North American Ag Spotlight: Agriculture & Farming News and Views

In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak talks to Roseanne Crave of the 2nd Generation at Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese. She holds the position of Sales & Marketing Manager, and has a hand in many departments at Crave Brothers. She graduated in 2020 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with degrees in Life Sciences Communication and Environmental Studies and is a member of Les Dames Madison Chapter (a women's food and beverage professional organization).

Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese is located in Waterloo, WI. Having their own cheese factory and dairy farm where they produce award winning cheeses while producing renewable energy. They are a family company and produce Fresh Mozzarella, Mascarpone, Cheese Curds, and Farmers Rope String cheese which is available at certain grocery stores across the US and available for purchase on their online store. Their products have won top honors at local, national and international competitions.

Learn more at https://www.cravecheese.com/

Lasso helps the cattle sector decrease its emissions and farms receive the recognition and real dollars they deserve by doing so.

Our platform will play a key role in making cattle farming carbon neutral and financially sustainable, eliminating nearly 15% of total global warming potential.

Visit https://agr.fyi/lasso to learn more.

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak speaks with the impressive young ag entrepreneur who has co-founded Lasso, Nicole Rojas. Lasso is a software platform that helps cattle farmers decrease their emissions and receive the recognition and real dollars they deserve by doing so. Lasso eases data management, recommends on-farm carbon reduction practices, automates verification and matches farms with funding. 

Nicole Rojas has experience across engineering, management consulting and international entrepreneurship. Prior to receiving her MBA from Stanford University, Nicole studied chemical engineering at the University of Michigan and worked at BCG in its Chicago office, where she helped kickstart BCG’s Center for Climate Action and launched the Chicago office’s first green team. She also served as Chief of Staff to the Chief Commercial Officer of a Chilean geoanalytics startup, Georesearch, where she led the Mexico launch in the company’s first international expansion. Nicole’s personal background growing up in Wisconsin down the street from dairy farms, as well her professional background across technical and commercial experiences has guided her passion for co-founding a company focused on tackling emissions in the cattle sector while supporting the farmers doing this work. 

Learn more about Lasso at https://agr.fyi/lasso

Energrow’s oilseed pressing system helps farmers CRUSH their feed costs.
The easy way to make fresh, home-grown, high-quality meal + expeller-pressed oil, right on the farm. The fully automated, turnkey CRUSH-Pro is easy to set up and run 24/7.

Learn more at - https://agr.fyi/energrow

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak speaks with co-founder and president of Monarch Tractor, Mark Schwager. Mark shares more about the world’s first 100% electric, driver-optional, intelligent tractor, and about being Awarded California Energy Commission Grant for “Vehicle-to-Building Technologies for Resilient Backup Power".

Mark has over a decade of experience leading manufacturing organizations and has developed over 16 million square feet of manufacturing space. Mark previously served as head of the Tesla Gigafactory, leading the project from concept phase to construction. He also led the operations planning team and built the business systems for Tesla's Fremont factory and led the manufacturing program for Tesla's collaboration with Toyota for the Rav4 EV.

Released November 3, 2022 - SACRAMENTO, CA:
Monarch Tractor and Farm Electrification Consortium Partners Awarded California Energy Commission Grant for “Vehicle-to-Building Technologies for Resilient Backup Power"

Consortium, including Monarch Tractor, Gridtractor, Rhombus Energy Solutions, Current Ways, and Polaris Energy Services, will demonstrate On Farm Mobile Microgrids for intelligent bidirectional charging of electric tractors and support for critical electric loads during power outages
 
Monarch Tractor, maker of the industry’s smartest, fully electric autonomous tractor, and its Farm Electrification Consortium partners have received a $3 million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to accelerate electrification of agricultural equipment and demonstrate the ability of batteries in on-farm equipment to keep critical electrical loads running during power outages that are initiated with greater frequency due to wildfires. The consortium is comprised of Monarch Tractor, Gridtractor, Rhombus Energy Solutions, Current Ways, and Polaris Energy Services.
 
"With grid shutdowns, hardworking farmers lose significant time, resources and money in a business where America’s growers already struggle to see the profits of their hard labor," says Praveen Penmetsa, CEO and co-founder of Monarch Tractor. "Our tractor's ability to provide exportable power and act as a mobile generator will help keep the lights on for California’s farms even when the grid is down."
 
In addition to emergency scenarios, the consortium will develop and demonstrate technology to enable farmers to employ tractors to respond to conditions on the power grid by charging and discharging batteries to supply irrigation pumps and other on-farm loads in response to dynamic prices and demand response events. The consortium will develop hardware, software and communications technologies to link tractors and charging equipment to fleet operation centers and grid management systems.
 
"Farm equipment electrification can not only provide dramatic savings for growers but enable them to take control of their energy," says David Meyers, CEO of Gridtractor. "For the grid, agriculture is one sector in California with the electrical infrastructure already in place to support rapid EV adoption. With the backing of the CEC, this project will support building, deploying and testing the technologies required to take advantage of that opportunity."
 
Monarch Tractor’s award-winning MK-V tractor is transforming agriculture by combining electrification, automation, machine learning, and data analysis to enhance farmer’s existing operations, increase labor productivity and safety, and maximize yields to cut overhead costs and emissions.
 
To learn more visit www.monarchtractor.com.

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak opens with a personal account of the days after Hurricane Ian devastated her community, and how Midwest Foodbank showed up when the community needed hope more than ever! Her local church  @Cape Vineyard was stocked with food from Midwest Foodbank and other organizations, and was ready to serve the people fast! Joining her today to talk about the hurricane impact and how they embraced the opportunity to serve are two guests, Karl Steidinger, Executive Director of the Midwest Food Bank & Scot Buss, Marketing and Development Manager of the Midwest Foodbank, Florida.

As a faith-based organization, it is the mission of Midwest Food Bank to share the love of Christ by alleviating hunger and malnutrition locally and throughout the world and providing disaster relief; all without discrimination. Their vision is to provide industry-leading food relief to those in need while feeding them spiritually.

Their story started in 2003 when the Kieser family actioned their faith to share their blessings. They turned a shed on their family farm into a distribution site for local food pantries. Soon they realized the need was more significant, and there was room for growth. Thanks to the generosity of their donors, the valuable work of volunteers, and most importantly, the blessings of God, Midwest Food Bank now shares the blessings worldwide. Midwest Food Bank currently distributes nearly $36 million worth of food to over 2,100 non-profit organizations each month. This is done from our twelve locations in Illinois, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Pennsylvania, New England, East Africa, and Haiti.

Born in Central IL Karl grew up in a family of 5. After graduating high school Karl went to work as a delivery driver for a local Feed Mill. He married Carrie Steffen July 20 2003 and together they have 3 children. Karl and Carrie moved their family to Cape Coral FL in 2016 and began working at a local ministry for single mothers. In 2017 Karl joined MFB as Operations Manager and later that same year assumed the role of Executive Director. Karl enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf, and shooting. “I feel blessed to be able to live out my faith in my occupation The MFB mission of, sharing the love of Christ while alleviating hunger and malnutrition and providing disaster relief, aligns well with my faith and I am grateful to be a small part of this fantastic organization.”

Scot Buss found his calling when he started working in non-profit 5 years ago. He brings a business mind to the non-profit sector with over 25 years of sales experience. When he is not promoting #MFBFlorida, Scot coaches an Under-12 football team the South Naples Trojans. He also sits on a non-profit board and regularly volunteers his time serving underprivileged youth. Scot is so excited to be the Marketing and Development Manager at MFB Florida. He wants to be a "cog in the machine" that can end food insecurities in SW Florida.

Learn more about Midwest Foodbank at https://midwestfoodbank.org.

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak hears from David Wallace about his new irrigation technology, the FarmHQ platform by CODA Farm Technologies.

Founded by third-generation farmers from Washington State, CODA Farm Technologies is a growing agricultural technology company bringing remote monitoring and control to agricultural irrigation. Its first product, the FarmHQ platform, lets farmers use their smartphone and an easy-to-install device to remotely monitor and control irrigation reels and pumps in real time to save money and stress. A universal retrofit, it can be easily installed by the farmer on equipment of any make, model, and age and provides remote control and monitoring for farmers’ existing irrigation equipment. FarmHQ is currently being used in on irrigation systems on farms across North America.

David Wallace is the CEO of CODA Farm Technologies, a growing agricultural technology company bringing remote monitoring and control to agricultural irrigation. David is a third-generation potato farmer from Skagit Valley, Washington. After growing up on the family farm, Wallace Farms, David received his B.S. in Chemistry from Whitman College and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to founding CODA Farm Technologies in 2020 with his brother Connor Wallace, David was a Data and Machine Learning Scientist at Amazon.

Learn more about the FarmHQ platform at https://codafarmtech.com

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak sits down with Alex Caldwell to talk about the new updates on the New Holland Guardian Front Boom Sprayer. Alex talks about what he's excited most for, and being a service rep for many years he appreciates advances that eliminate down time!  

Alex Caldwell is the Guardian Sprayer Marketing Manager for New Holland North America. Caldwell brings 9 years of experience to his role, having previously served as a field service manager, crop production sales specialist, and cash crop specialist for New Holland. Alex is a graduate of Purdue University, and is using his Bachelor's of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering to support North America's producers by helping them find the right New Holland sprayer for their operation. In addition to his work and educational background, Alex comes from a 6th generation farm near Ellsworth, Illinois that's been in the family since 1892. His cousin is now running the family farm, and Alex enjoys getting back to the farm when he's not on the road with New Holland or spending time with his wife and young son.  

New Holland Agriculture's reputation is built on the success of thier customers, cash crop producers, livestock farmers, contractors, vineyards, or grounds care professionals. They can count on the widest offering of innovative products and services: a full line of equipment, from tractors to harvesting, material handling equipment, complemented by tailored financial services from a specialist in agriculture. A highly professional global dealer network and New Holland’s commitment to excellence guarantees the ultimate customer experience for every customer.   

To learn more about New Holland, visit https://newholland.com/

Energrow’s oilseed pressing system helps farmers CRUSH their feed costs.
The easy way to make fresh, home-grown, high-quality meal + expeller-pressed oil, right on the farm. The fully automated, turnkey CRUSH-Pro is easy to set up and run 24/7.
Learn more at - https://agr.fyi/energrow

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak attends the FIRA USA Conference. The unique 3-day event focused on autonomous farming and agricultural robotics solutions. Chrissy takes us through the conference, and features the in-field demos, product highlights and interviews with attendees.   

The future of agriculture is bright and this gathering of innovation, technology, solid business insight and farming profitability is a must for next year's calendar!  

FIRA USA FOR WHO? 

-North-American market, specialty crop emphasis 

-Farmers and major producers 

-Supply chain: Robotics/OEM, crop inputs and protection -

Researchers and students  

WHY PARTICIPATE IN FIRA USA? 

-Share the needs and challenges of the market 

-Discover autonomous solutions for sustainable farming 

-Spread the use of robotics and make them more accessible 

-Foster collaborations  

Learn more about FIRA at https://agr.fyi/fira

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This week Chrissy Wozniak speaks with Peter Golbitz, founder of Agromeris and advisor at Unconventional Ag. He joins us to share details about the upcoming Unconventional Ag Conference, an event that showcases regenerative, organic, and sustainable agriculture methods.  

Peter Golbitz has over 30 years of direct experience in the food and agricultural industry covering the production and processing of raw materials into value-added food, industrial ingredients and consumer packaged goods, as well as their marketing and distribution.  

Unconventional Ag will be taking place in Minneapolis from Nov. 29-30, 2022. This focused event and news platform features innovative, sustainable, and value-added opportunities for farmers, grain handlers, processors, procurement groups, startups, equipment/technology providers, and more. The 8th annual conference highlights specialty oilseed, grain, vegetable oil, and plant protein production alongside trade and processing. 

Learn more about Unconventional Ag at https://agr.fyi/uag.

FIRA USA 18-20 OCT. 2022 (FRESNO-CA): The only 3-day event dedicated to the California and North America market for autonomous agriculture and agricultural robotics solutions.

Learn More at https://agr.fyi/fira

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In this week's North American Ag Spotlight Chrissy Wozniak hands the reins over to the dynamic ladies of the Hog Wild n Steer Crazy 4H Club in Lee County, Florida. Whitney Taylor, president of the club & Hannah Guthoerl, vice president.

These ladies conducted interviews at the North American Ag booth at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, asking ag professionals about their chosen careers, what education they needed and why they love the industry. With 12% of jobs in the country being ag related, the opportunities are endless!

Enjoy this episode of Ag Spotlight, The 4H Takeover - Careers in Agriculture.

The American Royal is a non-profit organization based in Kansas City since 1899. They provide opportunities for youth & adults from around the country to compete in Livestock Show, ProRodeo & Horse Shows. Also known for the World Series of Barbecue®, which is their largest fundraiser. Events including the barbecue allow them to give over $1 million annually for youth scholarships & support agriculture education programs. https://agr.fyi/amer

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