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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: 2019
Nov 26, 2019

Would you be able to handle death threats from animal rights extremist?

Can a "farm wife" represent agriculture on social media?

All this and more as I talk with The New Mexico Milkmaid

Nov 22, 2019

Noel Kelly grew up on a pedigree dairy farm (Creva Herd) near Athenry in Co. Galway. He trained in dairy management in the UK and worked in farm software and international sales before returning home in 2010 to combine his twin passions of dairy farming and global agribusiness.

Nov 22, 2019

Listen as I share my tips for a tip top carburetor.

Nov 20, 2019

What steps do yo take, as a farmer, that helps you spend more time with family?

Listen as I talk with Chris Jansen about the two major events that shaped his farm life and family life

Please visit our sponsor GrainPhD.com

Nov 20, 2019

Colin Hurd is an entrepreneur and the Business Development Manager at Raven Industries, a highly diversified technology company that provides innovative products and solutions to help feed, connect, and protect the world. Raven Industries recently acquired Smart Ag, a company founded by Colin. Smart Ag is a tech company that develops autonomous farming solutions, selling products that allow farming equipment and machinery to be operated remotely, similar to drones. Colin founded Smart Ag to address the growing labor crisis in production agriculture.

Colin joins me today to discuss why he formed Smart Ag and the kind of technology and solutions they offer to farmers. He describes how he was driven to start Smart Ag, the problems he wants to address, and the people who helped him put the company in the market. He explains the need for Smart Ag to be acquired by Raven Industries and the benefits it has received. Colin also discusses some of the challenges their company faced as a startup, and how he and his team solved them.

 

 

 

“What’s different about a startup versus a large company is everything is just hyper-compressed; things happen at light speed.” - Colin Hurd

 

 

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • The journey that led him to start Smart Ag.
  • Labor scarcity and how it became a large problem in the industry.
  • The people who inspired him to focus on autonomous ag technology.
  • Determining whether someone can be a co-founder or the first employee.
  • The challenges of starting a company that promotes autonomous tech.
  • The technical problems they focused on and solved for their company to become successful.
  • Differences between pre and post-acquisition of Smart Ag.
  • Comparing and contrasting a startup and a large corporation.
  • What it means to have an entrepreneurial spirit at a young age.

 

 

 

Connect with Colin Hurd

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 
 

Join the Conversation!

To get your most pressing ag questions answered and share your perspective on various topics we’ve discussed on the Future of Agriculture podcast, head over to SpeakPipe.com/FutureofAg and leave a recorded message!

 

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

Nov 18, 2019

Australia has world class agricultural research, but has struggled to rank as highly for commercialization. How can we improve this, and get more valuable innovations to market? One way is through collaboration between research organizations and startups.

But what does it actually take to collaborate? And are the challenges in Australia unique to this market, or do researchers and startups face similar obstacles in agtech around the world?

Today’s episode tackles this question in a panel discussion, recorded live at the AgTech Meetup in Sydney. Panelists for the evening were: Dr Peter Thorburn, Chief Research Scientist at CSIRO; Tegan Nock, Co-Founder at SoilCQuest 2031; and Nick Hazell, Founder and CEO at V2 Food.

Tune in to hear about:

  • How research organizations can successfully move at startup speed

  • Lessons about IP management

  • How startups can leverage the rigor and credibility that research organizations bring, without breaking the bank

  • Successful, unique models for researcher + startup collaborations

  • The secret talents of all the panelists

For more on the panelists, check out:

 

The Sydney AgTech Meetup is proudly sponsored by SproutX, Australia’s first agtech accelerator.

Nov 13, 2019

Would you know what to do with the family farm if both your parents died when you were 22?

Listen as Lesley Kelly podcast bombs me on this crossover episode and we talk to Leona Watson

Please visit our sponsor: https://www.silothefilm.com/

Nov 13, 2019

Mariana Vasconcelos is the Founder of Agrosmart, a platform that brings digital agriculture to countries with low internet infrastructures under tropical agronomic conditions. The MIT Technology Review selected her as one of the Most Brilliant Innovators Under 35 and a Global Ambassador for Thought of Food. Being a farmer’s daughter, Mariana was aware of the problems that plague small farmers, especially when it comes to decisions about crops. To solve this gap, she proposed the idea to use AI and IoT to acquire more productive, sustainable, and economic agriculture which is what Agrosmart represents.

 

Mariana joins me today to discuss how Agrosmart works and the problems it seeks to solve for farmers in developing countries. She shares where her drive to start her company came from and the challenges of finding capital and investors. She describes how the data they collect can impact farming practices, especially in countries where farmers rely on instinct to make crop decisions. Mariana also explains why Brazil holds a lot of potential in terms of agriculture and the rising startup economy.

 

 

 

“We wanted to shift intuition-based decisions to fact-based decisions.” - Mariana Vasconcelos

 

 

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • Where Mariana saw the problem that needed to be addressed in the ag industry.
  • The changes their data can impact on the current farm systems.
  • Why they shifted from irrigation to a digital ag platform.
  • The farmers that can benefit the most from their platform.
  • How farmers can adapt their practices to climate change.
  • The countries they're currently working in and some of their future projects.
  • The crops they focus on and how their platform is universal.
  • Dealing with rural connectivity problems in Latin America.
  • The ag startup ecosystem in Brazil and the kind of companies that are rising.
  • The most challenging aspects of scaling a Brazilian startup.

 

 

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

 

 

Connect with Mariana Vasconcelos

 

 

 

 

 

This episode is sponsored by Indigo Ag

 

What if surviving a drought began with just a microbe? What could accessing 10,000 buyers do for your agriculture business? Indigo Ag helps farmers improve profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health by working with growers to reimagine every aspect of the agriculture industry - from soil to sale.

 

To learn more about Indigo Ag and their mission to improve the environment and agriculture industry, visit IndigoAg.com/Questions

 

Indigo. From questions… we grow.

 

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. 

 
 

Join the Conversation!

To get your most pressing ag questions answered and share your perspective on various topics we’ve discussed on the Future of Agriculture podcast, head over to SpeakPipe.com/FutureofAg and leave a recorded message!

 

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

Nov 6, 2019

Shay Myers is an onion expert and the owner of Owyhee Produce. Owyhee Produce is a 3rd generation family farm and one of the biggest vertically-integrated onion farms in the United States. Their farm grows enough onions to provide adequate supplies that reach about 6 million Americans annually. Other than managing an onion farm, Shay is also a produce industry influence and agriculture keynote speaker. He is currently working to provide asparagus, hemp, and sweet potatoes to American families on top of their onions.

 

Shay joins me today to describe how their farm differs from most growers when it comes to vertical integration. He shares how his dream to fly was granted when he returned to manage the farm. He discusses some of the early mistakes he’s made as the lead farmer and what he learned from them. Shay also explains some of the challenges in the ag industry, particularly when it comes to working with companies and people, and why the US safe practices system is broken and easily exploitable.

 

 

 

“You can't expect the consumer to be willing to pay you a fair price for something if they don't know what it takes.” - Shay Myers

 

 

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • Pursuing his passion for flying by having a career in agriculture.
  • How his family responded to his desire to return to farming.
  • What vertical integration is in agriculture and some examples.
  • Some of the mistakes he's made in the industry and what he learned from them.
  • The difference between a yam and sweet potato and why the US doesn't grow yams.
  • What he believes is the most challenging hurdle in today's ag industry.
  • Processing differences between mint oil and CBD oil.
  • His thoughts on growing our own food and importing them and why the US is at a disadvantage.
  • Eliminating labor and overhead costs with innovative technology.
  • Why the system surrounding safety practices is broken.

 

 

 

Connect with Shay Myers

 

 

 

 

 

This episode is sponsored by Indigo Ag

 

What if surviving a drought began with just a microbe? What could accessing 10,000 buyers do for your agriculture business? Indigo Ag helps farmers improve profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health by working with growers to reimagine every aspect of the agriculture industry - from soil to sale.

 

To learn more about Indigo Ag and their mission to improve the environment and agriculture industry, visit IndigoAg.com/Questions

 

Indigo. From questions… we grow.

 

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. 

 
 

Join the Conversation!

To get your most pressing ag questions answered and share your perspective on various topics we’ve discussed on the Future of Agriculture podcast, head over to SpeakPipe.com/FutureofAg and leave a recorded message!

 

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

Nov 5, 2019

Surrounding yourself with good people is good for "herd health"

Listen as I talk with Malawi veterinarian Hezy Anholz. We talk about everything from African swine flu to trophy hunting.
hezyfezybushvet on Instagram

Nov 4, 2019

Murray Scholz farms with his wife Emma in Southern NSW and the Eastern Riverina on the foothills of the snowy mountains. They grow wheat, canola, lupins, and barley, and run beef cattle and prime lambs.

Murray’s family is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year, after his great-grandfather came to the area in 1919. They’ve always been an innovative family, adopting new practices and striving to run a profitable and sustainable business. In this episode, Murray shares several stories of how his thinking has changed through overseas travel and exposure to new perspectives, and the business decisions he’s made as a result.

Tune in to learn about:

  • What it’s like to be in the middle of the GMO controversy, where no one seems to listen to what you’re really saying

  • Why Murray decided to run sheep, after publicly criticizing them for years

  • How a hiking trip in Switzerland challenged his views on ag policies

  • The decisions you can make when you’ve been collecting data for over 30 years

  • Tips for agtech startups to better engage with farmers

 

To hear more from Murray or follow what Scholz farming is up to, check out:

Oct 30, 2019

Dr. Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller founded Pheronym, an agricultural biotech company that provides safe, non-toxic, and innovative solutions to solve numerous agricultural problems. They also recently become involved in the development of space nematodes under the company AstroNematode. AstroNematode seeks to establish interstellar agriculture for Earth. The first launching experiment will happen this December and provide data to pave the way for sustainable agriculture outside of Earth.

 

Dr. Fatma and Cameron join me today to share their latest project, AstroNematode, and how it can help provide sustainable solutions for future generations. They describe the origins of this idea and the companies that helped fund the project. They discuss their tie-ins with private companies like Space-X and explain the experiments that will happen in space. They also share what it’s like to work on this project while running Pheronym at the same time.

 

 

 

“If you're going to colonize the moon and Mars, we need to have agriculture.” - Dr. Fatma Kaplan

 

 

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • How the project got started and where they found funding.
  • The best qualities of the project and what it can provide data scientists.
  • Their contingencies when the project doesn't work as planned.
  • The kind of animals NASA plans to take to Mars.
  • Why they think nematodes can survive and reproduce in space.
  • The upcoming launch and how the nematodes will be packaged.
  • Making sure the experiments are running smoothly while they remain on Earth.
  • How they manage to run a startup and the nematode project at the same time.

 

 

 

Resources Mentioned

 

 

 

Connect with Dr. Fatma Kaplan and Cameron Schiller

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 
 

Join the Conversation!

To get your most pressing ag questions answered and share your perspective on various topics we’ve discussed on the Future of Agriculture podcast, head over to SpeakPipe.com/FutureofAg and leave a recorded message!

 

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

Oct 29, 2019

Life is a path... You may not have a choice where you begin but you always have a choice how you continue.

Listen as I talk to Cami Ryan about life and corporate ag

 

Please visit our sponsor https://stepsgms.com/

Oct 25, 2019

In this podcast episode, I speak with Aidan Connolly, CEO of Cainthus, a computer vision company that turns visual information into actionable insights for farmers. Aidan has also served as Chief Innovation Officer with Alltech and more recently accepted into the prestigious Forbes Technology Council.

Oct 23, 2019

Bill York is the Founding Partner, CEO, and Chief Credit Officer at FarmOp Capital, a lending company that provides funding primarily to farm operators. Their independent business model allows farmers to decide which suppliers to buy from. Bill has over 40 years of experience in the ag lending space and has held senior positions in various major ag lending companies. He specializes in business development, particularly increasing profits and assets of the businesses he works with.

 

Bill York joins me to describe what FarmOp Capital is and its efforts to provide farmers with a helping hand in receiving capital loans. He explains the trends that make their company ripe for the ag industry and the benefits of doing business with them from a farmer’s perspective. He also shares the criteria and requirements they have for their customers and explains what sets their company apart from traditional lending companies.

 

 

 

“If you’re able to get a loan that is timely and adequate to meet all of your operating needs, you’re better able to purchase inputs efficiently to buy the optimum level of inputs and actually reduce your costs.” - Bill York

 

 

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • Converging trends that make the industry perfect for FarmOp Capital.
  • How FarmOp works and the services they offer.
  • How soon farmers should seek a loan to benefit the most from them.
  • The customers they are targeting for the loan services they offer.
  • The kind of crop materials they help farmers finance.
  • Working directly with the customer and the team they assembled for the job.
  • Transitioning from big agricultural lending companies to working with a startup.
  • Why it will be difficult to have competition in what they do.
  • The difference between the typical loan application and what they offer.
  • Assessing the current farm-risk situation and his outlook.

 

 

 

Connect with Bill York:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 
 

Join the Conversation!

To get your most pressing ag questions answered and share your perspective on various topics we’ve discussed on the Future of Agriculture podcast, head over to SpeakPipe.com/FutureofAg and leave a recorded message!

 

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

Oct 22, 2019

Is farming a birthright?

Listen as I talk to Craig Hickman about how he became an equity owner in his dairy, even though he didn't come from a farm family

Oct 18, 2019

What you need to know about drive-by-wire throttle control.

Oct 16, 2019

 

Anastasia Volkova is the CEO and Founder of FluroSat, a company that provides scientifically-proven solutions to common agricultural problems through advanced remote sensing technologies and data from both airborne and satellite platforms. She is also an aeronautical engineer and obtained her Ph.D. in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Sydney. Anastasia uses her vast academic knowledge as well as experience in project management in various organizations to make FluroSat the next big thing in AgTech.

 

Anastasia joins me today to discuss how FluroSat works to provide artificial intelligence (AI) for Precision Agriculture Decision Support. She shares why she decided to work in agriculture and what drove her to start FluroSat. She explains how their approach can help farmers and agronomists improve their data collection process and gather more accurate data from their farms. She also explains the limitations of their product and why they decided to expand their service to the US instead of focusing exclusively on Australian agricultural markets.

 

 

 

“The barriers to adoption of precision agriculture are, first and foremost, the fact that data is siloed.” - Anastasia Volkova

 

 

 

 

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

 

  • When she decided to stop being an aeronautical engineer and focus on agriculture.
  • Barriers that are preventing farmers from making AI part of precision agriculture.
  • How FluroSat's approach can help agronomists and farmers gather data for their farms.
  • How their product works and the important data it provides to farmers.
  • Success stories where their product improved a farmer's business.
  • Where her experience in aeronautical engineering comes into play.
  • The limitations of their product in the context of crop types.
  • The reasons they decided to expand in the US instead of focusing on Australia.
  • How FluroSat makes money and makes their investors happy.

 

 

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

 

 

Connect with Anastasia Volkova:

 

 

 

 

 

This episode is sponsored by Indigo Ag

 

What if surviving a drought began with just a microbe? What could accessing 10,000 buyers do for your agriculture business? Indigo Ag helps farmers improve profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health by working with growers to reimagine every aspect of the agriculture industry - from soil to sale.

 

To learn more about Indigo Ag and their mission to improve the environment and agriculture industry, visit IndigoAg.com/Questions

 

Indigo. From questions… we grow.

 

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. 

 
 

Join the Conversation!

To get your most pressing ag questions answered and share your perspective on various topics we’ve discussed on the Future of Agriculture podcast, head over to SpeakPipe.com/FutureofAg and leave a recorded message!

 

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

Oct 15, 2019

There aren’t very many Venture Capital funds focused on food systems transformation, but today’s guest co-founded one of them. 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, X, and Y. 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.

Victor’s background is as a tech entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, where he built one of the early social networks and raised money from corporates like Motorola and Venture Capital firms. But now Victor is interested in helping revolutionize the food system, bringing technology, systems thinking, and capital to support game changing innovations.

In this episode, Victor and I chat about a range of things, from how he became interested in the food system (hint: it involves a vacation), to the opportunities he sees for farmers as more technologies and new business models challenge the status quo of the current system.

o learn more about Victor and what he’s up to, check out these additional resources:

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