Matt Aronson is the Chief Revenue Officer of Verdant Technologies. Verdant is committed to reducing global waste and enhancing sustainability through their proprietary technology, HarvestHold, which extends the usable life of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Tune in to hear more about their approach to food waste and how Matt and the team are focused on scaling profitably. — This episode is presented by American AgCredit. Learn more HERE . Check out Matt Woolf's episode on the California ag mark...
Jul 02, 2024•33 min
Luiz Beling is the new CEO of Apeel Sciences, a leading company in supply chain innovation for the fresh produce industry. With over two decades of agriculture industry experience, Beling brings a wealth of knowledge and skills in driving innovation and fostering strategic partnerships. Beling most recently held leadership roles at Farmer's Business Network and Bayer Crop Science, where he led large teams across multiple geographies that accelerated business growth and increased customer satisfa...
Jun 25, 2024•29 min
Kelly Damewood is the CEO of CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers), one of the first organic certification agencies. Kelly has spent over a decade working towards a single goal: helping organic farmers thrive. After her own experience running a small farm, she went to law school determined to help farmers who farm in a better way. In her previous role as CCOF’s policy director, Kelly spearheaded key initiatives such as passage of state legislation to improve an outdated regulatory program ...
Jun 18, 2024•47 min
Zac Ellis is the Sr. Director of Agronomy at Olam and oversees thousands of acres of almond production. The Olam Group is a leading food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients, feed and fiber to 20,900 customers worldwide. Their value chain spans over 60 countries and includes farming, processing and distribution operations, as well as a sourcing network of an estimated 5.0 million farmers. Zac spends a large portion of his time investigating and implementing agtech, while also focusing o...
Jun 11, 2024•39 min
Dave Friedberg is CEO, Chairman, and co-founder of Ohalo Genetics ( https://ohalo.com ), which is accelerating evolution to unlock nature's potential. Dave excels at developing and deploying agricultural technologies that boost farmer productivity while reducing humanity's land, water, and energy footprint. Dave is also CEO and founder of The Production Board (TPB), a venture foundry that builds and invests in technology businesses in food, agriculture, and life sciences. He helps set strategy, ...
Jun 04, 2024•44 min
Help us celebrate our 350th episode by doing one (or all!) of the following: Share a recent episode with a friend or colleague Join our membership community The Modern Acre Co-op Subscribe to our new newsletter focused on food & ag strategy — Tim Bucher is the CEO and Founder of Agtonomy , a hybrid autonomy and tele-assist platform for agriculture vehicles. They partner with established equipment manufacturers to transform tractors and agriculture machines into autonomous and remote-controll...
May 28, 2024•30 min
Jack Richardson is kicking off a new and improved version of T he Modern Acre newsletter . After starting his career in venture banking, Jack has spent the last five years in AgTech, first at a food waste startup and now in precision technology at an Ag OEM. He's spent most of his career in strategy roles where he's explored ways to make business models work. Outside of his specific roles, he's written about the space more broadly – you may have come across my prior writing on LinkedIn . In tand...
May 21, 2024•22 min
Austin is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. During the 2020 presidential campaign, he advised candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg on agricultural policy before ultimately serving as Co-Chair of the Biden campaign’s Agriculture Antitrust Policy Committee. He is a Fellow of the Thurman Arnold Project at Yale University, an initiative that brings together faculty, students, and scholars to collaborate on research related to competition policy and antitrust ...
May 14, 2024•34 min
Michael Lavin is the founder and managing partner of Germin8 Ventures , a purpose-driven venture capital firm that believes in the power of technology to fix the global food system. Founded in 2018 and backed by C-level executives, entrepreneurs and technologists across the food and agriculture industries, Germin8 is building a portfolio of entrepreneurs and businesses with the potential to profoundly change the future of FoodTech and AgTech. Michael oversees all aspects of Germin8’s investing, ...
May 07, 2024•35 min
Jason Giannelli is the farm manager for two large California farming operations, Old River Farming and R & G Fanucchi. Jason shares more about what's happening on the ground in California right now with SGMA, farming practices, and regulatory pressures. — This episode is presented by Pinion. Learn more HERE . — Links Jason on LinkedIn Join the Co-op...
Apr 30, 2024•26 min
Chris Tolles is the CEO and Co-Founder of Yard Stick. Yard Stick measures soil carbon. Scientists and farmers alike know that climate-friendly agricultural practices have the potential to remove atmospheric CO2 at gigaton/year scale. When these practices are adopted, more carbon is stored in soils, improving soil health and fighting climate change. But significant measurement challenges have held soil carbon efforts back - until now. By reducing the cost of soil carbon measurement by 90%+, Yard ...
Apr 23, 2024•38 min
Kevin Bearley is a Principle at Pinion and partners with business owners to create sophisticated income and tax solutions that include structuring organizations, transitioning businesses, and maximizing tax benefits at present and into the future. Kevin navigates complex family dynamics and advises family business owners that fair doesn’t always mean equal. When putting together estate plans, he focuses on ensuring operating assets and cash flow are accessible to on-farm heirs for long-term, pro...
Apr 16, 2024•32 min
Did you miss World Agri-Tech in SF last month? Do not fret, because Tim and Tyler break it all down for you with their takeaways from attending the show. — This episode is presented by Pinion. Learn more HERE . — Links World Agri-Tech Join the Co-op
Apr 09, 2024•20 min
Pat McCullough is the CEO of ProducePay , the marketplace transforming the global produce industry into a more connected and sustainable supply chain. Prior to being appointed CEO in January, Pat served as a board member and advisor to ProducePay for two years. An esteemed global business leader, McCullough brings to this role more than 25 years of corporate experience and deep expertise in international business development, structuring and joint ventures from leadership positions held at start...
Apr 02, 2024•31 min
The Food Manufacturing Guy is a food manufacturing CEO with extensive experience in vertically integrating a food brand. He also has built a following on X for spicy takes on the food industry while keeping his account anonymous. Tune in for his first ever podcast interview where we dive into some of his takes. — This episode is presented by Pinion. Learn more HERE . — Links The Food Manufacturing Guy on X Join the Co-op...
Mar 26, 2024•37 min
Marc Kermisch is the Global Chief Digital and Information Officer at CNH Industrial, a leading global manufacturer of agricultural, construction, and financial services vehicles and equipment. Tune in to hear how he and CNH are thinking about innovation in agriculture. — This episode is presented by Pinion. Learn more HERE . — Links Marc on Linkedin CNH Website Join the Co-op...
Mar 19, 2024•29 min
Feroz Sheikh is an accomplished CTO, thought leader and an entrepreneur. He has founded and led multiple technology-driven ventures, raised VC funding and took them to successful M&A. He has worked philanthropically, making education accessible to 200 million children in India using digital technologies. He is currently focusing on driving digital transformation across agriculture globally as the CTO of Digital at Syngenta. — This episode is presented by Pinion. Learn more HERE . — Links Fer...
Mar 12, 2024•28 min
Jack Richardson is kicking off a new and improved version of T he Modern Acre newsletter . After starting his career in venture banking, Jack has spent the last five years in AgTech, first at a food waste startup and now in precision technology at an Ag OEM. He's spent most of his career in strategy roles where he's explored ways to make business models work. Outside of his specific roles, he's written about the space more broadly – you may have come across my prior writing on LinkedIn . In tand...
Mar 08, 2024•27 min
Matt Woolf , Ph.D., is Terrain’s specialty crop analyst, focusing on tree nuts, fruits and vegetables. He is a native of California’s Central Valley, where his family grows almonds, pistachios and a variety of row crops. Matt has an extensive academic, teaching and research background in economics. He earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and economics, a master’s degree in international and development economics, and a Ph.D. in economics from the Australian National University. He has ...
Mar 05, 2024•35 min
This is the story of The Wonderful Company and Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the billionaire power couple that started one of the largest private holding companies in the world. In addition to owning notable brands like POM, Teleflora, Fiji Water, and more, the Resnicks are also one of the largest farmland owners in the US and are market leaders across almonds, pistachios, pomegranates, mandarins, and lemons. — This episode is presented by Local Line. Learn more HERE . Check out our interview with ...
Feb 27, 2024•1 hr 7 min
On this edition of Acre Insights, Tim and Tyler do a quick check in on their reading competition. Then, they discuss how there are "really interesting vibes" happening in agtech right now as well as break down the news that Trinitas Farming in California filed for bankruptcy. Links: The Story of The Climate Corporation Traction Verity Habits of the Household Psychology of Money Rubies in the Orchard Tyler's wife Ruth's Book Recs Trinitas Farming Bankruptcy Become a Premium Subscriber Sponsor: Th...
Feb 23, 2024•20 min
Cole Jones is the Founder and CEO of Local Line . Local Line is the all-in-one local food-sourcing platform for Restaurants, Grocers, and Distributors. Use Local Line to discover and buy from thousands of family farms that sell every kind of product category including produce, meat, dairy, and more. Whether you're a single-location independent grocery store or a nationwide chain, Local Line helps retailers of all sizes build scalable farm-to-fork supply chains. Links: Cole on Linkedin Local Line...
Feb 20, 2024•26 min
Peter Askew is a domain name investor turned dude ranching, ranch employing, onion farmer. Tune in to hear his story and his unique approach to building VidaliaOnions.com. Links: Peter on X Vidalia Onions Peter's Projects Sponsor: This episode is presented by Local Line. Learn more HERE . Check out our interview with Cole ....
Feb 13, 2024•47 min
This month, Tim and Tyler talk with Ariel about her latest Topsoil edition - "Agriculture, but make it precision - A framework for precision ag with Greg Chiocco." Ariel Patton is the creator of Topsoil , a newsletter bringing you monthly frameworks to help make sense of agriculture, at just the right depth. Ariel has focused her career on driving digital transformation of agriculture to help farmers manage their businesses more profitably and sustainably at Monsanto, Granular, Corteva and curre...
Feb 09, 2024•25 min
Philip Taylor , Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Mad Agriculture. He co-founded the organization in 2016 with his life partner, Nicole Brinks, to reimagine and restore our relationship to the land, sea, and each other through good agriculture. Prior to founding Mad Ag, Philip was a career global ecologist who specialized in ecosystem and soil carbon cycling. His research ranged widely, from understanding soil ecology and ecosystem biogeochemistry to exploring solutions to the sustainability ch...
Feb 06, 2024•41 min
Katherine Sizov is the Co-Founder and CEO of Strella. Strella predicts produce shelf life to reduce food waste and improve quality with proprietary sensors and software. Links: Katherin on Linkedin Strella Website Igino Cafiero of Bear Flag on John Deere Acquisition Sponsor: This episode is presented by Local Line. Learn more HERE . Check out our interview with Cole ....
Jan 30, 2024•26 min
On this edition of Acre Insights, Tim and Tyler discuss their experience getting produce boxes through Farm Fresh to You, David Friedberg's recent move to become CEO of Ohalo, and our thoughts on the Starlink-Deere deal. Links: Farm Fresh to You Ohalo Jorge on the podcast Become a Premium Subscriber Sponsor: This episode is presented by Local Line. Learn more HERE . Check out our interview with Cole ....
Jan 26, 2024•21 min
Jorge Heraud is the vice president of automation and autonomy within the Intelligent Solutions Group (ISG) at John Deere. He leads the development of automation and autonomy products that make Deere customers more productive, profitable, and sustainable. Prior to his career with the company, Jorge was the CEO and co-founder of Blue River Technology (a John Deere company), which was acquired by Deere & Company in September 2017 and is now run as an independent subsidiary. He earned a bachelor...
Jan 23, 2024•39 min
Bobby Chang is an entrepreneur, founder, and design strategist with a keen eye for branding and transformative product development. He excels at taking innovative concepts and turning them into commercial successes, operating at the crossroads of design, business, and technology. His career boasts a breathtaking diversity, spanning consumer sectors from Apple retail to ventures in the uncharted territories of biotech. He has nurtured seed round startups like Killspencer and collaborated with ind...
Jan 16, 2024•43 min
Join the Co-op for the full episode! David Leon of Biome Capital Partners and Tim Luckow of Farm lead our recent Co-op members call discussing how they are building their investment firms focused on regenerative farmland. Links: Join the Co-op! Sponsor: This episode is presented by Local Line. Learn more HERE . Check out our interview with Cole ....
Jan 12, 2024•20 min
