Economic Hard Times Spur Focus and Opportunity for
Ag Innovation as Government, Big Business and Investors Seek Partnerships

April 21, 2009, St. Louis, MO – The economy may be in the tank, but it is accelerating activity and partnerships in agricultural innovation. An upcoming multi-sector program will highlight how an array of innovative approaches to advancing productivity and sustainability in agriculture is attracting significant attention from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to leading worldwide companies and venture capitalists despite current sub-optimal economic conditions.

Focused on cutting-edge technologies in ag-bio, biofuels, information technology, animal health, food and nutrition, and sustainable materials, the first international Ag Innovation Showcase is being presented by Los Angeles-based Larta Institute, an innovation hub that also manages the national commercialization programs of the USDA and National Institutes of Health. It will be held, May 18 and 19 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Mo. More information is available at www.agshowcase.com.

Rohit K. Shukla, chief executive officer of the Larta Institute, says St. Louis is the ideal location for the program. Strategically situated in the heartland of North American agriculture, it is home to the world headquarters of Monsanto, Bunge North America and Sigma Aldrich, as well as to dynamic centers of science innovation and excellence at Washington University, St. Louis University and the Missouri Botanical Garden. In addition, the Danforth Plant Science Center has grown quickly to be the world’s largest independent research institute focused on plant science. In June 2009 the first of three buildings for the Bio-Research & Development Growth Park (BRDG Park) for fledgling companies in plant and life sciences will open on the Danforth Center campus.

“This will be a unique event because it will marshal all the key players and essential components to advance leading-edge ideas for innovation in agriculture, from our nation’s public policy on food to sustainable development,” said Shukla. “ It will have long lasting results in showcasing new trends and new opportunities, as well as new technologies and solutions.”

Timing Is Ripe for Government Support for Innovation in Agriculture

The first Ag Innovation Showcase comes at the convergence of heightened government interest and entrepreneurial energy. According to the program organizers, government today is extremely interested in entrepreneurial start-ups to advance sustainable development in which agriculture plays a crucial central role. With worldwide demand for food continuing to grow, the need for sustainable solutions is expected to continue.

A panel session at the Ag Innovation Showcase led by Arama Kukutai, managing director of Finistere Ventures, entitled “Funding and Financing in 2009 and Beyond,” will focus on how the global recession is affecting start-ups, collaborative ventures and corporate acquisitions in the ag space, including the importance of funding new agribusiness in the current financial climate. Panelist will include Brian Clevinger, founder and managing director of Prolog Ventures and David G. Bolin, Ph.D., product registration manager of BASF – The Chemical Company.

“Golden Market” Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

For Bo Fishback, vice president of Entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the economic downturn has a reverse correlation to entrepreneurship – with tough economic times as a spur not a deterrent to innovation. “There is a golden market opportunity right now for entrepreneurs and early stage companies to be engaged and involved in building value,” said Fishback.

Fishback cites Microsoft, Genentech, CNN and 3M as examples of hugely successful companies started by entrepreneurs during economic downturns. He believes current opportunities are virtually unlimited in for agriculture ventures to pioneer “new technologies that can lower costs, increase productivity, and improve the world.”

As moderator for a panel on “Spurring Ag Innovation Through Public-Private Partnerships,” Fishback will lead a discussion on how governments and regional organizations throughout the world recognize that major improvements in agricultural sciences are key to rebuilding the economy. “As the public sector takes a more direct and active role in shaping new markets in food, fuel and emissions trading with regulation and funding, private sectors will be tapped to do what they do best – and that’s to innovate,” said Fishback.

Panelists for the session on Public-Private Partnerships will include Rick Brenner, Office of Technology Transfer, USDA Agricultural Resource Center; Martha Schlicher, vice president of technology and business development for GTL Resources; Ralph S. Quantrano, Ph.D., Spencer T. Olin professor in Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis; and Sharon Berberich, early stage commercial assessment lead, Dow AgroSciences.

In addition to a wide range of speakers and moderators from all sectors for the panel discussions, Monsanto’s key strategist, Carl Casale, executive vice president, Strategy and Operations, will keynote and focus on today’s most pressing issues in the ag space from a rounded and practical perspective. (All panelists and speakers’ bios available at http://www.agshowcase.com/Speakers.aspx)

Senior level executives attending the Ag Innovation Showcase will be representing companies and organizations such as Dow AgroServices, Kauffman, USDA, Monsanto, Cargill, Bunge North America, T2 Venture Capital, MidPoint Food and Ag Fund, Prolog Ventures, Finistere Ventures, Ltd., Sigma-Aldrich, and others.

The Ag Innovation Showcase is a joint enterprise between BRDG Park, Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise, Missouri Biotechnology Association and Missouri Technology Corporation. It will be produced by the Larta Institute.

Coinciding with and following the Ag Innovation Showcase, the 2009 World Agricultural Congress will convene May 18-20 in St. Louis. The agenda will focus on seeking solutions to the issues of food supply and rising costs, impacts on global economies and the crucial resource of water.