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Incubator helps ag tech start ups

A business incubator coordinator says Michigan could be the next Silicon Valley for new agricultural technology.

ACRE AgTech Outreach Coordinator Becky Huttenga says Silicon Valley has a lot of venture dollars in ag tech and being second in diversity to California agriculture, Michigan could be the next hotbed for investors.  “We think that we really are probably going to be the next central location for ag tech activity.”

She says many farmers have ideas or might have even created something to improve their operation and the incubator serves as a place to bring that idea to market.  “It’s going to be a physical item, but that physical item could be a software or an application—so it’s a little more abstract, or it could be a tool or a piece of equipment.”

Huttenga says good ideas don’t necessarily mean creating a new business for farmers, but with the right product, it could mean additional revenue.  “You can get a licensing arrangement and you just get royalties, and someone else creates and sells it, which could be a great secondary income for a lot of producers that might have that next really neat idea.”

Huttenga says equipment for small to medium-sized specialty crop farmers, waste management and drone software are just of the few areas where they see needs for new technology.

Brownfield spoke with Huttenga at the Great Lakes Crop Summit in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

AUDIO: Interview with Becky Huttenga