Redefining ‘sustainable’: Are climate goals undermining animal welfare in UK livestock?
As emissions targets reshape breeding priorities, UK advisers warn that a narrow focus on efficiency risks sidelining animal health and resilience
Genomics
Resurrect Bio closes $10.3M Series A as investors back AI-led crop immunity
Oversubscribed round signals growing confidence in gene-edited disease resistance as seed majors seek alternatives to chemical crop protection
Corteva shares name of seed, genetics spin-off — Vylor
Corteva shared the new name for its seed and genetic business spin-off, having already revealed the executive teams for Vylor and New Corteva in April
Tunisian researchers unlock “treasure trove” of genetic traits in heritage durum wheat
Scientists in Tunisia have sequenced the complete genomes of two iconic durum wheat varieties, Mahmoudi and Chili, opening up what researchers describe as a “treasure trove” of genetic traits that could help future‑proof global wheat production against...
Wild Bioscience targets route to market for first climate‑resilient crops after £45m Series A
Oxford spinout Wild Bioscience has raised £45m in new funding and expanded its operations as it accelerates its route to market for its first improved crop varieties, starting with precision‑bred wheat designed to withstand climate volatility
Leaps by Bayer’s Derek Norman: Why agtech needs to learn to fail faster
With capital tightening and exits slow to materialise, Leaps by Bayer’s Derek Norman argues that agtech must adopt a tougher, more disciplined mindset – testing to fail early, not to validate success – if it wants to remain investable
SOSV’s Po Bronson: “I’m betting on the chaos factor going up”
As climate stress squeezes farmer margins and fractures the global food system, SOSV’s Po Bronson believes rising pain could finally accelerate agtech adoption. But only if the sector learns to fund innovation beyond venture capital and embraces...
BetterSeeds and Caszyme target tissue culture bottleneck with viral delivery of ultra‑compact CRISPR tools
A new collaboration between BetterSeeds and Caszyme aims to bypass one of the most persistent constraints in plant gene editing: tissue culture. By combining ultra‑compact Cas12l nucleases with engineered plant viral vectors, the partners say they can...
CRISPR wheat cuts carcinogen risk without yield loss, strengthening case for precision gene editing
Ultra‑low asparagine wheat developed by Rothamsted Research shows how precision gene editing can help food producers meet tightening safety regulations, without sacrificing productivity, marking a significant step forward for safer, more compliant food...
Foray Bioscience and Z’s Nutty Ridge target a faster path to scaling hazelnut trees
A new partnership between plant biomanufacturing start-up Foray Bioscience and New York-based nut tree breeder Z’s Nutty Ridge aims to overcome one of agriculture’s hardest scaling problems: how to commercialise elite varieties of long‑lived perennial...
French orchard growers turn to biocontrol, AI and climate‑smart varieties as pesticide squeeze tightens
Producers at SIVAL 2026 showcased a wave of innovations designed to keep orchards productive and competitive in the face of a future shaped by tougher chemical restrictions, volatile climate patterns and rising pest and disease pressures
Start-up profile
Rainbow Crops: The VIB spin‑off using genome editing and AI to reinvent crop breeding
Belgium’s VIB institute, known for generating world‑class plant biotech companies, believes it has found its next success story in Rainbow Crops; a start‑up combining multiplex genome editing, AI and advanced phenotyping to deliver climate‑resilient,...
Corteva partners with Resurrect Bio to use AI, gene editing to develop disease-resistant corn
Crop protection companies like Corteva are blending gene editing and AI technologies to create corn hybrids that can respond to multiple diseases at once
Living Models emerges from stealth with $7m to build AI ‘foundation models’ for plant genomics
Paris-Berkeley-based start-up unveils BOTANIC, an open‑weight genomic transformer trained on 43 plant species, and says its approach could cut years from the seed development cycle
Gene‑edited crops draw record investor backing as Tropic lands $105m to scale climate‑resilient bananas and rice
UK agri‑biotech Tropic has closed an oversubscribed $105m Series C, the biggest raise yet for a gene‑edited tropical crops company, as investors double down on CRISPR‑enabled tools to boost yield, fight disease and strengthen climate resilience across...
Cytotrait claims breakthrough for ultra‑high trait expression as it closes £3M seed round
UK spinout says its organelle‑engineering platform could unlock traits not possible to achieve with nuclear genome editing, as investors back new crop development programmes across Europe and North America
From the Dead Sea to Brazilian corn fields: How PlantArcBio creates drought-resilient crops
Israeli biotech and gene-editing company PlantArcBio is partnering with Agroceres Group subsidiary Helix Sementes e Biotecnologia to develop drought-resilient corn for the South American market
Syngenta breaks ground with Europe’s first scalable hybrid wheat
Whole‑genome screening, precision trait mapping and hybrid‑breeding advances have enabled Syngenta to deliver Europe’s first commercially scalable hybrid wheat, marking a pivotal moment for a crop long considered too genetically complex for hybridisation
‘A map that’s green everywhere’: ISF chief pushes for global alignment on gene‑edited seeds
International Seed Federation (ISF) secretary general Michael Keller warns that a fragmented regulatory landscape risks stalling innovation, slowing climate‑resilient crop development and shutting out smaller breeders
Dyson Farming and KWS join Wild Bio in five‑year sprint to commercial precision-bred wheat breakthrough
University of Oxford spinout expects precision‑bred wheat to reach UK farms within around five years, following the launch of a new consortium with seed giant KWS and Dyson Farming, the UK’s largest commercial farming operation
Mother plants ‘pre‑programme’ their seeds: new discovery could reshape crop breeding and resilience
A breakthrough by scientists at the John Innes Centre and the Earlham Institute has revealed for the first time how “mother plants” pass environmental information directly to their developing seeds – a finding that could transform approaches to crop...
Wild Bio and The Traits Company join forces to accelerate next-gen soybean development
UK ag-biotech Wild Bioscience and US-based The Traits Company announce a strategic collaboration to fast-track differentiated soybean varieties – validating demand for Wild Bio’s AI-powered trait design platform
Biographica’s ‘pharma playbook’ for crops draws seed funding and BASF | Nunhems tie-up
From drought tolerance to disease resistance, Biographica says its AI can slash crop development timelines by five years. Investors and seed giants are buying in
Investor profile
Turning agriculture into healthcare: Why The First Thirty is betting €100m on soil-to-health links
Investor Naeem Lakhani believes fixing human health starts with fixing soils. His agtech fund, The First Thirty, is raising €100m to back companies connecting soil biology, food quality, and human health – powered by AI and collapsing genomics costs
Lighting up LatAm: Seed trait company BioLumic takes UV tech to Brazil, Chile
UV-based seed trait company BioLumic is taking advantage of Brazil’s growing seasons to speed up developing new crop traits and hybrids
Biocentis secures $19M to reinvent insect control with ‘biology-first’ approach
Imperial College London spin-out Biocentis is betting on programmable biology and AI to tackle the global threats posed by insects. It believes its genome engineering platform promises a safer, more sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides and...
Ginkgo and Bayer double down on microbial nitrogen fixation in renewed alliance
Ginkgo Bioworks and Bayer have extended their multi-year partnership to develop microbial nitrogen fixation technology that could reduce reliance on synthetic fertilisers
Wild Bio raises $60m to supercharge photosynthesis with AI-powered precision breeding
UK start-up says its breakthrough platform could unlock yield gains in major crops by mimicking evolution and enhancing photosynthesis – now the challenge is scaling it for global seed partners
Genomines raises $45M to grow nickel from plants, not mines
French start-up Genomines has raised an oversubscribed $45 million Series A to scale its groundbreaking approach to metal extraction
Solving clubroot with AI? NRGene Green shares field test data on seed breeding tech
NRGene Green is using AI-based crop genomics to discover traits to address a persistent problem for Canadian canola farmers – clubroot disease
‘I was thinking this is old stuff’... Going retro could be key to the future of food, says plant scientist Mark Tester
Professor Mark Tester has spent the last decade on a quest to engineer crops to grow in the harshest of circumstances. A breakthrough has unlikely roots in decades-old science, he tells Harry Holmes
Pairwise licenses gene-editing platform to Mars to bolster cacao R&D
Cocoa market volatility is making major food producers like Mars rethink their supply chain with the help of agtech
2026 Canola season: Nutrien Ag releases 4 seed hybrids for Western Canadian farmers
Canadian canola farmers grapple with the threat of two serious diseases — blackleg and clubroot — but now have four more seed options to circumvent these challenges
Crop genome start-up Spearhead Bio receives US NSF grant to create corn varieties
Spearhead Bio is taking a glue-and-scissor approach to gene-editing with its proprietary TAHITI technology
Sector crises illustrate curse of ‘tech looking for the problem’
What explains the troubles facing Dutch plant health start-up Plense Technologies, which is winding down, and French robotics firm Naïo Technologies, which has entered receivership?
Solynta unpeels the transformative potential of hybrid potato tech
A year on from the commercial release of its hybrid true potato seed varieties in Kenya, trials have delivered 3-4x the yield of local varieties. It is now eying other markets, it tells AgTechNavigator. But it’s a slow business to bake
Combatting citrus greening: Triple Helix advocates for agtech innovation, government support
Triple Helix’s latest report advocates for government action to spearhead agtech innovation and investment to tackle a host of agriculture challenges, including citrus greening
‘There are so many things we can do with this’... Terrana Biosciences to unleash RNA-based crop protection
Flagship Pioneering – the US company behind RNA-based vaccine maker Moderna and ag trailblazers Indigo and Inari – has unveiled Terrana Biosciences after four years in stealth. Its RNA platform has a host of potential applications in agriculture, Terrana...
5 agri-food start-ups selected for Eatable Adventures’ Raíces accelerator
Agri-food accelerator Eatable Adventures selected Nunatak, Sciphage, The Food Chainers, Bee Technology and Koji to join its inaugural Raíces programme, which is supporting the growth of Latin American and Spanish start-ups
CropLife CEO demands ‘consistent’ policy on genome editing to boost productivity
CropLife International President and CEO Emily Rees wants improved global value-chain cooperation to address geopolitical volatility and ensure future food productivity
Debate over gene editing in organic farming intensifies
Researchers have called for the EU to allow new genomic techniques (NGTs), such as gene editing, in organic farming. They argue this could help achieve the European Green Deal’s target of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, sparking renewed policy debate...
Can an engineered probiotic tackle necrotic enteritis? Yes, says BiomEdit
Company looks to neutralize key toxins produced by C. perfringens
Does US approval of PRRS-resistant pigs signal a new era for livestock innovation?
‘Beyond disease resistance, the technology also reduces the susceptibility of pigs to secondary bacterial infections’
Cobb-Vantress ramps up R&D investment to fast-track genetic gains
Cobb leveraging precision data collection, and improved prediction models to stay ahead in broiler performance
Genus PIC awaits FDA OK as global approval push for PRRS-resistant pigs intensifies
Disease continues to cause significant economic losses across global pork production systems
WATCH: David Friedberg – ‘Ignore the downturn, transformative tech will always make returns’
The agtech pioneer – now CEO of Ohalo Genetics – tells us why he’s relaxed about the tougher funding environment; why he fears ‘someone’s gonna get hurt’ by the Trump tariffs; and why he’s ‘all in’ on his seed breeding start-up.
AI and gene editing poised to boost ‘stagnating’ corn yields: Inari
With cumulative equity raised of more than $720 million, seed design start-up Inari is attracting significant support from investors. We caught up with Inari CFO Lara Smith Weber to learn more about the company’s innovative technology and asset-light...
Iyris on the plant science innovation helping to combat climate change
Iyris, a Saudi-based start-up, discusses a polyploid grafting technique that it believes could open up new possibilities for farming in hot climates, making crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers more resilient to challenging environmental conditions.
BetterSeeds appoints CRISPR pioneer to address ‘critical bottleneck’ in crop gene editing
Israel-based BetterSeeds, which uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to genetically improve crops and design better seeds, has appointed Professor Virginius Šikšnys to its Scientific Advisory Board to ‘unlock CRISPR’s full potential’.
Google spinout Heritable Agriculture brings AI to crop breeding
Heritable Agriculture, an idea conceived inside Alphabet’s semi-secret research and development ‘moonshot’ facility (or Google X), has emerged from stealth to focus on advancing plant breeding and biotechnology.