Agbioscience

Latest Episodes:

323. Insignum AgTech’s Kyle Mohler on early disease detection in crops + the value of farmer feedback Sep 30, 2024

Show notes

It’s estimated that disease could cost the global food system up to 20% of production and one scientist is turning to the plant itself to change that. Dr. Kyle Mohler joins us today to talk his recent win at the Rally In-Prize Pitch Competition, his work to detect disease in plants much earlier and the Insignum AgTech’s startup journey in 2024.

Insignum AgTech’s traits allow for the farmer to detect when disease is coming – nearly a week before you would actually see symptoms – an opportunity for farmers to treat with precision and before things are past a point of no return. Kyle gets into the farmer feedback surrounding the technology in action and how it serves as a decision-making tool for their operations.

Fresh off a win at the Rally Innovation Conference In-Prize Pitch Competition, Kyle talks scaling via test plots across the Midwest. He also talks great milestones for Insignum AgTech in 2024 and where they hope to be headed in the future.

322. Land O’Lakes' Leah Anderson on the farmer perspective, emerging innovations and data as a differentiator to drive net farm income Sep 23, 2024

Show notes

The cornerstone of the agbioscience economy is production agriculture. Without farmers, no amount of agtech, animal health, or plant science would ever be applicable to feed and fuel this world. Today we are joined by Leah Anderson, SVP of Land O’Lakes and president of WinField United, to talk about her drive and motivation to help the farmer – and putting it into action.

Key Takeaways:

The farmer perspective headed into harvest including some stress surrounding commodity prices, input costs and declines in farm income levels.
Challenges for Land O’Lakes and WinField United ahead of next growing season – from access to labor and investment decisions – and how they’re helping the farmer with those hurdles.
Data as a decision driver and the Advanced Acre Rx program as a prescription suite of tools based on a farmer’s most pressing individual needs.
The cooperative model as a differentiator for farmers and the emerging innovations that have Leah most excited – including AI biologicals and evolving new markets (Carbon, water, etc.).

321. The Directions Group’s Mark Purdy on farmers of the future + their identified opportunities for innovation in agbioscience Sep 16, 2024

Show notes

Innovation in agbioscience has never been more critical. In today’s tough economy, farmers are looking for new ways to generate margin and with geopolitical instability around the world, food’s stabilizing force around the world is taking center stage. Former Army Colonel and Executive Vice President of The Directions Group (Aimpoint Research) joins today to talk forces of change in our food system, food security as national security and innovation for the farmer.

Key Takeaways:

The Directions Group’s recent Farmers of the Future research dives into how farmers are evolving, what they need and how his team sees this landscape changing in the future – including consolidation.
Agbioscience’s critical role in human health and its impact on our national security and military service.
Mark’s work with Indiana farmers to define the critical challenges facing their operations as the launch point for this year’s Producer-Led Innovation Challenge and The Directions Group’s methodology of tackling this feedback.
Labor management and administrative burden as huge hurdles for farmers to be successful – and why talking with a farmer will drive better outcomes for innovators.

Read the study, Producer-Led Innovation Challenge Opportunity Identification, at agrinovusindiana.com/research.

320. Rumin8’s Dr. Lucas Huntimer on durability, sustainability + the decarbonization of 100 million cows by 2030 Sep 09, 2024

Show notes

Sustainability in agbioscience requires two key inputs: environment and economics. Today we are joined by Rumin8’s head of research and development, Dr. Lucas Huntimer, to talk economic durability, sustainability and how his team aims to decarbonize 100 million cows by 2030.

Lucas dives into the challenge at hand – methane – and Rumin8’s differentiated approach to innovating in this space. Rather than focusing on methane knockdown, their team is redirecting methane emission back into productivity, returning investment back to the producer.

With an uptick in innovation happening in this space, we had to ask: why now? Lucas talks through the rise in focus surrounding cattle, their bold mission to decarbonize 100 million cows by 2030 and the hurdles they’ll face to get there, from regulatory to capital.

319. IEDC’s Salena Scardina on For the Bold, the customer experience + knowing when to automate vs. innovate Sep 02, 2024

Show notes

Discover the journey of Salena Scardina, from her start at McDonald's Corporation to becoming the Chief Marketing Officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and her mission to redefine Indiana's global brand. In this episode of Agbioscience, Salena shares her insights on the customer experience, the power of understanding your audience and the innovative promise of Indiana's economy looking toward the future. Dive into the discussion on how Indiana is boldly claiming its place on the world stage, thanks to strategic branding and a deep commitment to innovation in agriculture, technology and touting what we do best – work together to achieve big outcomes.

318. Mitch Frazier recaps the Rally Innovation Conference, talks Producer-Led Innovation Challenge and more Aug 30, 2024

Show notes

AgriNovus CEO, Mitch Frazier, recaps August with highlights from the Rally Innovation Conference, the upcoming Producer-Led Innovation Challenge, Field Atlas hitting college campuses across Indiana and events coming up for you to join!

317. Toph Day on the Rally Innovation Conference + the disparate stakeholder driving creative collisions Aug 26, 2024

Show notes

Venture capital has become synonymous with innovation. And one firm is turning to an event featuring world renowned artists, actors, athletes and innovators (plus a multi-million-dollar pitch competition) to drive new creative collisions. Toph Day, CEO of Elevate Ventures and mastermind of the Rally Innovation Conference, joins today to talk the state of venture capital, false growth driving bad decisions and his optimism heading into the last quarter of 2024.

Part of his optimism starts with a major event kicking off in Indianapolis this week – the 2nd Rally Innovation Conference. Toph stresses the value of other vertical perspectives, bringing a wide range of expertise together at Rally and what attendees can expect at the event this week (in one word: Toph says to expect magic).

What’s so different about Rally, anyway? Toph acknowledges that innovation doesn’t happen 1 on 1 between investor and entrepreneur and introduces a critical figure to the process: the disparate stakeholder (the figure upon which the event was launched). Between the demo floor, nationally renowned keynote speakers and a multi-million-dollar pitch competition, Rally is designed to bring together leaders across multiple disciplines to drive new, creative waves of innovation.

With over 3,000 attendees in year one, Toph has a big vision for Rally’s sophomore season. This includes keynotes from Tia White, Alex Rodriguez, Marcus Lemonis and Jann Mardenborough (think creative collisions) + fantastic breakout sessions across food and agtech (among other verticals).

Learn more about Rally at rallyinnovation.com. Use code RALLYAgrinovus to get 40% off your ticket.

316. Elanco’s Tim Bettington on the evolution of animal health, the barriers of bringing innovation to market Aug 19, 2024

Show notes

The animal health market – estimated by many sources to be $60 billion globally – spans everything from pet health to livestock and holds applications for innovations in feeds, vaccines, therapeutics and beyond. Joining us this week to talk about this evolving market is Tim Bettington, EVP of Corporate Strategy and Market Development at Elanco, to share his front row view on the evolution of animal health and the driving forces behind its growth.

Tim talks Elanco’s bifurcation between pet and livestock health, the dynamic challenge of bringing innovation to market in both categories and their unique individual challenges and opportunities. He also gets into investment dollars flowing heavily into the pet space – and how to balance that against innovation in livestock as potential to transform our food system and planet.

Innovation in livestock has been focused largely on methane reduction in cattle and Tim shares Elanco’s approach to creating products for the animal health space while also giving farmers a pathway to economic and environmental sustainability. Tim talks their partnership with Athian, the launch of Bovaer in the U.S. market and Elanco’s role in the future of the agricultural industry.

How does Elanco view their balance between internal R&D and external partnerships? Tim dives into the critical role of artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize solutions to problems more quickly and what emerging trends will create a bigger footprint moving forward. He also talks the OneHealth Innovation District coming to Indianapolis, innovating for overall health and what’s ahead.

315. Corteva Agriscience’s Christy Wright on the convergence of ag, food and health + bringing innovation to market Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

Food: it’s the only economy that touches every person the planet and ideally, we have a relationship with it three times a day. Despite that, many don’t know where their food comes from or its connection to the farm. Christy Wright, Director of Global Food at Corteva Agriscience, joins us today to connect the farmgate to the dinnerplate, the global challenge of food security and what dynamics play into the food economy.

Christy dives into what unites farmers and consumers: the desire for a safe, affordable food supply created sustainably. She also gets into the convergence of food and health, Corteva’s role in optimizing nutrition across the globe through farmer inputs and linking arms with food companies to optimize ingredients.

As food continues to optimize for health, what emerging trends excite Christy? She talks biologicals, regenerative agriculture and other “leveling up” solutions that create healthy crops that meet the needs of a growing population.

As for how the needs of farmers are being met on the other end of the value chain, Christy also gets into Corteva Catalyst, bringing innovation to market and what she sees as the next chapter of our food system.

314. Kevin Still on a hot start for Keystone Cooperative, being a conduit between tech + the farmer amidst a new speed of change Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

Cooperatives and retailers have been critical infrastructure for agriculture for generations. Keystone Cooperative CEO, Kevin Still, joins today to discuss their key role on farming operations and how ag retail has evolved since its inception.

As on-farm technologies continue to advance so does its role in cooperatives’ product portfolio. Kevin dives into Keystone Cooperative’s approach to being a trusted advisor on products and solutions that create value for their farmers – from data management to labor.

Keystone Cooperative is just a few months old and Kevin gives an update on their people, processes and bringing synergies together. Looking ahead, he talks investing in new technologies at scale and being a conduit between emerging technologies and the farmer. He also gets into the next four decades of agriculture and a new evolution of the farmer.

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