The Modern Acre

Tyler reveals the details behind his mini Twitter fight about farmers being paid for carbon credits. Tune in to hear Tyler and Tim talk through their thoughts on the evolving carbon market and companies, certifications, and marketplaces focused on regenerative agriculture. Tim and Tyler also talk through their perspectives and insights into partnerships, including things to think about when considering partners. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/161

Michael Ott is the founder and CEO of Rantizo, an agtech startup that addresses both the field needs of farmers and the business needs of custom applicators with the platform's combination of autonomous hardware and user-friendly software. Rantizo leverages both drone and aerial imagery technology to provide solutions to growers. Michael joins us to talk about his background in investing and what led him to jump into entrepreneurship and start Rantizo. He shares how he has grown and scaled the business and the insights he has learned along the way. Don't miss this one! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/160

Sonia Lo is the CEO of Sensei Ag, a market-changing agtech company transforming health by using data to redesign how food is grown. Sensei Ag was founded by Larry Ellison and Dr. David Agus. Sensei Ag helps growers make informed decisions that set new standards for food safety, quality and taste. Through the use of data and technology, they create innovative, agile growing systems that dramatically improve farm production. Sonia shares her unique background and story that led her to become CEO of Sensei Ag. She talks through the business model and approach to scaling a digital distributed agriculture system. Tune in! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/159

We are switching it up this week! Tyler interviews Tim for an in-depth conversation about Tim's background, childhood misconduct, early career in the produce industry, transition to agtech, founding The Modern Acre, and his evolving involvement with Nuss Farms. If you like Tim, you should listen to this episode because it will make him feel good about himself. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/158

Steven Dodge is the CEO and Co-Founder of Acuity Agriculture, a technology company that builds smart, wireless sensor networks for farms. Equipped with our real-time soil data, farms can optimize irrigation schedules, lower supply costs, and save hundreds of dollars per acre. Steven joins the podcast to talk about his background in agriculture and farming, the origin of Acuity Agriculture, and how he and the team have been scaling the business over the past few years without taking on outside funding. Tune in to hear his awesome story! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/157

Mark Johnson is the CEO of GrainBridge, a joint venture between ADM and Cargill with the goal of helping farmers make better grain marketing decisions. Mark joins the podcast to talk about his background in tech, the history and story of GrainBridge, and how they are innovating and scaling the business today. Tune in! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/156

Damien Hajduk, Ph.D., is the CTO and COO of Crop Enhancement, a San Jose-based startup that works at the intersection of materials science and biology to bring new and effective solutions to agriculture that help growers protect their crops and the environment, while meeting the global need for sustainably produced foods. Damien joins us to talk about his impressive background that ultimately led him to Crop Enhancement. We discuss the origin story and how they have approached going to market with their sustainable crop solutions. Tune in to learn more! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/155

Kenny Fahey is the Executive Director of Leading Harvest, a newly formed nonprofit organization at the vanguard of advancing sustainable agriculture, providing assurance programs comprised of standards, audit procedures, training and education, and reporting and claim offerings that are optimized for flexibility, scalability, and impact. Kenny shares more about his background and how Leading Harvest was founded. Additionally, we discuss their recent announcement with FarmTogether, who is enrolling 100% of their farmland in Leading Harvest's Sustainable Farmland Management Standard. Tune in! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/154

Tim and Tyler are on the other side of this episode! They share more about Nuss Farms' transition to regenerative ag on the PMA Takes on Tech Podcast, hosted by Vonnie Estes. Tune in to hear their latest thoughts on their farm and where regenerative ag is going. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/153

Tim and Tyler are back with the final episode of The Modern Acre podcast of 2020. We talk through our biggest takeaways and lessons learned from this year, including our thoughts on the ag industry, our farm, and personal takeaways. Tune in and have a great new year! Thanks for listening! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/152

Greg Shewmaker is the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Teak Origin, a food data company that collects actionable data to help consumers make better food decisions. Greg joins us to talk about his background in ecommerce, founding and developing the business at Teak Origin, and the role nutrient density will play in the food system. Tune in! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/151

Alison Woitunski DiFiore is the Director of Small Farm Initiatives at FruitStand, which is a division of Apeel Sciences. FruitStand is an online platform that enables farmers to sell directly to customers with an emphasis on exotic fruit and unique crop varieties. Alison joins us to share about how her journey in farming ultimately led her to lead the team at FruitStand. She shares lessons learned along the way and how they are scaling the business. We also discuss Nuss Farms' partnership with FruitStand this year. Tune in! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/150

Get 20% off the Nuss Farms Squash Box! Gabe Brown is one of the pioneers of the current soil health movement which focuses on the regeneration of our resources. Gabe, along with his wife Shelly, and son Paul, own and operate Brown's Ranch, a diversified 5,000 acre farm and ranch near Bismarck, North Dakota. He is a partner, along with Ray Archuleta, Shane New, and Dr. Allen Williams, in Understanding Ag LLC. He is also an instructor for Soil Health Academy, which focuses on teaching others the power and importance of healthy functioning ecosystems. In this episode you will hear more about Gabe's journey to discovering regenerative agriculture, how context is key to a successful transition, and why regenerative ag is reaching a tipping point. We we're honored to have Gabe on the show and you won't want to miss it! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/149

Jody Levy is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of WTRMLN WTR, the pioneer in deliciously hydrating, super healthy watermelon water. Jody joins us to share the story of founding and scaling the business, covering areas of branding, supply chain, and sales. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/148

Kit Barron is the Head of Automation and Artificial Intelligence at FarmTogether, a technology-enabled farmland investment platform that provides accredited investors with direct access to farmland as an asset class. Kit has over 10 years of experience leveraging technology to shape the future of food and agriculture. Kit joins FarmTogether after six years at the Climate Corporation, where he helped build the world's leading AgTech platform, most recently as Director of Product, New Features. Kit joins us for a wide-ranging conversation covering his time at Climate Corp, his role at FarmTogether, and the role automation, agtech, and AI has in agriculture. Don't miss this one! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/147

Lew Moorman is the Co-Founder of Soilworks, a Public Benefit Company on a mission to accelerate the Regenerative Food Movement by helping launch scalable, repeatable businesses that fuel the Regenerative economy. Lew's background is in the tech industry and he shares his story about why he decided to jump into the ag industry and start investing there. Tune in to learn what's he's up to with Soilworks, PastureMap, and Wholesome Meats! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/146

Bakur Kvezereli is the founder and CEO of Ztractor, a startup that develops Autonomous Electric Tractors (AETs) to increase farming efficiency, productivity, safety on the field while reducing production cost and environmental footprint. Ztractor has 3 models under development BearCub 24, Mars 45, and Superpolit 125. The first model BeraCub 24 is available for online pre-orders. Prior to entrepreneurship Bakur was Senior Investment Officer at $1.5 Billion Sovereign Wealth Fund, focusing on investments in Ag Tech. Between 2008-2011 he was the delegate to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Bakur joins us to talk about what led him to start Ztractor, the challenges of growth, the timing of the industry, and where they are going from here. Tune in! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/145

David Nothmann is the Chief Revenue Officer of Terramera, a cleantech leader focused on fusing AI, science and nature to create revolutionary technologies that transform how we grow food and solve other world-scale challenges. David joins the podcast to share more about his journey in the ag industry, including starting at Monsanto, investing in agtech, and his current role with Terramera. This episode was full of ag insights! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/144

Mike Machado is a California farmer, veteran, and former State Senator. He continues to own and operate his family's walnut farm in Linden, California. Mike joins us to share more about his decades-long journey in agriculture, lessons along the way, passing it to the next-generation, and continuing to innovate along the way. Mike also shares his perspective on leveraging environmental easements through California Farmland Trust as a way to protect his farmland from development. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/143

Buy our squash box here!!! Tim and Tyler are back and feeling fiery. Tune in to learn why we think there should be more action and less complaining about how much farmers make for every dollar spent and why we're trying to do something about it with our new squash boxes. We also share our thoughts on the Driscoll's and Plenty partnership and what that indicates moving forward. Lastly, Tyler explains a hot take on Halloween decorations. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/142

Arama Kukutai is a co-founder and partner at Finistere Ventures, one of the pioneering venture firms dedicated to agritech, founded in 2006. Arama has been an investor, company founder and entrepreneur in the Agribusiness sector for over 20 years. Arama joins us to talk all things agtech investing, covering what he's paying close attention to right now and if the investment space is oversaturated. Don't miss this interview with an expert in agtech! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/141

Josiah Terrell-Perica is the Director of Farmland Investing at FarmTogether, a technology-enabled farmland investment platform that provides accredited investors with direct access to farmland as an asset class. Josiah joins us to dive deep into sourcing farmland for the platform and what he looks for, including land and financial criteria, operators, and crops. We also dig into farmland as an investment and the adoption of technology on the farm. Josiah also shares his thoughts on some really interesting crops that have high-demand potential. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/140

Uri Rosenweig is the Head of Product at Trellis, a leading provider of Food System Intelligence, using AI to optimize the way millions of acres of land are transformed into consumable food. Uri brings over a decade's experience as an agricultural innovator and expert in farm management systems and optimization. He earned his BA in economics, sociology, and political science at Bar Ilan University. Uri joins us to talk about how data and AI can transform the food supply chain and how he and the team at Trellis is scaling this technology. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/139

Nathan Gilliland is the CEO of Bellwether Coffee, a venture-backed, high-growth tech company working to positively transform the coffee industry through their flagship product, a coffee roaster. Nathan joins us to discuss how their roaster is shifting the traditional supply chain model by bringing the coffee roasting closer to the consumer, literally in the coffee shop! He also shares his background, more about the business, and what's next for Bellwether! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/138

John Kempf is an entrepreneur, speaker, podcast host and teacher. He is passionate about the potential of well managed agriculture ecosystems to reverse ecological degradation. John joins us to dive deep into what regenerative means and what is does not mean. We address what is overhyped, what is undervalued, and if regenerative agriculture will cure climate change. We also discuss John's background and entrepreneurial endeavors, including his company, podcast, and new book! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/137

Nate Storey is the co-founder and CSO at Plenty, a vertical farming startup on a mission to bring the freshest, cleanest, most craveable produce to people everywhere. Nate joins us to talk all things vertical farming, including the latest developments in the industry, traditional vs. indoor ag, nutrient density, and more! He also shares the founding story of Plenty and the latest in the company's high-profile journey, including their retail partnership with Albertsons. Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/136

Sequoia Price-Lazarus is the founder and CEO of Lazarus Naturals, a leading CBD manufacturer. Sequoia joins the podcast to talk all things CBD. We cover how the company started, regulatory hurdles, a saturated market, farming operations, branding, and more! Show Notes: https://themodernacre.com/135

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