The concept of Soil Health deals with making sure the land where our farms stand will remain the same for the next generation. This was the goal of my journey in bringing the awareness of soil health to the world, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of Jim Loar of Cool Planet . This special episode will be the culmination of all the farms I visited and the amazing farmers I met along the way. I share where I draw my passion for agriculture and being immersed in this scientifically-drive...
Dec 26, 2018•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Davon Cook is the Co-Founder of Ag Progress , a company that provides management consulting, family business advisory, and facilitation for ag ventures and other groups. Davon facilitates peer groups of ag operations and is a member of the Family Firm Institute, one of the most extensive networks of thought leaders in the family enterprise field. She received her master’s degree from Texas A&M in Ag Econ and her MBA from the University of Illinois. Davon joins me to share the inspiration behind ...
Dec 19, 2018•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Joe Breker is the owner of the Coteau des Prairies , a getaway lodge that offers stunning views surrounded by prairie farms and fields. He has been farming for over 40 years and practices what the industry calls “No-till” farming, a method that prioritizes soil health. With his skills and knowledge, Joe managed to successfully operate his farm during the dry ‘80s and wet ‘90s, as well as each decade’s poor farm economy. Joe joins me today to describe how his conservative farming practices have i...
Dec 12, 2018•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brady Sidwell is the owner of Sidwell Strategies , a commodity brokerage that provides a variety of risk management solutions that caters towards those in the agricultural industry. They help farmers manage price risks by trading futures and options on the commodity market. Before focusing on this type of business, Brady enjoyed traveling to 95 countries and working in a lot of them. The experiences he had on his many trips allowed him to form a better understanding of how the economy on agricul...
Dec 05, 2018•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Irving Fain is the CEO & Co-Founder of Bowery Farming , a company that seeks to innovate indoor and urban farming through sustainable methods without the need for pesticides. He is a seasoned entrepreneur who is passionate about expanding access to quality produce. Before he became the CEO of Bowery Farming, Irving began his career assisting early-stage companies and startups in raising capital as an investment banker. Irving joins me today to discuss how he and his company plan to improve indoo...
Nov 28, 2018•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Israel Morales Sr. is JV Farms Organic ’s lead grower, carrying with him over forty years of farming experience. JV Farms Organic is committed to growing organic crops in an innovative and eco-friendly manner. Israel has extensive experience in not just knowing what produce matches the type of soil you have, but also the various factors involved in soil health. From types of plants and soil varieties to the very insects thriving within the soil itself, Israel’s wisdom regarding organic farming o...
Nov 21, 2018•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Connie Bowen is the Principal and Program Manager of The Yield Lab as well as the Principal of Cultivation Capital. The Yield Lab is an accelerator program for entrepreneurs in the agriculture industry. The program’s mission is to enable agribusinesses to revolutionize agrifood systems and promote sustainability through educational resources and support. Connie joins me today to share The Yield Lab’s mission and how they help entrepreneurs build sustainable agribusinesses through their accelerat...
Nov 14, 2018•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nave Strauss is an arborist and the Director of Street Tree Planting for NYC Parks . His primary function is to make sure New York City and its surrounding areas are equipped with the right combination of trees and plants that can help sustain both public and environmental health. He obtained a degree in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Forestry from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY in 2008 and has worked with NYC Parks since 2009. He and his team aim to become the best tree planti...
Nov 07, 2018•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alexander Reichert is the Co-Founder & CEO of AgVend , an eCommerce platform that partners with various ag retailers to adapt to the evolving needs of American farmers. Their platform allows farmers to connect with retailers and purchase their products and/or services anywhere and at any time. Alex practices the Build-Measure-Learn philosophy in his life and believes customer satisfaction isn’t an option, but a critical part of success in any industry. Alexander joins me today to describe AgVend...
Oct 31, 2018•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Todd Janzen is an attorney whose practice covers the agricultural industry with the intent to represent farmers and their respective businesses. He is the President of Janzen Agricultural Law LLC , a law firm that specializes in the legal needs of an innovative agricultural industry. He also serves as the Administrator for Ag Data Transparent , a non-profit organization that aims to bring transparency, trust, and simplicity to ag tech contracts. Todd joins me today to help bring awareness to the...
Oct 24, 2018•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Abbey Wick is an Extension Soil Health Specialist for North Dakota State University . In her position, she is responsible for producing soil health videos with topics ranging from soil erosion to cover crops. She is trained in soil organic matter dynamics, soil structural development, and microbial ecology. She believes all systems need a holistic approach encompassing every interaction within them. She implements this belief by working with landowners, industry, and government agencies thro...
Oct 17, 2018•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Georg Banauch is a molecular biotechnologist with extensive knowledge of synthetic biology and biofuels research. He is also a Co-Founder and Development Director for HATCH , an accelerator program focused exclusively on the aquaculture industry seeking to develop and scale disruptive aquaculture startups. Joel Harris is Ag Startup Engine ’s Co-Director. Ag Startup Engine is a privately-owned accelerator program that funds AgTech entrepreneurs and supports them through mentorship and funding. Jo...
Oct 10, 2018•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator is a mentor-led program that allows startups to collaborate with agriculture industry leaders and present their solutions to refine product market fit, perform customer discovery within the industry, and build strategic partnerships. Iowa AgriTech Accelerator Executive Director Megan Vollstedt joins the show to share more about their program. One of their success stories is Rabbit Tractors, that you may remember from Future of Agriculture 118. Learn more at https://...
Oct 05, 2018•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew Diprose is the CEO at Rootwave , a UK tech startup that aims to provide a sustainable and efficient solution to weed problems by zapping them from the root up. The goal is to reduce weeds without using chemicals which could help solve soil contamination issues. His role is to lead the product and technology department, making sure the technology is safe and effective when it is commercially available in 2020. Andrew joins me today to discuss Rootwave, what inspired him to start this type ...
Oct 03, 2018•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tony Chen is the Co-Founder of Manolin Inc ., a new startup in the aquaculture space. Manolin is a software company that aims to accelerate resource sharing between salmon farms as well as prevent and manage sea lice outbreaks through digital health management. Before co-founding Manolin, Tony was developing software for the U.S. government and was only interested in aquaculture as a hobby. His fascination grew to new heights when he discovered how oyster farming works and the plight of its farm...
Sep 27, 2018•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jim Loar is CEO and President of Cool Planet , an innovations company that seeks to improve upon the current agricultural technologies we have today to facilitate increased profits and crop production at a low cost in a sustainable manner. Jim has over 30 years of experience in the industry and worked with big corporations like Wilbur-Ellis Company and Griffin LLC. He has a Bachelor of Nautical Science from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and obtained his Master's degree in Business ad...
Sep 20, 2018•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Zack James is the Founder of Rabbit Tractors , a team that designs and builds swarm-enabled, compact, and autonomous farm equipment. His company’s aim is to help farmers save time and money while increasing productivity. He has a degree in Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and attended University of Michigan Law School with a focus on corporate governance and securities. Zack joins me today to share his company’s ideas and solutions when it comes to increasing farm effi...
Sep 12, 2018•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Pete Nelson is the President and Executive Director of AgLaunch, an agriculture accelerator that supports startups that innovate food and provide sustainable solutions. He has over twenty years of experience as a farmer, writer, consultant, speaker, and entrepreneur emphasizing farm-based innovation technologies and models. He has worked with a variety of public and private sector partners building a support ecosystem for new ag companies. Pete joins me today to discuss what AgLaunch is about an...
Sep 05, 2018•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Martin Gross is the Founder and President of Gross-Wen Technologies , a next generation wastewater treatment company that makes use of microalgae to provide a sustainable and efficient alternative to conventional water treatment methods. As President, he has raised over $3 million in Angel and Series A investments, applied for numerous patents, and served as Principal Investigator in non-diluting SBIR grant funding. Martin has a Ph.D. in Agriculture & Biosystems Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Food ...
Aug 29, 2018•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller are the founders of Pheronym , an agricultural biotechnology company that develops safe and nontoxic solutions to protect a wide variety of plants. Their flagship product is based on pheromones which is extracted from microscopic roundworms called nematodes. Fatma is Pheronym’s CEO/CSO and is an accomplished scientist with a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology and postdoctoral training in Natural Product Chemistry. Cameron is the COO and has extensive ...
Aug 22, 2018•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome back to another episode of the Future of Agriculture’s Follow Up Friday series - the segment when we follow up with listener-submitted questions and comments related to their favorite previous episodes of the show. This week, I highlight Village Capital , an accelerator that finds, trains, and invests in leaders and entrepreneurs solving real-world problems. Village Capital’s US Ventures Manager Alex Arrivillaga responds to some of my questions regarding the company’s missions and goals,...
Aug 17, 2018•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jeff Beegle and Tony Bova are the Founders of Mobius , a biotechnology company that envisions to build a future where the world sees organic waste as a valuable resource instead of a burden on the planet. Tony is officially the Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff is the Chief Science Officer. Their current project is a form of biodegradable plastic made from a unique substance found in plants called Lignin. They seek to use their special plastic in various industries such as agriculture, horticult...
Aug 15, 2018•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome back to another episode of the Future of Agriculture’s Follow Up Friday series - the segment when we follow up with listener-submitted questions and comments related to their favorite previous episodes of the show. TERRA’s Regional Manager Anil Suren answers some of my questions regarding the company’s ideas and services, including what it’s like being part of the TERRA organization, the company’s partners an this week, I highlight the TERRA Accelerator , a business that seeks to bring t...
Aug 10, 2018•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Abi Ramanan is the CEO of Impact Vision , a company that seeks to build a more secure and transparent food system with the use of hyperspectral technology. The company envisions to reduce the cost of food waste and food fraud through software that provides users with information on food quality, rapidly and non-invasively. Abi is also the founder of Papi’s Pickles and Co-founder of DayOld , food enterprises that tackles food waste and unemployment in migrant communities and promotes gender equal...
Aug 08, 2018•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sarah Nolet is the Founder and CEO of AgThentic , a company that helps ag businesses and their entrepreneurs and innovators build the food systems of the future. She is a renowned food systems innovation expert and is the reason behind Australia’s early stage agtech ecosystem. Sarah holds a degree in System Design and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Computer Science and Human Factors Engineering. Sarah joins me today to share her insight regarding the futu...
Aug 01, 2018•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Jeremy Williams is the Vice President of Biotechnology and Agricultural Productivity Innovations at Monsanto , one of the largest modern agricultural companies in the world that develops products and tools to help farmers grow more crops and make use of resources more efficiently. His responsibilities include leading the chemistry and trait research teams that assist farmers to succeed through innovative means such as artificial intelligence. His ultimate goal is to create a discovery pipeli...
Jul 25, 2018•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Aldyen Donnelly is the Director of Carbon Economic at Nori , a startup company dedicated to creating trust and transparency while lowering transaction costs throughout the carbon trading industry. Her mission is to reward carbon sequestering farmers with blockchain-backed carbon credit certificates. Nori is a blockchain-enabled platform allowing users to trace where carbon dioxide is sequestered and is currently the world’s only carbon dioxide sequestration marketplace. Aldyen joins me to share ...
Jul 18, 2018•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Del Ficke and Graham Christensen own farms that advocate a practice called Regenerative Agriculture. This practice sequesters a massive portion of CO2 in the soil and even in forests. Del is the owner of Ficke Cattle Company , a family run farm and livestock operation with a history dating back to 1860. Graham is the Founder of GC Resolve , an environmental consulting company based in Nebraska that specializes in grassroots community development, education, and mobilization. Del and Graham join ...
Jul 11, 2018•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Gilbert is the Founder and CEO of Semios , a Canadian company that helps farmers manage their pest problems using onsite sensing, big data, and predictive analytics solutions. He has over twenty years of experience in the field of biotech research and development. Before founding Semios, Michael held positions with federal research institutions, large multinationals, medium-sized public companies, and startups. Today, Michael joins me to share the goal of Semios and how they plan to cont...
Jul 04, 2018•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast John McKeon is the Senior Manager of Organic Compliance, Commission, and Consolidation at Tanimura and Antle . Founded in 1982, Tanimura and Antle is a farm company that grows and sells both conventional and organic produce. John has almost two decades of experience working in the agricultural industry with skills in operations, management, quality assurance, and compliance. Today, John joins me to share how he and his company are working to fulfill the world’s surging preference for organic pro...
Jun 27, 2018•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
