Agtech - So What?
140 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago -We tell the stories of innovators at the intersection of agriculture and technology to answer the question: what really is agtech and why should you care?
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Episodes
Collaborating at the Intersection of Dairy and Alt-Dairy, with Michael Hampson from Norco Cooperative
April 12, 2023 20:00 - 32 minutes - 44.8 MBThere’s a common misconception in the alternative protein space that continues to hold back innovation: the idea that conventional and alternative products are direct competitors. In general, the idea that consumers are dropping conventional milk for soy milk, or eschewing chicken in favor of plant-based nuggets just isn’t reflected in the data. More often then not, consumers buy both conventional proteins and alternative proteins, often at the same time. Acknowledging this, we have a lot of...
How to Invest in Deep Tech in Agri-food, Tenaciously
March 29, 2023 20:00 - 26 minutes - 36.7 MBDeep tech– or the world of technology companies beyond those that make software– is often seen as a bridge too far for the world of venture capital investing. A key challenge; the tried and true strategies around growing high-value companies quickly that were the hallmark of the 2000s and 2010s don’t often translate when a company is moving atoms and molecules instead of bits and bytes. But from our perspective, deep tech is likely the most important component of our future food system. We ...
Unlocking Phosphorus for the Future of Fertility with Hunter Swisher of Phospholutions
March 15, 2023 20:00 - 30 minutes - 41.6 MBWhen it comes to phosphorus-- the second most prominent fertilizer component– a big problem today is that it is simultaneously too rare on earth overall and too abundant in the landscapes where it's used. The vast majority of the world’s phosphorus reserves are found in just two countries, Morocco and China. And phosphorus runoff, largely originating from agricultural uses, leads to toxic algal blooms (and associated greenhouse gas emissions) all over the world. Hunter Swisher, founder and ...
Can Molecular Farming Replace Cows with Crops? with Amos Palfreyman of Miruku
March 01, 2023 20:00 - 36 minutes - 50 MBThe question of how to make commodity crops more valuable is a perennial one in agriculture, and over the years there have been a lot of good-- and bad-- answers. Recently, one strategy has emerged that we find particularly intriguing, though it's safe to say it comes with plenty of challenges. Today, we’re exploring molecular farming– which, in this case, involves the production of dairy proteins in a genetically modified plant. Growing protein this way offers a lot of potential benefits, f...
Transforming Animal Waste into Renewable Fertilizer with Jordan Phasey from Phinite
February 15, 2023 20:01 - 33 minutes - 46.2 MBWhen people in ag think about fertilizer, nitrogen -- or N -- is usually the first thing that comes to mind, whether thinking about yields, costs, or environmental impacts. But phosphorus is another concerning element of the crop nutrient mix, due to the declining mineable supplies, and the fact that those supplies are almost exclusively located in Morocco and China. But natural deposits aren’t the only source of phosphorus on Earth: livestock manure also contains meaningful quantities of t...
Future of Fertilizer... So What? with Tim Hammerich from Future of Agrculture
February 01, 2023 20:00 - 44 minutes - 61.5 MBGlobal geopolitical disruptions first put fertilizer center stage as farmers around the world struggled with price and supply swings. But that was just the beginning of the conversation– as fertilizer tech begins to step into the spotlight, offering alternatives not only to traditional products, but to our whole way of thinking about the crop nutrients sector. Today, Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast joins Sarah to dig into the “so what?” of the nitrogen tech we’ve discusse...
AgTech Headlines… So What? - Mineral Launch, Planet Labs Insurance, Deere Right-to-Repair
January 25, 2023 20:00 - 23 minutes - 32.9 MBBreaking news in the agtech world abounds here at the beginning of 2023, and as we've tracked the latest announcements, we've been thinking a lot about a few tech updates, especially from major brands, and what they might mean for the agtech landscape in the near future. Today, teammates Komal Patel and Matthew Pryor join Sarah to discuss a few pieces of news from the past few weeks that stood out. We dig into the details, read between the lines, and argue why we think they're worth paying a...
Building a Food Business Ecosystem from the Farm Up, with Michael Bosworth of Next Generation Foods
January 18, 2023 20:00 - 36 minutes - 50.7 MBAgtech has long had an interest in shortening the supply chain between farms and consumers. And yet after years of effort, relatively little progress has been made beyond a proliferation of farmers markets and some new “local” tags at supermarkets. There are a lot of challenges in this space that go beyond a simple technical fix, and overcoming them often requires rethinking the entire business model. Enter Michael Bosworth, farmer and founder of Next Generation Foods, a California-based fo...
2022: The Year of Risk at AgTech… So What?
December 22, 2022 20:00 - 15 minutes - 21.8 MB2022 was a wild year– both in the world of agtech broadly, and for us here at Tenacious Ventures. We’ve covered a lot of ground, spanning everything from scaling soil tech, to the future of ag marketing, to alternative protein, novel investing tactics, and most recently, the next generation of farm inputs. Today, we’re taking some time to reflect on the most important lessons we’ve learned on the podcast this year– and for us, it all came back to the question of how tech can help mitigate ri...
Shifting from Climate Measurement to Risk Mitigation, with Cullen Gunn from Kilter Rural
December 14, 2022 20:00 - 38 minutes - 52.6 MBThere is a lot of momentum in agtech right now around investing at the intersection of ag and climate– and inevitably, many conversations start with a focus on how to measure impact. The problem we’ve been thinking about lately-- this conversation often gets stuck on the measurement challenge. In our perspective, the real opportunities go beyond just measuring the impact of decisions like practice changes. The future is in taking actions that meaningfully mitigate climate risks to agricultur...
Why is autonomy in ag so hard? With Ray Russell and Connie Bowen
November 30, 2022 20:00 - 37 minutes - 51 MBWe’ve talked and thought a lot about autonomy this year, and despite what we think are some promising developments, overall, we continue to be struck by just how hard it is to bring solutions to market. From the technology to the use case, from the regulations to data, there are barriers and problems to solve in every direction. So today we’re covering a ton of ground to understand why bringing autonomous solutions to agriculture is so hard. First, we talk to Connie Bowen of Farmhand Ventur...
From Buyer Beware to Seller Beware in Agtech
November 16, 2022 19:00 - 34 minutes - 46.9 MBWe’ve been thinking a lot recently about how much the world of agtech has changed over the last two decades, and how companies, and more importantly, their customers, are adapting to an increasingly digitally native world. For years, the focus was on educating farmer-customers and post-sales training. But today, sophisticated growers tell their tech partners, and their peer networks, what they want, need, like, and dislike about their tools, often in real time. Today we dig into this transi...
The Future of Fertilizer - Nitrogen: Part 2, with Jupiter Ionics and Kula Bio
November 02, 2022 19:00 - 31 minutes - 42.8 MBToday we're tackling part two of our future of Nitrogen fertilizer discussion, focusing on the realm of business models and strategies. We chat with two companies exploring how we might reimagine the way farmers around the world buy and sell this critical input, including through distributed, rather than centralized, supply chains. We’ll continue our conversation with Bill Brady, CEO and Director at Kula Bio and Charlie Day, CEO at Jupiter Ionics* We also add in some on the ground perspect...
The Future of Fertilizer - Nitrogen, with Jupiter Ionics and Kula Bio
October 19, 2022 19:00 - 34 minutes - 47.3 MBThis is the first episode in our series on the future of fertilizer, starting with Nitrogen - the N in NPK. Russia’s war in Ukraine has collided with natural gas supply chain disruptions and sent the price of fertilizer skyrocketing. But, this isn’t the least of the crop nutrient industry’s problems. It’s a space renowned for being complex and confusing. It also relies on an emissions-intensive value chain that has been around now for more than a century. Today’s episode looks at two diffe...
On-Farm Climate Risks and the Future of Ag Finance with Clay Govier
October 12, 2022 19:00 - 30 minutes - 42.2 MBFor a year that has already seen so much downside for US farmers in the form of extreme weather - from droughts to soaring temperatures - there’s another risk looming: rising interest rates. Adapting to an increasingly unpredictable and extreme climate is not cheap or easy. For farmers planning for the resilience and longevity of their business, the intersection of climate and fiscal risk has us wondering: how are farmers financing future growth, and where does resilience to climate change...
Legacy Finance Eyes Agtech, with Wells Fargo
October 05, 2022 19:00 - 28 minutes - 39.3 MBWhile early-stage agtech tends to play in the venture world, it pays to check in with how folks sitting in banking think about their role as partners to startups. Traditional lenders can draw on the best part of a century of connection to agriculture, and potentially offer significant options for financing the growth of later-stage companies. This week we heard from Romie Basra, Senior VP, National Sustainable Tech Practice Leader, and Karol Aure-Flynn, Food and Agribusiness Industries Advi...
Systems Thinking and the Legacy of Big Food, with Dr Nigel Hughes, Kellogg
September 21, 2022 20:00 - 32 minutes - 44.4 MBThe decisions by major food companies impact consumers, farmers, and the environment at every stage of the agrifood value chain. But the status quo strategies of ‘Big Food’ don’t always acknowledge the complex, interconnected systems at play around the world. Our guest this week is Dr. Nigel Hughes, Senior Vice President of Global R&D at Kellogg. After spending a career in what he would unwillingly call Big Food, Nigel now advocates for the urgent recoupling of the many smaller systems, from...
Changing the Risk Profile of Agriculture: a farmer's perspective on parametric insurance
September 07, 2022 06:00 - 33 minutes - 45.9 MBWe recently launched a three-episode deep dive into the future of risk and insurance in agriculture. Over the course of the series, we heard from one listener who offered to share his experience using novel insurance products to manage the risks of both too little and too much rainfall in his own farming operation. This from-the-field perspective was packed with insights, and was such a powerful contribution to our learning that we asked his permission to use the audio for this episode. Tom...
What Commodity Agriculture Can Learn from Organic Farming, with Amy Bruch, Cyclone Farms
August 24, 2022 20:00 - 33 minutes - 46.3 MBWhile the term “organic” tends to be associated with small-scale production and a preference for manual tools over the latest technology, organic farming advocates claim their methods can reduce the need for expensive inputs like fertilizers and herbicides, improve soil health, and allow farmers to differentiate their product in otherwise global commodity markets. So, what can commodity agriculture learn from organic farming? Our guest this week is Amy Bruch, a sixth-generation farmer of...
Defining the Future of Ag Advocacy, with Emma Germano, Victorian Farmers Federation
August 10, 2022 20:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBAgriculture is exposed to a complex tangle of laws, trade agreements, and competing visions of the future. For farmers, adjustments by legislators at any level of government can have an impact. So while policy is often an afterthought for operators in tech, the pressure for farmers to be engaged and represented in the formulation of new policy is real. It’s for this reason that ag has always invested deeply in advocacy groups. Our guest this week is Emma Germano, President of The Victorian ...
Bonus Ep: Audience Responses to "The Three Fears of Farm Data"
August 03, 2022 20:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBBack in May, we published an experimental bonus episode called “The Three Fears of Farm Data”. The conversation centered around the legitimacy of fears held by farmers about sharing their farm data, and kicked off with a particularly hot take: “We in agtech have completely f*****d farmers by making them afraid of sharing their data.” The episode got a huge reaction from around the industry - both positive and critical. It’s clear that the conversation around farm data is one that everyone ...
The Three Categories of Autonomy in Agriculture, with Andrew Bate, SwarmFarm Robotics
July 27, 2022 20:00 - 35 minutes - 33 MBAutonomous farming equipment and robotics in ag is more crowded than ever. Every new acquisition from an incumbent or deployment of venture capital into the space creates more buzz to sort through in the inboxes of analysts, entrepreneurs, and farmers. With the industry growing so quickly, it’s helpful to have a bird’s-eye view of what’s happening, and what it means for the future of agriculture. So, in this week’s episode we give listeners a framework to understand the rapidly moving worl...
The Incentives, Barriers, and Willingness to Pay for Carbon Programs in Agriculture, with Emma Fuller, Corteva Agriscience
July 13, 2022 20:00 - 37 minutes - 34.9 MBWhen it comes to designing carbon programs in agriculture, there is a very real tension between the science and the commercial realities of drawing down carbon at scale. Particularly, the question of how to incentivize on-farm practice changes is one that many companies in ag carbon have failed to answer. Working at the intersection of these tensions is our guest this week, Emma Fuller, Carbon and Ecosystem Services Portfolio Leader at Corteva Agriscience. An accomplished data scientist and...
Ag Insurance...So What?
June 29, 2022 20:03 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBThis week we're bringing you the final episode in our three-part series on the future of ag insurance. Our journey started with learning the ins and outs of how the sector currently operates (check out the ag insurance 101 episode here) and then talking to key players about new products and technologies entering the industry (check out Damon Johnson on parametric insurance here). Today, Sarah is joined by Matthew Pryor to talk through their learnings in a live attempt to develop an investm...
The Future of Insurance in Agriculture, with Damon Johnson, Global Ag Risk Solutions
June 15, 2022 20:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBFor a traditionally low innovation industry, things are starting to heat up in agricultural insurance. While it remains something of a black box for many people in agriculture, the forces of climate change and technological innovation are creating the right mix of incentives that could change how the whole industry approaches risk. This second episode of our exploration of ag insurance (check out the first, a 101 on ag insurance, here!) considers a digitally-native product in the hands of ...
Bonus Ep: Ag Insurance 101
June 14, 2022 20:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MBClimate change will mean more frequent, extreme weather and more risk exposure for farmers around the world. This increased risk should be a driver for the business of agricultural insurers. But, it’s not easy to predict how climate change and digital-disruption might transform one of the world’s oldest industries. Actually, we’ve come to realize it isn’t easy to understand how agricultural insurance works at all. So, in the spirit of learning out loud, we’re releasing TWO episodes this we...
From the Vault: Mark Wootton on Carbon-Neutral Farming at Jigsaw Farms
June 01, 2022 20:00 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBRecently the whole team here at Tenacious Ventures had the chance to get out of town and on to the farm. And not just any farm – we visited Jigsaw Farms, home to sheep farmer and long-time friend of the show Mark Wooton and his wife Eve. While out at Jigsaw, Mark and Eve gave us an update on their vision for “sustainable intensification” and their ethos for farm management. In that spirit we wanted to revisit our original conversation with Mark that was published nearly two years ago. After...
Making Decisions in the Face of Uncertainty, with Hallie Shoffner
May 18, 2022 20:00 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBIt isn’t surprising that most farmers have to be expert planners and investors. But getting an inside view into how a farmer plans for the future of their business is a rare opportunity. In this episode, you’ll hear firsthand how Hallie Shoffner, a sixth-generation row crop farmer in the Mississippi Delta, makes decisions for her farm and company, SFR Seed. While Hallie is an enthusiastic adopter of new farming innovations, this conversation shows that every decision must be well supported ...
Bonus Ep: The Three Fears of Farm Data
May 11, 2022 20:00 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBOur latest bonus podcast episode is an experiment. Rather than organize the contributions that usually make up an episode, we decided to hit record on one of the conversations that are always happening internally at Tenacious Ventures. It’s a snapshot into how we think, form and test our assumptions, and decide on what might be next. It also captured the team taking on a pretty hot topic on the mind of everyone in agtech battling with adoption and scaling digitally-native solutions: Have...
Services and Software for On-Farm Autonomy, with Iftach Birger of FieldIn
May 04, 2022 20:00 - 34 minutes - 32.2 MBThere are many different views about the future of autonomous farming. One is that, out of the emerging autonomous equipment providers and established blue chip suppliers, there will be clear winners and losers in the battle for on-farm dominance. Another is that farming in the future will involve all kinds of autonomous solutions. This second possibility presents tons of opportunities to add value for farmers. Our guest on this week’s episode is Iftach Birger, Co-Founder and COO at FieldIn...
Navigating Economic Development and the Social Fabric of Agriculture, with Elizabeth Brennan, Wide Open Agriculture
April 20, 2022 20:00 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBEvery decision made by founders, farmers, and leaders in agriculture shapes the future of our food system. Whether it’s the cost per hectare of a biological or the value of a ton of carbon sequestered, the different goals and outcomes that end up in business plans inevitably define how time, energy, and capital are spent. But there are many outcomes of a healthy food system that don’t fit in a business plan. How do leaders today account for the broad connections between people, ideas, and i...
Unscrambling Go-to-Market and Brand in Alternative Protein, with Tanja Bogumil, Perfeggt
April 06, 2022 20:00 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBLet’s talk about eggs. Hardly anything can match the egg for complete versatility. Eggs are a crucial ingredient that unlocks the tastes, textures, and experiences we take for granted in everything from the simplest home omelette to food manufactured on an industrial scale. So, how would you approach replacing the egg with a plant-based alternative? This week on EggTech…So What?, we spoke with alternative-protein entrepreneur Tanja Bogumil. Tanja is the Co-Founder and CEO of Berlin-based...
Bonus Ep: The State of Fundraising in Agtech
March 30, 2022 19:00 - 49 minutes - 45.7 MBLife is moving pretty fast for founders and investors working in agtech. Recent years have seen record flows of capital into agrifood, driven in part by agriculture potential to provide climate solutions. And the massive disruptions of COVID-19 meant developed markets received a historic taste of what changes will be needed in a world impacted by climate change and further uncertainty. So, how have the last few years impacted agtech founders looking to raise capital, and investors on the l...
Investing Beyond the Farmgate with Ben Barlow, New Edge Microbials
March 23, 2022 19:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBBiologicals in agriculture have a wildly exciting future. It’s a segment responding to innovation in science, changes in markets, and the urgent pressures of adapting to climate change. New startups coming into the space are generating plenty of buzz, but there are also established players with products in the hands of farmers today. Ben Barlow is a veteran executive and the Managing Director of New Edge Microbials, a company that has been supplying farmers with legume inoculants and other ...
Meeting in the Middle on Sustainable Supply Chains - Jessie Deelo, Vayda
March 09, 2022 19:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBSustainability in food and agriculture has come a long way. Far from being “the dirty word” it used to be in boardrooms and at farm-gates, it’s now business as usual to expect CSR policies, ESG strategies, and decarbonization targets from all major agri-food companies. But, according to Jessie Deelo, Chief Hub Officer at Vayda, sustainability is moving beyond typical “top-down” commitments. In her work improving the environmental and social impact of supply chains, Jessie sees a huge opport...
The Authenticity Premium in AgTech Marketing with Camille Grade from Bushel and Travis Martin from Magnetic Ag
February 23, 2022 19:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBAgTech companies make promises to investors to grow fast and be quick to iterate or change direction. But they also make promises to customers who think more in seasons instead of product development cycles, and who value long-term relationships with a mutual investment. These are difficult pressures for agtech marketers to manage. In this episode, we hear from Camille Grade, Chief Marketing Officer at Bushel, and Travis Martin, an agtech marketing consultant and founder of industry newslet...
Win-Win Business Models for Farmers and Startups with Marissa Cuevas Flores of MicroTERRA
February 09, 2022 19:01 - 31 minutes - 29.5 MBBalancing the desire to do good with the need to build a business that can scale is a challenge for every entrepreneur. Particularly in agriculture, finding strategies that solve for both the users of the product as well as beneficiaries of the solution is key. For Marissa Cuevas Flores, Founder and CEO of MicroTERRA, it took several iterations before her team settled on a workable value proposition that could contribute to massive global challenges like preserving fresh water and feeding th...
Genetics, biosecurity, and the cutest sheep in the world with Dr Belinda Cardinal, Caprotek
January 26, 2022 19:01 - 39 minutes - 36 MBManaging the genetic quality of a herd can be a wicked challenge for Australian farmers. We’re a country with a small number of animals relative to the rest of the world, and formidable, complex biosecurity protocols. Fortunately, Belinda Cardinal, Founder of breeding and genetics company Caprotek and career dairy goat farmer, enjoys spending time on wickedly difficult problems. After years spent strengthening the genetic diversity of her herd of dairy goats, Belinda attracted all kinds of ...
The Tricky Business of Scaling Soil Tech - Adam Litle, CEO, Sound Agriculture
January 12, 2022 19:01 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBThe science and technology of soil is rapidly evolving, but translating it into a scalable business that can offer viable products to farmers has long been a tricky proposition. But it’s one that Adam Litle, the CEO of Sound Agriculture, has devoted much of his career to answering. Adam was part of the executive team at Granular, the farm management software company acquired by Dupont (now Corteva) for $300M. Now, at Sound Ag, he’s leading a company that’s raised more than $95M to develop a...
FROM THE VAULT: Mark Ferguson on science, sheep, and the tech-enabled future of genetics
December 22, 2021 19:01 - 34 minutes - 32.1 MBOriginally released: 20 February, 2020 We’ll be back with new episodes in January 2022, but for the holidays we thought we’d bring back a favorite episode from the vault! Mark Ferguson or “Ferg,” is a sheep geneticist who’s paying attention to how both consumer demands and emerging technologies are impacting growers. He’s the co-founder and Director of neXtgen Agri, an online livestock consultancy, and Genesmith, a startup applying facial recognition and machine learning to the global live...
What's the role of government in agtech ecosystems? Salvatore Lavallo, Abu Dhabi Investment Office
December 15, 2021 19:01 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MBIt’s fair to say most entrepreneurs (and farmers!) aren’t big fans of government rules and regulations for fear of being slowed down by red tape and bureaucracy. However, the political environment in which a startup develops can have a big impact on its ability to find investment and support, especially in agtech, where ecosystems are still very new for most countries. The United Arab Emirates is investing heavily in agtech, seeking to make Abu Dhabi the global center for innovation in agri...
Bonus Ep: Later-Stage Agtech Startup Wrap, feat. Anastasia Volkova, Regrow
December 08, 2021 19:01 - 41 minutes - 38 MBWhere are all the women founders in agtech, especially at later-stage startups? What does an acquisition really feel like, and when does it make sense? In this Bonus episode, we answer both these questions, as well as build on the key insights from our latest series: “Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons”. This episode features: Anastasia Volkova - co-founder and CEO of Regrow*, an independent measurement reporting and verification platform. Regrow, (formerly Flurosat), recently acquired US ...
Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons #3 - Charles Baron, Farmers Business Network
December 01, 2021 19:31 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBFarmers Business Network is one of the most well-funded startups in agtech. Just recently, they announced a $300M Series G round, bringing their total funds raised to $870M and their valuation to nearly $4 billion. So, where did it all begin? In this episode, FBN co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Charles Baron, explains how his Silicon Valley upbringing unexpectedly collided with rural Nebraska, resulting in an idea for a new kind of agribusiness- one that would connect farmers and...
Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons #2 - Paul Lightfoot, BrightFarms
November 17, 2021 19:01 - 39 minutes - 36.9 MB“When you say, ‘can I have your money?’ Then, people speak the truth.” Paul Lightfoot is a serial entrepreneur who has learned several lessons the hard way, from raising money to communicating purpose to hiring (and firing). After spending much of his career as a software CEO, Paul wanted to follow his “calling” to enter the world of sustainability and foodtech. But this meant moving from a familiar career trajectory to an industry that, 10 years ago when Paul was entering it, barely even ...
Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons #1 - Michael Gilbert, Semios
November 03, 2021 19:01 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBIn this 3-part series, we’ll share the lessons from agtech startup founders who have grown their agtech companies from idea to at least 100 employees. We’ll be examining what’s worked (and hasn’t), differences between agtech and other industries, and what the founders have learned along the way about the industry and themselves. This episode, the first in the series, features Michael Gilbert, CEO and founder of Semios, a crop management platform initially focused on tree fruit, nuts and vin...
Bonus: Investing in tech to enable regen ag
October 28, 2021 19:02 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBVenture investment into technology companies that have the potential to scale regenerative agriculture is accelerating. However, it is a relatively new domain for venture capital, and it comes with its own unique set of challenges. So what role can VCs play in the regen ag landscape? And what technologies and trends are VCs looking at to guide their investments? This bonus episode features a discussion from a live panel conversation at the Regenerative Food Systems Investment Forum (RFSIF)...
Why You Should Give a F*ck About Farming - Gabrielle Chan
October 20, 2021 19:01 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBDoes the average citizen actually need to care about how their food is produced? This is the central question Australian author and journalist, Gabrielle Chan, set out to answer. Her latest book, “Why you should give a f*ck about farming” details her firm conclusion that, yes, if you eat food, you should in fact care about agriculture. While the old days of agriculture as the top contributor to GDP are over for most Western countries, Gabrielle argues the future of food and farming is beco...
Farmers and Startups: Lessons and Tips for Collaborating
October 06, 2021 19:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBThe divide between farmers and startups can seem like a chasm. Tech culture and agriculture have evolved from completely different backgrounds, and even seem to have their own languages. So how can agtech bring together two very different groups? In this episode, you’ll hear practical tips from farmers and agtech experts on how to build mutually beneficial relationships. For startups, this includes approaching farmers as partners, rather than ‘customers,’ and understanding ‘grower economics...
Bonus: The Economics of Valuing Natural Capital - Ken Henry, former Treasury Secretary of Australia
September 29, 2021 20:01 - 39 minutes - 36.9 MBDr. Ken Henry became well-known in Australia for his bold economic reforms as the Treasury Secretary throughout the 2000s. His approach to conservation and agriculture is equally as bold, advocating for the natural environment to be valued, and even predicting “an explosion” in financial instruments to measure soil carbon, vegetation, biodiversity and other aspects of nature. As an economist, former Chair of the National Australia Bank, and current board director of Accounting for Nature, h...
100th Episode Special: our most popular guests on soil carbon, regen ag, and the future of agtech
September 22, 2021 20:01 - 59 minutes - 55.1 MBFor our 100th episode (hooray!), we’ve brought back some of our most popular guests to check in on what’s changed in their businesses and in agtech since we spoke, and the new technologies and opportunities we can all be looking out for. These guests were popular for a reason: Mark Wootton - dubbed the ‘carbon neutral farmer,’ Mark is a pioneer in measuring natural capital… yet, he’s also highly skeptical of the regenerative agriculture movement. Stu Austin - manager of Wilmot Cattle Co, ...