Agbioscience

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353. BONUS: Corteva’s Brook Cunningham and Kearney’s Rob Dongoski from World AgriTech in San Francisco Mar 17, 2025

Show notes

Stage content at events like World AgriTech is always of highest quality but there are conversations happening behind the scenes that give a sense of what’s happening in the industry. Brook Cunningham, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Corteva Agriscience, and Rob Dongoski, Food and Agribusiness Leader at Kearney, joined us for a conversation at World AgriTech to get perspective on many topics, including:

A volatile market – and the reminder that it’s also cyclical
The tipping point for investors and the critical questions they have beyond just yield at this point in time
Corteva’s balanced approach between internal and external innovation and the company’s areas of focus when it comes to investment and partnership
How Kearney is advising companies seeking investment – of all sizes – in this volatile time (hint: don’t go it alone)
Areas of innovation that are seeing traction from investors
The importance of creating certainty around the noise – from regulatory to policy and beyond
How they both see this market cycle differently than past cycles
The role of food and consumers in this next evolution of food and agriculture
Crystal ball: what are the conversations at World AgriTech like five years from now?

352. Beck’s Hybrids’ Brad Fruth on agbiosciences’ go-to market differentiation + the criticality of customer trust Mar 17, 2025

Show notes

Identifying customer needs – jobs to be done – it's the core of innovation. But what are the jobs that need to be done? What are those things left undone as we head into the 2025 growing season? And what does the current economy, trade environment and overall farm sentiment mean for innovators and the farmers they serve? Brad Fruth, Director of Innovation at Beck’s Hybrids, joins this week to make sense of it all. We get into:

What’s on farmers minds given the current state of the ag economy
Big trends Brad is seeing aside from the macroeconomic headwinds and tailwinds
The role of biologicals and seed traits in this current economy
Beck’s approach to innovation and helping emerging companies bring new ideas to market
The differentiation of go-to market in ag versus other industries and the criticality of patient capital from VCs
Areas for great impact in agtech right now as Brad sees it
The importance of staying lean when you’re starting up and recalling really great technologies that didn’t hit the market because they ballooned and got too big, too fast

351. Akston Biosciences’ Todd Zion on animal health innovation, companion animals + collaborating with Purdue Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

Research estimates the global animal health market to be roughly $8 billion, a number analyst firm Grand View Research expects to grow at a 10% compounded annual growth rate through 2030. Much of that growth will be driven by biotechnology. Dr. Todd Zion, CEO and founder of Akston Biosciences, joins this week to help understand what is happening in the biotech markets, specifically as it relates to companion animal innovation. We get into:

Where the market sits today and how it is evolving
Akston Biosciences’ 2024 partnership announcement with Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine focused on a therapeutic for canine oncology
His approach to animal health innovation through precision proteins creating affordable, effective treatments for companion animals
What sits in the Akston Biosciences pipeline currently and the company’s approach to cost-effectiveness while also staying innovative
Todd’s past work in human health, how he sees two sides – animal and human health – coming together to push innovation further, faster
The regulatory hurdles faced by both human and animal health innovators that delay getting safe, effective treatments to market
A big need for more risk capital coming into the animal health innovation market

350. Elevate Ventures’ Matt Tyner on the cost of innovation + the role of the investor in this next era of venture capital Mar 03, 2025

Show notes

Pitchbook reports that of venture capital deals in 2024, roughly 30% of them were down rounds or flat, meaning their valuation of the companies either went backwards or were the same round to round. It’s a trend that will continue, so how can entrepreneurs break the cycle? Matt Tyner, managing partner of America’s most active venture capital firm – Elevate Ventures, joins today to make sense of what’s ahead and how innovators can succeed. He gets into:

The current state of venture capital – and the criticality of taking a step back to understand where things sit today
Investors’ increased focus on profitability and not being able to cut your way to growth
Artificial intelligence as an enabler – not a vertical
Does the future include a shift to debt versus venture
The cost of innovation and the role of an investor in this era of venture capital
What the current conversation with portfolio companies looks like for Elevate Ventures
What Matt sees as emerging trends in agbioscience
The most important jobs to be done in the industry

349. Mitch Frazier recaps February, 2025 trends + investment news from Ingredion, Liberation Labs, Corteva Catalyst and TerraForce Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

Mitch Frazier and Cayla Chiddister recap February by reviewing his three big trends in agbioscience for 2025, big investment news for Ingredion, Liberation Labs, Corteva Catalyst and TerraForce and look ahead to big events in March - including Quadrant on March 12. Register here: https://agrinovusindiana.com/quadrant/

Learn more about the Indiana Ag Threats and Security Summit: https://agrinovusindiana.com/2025/02/11/indiana-ag-threats-security-summit/

348. Ag Alumni Seed’s Jay Hulbert on biotechnology’s transformation in agbioscience + the industry's most important job to be done Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

Agbioscience is the only economy that touches every person on the planet. Over the past four decades, we’ve seen massive transformation, innovation and acceleration of output in this economy. Today we are joined by a leader who has had a front row seat to it all. Jay Hulbert, CEO of Ag Alumni Seed, joins us ahead of his retirement to talk:

Seeing the world and the globalization of agriculture in his career
Biotechnology as a step-function change to revolutionizing the row crop world through improved genetics
His perspective on the future of gene editing in agriculture and what’s on the horizon
Jay’s support of entrepreneurs and the importance of their flexibility to make business models work long-term
His extensive background in specialty crop and some of the market intelligence that has paved the way for new products we see in produce today
The job that needs to be done as he sees it – or more like, the resources that likely need to be shifted toward climate resilient crops

347. Farm Credit Mid-America's Natasha Cox on the speed of change + prioritizing smart bets for innovators and farmers alike Feb 17, 2025

Show notes

New data from USDA shares that net cash farm income decreased roughly 3.5% from 2023 into 2024 and we’re looking at inflation adjusted numbers. But here’s the piece of the silver lining that may be untold: that number – net cash farm income – is still above average when we look at the last 20 years from USDA data. This week, Natasha Cox, Senior Vice President of Farm Credit Mid-America, joins us to help make sense of the numbers, what it means to producers and to the broader agbioscience economy. We get into:

The macro perspective on the health of farm balance sheets across the Midwest
Big trends that she’s looking at from a financial health standpoint of farms and agribusinesses
Consolidation – from both the farmer and innovator perspective – as a factor in the economic system of agriculture in the US
New investments being made on farm or within agribusinesses to better connect to the end market of food is health
Natasha’s perspective as a farmer and how she prioritizes where to place her bets for her operations
The criticality of surrounding yourself with good partners, knowing your options when it comes to strategic planning and investments and asking the right questions for your operations or business
The innovation she’s most excited about in 2025

346. Hoosier Ag Today’s Eric Pfeiffer on market turbulence, trade wars + the need for a Farm Bill to make plans for the future Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

The year 2025 is poised to be an interesting one for agbioscience. Venture capital inflows from 2023 to 2024 are roughly flat according to Crop Life, the production cost of corn and soybeans remains roughly in line or slightly below market price and the turbulence around global trade and what tariffs could mean leave an uncertain operating market for what could be ahead. Joining us today is Hoosier Ag Today president, Eric Pfeiffer, to make sense of what’s ahead. We get into:

The current perspective of the farmer, their natural optimism and knowing the challenges that lie ahead for 2025.
Trends he’s noticing that are operational changes to drive net farm income – particularly biologicals – and why that’s challenging.
Property tax reform as a major topic in the Indiana General Assembly and making this issue relatable to the general public – because it does impact them at the end of the day.
The biofuels tax credit bill in the Indiana General Assembly and its potential economic impact and jobs to the state of Indiana (not to mention better burning, more sustainable fuel).
On a federal level – trade wars – and tariffs potential impact, good or bad, on farmers.
Farmers needing certainty on The Farm Bill to make plans for the future – it does not appear to be a priority at the moment.
Reason for optimism from farmers moving forward.

345. Stumbling into agbioscience, forging your path in college + what young talent wants with Field Atlas’ Cameron Weber Feb 03, 2025

Show notes

Making a difference in the world – it’s nearly a universal desire for all of us. But where do you fit in? And how best to you make an impact? One college student is making that impact and blazing their trail. Cameron Weber, a biology major at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a Field Atlas Ambassador, joins us today to talk their path to agbioscience, including:

Talking to two kinds of people – those that grew up on the farm and those who stumbled into it and are happy they did. Cameron is in the latter
Wanting to originally be a doctor until getting connected with Field Atlas at a career fair and learning more about agbioscience.
Finding a new path and forging your way forward as a college student
Their six-month internship with Corteva Agriscience as a greenhouse assistant in Puerto Rico
Field Atlas Ambassadors – what do they do? And what has Cameron’s experience been like in their five semesters with the team?
Cameron’s advice for companies searching for young talent (hint: it’s not ping pong tables in the breakroom and pizza on Fridays)
Working on their thesis as they wrap up their time at Rose-Hulman
Cameron’s plans headed into graduation this spring – pssssss – they're currently looking for a job....

344. AgriNovus' Mitch Frazier recaps January, big wins for Gripp + Croft, Velocity's launch + reasons for optimism in 2025 Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

As the first month of 2025 comes to a close, Mitch Frazier and Cayla Chiddister recap a few of the biggest stories in agbioscience, reasons for optimism on net cash farm income and tease a few upcoming episodes of Agbioscience.

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