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Missouri is the Global Leader in Agtech

  • June 03, 2020

When you ask people on the U.S. coasts what Missouri has to offer, they may reply with the common misconception that it’s simply cows and corn.

While Missouri is proud to be home to around 100,000 farms, anyone who has ever visited our state will tell you it’s much more advanced than some would imagine.

Missouri’s agtech industry is leading the way with innovative technology and research in plant science and animal health that is transforming agriculture. Across Missouri, leading agtech organizations including the Danforth Plant Science Center, Bayer CropScience, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Yield Lab, DuPont, BASF, Bunge, and more are developing innovative technology that is transforming agriculture.

Missouri is also home to the corporate headquarters of Rabo AgriFinance, part of the Rabobank Group – providing extensive financing and insurance options for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses.

Meanwhile, Missouri’s new agtech innovation community, 39 North, is taking root in St. Louis. The district covers nearly 600 acres in Missouri and includes many of the region’s top agtech companies, including the Danforth Plant Science Center, Bio-Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park, and the Helix Center Biotech Incubator. 39 North is geared toward providing the lifestyle often sought by today’s highly-skilled scientific workers, with a mix of retail, residential, and office space connected by walking and biking trails.

The use of drones, satellites, and data is also transforming farming as we know it. Missouri companies such as Climate Corporation are leading the way in investment and innovation in advanced farming and data analytics. Big data, smart farming, input optimization, precision ag, prescription ag, biologicals, breeding, green chemistry, green pharmaceuticals – it’s all growing right here in Missouri.

And it’s not just technology that makes Missouri the global agtech leader, our world-class talent is, well, world class. Universities across the state offer advanced plant science degrees, and Missouri is home to the highest concentration of plant science PhD’s in the world.

It’s this global leadership, innovation and talent that convinced Bayer to establish their new global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.

Missouri’s agriculture industry is an $88 billion industry every year and encompasses  more than 378,000 jobs and so much agricultural product is shipped via river barge from the St. Louis region that a 15-mile section of the Mississippi is now known as the “Ag Coast” of America.

Missouri really is THE global agtech leader.

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