Agtech - So What?

Mary Shelman is an internationally recognized agribusiness consultant and speaker, and the former Director of Harvard Business School’s Agribusiness program. Mary grew up in Kentucky, watching her father sell farm equipment; now, based in Boston, she helps corporations and governments tackle agriculture’s biggest problems. In Ireland, for example, she helped boost exports and build a national brand through Origin Green, a national sustainability scheme.
In this podcast, Mary talks about:

• How companies are responding to the sustainability demands of customers - from defending traditional methods, to defying or even disrupting agriculture supply chains and markets.
• Why her agricultural upbringing helps shape her work as much as her formal qualifications and experiences in agribusiness case studies.
• How technology can help farmers and businesses better understand and use their resources as the food system changes.

Topics: corporates, supply-chain, food-consumer, agtech-ecosystem

Sarah Mock isn’t afraid of having tough conversations and shining light on thorny issues in the agriculture industry. A journalist with experience in international development and agtech, Sarah recently began a Twitter firestorm with an article asserting that all farming is inherently exploitative.
While sometimes accused of being anti-farming, Sarah says this couldn’t be further from the truth. She describes herself as being “not a cheerleader; not the enemy”. Sarah grew up on a farm in Wyoming and has worked in agriculture her entire career - from high profile agtech startups such as Farmers Business Network, to reporting on ag politics under the Trump administration.
In this episode, Sarah Mock discusses:

• The reluctance of some farmers to change their farming practices, despite strong data evidence indicating the benefits.
• Why the agriculture industry needs to start telling the truth about what farming looks like, and start addressing what customers want.
• How agriculture policy and incentives can actually lead to poor business decisions & outcomes.
• What it feels like to stick up for controversial beliefs, and the pushback she receives from being provocative and “making windows in the walls around farming”.

Topics: people-culture, agtech-ecosystem, marketing-brands, food-consumer

Regen Ag Series #5: Our Verdict, with Sarah Nolet and Matthew Pryor from AgThentic and Tenacious Ventures
In this final wrap up episode of our regenerative agriculture series, the team from AgThentic is giving you OUR verdict. Sarah is joined by Matthew Pryor, Partner at AgThentic and co-founder of Tenacious Ventures, to discuss:

• what it will take to move beyond the polarizing debate over whether regen ag is good or bad;
• how agtech can unlock cost effective ways to measure, monitor, and verify what’s actually working;
• impacts of consumer’s push for carbon neutral produce and reducing the use of chemicals; and
• emerging business models and incentives that can help shift the risk/reward equation of transitioning to new practices.

Companies: Tenacious Ventures, AgThentic • Topics: regen-ag, soil-health, natural-capital

The gloves are off as our expert panelists debate whether regenerative agriculture can improve farming businesses… or if it’s all hype.
Host Sarah Nolet is joined by:

• Richard Leask, a wine grower and 2019 Nuffield Scholar who traveled the world studying regen ag, and now uses the best of what he discovered back home in his vineyard in South Australia.
• Toby Grogan, a natural capital specialist from Impact Ag, who advises farmers and investors on how regen ag can increase soil health and farm profitability.
• Will Bignell, a regen ag skeptic and Tasmanian mixed farmer, who is committed to a simpler, commodities based farming business.

Companies: Impact Ag • Topics: regen-ag, agtech-ecosystem, natural-capital

Is it possible for large food corporations like McDonald’s to “scale for good?” Nicole Johnson-Hoffman is in charge of supplying beef to McDonalds through the OSI Group, and doing so sustainably.
She believes it’s only the big companies that have the power to change entire supply chains and therefore that the future of sustainable food is up to them.
Nicole grew up on a small dairy farm in Minnesota and is now a world leader in sustainable beef production.
But the industry today is a long way from where it was in the not too distant past. It has moved from highly defensive and secretive, like when Oprah and the American Cattleman’s Association squared off in the late 1990s, to embracing the need for more transparency and input from stakeholders.
In this episode, Nicole talks about:

• The feud between the US beef industry and Oprah.
• How major companies like McDonald’s are taking responsibility for the sustainability of their supply chains, and what this means for farmers.
• The rise of frameworks for food sustainability, like the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

Companies: OSI Group, McDonald's • Topics: meat-protein, corporates, supply-chain, livestock-dairy

When a company commits to regenerative agriculture practices - it can be accused of ‘greenwashing’ - making people believe it’s doing more to help the environment than it really is.General Mills, the U.S. company behind iconic brands such as Yoplait, Betty Crocker and Cheerios, made a commitment to bring regenerative agriculture practices to one million acres of farmland by 2030.Jay Watson is responsible for this task - connecting farmers in various commodity supply chains with support, tools, and pilot programs to enable regen ag practices.
In this podcast, Jay discusses:

• The criticisms around regenerative agriculture and why General Mills has decided to invest in it.
• How General Mills is educating farmers to view their land as an ecosystem.
• Overcoming the misconceptions held by some ‘foodies’ about where their food actually comes from.
• The current and future prospects of agtech in regenerative agriculture.

Companies: General Mills • Topics: regen-ag, corporates, supply-chain, soil-health

Sam Trethewey believes ‘regenerative agriculture’ is not a dirty word - but simply the future of farming. Astonishingly, he produces wagyu beef in Tasmania without actually owning any cows. He does this by combining insights about business models from startups such as Uber and Airbnb with the farming practices of regenerative agriculture.
Sam grew up on the family farm in Tasmania before working in corporate agribusiness and marketing. In 2016, he co-founded SproutX, the first agtech accelerator in Australia.
But in the last few years, he has returned to his first passion - the land itself. Sam runs the Tas Ag Co with his wife, Steph. After seeing increasing demand from consumers who are more conscious about what they eat, they’ve taken on the challenge of producing ‘carbon positive beef’.
In this episode, Sam shares his insights on:

• Tas Ag Co’s innovative business model that avoids traditional finance and allows them to produce beef without owning cows.
• How the marketing and branding of their product as ‘carbon positive’ is a major driver for the business.
• The debate over what regenerative agriculture actually means and where it is headed in the future.

Topics: regen-ag, livestock-dairy, business-model, meat-protein

Mark Wootton is well-known in the Australian agriculture industry as a pioneer in carbon-neutral farming. In 2011, Jigsaw Farms, his family property in south-west Victoria, achieved carbon neutrality - undergoing a process he openly admits was at the time, both “arduous and not necessarily commercially rewarding”.
Yet, Mark and his wife Eve Kantor operate a very successful mixed grazing farm where they run 20,000 sheep for fine wool and prime lamb as well as 500 cows. The farm also incorporates a 600 hectare hardwood timber plantation and indigenous plantings for biodiversity.
Mark was instrumental in the creation of the Climate Institute - a not-for-profit focused on climate science and policy in Australia. He remains a champion of finding new ways to lower methane emissions on farms - through both feed efficiencies and new technologies.
His latest venture is a “Super Ewe” - where he’s using genetics to create a dual purpose sheep through focusing on muscle and fat in the selection process.
In this episode Mark Wootton shares his insights on:

• Using Sheep Freeze Brand (liquid nitrogen) as an alternative to mulesing.
• Turning sustainable agriculture practices into a driver for productivity and profits.
• The importance of flexibility in farming operations.
• Finding the right times to make big decisions for your business.

Companies: Jigsaw Farms • Topics: regen-ag, carbon-markets, livestock-dairy, natural-capital

Karmen Mehmen is a corn and soybean farmer in Iowa alongside her husband Stan and their son Kyle and daughter-in-law Kerri. Their farm, MBS Family Farms, has grown from 160 acres and 40 cows back in the ‘60s to an operation that today supports 20 families.
In this episode, Karmen talks about:

• How technology has enabled them to manage through substantial growth
• Learnings from transitioning the farm to the next generation
• How structured coaching and support has helped them become better farmers & business owners

Companies: MBS Family Farms • Topics: farm-economics, ag-data, people-culture, succession

Renée Anderson is a farmer in Emerald, Queensland, Nuffield Scholar, agronomist, and overall champion for the cotton industry. In this episode, she shares her insights from Australia and around the world on social license, science communications, and the role that tech can play in helping farmers both improve production and change the narrative about agriculture.
Visit our website for our top five insights, Renee’s favorite science communicators, and the resources on racism in agriculture mentioned at the end of this episode.

Topics: people-culture, marketing-brands, agtech-ecosystem, women-agtech