Farmers Edge is a digital agronomy firm that offers services such as variable rate nutrition management and FarmCommand, a data management and analytics platform. Farmers Edge, founder and former CEO Wade Barnes, former chief financial officer David Patrick, Fairfax Financial Holdings and several financial underwriters are named in the suit asking for a combined total of $270 million in damages. | Screencap via farmersedge.ca

Farmers Edge disputes merits of claim made by former investors

Proposed class action suite alleges investors received misleading information prior to the company's 2021 IPO

Former investors in Manitoba-based ag tech firm Farmers Edge have asked the B.C. Supreme Court to certify a class action lawsuit against the company, former leaders and its main shareholder. Farmers Edge, founder and former CEO Wade Barnes, former chief financial officer David Patrick, Fairfax Financial Holdings and several financial underwriters are named in the suit asking for a combined total of $270 million in damages.






Marco van Leeuwen is the president of the International Seed Federation and managing director of seed company Rijk Zwaan. Photo: John Greig

World Seed Congress addresses global supply chain challenges 

The World Seed Congress is on in Rotterdam, Netherlands with a discussion of the major issues facing the seed and crops sector. The major issues on the agenda include the challenges that the decline in free trade and globalization brings to major suppliers of seeds, the acceptance of gene editing and the technology involved in that process.





Some ag tech startup companies continue to get funding, but it isn’t as much or as likely as during the pandemic years. Photo: Avalon_Studio/iStock/Getty Images

Ag tech venture capital stays on sidelines

Entrepreneurs need patience, more plan to achieve profitability to unlock investment

Agriculture venture capital investment was an outlier in 2023, as it increased slightly over 2022, according to the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA). However, that news belied pessimism on the state of ag tech at the recent Agri Tech Venture Forum in Toronto. The forum heard that the availability of capital for agriculture technology entrepreneurs has dried up significantly compared to the heady days of investment growth during the pandemic years.