A new three-part report, Growing Canada: How Agribusiness is Evolving, by KPMG in Canada, finds that agribusiness has the potential to help Canada’s economic recovery through the adoption of agricultural technologies.

“There has never been a more opportune time to introduce digital innovations that can help to meet the emerging challenges of a rapidly changing farming sector,” says David Guthrie, partner and national agribusiness leader, KPMG in Canada. “AgTech innovations like drones and sensors are creating opportunities to transform the farming and agribusiness industries and alleviate the many pressures on our food system.”

By leveraging data management technologies, sensors, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence, farmers can harness information to improve irrigation and pest control, monitor for severe weather, and improve productivity, resiliency, and worker safety. Agtech innovations can also lead to more precise resource use, less waste, quicker go-to-market timelines, enhanced traceability and improved biosecurity, the report says.

While Canadian famers have traditionally relied heavily on federal government programs and subsidies to fund new technology, another avenue has emerged to support them: private equity investors and venture capitalists. 

Globally, venture funding for agtech has exploded since 2015, says Mr. Guthrie. Venture capitalists have invested US$4 billion in agtech start-ups since 2019, and agtech is expected to be valued at US$729.5 billion by 2025, the report says. 

At least 166 start-ups now focus on agtech in Canada, helped in part by the federal government’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership program that engages private sector venture capitalists. 

For the three-part agribusiness report, link here https://bit.ly/3vQWwTm  

Source:  KPMG June 24, 2021 news release