🚀Mega Farm Drones, Micro Tractors, Carbon Reforesting, Biodiesel Savings, Climate Goals, and Farmland Values 🌱
#14 BAR Brief
Welcome to this week’s BAR Brief, the Brazil AgTech Report that provides key news and insights into Brazil's agrifood and climate tech ecosystems.
In this week’s edition…
AgriFood Tech
🌳Marvin’s AI Makes the Cut with Paper Giant Suzano 📊
🚜 Micro Tractors See 24.5% Sales Revenue Growth in 2024 📈
🤖Jacto Autonomous Machines Boost Productivity by Up to 30%
🚀Psyche Aerospace Develops World's Largest Drone 🚁
Climate Tech
🐂Marfrig’s AI-Powered Pilot Tackles Carbon Measurement🤖
🌳Re.green and Agro Penido Partner to Reforest Amazon Lands
🌍BRF Sets Ambitious Climate Goals with SBTi Approval ✅
🌱Brazil Biodiesel Program Saves $38 Billion Over 20 Years 💰
Brasil Ag Misc.
🤝AgroGalaxy Showing Signs of Life 💳
💰Brazil Farm Lobby to Fight Fiagro Tax ⚖️
🌾Brazilian Farmland Surges Over 100% Since 2019 📈
Jobs
👔 Investment Intern – Softbank
📊 Head of Accelerator and Startup Ecosystems – Google
AgTech
🌳Marvin’s AI Makes the Cut with Paper Giant Suzano 📊
Marvin, a São Paulo-based AI forestry startup, has secured a major multi-year partnership with Suzano, the world’s largest pulp producer. The deal focuses on improving yield prediction, water use, carbon measurement, and supply chain efficiency. Suzano Ventures, Suzano's venture capital arm, also made a follow-on investment in Marvin, building on their initial backing in 2023. Founded in 2023, Marvin uses AI and geospatial data to provide insights for agriculture, forestry, and sustainability. Their work helps Suzano manage over 27,000 km² of forests, focusing on carbon sequestration and water resources. 🌱Source
🚜 Micro Tractors See 24.5% Sales Revenue Growth in 2024 📈
Agritech, a Brazilian specialist in micro-tractors and agricultural implements, recorded a 24.5% increase in revenue in 2024, outpacing the market significantly. The company now projects growth of 35% to 40% in 2025, driven by increasing mechanization in family farming and demand from key agricultural sectors, including coffee production. Mechanization remains a significant opportunity in Brazil, where only 25% of smallholder farms are mechanized. The increased availability of financing for small-scale farmers, through programs like the Rural Insurance Premium Subsidy Program (PSR), has been instrumental in this growth. The PSR allocated $70 million to aid regions like Rio Grande do Sul in recovering from recent floods, enabling farmers to invest in modern equipment like Agritech’s micro-tractors. 🌱Source
🚜Jacto Autonomous Machines Boost Productivity by Up to 30%
In related news, Brazilian agricultural equipment manufacturer Jacto says its JAV line of autonomous sprayers, has demonstrated 30% productivity gains in orange orchards. With the ability to operate autonomously, the sprayers are controlled remotely via a tablet, enabling a single operator to manage up to four machines simultaneously. The innovation addresses the ongoing specialized labor shortage in Brazil's agricultural sector while reducing operating costs by 15% to 20% and improving the precision of pesticide and fertilizer applications by up to 20%. Jacto’s JAV sprayers are part of a broader trend toward automation, with the autonomous machinery market in Brazil expected to grow by 25% annually through 2030. 🌱Source
🚀Psyche Aerospace Develops World's Largest Drone 🚁
Psyche Aerospace, a Brazilian startup founded in 2022 , is transforming the agricultural sector with the development of the world’s largest agricultural drone. The drone, currently capable of carrying a 400-liter tank, is set to expand to 800 liters, with planned investments of $60 million. A portion of this investment will focus on developing lithium batteries, enhancing drone efficiency and providing a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to traditional tractors and agricultural planes. Psyche Aerospace has already secured $3 million in two funding rounds and expanded to a 6,000-square-meter manufacturing facility in São José dos Campos, São Paulo. Brazil has favorable regulations for drone use, but new planned regulations could see increased controls for data and traceability records providing new potential opportunity for software developers.🌱Source
Climate Tech
🐂Marfrig’s AI-Powered Pilot Tackles Carbon Measurement🤖
Marfrig, one of the world’s largest beef producers, has teamed up with green fintech AgroRobotica to launch a pilot project using AI to measure carbon levels on rural properties. The initiative aims to promote low-carbon agriculture and strengthen sustainability across the supply chain by analyzing carbon sequestration in pastures and agroforestry systems. The project will initially measure carbon on 100,000 hectares, with plans to expand to 500,000 hectares by 2027. AgroRobotica’s technology combines satellite imagery, soil data, and machine learning to deliver precise assessments, helping Marfrig meet global ESG standards and ensure traceability.🌱Source
🌳Re.green and Agro Penido Partner to Reforest Amazon Lands
Re.green, a Brazilian startup specializing in ecological restoration, has partnered with Agro Penido, an agribusiness group, to restore 600 hectares of degraded land in the Amazon region. The initiative aims to plant over 2 million native trees, restore biodiversity, and improve soil quality, with the potential to generate 300,000 carbon credits per year. Last year the company announced a partnership with Microsoft to restore 15,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest. Re.green has set a bold target to reforest 100,000 hectares by 2030, focusing on critical biomes like the Amazon and Atlantic Forest. 🌱Source
🌍BRF Sets Ambitious Climate Goals with SBTi Approval ✅
BRF, a leading Brazilian food company, has become the nation’s first company from the food sector to have its climate targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company commits to a 51% reduction in direct emissions by 2032, encompassing factories, distribution centers, and energy consumption. For indirect emissions, which constitute 98% of their total, BRF aims for a 35.7% reduction within the same timeframe. Additionally, BRF pledges to achieve zero deforestation in its direct and indirect supply chains by 2025. Currently, BRF monitors 100% of its direct grain suppliers in the biomes where it operates and over 90% of indirect suppliers, with plans to achieve 100% coverage by the end of this year. In renewable energy, the company has partnered with AES Brasil to build wind farms and Power China to construct solar parks, advancing its goal to transition to 100% renewable electricity by 2030. 🌱Source
🌱Brazil Biodiesel Program Saves $38 Billion Over 20 Years 💰
Over the past 20 years, Brazil’s biodiesel legislation has saved the country an impressive $38 billion in diesel imports while avoiding 240 million tons of CO₂ emissions. Introduced in January 2005, the policy integrated biodiesel into the national energy matrix, leading to the production of 77 billion liters of biodiesel, mostly from soybeans, since its inception. The mandatory biodiesel blend in diesel fuel, known as diesel B, began with a 2% blend and has since reached 14%, with current biodiesel production estimated at 7.5 billion liters annually. 🌱 Source
Brazil Ag Misc
🤝AgroGalaxy Showing Signs of Life 💳
AgroGalaxy, one of Brazil's leading agricultural retail companies, announced that it will resume credit operations through the TerraMagna FIDC fund, since freezing operations last September following a Chapter 11 process. The initiative, following negotiations with investors, marks an important step in recovering the company’s financial operations, enabling the resumption of installment sales to rural producers and attempting to recover its position in Brazil's agricultural market. While AgroGalaxy’s future still remains in the balance, the company did stress that the FIDC fund’s risk is linked to farmers who accessed credit through the fund and that this risk is being managed efficiently. 🌱Source
💰Brazil Farm Lobby to Fight Fiagro Tax ⚖️
Brazil’s farm lobby, Frente Parlamentar Agropecuária (FPA), is mobilizing to overturn President Lula’s veto on tax exemptions for Fiagro farm credit funds. The veto, part of the recently sanctioned tax reform, imposes new taxes of between 26.5% and 28%, on investor returns from 2027. Fiagros, which have until now be exempt from tax, have been an important instrument to finance farm inputs, reducing dependence on government subsidized lending as well as barter operations. The FPA argues that the veto threatens agribusiness investment, exacerbates credit shortages, and undermines small investors. Discussions to reverse the decision are set to resume after Congress elects its new leadership in February. 🌱 Source
🌾Brazilian Farmland Surges Over 100% Since 2019 📈
A study by the Scot Consultancy reveals that agricultural land prices in Brazil have soared by 113% over the past five years. The analysis, covering 17 key agricultural states from 2019 to July 2024, indicates that land prices more than doubled in 11 of these states. The national average price per hectare increased from $2,960 to $3,560 during this period. In comparison, traditional investments yielded lower returns: the local stock index, Ibovespa, rose by approximately 25.9%, fixed income accounts offered 28.66%, while inflation stood at 33.63% over the same timeframe. In Parana state, the average agricultural land price reached $11,840 per hectare, marking a 107% rise and representing the highest in the country. Factors influencing valuations include proximity to transportation networks, technological advancements, soil quality, presence of agro-industries and access to ports. 🌱Source
Jobs
👔 Investment Intern – Softbank
📍 Location: São Paulo
💼 Full Time ✨apply
📊 Head of Accelerator and Startup Ecosystems – Google
📍 Location: São Paulo
💼 Full Time, On-Site ✨apply
If you are a Brazilian AgriFood or Climate Tech startup with a job opening, feel free to get in touch to post it here.
Thanks for reading!
KFG