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More interviews from the tweet up
This episode with Lauren Arbogast was one of luck. We happened to both be attending She Knows Media's BlogHer Creatives Summit, allow us the opportunity to record an episode.
We talk about how commodity groups, organizations and companies could be pooling their resources and dollars to make a bigger impact with non-farm/ranch folks.
She also emphasizes the importance of communities...and, stepping out of your comfort zone to new communities.
Thank you for listening!
Tonight I’m delighted to be once again staying in Wales and heading down to beautiful Monmouthshire to talk to farmer and director of the Food, Farming and Countryside commission, Sue Pritchard.
Firstly we talk about her early life growing up in the Rhondda Valley, in a family shaped by Wales's industrial heritage, who were mainly miners and smallholders. We also go into how although she was adopted, farming and keeping animals really was in her blood, as she found out much later.
We discuss the scholarship that she won to study at a prestigious international school, and the culture shock it meant, before going on to talk about student life in the early 1980's at Bristol University studying politics and social policy, and dyed pink hair and dungarees!
We then go on to talk about her career, firstly in the NHS in training and development, and then as an independent consultant specialising in leadership and change. We also go into what makes a good leader.
We then talk about her move back to Wales, and the dream come true that was being able to buy a farm in Monmouthshire with her Parents and family. We discuss the changes they've made there, including working with the resources they have, and helping disaffected teenagers.
Lastly, we talk in detail about the Food, Faming and Countryside Commission, and the detailed report they're compiling, visiting people from all around the country to gather their views about what matters most to them for the future of rural communities.
It was a genuine pleasure to talk to Sue tonight, and learn more about her life and what she's doing.
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
Three years ago, Dylan Sher didn’t know anything about farming and even less about film making. You might be surprised to learn that he has recently wrapped his first full length movie ABOUT farming! Next time you sit down at a fancy restaurant, consider all the steps in the food chain BEFORE THE PLATE.
Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller are the founders of Pheronym, an agricultural biotechnology company that develops safe and nontoxic solutions to protect a wide variety of plants. Their flagship product is based on pheromones which is extracted from microscopic roundworms called nematodes. Fatma is Pheronym’s CEO/CSO and is an accomplished scientist with a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology and postdoctoral training in Natural Product Chemistry. Cameron is the COO and has extensive experience in entrepreneurship with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master of Science degree in pharmacy healthcare management.
Fatma and Cameron join me today to discuss their pheromone-based pesticide and how it can improve the agricultural landscape in the future. They describe the primary problem regarding nematodes, what inspired them to investigate the use of pheromones as a pesticide, and what eventually lead them to make nematodes work for farmers instead of against them. They also explain the science behind their product and its mechanical and legal challenges as well as share their experience with accelerators.
“We need to have rotations and multiple solutions when it comes to pest control options.” - Fatma Kaplan
This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:
- What made them look at nematodes for agricultural purposes?
- What pheromones are and how they utilize it to control nematodes.
- The challenges of developing nematodes and the pheromones to control them.
- How to collect nematode secretions.
- How farmers can identify if they have a nematode problem.
- The most effective treatment against parasitic nematodes.
- The difference between nematodes with pheromones vs nematodes without pheromones.
- How damaging are nematodes to agriculture?
- Their experience with accelerators and how they helped the business grow.
- How do connections and networking work with accelerators?
- Should they be worried about nematodes developing pheromone resistance?
Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller’s Key Takeaways:
- Nematodes can hinder farm production, but they can be utilized to benefit the agriculture industry.
- If you’ve done everything but can’t seem to grow your crops or produce right, you might have a nematode problem.
Connect with Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller
- Pheronym
- Email: schiller@pheronym.com
- Phone: (352) 219-4464
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:
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Derrick Josi still uses Facebook... in fact he has been killing it on Facebook by showing his dairy. We also talk farm groups and full service pumps
Please visit my overlords:
Derrick's Facebook
Lesley and Rob discuss the ramifications of the Round-Up lawsuit verdict, in California.
Sheldon Creek Dairy is one of the first 3 farms in Ontario licensed to sell their own milk to consumers directly from their farm. The whole milk is sold in traditional glass bottles with a plug of cream on top. Sisters Emily and Marianne are involved in the business, but only one of them calls herself a farmer. Emily and Marianne Den Haan give new meaning to “sibling rivalry”…. In the best possible way
Tonight I'm heading down to Llandrinio in Powys in Mid-Wales to talk to Ruminant Nutritionist, Hefin Richards.
We hear about the village he was born - Llanddewi brefi - and how it's famous for St.David, LSD, & Little Britain! And also go into his early life growing up in a West Wales farming community, which includes stories of sheep-dipping in school with typical early 1980s health and safety standards - tucking ties into shirts.
We discuss how he made the big decision to study agriculture at Harper Adams University, and the fantastic experience he had there, gaining lifelong friends from all over the country, and eventually gaining a degree, much to the pride of his Parents.
We talk about his first job with the large scale feed company BOCM Pauls, and how he became frustrated there, and after greatly impressing the Managing director, got a job at Keenan, and in his own words 'gained 10 years in experience in 4 years.'
We then move on to talking about how at the age of 28 he decided to form hs own business offering consultancy services to dairy and beef farmers, and Profeed was born, before eventually becoming Rumination after a run-in with a French multinational feed firm!
We talk in depth about what he does as a nutritionist, the kind of farmers he works with, the services he offers, and perhaps most importantly, the fact that his clients have become friends, and also discuss some of the conferences he's spoken at, including one in Barcelona where he confused the translators by speaking in Welsh!
All this and much, much more.
Hefin's a great guy, with a brilliant perspective on what's important in life, and it was a genuine pleasure to speak to him tonight.
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, 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. To find more great podcasts and vlogs, please visit www.farmruralag.com
Jeff Beegle and Tony Bova are the Founders of Mobius, a biotechnology company that envisions to build a future where the world sees organic waste as a valuable resource instead of a burden on the planet. Tony is officially the Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff is the Chief Science Officer. Their current project is a form of biodegradable plastic made from a unique substance found in plants called Lignin. They seek to use their special plastic in various industries such as agriculture, horticulture, and food services.
Jeff and Tony join me today to discuss Mobius’ latest innovation. They share their thoughts on the current economic and environmental issues that surround traditional plastics. They describe their latest product, how it’s made, and why it’s environmentally friendly. They also discuss the different challenges of competing in a plastic market, the difficulty of getting investors, and how they accomplished solving those two problems.
“If someone really wants what you have and they're willing to give you a dollar for it, that's the thumbs up we need to know we're on the right track.” - Tony Bova
This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:
- How they became inspired to start Mobius and the problems they are trying to solve with their products.
- Why plastics are double-edged swords
- How their biodegradable plastic works.
- What makes their product different from traditional PET plastics?
- How their biodegradable mulch affects the soil.
- What they did to prevent their product from biodegrading too fast.
- How they scaled their business.
- The challenges they faced while searching for investors.
- Why they chose to team up with Village Capital as an accelerator.
- The most challenging part of establishing their brand.
- What's in store for Mobius in the near future?
Tony Bova and Jeff Beegle’s Key Takeaways:
- Biodegradable mulch films are actually improving soil health.
- There's no bacteria and fungi that can actually eat plastic in the soil.
- When we start using low-cost, but durable materials like plastic for single use, the problem is what we do with them afterwards.
Resources Mentioned:
Connect with Tony Bova and Jeff Beegle:
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:
AgGrad on Twitter
AgGrad on Facebook
AgGrad on LinkedIn
AgGrad on Instagram
Read more at https://aggrad.libsyn.com/#UBRCmioX9ctujEv0.99
Big news in the ag business as Paul Rea, Senior Vice President of Agricultural Solutions at BASF, updates us on BASF’s acquisition of some assets from Bayer.
Jinjer Lorenz is the marketing manager of Farmers Edge and one of the hardest working people that I know. Listen to her take on agriculture and the importance of family.
Please visit her bosses:
https://www.farmersedge.ca/
Kasia Duellman of the University of Idaho and Curtis Rainbolt of BASF talk about the leading vegetable crop in the U.S., the humble, yet complex potato.
Lesley and Rob sit down with Clint Taylor and Mike Willms as the talk about their farms moving to the next generation.
Holly McGill on finding your passion in agriculture, the importance of community and the lost art of sucking up to your boss.
Tonight I'm heading down to Dorking in Surrey in the sunny south east of England to talk to farmer, Paula Matthews @ManorFarmWotton
We talk about the 3000 acres of mainly tenanted land that she and her husband Laurence farm, and how they cope with 9 different landlords, as well as some of the challenges of being a tenant farmer in the UK. We also hear about how the farm has changed over the years, and how they've diversified as a business.
We discuss the range of different crops they grow, and the challenging harvest season we've had in 2018, before moving on to talk about their cattle, with 400 calves bought in from dairy farms, and their own herd of Belted Galloway's which they sell in a meat-box scheme www.manorfarmsurrey.com
We talk about some of the range of environmental work they've undertaken on the farm, and also hear about the school visits that they regularly host.
We then discuss the Anaerobic Digestion System that they applied to build on the farm in 2012, and the lengthy and complicated planning process that they went through, which ultimately was turned down by the planning committee.
Lastly, we talk about the tragic death of her Son's girlfriend, Ella, in a car crash 19 months ago, and how it turned all of their lives upside down.
All this and much, much more.
Paula and her family provide a fantastic example of a diverse, modern and dynamic farming business, and it was a genuine pleasure to talk to her tonight.
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, 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. To find more great podcasts and vlogs, please visit www.farmruralag.com
Jim Hale confuses me alot.... but he is a FarmersOnly.com success story.
So there's that
Please visit our sponsors:
https://www.farmersedge.ca/
John Kenny aka Johnny Roughrider talks to us about his views on mental health.
Tonight I'm heading over to Newport in Shropshire to talk to Harper Adams University Agricultural Engineering Lecturer, and co-creator of the World-renowned Hands Free Hectare, Kit Franklin.
We talk about his early life growing up on the family farm near Cirencester, and how his Father's construction business sparked an initial interest in engineering.
We discuss his time studying at Harper Adams, and the wide range of practical experience he gained during his time there, as well as when his interest in robotics in agriculture started to develop.
We hear about a trip to Vietnam and Japan after Uni, which involved a motorcycle repair with a silicon-covered chopstick, before we go on to discuss his return to the UK and decision to take a job as a research assistant at Harper Adams, before eventually becoming a full Agricultural Engineering Lecturer.
We then talk in detail about Hands Free Hectare. What it is, how it came about, the challenges they faced getting it off the ground, why it's so unique, the costs involved, the practical difficulties, the World-wide attention it's received, and what's next for robotics in agriculture.
All this and much, much more.
Kit's at the very forefront of UK agricultural innovation, and it was an absolute pleasure to talk to him tonight, and learn more about Hands Free Hectare.
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, 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. To find more great podcasts and vlogs, please visit www.farmruralag.com
Sarah Nolet is the Founder and CEO of AgThentic, a company that helps ag businesses and their entrepreneurs and innovators build the food systems of the future. She is a renowned food systems innovation expert and is the reason behind Australia’s early stage agtech ecosystem. Sarah holds a degree in System Design and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Computer Science and Human Factors Engineering.
Sarah joins me today to share her insight regarding the future of ag businesses and how she seeks to help expand them faster. She shares the story behind AgThentic, how it started, and how it helps farmers and agbusinesses bridge the gap between agtech and traditional agriculture techniques to create innovative solutions for various problems throughout the industry. She also defines the concept of business accelerators and incubators and how they help agtech startups gain the traction they need to succeed in the agtech industry.
“If connecting to a big company is of strategic importance to your startup, then an accelerator or incubator program can be a good way to do that.” - Sarah Nolet
This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:
- What inspired her to start AgThentic.
- Her experience regarding farmers who don't adapt to the latest technologies.
- Do a lot of farmers need help when it comes to using basic software?
- What agtech accelerators are and how they help agtech startups.
- The criteria your agtech startup must meet to join an accelerator program.
- The difference between agtech accelerator programs and agtech incubators.
- The transformation that happens when an agtech startup goes through an effective accelerator program.
- Budding countries in the agtech startup space.
- How AgThentic helps improve the agtech ecosystem between agriculture and agtech.
Sarah Nolet’s Key Takeaways:
- There is potential in combining technology and entrepreneurship that can solve a lot of problems.
- There's a gap between ag and agtech, and it needs to be filled to push innovation.
Connect with Sarah Nolet:
- AgThentic
- AgThentic Resources Tool
- Bushtech Podcast
- Email: sarah@agthentic.com
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:
AgGrad on Twitter
AgGrad on Facebook
AgGrad on LinkedIn
AgGrad on Instagram
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/
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
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:
- The quality of your team is very important.
- 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.
- The ability to fail, learn, and recover is critical.
- 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:
AgGrad on Twitter
AgGrad on Facebook
AgGrad on LinkedIn
AgGrad on Instagram
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/