Rhyzone Podcast

In this episode, host William Klaassen sits down with Brian Sparks, Editor of Greenhouse Grower, to unpack how artificial intelligence is reshaping the greenhouse industry — and how growers can take their first steps.

From data collection to practical efficiency gains, Brian shares insights from industry surveys showing a growing curiosity about AI, even among those who haven’t yet adopted it. Together, they explore what AI really means in horticulture, how it’s already at work in automation and data analysis, and what opportunities — and cautions — lie ahead.

This conversation offers a clear, practical roadmap for growers who want to understand AI without the hype, and start exploring how it can enhance decisions, streamline operations, and capture hard-won knowledge before it walks out the door.

Key Takeaways

Brian Sparks is the Editor of Greenhouse Grower, where he oversees both print and digital editorial planning focused on greenhouse technology, production, varieties, and business management. He has been with Meister Media Worldwide since 2000 and previously served as Managing Editor for several of the company’s brands. Brian holds a communications degree from John Carroll University.

Follow Brian on LinkedIn

William sits down with Grace Sharkey (from Orderful) to demystify EDI—what it is, why it still powers retail in 2025, and how growers can start simple and scale. They dig into real-world pitfalls (chargebacks, labels/UPCs, “dialects” by retailer), the API vs. EDI conversation, and why the goal is to make your data pipes so reliable they’re… boring. That’s where clarity (and cash flow) live.

"“We take care of the boring so you can focus on modern workflows powered by clean data.” — Grace

Guest: Grace Sharkey — Orderful

Host: William Klaassen — Aster Software

In this episode, host William Klaassen digs into the world of autonomous equipment with Charlie Anderson, CEO of Burro. From humble beginnings in an unheated barn to deploying over 500 autonomous systems globally, Charlie shares how his childhood on a working farm—and a serious distaste for hopping off tractors to weed—sparked a mission to automate labor-intensive tasks in agriculture. 

Charlie unpacks the hard truths about innovation in agriculture: the challenges of scaling autonomy in heterogeneous environments, why big manufacturers are slow to adapt, and how Burro is building a platform for safe, smart mobility near people—indoors and out. 

Whether you're in tech, horticulture, or just love seeing robots make life easier, this episode offers both grounded insight and forward-looking vision on the future of work in agriculture. 

“A great robot is really boring—it just does the thing.” – Charlie Anderson 

Charlie Anderson shares his remarkable journey—from growing up on a Pennsylvania fruit and vegetable farm to working at Case New Holland and ultimately founding Burro. He explains why specialty crops are the most promising entry point for automation—not because they’re the largest markets, but because they carry the heaviest labor demands. 

Charlie describes how Burro quite literally started building autonomy from the ground up, testing small vehicles in tough real-world environments, and learning how to handle obstacles, regulations, and even standoffs with curious border collies. 

They explore how Burro has evolved from simple towing carts to a robust product lineup that includes spraying, mowing, and patrolling, all while staying true to a “platform, not vertical” vision—allowing growers and partners to layer their own innovations on top. The conversation highlights creative ways growers are adapting Burro for everything from security to logistics, showing the flexibility of a system designed to scale across diverse operations. 

Looking ahead, Charlie offers insights into how generative AI is reshaping the autonomy landscape, why the best robots are the most “boring” (in a good way), and what’s next for Burro as they prepare for massive growth.  

Charlie’s book recommendation: The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton Christensen  

🚜 Learn more about Burro: www.burro.ai 

In this engaging episode, William sits down with Adam van Wingerden from Silver Fern to unpack the unique challenges and opportunities in the horticulture software space. From the friction of change management to the power of community in greenhouse tech, this episode is full of honest insights and industry wisdom. 

Together, they explore: 

Key Takeaways 

If you’ve ever struggled with software that promised the world but delivered frustration, this episode is for you. Adam and William pull back the curtain on why tech adoption is tough in horticulture—and how collaboration, not complexity, is the key to real growth. 

Follow on LinkedIn:

Adam van Wingerden | Silver Fern

William Klaassen | Aster Software

In this captivating episode, William Klaassen sits down with Angelo Petitti, a luminary in the horticulture industry with over 50 years of experience. 

Angelo shares insights on building trust-first leadership, fostering a community-focused business culture, and adapting to industry challenges through vertical integration and innovation. His passion for giving back and empowering others shines through, offering valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and leaders alike.

This conversation dives into the heart of what makes a business thrive: culture, innovation, and treating people with respect and care.

Key Topics Discussed:

Notable Quotes:

About Angelo:

Angelo Petitti, the son of a farmer and nephew of an avid gardener, immigrated to the United States in 1963 at the age of 16 from Faeto, a small mountain village with a population of 600 in southeast Italy.  For 3 years, he worked at Pick-n-Pay Supermarket, and as a busboy at a local restaurant, to support himself while attending Kent State University night classes to pursue political science.  Angelo also leveraged his innate sense of the land to do part-time landscaping and eventually, his interest in horticulture became his full-time passion.

In 1966, Angelo started Petitti Landscape Company. His brother, Domenico, joined him and they bought an oversized garage in 1969 in Oakwood Village to store their trucks, landscape equipment and plant material.  Soon, passersby began to visit, inquiring about the plants inspiring Angelo to open the first Petitti Garden Center on site of the old garage on April 15, 1971.

Today, Angelo Petitti owns nine garden centers in Lake Country, Ohio, plus a 10th store opening Spring 2025.  Angelo has invested in over 4,000 acres of nursery land where over 3 million trees, shrubs and ornamental grasses are grown and cultivated, serving landscapers and wholesale plant customers region wide.

With over 45 years of experience as a garden center owner, and 28 years as a grower, Angelo Petitti has gained valuable plant knowledge, which he loves to share through the media. Thousands of gardening enthusiasts tune in each week to Gardening with Angelo, Saturdays on WTAM 1100, where Angelo answers callers’ gardening questions.  Each week on News Channel 5, Angelo and meteorologist Mark Johnson tackle timely gardening issues for viewers.

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Us:

Drones, Data, and Dreams: Precision Horticulture Takes Flight - Episode 26

In this episode of the Rhyzone Podcast, host William Klaassen speaks with Kate Dodde from Dutchman Tree Farm about the intersection of agriculture and technology. Kate shares her experiences managing inventory and data at the tree farm, utilizing drones for photogrammetry, and organizing the farm's drone program.

They discuss the evolution of using drones for inventory management—from early photogrammetry efforts to emerging LiDAR technologies. Kate explains how drones help with accurate tree counts, height measurements, and even how they navigate the challenge of integrating different data types from various departments.

Kate and William also dive into the future potential of AI and machine learning in farming, with dreams of ultimate precision agriculture where drones and sensors identify issues and solutions in real-time. Kate provides a firsthand look at the everyday challenges faced in adopting and integrating new technology on the farm and highlights the importance of staying adaptable.

Key Topics Covered:

"Technology forced us to face our messy data and start organizing it better, bringing everything together." - Kate Dodde

Links & Resources:

Looking to strengthen your relationships with your customers?

Need to run your garden center and horticulture business more efficiently?

Struggling to find strategies to keep up with today’s competitive market?

You’ll find answers here!

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Mikel Lindsaar, CEO and Founder of StoreConnect, a software company based in Sydney, Australia.

Mikel helps small businesses grow big. He is an expert in software, and the mastermind behind many of the software used today. To date, his software has received more than a billion downloads. Mikel also specializes in customer commerce and business growth.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Episode Links: 

StoreConnect: https://getstoreconnect.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/storeconnect 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StoreConnectHQ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngKdP2x8l1wcbAKW3tvU8g 

X: https://twitter.com/storeconnecthq  

Key Words:

Salesforce

StoreConnect

iQ Grower ERP

eCommerce

customer experience

customer relationship management

automation

data

garden centers

horticulture business

A small change in efficiency in the horticulture world leads to a big impact on the bottom line. Moss Robotics is tackling one of the most common troubles nurseries of all sizes face, inventory. With a good dose of tenacity and a strong vision, Di and Shrijit are ready to make big changes to horticulture, you can count on it. 

Di Hu, CEO of moss robotics, is on a mission to reduce the labor-intensive aspects of farming and revolutionize the way growers make decisions. By providing data-driven insights from the field, she helps growers minimize guesswork and make more informed choices. Before founding moss, Di studied at Occidental College and Caltech, and earned a master’s degree in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. Her dream is to one day have a garden robot that will grow her daily vegetables.

Be the first to experience the future of tree inventory management: 

https://www.moss.ag/#pilot

The horticulture landscape has been evolving rapidly year after year, primarily driven by advancements in technology and the growing demand for sustainable practices. As these changes reshape the industry, the integration of technology like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is becoming increasingly critical for businesses looking to streamline operations and improve efficiency. To provide insight into this transformation, one of the most respected figures in the ERP world, Jan Baan, is here to share his thoughts. With his extensive experience and expertise, Jan will discuss how the merging worlds of ERP and horticulture are setting new benchmarks for the industry and what this convergence will mean for the future of agriculture, technology, and business as a whole.

"You can not buy time, just do it."

Jan Baan is a prominent Dutch entrepreneur and venture capitalist, best known for his role as the founder of the Baan Company, a pioneering enterprise in the development of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. Under his leadership, the Baan Company became a global force in the software industry, providing integrated solutions that transformed business operations worldwide. After selling Baan Company, Jan embarked on a new venture, founding Cordys, which focused on delivering web-based ERP products and streamlining business processes for the digital era. Demonstrating his ongoing commitment to innovation and technology, Jan continues to build on his legacy with Rappit, a company dedicated to redefining business process automation and efficiency for modern enterprises.

For more about Jan:

Web: https://rappit.io/

LinkedIn:Jan Baan

In the horticulture industry, there’s a problem that plagues every nursery. Inventory. Dr. Joe Mari Maja has a wealth of knowledge in technology that he’s using to find a solution to this ongoing quandary. From RFID tags to data collection, we’re tackling this from all angles.

"This technology is coming and you need to be prepared for it."

Dr. Joe Mari Maja is a Senior Researcher and Director of the Center of Applied AI for Sustainable Agriculture at South Carolina State University's 1890 Research & Extension, Public Service, and Agriculture. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Science from Tohoku University, Japan, and an MBA from Clemson University.

Dr. Maja specializes in advanced sensor technologies, automation, and robotics for agriculture, with a focus on using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for nursery inventory management. His innovative integration of RFID with drones has optimized inventory tracking and plant management, significantly improving the efficiency and accuracy of nursery operations.

Beyond RFID, Dr. Maja is also an expert in spectral analysis, small-unmanned aerial systems (sUAS), and wireless IoT technologies for sustainable agriculture. He has led numerous funded projects and is widely published, contributing significantly to advancing AI and automation in agriculture.