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Farm & Rural Ag Network

The best agricultural podcast content around the internet. Hear from farmer, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and titans of agribusiness about the issues facing modern agriculture.
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Now displaying: July, 2018
Jul 31, 2018

Kirk Liefer and his family aren't afraid to try new things that can showcase the talents of certain family members. Listen as he talks about the process of starting a brewery called Lieferbrau.

please visit my overlords

https://www.farmersedge.ca/

Jul 25, 2018

Tonight I'm heading down to the Garden of England, to Kent, to talk to farmer, Katie Anderson @FemaleFarmerUK

We discuss Katie's early life growing up in an Essex commuter town, with no links at all to farming, and how training as a teacher led to a passion for outdoor education.

We then hear about how a trip to Wales a smallholder course led to her forming the idea for Muddy Boots Farm, an educational farm for primary school aged children.

We talk about the practicalities of how she made it all happen, and how she started the business in her early 20s, which led to open days, and weekend and after school clubs being fully booked with children on the farm.

We discuss the children themselves, and how they reacted to helping with the animals, and the kind of questions she was asked, before moving on to talk about the importance of children knowing where there food comes from, and why she's so passionate about this, and also some of the media attention that she received at the time.

We also hear about the unexpected move from Muddy Boots Farm, to Kent where she's now an Assistant Farm Manager on a rare breed beef farm, and how she shares her farming story through her blog www.femalefarmeruk.com

All this and much, much more.

Katie's story is one of determination and passion, and it was fantastic to talk to her tonight and hear more about her journey into the agricultural industry. Check it out folks..

 

 

Episode Sponsors:

 

AFTP - AgriFood Training Partnership. Please visit www.aftp.co.uk/podcast to check out a wide range of ag-related online courses. For 10% discount on selected courses use the word 'podcast' at checkout.

NFU Cymru. For more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org or www.rockandrollfarming.com

 

Podcast Partners:

 

Farmer's Guardian. For the biggest range of news and features from across the Ag industry, check out www.fginsight.com

Rock & Roll Farming is proud to be a part of the Farm & Rural Ag Network. To find more great podcasts and vlogs please visit www.farmruralag.com

Jul 25, 2018

Dr. Jeremy Williams is the Vice President of Biotechnology and Agricultural Productivity Innovations at Monsanto, one of the largest modern agricultural companies in the world that develops products and tools to help farmers grow more crops and make use of resources more efficiently. His responsibilities include leading the chemistry and trait research teams that assist farmers to succeed through innovative means such as artificial intelligence. His ultimate goal is to create a discovery pipeline that streamlines projects that affect agricultural development into commercialization.

 

Jeremy joins me today to discuss the future of agriculture and how artificial intelligence and machine learning can impact the agriculture industry. He describes the concept of artificial intelligence, its current applications, and why he believes these technologies can create new job opportunities throughout the agriculture industry. He also explains the difference between machine learning and deep learning, how artificial intelligence can improve productivity and sustainability within the industry and shares his perspective on the future of the agriculture industry.

 

 “Over time, there’s going to be increasing desires from society to have agriculture be even more sustainable. The development of automation, the use of data science, is going to help us meet those demands from society.” – Dr. Jeremy Williams

 

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • How he ended up working with Monsanto and his responsibilities.
  • What is artificial intelligence and how is it used in the ag industry?
  • The difference between Machine Learning and Deep Learning.
  • Applications of artificial intelligence on the farm.
  • How machine learning can impact the ability to discover new crop protection chemistries.
  • How artificial intelligence can help discover new insect control traits for expression in plants.
  • How humans and artificial intelligence can work together.
  • The impact that artificial intelligence and machine learning can have on future job opportunities in the agriculture industry.
  • How the Bayer-Monsanto acquisition can impact agriculture innovation.
  • Advice for new ag-tech entrepreneurs.
  • His predictions for the future of the ag industry.

 

 

Dr. Jeremy Williams’ Tips for New Ag-Tech Entrepreneurs:

 

  1. The quality of your team is very important.
  2. Remember: You don’t know everything as an organization. Be externally focused. Partner aggressively. Use the leverage of a much bigger ecosystem than you can build yourself with your organization.
  3. The ability to fail, learn, and recover is critical.
  4. Be patient, but also be persistent and tenacious.

 

 

Connect with Dr. Jeremy Williams:

 

 

 

 

Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com

Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

 

 

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

 
 

Share the Ag-Love! 

 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

Jul 24, 2018

I'm sorry officer, i thought this back road was an 85....

Eric Minks is a police officer and a farmer. Learn how not following protocol led to one of his proudest moments as an officer

Please visit our sponsors:

https://www.farmersedge.ca/

Jul 20, 2018

Its hard to believe that Keeping Ag Real has hit its 50th episode. Thank you to all of our loyal listeners and guests! You make this show what it is today. 

In celebration of the 50th episode, I interview my husband. We discuss the upcoming Keeping Ag Real Road Trip, hoggin' for catfish and what it was like to stop dairying.

We really keep it real with lots of laughing, a little spat and reminisce on the good 'ol days. 

Thank you to our sponsors Farm Journal Media | Drover's, Farm Journal & AgDay! 

Follow us on our roadtrip beginning July 21st!

Jul 18, 2018

Tonight I'm delighted to be heading over the Irish Sea to County Wicklow to talk to Dairy Farmer John Kelly @j0hn_k

We talk about the area where he's farming, before going on to talk about his childhood in Derry, Northern Ireland, and the tragic suicide of one of his brothers at age just 13. We then hear about what it was like growing up in the troubles, and dealing with bomb threats at school.

We discuss the family's move to Wicklow, and how he settled in as an awkward teenager, before hearing about his adventures as a shooting guide for trigger-happy Italians, and working on a farm in the South of France, before heading over to England to the greatest University on Earth - Harper Adams! 

We hear about how he worked with horses after Uni, including a stint at Coolmore, one of the biggest studs in the world, and how he met his Wife, and how they haven't stopped having children since! 

We then talk about children and bringing them up on farms in depth, swap Dad hacks, and especially go into farm safety and kids. 

We also go into how he grew his sheep flock, became a national monitor farm, and wrote a sheep column in the Irish Farmers Journal, before making the change to dairy farming, and now milking 230 cows.

We then discuss the importance of finding a work-life balance, returning to sports, running, mental well-being, and social media. 

All this and lots, lots more! 

John's a great farmer and family man, and it was an absolute pleasure to talk to him tonight. Check it out folks.. 

 

Episode Sponsors:

AFTP - AgriFood Training Partnership - check out www.aftp.co.uk/podcast for a wide range of agriculture-related online courses. For 10% discount on selected courses use the word 'podcast' at checkout. 

NFU Cymru - for more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org.uk

 

Podcast Partners:

Farmer's Guardian. For the biggest range of news and features from across the Ag industry, please visit www.fginsight.com 

Rock & Roll farming is proud to be a part of the Farm & Rural Ag Network. For more great podcasts and vlogs, please visit www.farmruralag.com 

Jul 18, 2018

FoA109 Regenerative Agriculture with Del Ficke and Graham Christensen

 

Del Ficke and Graham Christensen own farms that advocate a practice called Regenerative Agriculture. This practice sequesters a massive portion of CO2 in the soil and even in forests. Del is the owner of Ficke Cattle Company, a family run farm and livestock operation with a history dating back to 1860. Graham is the Founder of GC Resolve, an environmental consulting company based in Nebraska that specializes in grassroots community development, education, and mobilization.

 

Del and Graham join me today to discuss the practice of Regenerative Agriculture and what they have done to implement it in their farms. They share how they learned about regenerative practices and their success stories and explain why this type of practice is based on what’s already been done before, but long forgotten due to mass production. They also share examples of how regenerative ag can benefit farmers financially.

 

“We don't need to get bigger; we just need to get smarter on this and work with nature.” - Del Ficke

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • How they began working in the ag industry.
  • Their farms before and after they embarked on their journey to regenerative ag.
  • How they're able to earn more despite having smaller farms.
  • The first step in moving towards regenerative ag.
  • Common concerns towards regenerative agriculture.
  • How they trained their banker to be comfortable with the regenerative agriculture approach.
  • How regenerative practices revitalize rural communities.

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

 

Del Ficke and Graham Christensen’s Key Takeaways:

 

  • It's helpful when you have other farms doing regenerative ag successfully. It makes you realize this type of farming does work.
  • You can try to run a farm at 90% efficiency, but there's always something you can't eliminate.

 

Connect with Del Ficke:

 

 

Connect with Graham Christensen:

 



Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com

Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

 

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

 
 

Share the Ag-Love! 

 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

 

Jul 17, 2018

Plant Pathology Professor Dr. Bob Kemerait and John Schultz of BASF discuss the disease that can cause big trouble in a hurry, and what you can do about it.

Jul 17, 2018

Karen Braun went to an Ivy League school, and is now helping farmers by crunching nubers. Listen how this former tornado chaser had earned agriculture's respect

Jul 16, 2018

Anytime someone is making an effort to connect the general public with farmers, ranchers, processors and growers, it’s important to me that we lift them up and highlight them on Keeping Ag Real.

The foundation from where the show “Chasing Down Madison Brown,” began is one based on years of traveling and seeing the pockets of the U.S. Today’s guest is the one and only Madison Brown. If you are in agriculture, she will inspire you to tell your story. Anyone with a curiosity about their food will be motivated to learn more. I’m excited to get the word out about the show.

Jul 16, 2018

This week we talk about the ins-and-outs of irrigation with Randy Uhrmacher

Jul 11, 2018

Del Ficke and Graham Christensen own farms that advocate a practice called Regenerative Agriculture. This practice sequesters a massive portion of CO2 in the soil and even in forests. Del is the owner of Ficke Cattle Company, a family run farm and livestock operation with a history dating back to 1860. Graham is the Founder of GC Resolve, an environmental consulting company based in Nebraska that specializes in grassroots community development, education, and mobilization.

 

Del and Graham join me today to discuss the practice of Regenerative Agriculture and what they have done to implement it in their farms. They share how they learned about regenerative practices and their success stories and explain why this type of practice is based on what’s already been done before, but long forgotten due to mass production. They also share examples of how regenerative ag can benefit farmers financially.

 

“We don't need to get bigger; we just need to get smarter on this and work with nature.” - Del Ficke

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • How they began working in the ag industry.
  • Their farms before and after they embarked on their journey to regenerative ag.
  • How they're able to earn more despite having smaller farms.
  • The first step in moving towards regenerative ag.
  • Common concerns towards regenerative agriculture.
  • How they trained their banker to be comfortable with the regenerative agriculture approach.
  • How regenerative practices revitalize rural communities.

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

 

Del Ficke and Graham Christensen’s Key Takeaways:

 

  • It's helpful when you have other farms doing regenerative ag successfully. It makes you realize this type of farming does work.
  • You can try to run a farm at 90% efficiency, but there's always something you can't eliminate.

 

Connect with Del Ficke:

 

 

Connect with Graham Christensen:

 


Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com

Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

 

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

 
 

Share the Ag-Love! 

 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 


Read more at https://aggrad.libsyn.com/future-of-agriculture-109-regenerative-agriculture-with-del-ficke-and-graham-christensen#0h5CVSQyIhlkf8uc.99
Jul 11, 2018

Tonight I'm delighted to be staying in Wales and heading down the border country to the Black Mountains near Hay on Wye to talk to farmer, Kevin Stephens. 

We talk about the beautiful area of Wales where he lives, and his family farm there, before going on to hear about how he fell into computing at Aberystwyth University and eventually bought himself one and taught himself to wrote software.

We hear some of the different jobs he did after graduation, including working for the National Farmer's Union, where he designed and built their first management information system, which is still in use today. 

We then hear the amazing story about how he got into growing daffodils on his farm at 1200ft. The stress of growing at altitude causes the plant to produce more galanthamine, which is extracted and used as a drug to slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

We hear about the whole process, how it came about, how they're planted into permanent pasture, and how they're harvested, before going on to talk about his company Agroceutical, and some of the challenges they face in rolling the drug out on a large scale.

All this and much, much more.

Kevin's an incredible guy, and what he's doing there is amazing, and it was an absolute privilege to speak to him tonight, and share what they're doing down there. 

Check it out folks.. 

 

 

Episode Sponsors:

AFTP - Agrifood Training Partnership. Please visit www.aftp.co.uk/podcast to check out a wide range of agriculture-related online courses. For 10% discount on selected courses us the word 'podcast' at check out!

NFU Cymru - for more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org.uk

 

Podcast Partners:

Farmer's Guardian. For the biggest range of news and features from across the Ag industry, please visit www.fginsight.com

Rock & Roll Farming is proud to be a part of the Farm & Rural Ag Network. To find more great podcasts and vlogs, please visit www.farmruralag.com 

Jul 10, 2018

Casey Cooksley is a multi-generational farmer from Nebraska... or maybe hes a rancher?

He talks about working with family and trying to find employees.

Please visit my overlords:

https://www.farmersedge.ca/

Jul 9, 2018

After posting a video of corn being blown over, Rob and Lesley decided to talk about everyone's favorite cobbed crop. Lesley asks questions and Rob tries to explain in layman's terms....

Jul 7, 2018

This week's episode is covering milk. Dr. Chris Cifelli joins us to bring the science behind milk and the new A2 milk. We discuss whether the science is there to support the claims of being nutritionally superior.

I then move into sharing my opinion on the labeling of milk alternatives and what I have found in my research pertaining to the FDA not enforcing the law signed by President Trump.

Jul 5, 2018

As young people get more and more removed from where food comes from, Dennis Watson is doing his part to keep agriculture in the classroom. Despite rural school closures, the future for the Bluewater District School Board's - Agriculture Specialist High Skills Major program is bright. Hats off to dedicated teachers shaping young minds. @CDCSAg

Jul 4, 2018

Tonight I'm delighted to be heading down to London to talk to agronomist and programme support coordinator for the amazing charity Farm Africa, Emma Dennis @FarmAfrica 

Firstly we here an explanation of what an agronomist actually is, and how she explains it to people at parties, before going on to talk about her family's farm in Cornwall. 

We discuss her time studying Environmental Biology at UWE in Bristol, and how her interest in food production and development began at this time, before hearing about an amazing overland trip from Nairobi in Kenya, to Jo'burg in South Africa sparked a love for Africa which has never gone away.

We then hear about how she discovered agronomy whilst studying for an MSc in International Rural Development at the RAU, and how after a lot of hard work she eventually ended up working for Agrii, based in the Cotswolds. 

We then talk about how she first got involved with Farm Africa, with a trip to Tanzania helping to build beehives to help Women in the Nou dorset area, and how this ultimately led to the job she does now. 

We discuss FARM AFRICA in detail, and what this amazing charity does to help African farmers to increase their harvest, build their incomes and sustain natural resources, partnering with governments and the private sector to find effective ways to fight poverty. We also hear about Emma's role as a Programme support coordinator, and how she oversees projects across Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda. 

All this and lots, lots more.

It was fantastic to talk to Emma and learn more about what she does with Farm Africa. If anyone wants to find out more about this amazing charity, or help out in any way, please visit www.farmafrica.org

Jul 4, 2018

Michael Gilbert is the Founder and CEO of Semios, a Canadian company that helps farmers manage their pest problems using onsite sensing, big data, and predictive analytics solutions. He has over twenty years of experience in the field of biotech research and development. Before founding Semios, Michael held positions with federal research institutions, large multinationals, medium-sized public companies, and startups.

 

Today, Michael joins me to share the goal of Semios and how they plan to contribute to sustainability. He explains the driving idea behind Semios, the technologies they apply in their business, and the many problems they help farmers solve. He also explains why pesticides can eventually stop working and the different applications farmers can use based on the data gathered from sensors.

 

“You need to have more data to understand why things are occurring and how to best manage it.” - Michael Gilbert

 

 

 
This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: 

 

  • How Semios helps farmers find solutions to pest problems.
  • How producers previously managed pest issues before using sensors.
  • How Semios analyzes pests.
  • How to incorporate machine learning in the agriculture industry.
  • The four V’s of Big Data.
  • The benefits of IoT and Machine Learning technology.
  • His background and how he stumbled upon the pest problems farmers face.
  • How farmers can apply the data gathered by sensors.
  • How their technology can aid sustainability throughout the agriculture industry.
  • Problems they hope to solve in the future.

 

 


Michael Gilbert’s Words of Wisdom:

  • Having a bad year has nothing to do with luck. Our job is to understand what made the risk occur.

 

Connect with Michael Gilbert:

 


Check Out Our Sponsor for the “Sustainability at Scale” Series

 

Have you ever heard of Marrone’s BIO WITH BITE? Marrone Bio Innovation offers crop pest protection for the modern organic and conventional production systems. To make sure every grower using their products realize the best possible return on investment, Marrone invests time and resources to thoroughly test and demonstrate the efficacy of those new state of the art products. With serious trial data to back it up! You can see more and connect directly with Marrone by visiting them at www.marronebio.com

Marrone is very proud to support The Future Of Agriculture blog series on sustainability in agriculture with Tim Hammerich.

 

We Are a Part of a Bigger Family! 

 

The Future of Agriculture Podcast is now part of the Farm and Rural Ag Network. Listen to more ag-related podcasts by subscribing on iTunes or on the Farm and Rural Ag Network Website today. 

 
 

Share the Ag-Love! 

 

Thanks for joining us on the Future of Agriculture Podcast – your spot for valuable information, content, and interviews with industry leaders throughout the agricultural space! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes and leave your honest feedback. Don’t forget to share it with your friends on your favorite social media spots! 

 

Learn more about AgGrad by visiting: 

Future of Agriculture Website

AgGrad Website

AgGrad on Twitter 
AgGrad on Facebook 
AgGrad on LinkedIn 
AgGrad on Instagram 

Jul 3, 2018

Mike Plotner is a 21 year old farmer. He farms in and out of prison... just listen, it'll make sense.

Please visit my overlords:

https://www.farmersedge.ca/

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