This is the second episode in a 4-part series sponsored by PMA ! Alicia Calhoun is the Vice President of Talent Portfolio at the Center for Growing Talent by PMA. She joins the podcast to give us her perspective on building and sustaining talent within the industry as well as the importance of creating a positive culture. Whether you have a few employees on a farm or hundreds in the corporate world, you won't want to miss the insights on this episode! Connect with PMA Website | Fresh Summit | Ce...
Oct 01, 2019•24 min
This is the first episode in a 4-part series sponsored by PMA ! Bob Whitaker is the Chief Science & Technology Officer of the Produce Marketing Association. Bob has has a incredibly successful career, starting in the biotechnology plant space. He then spent time in the processing side of the produce industry before joining PMA over 10 years ago. In his role Bob has responsibility for food safety, technology, and issues leadership for the produce supply chain, from field to fork. Bob announce...
Sep 24, 2019•48 min
Chris Paterson is the North America Lead for Xarvio, the digital farming arm of BASF. Chris has been involved with agronomy and agribusiness across North America for 25 years, and for the past ten years has been directly involved with the development of new business applications and value streams around the Digitization of Farming, Agribusiness, and AgriFood. He shares more about his career, and insights into how agriculture has evolved over time with some key insights into where the industry is...
Sep 17, 2019•46 min
Paul Greive is founder of Primal Pastures, a pastured livestock farm that delivers high-quality, fresh meat direct to consumer. Paul shares his amazing story of founding the company to feed his family healthy, real food and how it grew to become a successful company. He talks about their focus on growing regeneratively, the role of social media, and how he has launched a wholesale company called Pasture Bird . Tune in! Connect with Primal Pastures Website | Twitter | Instagram Connect with The M...
Sep 10, 2019•38 min
Gail Becker is the founder and CEO of Caulipower. Gail left an incredibly successful career in PR and marketing to launch a food company focused on making comfort foods with healthier ingredients. Caulipower came on the food scene with their incredibly popular cauliflower pizza crust. Gail shares her compelling story of starting and growing the company and you won't want to miss it. Tune in! Connect with Caulipower Website | Twitter | Instagram Connect with The Modern Acre Website | Instagram | ...
Sep 03, 2019•30 min
Ryan Jacobsen is the CEO and Executive Director of the Fresno County Farm Bureau. He is also the host of the television show, Valley's Gold , which provides a behind-the-scenes look of the California agricultural industry. We talk with Ryan about the current state of the ag industry, how we has managed and grown the Farm Bureau, and the importance of using your voice in agriculture. Connect with Fresno County Farm Bureau Website | Twitter | Valley's Gold Connect with The Modern Acre Website | In...
Aug 27, 2019•35 min
This is the fourth and final episode in a 4-part series sponsored by AgFunder ! David Farquhar is the CEO of Intelligent Growth Solutions, a technology company that provides vertical farming systems for 3rd party indoor farms. IGS has been a leading innovator in the vertical farming space. David has an impressive background of scaling technology companies and shares the story and technology of IGS and what he has implemented since taking over as CEO. This is a must-listen episode! Connect with I...
Aug 20, 2019•40 min
This is the third episode in a 4-part series sponsored by AgFunder ! Abi Ramanan is the founder and CEO of ImpactVision, which uses machine learning and hyperspectral imaging to detect the quality and composition of food products to a degree that has not been possible before. This will enable food supply chains to reduce waste, maximize yield, and improve quality. Tune in to learn more about how the company was founded and developed over time, it's partnership with AgFunder, and more about hyper...
Aug 13, 2019•36 min
This is the second episode in a 4-part series sponsored by AgFunder ! Sofia Elizondo is the co-founder and COO at Brightseed. She has an impressive background in CPG, pharmaceutical, and technology companies. Sofia co-founded Brightseed focusing on improving the nutrition in our food. The team has developed a computational search engine, Forager, which can identify plant compounds that can be instrumental in returning nutrition to food. We learn more about the company, their partnership with AgF...
Aug 06, 2019•25 min
This is the first episode in a 4-part series sponsored by AgFunder ! Michael Dean is the founding partner of AgFunder, which is a venture capital firm whose mission is to invest in technology that will rapidly transform our food and agriculture system. AgFunder has built it's investing platform on top of it's best-in-class news publications, which has become the go-to hub for the latest on food and agri-tech investment. Michael is an entrepreneur and investor with a background in agriculture, fi...
Jul 30, 2019•36 min
Nick Halla is the Senior Vice President, International at Impossible Foods and was also the company's first employee. Nick has grown within the company as it has scaled into restaurants, food service, and now retail. Impossible Foods is a plant-based meat company that is committed to products that look, feel, and taste like animal meat, but with less environmental impact. Tune in to learn about this innovative area of alternative agriculture! Connect with Impossible Foods Website | Instagram | T...
Jul 23, 2019•34 min
Nike Neal is the founder and CEO of DecisionNext. DecisionNext helps companies improve their market performance through machine learning and prescriptive analytics. Mike talks with us about founding the company and how it has scaled over time, including the focus on agricultural commodities. Tune in and learn more! Connect with DecisionNext Website Connect with The Modern Acre Website | Instagram | Twitter Sign up for Acre Insights HERE Join our Closed Facebook Group HERE...
Jul 16, 2019•35 min
Finally The Modern Acre podcast discusses hemp and CBD! The introduction of the new Farm Bill opened the floodgates to a new business opportunity. This week we talk with the founder of Nikkal Farms, Paul Clift, who talks all things hemp and CBD. He farms 7 acres of industrial hemp and is currently focusing on launching a retail line of CBD products. Learn more about his approach to this fast-paced industry on this episode! Connect with Nikkal Farms Website Connect with The Modern Acre Website | ...
Jul 09, 2019•31 min
Sign up for Acre Insights HERE 2018 Forbes Ag Tech Episode We had the pleasure of participating in the 5th annual Forbes AgTech Summit this year in Salinas, California. To learn more about what we learned at the show, sign up for Acre Insights . Aerobotics focuses on early pest and disease detection enabled by drone imagery and artificial intelligence. We talked with Aerobotics Chief Commerical Officer, Andrew Burdock, who is working to scale up their U.S. operation. Andrew talks more about the ...
Jul 02, 2019•36 min
Molly Toot is the Director of Sustainability at Land O'Lakes SUSTAIN. Land O'Lakes SUSTAIN is a leading conservation solutions provider, advancing and connecting stewardship efforts throughout the food system with scale – from farmers to ag retailers to partners like food companies. Molly talks about her background in the industry and how SUSTAIN originated as a merger with Land O'Lakes and United Suppliers. We get into all things sustainability and learn more about how SUSTAIN is pushing the in...
Jun 25, 2019•28 min
Interested in direct-to-consumer business? We are re-airing one of our most popular episodes to-date featuring the Farmer's Dog. Brett Podolsky joins The Modern Acre podcast to talk about how he helped create The Farmer's Dog, a dog food company focused on using real, fresh food and delivering customized servings to their customers. Brett shares the vision behind the company and why using real food is so important to the brand. While the company is not directly involved in a agriculture at the f...
Jun 18, 2019•33 min
Sign up for Acre Insights HERE Want to learn more about our plans for The Modern Acre? For the first time, we sit on the other side of the mic and join The Farm Traveler Podcast for an interview! The host, Trevor Williams, asks us about how The Modern Acre started and what our vision for it is. We also discuss our take on the industry. We really appreciated the opportunity to be on The Farm Traveler Podcast and share a little more with the community! Connect with The Farm Traveler Website | Podc...
Jun 11, 2019•21 min
Sign up for Acre Insights HERE This week we are talking regenerative agriculture with Sara Harper , founder and CEO of Grounded Growth. Sara discusses her career on Capitol Hill working to implement policy change within agriculture and how that led her to the private sector to continue the effort. Grounded Growth is a network that enables, supports and grows business-enhancing relationships between food companies and farmers who are expanding regenerative agriculture. Tune in to learn more about...
Jun 04, 2019•46 min
Sign up for Acre Insights HERE Zach Sheely joins us to talk about how his interest in technology started on his family farm and evolved to his current position as President of Agworld. Agworld is one of the leading farm management companies, helping farmers take control of their business and operate more efficiently. Zach walks us through how he joined Agworld and helped them grow over time. This is a jam-packed episode you can't afford to miss! Connect with Agworld Website | Twitter Connect wit...
May 28, 2019•44 min
We're happy to continue to partner with the International Agri-Center, which is set to hold the 53rd World Ag Expo February 11-13, 2020. Listen to Jennifer's episode HERE Fieldin was recently awarded the AgFunder Innovation Award for Farm Tech category for its smart harvesting and spraying technology! We had the great opportunity to sit down with Neil Knaak to learn more about Fieldin. Neil shares more about the exciting technology that Fieldin has developed, how the team has grown the business,...
May 21, 2019•31 min
Gary Loh is the Executive Chairman of First Alverstone Capital , a private equity group focusing primarily in Asian oriented opportunities. He also serves as the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SunMoon Food Company . Gary led the turnaround of SunMoon Food after taking control of the business in 2007 and implementing a new business model. Recently, Gary founded a tech startup, DiMuto, focused on global trade that leverages blockchain technology to instill transparency in t...
May 14, 2019•33 min
David Jones came back to the family dairy and led the adoption and integration of robotic technology to help address the increasing labor challenges in the US. Learn more about his thoughts on robotics and the farm's transition. David is an advocate for technology and the dairy industry and recently started a position at DeLaval, who provides integrated, automated equipment solutions for dairies. Don't miss this episode! Connect with David Jones DeLaval Website | Instagram Connect with The Moder...
May 07, 2019•35 min
Tune in to hear about ag entrepreneurship! Danny Royer started his career working for several successful farms, focusing on improving operation's efficiencies using technology. He recently ventured out on his own to start his own consulting firm that works with both farmers and ag tech companies. We discuss the vision for the business, what his first steps have been, and how he is thinking differently about marketing. Connect with Great Valley Oak Website | Instagram Connect with The Modern Acre...
May 01, 2019•33 min
Tillable is an online ag marketplace focused on changing the way farmland is rented, making it easier than ever for landowners and farmers to grow. We talk this week with the Founder and CEO of Tillable, Corbett Kull who has an impressive background in technology and ag startups. Tune in to learn how he has navigated building a marketplace for farmers and landowners, as well as his take on the ag industry! Connect with Tillable Website | Twitter Connect with The Modern Acre Website | Instagram |...
Apr 23, 2019•46 min
Join our Closed Facebook Group HERE Tune in this week to hear how Christine Moseley has grown her startup, Full Harvest, to fix one of the biggest problems in agriculture: food waste. Full Harvest is the first B2B marketplace for imperfect and surplus produce. Christine shares the details behind how the company started, the challenges she's faced, and what the company is focused on the rest of the year. Don't miss this episode! Connect with Full Harvest Website | Instagram Connect with The Moder...
Apr 16, 2019•35 min
Join our Closed Facebook Group HERE We had the great pleasure of interviewing a fellow podcaster and standout farm-marketer, Tim Young. Tim has an incredible story, from having a successful career in corporate America to leaving it all to start a farm while focusing on his family. As it turns out, Tim was rather successful farming and has since transitioned to build an online academy that helps farmers build and grow their small farm and direct-to-consumer products, not to mention a great podcas...
Apr 09, 2019•40 min
Watch our Cheddar TV Segment HERE Tune in this week to hear from one of the premier thought leaders in the agriculture industry, Vonnie Estes. Vonnie holds the position of Vice President of Technology at the Produce Marketing Association and has an impressive background in science and technology as it relates to agriculture. Vonnie dives into a recent AgFunder article she wrote sharing 5 things she saw at the recent Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco as well as sharing more about her r...
Apr 02, 2019•31 min
Join our Closed Facebook Group HERE Henry Gordon-Smith is the Founder and Managing Director of Agritecture, an urban agriculture consulting company. Agritecture was started by Henry as a blog resource for all things urban agriculture news, business, and design. He shares about how he started his career in hydroponics and grew his blog into a successful consulting business. Henry gives his take on the current state of the industry, from industrial-scale, localized vertical farms to shipping conta...
Mar 26, 2019•50 min
Join our Closed Facebook Group HERE You won't want to miss this episode talking with Doug Brunner, a California farmer and businessman who left his family's dairy operation to start and scale his own farm. Doug has a passion for agriculture and shares his experience of navigating farming in 2019. He also talks about a new venture called The Ag Center 59, which is one-stop-shop of ag businesses, servicing farms across California. Tune in! Connect with The Ag Center 59 Website | Instagram Connect ...
Mar 19, 2019•41 min
Join our Closed Facebook Group HERE This week on the podcast we welcome Tara Vander Dussen, better known online as the New Mexico Milkmaid. Tara started her blog to share her story about being in the dairy industry and what she has learned along the way. She shares her vision for her brand, how it started, and how she's moving it forward, including how to monetize the brand. Tune in to learn more how to leverage your influence online! Books: Good to Great , Building a Story Brand , How to Win Fr...
Mar 12, 2019•32 min
