Biotechnology in Agriculture

North Carolina is a place where agricultural tradition and twenty-first century science meet to create unmatched research and business opportunities.

Virtually any agtech company, researcher, investor, or holder of intellectual property will find unique opportunities in North Carolina for transforming ideas into products.

This is evident with our 180+ agtech companies and hundreds of world-class agtech scientists, including global thought leaders working in our colleges and universities.

Transforming the Way the World Grows

Year after year, agriculture, including food, fiber and forestry, remains one of North Carolina's largest industries and a way of life for many of its people. As the state’s economy grows to include new technological innovations, the building blocks of renewable energy, and plants that manufacture medicines, its roots in agriculture remain evident and relevant.

State agricultural leaders note that the industry contributes some $111 billion to the economy every year. That’s about 16 percent of the state's income. Over 777,000 of North Carolina's workforce are involved in some aspect of agriculture.

Companies, Campuses and Collaborators

There are more than 180 agtech companies across the state, clustered around plant, animal, food, technology and support. The company roster includes international giants BASF Plant Science, Corteva Agriscience, Novozymes and Syngenta.

North Carolina offers wide-ranging research and field trials at 18 research stations statewide. It’s also home to two land-grant ag research universities and a 58-campus community college system.

NC Agtech Ecosystem

Source: NCBiotech Business Intelligence & Analytics

Agriculture News & Events

March 19, 2025

NC Water Resources Research Institute Annual Conference

Attend the 2025 NC Water Resources Research Institute Annual (WRRI) Conference, to be held on Mar. 19-20 at NC State University. This conference unites all sectors involved in water resources in North Carolina and will showcase presentations on the latest research, practical applications, virtual networking opportunities, and interactive skills-building sessions.

In addition, this event will provide student engagement opportunities and dynamic keynote speakers.

March 18, 2025

New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research

Join Richard Newcomb, Chief Scientist at Plant & Food Research, New Zealand for a talk outlining research at Plant & Food Research. Richard is responsible for science quality, strategy, collaborations, and capability development, focusing on feeding future megacities. This work supports Plant & Food Research’s core breeding, production, bioprotection, and food research areas.

April 23, 2025

BioAgTech World Congress 2025

The agriculture industry is continually evolving, and ag tech is one of the major movement-makers influencing everything concerning sustainable agriculture. The BioAgTech World Congress, an event "by the industry, for the industry," will “walk the talk” by shining a strong light on all segments of sustainable smart farming, including biofertilizers, biostimulants, biopesticides and all related technologies such as precision ag.

Agriculture Sector Development Programs

NCBiotech's Focused Initiative Team adds value to agtech and other subsectors of the life sciences.

NC Agtech Council
North Carolina's Agtech Council is comprised of leaders from various agricultural industry and academic organizations. Organized by NCBiotech, the council addresses key opportunities, challenges and gaps for our state and create solutions that drive impact.
NC Agtech Loan Fund
The North Carolina General Assembly has allocated funding to be awarded to North Carolina-based, early-stage agtech companies. The awards range from $100,000-250,000 for crop science, animal health and nutrition, food science, and precision ag/ag data analytics. To learn more, visit the agtech funding page or contact loans@ncbiotech.org.
Animal Health & Nutrition Exchange Group
This groups provides a forum for academic and industry professionals working in agtech to discuss relevant topics, identify technologies for spun out from universities, and network to develop peer-level relationships and company collaborations. Learn more.
North Carolina Future of Foods Coalition
This coalition is a group of interdiscinplinary professionals with shared goals of accelerating the Future of Food ecosystem, facilitating collaboration, and exploring new developments in plant, cell, fungi and recombinant technologies applied to foods. Learn more.
Plant Molecular Biology Consortium
This consortium sponsors monthly seminars featuring notable academic and industrial plant scientists. Membership is open to plant scientists associated with any of North Carolina's colleges or universities as well as any company representatives involved in plant molecular biology. Learn more.

"Many people and groups, like NCBiotech, helped us prove our concept so we could attract our first venture capital investment."

—Joy Parr Drach, Chief Executive Officer of AAD

Agtech companies in NC

These global leaders are part of North Carolina's agtech ecosystem:

See All

Stay connected by subscribing to the Agtech Council's monthly newsletter.

For questions or more information, contact:
Paul Ulanch, Ph.D., MBA
Senior Director Focused Initiatives 919-549-8818 | paul_ulanch@ncbiotech.org

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Biotechnology in Agriculture

NC Agtech Ecosystem

Agriculture News & Events

Agriculture Sector Development Programs

NC Agtech Council

NC Agtech Loan Fund

Animal Health & Nutrition Exchange Group

North Carolina Future of Foods Coalition

Plant Molecular Biology Consortium

Agtech companies in NC