In September 2021, Iron Ox, a silicon valley startup, raised $50 USD million in a funding round led by Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
In these locations, Iron Ox is using a self-driving robot named "Grover" to move pallets of Genovese Basil, strawberries and is working also on cilantro, parsley, and tomatoes, using robotic arms for pallets inspections. Alexander said, the hydroponic technology - saving water by growing plants without soil - is just one piece of the puzzle for future farming.
Agriculture plays an important role in America´s economy, but water usage is increasingly in the spotlight. The last major drought in 2012-2017 cut irrigation for farmers and forced strict household conservation measures all over the country.
Gates’s family landownership has attracted particular attention because the billionaire has tried to make a name for himself in climate advocacy. Gates is currently promoting a book on the subject and has positioned himself and the Gates Foundation as a leader in what the future of agriculture should look like, especially in regard to technology.
The US Department of Agriculture in 2021 was estimated, that about 30 percent of US farmland is rented out by owners who serve as landlords and aren't involved in farming, like big tech or diverse entrepreneurs as well as other international countries.
Many people have speculated that farmland purchases may be a part of the billionaire’s overall climate efforts. But Gates has said there’s no connection, either way. But the discussion surrounding them and the new details on the massive purchases, serve as an important reminder that billionaires can store their wealth in all sorts of unexpected businesses and become new monopolies in many ways, or “being a greater push this massive purchases, for monocultures and more intensive industrial farming techniques to generate greater returns,” while Indigenous people and small farmers “could be more cautious with the use of land.” Like University of New Mexico, professor Nick Estes wrote for the Guardian in April 2021.
