Putting the Cartel before the
Horse...and Farm, Seeds, Soil, Peasants, etc. Who Will Control Agricultural
Inputs, 2013?
Excellent whitepaper on the international cartel of food-related
products. Some points:
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Four firms control 58.2% of seeds; 61.9% of
agrochemicals; 24.3% of fertilizers; 53.4% of animal pharmaceuticals; and, in
livestock genetics, 97% of poultry and two-thirds of swine and cattle research.
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The same six multinationals control 75% of all
private sector plant breeding research; 60% of the commercial seed market and 76%
of global agrochemical sales.
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Pollinator populations are declining worldwide –
but the massive die-off of the honeybee population – dubbed “colony collapse
disorder” (CCD) in 2006 – is getting worse. Since 2006, 10 million beehives
have been lost in the United States alone. In recent years, commercial
beekeepers have witnessed losses of 28% to 33% of their hives. Up to half the
commercial hives in the US perished in 2012.
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Four global firms account for 97% of poultry
genetics R&D (broilers, layers, turkeys). In swine genetics, four companies
account for two-thirds of industry R&D worldwide.
The Future of (Digital) TV: 76
slides by Luma Partners. Pretty neat. http://www.businessinsider.com/luma-partners-on-the-future-of-tv-2014-7#-1
At Zingerman’s, Pastrami and
Partnership to Go: A great story about alignment of incentives: “e wanted
to build an extraordinary organization…where decisions would not be…based on
whoever had the most relevant information... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/business/at-zingermans-pastrami-and-partnership-to-go.html
The Ideas That Won’t Beat
LinkedIn (& Some Which Might): Good article #1 – if one competes
against LNKD via mobile, different verticals, or prettier UI, it will be
difficult to win, but a project-oriented (IMDB style), verified, and
potentially transactional version might just work… http://hunterwalk.com/2014/07/02/the-ideas-that-wont-beat-linkedin-some-which-might/
Competing with LinkedIn and the
case against unbundling: Article 2… http://www.charleshudson.net/competing-with-linkedin-and-the-case-against-unbundling
Do you even alpha?
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