Colin Steen: Venture Capital in Agriculture and the consolidation of Big Ag companies

Colin Steen is the CEO of Legacy Seeds a holding company that sells non-GMO and organic seeds in addition to traited (GMO) seeds. Steen spoke with Vance Crowe about how venture capital is being spent in agriculture, what it was like to be in Syngenta when Monsanto attempted to buy it, and then go on to talk about organic seed loopholes, SPACs, and why the climate change discussion is so one-dimensional. Chapters — 00:00 Start 3:05 Beginning 3:40 Where are venture capitalists investing in agriculture 6:20 Is regulation inhibiting innovation in agriculture? 11:04 What is a SPAC? 15:29 Legacy seed companies vs venture capital 21:33 Stories of the biggest acquisitions in agriculture 23:29 GMO vs organic 32:20 How does the alfalfa market work? 38:34 Laundering organic crops from Europe 45:01 How has consolidation changed agriculture? 47:38 Is pork at threat of disappearing? | African Swine Fever in Puerto Rico 54:32 How farmers view climate change PODCAST LINKS — Vance Crowe Podcast Website: Apple Podcasts: Spotify: RSS: YouTube Full Episodes: YouTube Clips: Buy a sweatshirt, T-shirt or mugs from the podcast! Check out the Articulate Ventures Merch Store: Subscribe to the podcast for email notifications on new episodes, invites to events and other exclusive content — ABOUT THE VANCE CROWE PODCAST — Vance Crowe interviews people with an expertise that you would want to know about, but might not think to ask. He prompts his guests to think about their work in no