A biodegradable, compostable and non-toxic, soy-based foam, called StyroSoy, earned the grand prize in the 29th annual Student Soybean Innovation Competition. StyroSoy is an environmentally friendly, plastic-free alternative to polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam, which is a product owned by Dow Chemical. StyroSoy is designed to make a variety of density packaging materials, cushions, foams and additional products for protecting valuable merchandise such as electronics, houseware and other consumer items during shipping to customers.

If you are driving through the Midwest you might see small drones flying back and forth over the fields. Some of these will be flying for an AgTech company called Taranis that describes its mission as providing “A.I. powered crop intelligence solutions.” They are using increasingly sophisticated and cost-effective drone technology to gather season-long images of growing crops. Read the full story on how this innovation has the potential to change farm management.

The future is bright for vertical farming. Purdue University researchers have designed two simple LED lighting strategies to increase yield and reduce energy costs for this sector of agbioscience. These innovations could help make vertical farming, the fastest-growing but costly sector of indoor agriculture, more viable.

From soil to sky, agbioscience companies have integrated innovative technologies into their operations such as drones, machine learning, AI and automation. Soon, you will be able to add satellites to that list as John Deere announced it is finalizing a “satellite partner” to help create geospatial maps. This will allow farmers to better analyze crop growth and bring greater connectivity to those in remote areas.

Farming in space? No longer is this just something out of a sci-fi film. Innovators across agbioscience are working to help astronauts grow crops more efficiently in space. Anu was established six years ago by two undergraduate students who are working on a way to use a controlled-environment chamber to optimize yields and reduce energy consumption. The start-up was recently awarded nearly $1M from the National Science Foundation to further their research and development.

At the start of the year, we pause to pick our New Year’s resolutions, make travel plans, purge closets and toy chests of unwanted items, and map out what it is that has us motivated for what lies ahead. Visit Indy took the time to write down their top 23 reasons why they're excited for this city, this year. It’s going to be a good one.

This week, two Field Atlas Ambassadors join the Agbioscience podcast. Julia Hamblen is an agricultural education major at Purdue University and a three-time Field Atlas Ambassador while DePauw University biology major, Bree Mahoney-Sutherland, takes on the role as the first-ever ambassador on her campus. The two of them dive into what draws them to agbioscience, the surprise reaction from their peers when they realize the breadth of opportunities available to them and how they plan to advocate for the industry on their campus this semester.

This semester, Field Atlas will be on university campuses across Indiana to connect students with opportunities in agbioscience fields of study, career paths, companies hiring and where to apply for real-time internship + job opportunities. Get the career fair schedule.

Notre Dame Engineering senior and Field Atlas Ambassador alumnus, Jack Reford, will participate in the Grand Challenges Scholars Program, inspired by the vision of the National Academy of Engineering for making our world “more sustainable, secure, healthy and joyful.” A mechanical engineering major, Reford will focus on the use of algae to manage the nitrogen cycle. Notre Dame’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program is for students who are inspired to understand and contribute to solutions for some of the greatest challenges facing humanity.

Field Atlas Ambassadors are the on-campus connection to our Field Atlas career exploration platform. These students work with their peers to connect to agbioscience fields of study, career paths, companies hiring talent and where to apply for real-time internship + job opportunities. Meet our spring ambassadors.

Want to learn more about agbioscience? Not sure where you major might fit into a potential career in the industry? Let your Field Atlas Ambassadors be your guide. Learn more from them here about what makes them tick when it comes to ag+bio+sci.

There’s a new farming operation in town and it prefers to grow things indoors. Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers, conserving space and inputs while maximizing yield per square foot. These facilities are popping up across the United States – and especially right here in Indiana.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company recently took a big step in its efforts to fully replace petroleum-derived oils by 2040. For the first time in its commercial truck tires, Goodyear is replacing a portion of the petroleum-based materials used in the production of some of its most popular Metro Miler city-transit tires with a bio-based soybean oil compound.

From detasseling corn for $2 an hour to cleaning toilets as a janitor, all professional roads led Beth Ford to her spot as Land o’ Lakes CEO. She attributes learning about people – and celebrating wins at every level – as a hallmark of success in business.

Do you ever wish you could hit a farmers market without getting out of bed? Indiana-based Market Wagon has partnered with Kroger in the Atlanta, Georgia market to create a delivery-only service that offers a uniquely local assortment of over 1,150 products from local farmers, bakeries and food artisans. All items found on Kroger Farmers Market are exclusive to the service and cannot yet be found at Kroger stores.

Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is teaming up with companies Ethos and VetBloom to create a new scholarship program put towards diversity scholarships for its Veterinary Nursing Distance Learning program. The university aims to reach underrepresented students and to expose them to the veterinary field and the careers it offers.

What comes first: the chicken or the food waste? A New Jersey-based company focused on eliminating grocery store food waste is expanding its operations to Indiana. Do Good Foods Upcycle excess food into nutrient-dense animal feed, which is then fed to chickens. Each Do Good Chicken saves nearly four pounds of surplus groceries from being thrown away, preventing nearly three pounds of greenhouse gases. The company’s first product? Do Good Chickens (yes you can eat them, too).

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a $113 billion federal program through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); it’s a big program, but is it efficient? AgriNovus recently launched a challenge to the tech community to develop new technologies and models to enable SNAP recipients to purchase groceries online and receive the products anywhere, currently a critical problem facing the system.

Food waste is a big driver in the fight against hunger and a Purdue University professor has created an innovation to help subsistence farmers preserve food in Afria. Dr. Klein Ileleji, co-founder and CEO of JUA Technologies International, devised a portable dehydrating system that dries fresh foods. The Dehytray helps small farmers reduce food waste in countries where refrigeration and storage are limited, but solar power is plentiful.

Happy Earth Week! Sustainability continues to be a critical focus in agbioscience and the industry’s job market is proof of that. On a broad scale, the fastest growing “green jobs” in the United States include EHS (Environmental, Health and Safety) Specialists and Engineers, Agronomists, Foresters and more. To learn more about these opportunities, click the Career Profiles section at the top of this page.

Clean resumes. Companies with strong values. Transparency and communication. These are a few things running through the minds of gen-z talent as they search for internships or early-career opportunities. This week, Gerry Dick from Inside INdiana Business is joined by Field Atlas Ambassadors - Baylee Dwenger from Hanover College and Sriya Nagubani of Purdue University for a panel episode about agbioscience, challenges in their search and what they look for in companies while on the job hunt.

Companies and institutions around the globe are applying a critical lens to their Carbon footprint and its impact on our planet. Ag+bio+sci is no different and farmers have longstanding practices that support sustainability while feeding the world. For industries that cannot reduce their emissions or sequester Carbon, though, an offset market has been developed. That means farmers can now sell Carbon credits and emitters can purchase them to offset their negative impact on the environment.

The food system - from farming to transportation and disposal - accounts for 1/5 of greenhouses gases and 1/3 of global emissions. With opportunities to mitigate this footprint through sustainable practices like no-till and cover cropping, farmers are able to sequester Carbon in their soil and sell credits to companies working in Carbon markets. As these markets gain popularity, it is urgent that agriculture and the climate community collaborate in order to create a marketplace that creates a true environmental impact.

No one is in a hurry to re-live the thick of COVID-19 or even think about another pandemic. However, it's critical we be prepared for the future. Look no further than modern farming! When facing zoonotic diseases, assessing the management of livestock health on farms can provide key insights. Scaling up an emphasis on animal health in other countries can go a long way towards preventing other pandemics from occurring in the future.

California's grape crop is valued at nearly $6 billion annually, yet fewer people are working in the industry than once before. Robots to the rescue! Research shows that mechanically maintained crops come out tasting better. Through the use of robots to harvest grapes, labor overhead has gone down, production has gone up and - might we say - the wine is tasting better.

Moleaer has already grown plants in outer space. Now the company has raised $9 million to advance nanobubble technology, extremely tiny bubbles that increase oxygen levels in water. Why, you ask? Great question. Nanobubbles can disinfect surfaces, destroy algae and reduce the presence of pathogens in our water supply. It also reduces the chemical consumption for produced water treatment, bettering water quality and making our food supply more sustainable.

Food security continues to be a critical issue globally; but with the help of technology, many have been saved from starvation. Data analytics and AI-backed crop intelligence is the latest innovation to help farmers improve crop yield through more precise decision-making. With the use of quantum computing, we are even closer to tackling the issue of food insecurity.

A Purdue University-based agbioscience startup is bringing its research-grade sensing data to market. GRYFN uses an unmanned aerial vehicle platform with a coaligned sensor package to collect data on phenotyping and other applications farmers can use in their operation. As part of its continued work in 2021, GRYFN is focused on infrared hyperspectral technologies.

To combat global hunger, we must examine all factors that create the problem. In the United States, 40% of food produced never gets eaten. When you consider 50 million Americans struggle with hunger, tackling this challenge is a great place to start. Grocery chain, Kroger, is reaching for this low-hanging fruit (pun intended) by investing in startups that can help solve food waste issues.

Agbioscience startups recorded nearly $31 billion in investments in 2020. The percentage of that total belonging to women? None. Nada. Zero. Introducing the Women in AgTech Directory, a listing designed to highlight the names and social media platforms of female founders and leaders in agtech.

In a market that's expected to reach $450 billion in value, it's safe to say the coffee craze is real. So what would you do if you never had to taste a bad cup of coffee again? Aritifical Intelligence (AI) and java collide at Demetria, a Columbia-based startup, that has the first data cloud to identify and track coffee quality with complete traceability.

The agbiosciences and allied industries account for roughly 50 percent of India’s workforce, but persistent challenges have limited workers’ abilities to stay financially afloat. With data science already being an integral part of the country’s banking and healthcare industries, it’s an actionable way for India’s farmers to make informed decision and enhance their profitability.

Growing crops in the ocean? This concept could become reality as the agbioscience sector looks for innovative ways to grow more food with less resources. Seaweed, ocean vegetables, underwater fruits and flowers and the addition of breakthrough technologies could help in the fight towards climate change while providing an abundant food supply and restoring the health of our oceans.

By now you've heard that crickets are a great source of protein, right? While you might not be quick to add them to your grocery list, perhaps you should consider them for your furry friends. Dog food makers are creating recipes that opt for the use of crickets in lieu of meat, creating a more sustainable and protein-friendly alternative.

Ellie Symes took her passion for beekeeping in college and turned it into a fast-growing agtech startup, The Bee Corp, a platform that develops solutions for commercial pollination. As an entrepreneur and CEO of the company, Ellie sees room for growth in this space and welcomes more passionate beekeepers who want to preserve the planet and stabilize our food supply.

A New Jersey warehouse is home to Bowery Farming, a 21st-century vertical operation that grows food year-round - regardless of weather - while using 95% less water. Setting out to solve major problems relating to climate change, the company is hoping to change the approach of growing food for urban populations by controlling the environment in which they are grown.

Robot's don't take sick days, and in areas of persistent labor shortages they may make way for a new era of automation. Robotics already play a role in the planting and maintenance of crops. Now the industry is working toward a scalable, cost-efficient robotic model for harvesting. New technology is being developed to pick even the most bruisable of crops by emulating the human grip.

While the COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed other industries, the agbiosciences are hard at work solving pressing issues brought to light by the virus. How do we repair a broken food system and use innovation for the nutritional betterment of people to prevent diet-related vulnerabilities to the virus? Innovation in agtech is thriving and so is investment. Will our food systems change?

Artificial Inteligence (AI) is becoming a vital function of agricultural operations. Recent innovations now allow us to holistically track issues in the field, from irrigation to nutrients and pests. Seeing how COVID-19 has affected our food supply means that agtech is more important now than ever. Our supply chain is fragile and this is one powerful step toward mitigating risk.

While some companies are talking about their environmental impact, Indianapolis-based Corteva is taking action and making an impactful difference on our planet. The company has announced their 10-year plan to advance sustainability throughout the global food system and everyone is accountable - from employees and company operations to farmers and the communities they serve.

The agbioscience sector is always innovating and solutions on the market this year aim to increase productivity, sustainability and scalability for farms of all sizes. From smart sensors to self-driving tractors, these technologies help farmers step up to feed a growing population.