Future Of Agriculture

Dr. Peter Ballerstedt is a Doctor of Animal Nutrition and is an expert in forage and ruminant nutrition in agriculture. He stepped out of the agriculture industry for some time and ventured in the tech world for many years. He came back because he realized a fantastic source of health could be found through leveraging animal agriculture, specifically ruminants. A stern believer in grass-based animal nutrition, Peter calls this – the potential of ruminants to lead the way towards healthier diets - the Ruminant Revolution.     In this episode, Peter discusses what his Ruminant Revolution is all about. He addresses the need for ruminants and why it’s one of the best sustainable options to support an ever-growing human population. He also dives in on some facts regarding cultivable lands and current innovations in the ruminant agriculture industry.     “Our grassland resources are our largest and least well-utilized resource that remains.”– Dr. Peter Ballerstedt     This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

Charles Baron is the Co-Founder of Farmers Business Network, an idea conceived by farmers for farmers. The company aims to gather unbiased and objective information with regards to agronomics and commodities. The idea is to pool available data from individual farmers, so every farmer in their network would benefit from them. The company started three years ago with just 3-4 farms, but through word of mouth and good service, they now have close to 4,700 farms within their network. Charles and his team plan on ultimately expanding his reach outside the U.S. and continue to improve their data interpretation and gathering services.   In this episode, Charles explains the idea behind Food Business Network, what drove him to become a farmer, and the problems farmers face in the U.S. that go unnoticed. He also shares how his company managed to grow their network to what it is now, and their outlook for the future of their company.     “Farmers Business Network exists to bring benefits back to our farmers using our t

Mike Neal is the Co-Founder and CEO of DecisionNext, a company that utilizes and analyzes data in a way that helps companies optimize their decision making. DecisionNext’s business relies on giving clients possible market forecasts in an event of a policy change. Regarded as a serial entrepreneur, Mike is fond of starting new businesses and has focused his entire career on mathematical models and its application to critical business decisions. He has founded plenty of SaaS companies, all of which provided highly focused analytics to business users.   In this episode, Mike shares what DecisionNext is all about and how it can help the agricultural industry. He also provides insight on the importance of recognizing patterns in today’s market as well as his thoughts on the future of agriculture.       “Having a rigorous view matters as long as it's monetized through optimizing the forward position on the buy side or the sell side.”  – Mike Neal       This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:    His backgr

David Norman is the Senior Vice President of Investments Programs at Heifer International, a company that promotes a “pay it forward” approach to sustainable agriculture. Their mission is to end world hunger and poverty while also taking care of the planet by working with communities. This approach seems to be a great answer to the issue of food security and sustainability, as Heifer is driven by the “teach a man to fish” philosophy which ensures the families they help are all able to contribute to eradicating world hunger.   In this episode, David explains what Heifer International is all about, it’s humble beginnings, and its mission. He also shares the different challenges they face with every program as well as some of the successes that made it all worthwhile.     “You basically want markets to compete for your products.”  – David Norman     This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:    An example of a market that is not dependable or fair. How they structure their business and programs. How the co

Andry Andriankaja is an agronomist that specializes in the field of plant biotechnology. Carl Andre is the research manager for the EPA-DHA Canola project at the BASF Plant Science Department who studied how plants convert simple sugars to oil as well as plant lipid metabolism.  They are working together on a big project in biotechnology that will innovate the way we eat and provide our body with nutrients: making the typical canola plant naturally produce EPA and DHA, two types of Omega 3 fatty acids.   We all know what Omega 3 fatty acids are and what they can do for the body, but we’re often forced to either eat their food sources or buy fish oil supplements. What if we can consume omega 3 fatty acids in products we're already eating? Andry and Carl are now working on that answer and have been working on it for the past 10 years.    In this episode, Andry and Carl discuss their big project, why they chose the canola plant as their host, and what it took for them to get this far. They also discuss  their vi

Joe Swartz is the Vice President of Commercial Sales and Technical Support at American Hydroponic, a.k.a AmHydro. AmHydro is a small company in the United States that designs and builds innovative hydroponic systems, a soil-free way to grow plants, and have been doing so for the last 30 years. Joe Swartz himself came from a family of farmers and started researching the science of hydroponics when he saw the traditional methods of farming were no longer paying the bills during the real estate boom of the late 80s.   After purchasing the family farm from his father, Joe put his formal education and passion in agriculture to good use and invested time and money into researching and experimenting with different hydroponics system operations. Some said he was a genius, some called him otherwise. Regardless, with hydroponics AmHydro has slowly and steadily made a huge and growing impact towards preserving the environment.    In this episode, Joe tells us all about hydroponics, its advantages and disadvantages, why

Jack Gilmore is the owner and head chef of the famous Jack Allen’s Kitchen in Austin, Texas. More than good food and service, Jack Allen’s Kitchen is known for being a pioneer in what we call the “Farm to Table.” According to Jack, at least 80% of every food on his menu is locally sourced. He first got into cooking when he was 15 and taught himself how to cook when he was working part time in a restaurant. By the time he was 18, he realized school wasn’t his thing so he decided to get married and start a family.   Jack knew how to cook, so he figured he could make a living out of it. He worked for other people and was able to work with incredible chefs, until he grew tired of working for someone else and decided to start his own restaurant. From cooking for a decent wage to actually owning his own restaurant chain, he has come a long way.   On today’s episode, Jack talks about how he started his restaurant business, what made him choose to buy from local farmers as much as possible, and the logistics involved

Spencer Stensrude is a business analyst for Ag Ventures Alliance, a company that invests in startups aimed to support and innovate the agricultural industry. The company itself was formed by farmers in Iowa in the late 90s. One of their latest investments is a company called SwineTech and is headed by Matthew Rooda. As the name implies, SwineTech is a company focused on innovating the swine industry, and right now its focus is on preventing sows from crushing their piglets.   On today’s episode, Spencer and Matthew talk about how they met, what their companies are all about, and how they started working together. They also share their prediction for the agricultural industry in the future and one of the biggest issues in the pork industry and how it’s affecting the economy.     “We are happy the company making money and sending us a check vs having to sell the company to someone else to pay back the investors.”  – Spencer Stensrude     This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:    What is SwineTech all

Aidan Connolly has been with Alltech for 27 years and is currently its Chief Innovation Officer (CIO). Alltech is a company that helps farmers feed the world, raise healthy animals, and protect the environment. He works with the company’s research department focused on developing nutrition-based technologies that will capitalize on insights gained through Alltech’s investment in nutrigenomics. Aidan’s main tasks as CIO is to spearhead Alltech’s projects in multiple facets of the agricultural industry, make sure they’re always on the cutting edge when it comes to current technology, as well as incorporating new technologies into how food is produced in the future.   On today’s episode, Aidan shares how he became Alltech’s CIO and how the company decides which innovation to invest in. He also explains the disruptive technologies that will greatly affect the agricultural industry in the near future.   “Brain power and imagination are going to be very important in terms of the roles we play.” – Aidan Connolly  

Do we take basic decision making for granted? Do we just assume that our practices in the past should be our practices in the future? Using data based information, there may be ways to become more efficient and productive while saving money and resources. Dr. Curt Livesay from Dynamite Ag is one of those people who questions basic assumptions. He focuses on agronomy or soil management and crop production. He has been a guest on a past episode, but we mostly discussed the cannabis industry. Today, Dr. Curt Livesay shares his data based process especially around the subject of nitrogen use. We look at nitrogen efficiency and getting the desired amount of nutrients without creating waste. We also talk with Scott Wettstein, a farmer from Lidgerwood, North Dakota. If you like thinking for yourself, this is a great episode for you.    "When we test and find products that actually work, we take those on and promote them to our growers." – Dr. Curt Livesay     This Week on the Future of Agriculture Podcast: How Dyn

There was a time when people found a job and stayed there for most of their working lives. Those times are in the past with modern statistics saying that 67% of employees leave a first job within the first 2 years. Having a job that is a good fit is not only important for employer cost savings, but it also makes a difference in the employee’s happiness. Bob Broeckelman was interested in agribusiness right out of high school. He has been an FAA officer and advisor, an ag teacher, and is recently retired after 33 years working in the Farm Credit system.  He understands the importance of human capital and why it's important for people to understand and find what is the right fit for themselves. Today, we talk about tools used to create profiles and questions to create good matches for people and jobs. We also talk about how this method helps the employer and employee.     "We were trying to do the students a favor by putting them in the right jobs." - Bob Broeckelman     This Week on the Future of Agriculture Po

Grasslands and grazing cattle go hand in hand. Yet, grazing cattle can be a complex process with things like dynamic business practices, the ecology of the grasses, and the biology of the animal all needing to be considered. Grass-fed beef and other grass-fed agricultural products are also fueling the modern-day demand for pastures and grazing opportunities. I recently came across a business that is trying to solve issues associated with pasture management and cattle grazing. Christine Su is the co-founder and CEO of PastureMap, a platform that collects data on different areas that are being used for grazing. It helps build on that data to help with making informed decisions on the entire process. Byron Palmer is a livestock rancher who grazes cattle in Sonoma County. He is one of the people doing the work and putting future agricultural ideas into practice. He is the owner of Grounded Grasslands. Byron grazes cattle for farmers and manages pastures. Today, I talk with Christine about PastureMap, and with Byr

What do you think about an all-expenses-paid trip around the world for six months to learn about agriculture? Does it sound too good to be true? It is too good, but it is also true. This adventure is made possible through Nuffield scholarship. Today’s guest, Mat Hocken, is a husband, father, dairy farmer from New Zealand, and a Nuffield Scholar who has travelled globally to research on his chosen topic of specialization - agricultural innovation. Mat joins me today to share the details of this amazing scholarship program that’s been created for the advancement of agriculture in a global aspect. He gives an overview of the life of a Nuffield scholar and its new international scholarship program. He also shares how this can influence your view of the world and the agricultural industry.   “I think I’ve learned a lot from just observing what you do [in the US]. [Innovation] is also a cultural context.”  – Mat Hocken   This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: Specifics on the Nuffield scholarship, their s

Today’s guests allow us to look at agricultural technology and entrepreneurship from two different perspectives. Kevin Heikes is part of the IN10T, a digital agricultural company that created Farmer Trials. Farmer Trials is a platform that connects people who have new ideas and want to test them on real farms. These people get to work with real farmers who have the skill and resources to assess whether these ideas solve real problems that farmers face. Also with me is Kyle Morrow, a farmer in Indiana who is currently a customer of Farmer Trials. Kyle shares his experience working with the company and allows us to look at matters from a practical approach since one of the goals of the program is to see things from different lenses. Today, we see that all new and innovative agricultural technology is nothing until tested and proven effective on the farm. Kevin shares how art and science are combined as a growth strategy used by Farmer Trials; the communication process among the farmer, the ag entrepreneur, and

While having guests and learning from people with different perspectives are the typical setup of this show, stopping to reflect on the things that have been discussed and talked about is an excellent way of seeing the learning, growth, and future direction of the program. With this said, today, I’m going to deviate from my normal program flow to look back and see where the journey has taken us. Today, I’m going to talk about the five big takeaways I have learned from the first 60 episodes of the Future of Agriculture podcast. I also explain how these five big things determine the direction and content of the program. Agriculture should be looked at from as many different lenses as possible. That’s where we’re going to get the ideas. This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: Agricultural technology and agricultural entrepreneurship What agricultural education is about and why it is important Defining cooperative extensions and how this reinforces agricultural education Solving serious problems like e

Peter Schott grew up in a family with technologically inclined parents who used computers on their farm even from way back in 1984. Because of this, Peter's curiosity on the possibilities that technology can bring in solving agricultural problems grew. As a result, Peter and another guy from his college dorm decided to work together on offering solutions through mobile apps by establishing their own company called Myriad Mobile. Today, Peter talks about the significant role that mobile apps play in the future of agriculture and the solution of current agricultural problems. He shares some excellent insights from two different perspectives - one from that of a farmer’s and the other of an entrepreneur. He also explains the significance of knowing your audience, your vision, and the problem you want to solve when thinking of a good app to pursue.   “I think the industry is best served if people spend more time listening to their customers and working alongside them rather than telling them what they need.”  – P

Today’s episode is a continuation of a two-part series on why you should teach agriculture. In the previous episode, Dr. Daniel Foster, an educator at Pennsylvania State University, shared his insights about agriculture and agricultural education on a national scale. Dr. Foster not only makes a difference in the lives of young people, but also trains teachers who want to make a difference in the agricultural education outside the country. Dr. Foster joins me today as he talks about agriculture and agricultural education on an international scale. He shares how he tried to help establish agricultural education in Guatemala and the inspiring story when Dr. Foster and his team of agricultural instructors had an intercultural agriculture trip to Korea.   “It’s okay to be scared but saddle up anyway because there’s a young person in this world, there’s a young person in America that needs you.”  – Dr. Daniel Foster     This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: Possible reasons why there is a decrease in agr

Daniel Foster is a proponent of agricultural literacy and is currently an Agricultural Teacher Educator at The Pennsylvania State University. He credits his mother for his love for the industry which all started when his mom decided to move out of Texas to Arizona to further her career in agriculture. He was just 15 going 16 at the time and was a starter on his school’s football team, so he considers this part of his life as a fun transition.   In Arizona, he decided to pursue a degree in agriculture and continue his studies until he eventually got his doctorate at Ohio State. To this day, he recalls never really wanting to teach agriculture. That is until February of his senior year as a student teacher. It was then he realized he wanted to keep doing this, teaching young minds about the importance and future of agriculture, for the rest of his life.   On today’s episode, Daniel talks about how his mom inspired him to pursue agricultural studies, why he decided to become a student teacher, the importance of

Today’s guest grew up in Mariposa, California and has viewed the world from different lenses as a youth through the 4-H Youth Program. Marcus Hollan attributes his distinctiveness and success to his involvement in such programs when he was younger which allowed him to embrace the diversity of others and understand the importance of inclusion in a community. Marcus is one of the founders of the Cultivating Change Foundation, an organization that elevates and values the LGBTQ community within the agriculture industry. In today’s episode, Marcus talks about the roles that diversity, inclusion, equality, and equity play in the workplace - especially in agriculture. As the chief learning officer of Studio 5, Marcus also shares the organization’s goals, the business case for promoting agriculture, and how the corporate equality index has become a significant tool to know more about how open a company is to embracing racial, cultural, religious, and gender orientation differences.   “There is also power in recognizi

Coley Jones Drinkwater belongs to a third-generation family of farmers who tend to and sustain the Richlands Dairy Farm in Blackstone, Virginia. Richlands Farm has been a dairy farm since the 1950s. Coley’s story makes you see life in agriculture from different perspectives - a multigenerational angle, a sustainability angle, and an entrepreneurship angle. On today’s episode, Coley talks about the inspiring story of how her grandparents started and pursued the farm as they relied on agriculture in raising and sending their five children to college. She also explains how she and her family decided not to sell the farm during one of its trying times with the challenges, pressures, and sacrifices she and her family made to keep the farm and pursue their own creamery in spite of the denial of her initial proposal. “I hope in building the creamery that maybe that is something that I can do for someone else’s family as well where you can just come, get some ice cream. Sit on the porch. Just breathe and take a mome