Speakers include Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes; Beth Bechdol, President & CEO, AgriNovus Indiana; Teddy Bekele, SVP & Chief Technology Officer, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; John Hartnett, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, SVG Ventures & THRIVE AgTech and more

INDIANAPOLIS – July 25, 2019 – Forbes today announced its second annual Forbes AgTech Summit in Indianapolis, taking place Sept. 18-19. Following up on the Forbes AgTech Summit in Salinas in June, this event will continue the conversation around the “future of food,” with a special focus on animal health, protein and crops like soybeans that are produced in the Midwest. It will explore solutions to the critical challenges affecting the world’s food supply.

Key speakers include Beth Bechdol, President & CEO, AgriNovus Indiana; Teddy Bekele, SVP & Chief Technology Officer, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Virginia Emery, Founder & CEO, Beta Hatch; Neal Gutterson, Chief Technology Officer, Corteva Agriscience; John Hartnett, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, SVG Ventures & THRIVE AgTech; Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes; Luke Saunders, Founder & CEO, Farmer’s Fridge; Jennifer Sirangelo, President & CEO, National 4-H Council; Mark Stewart, President & CEO, Agriculture Future of America; Matthew Wadiak, Founder & CEO, Cooks Venture; and Susanne Wasson, President–Crop Protection Business Platform, Corteva Agriscience. Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Forbes AgTech Indianapolis summit will foster lively debate, welcoming new perspectives and generating rich networking opportunities within the agricultural, biotechnology and FoodTech communities. The event will begin with an opportunity to tour cutting-edge farming technologies at one of Indiana’s leading businesses. It will also feature a Forbes/THRIVE Midwest Challenge featuring five to seven startups selected from a pool of nearly 100 applicants from 26 countries who will pitch and compete for a chance to win investment from SVG Ventures, secure a place in the THRIVE VI Accelerator Program, plus an advertisement in an upcoming issue of Forbes magazine and the opportunity to present at Forbes’ Under 30 Summit in October. The Innovation Showcase will feature 40 of the most cutting-edge agtech startups, offering a wide variety of solutions to today’s challenges.

Highlights for the agenda include a focus on the 2019 growing season and the technologies that are helping to mitigate potential future losses, how regenerative agriculture can help the ag industry reduce its carbon footprint, as well as a session detailing the global exchange of agriculture innovation – from China to Brazil. Attendees will also hear about biotech innovations in microbes, soybeans and the future of food, and what’s next for animal health.

Video from Forbes AgTech Indianapolis in 2018

“The Forbes AgTech Summit in Indianapolis demonstrates the importance of innovation in food and agriculture and amplifies the fact that it is one of America’s most important and cutting-edge industries,” said Beth Bechdol, president and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana. “As someone who grew up on an Indiana corn and soybean farm, I’ve seen first-hand how technology and innovation can help solve some of agriculture’s most pressing challenges.  Indiana’s agbioscience community is pleased to host the Summit’s global audience once again this year.” 

“With a tumultuous 2019 growing season and the need to continue global innovation among the agricultural industries, we need more than ever to meet these challenges with rich ideas and transformative technologies,” said Sherry Phillips, Senior Vice President of Forbes LIVE. “We look forward to having these themes and technologies as backdrops to the second annual Forbes AgTech Summit in Indianapolis.”

AgriNovus Indiana and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) are the Host Partners. Elanco Animal Health and Corteva Agriscience are the Presenting Sponsors. WinField United is the Partner Sponsor. Purdue University is the Supporting Sponsor. SVG Ventures and its THRIVE Accelerator is the Founding Partner.

Follow the conversation on Twitter via #ForbesAgTech.

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Contacts

Matthew Hutchison mhutchison@forbes.com

Laura Brusca lbrusca@forbes.com

Jocelyn Swift jswift@forbes.com