Future of Agriculture

Dr. Jeremy Williams is the Vice President of Biotechnology and Agricultural Productivity Innovations at Monsanto , one of the largest modern agricultural companies in the world that develops products and tools to help farmers grow more crops and make use of resources more efficiently. His responsibilities include leading the chemistry and trait research teams that assist farmers to succeed through...

  Aldyen Donnelly is the Director of Carbon Economic at Nori , a startup company dedicated to creating trust and transparency while lowering transaction costs throughout the carbon trading industry. Her mission is to reward carbon sequestering farmers with blockchain-backed carbon credit certificates. Nori is a blockchain-enabled platform allowing users to trace where carbon dioxide is sequestered...

Del Ficke and Graham Christensen own farms that advocate a practice called Regenerative Agriculture. This practice sequesters a massive portion of CO2 in the soil and even in forests. Del is the owner of Ficke Cattle Company , a family run farm and livestock operation with a history dating back to 1860. Graham is the Founder of GC Resolve , an environmental consulting company based in Nebraska tha...

Michael Gilbert is the Founder and CEO of Semios , a Canadian company that helps farmers manage their pest problems using onsite sensing, big data, and predictive analytics solutions. He has over twenty years of experience in the field of biotech research and development. Before founding Semios, Michael held positions with federal research institutions, large multinationals, medium-sized public co...

John McKeon is the Senior Manager of Organic Compliance, Commission, and Consolidation at Tanimura and Antle . Founded in 1982, Tanimura and Antle is a farm company that grows and sells both conventional and organic produce. John has almost two decades of experience working in the agricultural industry with skills in operations, management, quality assurance, and compliance.   Today, John joins me...

Rachel Laudan is a food historian and award-winning author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History , a book about the rise and fall of various culinary traditions and philosophies. She has over twenty years of dedicated research to the evolution of our food systems. She’s also an engaging speaker who helps industry professionals, students and professors, and public groups see food from a l...

Olympia Yarger is the Founder and CEO of GOTERRA , an Australian-based waste management company that redefines the idea of food waste through decentralized waste management. Their company’s primary goal is to manage food and animal waste using insects of which the byproduct could be used as a feed additive. This approach is an alternative and sustainable way of feeding livestock that also reduces...

Dr. Pamela Marrone is the founder and CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations , a company dedicated to finding practical, sustainable pest management solutions that are safe for people as well as the environment. She is also the founding Chair and former board member of the Biopesticides Industry Alliance, a cluster of over a hundred biopesticide and related companies. She currently serves as a member of t...

Michael Doane is the Managing Director of the Agriculture and Food Systems at The Nature Conservancy , a nonprofit organization and the world’s leader in providing nature conservation efforts. Their mission is to conserve Mother Nature for future generations by buying lands to prevent plant and animal extinction and restoring otherwise ruined parts of nature back to its former glory. Michael’s res...

Jim Loar is the President & CEO of Cool Planet , a company founded to provide innovative agricultural technologies that increase crop production at a low cost while reducing greenhouse gas throughout the atmosphere. The company’s current research focus is on their Cool Terra Engineered Biocarbon technology, a type of soil enhancer that improves soil health, reduces water consumption, and supports...

Ryan Sirolli is the Senior Director at Danone North America , a food company that focuses on dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and plant-based foods. Ryan is responsible for leading a team that serves to develop and execute agricultural sourcing and improve supply chain sustainability. He and his team emphasizes on soil health as well as creating alternative economic models that advocate both c...

David Perry is the President, CEO, and Director of Indigo Ag , a company that seeks to harness the power of plant microbes to improve yield and lessen (and potentially eliminate) the use of harmful pesticides and insecticides. David is a well-known entrepreneur, having founded and built three outstanding companies within the last two decades. He has lead the last two companies through successful I...

Jason Mauck is a farmer in Gaston, Indiana and the CEO of Constant Canopy, an operation dedicated to closing the gap between livestock and grain production. He is passionate about demystifying misconceptions and bringing public awareness to how the farming and agriculture industry truly works from a large-scale farming perspective. Jason joins me today to share how his large-scale nutrient managem...

Marc Brazeau is the Chief Organizer and Editor at Food and Farm Discussion Lab , a food system think tank and online magazine for people within the agriculture industry to share evidence-based solutions, ideas, and concepts related to sustainable agriculture, hunger and food security, and public health and nutrition concerns. With previous experience as a chef and restaurant owner as well as organ...

Richard Lackey is the Chairman and CEO of the World Food Bank , an organization founded in 2015 to provide sustainable solutions to the food security and hunger issues around the world. He is a highly-regarded expert in the trading and securities industry and is passionate about finding solutions that will help end world hunger. Richard joins me today to share the driving force behind World Food B...

Tom Bottoms earned his bachelor’s degree in Plant Sciences from the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and in 2013, he received his Ph. D. in Horticulture and Agronomy from the University of California. He currently works as an employee of a large farming operation based in Northern California with the intention of eventually accumulating his own farm land and building his...

Rob Saik is the founder of the Agri-Trend® group of companies whose primary goal is to help farmers grow food through agriculture consulting services in areas such as agronomic production, carbon-offset trading, grain marketing strategies, and data management systems for producers around the world. He is the creator of The Agri-Prize contest series, a TEDx and keynote speaker, and the author of th...

Simone Kain is the co-creator of George the Farmer , a social enterprise that focuses on educating kids about proper farming practices as well as how food and fiber are produced using apps, music, videos, picture books, and free curriculum-aligned educator’s guides. She drew inspiration from a 2012 survey in Australia that shows 10-12-year-old students don’t know where their food comes from. Simon...

Chris Rawley conceived the idea of crowdfunding platforms for agriculture while visiting a farm investment in Central America. He would soon start Harvest Returns , a crowdfunding company that serves investors looking to diversify their portfolio and invest their money on actual farms. Before founding Harvest Returns, Chris obtained corporate management roles in various companies and once served a...

Dr. Jason de Koff is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist at Tennessee State University. He holds a Ph. D in agronomy from Purdue University and has received numerous awards including the NACAA Achievement Award and the TAAA&S Communications Award (Learning Module Southeast Region) in 2016. Dr. de Koff joins me on today’s episode to discuss how cooperative extension programs are helping...

Jerod McDaniel is a farmer and cattleman from Texhoma, Oklahoma. He is progressive when it comes to farm-related data, and new technology and practices. He is quite open and excited about the idea behind blockchain and how it would impact farmers like him. Jerod took over his grandfather’s farm in 1995 when he was just 18 years old which has enabled him to acquire the necessary skills for traditio...

Emma Weston is the CEO and one of the founders of AgriDigital , a commodity management company that combines advanced technical and industry expertise with aesthetic design and intelligent systems to develop seamless solutions to complex logistical, risk, customer management, and commodity issues in the agricultural sector. Emma leads the company’s business strategies, investor engagement, and the...

Raja Ramachandran is the CEO of Ripe.io , a company that considers itself as the Blockchain of food. Ripe.io offers solutions to food problems that involve data transparency while also providing answers to many consumer questions. Raja has a background in finance and FOREX trading and is fond of using financial technology, cloud-based systems, machine learning, and Blockchain to help solve problem...

Alex Danco is an Associate and member of the Discover Team at Social Capital , a partnership consisting of philanthropists, capitalists, and technologists who together share the same goal of funding startups and ideas that can create value and change on a global scale. Alex is fond of thinking and writing about the future, and has authored a number of blogs that discuss the future of human society...

FoA085 FOA How Blockchain Technology Can Help Farmers in Developing Countries   David Davies is the Founder of AgUnity and AgriLedger . AgUnity enables the world’s smallest and poorest farmers to have access to a means to lift themselves out of poverty through smartphone and blockchain solutions. AgriLedger is the smartphone app AgUnity developed that records and transacts incorruptible data throu...