Our panel of farming experts debate whether regenerative agriculture can help farmers be more sustainable and profitable, or if it’s all hype.
Richard Leask, a South Australian wine grower, and Toby Grogan, a natural capital specialist from Impact Ag, share their insights on how regen ag is improving soil health and profitability. While Tasmanian mixed farmer, Will Bignell explains why he remains sceptical of regenerative agriculture, despite measuring soil carbon himself.
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.
Today’s episode is all about corporate investments and acquisitions in agtech. Two guests, Derek Norman (VP at Leaps by Bayer) and Jim Chambers (President and General Manager of the Worldwide Agriculture Business at Trimble) cover different ways startups can engage with corporates, from early stage direct strategic investments, to channel partnerships, to acquisitions.
This episode was recorded LIVE at an event we co-hosted with Tim Hammerich, host of the Future of Agriculture podcast. If you're not yet a FoA listener, check out episode 201 featuring AgThentic Partner Matthew Pryor.
This week Sarah is joined by a guest host, Cass Mao, Principal Advisor at AgThentic, to chat with Pete Nelson of AgLaunch about how growers and agtech companies can work together in a model that they call "farmer-centric innovation"
Pete Nelson, originally a farmer and an English major at University, has been actively involved in building the support ecosystem for new agricultural enterprises for over 15 years. He has worked with a variety of public and private sector partners and helped to launch multiple startup companies. More recently, as President of AgLaunch, Pete has been working on sector-specific initiatives to fund, incubate, and accelerate agricultural companies with high growth potential by working with farmers.
In this episode, Pete explains what “farmer-centric innovation” means, how AgLaunch is driving it, and how having growers at the table fundamentally changes outcomes for startups and regional communities.
Evan Fraser is a food systems innovation expert. His passion for agriculture comes from his love of good food and summers spent spent working on his grandfather’s farm (more on that in the episode). He brings a multi-disciplinary and systems approach to his work, with degrees and work experience in various fields from anthropology to atmospheric chemistry to agriculture.
In this episode, Evan and I cover two main topics:
Three big barriers to agtech adoption, and what’s being done to overcome them; and
The impact of COVID-19 on agricultural supply chains.
Check out the episode blog for more on Evan and links to additional resources.
evokeAG, Asia Pacific's largest agrifood tech event, brought together 1300 innovators earlier in February this year in Melbourne, Australia. The jam-packed event featured international experts, innovative farmers, dozens of startups, and much more, showcasing what the region has to offer in agrifood tech innovation.
This bonus episode gives a taste of evokeAG and a live recording of the first panel on the main stage: The Asia-Pacific region and how we are rising. Panelists included:
Andrew Coppin - Farmbot
David Downs - NZTE
John Hartnett - SVG Ventures/THRIVE
Liza Noonan - CSIRO
Sarah Nolet - Tenacious Ventures and your host here at AgTech...So What?
Mic Fels and his wife Marnie crop about 11,000 hectares in Esperance, Western Australia. But Mic is not your average farmer. He's an early adopter of technologies and farming systems (e.g., Controlled Traffic), and an innovator, building and commercializing a range of software products and machinery through his company, iPaddock.
On this episode, Mic shares where he is- and isn't- getting value in agtech, and what he's learned about both startups and farming from his journey as an entrepreneur.
Stuart Austin is a regenerative farmer and self-proclaimed early adopter of technology.
In this episode we cover everything from how Stuart got involved in regenerative ag, to the tools he's using (and helping build) to make 6 and 7 figure decisions at Wilmot Cattle Company.
Stuart also shares his views on alternative proteins, transparency in agriculture, and the books and movies that he's found inspirational.
Ash Miles and David Ricardo are Australian farmers and founders of agtech startups Training Paddock and Farm Service Manager. They, along with six other farmer-led businesses, have been selected into the Farmers2Founders Bootcamp program, an intensive 3 month accelerator that helping them take their business to the next level.
Today’s guest, Victor Friedberg is the co-founder of S2G ventures, a Chicago-based firm that has backed companies across the ag and food industries such as Beyond Meat, Maple Hill Creamery, Benson Hill Biosystems, and Mercaris. Victor is also the founder of Foodshot Global, a non-profit consortium of companies focused on creating a food system that's more healthy, sustainable, and equitable.
Tim Hammerich, who grew up on a hobby farm in Northern California selling pigs, goats and ducks, is the Founder of AgGrad and the host of the Future of Agriculture podcast. In this episode, Tim chats about careers in agriculture, including what companies are looking for, tips for getting a job, and what’s different about jobs in agtech.
For more on Tim, check out AgGrad (https://aggrad.com/) or find him on Twitter @TimHammerich and #FutureOfAgriculture Podcast
This week, Dr. Rachel Hay, social scientist at James Cook University and boutique pig farmer, shares insights from her PhD on the role of women in agtech adoption. Published in 2014, Rachel’s findings still hold true and could be helpful for agtech companies looking to understand the industry and develop marketing strategies that can cut through the noise.
Today’s episode is the 4th in the theme Responding to Climate Risk, brought to you in partnership with the Australian Farm Institute. Check out episodes 42, 44 and 46 to hear more on this theme.
Today’s guest is Peter Thompson, a farmer based in rural Queensland, Australia that has been farming regeneratively before the word existed. He and his wife Nicki run grassfed beef cattle, do broadacre cropping, and have about 6000 acres of wilderness conservation country.
Ben Krasnostein, co-founder and managing director of Kilara Capital, a company that helps facilitate investment opportunities that provide both commercial returns and environmental impacts.
Ben believes that we as consumers, primary producers, and global economies need to shift away from a mindset of extraction to one of regeneration. And he believes that business and technology are tools to enable this transition.
When it comes to agriculture, Ben sees great opportunities for farmers to benefit during this transition.
This episode is the 3rd the theme, responding to climate risk, brought to you in partnership with Australian Farm Institute, an independent organisation conducting research into the strategic issues facing Australian farmers and the agriculture sector. Find them on social media @AustFarmInstitu
Andrew Whitlock is a farmer who’s spent his career helping farmers to adopt science-based, practical, precision agriculture solutions.
With a deep seeded love of farming, Andrew has many insights into how farmers make decisions about technology adoption and getting agtech ready.
In this episode, Andrew shares these insights as well as lessons from his journey from agronomist to farmer and finally to founder of a precision agriculture business.
This episode is the fourth and final in our theme: Getting Agtech Ready. This theme is brought to you in partnership with Decipher, an easy-to-use precision agriculture solution helping growers and agronomists in 60 countries make data driven decisions. To learn more about Decipher, visit their website or follow them on twitter.
Want more on getting agtech ready? Check out our eBook!
Cotton farmers Jon Elder and Karin Stark have looked to technology (and their neighbors) for innovation that can help them respond to climate risk. The 500 kW hybrid solar-diesel pumping system they’ve installed- Australia’s largest- is helping them combat rising energy costs.
As farmers who are passionate about the environment, Karin and Jon say it’s a win-win. The system is reducing their carbon footprint and building financial resilience. On top of that, Karin has been organizing field days and conferences to share her message that communication and trust are key to building knowledge and confidence when it comes to adopting new technologies that can help farmers respond to climate risk.
This episode is the second in the Responding to Climate Risk theme, brought to you in partnership with Australian Farm Institute, an independent organisation conducting research into the strategic issues facing Australian farmers and the agriculture sector. Find them on social media @AustFarmInstitu
In this episode we hear from a farming couple, Jess and Matt, about social media, robotics, and picking low hanging fruit when it comes to innovation. Jess and Matt Fealy returned to farm life after a long stint in the corporate world to grow avocados, mangoes, and limes in Far North Queensland.
For them, being agtech ready is about having an open mind, trying new things, and thinking beyond business-as-usual. Their advice is lean in and take control of what you can. But when it comes to implementing technology, to remember that innovation is not a band-aid for sound business practices- it’s a natural progression of good decision making.
Matt also shares insights from his recently completed Nuffield scholarship on robotics and automation in horticulture.
This episode is the third in the theme, Getting AgTech Ready, brought to you in partnership with Decipher, a precision agriculture solution that helps growers and agronomists make data driven decisions. Find them on social media @DecipherAgTech
Want more on getting agtech ready? Check out our eBook!
