Fall 2016 issue of Horizons

LIFE SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY

What Lies Ahead in Agri-Business & Ag-Bio by Jason Mannello, CFA, CLP

C limate change, population growth and rising global incomes are impacting supply and demand in agriculture and food production. Rising populations and incomes are increasing demand for food, while climate change, and more specifically increasing climate variability, is putting stress on the supply chain and inserting uncertainty and risk into ag-related production. However, innovation and other positive forces in agriculture and plant sciences are working to ensure a safe and secure food supply produced in a sustainable manner. RubinBrown has identified some recent trends that we expect to continue, if not accelerate, into the future.

These are the areas we believe will significantly impact the industry going forward:

∙ Rapidly expanding avenues of innovation

∙ An explosion in ag, ag-bio and ag-tech investment

∙ The globalization of ag-related investment

∙ Increased adoption of ag-related innovation

Expanding Innovation Channels Innovation channels in ag-related industries are expanding in scope, and the pace of innovation is accelerating. There have been major breakthroughs over the past century, beginning with the “discovery” and adoption of hybrid corn in the early part of the twentieth century, to advanced seed breeding techniques and genetic modification at the close of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century.

page 10 | horizons Fall 2016