Videos

Convergence research: the idea of taking major agricultural themes and breaking them down into simple, digestible insights for various audiences. Necessary? Absolutely. And it’s the work that Dr. Trey Malone, Boehlje Chair in Managerial Economics for Agribusiness at Purdue University, has been doing with his team for awhile now. He brings his expertise in the studio today to dive into the intersection of entrepreneurship, policy and a massive agbioscience supply chain. Many highlights follow, including:



What the role of Boehlje Chair in Managerial Economics for Agribusiness has meant to Trey in his career and how it has scoped the work he is leading at Purdue today

The realization behind convergence research and how they’ve seen it pay off in practice

Pressure points Trey sees creating the most concern for the industry at large and what the economics say about how industry is responding to them

The idea of “real options thinking” as less about predicting the future and more about preparing for it by placing small bets to widen your options rather than focusing on one path for success

How real options thinking applies across the value chain

How Trey has seen agbioscience businesses respond to the demands of the consumer and their shifting behavior over the last five years

What moves the needle for consumers versus what’s mainly just perceived to be marketing

The Health Halo effect, hard seltzer drinks and what they’ve taught industry about labeling, marketing and how they interact with the consumer

The gap Trey sees that academic research needs to address for industry in agricultural economics

Research that Trey wishes everyone had their hands on and used with regularity to drive insight and decision making

What’s ahead for his time this year

SoySeal’s Jocelyn Erickson + Elizabeth Heckaman on winning the Soybean Innovation Competition

Keystone Cooperative’s Drew Garretson on agtech's greatest opportunities for impact

Alloy Partners’ Ben Lewis on the One Health Studio, Indiana’s unique advantage + startups + corporations winning together

The future of the bioeconomy with FiberX’s Dave Skibinski, turning corn stover into circular innovation + TechPoint Mira honors as market validation

From volatile markets to high input costs, farmers are facing a number of challenges that could be offset by additional markets and revenue streams. Today, we're joined by Fiber X CEO Dave Skibinski who's working to give producers exactly that: a new opportunity rooted in the growing demand for natural fiber. Fresh off of a big win at TechPoint’s Mira Awards, Dave shares how FiberX is helping farmers diversify their operations and how agricultural byproducts are enabling the future of the bioeconomy. Highlights include:

The work FiberX leads and who they serve through their work in a growing bioeconomy

How their team chose the approach to leverage ag byproducts like corn stover to make bioindustrial resins and biocomposite plastics rather than other approaches

FiberX’s differentiation from traditional petroleum-based plastics – both in terms of performance and sustainability

Why they chose corn stover as the right feedstock for FiberX

New applications or industries showing the strongest demand for biocomposite materials in this rapidly growing bioeconomy; and how these companies have evolved over time

Performance metrics that industrial customers care most about and how FiberX is delivering on those benchmarks

Barriers their team has faced getting manufacturers to adopt bio-based materials and how they tackle objection

The FiberX // farmer relationship and how they execute that side; how their business model benefits them in terms of a new market unlock, additional revenue stream and more

How the farmer relationship, alongside the manufacturer, creates a circular economy – and what that means

The role of partnerships within the Indiana agbioscience ecosystem to grow and scale their technology

Winning the Agbioscience Innovator Award at TechPoint’s Mira Awards and how that honor validated the company’s work and its trajectory

Breakthroughs and milestones Dave believes will define the future of bioindustrial materials over the next decade

Alloy Partners’ Ben Lewis on the One Health Studio, Indiana’s unique advantage + startups + corporations winning together

AgrIInstitute’s Beth Archer on building a leadership ecosystem, the power of different industry voices in one room + delivering consistency in an industry of constant change.

Purdue’s Dr. Lavanya Reddivari on her groundbreaking food is health research, partnerships moving discovery forward + Indiana’s opportunity to accelerate its impact

From styrofoam to concrete, the Student Soybean Innovation Competition at Purdue University has transformed a renewable resource into several industrial products over the last three decades. More than products, though, it has turned students into aspiring creators and entrepreneurs. Elizabeth Heckaman and Jocelyn Erickson from this year’s winning competition join us in studio this week to recap SoySeal, ideating a product to market viability and the ultimate joy of holding a grand prize check.

We get into:

SoySeal as an invention and how it came to be

Why they chose an adhesive over other routes

The formulation process – how does a soybean become an environmentally responsible adhesive?

Its comparison to other tapes on the market, in terms of performance and sustainability

Biggest challenges as they worked through the process of idea to market-ready product

The role of the consumer in their creation process

How they balanced team structure and skillsets across disciplines during development

What this innovative pursuit taught them about their own professional development

How they approached SoySeal from a business and commercialization perspective rather than just a technical and scientific idea

The critical role of Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana farmers to help mentor and influence their process

On-campus resources that enabled their team’s success

Advice they have for student entrepreneurs

Future plans for the team

CICP’s Ting Gootee on the launch of IN AI, putting tech to work for your organization + building Indiana into a more AI-ready economy

AgrIInstitute’s Beth Archer on building a leadership ecosystem, the power of different industry voices in one room + delivering consistency in an industry of constant change.

From agtech adoption to agronomy, inputs, animal health services and beyond, agricultural cooperatives exist under one common objective: to enable farmer success. For 100 years, Keystone Cooperative has delivered that effort to communities across Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, employing more than 1,700 workers and differentiating themselves through service and relationships.

Vice President of Member Engagement and Public Affairs Drew Garretson joins this week to talk about the Keystone Cooperative journey, including their expanded footprint post-merger and the approach they take to ensure they are delivering best-in-class innovation and services to their farmer members.

Highlights include:

The work Drew leads at Keystone Cooperative – including his many titles over the years with the organization – and how they serve American farmers

Conversations with members as they head into the spring planting season

How Keystone helps farmers navigate decisions and navigating risk while operating under tight margins

Emerging technologies that Drew believes are having the greatest impact on U.S. farming operations over the next five years

Criteria Keystone follows to determine whether a potential technology or service is a good fit for their members

How Drew and the team have approached partnerships and collaborations over the years – and what makes quality partnerships work for Keystone

The generational transition for agriculture and how Keystone approaches the decision-making mindset on farms where thoughts on innovation and sustainability may differ

How the current economic and regulatory environment shapes the cooperative landscape and the challenges and opportunities those headwinds present

Areas of agriculture Drew believes we’ve just begun to scratch the surface on, our biggest opportunities that lie ahead for farmers to get more efficient and gain net farm income over the next five years

What’s ahead for the Keystone Cooperative team that has Drew most excited

Purdue’s Dr. Lavanya Reddivari on her groundbreaking food is health research, partnerships moving discovery forward + Indiana’s opportunity to accelerate its impact