Farmhand Ventures Community News #6
What I'm reading about in ag and why it matters
Hello from Nashville!
Today’s newsletter is a bit short and a day late. I’m on the road this week and am prioritizing in person conversations. In the past 24 hours, I’ve gotten to shake hands and speak with a next gen equipment dealer in TN, a handful of cool early stage ag startups covering everything from affordable biostims for small farms to AI-driven trade arbitrage models to rodent-management, jam with my favorite former boss on field trial models and work-life balance, and rapid-fire advise a handful of folks eager to build up agtech hubs in various spots in the Southeast. I love solutioning around economic development via ag entrepreneurship with interested humans almost as much as I love sitting in silence reading and thinking about this stuff. 🤓 My job is awesome.
Biden H-2A labor protections ruled unconsitutional in 17 states
TL;DR: “U.S. District Judge Lisa Wood in Brunswick, Georgia ruled that the U.S. Department of Labor rule is invalid because Congress explicitly excluded farmworkers from such protections when it granted them to other private-sector workers in the National Labor Relations Act”
Why it matters: When I tell not-ag people in my life that I invest in the ag labor solutions, a surprising percentage of them dive into unionization. They assume that farmworkers can unionize. Farmworkers are actually specfically excluded from the federal right to collectively organize. There are a few states that have protected the right to unionize for domestic (non H-2A) farmworkers, and it’s a pretty complicated subject. I don’t have time to get into it thoughtfully and with the necessary citations right now, but, poke around the interwebs and if you ask nicely, I could be convinced to write something up at a later date.
Landus offers health insurance plan for farmer members
TL;DR: Landus is the biggest co-op in Iowa, and it’s offering its members a selection of health insurance options. Most farmers today rely on family members with off-farm jobs to access health coverage.
Why it matters: Health insurance matters, and navigating our complex health insurance systems is confusing and stressful. Furthermore, healthcare access, even if one is insured, is far too frequently life-threateningly difficult to obtain in many rural places. It’s interesting that Landus’s offerings include at-home basic medical equipment to better enable telehealth.
TL;DR: Mad Markets, a subsidiary of Mad Ag, announces its acquistion of Timeless, an organic lentils, chickpeas and barley company.
Why it matters: I’m going to be highly selective in my deal coverage. If you care about tracking that, which I do, you should probably be reading some combo of AgFunder News, Foodtech Connect, Agtech Action, and FoodTech Weekly. But this newsletter is an attempt not to replicate existing content. That said, this is an interesting deal tome. I left VC for a blip to help spin Farmacopia Farms (initially vertical integration of hemp+hazelnuts, but as you’ll see from their site, they’ve pivoted) out of Chess Ag Full Harvest Partners. I am such a believer in the need for some degree of on-farm bottom-up (vs corporate driven top-down) vertical integration that I moved to Oregon and worked consistent 80-100 hour weeks to try to make it happen. That particular version didn’t work for me at that moment in time, but I continue to believe that the business opportunity exists. The closer farms can get to end buyers, the greater % of food dollars can move to farm, thus increasing margins and enabling a more responsive and nimble food system…in theory. It’s a great example of a not-really-VC-fundable thing that absolutely must be financed for agrifood systems to truly change.
Also, Timeless’s chickpeas are yummy. I don’t want to brag, but I’m kind of a dried bean aficionado. I’m working through a $100 Rancho Gordo giftcard (that’s a lot of beans) right now, and my mom has become Simpli’s biggest hype-woman [which means free beans for me]. But Timeless is up there on my dried bean list, for sure.
Fall Conference season has started. I’ll be in the following spots over the next couple of weeks. Say hi (reply to this email) if you’re in the same spot!
09/09 - 09/11 - Nashville, TN - 3686 by LaunchTN - I had a fun convo about climate tech this am with Julia Polk, David Pervan, Tyler Hull, and Rebecca Kaduru.
09/12 - 09/13 - Seattle, WA - I’ll be at Abundance Retreat jamming with some of the coolest emerging GPs and LPs-that-back-us in the biz.
09/18 - 09/19 - St. Louis aka home - I’ll be at Climate Innovation Day with my Danforth Center & Bayer friends.
9/23-9/27 - NYC - I’ll be at Climate Week NYC. I’m simultaneously overwhelmed in general by the number of events and humans in town and underwhelmed by the presence of ag at most of the events.
Have a great week,
Connie