NEWS

Michael Ott is the founder and CEO of Rantizo, an agtech startup that addresses both the field needs of farmers and the business needs of custom applicators with the platform’s combination of autonomous hardware and user-friendly software. Rantizo leverages both drone and aerial imagery technology to provide solutions to growers.

Michael joins us to talk about his background in investing and what led him to jump into entrepreneurship and start Rantizo. He shares how he has grown and scaled the business and the insights he has learned along the way. Don’t miss this one! (…)

Farmers that have embraced drones in their agricultural operations tend to use them for crop monitoring purposes but Iowa-based ag startup Rantizo thinks drones can do much more to help lessen the workload for farmers. The company utilizes autonomous sprayer drones for precise input application. Last summer, Rantizo became the first in the U.S. to receive FAA approval for nationwide swarming for agricultural spraying. (…)

Never underestimate the power of a small company to make a big difference in agriculture.

During a recent Future of Farming Dialogue sponsored by Bayer, three agriculture technology companies shared their progress from humble beginnings as a startup. Here are a few interesting advancements on the horizon in the areas of equipment, food and biotech. (…)

As part of Bayer’s Future of Farming Dialogue virtual event series, Bob Reiter, Head of Research and Development at the Crop Science division of Bayer, will highlight the interconnectivity between scientific experts inside and outside of the company’s own network of R&D resources, their importance to innovation, and the next solutions to advance the future of  agriculture. (…)

In January 2020, Michael Ott participated in the American Farm Bureau Innovative Challenge contest at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) national convention. One year later, he was a presenter for the 2021 AFBF virtual annual convention in a session about how new technology can get traction. The company he founded, Rantizo, of Iowa City, Iowa, is licensed to custom-apply ag chemicals, cover crops and other things in 17 states, including Indiana. (…)

We’re doing a lot of things in Ag that are still “on the way” to the non-Ag sector. Driverless cars are a concept but self-driving tractors have been in America’s fields for over a decade, for instance. But take drones. While we’re allegedly on the cusp of drone deliveries to our homes, we’ve been using drone technology in Ag for several years. And their use is growing.

Michael Ott and Emily Carlson of Rantizo — an Iowa based drone technology, Ag input company join me to discuss the future. It may already be here! (…)

Last year, Syngenta partnered with representatives from four technology companies to test their new devices on commercial farms in Illinois as part of Project Bin Buster.

In 2020, the Bin Buster project stretched across nearly 400 acres over five farms, including the Farm of the Future — three in west-central Illinois and two farther north. Each of the five fields in the project were approximately the same size and planted with the identical replicated trials that included a base rate of nitrogen.

The project put four new technologies, produced by different companies, through their paces. (…)

Rantizo sells agricultural drones and drone spraying services which farmers can request. These drones deliver targeted sprays precisely where they are needed for various agricultural applications. Rantizo’s upgraded DJI Agras MG-1P Drones are currently being used by 30 contractors in 15 states throughout the Midwest and are becoming more popular among farmers thanks to the wide range of agricultural applications (i.e. herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, pollen, cover crop seeds, and more). This wide range of application is partly why Rantizo became Iowa’s first legally authorized drone company for aerial application of agrichemicals. (…)

Being at the cutting edge of a new industry often means not just developing a new technology, but adapting as regulations and policies are created to catch up with those advancements.

Iowa City-based Rantizo has led the way in developing technologies and equipment for using drones in agricultural applications, as well as working with customers, regulators and farmers to ensure drone technology is deployed in the most safe, economical and efficient ways possible. In December 2020, the company announced a $7.5 million Series A funding round led by Leaps by Bayer with participation from several other agtech investors. (…)

The ag drone hype may have dwindled a few years ago. But that didn’t stop Iowa City-based startup Rantizo, which uses the vehicles to spray crops, from going full steam ahead.

“There was a lot of enthusiasm about what drones could do and that tapered off when people saw what they actually could accomplish,” CEO Michael Ott tells AFN. “In the last few years, we’ve really ramped up the productivity, autonomy, and the use cases where application from drones actually makes sense.” (…)

Agricultural technology company Rantizo has announced it has raised $7.5 million in series A funding led by Leaps by Bayer and several premiere ag tech investors and strategic partners including: Fall Line Capital, Innova Memphis, Lewis & Clark Ventures, KZValve, and Sukup Manufacturing. (…)

Troy Gibbs, a Rantizo Application Services Contractor in Wisconsin, has worked with Applied Ecological Services, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Allied Cooperative, Pest Pros Crop Consultants on a project to spray an area affected by Phragmites grass. (…)