Cooperative Ventures, the investment arm of farmer-owned cooperatives CHS and GROWMARK, joined forces with World Agri-Tech to search for innovators bridging the gap from collecting data to generating insights and recommendations.

Chosen from 100 entries around the world, the three finalists Ukko Agro, Autonomous Pivot and Precision.AI will go head-to-head at the summit in San Francisco for a chance to work with mentors at the Cooperative Ventures fund, and potentially win some investment.

Commenting on the finalists’ selection, GROWMARK’s Director of Innovation Heather Thompson said:
“We had a great response to our Innovation Challenge, with applications across the spectrum of data analysis and digital intelligence. The three finalists are each tackling the ag data opportunity from a different angle. We’re excited to learn more about their compelling companies at the challenge final on March 14 at World Agri-Tech.”

Meet the three finalists that caught the judges’ attention with breakthrough technologies will benefit farmers and cooperatives in North America:

Ukko Agro

Ukko Agro’s localized weather and forecasting technology is helping farmers to mitigate risk and get the highest possible returns from their input investments. Its proprietary Field Adaptive and Integrated Modelling platform ‘ForeSite’ delivers field-specific staging information up to 14 days in advance, suggesting where and when to apply high-value insecticides and fungicides.

Autonomous Pivot

Autonomous Pivot strives to increase farmers’ profit and sustainability in pivot-irrigated row crops through the use of proprietary, non-invasive sensors, cameras and AI. Transforming center-pivot irrigation systems into an intelligent, AI-driven robotic platform provides growers with an affordable precise solution that autonomously maximizes crop yields while saving on water and other inputs.

Precision AI

With its custom-built AI-powered drones, Precision AI offers plant-level herbicide applications at broadacre scale, ultimately taking crop production decisions from a whole field to an individual plant. Its autonomous drones enable field spraying to be targeted from the air at only the weeds, which results in massive chemical savings while removing the reliance on remote internet connectivity.

Delegates at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco on March 14-15 will watch the final pitches to the judges, before seeing the winner revealed live on stage. The chosen start-up will enjoy vital mentorship and support from the Cooperative Ventures team.

Full program information, including the agenda, speaking faculty, start-ups and delegate registration is available at www.worldagritechusa.com