iSelect Deep Dive Series

Each month our analyst team reviews an emerging trend with interested listeners — alternating between Healthcare and Agriculture — outlining macro-trends, industry sub-sectors, key influencers, market leaders, and potential investment opportunities.

Food & Agriculture Deep Dives

Carbon Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) in Agriculture

As the global economy charges toward net zero 2050 goals, more attention than ever is being given to how each major sector of the economy can contribute to both 1) reducing…


Precision Fermentation

Fermentation has been used in food production for centuries – you can thank it for beer, wine, kimchi, yogurt and much more. But precision fermentation technology is taking this metabolic process…


Future of Fat

As the relationship between the food system and both environmental and human health continues to draw more and more attention from consumers, businesses and governments, the need for better fat products…


The Future of Cheese

Though the concept of plant-based or alternative cheese is not new, the number of high quality non-dairy cheeses has exploded in the past decade. With both health and environmental pressures weighing…


Specialty Crops: Industry Dynamics, Challenges, and Opportunities

The specialty crops industry makes up a significant proportion of U.S.’s total agricultural output by value. However, producing specialty crops has its own set of unique challenges that call for similarly…


How CPGs are Adapting to Changing Consumer Preferences

Consumer preferences for food are rapidly changing. From how it’s grown, to how it’s made, what it’s made from and how it tastes, consumer awareness of what we eat is higher…


Soil Carbon Measurement, Management, and Marketplaces

Healthy soil is at the root of food quality and yield, and soil carbon is a key component of healthy soil. In fact, as the main component of soil organic matter,…


Role of Sugar in Disease

We know that eating well and avoiding foods with refined sugars is crucial to good health, and it is well documented that poor diet is implicated in diseases like Type II…


Nutrient Efficiency in Agriculture

Responsible nutrient management is an indispensable part of sustainable agriculture. Nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, and many other nutrients are necessary components in the production of crops used for food, fuel, and feed….


Specialty Crops

Headquartered in the Midwest, iSelect has historically been more focused on row crop technologies than specialty crop technologies. As we expand our scope, however, specialty crops such as fruits, vegetables, tree…


Protein Precision and Efficiency

As macronutrients, proteins are necessary for all important human biological functions, from repairing tissue, to making hormones to managing the brain. That’s why, in the context of human health and nutrition,…


world agriculture

COVID-19: Implications Across the Food System

As Covid-19 continues to shake the globe, it’s leaving many uncertainties in its path. Opportunity hides in times of uncertainty, and we are committed to finding and championing the best companies,…


Medical Foods

While food and nutrition play key roles in our health, medical foods go a step further. Medical foods are formulated to manage nutritional deficiencies that affect disease progression and are prescribed…


Soil Health

A healthy food system begins with healthy soil. However, over the course of the last century, soil health has suffered greatly. Loss of topsoil, water contamination, greenhouse gas emissions, and lack…


Robotics & Automation on the Farm

For years farmers, entrepreneurs and investors have discussed and debated the future of the farm, and in particular, the role robotics and automation can and will play in today’s farm and…


Food Waste

In the world of agricultural technology (“agtech”), increasing agricultural yields are treasured as the holy grail to feed a hungry and growing population. However, it is well documented and more and…


Farm Profitability and Tech Adoption

Profitability is a frequent topic of conversation and a frequent challenge for farmers and growers, influenced by numerousfactors. Some of these factors, climate / weather, trade policy, and government subsidies are…


Cellular Agriculture

In order to meet the demands of consumer shifts toward animal free products, there are a number of ways in which these products can be achieved. Cellular agriculture, the ability to…


Why Bioavailability Is Becoming the Next Buzzword in Food and Agriculture

Often, when discussing how to improve the food system, we discuss how to improve the quantity and access to healthy and sustainable nutrition, usually through a lens of yield improvement, and…


Deep Dive: Soil Health

On this Deep Dive discussion we will define what soil health means and its benefits, identify issues associated with poor soil health, and present possible solutions to improve soil health.  …


Digitizing New Food Product Development

Developing, marketing and selling new food products is one of the most challenging and uncertain aspects for food companies, big and small. Developing a new food product, from ideation to commercialization,…


Designing Ingredients

Ingredients play an integral role in the convergence of food and health. Modifying or changing ingredients can result in better health outcomes, sustainability benefits, improved nutrition, and improved taste. This week…


Shortening the Crop Development Cycle – Part 2

We need to grow more with less. By 2050, the global population will exceed 9 billion people, and the UN estimates that by that point we’ll need to produce at least…


Shortening the Crop Development Cycle – Part 1

Shortening the new crop development cycle brings tremendous value to the agricultural industry as it will allow us to develop solutions faster and more efficiently.


world agriculture

Developing World Agriculture

We spend a lot of time thinking about agriculture technologies and how they can be applied in the most advanced economies in the world, but we often overlook the pressing need…


Food Ingredients

Food Ingredients – Part 2

Food Ingredients as a whole, is an incredibly broad topic, and one that is impactful to us every day.  We may think of food ingredients as sugar, flour and eggs, but…


Functional Food Analysis

While food has long been used to improve health, our knowledge of health is now being used to improve food. Strictly speaking, all food is functional, in that it provides energy…


Food Ingredients – Part 1

Food Ingredients as a whole, is an incredibly broad topic, and one that is impactful to us every day.  We may think of food ingredients as sugar, flour and eggs, but…


Farm Profitability and Finance

Farm profitability is a topic of frequent discussion in agricultural circles, though it has notably declined in the past 10 years in the US, for corn and soy farmers in particular….


Labor Shortage in Agriculture

Farm Labor shortages are not a new problem in food and agriculture, but recent shortages in the past decade of available farm labor in the US are causing serious concern from…


Hemp & Cannabinoids: Overview

With the regulatory landscape poised to change around hemp and its extracts (namely CBD), the hemp and CBD markets are experiencing rapid growth. This is creating many opportunities in genetics, cultivation,…


The Farm Labor Crisis

Farm Labor shortages are not a new problem in food and agriculture, but recent shortages in the past decade of available farm labor in the US are causing serious concern from…


Synthetic Biology in Food & Agriculture

Synthetic biology is an advancing field of science, by which technological advancements in genome sequencing, DNA synthesis, and genome editing have enabled scientists to view biology as they do engineering. The…


Aquaculture Feed Analysis

As aquaculture continues to grow at breakneck speed, developing new feeds will be critical. Currently, fishmeal is used heavily to feed farm-raised fish which creates an unsustainable cycle of killing wild…


CRISPR in Plants Analysis

Genome editing, particularly using site-directed nucleases such as the CRISPR system, has spread rapidly through the biological sciences. Genome editing in crops will significantly speed up the progress of breeding programs….


Aquaculture Feed Overview

As aquaculture continues to grow at breakneck speed, developing new feeds will be critical. Currently, fishmeal is used heavily to feed farm-raised fish which creates an unsustainable cycle of killing wild…


Indoor Farming

Indoor farming, from hoop houses to plant factories, has the potential to transform the way we grow and consume food, from massive increases in yield and density, to significant reductions in…


CRISPR Gene Editing in Livestock & Aquaculture

Gene editing technologies have come a long way in the last few decades. While we’ve been exploring these applications in agriculture and livestock for quite some time, recent breakthroughs have made…


Seafood Supply Chain

The seafood supply chain is notoriously opaque and cumbersome. It’s not uncommon for some seafood products to change hands forty times on the way to the plate. New traceability and data…


Swine Technology

Pork is the most widely consumed meat on the planet. Swine Tech enables pork producers to operate more efficiently and safely while meeting increasing global demand.


Alternative Proteins

Protein is one of the basic building-blocks of life, something that just about every living thing on Earth needs to survive. But not all proteins are created equally. Until recently, animal…


Antibiotic Alternatives for Livestock Industry

Antibiotic use in livestock is increasingly under scrutiny due to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains in humans and animals. Livestock producers are increasingly looking for non-antibiotic alternatives to get rid…


Food Waste

40% of all food produced in the US is wasted. In restaurants, retailers, and homes across the US,  the cost of uneaten food is $161 billion. Opportunities abound to transform food…


Farm Robotics

With a shrinking labor pool and an aging farmer population, the agricultural workforce is under pressure.  Skyrocketing farm wages and low commodity prices further squeeze farm owners.  Enter automation.  In recent…


Lighting

This deep dive presentation covers lighting and the emerging knowledge base around its impact on the health, growth and behavior of humans, plants and animals, a topic of increasing interest to iSelect.


Soil Microbiome

The soil microbiome holds many promises applicable to plant health, soil health and human health.  Recent research and technological advances have pushed forward our ability to understand ways in which we…


Future of Agriculture

The agriculture industry is going through a sea change. Consumer preferences are changing, sustainability efforts are taking off, and the food supply chain is embracing the promise of new technologies as…


Livestock Wearables and Electronics

With a decrease in the amount of land available for farm use and an ever-growing concern about resource usage, farmers need to be smart about their livestock management practices if they…


Aquaculture

2.6 billion people depend on the bounty of the oceans every day, yet global harvests of marine fisheries are 2.5x what our oceans can sustainably support. As more people cohabit the…


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