FoA 271: Ag Robotics Roundtable

Future of Agriculture

#Agcareers #Agribusiness #Feed #Livestock #Tim Hammerich #Agriculture #Business #Industries #Science #Tech #Biology #Farm

24:35

It’s the very first episode of The Big Pitch with Jimmy Carr and our first guest is Phil Wang! And Phil’s subgenre is…This Place is Evil. We’re talking psychological torture, we’re talking gory death scenes, we’re talking Lorraine Kelly?! The Big Pitch with Jimmy Carr is a brand new comedy podcast where each week a different celebrity guest pitches an idea for a film based on one of the SUPER niche sub-genres on Netflix. From ‘Steamy Crime Movies from the 1970s’ to ‘Australian Dysfunctional Family Comedies Starring A Strong Female Lead’, our celebrity guests will pitch their wacky plot, their dream cast, the marketing stunts, and everything in between. By the end of every episode, Jimmy Carr, Comedian by night / “Netflix Executive” by day, will decide whether the pitch is greenlit or condemned to development hell! Listen on all podcast platforms and watch on the Netflix Is A Joke YouTube Channel . The Big Pitch is a co-production by Netflix and BBC Studios Audio. Jimmy Carr is an award-winning stand-up comedian and writer, touring his brand-new show JIMMY CARR: LAUGHS FUNNY throughout the USA from May to November this year, as well as across the UK and Europe, before hitting Australia and New Zealand in early 2026. All info and tickets for the tour are available at JIMMYCARR.COM Production Coordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries Production Manager: Mabel Finnegan-Wright Editor: Stuart Reid Producer: Pete Strauss Executive Producer: Richard Morris Executive Producers for Netflix: Kathryn Huyghue, Erica Brady, and David Markowitz Set Design: Helen Coyston Studios: Tower Bridge Studios Make Up: Samantha Coughlan Cameras: Daniel Spencer Sound: Charlie Emery Branding: Tim Lane Photography: James Hole…

4 years ago 37:25

MP3•Episode home

SWARMFarm Robotics https://www.swarmfarm.com/

Burro https://burro.ai/

Farmwise https://farmwise.io/

ZTractor https://ztractor.com/

Carbon Robotics https://carbonrobotics.com/

TerraClear https://www.terraclear.com/

Today’s episode is going to be a highlight reel from a virtual event I hosted for the FoA community. That event was an ag robotics roundtable, which featured six robotics companies to have a discussion about the challenges and opportunities of bringing more automation to agriculture. The event lasted every bit of the 90 minutes we had scheduled, and it was even more enlightening than I had anticipated.

So today, I’m going to bring you some of the highlights from that event in a condensed format, and make sure that You’re going to get a chance to hear more about:

What’s driving the robotics revolution?

- Labor costs

- Non-chemical options

- Precision agriculture

- Tech advancements and cheaper materials (generally)

How they’re setting up their business models to both lower the upfront costs, but also improve the ROI over time.

How they are handling the upfront costs to customers of autonomous equipment

How these robots can become more than just replacements for machinery or labor, and truly realize their potential as the central “brains” of the farming operation.

How they’re setting up distribution, support, and supply chains to manufacture these machines

A brief conversation about raising capital and how they’re thinking about exits in this robotics space.

We’re not going to get too far into the weeds about the technical aspects of each of the robots represented here, but I’ll do my best to introduce you to these six ag robotics leaders and their companies along the way. Just as a preview, you’re going to hear from (in order of appearance):

Andrew Bate, founder of SwarmFarm Robotics

Charlie Andersen, CEO of Burro or you might know them as Augean Robotics

Thomas Palomares, co-founder and CTO of Farmwise

Bakur Kvezereli, CEO of ZTractor

Paul Mikesell, CEO and co-founder of Carbon Robotics

Trevor Thompson, president of TerraClear

454 episodes

Future of Agriculture

FoA 271: Ag Robotics Roundtable

Future of Agriculture

89 subscribers

published 4 years ago

MP3•Episode home

SWARMFarm Robotics https://www.swarmfarm.com/

Burro https://burro.ai/

Farmwise https://farmwise.io/

ZTractor https://ztractor.com/

Carbon Robotics https://carbonrobotics.com/

TerraClear https://www.terraclear.com/

So today, I’m going to bring you some of the highlights from that event in a condensed format, and make sure that You’re going to get a chance to hear more about:

What’s driving the robotics revolution?

- Labor costs

- Non-chemical options

- Precision agriculture

- Tech advancements and cheaper materials (generally)

How they’re setting up their business models to both lower the upfront costs, but also improve the ROI over time.

How they are handling the upfront costs to customers of autonomous equipment

How these robots can become more than just replacements for machinery or labor, and truly realize their potential as the central “brains” of the farming operation.

How they’re setting up distribution, support, and supply chains to manufacture these machines

A brief conversation about raising capital and how they’re thinking about exits in this robotics space.

Andrew Bate, founder of SwarmFarm Robotics

Charlie Andersen, CEO of Burro or you might know them as Augean Robotics

Thomas Palomares, co-founder and CTO of Farmwise

Bakur Kvezereli, CEO of ZTractor

Paul Mikesell, CEO and co-founder of Carbon Robotics

Trevor Thompson, president of TerraClear

454 episodes

#Agcareers #Agribusiness #Feed #Livestock #Tim Hammerich #Agriculture #Business #Industries #Science #Tech #Biology #Farm

All episodes

Future of Agriculture

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Taking a break. 6:17

15 days ago6:17

6:17

I would love your feedback about the show: what should I start/stop/continue? Email: tim@aggrad.com Schedule a quick call: https://www.calendly.com/hammerich/foa Or DM me on LinkedIn or X (Twitter) Otherwise, see you in July!

Future of Agriculture

1
Agriscience Explained With Sam Eathington of Corteva Agriscience 33:34

27 days ago33:34

33:34

Subscribe to Agriscience Explained: Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/5qvFYYLq1dZM1KUiN6nz6H?si=6a6dd6193eea47a1 Apple : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agriscience-explained/id1789150766 Web : https://www.corteva.com/our-impact/innovation/agriscience-explained.html Over the past eight years, I have learned so much from this podcast and it’s opened up a lot of cool opportunities. Some of those opportunities have been to help others launch their own shows. In fact a big part of my consulting work is helping commodity groups and companies reach agricultural audiences through digital communication like podcasts. What you’re about to hear is an episode from one of those projects. Earlier this year, I helped Corteva Agriscience launch a new show called Agriscience Explained . Each episode includes voices from a scientist and a farmer to understand how innovations are developed and where they fit into a modern farm business. I’ve really enjoyed working with Corteva on this, and we’ve already posted 10 episodes with an 11th coming this week on topics ranging from seed to nematodes to cover crops to gene editing to reduced stature corn. It really is a cool format to explore the various aspects of agriscience. So here’s episode one, if you like it, make sure you find their show and subscribe for more.…

Future of Agriculture

1
Building Businesses In Agriculture with Tim and Tyler Nuss 38:27

5 weeks ago38:27

38:27

The Modern Acre Podcast AgList Polaris Energy Services Nuss Farms For today’s episode, I sit down with Tim and Tyler Nuss. Some of you may recognize their voices from their podcast, The Modern Acre. After growing up on the family farm and finding out in adulthood that they both were really interested in business, they started brainstorming ideas of how they could build something in the ag industry. Tyler said they were big fans of the real estate media brand “Bigger Pockets” which had a podcast and built a community and several adjacent businesses around it. They set out to do something similar in agriculture, and in their own way they have. I wanted to bring them onto the show because in the past year, Tyler announced he would be assuming the role of CEO for Polaris Energy Services and they both launched what they’re calling the Yelp for agriculture which is called AgList. So they wear a lot of hats between these businesses, the podcast, and the farm.…

Future of Agriculture

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[History of Agriculture] Tractor Wars 43:57

6 weeks ago43:57

43:57

"Tractor Wars" by Neil Dahlstrom: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1953295746/ Software is Feeding the World (Rhishi's newsletter): https://www.rhishipethe.com/sftw [History of Agriculture] Cyrus McCormick And The Birth Of Mechanical Harvesting It's impossible to picture the modern food system we have today without the invention of the tractor. And it happened really not that long ago, just over a hundred years ago. Today we're gonna be talking about this book, "Tractor Wars" by Neil Dahlstrom. Neil is the manager of archives and history at John Deere and tackling this book with me is my good friend and repeat host on the podcast, Rhishi Pethe. An excerpt from the epilogue of "Tractor Wars: John Deere, Henry Ford, International Harvester and the Birth of Modern Agriculture": " Fortune magazine called the 1920s the decade of the Fordson. Not everyone agreed, but the fact that the Fordson accelerated adoption of the farm tractor and forever altered the competitive landscape is undeniable. Ford was right about the insatiable appetite for automobiles and in time for farm tractors. There were now 17 million passenger cars and nearly two and a half million trucks traveling on more than 521,000 miles of surfaced roads. But he had miscalculated the connection between farmers and their land and their constantly evolving needs. Most importantly, farmers wanted to fortify that relationship, not end it. Only 33 American farm tractor manufacturers remained in 1929 as mergers, consolidations and bankruptcies continued to narrow the field. In its overview of the tractor industry in early 1928 the Tractor Field book surmised that large numbers of inefficient machines were discarded during the five-year period from 1920 to 1924. As many were built by companies whose efforts were largely experimental." So it's that process of like explosion in consolidation that we're gonna be talking about here today from Neil Dahlstrom's book.…

Future of Agriculture

1
An Almond Grower's Perspective on Management, Economics and Technology With David Doll 41:57

7 weeks ago41:57

41:57

The Almond Doctor: https://www.thealmonddoctor.com/ David's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheAlmondDoctor FoA 249: A Global Perspective on Tree Nuts with The Almond Doctor David Doll was raised in a rural area growing apples and peaches. After attending Purdue University for his B.S. in Plant Biology, he attended graduate school at UC Davis, completing his M.S. in Plant Pathology. Shortly after completion, he started to work as a Farm Advisor the University of California. After ten years of working as a Farm Advisor, David moved to Portugal in November 2018 to work as the lead developer for Rota Unica Almonds. His task is to develop California styled almond plantations within Alentejo. Through this process, he has become familiar with some of the various challenges associated with growing almonds in Portugal and Europe. Prior to his move, David worked with farmers in the Central Valley of California in troubleshooting problems and conducting on farm research within almonds, walnuts and pistachios. In this position, he would visit nearly 200 operations and deliver 35 presentations annually. He has published over 35 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles. Currently, he works with almond operations across the world, including California, Africa, and Australia. Many of his observations and lessons learned have been shared within his online platform, “The Almond Doctor,” where he shares research, experiences and opinions of better farm management practices for almond orchards.…

Future of Agriculture

1
Delivering Technology to Subsistence Farmers Via School-Based Agricultural Education With Trent McKnight and G. Umaru Sheriff 40:53

8 weeks ago40:53

40:53

AgriCorps: http://www.agricorps.org/ Movement for School-Based Agricultural Education: http://www.sbae.org/ 4-H Liberia: https://4hliberia.wordpress.com/ Trent McKnight's TedX Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2pPO29DaYs Today’s episode is going to open a lot of eyes I think. We tend to think of youth programs like 4-H and FFA as great things for the kids to be doing. Very few recognize them for the power they have to not only develop young agricultural leaders but also as tools for spreading ideas and technologies. That’s what today’s episode is about, and it’s a personal one for me. I grew up in 4-H and FFA and both organizations had a profound impact on my life and my worldview. Then in 2012 I joined a team led by today’s guest, Trent McKnight, and spent several weeks in the country of Liberia interviewing farmers about food insecurity and farming practices. That experience also left a permanent impression on my life. So I’ve known Trent for about 25 years now and have had a chance to work with his non-profit organization, AgriCorps in various capacities over the years. In fact Trent first appeared on this show WAY back on episode 27, which i posted in November of 2016, so over eight years ago. For those of you not familiar, 4-H and FFA are youth agricultural organizations. 4-H varies a lot state to state and country to country, but in Liberia which is a country in subsaharan Africa that we will focus on today, they have what is known as a school-based agricultural education model. So in that way Liberia 4-H is similar to how FFA is here in the states. It involves three major components: classroom instruction in agriculture as part of their school, leadership events and contents, and a project outside of the classroom which in Liberia they refer to as a Home Entrepreneurship Project or HEP. If it sounds like a great way to learn a lot about agriculture and develop yourself as a leader and entrepreneur, you’re absolutely right. But it’s also more than that. The model was intended to lower the risk of adopting new agricultural innovations and as you’re about to hear it is also very effective in doing just that. Some biographical background: Trent McKnight is an experienced international agriculturalist, investor, and cattle rancher from rural West Texas. Trent holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Agricultural Economics and Comparative Politics from Oklahoma State University and The London School of Economics, respectively. He has held leadership positions, including national president of the Future Farmers of America and chair of the USDA Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Advisory Committee. In 2013, Trent founded AgriCorps, a nonprofit organization focused on improving school-based agricultural education in sub-Saharan Africa. Through AgriCorps, he created the International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program under the Trade Title of the 2018 Farm Bill and launched The Movement for School-Based Agricultural Education. G. Umaru Sheriff is the National Executive Director and co-founder of 4-H Liberia, a local Non-Governmental Organisation reviving efforts from the 1970s and 1980s, when Liberia boasted over 1,000 4-H clubs. Under his leadership, 4-H Liberia has worked in hundreds of rural communities and empowered thousands of youth through School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) and leadership development. Committed to evidence and learning, Umaru partnered with Northwestern University, Innovations for Poverty Action, and AgriCorps on the largest randomized controlled trial of a 4-H program in Africa, involving 197 schools. Born and raised in Liberia, Umaru’s life was profoundly shaped by the Liberian Civil War, during which he lived as a refugee in Sierra Leone for five years. He returned to Liberia after the war and graduated from the University of Liberia in 2010 with a BBA in Accounting and Public Administration.…

Future of Agriculture

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Keeping An Avocado Farm Competitive and Sustainable in Southern California With Chris Sayer of Petty Ranch 38:48

9 weeks ago38:48

38:48

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Follow Chris on X: https://x.com/pettyranch Today's episode features 5th generation farmer Chris Sayer of Petty Ranch. Chris grows avocados in Ventura County, which is just northwest of the Los Angeles area. And there are several unique aspects to Chris’ story. First, he grows avocados, which is awesome, and I wanted to find out how he stays competitive with so many avocados coming from Mexico these days. Also he grows them in a very populated area, so there are a ton of considerations there from urban sprawl to water management to theft. I also wanted to ask Chris about soil health. I knew from talking to him previously that he grows cover crops and really thinks deeply about soil and water conservation, so we dive deeper into that as well. Chris grew up on the farm but left to attend Northwestern University where he majored in Political Science and joined the Navy ROTC. That led to flight training school and an eight year commitment to serving in the Navy. After completing his service, Chris worked in tech in the late 90s before returning to the farm and taking over management in 2001 Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs, engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

1
[Spotlight] Brand Leadership With Scott Harris of CNH 17:24

10 weeks ago17:24

17:24

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates [Spotlight] Integrating Tech and Iron With Chris Dempsey of CNH [Spotlight] How Case IH Turns Customer Insights Into Farm Equipment Where Tech Meets Tractor With Joe Miller of CNH Strategic Investing in Ag Technologies With Michele Lombardi of CNH Ventures As part of this quarter’s sponsorship, Case IH has given me access to some of their key people to learn more about what goes into developing the tractors and equipment that farmers use every day. This is our third and final installment of that series, so if you haven’t already listened to the first two with Dan Klein and Chris Dempsey, I highly recommend you go do that after listening to this spotlight. Today’s interview features Scott Harris, who at the time of this interview was the Brand President at Case IH. In the time since the interview took place, it was announced that Scott took on the role of president of CNH North America, so congratulations to Scott on that. Scott told me he feels like he was destined to work in the ag industry but his story began as a secondary education teacher in Applied Technology. From there he spent over 20 years in the automotive and finance industries, and says he found his calling when he joined CNH Industrial in 2006. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs, engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

1
Strategic Investing in Ag Technologies With Michele Lombardi of CNH Ventures 39:06

11 weeks ago39:06

39:06

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates CNH Ventures: https://www.cnh.com/en-US/Our-Company/Ventures Today's episode features Michele Lombardi. Michele is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at CNH and the Head of CNH Ventures. He is responsible for developing and implementing the Company’s long-term business strategies and in-house capabilities, tied to inorganic growth. Through this work, he holds Board positions in several of the independent technology companies in which CNH has invested, such as Monarch Tractor, Stout Industrial Technology and Zasso. Michele and I talk about how he’s thinking about the future of agricultural technology, some wins and lessons from his experiences in this industry, what it means to be a strategic investor, and how he handles the convergence of startups and the large established brands he represents at CNH. Michele joined CNH in 2008. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Global Mergers and Acquisitions from 2019 – 2021. His international assignments with the company have included: Executive Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand; Head of the Iveco brand for the Asia Pacific Region; Head of the Iveco China branch; Managing Director for CNH Industrial South East Asia & Japan. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs, engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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Farming Full-Time On Five Acres With Steve Strasheim 52:07

12 weeks ago52:07

52:07

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Twisted River Farm: https://www.twistedriverfarm.com/ Follow Steve on X: https://x.com/TRFyeomanfarmer Steve Strasheim of Twisted River Farm. I’ve followed Steve on X for a long time now, and I’ve been really looking forward to getting him on the show for a few reasons. He focuses on a totally different model for farming that is radically different from the commodity mindset. Instead of economies of scale being the priority, his top priority is connection to his customers. Because of that he’s able to build his business without the two biggest barriers for most farmers: access to a lot of land and a lot of capital. It’s more the bootstrapped version of getting started in farming. And I’ve seen this market garden model work. There are well-known YouTubers like Curtis Stone in Canada that have inspired countless others to pursue this version of farming on small sections of other people’s land and building a business on customer relationships rather than economies of scale. I can remember being inspired by finding Curtis Stone’s content maybe a decade ago, but I thought it was a model that could only work in urban areas with very affluent consumers that only want to buy local. In Steve’s case, he’s in rural Iowa. Mitchell, Iowa, to be exact. About 12 miles south of the Minnesota border. Steve first became interested in local food in 2013, so in 2014 he began raising chickens. He did that as a side business and then in 2017 he ditched the chicken project for vegetables, which he said proved to be a much better fit for him from the very beginning. Since that time he has grown his operation to a few different locations that total around three acres of borrowed land. He mostly pays in produce. Although when we spoke he was in the process of buying a five acre property to centralize his operation. Steve is a great example of what it takes to build a direct to consumer business from scratch. His model includes growing produce most of the year, he has some hoop houses that help him extend his season. He sells at a couple of farmers markets and thorough a CSA - which stands for community supported agriculture. These are subscriptions that his customers pay for to get a box of fresh produce either weekly or every other week. He also sells to some grocery stores and restaurants but since COVID his focus has been mostly on the direct sales to the end customer. And all of this is a very rural area, which kind of blows my mind. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs, engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

1
Soil Ecology and Regenerative Agriculture With Michelle D'Souza, Ph.D. of McCain's Farm of the Future 37:47

13 weeks ago37:47

37:47

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates McCain's Farms of the Future Hot Potato Podcast Today’s episode features Dr. Michelle D’Souza. Michelle is the Manager of Research and Innovation for McCain’s Farm of the Future Project. In this role, her mission is to empower McCain on its journey to developing sustainable corporate frameworks that benefit society and nature through regenerative agriculture. Some of you may know that McCain has set some ambitious goals for transitioning their potato supply chain to regenerative agriculture. Over the years they have been willing to lead in their commitments and also back those commitments up with incentives and support for farmers trying to adopt regenerative practices. As such, they have hired scientists like Michelle. Dr. Michelle D’Souza is a molecular ecologist whose work focuses on biodiversity conservation, community engagement, and knowledge mobilization. So first and foremost, she is a scientist who in addition to her work at McCain still works as a Visiting Scientist at the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics. Michelle and I have a great conversation about McCain’s commitments, how the progress has been so far, and how their farms of the future are designed to serve as farm-scale laboratories for regenerative transition. We also discuss why biodiversity should be a goal we should strive for in agriculture, who is responsible paying for soil conservation, and a whole lot more. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs, engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

1
How China Is Changing Global Ag Trade With Ian Lahiffe 42:45

14 weeks ago42:45

42:45

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Subscribe to Janette Barnard's Prime Future Newsletter: https://primefuture.substack.com/ Connect with Ian Lahiffe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-lahiffe-25165b1a/ If you had to make a shortlist of the key drivers of the global agricultural commodity trade over the past 30 years, one of the top drivers would most certainly be China. " The Chinese livestock industry and how Chinese consumers choose their protein has a direct impact on global agriculture. China's obviously the world's largest importer of dairy, largest importer of beef, largest importer of soy, largest importer of corn." - Ian Lahiffe Ian Lahiffe has been living and working in China for nearly 14 years. He joins Janette Barnard on today’s episode to help us better understand the Chinese market, and even more importantly, unpack some important changes that impact global agriculture. "There's two trends that I think US producers should be concerned about. One is Brazil becoming increasingly close to China, and that . Brazilian product can get more easily to the port. And the second is that, Chinese producers are actively looking at nutritional solutions where they can reduce the amount of imported soy that they need. The trend looks like US producers need to look for those next markets. I think the boat is sailing on being very reliant on China." - Ian Lahiffe Janette Barnard and Ian Lahiffe talk about some big changes happening in China on today’s Future of Agriculture podcast. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs, engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

1
[Spotlight] Integrating Tech and Iron With Chris Dempsey of CNH 16:25

14 weeks ago16:25

16:25

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Today’s special episode is what I like to call a spotlight. Instead of our normal format of a 40 minute long form interview, it’s just a short peak into something interesting. The topics for these spotlights are determined in collaboration with our quarterly presenting sponsor, which this quarter is Case IH. If you listened to our last spotlight with Dan Klein about a month ago, you already know that this quarter Case IH has given me access to some of their people to learn more about what goes into developing the tractors and equipment that farmers use every day. These spotlight segments are usually farmers, and it just so happens that’s also the case here, Chris Dempsey, like Dan Klein is not only a Case IH employee, but a farmer himself. Today’s episode builds upon what Dan shared about how Case IH stays systematically customer-focused through their Customer Driven Product Design. Chris is going to share more about the integration of technology and iron and how that comes together in the modern Magnum Tractor. Chris Dempsey has spent 12 years with CNH and Case IH in a variety of roles in the technology space spanning dealer technical support, quality, marketing, and product management. Chris is currently responsible for overseeing precision technology integration across CNH’s portfolio of iron products as well as global go to market execution of technology solutions across CNH’s house of brands. And the pride Chris and his colleagues have in Case IH and specifically in the Magnum is very evident when you hear them talk about it. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs, engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

1
Agtech Alchemy With Walt Duflock, Sachi Desai and Rhishi Pethe 45:57

15 weeks ago45:57

45:57

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Download the Agtech Alchemy Quarterly: https://agtechalchemy.substack.com/p/agtech-alchemy-quarterly-winter2025 GenAI Whitepaper: https://www.rhishipethe.com/genai-in-ag Today's episode features the founding members of Agtech Alchemy. This format is a little different from our normal show. It’s a lot less formal, you’ll hear some jokes and laughter, but really it’s just four guys who all really care about agtech and its ability to improve agriculture in the future. If you’ve been around agtech circles for very long, especially if you’re on LinkedIn, you know all three of our guests today: Walt Duflock is the vice president of Innovation at Western Growers, which represents family farmers growing fresh produce in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico. Sachi Desai is with Bayer Crop Science. He has over 20 years of experience in AI and machine learning research, development and application across multiple industries including agriculture. Rishi Pethe has guest hosted this show a number of times. He is the author and publisher of the twice weekly newsletter, Software is Feeding the World. He also just released a whitepaper today which is a practical guide to generative AI and explains how organizations can go past proof of concept phase of these new capabilities. Make sure you go download that. I’ll leave a link for that in the show notes. I will also leave a link in the show notes where you can read the Agtech Alchemy Quarterly, which is what we’re going to talk about in today’s episode. I knew it would be filled with insights, but it surpassed my expectations, and it’s 116 pages long, so obviously we will just barely scratch the surface in today’s episode. Make sure you go read the full digest to understand what’s happening today in agtech. It was really cool to read thought pieces from creators back-to-back in the same document. I started making connections that I don’t think I would have made if I read them independently. If I had to summarize an overall theme for this one, it would be an exploration of if and when technology can be a true competitive advantage. There is a lot of talk of AI, especially generative AI, but the pieces run the gamut. Some of the authors you’ve heard from on this show in the past, like Janette Barnard, Matthew Pryor, Rishi Pethe, and Dan Schultz. Others are household names in agtech thought leadership like Shane Thomas and Walt Duflock. It’s a great mix and I think you’re going to enjoy today’s conversation which serves as a bit of an overview. A quick disclaimer: I will admit that this episode does get a little bit wonky because all four of us like to nerd out about agtech, but but it’s also a lot of fun, so stick with it. I think there are some really important concepts discussed. Then after you listen go read the full digest. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs, engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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[History of Agriculture] J.R. Simplot: A billion the hard way 33:23

16 weeks ago33:23

33:23

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates J.R. Simplot: A billion the hard way by Louie Attebery Simplot company website “During World War II, Jack Simplot’s plants produced thirty-three million pounds of dehydrated potatoes and five million pounds of dehydrated onion to fuel America’s fighting men and women. In the 1960s, he helped McDonald’s chief Ray Kroc turn the french fry into a national staple. In the 1980s, the Idaho farm boy with the eighth grade education played a major role in making the personal computer a household word. And as a new century begins, the company and the man show little sign of resting on the laurels.” That is from the book J.R. Simplot: A Billion the Hard Way by Louie Attebery which tells the incredible life story of J.R. Simplot, more commonly known as Jack Simplot. Today Simplot is a household name for those of us in agribusiness. The diversified global company has business interests in farming, ranching and cattle production, food processing, food brands, phosphate mining, fertilizer manufacturing, and other enterprises related to agriculture. But the humble beginnings it came from and the incredible evolution of the company has a lot of insights for all of us interested in the future of agriculture and is the focus of today’s history of agriculture episode. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs,engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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From Commodity Producer to Innovative Brand With Mark Munger of Ocean Mist Farms 39:12

17 weeks ago39:12

39:12

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Ocean Mist Farms: https://www.oceanmist.com/ Today’s episode features Mark Munger of Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville, California in the Salinas Valley. Mark shares a story that I think is very relevant to a lot of agriculture production today, all over the world. Although they’ve grown a great business to produce consistent, high quality, affordable, safe, nutritious commodities, they still face challenges. Rising costs, regulations, competition, and consumers whose expectations for convenience have gone up dramatically. These headwinds have propelled the company in the direction of innovation, and Mark is going to share that with us today. For background, Mark Munger is the director of marketing at Ocean Mist Farms, where he has been for the last 2 ½ years. But Mark is definitely not new to the industry - he has worked in fresh produce for almost 40 years, including positions at the Produce Marketing Association, Driscoll’s, 4Earth Farms, and others. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs,engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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[Spotlight] How Case IH Turns Customer Insights Into Farm Equipment 14:33

17 weeks ago14:33

14:33

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Hello fellow ag nerds. Today’s special episode is what I like to call a spotlight. Instead of our normal format of a 40 minute long form interview, it’s just a short peak into something interesting. The topics for these spotlights are determined in collaboration with our quarterly presenting sponsor, which this quarter is Case IH. Dan Klein is the Customer Insights Lead at Case IH and CNH. Dan grew up on a farm in Southwest Wisconsin, where he stays actively involved, working with his brother on the family farm. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in Engineering Management, which have supported his 17-year career at CNH. What I wanted to know from Dan is how a company of their size is incorporating feedback from customers into the design of their machinery. They have a “built by farmers” promise, but how are they actually executing on that? Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs,engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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The State of the Farm Economy With David Widmar of Agricultural Economic Insights 42:15

18 weeks ago42:15

42:15

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Agricultural Economic Insights: https://aei.ag/ Today's episode features David Widmar of Agricultural Economic Insights. David first appeared on the show a year ago on episode 399, which ended up being one of my most listened-to episodes of the year. Today, we discuss the current state of the ag economy, the margin squeeze that farmers are facing and where that places us on the economic cycle that commodities tend to follow. We also talk about some key ideas and mental models that David has written about for how to manage risk during this challenging time for the industry. As background, David Widmar is an agricultural economist specializing in ag trends and the farm economy. Through his research, he supports agribusinesses and farmers in their strategic and planning efforts. David’s current work can be found at Agricultural Economic Insights, aei.ag, which he co-founded with Dr. Brent Gloy in 2014. Prior to Agricultural Economic Insights, Mr. Widmar was a researcher with the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, and served as the economist for the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs,engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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The 'Smartification' of Farm Equipment With Colin Hurd of Mach 40:58

19 weeks ago40:58

40:58

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Mach: https://www.mach.io/ Today’s episode features Colin Hurd who is the CEO of Mach. Colin first appeared on this show back on episode 180 in November of 2019. At that time he had just sold his previous company, Smart Ag, to Raven Industries. Colin continued working for Raven Industries until 2022, when he left and eventually helped to bring together a partnership merger to form Mach. Mach works with Original Equipment Manufacturers (otherwise known as OEMs). These are all of the companies that manufacture equipment, in our context farm equipment. Mach helps these OEMs that want to incorporate autonomy into their products. This again is part of an insight I had at the FIRA USA show, which is that there is a whole emerging industry of companies that exist to service the robotics and automation companies so that they can bring their solutions to farmers. Mach is one of those companies. Also, I’m delighted to have Colin back on the show because he offers such a rich perspective as a technologist with a really deep understanding of agriculture and an accomplished entrepreneur. Colin discusses the current landscape of ag equipment manufacturers, some of the tailwinds and headwinds in bringing more autonomous solutions to the farm, a cool case study of how Mach works with another former podcast guest GUSS Automation, whether or not he thinks Mach can be a big company, and Colin’s predictions for what the future holds for this part of the industry. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs,engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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Business Model Innovation in Cattle Feeding With Dr. Kee Jim 55:32

20 weeks ago55:32

55:32

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates Janette Barnard's Prime Future Newsletter: https://primefuture.substack.com/ Future of Agriculture YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FutureOfAg Dr. G. Kee Jim is the founding partner of Feedlot Health Management Services Ltd. (FHMS). Dr. Jim’s cattle feeding companies (G.K. Jim Farms, Cattlinc Inc, Silverado Cattle Inc, Taweel Cattle Company Ltd, Korova Feeders Ltd, Diamond Feeders, Quality Beef Producers LP, CanTex Feeders LP, Tierra Blanca Cattle Feeders LP, and Ordway Cattle Feeders LP) are major players in the Canadian and United States cattle industries through ownership of cows, backgrounding cattle, grass cattle, feedlot cattle, and feedlots. In addition, Kee has served on the board of directors of several beef industry groups and as an Adjunct Professor in the Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and VERO at Texas A&M University. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs,engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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Where Tech Meets Tractor With Joe Miller of CNH 33:08

21 weeks ago33:08

33:08

This quarter of the Future of Agriculture podcast is made possible by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/en-us/unitedstates So much of what we talk about on this show comes together in the cab of a tractor to leverage technology and make the best possible decisions for the farm. And I really haven’t spent enough time exploring the innovations surrounding the tractor itself. We take it for granted a little bit, but it really is the hub of a modern farming operation. The Magnum Tractor has been a flagship of the Case IH brand since it debuted in 1987, and Joe does a great job of talking about the work that goes into making this essential piece of equipment the best it can be. Some background on Joe Miller: He grew up on a farm in Rochester, Indiana and has always enjoyed working with equipment from a young age. This led to his current career with CNH which has included business management, new equipment sales, and parts and service sales. Joe has an MBA from the Indiana Kelley School of Business and a masters in ag economics from Purdue. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs,engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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California's Efforts to Lead the Future of Agtech 45:51

22 weeks ago45:51

45:51

Sponsored by Case IH: https://www.caseih.com/ The VINE: https://thevine.io/ Farmhand Ventures: https://www.farmhandventures.com/ The Reservoir: https://www.reservoir.co/ F3 Innovate: https://www.f3innovate.org/ Today you’ll hear from three people: Hannah Johnson, Connie Bowen, and Danny Bernstein. Hannah is the Industry Lead for The VINE at UC Ag and Natural Resources. Connie is the founding general partner at Farmhand Ventures who works with The VINE. Danny is CEO and managing partner at Reservoir, which includes Reservoir Ventures, and nonprofit incubators, Reservoir Farms & Labs, which is what he’ll be talking about today. I attended FIRA-USA this past October to try to better understand what’s happening in ag robotics and automation. What I didn’t expect was to see some really fascinating public-private partnership efforts that I think fill some real needs in agriculture innovation. But as luck would have it, that’s what happened, and so I wanted to put together this episode to highlight it. I think this type of work is critical. Running a farm, doing industry-leading research, growing a startup, all of these things are all-consuming tasks. It really is important to build the connective tissue to empower and fully enable new and lasting innovations in agtech. Brought to you by Case IH: Case IH designs,engineers and produces cutting-edge farm equipment based on a comprehensive understanding of farmers’ needs, wants and challenges, integrating these insights into their development and manufacturing. For example, take their Model Year 25 Magnum tractor. The new Magnum is purposefully designed to answer farmers’ needs in every design and engineering choice. Improved horsepower for pulling heavier loads, faster. Bundled, integrated and ready-to-go precision tech for greater accuracy in the field. And a transmission farmers can tweak for improved control and performance in different tasks. That kind of design thinking is exactly where the future of ag is headed, and that’s why you’ll be hearing me talk to the folks at Case IH at different points throughout this quarter about what they do and how they’re working to push the ag forward.…

Future of Agriculture

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Where is Agriculture Headed in 2025 and Beyond? Insights from 7 Different Ag Podcasts 44:43

23 weeks ago44:43

44:43

Featured Podcast Episodes: David Friedberg on Joining Ohalo Genetics as CEO, Gene Editing Technology, and AgTech Trends by The Modern Acre How Syngenta is Thinking About AI with Feroz Sheikh by Agtech - So What? The Agriculture Economy: How Bad Is It and Where Is It Going? by The Business of Agriculture Coaching Farmers for Profit: Athletes Have Coaches Why Shouldn't You? by Farm4Profit Navigating the De-Commoditization of Ag with Daniel Oh of AgCertain by The Pacesetter Pod A New Direction in Florida Citrus with Benny McLean by Regenerative Agriculture Podcast Emerging Trends in Sustainable Packaging with Max Teplitski and Andrew Stephens by Fresh Takes on Tech Links to other resources mentioned: FoA 395: Where is Agriculture Headed? Insights From Six Different Ag Podcasts 'Biological' Is Not A Category (it's the future of agriculture) The Changing Farm Economy with David Widmar of Agricultural Economic Insights Ask The Ag Economist With Trey Malone, Ph.D. Farm Business Strategy with Kristjan Hebert Implementing a Farm Operating System with Kristjan Hebert The Farm Entrepreneur Mindset with Evan Shout of Maverick Ag Understanding Status Quo Risk in Ag with Jim Schweigert of Gro Alliance Challenging Assumptions About Regenerative Agriculture With John Kempf Why Syngenta Is Investing In Soil Health With Matt Wallenstein…

Future of Agriculture

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Conservation Agriculture: What Does The Data Say? 49:53

24 weeks ago49:53

49:53

Conservation Technology Information Center: https://www.ctic.org/ Regrow Ag: https://www.regrow.ag/ The Nature Conservancy: https://www.nature.org/en-us/ FoA 248: Regrow Merges Agronomic Insights with Sustainability Metrics Today’s episode is made possible thanks to the support of the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC). Formed in 1982 to support the widespread use of economically and environmentally beneficial agricultural systems, CTIC’s mission is to champion, promote and provide information on climate-smart technologies and sustainable agricultural systems that conserve and enhance soil, water, air and wildlife resources and are productive and profitable. Members of this non-profit organization include farmers, policy makers, regulators, academic researchers, agribusiness leaders, conservation group personnel, farm media, and others. It is supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other public entities. Thank you very much to the Conservation Technology Information Center for supporting agricultural innovation and the Future of Agriculture podcast. All right, now let’s dive into today’s episode. I’m excited for this, because while the content of today’s show are right in our wheelhouse at the data-driven intersection of technology and sustainability, I don’t think I’ve ever had an episode quite like this. We’re not featuring an individual or company, but a collaboration. A group of people who saw a problem in the lack of important information, and came together to make that happen. To tell this story, I’m very pleased to have on the show three guests: Bill Salas who is the chief strategy officer at Regrow, Dave Gustafson, project director at the Conservation Technology Information Center, and Kris Johnson, director of agriculture at The Nature Conservancy. Some brief context here: CTIC, Regrow, and The Nature Conservancy are all partners is bringing together the Observational Tillage Information System, or OpTIS. This is an automated system to map tillage, residue cover, winter cover, and soil health practices using remote sensing data. And before anyone Tweets me concerned about using remote sensing to track on-farm practices, you should know: while OpTIS calculations are performed at the farm-field scale using publicly available data, the privacy of individual producers is fully protected by reporting only spatially-aggregated results at regional and watershed scales. This collaboration has been happening for over 14 years, long before just about anyone was talking about carbon sequestration or climate smart agriculture, so in a lot of ways, this effort was ahead of its time. And it’s a good thing it was, because these data are needed now more than ever. So, I highly recommend you stick around through all of today’s episode, as we talk about the past, present and future of OpTIS, highlight some of the use cases it enables, and talk about the importance of efforts like this for the future of agriculture. And this isn’t just answering the simple question of are farmers doing x practice at not. This data can inform much more nuanced questions, like: Why do farmers employ conservation practice in certain areas vs others? Does this correlate with investments made in those areas? What is the relationship between crop insurance and conservation practices? What is the impact of cover crops and conservation tillage on nutrient runoff or prevent plant acres? How does historic tillage influence current land values? The questions are endless and the more robust and reliable the data gets, the more accurately we can answer them. So I think this stuff is really cool, and extremely important.…

Future of Agriculture

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Why Kubota Bought Bloomfield Robotics With Mark DeSantis 37:01

25 weeks ago37:01

37:01

Bloomfield Robotics: https://bloomfield.ai/ Kubota North America Corporation Acquires US-based AgTech Startup FOA 228: Solving the Rural Connectivity Problem with Dr. Sara Spangelo of Swarm Quick note: I am still looking for a couple of brands to partner with in 2025. If your company might be interested in positioning yourself as an innovator in the ag industry, I would love to talk with you about my quarterly presenting sponsorship package. This is an exclusive, I only work with a maximum of four companies per year, and I’m hoping to have all of them locked in by the end of the first quarter of 2025. So if your company is doing innovative work and you’d like to share that with thousands of leaders in the ag industry, please reach out to me at tim@aggrad.com or via LinkedIn or Twitter. I’m happy to share details. Ok, now back to today’s conversation with Mark DeSantis. As I mentioned, Mark was first on the show about four years ago on episode 228 in October of 2020. Since that time, Mark and team grew Bloomfield AI, a company that helps specialty crop growers improve the health and performance of their crop on a per-plant basis using computer vision and artificial intelligence. Then this past September, it was announced that Kubota had acquired the company. I wanted to invite Mark back on the show to talk about the experience and his views on where autonomy, robotics and digital ag go from here. Mark led Bloomfield through the acquisition and is now a consultant to Kubota. Prior to joining Bloomfield in 2019, he was previously cofounder and CEO of RoadBotics (acquired by Michelin), a company that assessed roadway infrastructure using AI. So he’s been in this space of robotics for real world applications for a long time. He is also an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University.…

Future of Agriculture

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[History of Agriculture] How Refrigeration Changed Everything 49:47

26 weeks ago49:47

49:47

Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves by Nicola Twilley Prime Future Newsletter by Janette Barnard The Great Beef Bonanza and the Fall of the Cattle Kingdom "Our ancestors learned to control fire before modern humans even evolved. But our ability to command cold at will dates back a little more than 150 years. Mechanical cooling refrigeration produced by human artifice as opposed to the natural chill offered by weather dependent snow and ice wasn't achieved until the mid 1700s and wasn't commercialized until the late 1800s, and it wasn't domesticated until the 1920s." That is a quote from the book that we're gonna be talking about here today, Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves by Nicola Twilley. I'm very excited to dive into this book. There's so much here on the history of refrigeration and we take for granted how much refrigeration has changed our food system and our world in a number of profound ways. But I'm also excited to not be tackling this massive project by myself. Coming back for another episode is my good friend, animal agtech venture capitalist, and creator of the Prime Future newsletter, Janette Barnard. Also from Twilley's book: "It's impossible to make sense of our global food system until you understand the mysterious logic of the all-but-invisible network of thermal control that underpins it. We overcame not just rot, but seasonality and geography as well." Listen as Janette and Tim unpack their takeaways from this incredible book about the history of refrigeration.…

Future of Agriculture

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Climate, People and Agriculture With Sarah Nolet and Connie Bowen 36:37

27 weeks ago36:37

36:37

Tenacious Ventures: https://tenacious.ventures/ Farmhand Ventures: https://www.farmhandventures.com/ “Navigating a future of cross sectional forces” (AgriFutures Australia Report): https://agrifutures.com.au/product/navigating-a-future-of-cross-sectoral-forces/ Ag’s Scifi (and Non-Fiction) Future: Horizon Scanning… so what? with Shane Thomas: https://tenacious.ventures/insights/ags-scifi-and-non-fiction-future-horizon-scanning-so-what-with-shane-thomas Citrus Moves North with Farmer and Orangepreneur Lindy Savelle: https://tenacious.ventures/insights/citrus-moves-north-with-farmer-and-orangepreneur-lindy-savelle FoA 348: Investing in the Future of Fertilizer with Sarah Nolet of Tenacious Ventures: https://futureofagriculture.com/episode/foa-348-investing-in-the-future-of-fertilizer-with-sarah-nolet-of-tenacious-ventures-agtech-so-what-crossover FoA 112: Accelerating AgTech with Sarah Nolet of AgThentic: https://futureofagriculture.com/episode/future-of-agriculture-112-accelerating-agtech-with-sarah-nolet-of-agthentic FoA 127: Expanding the Global AgTech Ecosystem with Connie Bowen of The Yield Lab: https://futureofagriculture.com/episode/future-of-agriculture-127-expanding-the-global-agtech-ecosystem-with-connie-bowen-of-the-yield-lab FOA 220: Agricultural Solutions for Hunger and Poverty with Paul Winters of IFAD: https://futureofagriculture.com/episode/foa-220-agricultural-solutions-for-hunger-and-poverty-with-paul-winters-of-ifad FoA 260: The Lentil Underground with Dave Oien of Timeless Seeds: https://futureofagriculture.com/episode/foa-260-the-lentil-underground-with-dave-oien-of-timeless-seeds There are few topics that seem to get people more riled up than climate change. Most of the episodes I’ve done that focus on climate as a theme receive comments from people that seem to think I’m being an alarmist and others thinking that I am drastically underestimating its impacts. I could take this as a sign to avoid the topic altogether, but that’s not really how I roll. I instead take it as a sign that we need to ask more questions and gather more data and context to understand what has everyone so fired up. And the concept for this episode came to my mind while I was listening to the Agtech, So what? podcast with Sarah Nolet. Specifically, their August episodes which are titled: “Citrus Moves North with Farmer and Orangepreneur Lindy Savelle” and “Ag’s Scifi (and Non-Fiction) Future: Horizon Scanning… so what?” with Shane Thomas. I’ll leave links to both episodes in the show notes. But both describe this concept of a climate refugee, which put simply is people leaving their home for reasons that could be the result of changes in climate. So citrus producers leaving the state of Florida as one potential example. In that second episode about Ag’s Scifi Future, Sarah and guests are breaking down a report commissioned by AgriFutures Australia called “Navigating a future of cross-sectoral forces” that you can download for free via a link I’ll leave in the show notes. One of the 10 forces outlined in that report is the emergence of climate refugees, which created an interesting discussion on that episode. I’ve heard talk about climate refugees before, in fact it’s been mentioned a couple times on this podcast. Episodes 220 and 260 come to mind. But I always thought of it as something that could happen in a worst case scenario in the future, not as something that is happening today. I also found myself wondering if we are attributing to climate change what would be explained by other forces, like regulations and economics. We have a lot of dairies that moved out of California for those reasons, but we don’t call them regulatory refugees. So is this term intentionally dramatic to fit a climate agenda? I consider Sarah a friend and someone who is very well researched and intellectually honest, so I wanted to invite her back on the show to address some of these questions with her. And in the meantime, I was interviewing Connie Bowen of Farmhand Ventures for an episode about labor and she made the interesting connection between labor challenges and climate change, which I thought fit well in this episode, so you’re getting a bit of a two-for-one episode today with two extremely sharp ag investors.…

Future of Agriculture

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Making Spot Spray Technology Accessible With Jaisimha Rao of Niqo Robotics 27:53

28 weeks ago27:53

27:53

Niqo Robotics: https://niqorobotics.com/ Five Questions About The Ag Robotics Revolution (FIRA USA Takeaways) Today’s episode was recorded live at FIRA USA in Woodland, California. If you’re not familiar with FIRA it is the premier event for agricultural robotics and autonomous solutions in action. If you’d like more of my reflections and takeaways from the event go back and listen to episode 439. But I wanted to feature this interview with Jaisimha Rao as a standalone episode for a few reasons: first, I think his story is interesting as a finance guy turned farmer turned agtech founder. He also uncovers some very real insights about agtech that he’s learned over the past 10 years or so in this industry. And they are a great example of an ag robotics company that is making real impact on farms, not just doing demos and talking about what the future might hold. Because what I’ve been most excited about lately is the commercialization of ag robotics and automation. Walking around FIRA last month, my first reaction was, this all looks really familiar. Most of the technology has either been around a while or it looks a lot like machines that have. So at first glance you might wonder, are we just stagnating? But then you talk to these companies about what they’re doing with the technology. How many farms their working with and how many hours they have under their belt. In Niqo's case it’s over 50 autonomous sprayers running in India that have operated on over 120,000 acres and worked with over 2000 farmers. That is what has me so excited about what’s happening; what’s new - or relatively new, and what’s changing. NIQO is now not only expanding in India, but also bringing their technology to the North American specialty crop market with their Niqo Robo Thinner which they had on display at FIRA.…

Future of Agriculture

1
Predictive Weed Control With Greg Stewart of Geco Strategic Weed Management 36:43

29 weeks ago36:43

36:43

Geco Strategic Weed Management: https://geco-ag.com/ Today’s episode features a new tool in the toolbox for farmers fighting weed pressure. As I’ve had conversations with farmers throughout the country, there is no doubt that the costs of weed control is a major pain point. This takes a lot of different forms, from the hand labor crews in California’s vegetable crops, to herbicide-resistant kochia in the middle of US and Canada to just the sheer cost of chemistry that’s impacting the bottom line of farmers everywhere, it’s certainly an area ripe for solutions. For the past few years, Dr. Greg Stewart has been working on a very interesting solution to use data to predict weed pressure. This is interesting because it’s addressing a major problem in weed control, but it’s also interesting because it embodies what where we all hope this “ag data revolution” is going: towards predicting problems before we experience them. This opens the door up for more proactive weed management solutions, in some cases before the crop is even planted. Greg is a listener to the show and he’s heard my requests over the years to not just feature founders of new technology, but also the farmers that are trying the solutions, so he offered to connect me to Rob Stone. Rob was nice enough to join me for a short interview while in the cab of a tractor, so you’ll get his perspective as well. Rob is a customer of Geco and not compensated by them in any way. He was invited on to openly share his experiences. Let’s dive into things here starting with an introduction to Greg. I’ll introduce rob when we cut to him mid-episode. Dr. Greg Stewart is the founder and CEO of Geco Strategic Weed Management, who use AI and agronomic modeling for targeted and predictive control of weeds in farm fields. It requires no new equipment or new practices, and the turnaround time for a new farm can happen within a day. Geco is now serving over 60 farms across Western Canada. Greg’s PhD is in the control of spatially distributed systems. He has worked with a range of industries. His data products reside on farm fields in Canada, US, and South America, in over 12 commercial greenhouses, 350 paper machines, 35,000 production diesel vehicles, and are creating more than $40M/year in value in manufacturing. He holds over 50 patents and 60 technical publications, and is a certified judge for competitive barbecue.…

Future of Agriculture

1
Five Questions About The Ag Robotics Revolution (FIRA USA Takeaways) 48:56

30 weeks ago48:56