Agtech - So What?

The cost of making agriculture more sustainable often ends up sitting with farmers. But what if it was shared more equitably along the supply chain?
Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) is an approach that’s gaining traction in Europe and is now coming to Australia, bringing together businesses, supply chain partners, and other organizations to co-invest in on-farm measures that build resilience across entire landscapes.
In this episode, Tenacious’ Dr. Maddie Mitchell speaks with Ebony Greaves-Zwinggi, Founder and CEO of SEAOAK Consulting, about bringing the model to Australia and what it could mean for farmers. 
Developed in the UK, LENs is not another carbon or biodiversity credit market. Instead, it provides a way for organizations that depend on healthy landscapes to pool funding and pay farmers to implement practical sustainability measures.
Ebony and Maddie explore how the model works, why it needs to be adapted for Australian farming systems, and how it could make sustainability initiatives more accessible to small and medium-sized farms. Ebony also shares her thoughts on the role of technology in creating tangible commercial value for producers, and why a landscape-scale approach could help build more resilient agricultural supply chains.
Maddie and Ebony discuss:
Why the cost, risk, and responsibility of agricultural sustainability need to be shared more equitably across the supply chain.
How LENs works, including its three funding pathways for farmers, to ensure farmers are rewarded for good practices.
Why farmers are paid for implementing practices, rather than being exposed to the risk of whether a particular environmental outcome is achieved.
The role of Landcare and natural resource management groups in adapting LENS for Australian agriculture
The opportunity to use agtech for more affordable MRV, from methane measurement to virtual fencing and environmental DNA.
How better data integration could help turn sustainability credentials into commercial benefits such as market access or insurance incentives.
The She-Oak Environmental Leadership Program and its ambition to create career pathways for rural women.
Useful Links:
Agtech so what: The Three Fears of Farm Data
Why Good Agtech Doesn't Always Get Adopted, with Chad Godsey
Australia's first Landscape Enterprise Network announced in NSW Hunter Region
Regen Ag Series #3: Why major food companies are supporting regen ag with Jay Watson of General Mills
Farm Sustainability & Traceability | SEAOAK
Fera Science
Low Carbon Landscapes Grant | NSW Government
Science Based Targets Initiative
LENs expands beyond Europe with first network in Australia - 3Keel
Regenerating Together Framework — SAI Platform
GHG Protocol
Australian Beef Sustainability Framework
For more information and resources, visit our website. 
The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

 

When a renewable energy developer approached Tracey Lefroy’s farm, she was very conscious of the tensions these projects could create between neighbors. Rather than negotiating individually, Tracey helped bring neighboring landowners in Western Australia’s wheatbelt together to create a joint approach. 
The group shared information and negotiated commercially together, creating greater transparency, trust, and a stronger voice in the process. Tracey has since drawn on that experience to help other landowners navigate similar projects as an independent consultant.
Tracey’s central message is that the conversation doesn’t need to begin with whether people are for or against renewable energy. Instead, it can start with a more practical question: If development is coming, how can farmers and communities shape it together to deliver the best possible long-term outcomes?
Sarah and Tracey discuss:
What farmers need to consider when negotiating renewable energy agreements
The long-term risks of hosting energy infrastructure, including erosion, water runoff, farm management, and decommissioning.
How renewable energy income can support farm business resilience and why tax and land-rating implications matter.
Why local procurement, skills development, and infrastructure planning are important for regional communities.
How renewable energy could support new industries, including data centers and Australian fertilizer production.
How to move from an extractive approach to development towards one that creates lasting regional benefits.
Useful Links:
Cranmore Merinos
Beyond Co-existence: Can Regions Shape Their Energy Future?
Ag cooperatives : something old that can be new again? 
The business case for electrifying agriculture, with Mike Casey?
Regional Energy Collaboration Framework - the Energy Charter
FPJ2302 – Sounness, C & Heindl, S (2026), Beyond coexistence: agri-energy collaboration - Australian Farm Institute
Beyond decarbonization: the adaptation & resilience opportunity for agri-food
For more information and resources, visit our website. 
The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

 

Adoption isn't the final stage of ag innovation. And extension doesn’t just happen when workshops and fact sheets are added to research projects. Both need to be designed in from the beginning and supported for long enough for change to actually stick.
The agriculture system invests heavily in research and development, but getting a new idea from “it works” to widespread, sustained practice is another challenge altogether.
In this episode, Sarah Nolet talks with farmer, researcher, and extension expert Pip Job about what we might be getting wrong about agricultural adoption.
Pip has worked across Landcare, government, drought resilience, and venture-backed agtech startups. Her broad experience has given her a unique perspective on the different systems and incentives that shape how farmers adopt  (and sometimes stop adopting) new practices and technologies.
She argues that extension is about transformation, not transaction. Rather than simply getting information or technology in front of farmers, effective extension needs to understand the motivations, capabilities, risk appetites, and social contexts that influence whether people actually change.
The conversation also explores why agriculture could learn from fields such as behavioral science, implementation science, and human-centered design.
In this episode, we explore:
Why extension and sales aren't the same thing
Why “reach” doesn't necessarily equal impact
What causes farmers to disadopt new practices
Why extension is often treated as an afterthought to R&D
What agriculture could learn from health, education, and other sectors
How funding cycles and reporting requirements can work against genuine behavior change
Why co-design needs to continue throughout a project, rather than happening once at the beginning.
What a longer-term investment model for agricultural adoption could look like
Useful Links:
Hub on the pathway to impact - Southern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
Five Lessons in (Effective) Agtech Adoption
Why Good Agtech Doesn't Always Get Adopted, with Chad Godsey
Australasian Pacific Extension Network
Accelerating Agtech Adoption - Agrifutures
Getting Agtech Ready - Agtech So What?
FromDemo Farms to Adoption with Wine Australia
Book: Change or Die
For more information and resources, visit our website. 
The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

 

Building a farm for an uncertain future means questioning some of the assumptions that have driven farming for decades.
For Simon Wallwork, a brutally dry season in 2010 was the catalyst for rethinking his farming system. After years of predominantly cropping, he began looking more closely at climate data and using it to inform changes to his agronomic practices and make the jump to bring livestock back into the business.
Since then, Simon's thinking has expanded from adapting to climate change, to actively preparing for what's next. He's been involved in Ag Zero, a farmer-led initiative exploring agriculture's role in the energy transition, while on his own farm he's experimenting with carbon farming, electrification, and on-farm energy hosting.
In this episode, Simon and Sarah explore what happens when farmers start thinking about technology, sustainability, and resilience not as separate issues, but as parts of the same system. For instance, rather than simply replacing a diesel tractor with an electric one, what happens when electrification and autonomy make the constraints of traditional farming systems start to disappear?
They discuss:
Why diversification can be an important part of building farm resilience
The shift from thinking about climate adaptation to agriculture's role in mitigation and the energy transition
How carbon farming can change the economics of marginal land
How autonomy changes the assumptions around machinery size and speed
Simon's farm microgrid and the role of solar and batteries
The potential role of electric tractors, trucks, and drone sprayers
Whether electrification and autonomy could reduce the pressure for farms to continually scale up
What energy independence could look like at the farm and regional level and why community ownership is critical
How sustainability requirements could increasingly influence market access, finance, and insurance
Useful Links:
Webinar: Nature Friendly Farming - Farmers for Climate Action
The Business Case for Electrifying Agriculture, with Cherry Grower Mike Casey
Agricultural autonomy and new ways of working with SwarmFarm Robotics
Have we hit the tipping point for autonomy in ag? With Shane Thomas and Matthew Pryor
Comparing science communication theory with participatory practice: case study of the Australian Climate Champion Program
GRDC
Corrigin Farm Improvement Group
For more information and resources, visit our website. 
The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

 

As technology makes equipment more autonomous, precise, and serviceable from anywhere, will dealers become less important? Or will they become an even more valuable technology-enabled partner to farmers?
Today, Shane Thomas (Upstream Ag Insights) joins us to unpack the underlying economics of ag equipment dealers in our latest, Business Model Breakdowns episode of AgTech So What? 
As many know, dealerships are where most equipment gets sold, serviced, and supported.  But the business model is more complicated than simply selling tractors and parts. And, it’s changing. 
We examine dealers largely by breaking down Titan Machinery, the world’s largest CNH dealership, with around $US 2.5 billion in revenue and more than 100 locations across the US, Eastern Europe, and Australia.
The surprising part? The equipment itself isn't where most of their profits come from. While equipment sales make up the majority of dealership revenue, parts, service, and rentals generate the majority of gross margin.
In this episode, Sarah, Matthew and Shane discuss:
How the agricultural equipment dealership business model works.
Why parts and service are so important to dealer profitability.
Whether technology could fundamentally change the role of the dealer. 
The role of equipment financing and inventory management.
Why used equipment can create significant balance-sheet risk.
How dealer consolidation changes the economics of the business.
Agtech companies attempting to go direct to farmers.
Whether trust and rapid service will remain powerful advantages for dealers.
Got a business model in ag you’d like for us to break down in a future episode? Let us know!
Useful Links:
Investor Relations - Titan Machinery
Will China’s cheaper tractors disrupt ag equipment? - Tenacious Ventures
CNH
Dealers AGCO Corporation, Fendt Australia, John Deere
Blurring the Line Between Farmer and Ag Retailer - Tenacious Ventures
Tech: SwarmFarm Robotics, Harrington Seed Destructor, Carbon Robotics
7 Powers - The Foundations of Business Strategy, Hamilton Helmer
For more information and resources, visit our website. 
The information in this post is not investment advice or a recommendation to invest. It is general information only and does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making an investment decision you should seek financial advice from a professional financial adviser. Whilst we believe the information is correct, we provide no warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness.

 

Companies: Titan Machinery • Topics: ag-retail, farm-machinery, business-model, agtech-ecosystem