The National Pork Board will host the inaugural Swine Innovation Summit in Indianapolis on September 17, 2019, as a special event, prior to participating in the Forbes AgTech Summit Indianapolis. National Pork Board leaders will attend the Forbes AgTech Summit, held on September 18 and 19, as part of its ongoing support of AgTech innovation and the THRIVE Midwest Challenge. Forbes and SVG Ventures-THRIVE are founding partners of the AgTech Summit and partner with AgriNovus Indiana, Corteva, Elanco Animal Health, Land O’Lakes and Purdue University to provide networking and showcase opportunities in the Midwest.

Who: National Pork Board and its allied industry partners

What: Swine Innovation Summit

When: Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019

Where: Indianapolis, Indiana

Why: To help pork producers and food influencers better understand emerging technology trends facing today’s food production systems

Today’s food production systems are undergoing explosive change and the animal agriculture industry needs to prepare in order to keep pace. The Swine Innovation Summit will focus on three key drivers of change including emerging technology, new and dynamic business models and consumer behaviors which impact shopping preferences and food choices.

“Today’s consumers literally carry supercomputers in their pockets and have access to information – both accurate and misleading – that they leverage in making on-the-spot purchase decisions,” said Andy Brudtkuhl, National Pork Board’s director of emerging technology. “In the span of a few short hours, we intend to educate today’s pig farmers on what they need to know and how they must adapt to the changing world in which we live.”

As part of its mandate to support pork research, promotion and education, the National Pork Board is offering the conference free of charge to pig farmers, swine veterinarians, authorized academics and allied industry. Interested attendees can see the agenda of the Swine Innovation Summit and register here.

The National Pork Board became a THRIVE Corporate Innovation Partner with SVG Ventures in 2018 with the intention to connect world-class technology to the swine industry. The first annual Swine Innovation Summit is a collaborative effort between the National Pork Board and SVG Ventures-THRIVE to highlight entrepreneurs as it launches the THRIVE Swine Startup Showcase specifically for pork producers and swine industry partners.

“Our ultimate goal is to drive innovation and to solve critical challenges facing the agriculture industry in the Midwest today and our expanding partnership with National Pork Board reflects this vision,” said John Hartnett, CEO SVG Ventures.

The five finalists hand-selected to pitch on stage at the Swine Innovation Summit are BinSentry, Hog Wash, ProteoSense, SwineTech and Teichos Labs. The summit is focused on developing strategic solutions to improve swine farming sustainability practices of reducing land and water usage, lowering livestock carbon footprint, improving food safety, and protecting animal welfare.

“Changing food production practices also includes technology that is disrupting not only how food is produced, but how it is transported, presented and sold to unknowing consumers,” Brudtkuhl said. “Understand, this is a trillion-dollar industry and it has never been more important to be ahead of emerging trends.”

About SVG Ventures-THRIVE Innovation Platform

SVG Ventures-THRIVE is the leading AgriFood innovation ecosystem, comprised of top agriculture, food and technology corporations, universities and investors. With a community of over 2,000 startups from 82 countries, the THRIVE platform invests, accelerates and creates unparalleled access for entrepreneurs to scale globally to solve the biggest challenges facing the food and agriculture industries. AgFunder recognizes SVG Ventures-THRIVE as the “Most Valuable AgriFood Platform in the World.” THRIVE was launched in 2014 by Silicon Valley Global Ventures (SVG Ventures), a venture, innovation, and investment firm based in Silicon Valley, California. For more information, visit the SVG Ventures THRIVE website.