The demand for biobased materials is growing on a global scale, with no signals of that pace slowing any time soon. One startup has leveraged the power of synthetic biology to turn industrial byproducts into biomaterials. This week, Ourobio CEO Alec Brewer joins us to talk the company’s founding, contributing to a circular economy and their innovation process – end-to-end.  

Highlights include:  

• The company’s origin story out of the University of Virginia and how it has evolved 
• Ourobio’s innovation process, end-to-end, that produces bio-based materials 
• Pivoting as an entrepreneur and knowing when they needed to tilt their business model to capture and offer value 
• The Ourobio differentiation, which includes safety, color of pigmentation of polymer and affordability 
• Alec’s perspective on the regulatory environment, what needs to be defined and how this conversation should evolve as this market continues to grow 
• Biggest headwinds Ourobio has faced as a startup and how they’ve navigated their challenges in the early stage  
• Feedback from companies that are moving to more bio-based materials  
• Where Alec sees the biggest opportunity for bioinnovation reshape traditional industries in the coming decade 
•  Tools and technologies that have had the greatest impact on accelerating innovation for Ourobio’s scale and precision  
• How partnerships and collaboration have paved the way for Alec and the Ourobio team’s entrepreneurial success  
• What success looks like at this stage for the company and what’s ahead for Ourobio that has Alec most excited 

From seed selection to input purchases and beyond, farmers are responsible for a litany of data points that require decisions on their operations each season. Having tools to enable confident, informed decisions isn’t just a “nice to have” in modern production agriculture, it’s imperative. We are joined by Beck’s Hybrids’ Jim Schwartz, Director of Research, Agronomy and Practical Farm Research, to talk about the launch of their new platform – SeedIQ – its capabilities and the dealer, and farmer, mindset heading into a growing season.  

Highlights include:  

• What PFR (Practical Farm Research) does to help farmers grow their operations and how it’s different than other research projects within companies 
• Conversations with growers heading into the planting season; what those entail, how they are preparing and their sentiment given the current headwinds being faced 
• The power of certainty being tied to decision-making and how Jim has seen expectations shift over the years when it comes to seed performance, agronomic support and digital tools 
• The balance of innovation adoption and risk management  
• “Innovation that matters” and what that means to the Beck’s team, their definition of innovation and its implications beyond ROI 
• Launching SeedIQ, what the platform does and how it better serves dealers and farmers 
• The gaps Jim and the team identified that led them to develop the SeedIQ platform 
• Dealer and grower response to the launch of the tool heading into a growing season 
• What’s ahead for Beck’s this planting season that has Jim excited 

The future of the agbioscience workforce will look different than it does today – as it does than it did ten years ago. At the heart of its change and evolution are college students and young professionals pursuing new fields of studying, from business to biology, and asking themselves one critical question: how do I apply what I’m learning today to my future in the working world? This week we are joined by AgriNovus’ Career Success Manager, Karis Witte, to dive into the organization’s career exploration platform, Field Atlas, exposing young talent to the agbioscience industry and connecting their hearts and minds to a future that matters.  

Highlights include: 

• The story of Field Atlas and who it aims to serve 
• Biggest headwinds agbioscience companies are facing when it comes to finding talent and buildling a workforce of the future 
• Who Field Atlas is designed for and what makes it different than other talent programs and platforms 
• The brand’s growth into experiential programming and how exposure has created a new dimension of industry recruitment for agbioscience companies 
• Field Atlas as a brand “for students, by students” that is enabled by a network of campus Ambassadors 
• The feedback Karis gets about the impact of Field Atlas – from students, colleges, universities and companies 
• The Company Tours available to students and how that program has created new impact on students with no prior background in agbioscience 
• Launching the Agbioscience Mentorship Program (AMP) and creating new, meaningful connection for late college students and young professionals that are looking to advance their careers 
• How Karis sees Field Atlas evolving as it grows in the coming years 
• What’s ahead in 2026 

For farmers looking ahead to a fresh growing season, decisions for their operations require clarity and a certainty around impact and ROI – from inputs to innovation adoption. This week, we are joined by PJ Smith, Senior Global Product Manager at Indigo Ag, to get into soil health’s impact on our food system; and how strengthening agriculture today helps reduce risk and protect food security for the future. 

Highlights include:  

• The work Indigo Ag is leading and problems their team solves through innovation 
• Conversations with farmers right now as they look ahead to the growing season, their concerns and how they are making decisions based on their needs 
• Indigo Ag’s unique intersection of ag, sustainability and data  
• Balancing opportunities that data can provide with a hesitant mindset that can sometimes linger around a farmer’s data, technology adoption or participation in emerging technologies 
• Benchmarks and measures of success the Indigo Ag team has in front of them over the next 3-5 years 
• Indigo Ag’s launch of Nemora to fight soybean cyst nematode, the leading cause of soybean loss in the U.S 
• How in-field experience with farmers shapes R&D priorities for Indigo Ag 
• PJ’s thoughts on their biggest room for growth 
• Farmers as a part of the solution to climate and sustainability challenges over the next decade and where he sees shifts and changes coming in the market 
• What’s ahead for Indigo Ag in 2026 

There is an increasing desire from consumers to better understand food’s overall impact on their health; however, there haven’t always been the proper tools – until now. This week, we are joined by FoodHealth Company’s CEO and co-founder, Sam Citro-Alexander, to talk about the launch of their consumer and brand facing tech-platform, FoodHealth Score, which rates products and suggests smarter swaps in real-time as you shop. We also get into leveraging innovation to better connect the value chain and empowering consumers and food brands alike to make better informed decisions based on data. 

Want to try out FoodHealth Score for yourself? Download the Chrome extension for free here! 

Highlights include:  

• What FoodHealth Company does and who they aim to serve through technology 
• Gaps in the market that Sam identified that led to her endeavoring this new startup and systems change 
• How FoodHealth Co. Works across the food system to drive better health outcomes – from consumers to food brands alike 
• Sam’s launch of their flagship product, FoodHealth Score, and what the feedback has looked like across the value chain 
• Retailers and brands using data to better inform purchasing and formulation decisions 
• How FoodHealth Co. Is thinking about impact measured through their platform 
• What food is health means to Sam and her team 
• The role she sees farmers playing in the FoodHealth Score and the opportunity to better align food production and health 
• The company’s $7.5M Series A funding round from 2025 and how it’s enabled them to grow and scale 
• How Sam views partnerships and collaboration as a necessary tool to the growth of FoodHealth Company 
• Where she believes they’ve just started to scratch the surface on their full potential when it comes to FoodHealth Score 
• What’s ahead for the company with the launch of FoodHealth Score in 2026 

From sweeteners and starches to sustainable packaging, the bioeconomy is on the move. At the helm is Primient, a leading producer of food and industrial ingredients made from plant-based, renewable sources – corn being its primary feedstock. Today we are joined by CEO Jim Stutelberg to talk about the $4 trillion global bioeconomy and the rapid innovative trajectory shaping its future. 

Highlights include: 

• The Primient story and who they aim to serve through innovation 
• How Jim has seen the bioinnovation market evolve and what the competitive landscape looks like for bioinnovators like Primient today 
• The collective headwinds facing the industry 
• Primient’s market differentiation 
• Consumer behaviors influencing company priorities and how they set the tone for R&D and product pipelines 
• The critical role of corn and other feedstocks in the work Primient does and how Jim sees that relationship evolving over the next decade 
• Acquiring Primient Covation and what integrating them into their portfolio will enable their team to do 
• The power of partnerships for the Primient team, how they approach collaboration and what it means to their business 
• Jim’s approach to the business of people, his belief in team culture and how he sees building a talent pipeline for the future 
• What Jim believes to be Primient’s biggest areas of untapped potential 
• What’s ahead for Primient in 2026 

This week, we are bringing you an audio special alongside our friends at First Farmers Bank and Trust who hosted their Annual Ag Summit at Purdue University. Keynoting the event was Rob Sharkey, The Shark Farmer; he is an Illinois grain farmer, a whitetail deer hunting outfitter, XM radio host, television personality and a podcaster. Some of the AgriNovus team had the joy of hearing Rob’s speech and first took away the resilience of the original and ultimate entrepreneur: the farmer. 

Highlights include: 

• Rob solving the definition of innovation through the launch of The Shark Farmer, the hilarious story of how it came to be and who it aims to serve
• Establishing a core audience and message to prepare for growth and the criticality of surrounding yourself with the right people to prepare for that journey
• Planning to pivot or make adjustments when the opportunities arise for your venture to put you on an upward trajectory
• The Shark Farmer's platform putting them in position to participate in several discussions on farm succession, how those uncomfortable conversations can translate across business growth and who should have a seat at the table

Thank you to First Farmers Bank and Trust for having us! We are back next week with a regular episode of the podcast.

Learn more about Rob Sharkey, The Shark Farmer, here.

The USDA estimates that 30-40% of the U.S. food supply is lost each year, a massive addition to landfills and negative contributor to environmental health. What if that waste stream was handled differently and innovated into dependable feed ingredients for farmers? This week, CEO of Nutrition 101 Rick Shipley, joins the podcast to talk upcycling feed, servicing the entire value chain and flying under the agbioscience radar.  

Highlights include:  

• How Nutrition 101 leverages food waste management to serve the entire food value chain 
• What conversations look like with producers in this era and how their team is positioned to help drive on-farm impact in a time of unique challenges for their operations 
• Nutrition 101’s relationship with processors on the other end and how they create opportunities for growth, sustainability and more 
• Rick’s tenure as CEO (8 months) and how he sees the company as a differentiator in the agbioscience industry 
• The company’s roots originating on the farm and how that translates to solving problems and generating better feedback to shape priorities for the future 
• What success looks like for the Nutrition 101 team when it comes to working with producers and processors alike 
• How Nutrition 101 focuses on solutions that are practical, effective and easy to implement – and why that’s so critical 
• The company’s acquisition of Value Feeds in 2025 and what it will enable them to do on their growth trajectory 
• Rick’s belief in the company’s greatest untapped potential to date 
• How Rick sees the industry leveraging tech, automation and other innovations to grow a young base of talent interested in focusing on animal nutrition and agriculture 
• Nutrition 101’s impact growing over the next decade as the role of the farmer evolves 
• What’s ahead for the company in 2026 

January's recap episode with Christy Wright, CEO of AgriNovus, and Libby Fritz, VP of AgriNovus, includes: 

1. Corteva and bp's 50:50 joint venture, Etlas, and its plans to advance production of biofuels made from crops.
2. Elanco's $400 million investment in U.S. manufacturing, R&D and workforce. Listen to Jeff Simmons on Fox Business here.
3. Primient's 100% acquisition of Primient Covation to advance their competitiveness in the bioeconomy.
4. POET's $203 million investment in their Indiana location with plans to double production and nearly double workforce.
5. Gripp winning honors from the ASABE for advancing agtech innovation.

The bioeconomy is on the move this month! Get our Bioinnovation Playlist on YouTube. Click  .

Gripp was a former winner of AgriNovus' Velocity accelerator, which is set to kick off soon. Learn more about the program here.

AgriNovus' Quadrant is back on March 11! Get details and register here.

From partnerships and acquisitions to considerable growth in 2025, Traction Ag has had an incredible story to tell as innovators and entrepreneurs. Woven in the fabric of that story, though, is how that growth came to be: direct farmer relationships, focused on creating solutions that will ultimately drive their yield. This week, we are joined by Traction Ag’s COO, Hannah Parsons, to talk fintech for the farmer, making the barrier to entry accessible and what’s ahead for the company.  

Highlights include:  

• Traction Ag’s tech stack and how the platform functions to specifically serve farming operators 
• What their team is hearing from customers right now as they navigate challenges in financial management and decision making 
• Gaps in a farming operation’s data that can create inefficiencies and how Traction Ag is designed to integrate for more streamlined impact 
• How farmers respond to a platform like this, barriers to tech adoption and their biggest questions about how it can help their operations 
• Strategic partnerships and integrations with FS and Keystone Cooperative and how they better serve the farmer 
• The acquisition of PcMars and what it added to the company’s tech stack 
• Hannah’s perspective on Traction Ag’s biggest untapped opportunities for growth 
• What’s ahead for the company in 2026