Future of Agriculture

Tim Hammerich
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Dec 6, 2023 • 39min

FoA 392: Ag Labor and Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition With Edward Silva of másLabor

Edward Silva, CEO of másLabor and AgWorks, discusses the challenges around the H2A process, entrepreneurship through acquisition, and the need for ag labor. He explains the process of hiring agricultural workers from Mexico through the H2A visa program and emphasizes the value of skills in agricultural labor. Silva also shares his journey of starting a search fund to find an existing agricultural business to buy and the importance of acquiring businesses for the long term.
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Dec 2, 2023 • 35min

[History of Agriculture] Cyrus McCormick And The Birth Of Mechanical Harvesting

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/[Founders Podcast] #324 John D. Rockefeller (38 Letters Rockefeller Wrote to His Son)[Morgan Housel Podcast] "My New Book, Same As Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes"Today’s combine harvesters are modern marvels capable of harvesting thousands of bushels per hour, including cutting, threshing, cleaning and capturing the grain. But the path from hand tools to the mechanical harvester is a fascinating one; which involved several farm shop innovations, intellectual property battles, labor challenges and pioneering business practices that are considered standard today. So buckle up for this one, because our subject for today’s episode, Cyrus Hall McCormick, was right in the middle of a lot of it all. Other Resources: [YouTube] THE ROMANCE OF THE REAPER " 1937 INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER PROMO FILM CYRUS MCCORMICK[YouTube] Alex Plaza- McCormick Reaper Documentary[Wikipedia] Obed Hussey[Richmond Times-Dispatch] “Jo Anderson” [Forbes Archives] Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time[Wikipedia] Cyrus Hall McCormick[Washington Post] Harvester: The Company That McCormick Built[PBS.ORG] Cyrus McCormick (1809 - 1884)[MIT] Cyrus McCormick: Mechanical Reaper[Investors Business Daily] Cyrus McCormick Revolutionized Farming Worldwide With The Reaper
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Nov 29, 2023 • 47min

FoA 391: The Path To Superhuman Farming with Curtis Garner and Brent Shedd of Verdant Robotics

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/Rhishi Pethe's Software Is Feeding The World Newsletter: https://www.rhishipethe.com/sftwVerdant Robotics: https://www.verdantrobotics.com/Verdant Robotics is offering a smart sprayer that helps farmers reduce labor and input costs. But don’t let the word “robotics” in the name fool you: their technology, although very cutting-edge, hooks right onto existing equipment like any other farm implement. “Here at Verdant we have a slogan called 'autonomy last.' So even though our co founders and early employees all were foundational in the birth of that (autonomous vehicle) industry, it's the last thing that we're going to do. The majority of the value that we're going to provide the grower is automating the machine on the back. That's actually where the value is being provided.” - Curtis GarnerAutomation doesn’t necessarily mean autonomy. That’s Curtis Garner, founder and CCO at Verdant Robotics. A lot of the team, like Chief Operating Officer Brent Shedd, came from the world of self-driving vehicles, but they are now laser focused on farmers, and building the next generation of smart tech-enabled farm equipment. “If you're a grower and you're looking at  an implement that isn't software defined, you should really rethink the way that you're evaluating the long term viability of the equipment  on your farm. Because you want implements that will only increase in value to your operation the longer that you own them.” - Brent SheddCurtis Garner and Brent Shedd from Verdant Robotics join guest host Rhishi Pethe on today’s Future of Agriculture podcast.
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Nov 22, 2023 • 41min

FoA 390: Bridging Data Gaps with Carlos Hirsch of Eiwa

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/Eiwa: https://eiwa.ag/Today's episode features Carlos Hirsch, Chief Revenue Officer at Eiwa. Carlos is passionate about the intersection of agriculture, technology, and people. He has been in the Ag Industry for over 20 years and built an accomplished career in seed production, technology development and SaaS businesses. He has an agronomy degree from ESALQ in Piracicaba, Brazil and an Executive MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He joined Eiwa in August of 2021 and resides with his family in St. Louis, MO.Carlos and Tim talk about what makes data problems in agriculture unique versus a lot of other industries. Their solution, that they call the Eiwa Vault, combines all types of data sources like weather, machinery, satellite, drones, field notes etc. and puts them all in a place and format that makes them accessible to other tools and ultimately, actionable decisions. Their original market for this are researchers and R&D teams so they could spend more time on leveraging the data and extracting insights, but they’ve also moved into offering this to large commercial farming companies as well. This has a lot of implications for the big wave in advancements in artificial intelligence, which we seem to be experiencing right now.Stay tuned to the end of today’s episode for a detailed spotlight of Jason Diekevers and how he’s using technology like Farmwave on his farm. 
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Nov 15, 2023 • 39min

FoA 389: Modern Tree Crop Farming With Sawyer Clark of Gold Leaf Farming

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/Gold Leaf Farming: https://www.goldleaf.ag/Today’s episode features the Director of Asset Management at Gold Leaf Farming, Sawyer Clark. Gold Leaf was founded in 2017 by Brandon Rebiero and Jack McCarthy. Sawyer met Jack while they were both in business school at Stanford, and soon became a part of the team. In today’s episode, Sawyer and I talk about Gold Leaf’s model for investing in farming, specializing in just a few permanent crops, how they add value after acquisition including transitioning to organic, hiring top talent, and embracing technology. We also have a lengthy discussion about the types of technology that has worked - and not worked - for their operation. Sawyer describes himself as a farm kid from Oregon's Willamette Valley, where his family continues to grow hazelnuts to this day. He spends his time at Gold Leaf Farming split between acquiring new properties and leading operational initiatives with the farm team - especially those regarding the company's sustainability practices.Before joining Gold Leaf, Sawyer served as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Army, bootstrapped and joined a couple startups, and completed a short stint in a family investment office. Sawyer received an MBA and MS in Environment & Resources from Stanford University. 
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Nov 8, 2023 • 38min

FoA 388: Agtech Reflections and Projections with David Friedberg and Louisa Burwood-Taylor

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/"10 years on from Climate Corp’s $1bn acquisition, David Friedberg reflects": https://agfundernews.com/david-friedberg-reflects-10-years-on-from-climate-corp-1bn-acquisitionThe Production Board: https://www.tpb.co/Almost exactly 10 years ago, an acquisition was announced that caused many people in the technology and investment community to pay more attention to what was happening in agriculture: Monsanto was buying The Climate Corporation, which was founded by David Friedberg. "Climate.com became the standalone software product for farmers, and that really is kind of the reason Monsanto bought the company, and really kind of set the first big precedent for digitization of agriculture."Today David reflects on the Climate Corp journey and the Monsanto acquisition with AgFunder’s Louisa Burwood-Taylor, and he shares his current thoughts on agtech now that a decade has passed. "I do think that there's going to be some big opportunities for the next transformation in agriculture in multiplex precision gene editing and in metagenomics in the soil microbiome, even in breakthroughs in biologics or other platforms that can discover the next set or the next range of biologics."David and Louisa cover everything from genomics and biologics to precision fermentation, what keeps him up at night, and where agtech is headed in the decade to come. "I think the world will be surprised by how much we see acceleration and advancement in productivity in ag and food systems in the next 10 years."AgFunder’s Louisa Burwood-Taylor sits down with David Friedberg on today’s Future of Agriculture podcast.
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Nov 1, 2023 • 48min

FoA 387: Integrating Farm and Food to Make the World a Tastier Place

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/Silver Spring Foods: https://www.silverspringfoods.com/ Today's episode features Eric Rygg of Silver Spring Foods. This is a fun story for me, not only because I like horseradish, which I definitely do. This is a story of what’s possible when you carve out a niche and make moves to vertically integrate. There are also some great insights here about product positioning both to consumers and to retailers, and some of the challenges and opportunities of processing a marketing farm products. I particularly enjoyed learning about how the team at Silver Spring took it upon themselves to study the chemistry of what makes horseradish hot, and from that research they developed their own heat index for horseradish, they call a zing factor. So it’s kind of like the Scoville Heat Index in hot peppers. For the zing factor, one is beginner, or the least amount of heat, and 5 is the hottest, which will definitely give you that zing that travels up into your nose. Eric and I also hit some big trends like healthy food and regenerative agriculture along the way. Eric is the great-grandson of Ellis Huntsinger who founded Huntsinger Farms and Silver Spring Foods in 1929. Silver Spring Foods is the world’s largest grower and processor of horseradish based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Eric’s mother Nancy, who took over the family business at a young age when her parents tragically passed away while she was in business school at Stanford, remains the CEO and chairman of the board to this day. She has led the company for over 50 years now. Eric worked in all parts of the family business before becoming president of Silver Spring Foods in 2018. Make sure you stay tuned to the end of today’s episode for a spotlight segment with Indiana farmer Jake Smoker about how he’s using technology like Farmwave on his farm. 
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Oct 25, 2023 • 50min

FoA 386: Challenging Assumptions About Regenerative Agriculture With John Kempf

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/Advancing Eco Agriculture: https://www.advancingecoag.com/AEA's Equity Crowdfunding Campaign: https://wefunder.com/advancingecoagRegenerative Agriculture Podcast: https://regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com/John Kempf on Twitter: https://twitter.com/realJohnKempfToday’s episode will challenge several commonly held assumptions about the future of agriculture. Take regenerative agriculture, which most define by the ability to improve soil and sequester carbon. But these are outcomes, even by-products, not the complete definition of regenerative, says John Kempf. John is a leading crop health consultant and the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture. He designs innovative soil and plant management systems to help growers realize the benefits of regenerative transition right away. We talk about what it means to be regenerative, the results they’ve seen from working with over 10,000 farmers across 4M acres, why they’ve launched an equity crowdfunding campaign and how we can all start to look at agricultural problems and solutions through a more regenerative lens.A quick bio on John: John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, a plant nutrition and biostimulants consulting company. A top expert in the field of biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who are growing that supply. John is the host of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, where he interviews top scientists and growers about the science and principles of implementing regenerative agriculture on a large scale.Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition - a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology. He has a unique ability to simplify and clearly explain very complex concepts in the areas of soil and plant health. He skillfully discusses the larger social and environmental impacts of food, agriculture, and ecology. John’s mission is to provide support to the world’s farmers and globally impact our food supply.
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Oct 18, 2023 • 43min

FoA 385: The Private Equity Playbook with Kevin Schwartz of Paine Schwartz Partners

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/Paine Schwartz Partners: https://paineschwartz.com/Today’s episode features Kevin Schwartz of Paine Schwartz Partners. This is a really interesting look at the food and ag industry from a totally different perspective. Kevin and his team are investors, but they’re not trying to invest in early stage startups like a venture capitalist would, or into farmland like other investors might. They focus on companies that already have proven their product, but for one reason or another might be looking to sell or take on an investor. Paine Schwartz Partners focuses their investing in these companies into two general categories: productivity - which includes seed and other inputs and technologies that help farmers and ranchers produce more efficiently and profitably. You’ll hear Kevin use the word “upstream” a lot, and he means upstream in the value chain, so these types of companies/products and services. Then their second area of investing is further downstream into more food companies, specifically those associated with health and wellness. I enjoyed the chance to ask Kevin about the evolution of private equity investing in food and agriculture and their approach from investment thesis development to research and due diligence to value creation strategy to portfolio construction. We also talk about the rise of environmental, social and governance ortherwise known as ESG and impact investing as well as how interest rates impact these companies and PSP’s ability to carry out their strategies. A lot of interesting stuff here that I’m learning for the first time, so I love episodes like this. If you’re an ag nerd but not a finance nerd, there might be a few terms that are foreign to you. I won’t do a full glossary here, but I encourage you to pause and look them up if needed, but stay to the end, because I think there’s some real insight in this episode.A quick bio on Kevin before we dive in: Kevin Schwartz has been an investor in the food and agribusiness industry for more than two decades. Today he leads Paine Schwartz Partners as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner. Raised in the town of Moline on the border of Illinois and Iowa, his great grandparents were subsistence farmers in Iowa and his grandfathe, uncle and father all worked at John Deere. Kevin began his career at Goldman Sachs in the late-1990s, and then moved into private equity working for two organizations, Fremont Partners and American Industrial Partners, before coming to the firm which at that time was called Fox-Paine in 2001.
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Oct 11, 2023 • 45min

FoA 384: Infinite Banking and Farming Without the Bank With Mary Jo Irmen

Put AI to work on your farm: https://farmwave.io/Farming Without The Bank: https://www.farmingwithoutthebank.com/"Becoming Your Own Banker" by R. Nelson NashFarming Without The Bank PodcastMary Jo Irmen is the author of the book Farming Without the Bank and a Infinite Banking Concept Practitioner who has set out to change how the farming industry is financed. She has helped farmers for 13 yrs see that there are financial solutions for them and the next generations. Mary Jo's mission is to take a 100 year old financial process and turn it around by making the bank plan B rather than plan A, give farmers back control, and allowing the next generation to take over without having to buy the farm from the bank with each generation.It’s important for me to note here, that I’m coming to this interview with a personal interest in this infinite banking concept. I’m not a farmer, but I see where it might be a good addition to my personal wealth-building strategy, and I also see where people who rely on banking even more than I do, like farmers, would benefit even more. That said, I’m not a financial or insurance expert. This is not advice. Please talk to an expert before making any financial decisions. This podcast is to try to better understand the infinite banking concept and the tools that go into building your own infinite bank. Let’s start with the 101 version. Here’s how I understand it: We all use banks - well most of us. We all have a general sense of how they make money - and we know they make that money from us. So let’s say for a minute that we see all the money that banks siphon from us through the course of our normal financial lives and we think,  “wouldn’t it be nice if we could be our own bank and keep more of that money for ourselves?” You might think “sure that’s possible if you’re sitting on a big chunk of money that you can just borrow from and lend to, but what about the rest of us?”In the process of accumulating wealth maybe you have a 401k, maybe some real estate, but those aren’t assets designed to be used as a bank to borrow cash from whenever you need it and pay that money back whenever you can. However, there’s another type of asset that is better designed to be used as both a wealth-building tool and a bank. That asset is a certain type of whole life insurance through a dividend paying mutually owned life insurance company. If you’re first hearing about this, it may sound weird. It definitely has taken me a long time to try to get my head around this. But there are aspects of these policies that give you just the flexibility you need to become your own bank: making loans to yourself, repaying yourself, and still accumulating wealth over time. Our guest here has spent 13 years not only doing this, but helping others do the same. She even wrote the book about it, called Farming Without The Bank. This may be an episode you want to listen to multiple times to try to absorb. Or maybe you’re a lot quicker than me and you’ll get it the first time. There are other resources that we mention in the show and I link to in the show notes, most notably the book “Becoming Your Own Banker” by Nelson Nash, who created this concept.

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