Ag Future: Innovation in Agri-Food

As the food supply chain shifted over the past year, so did consumer eating habits. Matthew Smith, vice president of Alltech, joins the podcast to reflect on changes in the dairy industry and to discuss the global demand for dairy products, the impact of dairy alternatives and the importance of sustainable dairy production and farm waste management.

In January 2016, a massive fire burned down Kentucky’s largest individual cattle market, the Blue Grass Stockyards. The stockyard has since rebuilt its facilities, but like many in the agri-food industry, it has faced new challenges over the past year. We spoke with COO Jim Akers about the current state of the meatpacking industry, the challenges and opportunities for rebuilding the cattle market and more.

What some may view as obstacles, Twig Marston sees as opportunities. The beef nutritionist from Hubbard Feeds joins to share his thoughts on the current state of the beef industry and why he is optimistic about the industry becoming more efficient and sustainable.

Evelyn Greene, president of American National CattleWomen (ANCW), joins us to discuss her work uplifting the beef industry, promoting sustainable beef production and encouraging more women to carve out careers in the agriculture industry.

Minette Batters represents the interests of 47,000 members of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales (NFU) as the organization’s president. She joined the podcast to discuss protecting farmers through agricultural policy, farm innovations that will lead to more sustainable food production and why she is hopeful about the future for farmers.

Marianne Smith Edge is a food, agriculture and consumer insight strategist and founder of Agri NutritionEdge where she serves as a translator between the consumer and the ag space to bring more food transparency to the food chain and improve food perception with consumers. She shares her insights on building trust with consumers by providing the security of safe and healthy food.

The European Union Green Deal is an ambitious plan to help Europe become the first carbon-neutral continent by the year 2050. Ciaran Black, an independent strategy and innovation consultant, discusses how farmers are adapting to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, what new business opportunities are arising as a result of the consumer demand for product sustainability and what the implications are globally for more sustainable food production.

What is the future of the agriculture industry after a tumultuous year? Joe Kerns, managing director of Kerns and Associates, discusses the ways the food supply chain adapted over 2020, ways farmers must be agile to succeed today and what agri-food trends to look for moving forward into 2021.

This is the first episode in our new series, The 2021 Agri-Food Outlook. Join us for the rest of this series as we speak with experts on what is in store for agri-food in the new year.

Five months ago, we spoke with Jack Bobo, CEO and founder of Futurity, about the rapidly changing food supply chain and what trends he believed would influence the future of food production and consumer habits. We recently spoke to Jack again about how consumer trends in the food industry and the food supply chain adapted through the rest of 2020.

How do the top farms achieve and maintain exceptional performance? Valerie Duttlinger, chief analytics officer at Summit SmartFarms, explains how a positive workplace culture that focuses on the people and processes on the farm can lead to greater agricultural production.