New Trade Markets, Drip is Good, and Robots can Farm

Greetings on this Friday afternoon.

News of the day - 

New Markets to be found?

Trumps trade chief nominee has spoken about opening up new markets for biofuels and ag products - Asked by several senators about his plans for expanding agricultural trade, which suffered during Trump's past trade wars, Greer said he wanted to expand foreign markets for "competitive" U.S. farmers. "That means that we need to go and gain market access where things have been closed," he said, citing India and Turkey as markets that need to fully open to U.S. farm goods. In his opening remarks, Greer said he would push for a pragmatic U.S. trade policy focused on rebuilding U.S. manufacturing and shoring up supply chains. Reuters

• Anything that could boost competitiveness and more opportunity to produce here in the United States should be positive. At least it’s good to see the agriculture trade situation being mentioned. 

Some funds frozen from the USDA - 

USDA is withholding funds from farmers for conservation programs, despite the White House stating last week that funds to individuals would not be frozen. DTN

• It seems there is much confusion in this realm right now. Many government payments and aid setups have been disrupted (for good reason unfortunately). Hopefully this can be sorted through soon. 

Drip Irrigation Conserves Water?

Compared with traditional pivot and flood irrigation, drip systems offer multiple advantages, said Chuck Bates, vice president of products and agronomy for Netafim USA. “No. 1 is water use efficiency,” he said. "Generally speaking, you’re going to use less water because you have less evaporative effects than with a pivot, and you’re not wasting water from a flood irrigation system, where you’re creating tailwater.” Agriculture

• I thought this was pretty common knowledge. Large scale drip irrigation systems have been around for a while now, but the massive investment they can pose restricts just how widely used it is. It takes a good deal of effort to get drip systems installed. Not to mention shockingly high expense. It is far and away the most superior method of irrigation, however. Despite some minor quibbles and issues, drip is so efficient and effective nothing else can compete. 

  At least in my experience. 

Is Ag Tech Trending Up or Down?

Sometimes I get some conflicting info around the internet. Technology is rapidly advancing in the Ag world. But then I also see article such as this -

Investment in agtech startups plummeted in 2024

Deal activity fell 25% during the year with a string of companies declaring bankruptcy, but Pitchbook analysts say a rebound could still happen. AgDive

• Many tech start ups in the Ag space have had to close up or downsized. It seems with the tightening economy there was less risks being taken, and investment went to more established companies. 

I don’t think that will stop advancement in the long term, and there is still a ton of new tech coming down the pike. Like these robots- 

Greenfield Robotics' Autonomous Farming Robots leverages advanced GPS systems and AI for pathing to cut down weeds close to the ground on broad acre crops, without the use of herbicides. Farmequipment

• Who knows how much these things cost. I don’t think you can actually buy them yet. 

Also things like the Verdant Robotics laser application system are pretty amazing - 

Ag tech is a double edge sword sometimes, because while it can do fantastic things it is almost always going to raise the price.

Hopefully like most tech the price will come down over time. 

Map of the Homesteaders - 

Newsweek compiled a map of where homesteading endeavors are most common. It probably is more of an estimate considering what makes a homesteader is a bit subjective. Generally I think they are considering anyone who is trying to be more self reliant in some fashion by producing instead of only consuming. Their map is also incomplete without numbers for many states, including Texas. Still, it is interesting to see what climates and areas can best provide for homesteading - 

See you Monday