Agricultural technology is growing in rural Oklahoma.
Amarie Bartel is the Oklahoma Farm Bureau (OKFB) Rural Economic Development Coordinator, and says the OKFB program Oklahoma Grassroots Rural & Ag Business Accelerators puts OKFB on the front lines of the rural and agricultural innovation space.
In three years, OKFB has supported 42 rural Oklahoma startup companies in 36 unique communities, creating over 129 rural jobs, and raising over $20 million in capital by way of grants, loans or investments to support their companies.
Daniel Will is the executive director of Cowboy Technologies, Oklahoma State University’s venture investment arm, and the Cowboy Innovations Accelerator. He leads technology commercialization programs and early-stage venture investment for OSU-affiliated innovations. Will says OSU has long been part of technology-based startup companies headquartered in Stillwater.
“Many of these spinout, startup companies serve the production agriculture industry to include Oklahoma, while others reach into many other industry sectors with large potential for export sales of technology-based products and services, along with quality job creation.”
As examples, Will says Weaver Labs is a water technology startup addressing the global PFAS contamination crisis with Fluor-Mop technology specifically designed to remove ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAS from water. Plasma Bionics is a low-temperature medical device sterilization startup which, through Air Plasma Sterilization, can convert natural air to multiple reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that rapidly destroy microorganisms on instrument surfaces. Initially for the veterinarian segment, Plasma Bionics operates without harmful chemical consumables required and produces no byproducts.
Bartel says American Prime Sustainable Solutions of Noble blends satellite imagery, data analytics and autonomous drones, offering farmers predictive decision making on row-crop operations.
OKFB aligns with OSU, specifically the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center Extension and the New Product Development Center, to assist in research, development and refinement of their product of service through mentorship, thus enabling research institutions to help startups accelerate their progress and getting technology into farmer’s hands most efficiently and economically.
Will adds that OSU is an R1 research institution with very high research activity, ranking at the top in the U.S., and leading to high-value innovations that solve today’s problems and address today’s growth opportunities.
OSU is also strong in animal health and production agriculture segments, which benefit Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers directly.
“Disseminating this capability entails connecting industry with OSU’s research and development talent and acumen, helping solve problems and create opportunities needed today,” says Will.
This facilitates experiential, real-world student learning within programs that create graduate competencies, and protects and commercializes intellectual property that is created through research/development projects and programs. This all happens while generating sustainable, competitive business models that lead to economic prosperity.
Keeping Oklahomans Rural
Bartel says 96% of farm families derive part of their income from off-farm sources, showing they are diverse in their needs and interests. So, when agricultural technology companies create off-farm jobs, they diversify farm-family employment opportunities.
“OKFB believes that off-farm jobs, by way of rural and ag agricultural communities, are key in keeping farm families on the farm,” says Bartel.
Will says in our globally-connected world, by integrating ag-tech into farming and agribusiness, younger generations can build high-skill, technology-driven careers, and stay rooted in their communities.
