Menu Close

Missouri is The Global Leader in Agtech

  • February 22, 2021

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, Boehringer Ingelheim, 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. And Kansas City, Missouri, is the heart of the KC Animal Health Corridor, home to more than 70 national or global headquarters for companies in the animal health industry. This center of excellence represents 56 percent of the total worldwide animal health, diagnostic and pet food sales.

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 as well as 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 The 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 its 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. 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.

What Next?