://network.igrownews.com/Connect with us: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/igrow-news/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/igrownews🎙️🎙️🎙️ Podcast Production Support provided by https://fullcast.co Discover the best podcast services in the world at The Podosphere: https://www.thepodosphere.com/Mentioned in this episode:2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews2025 Precision Ag Report2025 Precision Ag Report by iGrowNews2025 Precision Ag Report
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Featuring News From CropX Technologies, Indigo Agriculture, BFG Supply, NADEC, Breedr, TerraBlaster, John Deere, and AGCO
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The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level since 1951, and investors just put $27M behind the platform tracking what's left of it.
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