Hive grading model confirmed through six years of optimizations
The Bee Corp has spent the past six years testing, tuning and optimizing their infrared hive grading model with the goal of maintaining accuracy with every new addition to the technology. With the vast and in-depth data generated by the tool, Verifli’s hive strength assessments are creating the standard for pollination success — increasing the value brought to the growers, decreasing input and labor costs, providing more data — pushing the entire industry to think beyond the traditional manual grading.
This was the first season in which The Bee Corp didn’t require manual inspections because model performance has exceeded the high accuracy target the company has set for themselves. In 2021, The Bee Corp designated time during almond pollination to conduct validation tests for each of their customers to confirm the accuracy and value delivered by Verifli. Through the validation test, the numbers produced by both manual and Verifli grading matched up — making Verifli faster and more accurate than ever.
“Our approach to developing Verifli has been cautious and deliberate — only building features that address immediate needs of our customers,” said The Bee Corp CEO, Ellie Symes. “We learned early on that AgTech innovations achieve success not by making lofty promises about what it could become, but by being pragmatic about the value it provides today and candid about its current limitations.”
This extends The Bee Corp’s data for upcoming seasons and adds the ability to define more variables that affect pollination success. As the company gears up for their fifth season in almond groves, and the addition of adapting the model for several other crops including berries, apples and avocados, the brand no longer needs to manually grade to confirm the confidence in their technology.
“This achievement is a result of more than six years collecting hive data in the field, plus thousands of hours of data analysis and refining our methods,” said Wyatt Wells, COO. “When we committed to building Verifli, we didn’t know if it was even possible to measure colony strength through infrared image analysis. Our attitude at the time was ‘we won’t know until we try’. This is an attitude which has become core to our company culture over time.”
The Bee Corp has several initiatives for 2022, including delivering instant results (compared to their 48-hour result model previously) and adapting to working in cold storage conditions. The Bee Corp is happy to announce Verifli is protected by US Patent No. 11,301,679 B2. Further improvements to the technology are expected in the seasons ahead. The goal has always been to be the fast, accurate, unbiased hive grading system. As the needs and variables change for the industry and they enter new markets, The Bee Corp continues to adapt and push the entire industry.
“This issuance of the latest patent is further evidence that The Bee Corp continues to refine and improve our platform technology,” said new team member and Head of Growth, William Still. “We are excited to leverage Verifli and this technology into new and exciting future markets.”
Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN) has partnered with Sol Chip Ltd, an Israeli based company, to build a weather station and soil monitoring solution. By utilizing WHIN’s next generation 10-county LoRaWAN infrastructure this partnership will allow for the expansion of WHIN’s dense weather network in west central Indiana. Phase I was successfully completed earlier this year, and Phase II is currently in execution.
WHIN’s weather station and soil monitoring network currently operates on a cellular network. In order to increase sustainability and create a denser network for better utilization for weather modeling and conditions in the region, the network is being retrofitted to operate on a LoRaWAN network with the help of Sol Chip Ltd. LoRaWAN is a low power, wide area networking protocol that is designed to wirelessly connect devices to the internet to form a regional network. This technology will allow areas in the WHIN region the ability to deploy internet-based sensors for agriculture, manufacturing, or any number of IoT devices in the future.
Based on its everlasting battery, Sol Chip provides a maintenance-free, energy autonomous IoT platform for a variety of sensors and system controls. The Sol Chip system supports IoT devices, communication, data collection, storage & management, and control of third-party systems. Phase I of the partnership was successful in integrating sensors to Sol Chips’s SolTag and proved the platform operates correctly on two weather and soil monitoring stations. Phase II has begun and involves further integration of additional sensors on 20 weather stations in the region. The additional sensors will be integrated into the SolTag platform using SDI-12 soil moisture monitoring tools that measure soil temperature and moisture in several soil depths.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Sol Chip to expand our weather and soil monitoring network,” says Johnny Park, CEO for WHIN. “They will help us verify robust communication and accuracy of the sensors in Phase II to expand our capabilities for weather and soil condition monitoring.”
“The Sol Chip team is exceptionally grateful for this opportunity,” says Teddy Golan, CEO of Sol Chip. “The WHIN team has shown confidence in our ability to deliver, and we appreciate our working relationship in moving forward in these projects which will solidify our growing Agtech business in the USA.”
Teri Willey’s impressive career has touched many college campuses in our state, and well beyond. This week, the Managing Director of IU Ventures joins us to talk about the next chapter of tech transfer, IU’s investment portfolio and the emergence of new startups operating on the idea of food as medicine.
United Animal Health has long been a leader in animal nutrition and now, they are looking to the future and adding new partnerships. This week, we are joined by Scott Holmstrom, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at United Animal Health, and Joel Harris, Co-Founder of Genvax.
They talk about Joel’s recent fundraise, including a strategic investment from United Animal Health, how the two companies align well for a partnership and the future of animal health.
Melissa Proffitt’s career in law spans many industries, but agbioscience stands out to her. This week, the Partner-in-Charge of Client Relations at Ice Miller joins the podcast to talk about her path to becoming a lawyer, feeding the world and what sets Indiana apart.
Today at the Indiana State Fair, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch presented Dr. Karen Plaut, Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University, and Gary Truitt, Chairman of Hoosier Ag Today and the Indiana Farm Equipment & Technology Expo, with the state’s highest agricultural honor, the AgriVision Award.
Now in its 16th year, the award is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the agriculture industry and their communities.
“The agriculture industry is constantly growing and advancing thanks to businesses and education systems run by outstanding Hoosiers such as Dr. Plaut and Gary Truitt,” said Lt. Gov. Crouch. “They are taking technology and community involvement to the next level through their careers and many projects. These individuals are serving the State of Indiana to better the lives of future generations to come. These two agriculturalists and their families are well deserving of being awarded the state’s highest agricultural honor.”
Dr. Plaut came to Purdue in 2010 as Associate Dean and Director of Agricultural Research Programs and was promoted to Senior Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs in 2013. In May 2018, she was named the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. In this role, she leads a college of nearly 300 faculty, more than 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students, with 280 Extension educators across all 92 Indiana counties. The college is ranked #8 globally and #4 nationally among colleges of agriculture and forestry.
In 2013, Dr. Plaut took the lead in writing the proposal that led to more than $20 million in funding for the Purdue Moves Plant Sciences Initiative. Some of the many accomplishments of this initiative include establishing the Center for Plant Biology and the hiring ten new faculty members, creating Ag‐Celerator™, a $2 million plant sciences innovation fund within the Purdue Foundry that provides critical startup support that helps Purdue/Indiana as well as developing new industrial and stakeholder partnerships that resulted in major funding to build and equip the Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center, the first field phenotyping facility in North America.
In 2021, she worked to secure more than $20 million in funding for Purdue Next Moves Plant Sciences 2.0 – the only Purdue Moves initiative to receive additional funding from the Board of Trustees. This second round of funding will leverage and expand Purdue Agriculture’s expertise in digital agriculture, phenotyping and agricultural economics to add value to plants and forest products by optimizing productivity, nutrition and sustainability traits and coupling these to consumer preferences. Recognizing that Purdue had the expertise in both forestry and data science, Dr. Plaut added a digital forestry component to this round of funding to better support Indiana’s hardwood industry whose annual economic impact is $10 billion and set up Purdue – and our state – to be a leader in developing digital platforms to revolutionize forestry and support critical efforts to monitor and mitigate devastating forest fires and pest/disease outbreaks.
Under Dr. Plaut’s leadership, Purdue’s College of Agriculture is a strong partner in growing economic opportunities and innovation in Indiana agriculture. The college supports entrepreneurship opportunities among its faculty and students and this focus has resulted in 24 new startups from within the College over the last five years. One specific area of success is within the plant sciences, which now accounts for 20 percent of the new startups at Purdue University. Dr. Plaut sits on the Board of Directors of AgriNovus Indiana, the state’s initiative to advance the agbiosciences sector. She works closely with the AgriNovus team to engage companies looking to locate or expand in Indiana to showcase how Purdue can collaborate with them in research, as well as provide a highly‐trained workforce. Since 2018, these efforts have resulted in 2,175 new jobs and $848 million in new capital investment in the state from companies like Inari Agriculture, Inc., Elanco, and Solinftec.
With more than 622,000 Hoosiers – including 130,000 4‐H youth – engaged through Purdue Extension programs in 2021, Dr. Plaut recognizes the important, yet evolving, role the college’s outreach programs play in both rural and urban communities across the state.
Both professionally and personally, Dr. Plaut actively seeks to engage others to build a stronger sense of community and an environment where all can thrive. Dr. Karen Plaut is playing a pivotal role in preparing the next generation of Indiana agriculturists and in building Indiana’s agricultural and agbioscience economy. She is advancing science to benefit people, animals and our environment while making a difference in the lives of others.
Gary Truitt arrived in Indiana in 1985 to begin the first of several ventures all designed to serve Indiana farmers and the agriculture community. The first project was to create the very first of its kind, live, daily farm radio network, serving only the Indiana audience. So was born the Indiana Agribusiness Radio Network, which was later renamed the AgriAmerica Network by new owners Emmis Communications. For his efforts in creating a radio network that touched all parts of Indiana, he was awarded the Farm Broadcaster of the Year from the National Association of Farm Broadcasting in 1988.
In 2006, with that network being sold a year prior by Emmis, and seeing Indiana again void of a state-based farm radio network, Gary founded his second network from the ground up, this time as the principal owner. Hoosier Ag Today is now the most listened to farm network in Indiana with over 70 affiliates statewide.
In 2018, he partnered with Farm World Newspaper to purchase the struggling Indiana/Illinois Farm and Outdoor Power Equipment Show, now named the Indiana Farm Equipment and Technology Expo. After many decades, and again to better serve Indiana farmers, the Expo was moved from its prior location to the new Grand Park Event Center in Westfield, Indiana. Exhibitors and visitors alike praised the move to the new, modern facility in December 2021. The future for this farm show, once on its last leg, looks very promising.
In 2019, Gary saw another opportunity for growth by purchasing the Michigan Agriculture Information Network. Now named Michigan Ag Today, this is another venture that is flourishing under the leadership of Gary Truitt.
Gary has cultivated lasting relationships over the years with national, state, and local farm leaders. He has traveled to 17 countries to bring the story of agriculture back to Hoosiers. His work ethic on the international trips has become legendary.
At present, he is the only two-time winner of the Farm Broadcaster of the Year award. Twenty-seven years after receiving it for the first time, he was honored again in 2015 with Hoosier Ag Today. Additionally in 2020, Gary joined the ranks of other legendary farm broadcasters by being inducted into the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Hall of Fame. This is the highest honor a farm broadcaster can receive within the industry.
Gary has been serving Indiana agriculture since 1985 bringing farmers and agribusinesses the news and information they need each day. This includes the markets, weather, and farm news that farmers rely on daily via their radio, website, the daily podcast offering, and daily newsletter. During this long career, Gary’s devotion has been to his Indiana farmer listening audience and readers. It is his unique media skills and vision that created each of the entities that have endured in economic good times and bad.
“Both ventures run by Gary Truitt and Dr. Plaut are pillars within the Hoosier agriculture industry,” said Bruce Kettler, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. “Their passion is seen well beyond their operations and does not go unnoticed in their community. It is an honor to be awarding these outstanding individuals and recognizing their services to the citizens of Indiana.”
For more information about the AgriVision Award, please click here or visit www.isda.in.gov. Click here to see photos from the 2022 Celebration of Agriculture.
AgriNovus issued a challenge to the tech community this year: unlock free delivery access to those participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a $100 billion federal program annually. Eleven teams answered the call and brought forth their solutions recently and a panel of judges selected a winner to receive a $25,000 prize to help launch their product to market. This week, we are joined by Geng Wang, the CEO of Civic Champs and winner of the HungerTech Challenge.
Geng talks about the “why” behind his organization, what called his team to sign up to participate and how they plan to proceed. Learn more about HungerTech at AgriNovusIndiana.com/HungerTech.
Verility Inc., led by co-founder and CEO Liane Hart, has closed Series A funding worth $3.5 million. The round was led by Mountain Group Partners of Nashville, Tennessee, and includes a previous investment from Purdue Foundry.
Verility has created a global platform called Fertile-EyezTM that provides fertility analysis products that enable livestock producers and breeders to accelerate reproductive performance. It provides accurate, simple and cost-effective analysis to predict ovulation phase and sperm quality at the point of care. The company has licensed the intellectual property from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, where it was originally created and validated in humans.
Hart said improving sperm analysis and improving ovulation detection for animal breeding are two of the most important ways to meet the critical need for more edible meat protein. She said conception rate is known to be highly correlated with producer profitability and food sustainability.
“The Series A funding will allow us to develop our product for swine producers and breeders in a major segment of production,” she said. “The investment will allow us to reach the point of preparing for commercialization, which we anticipate in late 2023. It’s extremely exciting to have the ability to bring automated mobile breeding technologies into a segment of the animal health industry that normally does not see much innovation.”
Verility chief financial officer Brian Kopp said, “We are extremely pleased that more investment is finding its way into animal health innovation to bring more efficiency to animal production. We have a real opportunity to make significant improvement in animal fertility, an area where more innovation is needed.”
Rob Readnour, managing director at Mountain Group Partners, said Verility complements the group’s investment portfolio. Its investment in Verility’s Series A funding round aligns with the group’s overall goals.
“Mountain Group Partners is excited to bring our expertise in animal health to help Verility develop the Fertile-Eyez technology to allow swine producers to be more productive through improved reproductive performance,” he said. “Producers are facing challenges from rising input costs and labor shortages only exasperated by the pandemic. They need innovation like Fertile-Eyez to help them meet the important mission of producing animal protein in a sustainable way.”
Hadi Shafiee, faculty member at the Division of Engineering in Medicine and Renal Division of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said artificial intelligence-assistive tools will play an important role in the path toward transforming traditional agriculture to precision agriculture.
“The proprietary, AI-enabled, smartphone-based platform technology that my lab has created has broad applications in precision animal health and breeding,” he said. “This Series A funding will help us to commercialize our first AI-enabled product for accurate, affordable and real-time ovulation prediction in swine.”
Verility received $100,000 as one of two winners of the Purdue Ag-Celerator, an agriculture innovation fund, in January 2022. Riley Gibb, director of business development at Purdue Foundry, said the company is a strong example of startups that bring Purdue-supported innovations to the market.
“Liane Hart is one of many high-quality entrepreneurs bringing Purdue-supported startups to market,” he said. “Verility and other companies are already making an impact in plant sciences and animal sciences.”
Futurology Life selected Verility as one of its top agriculture technology companies in Indiana earlier in 2022. Hart recently participated in Purdue Foundry’s Women in Entrepreneurship Panel and AgriNovus Indiana’s Quadrant event for ag bioscience entrepreneurs.
Ontario-based Skjodt-Barrett Contract Packaging LLC says it will invest $58 million to double its manufacturing footprint in Boone County. The contract food manufacturer and packaging company, whose U.S. headquarters are in Lebanon, says the 340,000-square-foot expansion will include additional production lines and freezer space.
Skjodt-Barrett is a co-manufacturer of retail ready, pouch products, including baby food, lunchbox fruit snacks, and salad dressing.
“Boone County is quickly becoming a hub for food and ag-related companies considering the central Indiana region,” said Molly Whitehead, Boone County Economic Development Corp. executive director. “We’re thrilled a local company has expanded once again, and we look forward to welcoming similar companies to our community.”
Purdue University has been hosting the 4th cohort of The Mandela Washington Fellowship with agbioscience innovators from Africa spending time on campus this summer to hone and develop their professional and leadership skills. This week, we are joined by Boaz Berhanu and Molly Abende to talk about their experience with the program this summer.
They talk about the critical issues facing their respective communities, what they’ve learned from the program and how they plan to enact change at home once they return.
