Rapid identification of pathogens in food and water holds the power to save lives. Katherine Clayton, Founder and CEO of OmniVis, has developed a technology that puts the power of a pathogen lab in hands around the world. She joins us to talk about her personal story paving the way for this innovation, her passion for proactively stopping disease from happening and moving from California to study at Purdue University. So what does a handheld lab entail? Katherine talks about her device, iSpyDx, ...
Apr 10, 2023•16 min•Season 6Ep. 224
Last year, the federal government invested nearly $120 billion to combat food insecurity with its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but the challenge still remains. As AgriNovus works to inspire innovation in food security through a new category of agtech we call HungerTech, it’s important to understand the scope of food insecurity in America and how we can improve. Today we are joined by Head of Economics at Purdue University and Distinguished Professor, Dr. Jayson Lusk, to disc...
Apr 05, 2023•22 min•Season 6Ep. 223
In the US, more than 42 million people don’t know where their next meal is coming from and nearly 1/3 of those are children. Today we are joined by HATCH for Hunger Executive Director, Danny Leckie, to talk about the organization’s mission to unite Midwest poultry producers and a distribution network to combat hunger. They talk about how the organization was founded, building a sustainable model for food insecure populations and animal protein as a key to building healthy lives. Danny also gets ...
Apr 03, 2023•19 min•Season 6Ep. 222
The agbiosciences offer one of the most approachable areas of modern innovation. From new foods to sustainability advances and new tech, agbioscience touches every human being on the planet. Today we are joined by Elevate Ventures CEO, Toph Day, to talk about a new global event where agbiosciences will link arms with other modern focuses of our economy: RALLY Innovation Conference, which is coming to Indianapolis on August 29-31, 2023. They dig into what attendees can expect for the world’s larg...
Mar 28, 2023•13 min•Season 6Ep. 221
Pork’s place on the plates of people around the globe continues to grow with a global pork market expected to reach more than $418 billion by 2028. Indiana hog producer and National Pork Board President, Heather Hill, joins this week to talk a growing demand for the protein paving the way for new innovation. She dives into her work at the National Pork Board, emerging trends in pork consumption and a continued dedication to sustainability (and also what that actually looks like on a farm). Heath...
Mar 27, 2023•17 min•Season 6Ep. 220
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 13.5 million households – more than 10% of the population – experience food insecurity. Innovation, especially in the category of agtech, holds tremendous promise to lower that number. Today we are joined by AgriNovus Indiana Senior Director of Innovation, Geoff Zentz, to announce the launch of the 2023 HungerTech Challenge. They talk about what this year’s challenge entails, the intersection of doing good and doing well and what’s at stake for t...
Mar 21, 2023•14 min•Season 6Ep. 219
Growing an economy is part art and part science. It requires a bold vision, deep understanding of a region’s assets and an ability to unite leaders across business, academia and government, all to take action and drive growth. Today we are joined by Melina Kennedy, CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, to learn how a former lawyer, deputy mayor and leader at Cummins came into her new role last month. She talks about the uniqueness of CICP as an organization, serving the community in ...
Mar 20, 2023•16 min•Season 6Ep. 218
Companies and governments across the world have made commitments to decarbonization; but one of the key technologies, electrification, is still years away from being applicable to the high-horsepower, high-torque requirements of production agriculture. BJ Johnson, founder and CEO of ClearFlame Engine Technologies, has developed a technology to transform high-horsepower diesel engines to run on 100% ethanol. He joins this week to talk about ClearFlame starting as an academic exercise and accelera...
Mar 13, 2023•18 min•Season 6Ep. 217
Worldwide, an estimated 20-40% of crop yield is lost to pests and diseases every year. Coupled with a growing desire to reduce environmental impact in crop protection and you’ve got a growing opportunity for innovation. From a central Indiana farm to Purdue University and then onto Scotland, Insignum Agtech founder and CEO, Kyle Mohler, joins us to talk stress detection in crops using his tech-enabled solution that taps into a plant’s visible natural pigments that signal a problem is coming. He ...
Mar 06, 2023•16 min•Season 6Ep. 216
Tackling food security in America often centers on programming and funding; however, innovators are turning to tech and new models to better connect food supply with food demand. Today we are joined by Khadijah Abdullah, Vice President of Economic Development and Social Impact at Shipt, to talk about the company’s fundamental shift in how access to grocery and goods happens and how they are using that to improve food security. From her time as a lawyer and past experience as an educator, Khadija...
Feb 27, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 215
Agtech continues to be one of the fastest-growing categories of the agbioscience economy as producers and those that serve them seek to deliver greater value, efficiency and ultimately, improve net farm income. This week, we are joined by Dr. Brian Lutz, VP of Agricultural Solutions, at Corteva Agriscience. They dive into optimizing solutions for the farmer, the transformation of agtech and where we are at in its maturation cycle. Brian also talks about digital solutions letting farmers transpar...
Feb 20, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 214
Happy Valentine’s Day! It is estimated that 58 million pounds of chocolate have been purchased over the last seven days in honor of the holiday, fueling a global market of more than $46 billion. Today we are joined by an Indiana leader in sweet treats: founder and president of DeBrand Fine Chocolates, Cathy Brand-Beere. From a high school student making wedding cakes to the specialty chocolates that come from DeBrand’s today, Cathy talks about her love for sweets, allowing her creativity to fuel...
Feb 14, 2023•13 min•Season 6Ep. 213
Fermentation has become a catalyst for new food innovation and Mark Warner, co-founder and CEO of Liberation Labs, is bringing a new approach to scaling a solution to support food companies and the customers they serve. With the recent announcement that Liberation Labs would build a new facility in Indiana, we sit down with Mark to talk through his background, what’s on the horizon for alternative proteins and when products will roll out of their new location. Liberation Labs, which aims to enab...
Feb 13, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 212
Microbiome has been heralded as a next frontier of unlocking the power of biology to drive healthier outcomes. This week, we bring together two pioneers focused on driving those outcomes in animal health: Aaron Schacht, CEO of BiomEdit, and David Bravo, Chief Science Officer at Nutreco. The two companies recently announced plans for a long-term strategic partnership focused on discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation ultra-specialty feed additives called Biom-actives to ad...
Feb 06, 2023•18 min•Season 6Ep. 211
Last week, AgriNovus announced its sixth class of Field Atlas Ambassadors – students that serve as the on-campus peer connection to the online career exploration platform (MyFieldAtlas.com). After a handful of ambassador classes, several Indiana college campuses and lots of discussion surrounding the sector, one this is clear: young talent is learning what it means to work in agbioscience (and they really like it). Julia Hamblen is an agricultural education major at Purdue University and a three...
Jan 30, 2023•21 min•Season 6Ep. 210
From COVID-19 to African Swine Fever and now a global recession facing supply challenges, Elanco has faced many circumstances since becoming an independent company in 2018. CEO Jeff Simmons addressed the Economic Club of Indiana last week to send a clear message: their greatest era of innovation and impact to society lies ahead (and is coming quickly). This week, we bring you his comments as a special bonus episode. Jeff dives into Elanco’s new global headquarters being a destination, not an obl...
Jan 25, 2023•22 min•Season 6Ep. 209
Agbioscience companies attracted more than $50B in venture capital globally in 2021, but venture isn’t the only source of funding fueling innovation. Private equity and debt are also flowing into the agbioscience economy as investors seek new avenues to deliver returns while advancing innovation. With interest rates rising and a cool off in the tech economy, what does this mean for the future? This week, we are joined by Patrick Gilbert, Managing Director of Vine Capital, Randall Lewis, Managing...
Jan 23, 2023•33 min•Season 6Ep. 208
How does wrangling bulls compare to working in corporate America? Perhaps no one is more supremely qualified to answer that question than Anya Gandy. From Capitol Hill to The Great Plains, Google and now Inari, the Sustainability and Strategy Leader has an impressive resume. This week, we talk with Anya about her career – from cowboy to tech star - and the common thread through it all: sustainability. She dives into nature-positive farming, Inari’s potential to go beyond net-zero pledges and the...
Jan 16, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 207
An audible gasp filled the room at CES 2023’s opening keynote as the world’s leading innovators heard John Deere unveil its new robotic technology, ExactShot, which gives farmers the opportunity to dose fertilizer with precision rather than apply an entire stream – creating healthier plants with less chemical use while saving farmers money. AgriNovus caught up with John Deere’s VP of Production and Precision Ag Production Systems, Deanna Kovar, to talk about this continuation of the company’s sm...
Jan 09, 2023•16 min•Season 6Ep. 206
Do you also feel as though the year flew right on past you? As we sat down to recap what 2022 looked like for Indiana’s agbiosciences, we realized how much can happen in a short amount of time. From food to agtech, creating new innovative opportunities and putting Indiana on a global stage, please enjoy our first-ever year-in-review episode of Agbioscience, and also, our season 5 finale. We appreciate your passion and enthusiasm each week and look forward to bringing you more episodes in the new...
Dec 19, 2022•31 min•Season 5Ep. 205
In partnership with Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance, the 2022 Producer-Led Innovation Challenge tasked innovators with optimizing existing on-farm data to create a farmer-focused platform that will increase data accuracy and reliability to impact speed and cost of capital from lenders. The winning prize: $25,000 to help accelerate commercialization of their solution. This week, we are joined by the winning team, Orlando Saez and Tom Uthell with Aker Technologies. They...
Dec 14, 2022•16 min•Season 5Ep. 204
From restaurant tech to climate science, innovation taking over the agbioscience sector continues to diversify and grow as the problems we face when it comes to food get more attention. This week, we are joined by Jennifer Marston, senior reporter at AgFunder News, to talk about venture capital’s $51B investment in the global market last year and “the hype cycle” surrounding new tech and innovation. She also looks ahead at emerging innovations in the agbiosciences, market correction following th...
Dec 12, 2022•24 min•Season 5Ep. 203
David Johnson’s impact on Central Indiana and its economic growth cannot be overstated. This week, the CEO of Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) joins us to tell his story, from Harvard and Oxford to Capitol Hill, being a lawyer and coming home to Indianapolis (eventually to lead CICP). David also talks about the necessary formation of CICP as an organization, the emergence of AgriNovus as an agbioscience initiative of the organization and the industry’s vast opportunity for sustainabl...
Dec 05, 2022•33 min•Season 5Ep. 202
She’s the 19th president of Indiana University and the institution’s first female leader. Today we welcome Dr. Pamela Whitten to the podcast to get her take on IU’s strength at the intersection of tech and health, the university’s deep interest and application in agbioscience and creating a seven-year strategic framework during a time where higher education is facing enrollment decline. She also talks about collaborating alongside Purdue University president, Mitch Daniels, to split IUPUI into t...
Nov 28, 2022•25 min•Season 5Ep. 201
How are coffee and cryptocurrency related? In the case of this week’s guest, the more you consume, the greater your investment portfolio. Andre Ramsey, Co-Founder of CoinCoffee, joins us to talk about rewarding members through java coins that are redeemed for cryptocurrency, going to market and the consumer reaction and the massive validation he felt from Starbucks launching a similar program.
Nov 21, 2022•16 min•Season 5Ep. 200
Brad Chambers’ career is rich in entrepreneurial ventures – from launching and selling a landscaping business, investing in his first rental property as a sophomore at Indiana University (he owned 31 properties by the time he graduated) and ultimately founding Buckingham Properties. This week, the Indiana Secretary of Commerce talks with us about joining Governor Holcomb’s cabinet, industries that will power our state’s economy for years to come and his passion growing entrepreneurship in Indian...
Nov 14, 2022•30 min•Season 5Ep. 199
What came first, the chicken or the pizza? This week, they come together. We are joined by founder of Zero Carb LYFE, Omar Atia, to talk all about his chicken-based protein pizza’s fast-growing success. He also talks food science, diets and creating innovative food products that people want – and need. Ever hear about a chicken-based chocolate chip cookie? Listen here.
Nov 07, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 198
In a time where hunger is still a critical issue in the United States, Elevance Health is stepping up to connect consumers to better nutrition and, subsequently, better health outcomes. This week we are joined by Elevance Health’s Chief Health Officer, Shantanu Agrawal, to talk about the company’s approach to whole health, the role of innovation in connecting health food to the consumer and participating in AgriNovus’ HungerTech Challenge. To learn more about HungerTech, click here ....
Oct 31, 2022•19 min•Season 5Ep. 197
Power is a critical component of growing and scaling economies. This week we are joined by Brian Anderson, director of economic development at Wabash Valley Power Alliance, to talk disruption to the industry, the organization’s balanced path to decarbonization and working alongside agbioscience industry leaders to create big impact in Indiana.
Oct 24, 2022•19 min•Season 5Ep. 196
Cummins made news recently with the announcement that they would partner with Buhler Industries, Inc. to integrate the company’s 15-liter hydrogen engines into Buhler’s Versatile equipment. This week, we are joined by Ann Schmelzer, general manager of Cummins global agriculture business. They dive into diversifying power in agriculture, innovation creating powerful – and sustainable - engines and the comparison of hydrogen to diesel engines when it comes to performance. Learn more about Cummins’...
Oct 17, 2022•16 min•Season 5Ep. 195
