genetics

Genetics, biosecurity, and the cutest sheep in the world with Dr Belinda Cardinal, Caprotek

Genetics, biosecurity, and the cutest sheep in the world with Dr Belinda Cardinal, Caprotek

Managing the genetic quality of a herd can be a wicked challenge for Australian farmers. We’re a country with a small number of animals relative to the rest of the world, and formidable, complex biosecurity protocols.


Fortunately, Belinda Cardinal, Founder of breeding and genetics company Caprotek and career dairy goat farmer, enjoys spending time on wickedly difficult problems. After years spent strengthening the genetic diversity of her herd of dairy goats, Belinda attracted all kinds of coverage after importing the genetic material to breed the nation’s first Valais Blacknose Sheep in 2021.

The Tricky Business of Scaling Soil Tech - Adam Litle, Sound Agriculture

The Tricky Business of Scaling Soil Tech - Adam Litle, Sound Agriculture

The science and technology of soil is rapidly evolving, but translating it into a scalable business that can offer viable products to farmers has long been a tricky proposition. But it’s one that Adam Litle, the CEO of Sound Agriculture, has devoted much of his career to answering.

Adam was part of the executive team at Granular, the farm management software company acquired by Dupont (now Corteva) for $300M. Now, at Sound Ag, he’s leading a company that’s raised more than $95M to develop a product which activates microbes in soil to increase the uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus, thereby enabling farmers to use less fertilizer.


The promises and pitfalls of making livestock sustainable

The promises and pitfalls of making livestock sustainable

Livestock, and especially cows, get a bad rap when it comes to climate change. But is this fair? There’s no doubt that cows emit methane; however, scientific advancements are increasing our understanding of how methane contributes to global warming, and emerging companies are developing solutions to reduce enteric emissions through advancements such as feed additives and methods to accelerate genetic progress. This episode features Professor Frank Mitloehner, air quality specialist at UC Davis, and Kerryann Kocher, CEO of Vytelle.