Future Of Agriculture

Today’s guest is an independent movie producer from New York City. Sam Goldberg grew up in Manhattan without any background in agriculture. He was introduced to agriculture when a filmmaker approached him for a concept about grain entrapment, a real and grave danger that farmers and other members of the community are exposed to. Seeing the significance of the issue socially, Sam currently is raising funds for the operation and completion of the movie titled Silo The Film. On today’s episode, Sam talks about the progress he and his team have made in the production of Silo. He also shares why he thinks this movie is socially relevant and his stand on why he wanted to pursue this film in spite of the timespan they need to devote to complete it. He also mentions some of the things that Sam and his team are currently working on like fund-raising, casting, and searching for the right location to shoot the movie.   “This, to me, represents a potential bridge for conversation where a segment of the population can be

Joining us on today’s episode of Future of Agriculture Podcast are two educators who are making an impact in the agricultural industry by engaging the youth and influencing the future workforce of agriculture. Our first guest, Seth Heinert, is an Agricultural High School teacher in Ogallala, Nebraska who started a rural program two years ago. Beverly Flatt is a program manager who works with city schools called Academies of Nashville in Tennessee helps students discover the passion they would like to pursue after high school. Seth and Beverly share two different programs and approaches as they cater to students from diverse backgrounds and regions. Seth shares some fascinating stories about his classroom experiences in western Nebraska and the reasons why he’s so passionate about pursuing rural education and instilling in his students a love for agriculture. Beverly identifies the agriculture programs they offer in urban education. She also mentions that for the urban students, their exposure to the amount of

Millennials are making waves in many of today’s business and career industries – and the agriculture industry is no exception. This week, I’m speaking with Mikayla Sullivan, co-founder and “Ringleader of Regal Operations” at Kinosol. Her team of millennials – many of which are fresh out of college – are on a mission to solve one of the world’s biggest problems – world hunger – through agriculture technology. Kinosol uses dehydration techniques that can be used anywhere in the world – due to its solar-power technology – to make food products last longer, to effectively reduce food waste around the world. Currently, Mikayla and her team are focusing on helping people in developing countries reduce food waste and improve their food storage ability in an effort to help end world hunger on a global scale. Today, she shares the Kinosol mission and how the business idea got started, the interesting way the team generated the initial business capital to continue to grow and scale, and some of the food safety concerns

Today’s guest is from the Bronx in New York. His journey to agriculture started accidentally while he was dealing with student conflict in his class. From zero agricultural background, Stephen Ritz created a system – a whole school program that changed how the students, the parents, and the community view agriculture. This program, called Green Bronx Machine, is more than about educating his students about farming. Stephen sees it as a way to solve real problems in the community like lack of student engagement in school, poor education, and poor health including unequal opportunities for the disadvantaged. On today’s episode, Stephen talks about the effects and benefits of Green Bronx Machine to the students and the community as a whole. He shares how he integrates growing food with academics. Stephen also elaborates on one of the goals of the program’s model, which is not about a “me” mentality, but a “we” mentality. This outlook is about people everywhere working together in achieving the goal of making wis

Today’s guest is my close friend, James Garner. He is a partner in a company called Cogent Communications that does public affairs work in agriculture and agricultural businesses in Sacramento, California. For ten years, he has been a part of a band called Johnny Cash Tribute Band, where he is the group’s manager and front man. On top of these varied roles, James has also been doing drag racing with his dad. James’ father has been a part of a drag racing team as a racer for years. On today’s episode, James talks about the significant changes that occurred in his life when he started Cogent Communications with his colleague, together with the ideal clients they work with. He also points out the strong suits that have kept them on top of their game, which are understanding the issues on the farm and coherently communicating these matters to the board (local, supervisory, or regulatory). James also elaborates on what currently seems to be a mild concern, but can be a hot one in the future because of its impact a

Women have been part of agriculture since the beginning of time. Today’s guest is passionate about showing how the roles of women have progressed and increased in this field. Born and raised in Iowa, Marji Guyler-Alaniz studied Graphic Journalism and Photography in college. Recently, she had a lot of surprises and transitions in her life in a span of only four years – from insurance to photography to owning a company and being a TV hostess. Today, Marji is the president of Farmher, a company that came about as a result of her passion in shining the light on women in agriculture. On today’s episode, Marji recounts the Super Bowl advertisement that inspired her to start capturing images of women in agriculture. She shares the exciting story of how she built her brand from scratch and how Farmher has progressed from a hobby to a brand with a regular TV show. She also narrates the quick progression of her journey with Farmher, talks about her mission and vision, and points out her considerations when making decis

Today’s guest grew up in Grass Valley, California. Sara Hollenbeck lives with her husband on a ranch in Molt, Montana called the Hollenbeck Ranch. Together with her husband and in-laws, Sara manages a sheep operation in Molt on top of many other diverse things they do on the farm. On today’s episode, Sara talks about an unfamiliar topic to many – sheep operation. She discusses the necessary tasks and human resources it takes to keep the operation running smoothly. She also shares who Totes MaGoats is, how her lamb company was born, and how she was able to open the community to eating lamb.   “The people I’m focused on are the ones that are interested, or curious even, about where their food is coming from or how their food is being raised.” – Sara Hollenbeck   This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: Brief background about the sheepherders and reasons why their presence and the H-2A program play a vital role in the sheep operation Where the sheep ranch gets the majority of its revenue The importance o

Today’s guest is a scientist, researcher, and the founder of Dynamite Ag – a sales and consulting company founded in 2012. Growing up in a Christian household, Dr. Curtis Livesay was told not to do drugs, to research about it. This pursuit of knowledge led him to acquire a Ph.D. in interpersonal communication and research methods. It is also the heart of his company – to do great research and disseminate good and useful information. On today’s episode, Dr. Curtis shares his knowledge, experience, and viewpoints about a variety of topics such as critical agronomic problems, lies fed to farmers, and specific ways to deal with particular agronomic concerns.   “Don’t just try something different, but pay attention to where you put it.” – Dr. Curtis Livesay   This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: How Dr. Curtis found his niche and how he finds the people he works with Difference between plant recoverable and plant available How farmers should balance the economics of farming with environmental stewardsh

On today’s episode of Future of Agriculture Podcast, my guest is an engineer by who was born in Nebraska and grew up as a city kid in Omaha. Russ Conser eventually fell in-love with energy which started his decades-long career in Shell Oil where he learned more about oil, gas, and carbon. You may be surprised to hear that the knowledge and experience Russ gained in this industry eventually led him to his present venture in the field of agriculture. Russ Conser is the CEO of Standard Soil, a company that uses adaptive multi-paddock grazing to grow grass-fed beef at scale. He spent the last 15 years in innovation and investing in pioneering startups that produce revolutionary and edgy outputs and results. A writer, speaker, investor, and game-changer, Russ talks about Standard Soil’s business model, its difference from other tech startups, the positive environmental impact it brings, and a lot more.   “I tend to think of agriculture really as the biological solar energy business in the world of farmers and ranc

AgTech has experienced quite a boom over the years. There is no question that innovation can boost tremendous improvements in the Agriculture industry. And like me, many Agriculture professionals and business owners are curious and eagerly awaiting the next big thing from AgTech. Louisa Burwood-Taylor is currently at the heart of the AgTech industry as the Chief Editor of AgFunderNews.com. She was originally a financial journalist and was privileged to shift to AgTech just when the industry started gaining significant progress. In today’s show, Louisa shares her experience in AgTech, along with invaluable entrepreneurial advice, insight and a glimpse of what is to come in the industry. “Agriculture is the least digitized industry in the world, which is pretty concerning because it is one of the most essential industries in our daily lives.” This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: The Agriculture industry is currently experiencing an Intersection between food, technology, and entrepreneurship. Women a

Food waste is a major issue in the United States, as well as the world. Research shows that about 97% of food wasted in the United States ends up in landfills and the less than 3% of waste that doesn’t see a landfill is being utilized in other commodities such as compost, black soldier fly larvae, and other methods. That means that approximately 30-40% of the calories available to the human population finds their way into the landfill. Although the global economy and environment are slowly becoming more aware of the massive issue regarding food waste, it’s still one of the biggest issues plaguing, not only the agriculture industry, but also the global economic, ethical, and environment. Public speaker and author of the book, America’s Waste Land, and founder of Wasted Food joins me today to shed some light on this significant issue, share his thoughts on what the ag industry – as well as consumers in general – can do to increase awareness and make a difference in the world by finding different ways to reduce

On today’s episode of the Future of Agriculture Podcast, my guest is a Purdue graduate who was brave enough to make a career change from being a Turkey breeder in Perdue Farms to sales. Dave Myers shares his journey in farming and how a man changed his perspective when he was taught about the soil and how it can maximize the growth in farming. As Dave saw the struggles of many growers, he appreciated that with his new career path, he can help growers become more efficient with how they grew their crop. Not only that, he created an online app, Bird Dog, that helps growers market themselves while protecting their reputations at the same time.   “Longevity and being able to put together a long term plan is a huge value for many growers.” – Dave Myers     This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: He shares the burden of many growers who desire to expand their farming operations, but are concerned about their reputation if they pursue the landowner. As he elaborates the steps he took before Bird Dog was lau

On today’s episode of Future of Agriculture Podcast, I have the privilege of talking with the Casey Neistat of Agriculture – Matthew Sligar.  He documents his life in relation to rice farming through video blogging.  He creates artistic videos that are made in engaging and amusing ways. Matthew is a rice farmer from Gridley, California.  He shared with us today where he got his inspiration and confidence to launch his website Rice Farming TV.  We also talked about some of the episodes on his website that have greatly impacted him, his family, and the community that encourage him to continue and push on.  He looked back and shared with us parts of his life that contributed to the overall productiveness of the videos.   “In 2015, medium grain rice from California won the world’s Best Tasting Rice Award.  So, not only do we grow rice in California, but it’s premium, award-winning quality rice.”  – Matthew Sligar This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: Matthew shares his inspiration to launch Rice Farmin

I recently had the opportunity to attend a media event held by Monsanto announcing the new project initiatives that the company will be unveiling in 2017. The information, research, and development that this company has invested to bring better technology and products to the agriculture industry is simply amazing. On this week’s episode, I’m talking with Dr. Shannon Hauf of Monsanto. Dr. Hauf graduated with a background in plant breeding and weed science, then later, she began working at Monsanto where she became experienced in many fields and departments, including pricing, sales, product strategies, and currently leading her own team within the company. She shares her insight into some of the new products the company will be launching this year, how they hope this new technology will help farmers and others within the agriculture industry, explains what “biologicals” and “digital agriculture” are and why they are important aspects farmers should consider on their farms. She also offers her advice to agricul

Utilizing Food Waste for Urban Agriculture with Tinia Pina of Re-Nuble The United States has a shortage of people who want to work in agriculture. We’ve gone from most of the population to only one percent of people working in this industry. There are fewer people with farms and a lack of individuals who want to make long lasting and meaningful careers in agriculture. There is something we can do about attracting interest in farming, though, such as enticing professionals from other industries to pivot into urban agriculture, like our guest Tinia Pina did. Tinia worked in the financial sector until she learned about the problems that existed related to entrepreneurial opportunities in agriculture. Today she is the founder and CEO of Re-Nuble, a New York City company that converts food waste into organic fertilizer.  On today’s show, Tinia shares the story of how she established Re-Nuble, and shares her insights about food waste and what it’s like to be a minority entrepreneur in the agriculture industry.  “Th

On today’s episode of the Future of Agriculture Podcast, my guest, Jared Flinn, is the founder and operating partner of Bulk Loads. His site provides an online platform that connects shippers with the transportation companies. Jared graduated with a minor in agricultural economy, but wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his credentials. He started working as a truck driver and grew to love all the aspects of the industry and eventually moved into shipping logistics in the agriculture sector. His passion for the trade inspired his vision of connecting companies and shippers, and so Bulk Loads was born. Jared started his venture without knowing whether it would be successful, but he persevered and created a sustainable and profitable business which addressed and solved clients’ pain points. On today’s show, you’ll hear his thoughts, wisdom, and advice about taking ideas and building a business in agricultural and transportation space.  “You have to have the commodities to trade, but behind that you have to hav

This is a good time for reflection on this past year and anticipation of what is to come in 2017, and I’m energized about the potential we have in some of the strategic objectives that we’ll be rolling out here in the coming year. I’m also excited to interview our guest today who came from humble farming beginnings and is now a leader in agri-business and a force in politics. On today’s episode of the Future of Agriculture Podcast, we have who could very well be our next United States Secretary of Agriculture, Kip Tom.  Whether Kip is nominated or not, he will play an integral role in the leadership of our industry from his home in Indiana, from Washington D.C., or across the water in South America where he has a farming operation. He is passionate about encouraging and motivating our youth to step into the agri-business sector to continue family farming operations. Kip shares his wisdom, insights, and advice, about this business and you’ll hear how a young man who grew up on his family’s homestead became a p

On today’s episode of the Future of Agriculture Podcast, I am extremely excited to chat with a guest with whom I have the utmost respect for and who I am in awe of. Dr. Temple Grandin is an author and a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University who is passionate about agriculture and the people involved in it. Temple has revolutionized the industry with practices she devised and is a highly-regarded internationally known speaker on the subjects of autism and cattle handling. Temple’s incredible story of overcoming personal and professional challenges to revolutionize the agriculture industry, a sector which is set in its ways, will blow your mind. She is an inspiration to everyone in general and to people who want to break into an industry where they don’t necessarily fit the mold. Temple brings value, wisdom, and inspiration to today’s show and I’m honored and humbled to interview her. She is passionate about keeping the agriculture industry alive and shares her invaluable advice for those see

Kevin Heikes is the Founder of In10t.io, an advisory firm dedicated to helping clients solve problems in Agriculture related to technology strategy, product commercialization and digital system design. Kevin has worked with several start-ups, including FarmLink, where he served as Vice President of Product and Farms Technology where, post acquisition, by DuPont Pioneer he led the integration and product migration to DTN.  This episode is filled with new ideas, tactics, and anecdotes that will both entertain and inspire anyone interested in the future of agriculture. Kevin mentions a couple of tools including Full Contact and Product Hunt. Check out Kevin’s personal website: http://www.kevinheikes.com/ or his company: http://www.in10t.io/.   Thanks for listening!   We really appreciate you taking the time to listen to the Future of Agriculture Podcast. The response has been outstanding. Please feel free to leave a note in the comment section below. The best way to spread the word about our Podcast is to sh

AgriCorps sends American college graduates and professionals into developing nations to teach agriculture and to build local agricultural communities. The volunteers, known as AgriCorps Fellows, work for one year in countries such as Ghana and Liberia. Trent shares his perspective on the future of agriculture in Africa, challenges and rewards of agricultural development, and the differences between U.S. and African food production. I agree with his perspective that Africa will grow into a major player in global agribusiness. So do many major corporations, who are rapidly expanding into the region.   Enjoy Trent’s firsthand experiences and I look forward to hearing your feedback about your perspective on international development and the future of agriculture in Africa.  Learn more about AgriCorps: https://agricorps.org/join/im-interested-in-more/ Like AgriCorps on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/agricorps/   I encourage you to consider becoming an AgriCorps Fellow or contributing to their crowdfunding camp