The Modern Acre

Rob Hranac is the CEO of Pattern Ag, an agtech startup developing a recommendation and product discovery platform centered around a deep understanding of soil. They are leveraging advances in genomics, robotics, and high-resolution agronomic data to build this knowledge, in service of improving farm profitability.

Rob joins the podcast to talk about his path to Pattern, their investors and long term vision, and how scaling the company has gone over the past few years. Tune in to learn more!

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/187

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Kim Bui is the Global Head of FreshCloud Infrastructure and Analytics at AgroFresh, an agtech innovator and global leader with a mission to prevent food loss/waste and conserve the planet's resources by providing a range of science-based solutions, data-driven digital technologies and high-touch customer services. AgroFresh supports growers, packers and retailers with solutions across the food supply chain to enhance the quality and extend the shelf life of fresh produce.

Kim joins the podcast to talk about how his team is responsible for implementing the digital layer within AgroFresh in the food supply chain. We dive deep into how technology is impacting and driving the produce industry.

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Matt Crisp is the CEO and Co-Founder of Benson Hill, a food technology company founded in 2012 with a mission to deliver food made better from the beginning. Through our CropOS® technology platform, which combines data science, plant science and food science, we are leveraging the natural genetic diversity of plants to deliver seed innovation that enables healthier, better tasting, more sustainable and more affordable food and ingredient options.

Matt joins us to talk about the plant based food movement, how we has grown and scaled the business, and shares insight into their decision to go public via SPAC. Tune in!

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/185

This week we talk to two agtech founders - Jake Joraanstad, the CEO and co-founder of Bushel, and Jesse Vollmar, the CEO and co-founder of FarmLogs - about the recent news of Bushel acquiring Farmlogs. Bushel is an independently owned software company and leading provider of software technology solutions for growers, grain buyers, ag retailers, protein producers and food companies. FarmLogs is an agtech startup that provides farm management software designed to help run a more efficient, more profitable farm.

Jake and Jesse talk through the recent news, their businesses, and how they plan to integrate and grow together. They also offer some spicy takes during our quick takes segment. Don't miss this one!

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/184

John Kempf is an entrepreneur, speaker, podcast host and teacher. He is passionate about the potential of well managed agriculture ecosystems to reverse ecological degradation. In addition to being a grower, John is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, Crop Health Labs, Ozadia, and the Regenerative Agriculture Academy. He hosts the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, where he interviews top growers and scientists about the principles and practice of implementing regenerative agriculture on a large scale.

John joins us to dive deep into what regenerative means and what is does not mean. We address what is overhyped, what is undervalued, and if regenerative agriculture will cure climate change. We also discuss John's background and entrepreneurial endeavors, including his company, podcast, and new book! Tune in!

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/183

Julie Kunen is the Director of Sustainability at Oatly, the world's original and largest oat drink company. Julie's background is in creating and delivering sustainability programs and motivating stakeholders to deliver results. She joins us to dig deep on what sustainability means at Oatly and how they are driving towards continued improvement.

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/182

Another edition of Acre Insights! This week we are talking about the drought crisis on the West Coast and the impact on farmers there, the shutting down of Abundant Robotics and what that means for agtech startups, and finally we discuss some challenges we are seeing in the co-packing space, specifically for farmers trying to develop a brand. Tune in!

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/181

Bob Powell is the founder and CEO of Brightmark, a global leader in waste solutions that takes a holistic approach to tackling the planet's most pressing environmental challenges with imagination and optimism for the future. Brightmark enables programs specifically tailored to environmental needs in order to build scalable project solutions that have a positive impact on the world and communities in which they live and work.

Bob joins us to talk about how and why he founded the company and how Brightmark is working closely with the ag community, specifically dairy farms, to solve these environmental challenges. Don't miss this one!

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/180

Adam Litle is the CEO of Sound Agriculture, a plant development company that helps producers grow more efficiently and enhance food taste, nutrition and sustainability. Adam was formerly part of the founding management team at Granular, a farm management software platform startup that was acquired by Dupont for $300M in 2017.

Adam joins us to share lessons from his time at Granular, where he supported multiple functions and company growth. We learn more about Sound Ag and their efforts to transform agriculture through sustainability. Tune in!

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/179

Paul Gambill is the CEO and Co-Founder of Nori, a carbon removal marketplace on a mission to reverse climate change by removing enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to lower the overall concentration of CO2 below 300 parts per million. Paul joins us to talk about how they are leveraging blockchain technology to build the business and develop their own cryptocurrency. We also get in to how the business has scaled, the verification and permanence problems of regenerative agriculture, and much more. Tune in!

Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/178