A law signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 created the cornerstone for America’s leadership in engineering and agriculture. Known as the Morrill Act, the law established land grant universities in states across the country, including Purdue University in Indiana. Since the university’s launch in 1869, it has become a research powerhouse becoming the only university in the country to have both a top 10 ranked college of agriculture and college of engineering. Its graduates include 27 astronauts, 3 World Food Prize laureates, 2 Noble Prize winners and the pace continues to quicken. Today we are joined by Purdue’s Executive Vice President of Research, Dr. Karen Plaut, to share how the university is building on its momentum to advance research and create the economy of the future. 

Asking “what if” has been the cornerstone of Karen’s career and she talks all things innovation at Purdue and where they see their greatest opportunities for impact – from agbioscience to aerospace. As the former dean of the College of Agriculture,  she explores the idea that technologies across different disciplines have meaningful effect on food. Karen also talks research influencing legislation, commercializing and conducting basic research that will drastically improve lives in the future. 

So, what are the next gigantic leaps for Purdue? Karen talks about students being at the core of the university’s success, new intersections for driving change and agbioscience’s critical role in the future. 

Global venture capital deal volume has fallen by 50% worldwide since peaking in the first quarter of 2022 – that’s according the global analyst firm CB Insights. Despite the decline, companies are raising capital. Today’s guest is here to share more about the current fundraising environment and what it means for innovation.  Audre Kapacinskas, principal with S2G Ventures – the second most active agtech investor in America – joins us to talk investment across the entire value chain.  

The daughter of an immigrant, Audre found her love for the food space when her mother opened up a bakery. That love took her on a professional journey to s2g Ventures where she focuses on helping their nearly 100 portfolio companies in food and agriculture thrive. She gets into solutions that create more balance across the value chain, removing the brunt of risk and cost to the farmer and aligning financial incentives to drive impact. Audre also talks about the importance of having farmers at the discussion table when it comes to innovation and what she’s seeing in terms of valuation, time to close and how entrepreneurs and investors are working together during a tumultuous time; she stresses patient capital in the agbiosciences as being important. 

So what will the capital landscape look like in the future? Audre talks big corporate investment, aligning incentives for all stakeholders to drive innovation and how she sees the agbiosciences evolving from an era of great moderation to one of great volatility.

WHIN received a $1M Build to Scale Grant from The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) this month! There were more than 260 applicants with only 60 organizations selected for the Build to Scale program, WHIN being one of them!

The grants, part of the “Build to Scale” program administered annually by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), aim to accelerate technology entrepreneurship by increasing inclusive access to entrepreneurial assistance and startup capital. These EDA investments support innovation industries, such as agriculture technology (agtech), bioscience, advanced manufacturing, blue economy, and health technology, among others.

The funding will enable WHIN to scale our Innovation as a Service (IaaS) program and help many manufacturers in the region to utilize IoT technology to address needs such as preventative maintenance, reduced downtime, safety, reduced waste, asset tracking, and energy and other input management.

WHIN’s IaaS initiative gives companies a manpower and expertise boost. Working side-by-side with plant personnel, WHIN’s team helps to identify pain points and implement IoT solutions from a portfolio of technologies that WHIN has vetted for quality and effectiveness. IaaS flattens the technology learning curve with real results so that manufacturers gain the vision, skill and experience to continue to the next level of digitalization.

Indiana-based farmer-owned cooperatives Co-Alliance Cooperative, Inc. and Ceres Solutions Cooperative, Inc. announced on Wednesday an agreement to pursue a merger. The cooperatives spent the past three months in a due diligence period to better understand the potential synergies of a combined organization. Upon reviewing the final due diligence report, the Boards of Directors of both cooperatives have unanimously approved a member vote for the merger.

“After considerable analysis, we believe this merger will provide a tremendous opportunity for our 20,000 farmer-owners. This will allow our team to provide more robust service offerings, greater investments in our assets and an unmatched customer experience,” said Jeff Troike, CEO of Ceres Solutions. “Together we know there will be great synergies from this historic merger with the Co-Alliance team.”

If the membership approves the merger, the new cooperative will have 1,800 full-time employees who will serve hundreds of rural communities in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. The cooperative system plays a vital role in our rural districts, investing in facilities, sustainable agriculture, and the next generation of farmers. The employee team will be focused on collaborating to drive efficiencies, share expertise and deliver a diverse portfolio of services to customers.

“This merger drives our mission of serving our farmer-owners and the communities where we live and work,” added Kevin Still, CEO of Co-Alliance Cooperative. “The combined strength and legacy of success of Ceres and Co-Alliance creates a powerful partner for our farmer-owners and customers, helping them grow future generations. We are excited about this dynamic combination and what it means for the strength and future of the cooperative system.”

Ceres and Co-Alliance have tested their partnership approach with their joint venture, Endeavor Ag & Energy. Endeavor has successfully provided agronomy, propane, and feed services in north central Michigan. Membership voting will take place in the coming weeks with the hope of completing the merger in early 2024.

Platform to Streamline Hybrid Seed Corn Production In-Season Decision Making, Workflow

 

Intelinair and Hubner Industries, LLC announced a strategic multi-year collaboration agreement to create a new innovative digital platform specifically to manage hybrid seed corn production. Under the terms of the agreement, Intelinair will use its high-resolution imagery and data analytics to help growers more efficiently identify issues in the field throughout the season and inform real-time seed production management decisions to protect yield potential.

“We are excited to partner with Doug Hubner and his team at Hubner Industries, a family-owned business that has been in the seed production, treatment, packaging, and distribution industry for more than 50 years,” said Tim Hassinger, CEO & President at Intelinair. “Through this new platform, we will be able to address the specific needs of seed production using our technology.”

The platform will simplify or automate some of the seed production practices used today, as well as help streamline decisions and dispatch field scouts to identify issues in the field throughout the season.

“Production managers need a way to closely and efficiently manage every acre of their seed crop, giving confidence to their seed partners they will have the highest quality seed,” said Douglas J. Hubner, President at Hubner Industries, LLC. “What we are doing with Intelinair is going to be a game-changer for our production team as it will give us the best of both worlds. Real-time information through the combination of high-resolution imagery and data analytics, along with scouting tools for the boots on the ground in the fields, will help us manage our workflow and decisions throughout the growing season. We expect this combination will increase our yield by 2-3 percent and will deliver higher quality seed across every acre.” 

Other terms of the collaboration agreement were not disclosed.

Discussion around the energy transition often focuses on electrification, but one Indiana company and thousands of Indiana farmers are working together to create new options in that transition – specifically around biofuels. Today’s guest is a long-time energy leader and the chief executive of one of Indiana’s largest privately held companies. Matt Smorch, CEO of CountryMark, joins us to talk the continued emergence of biofuels, diversifying for the farmer and answers a question that most won’t know: where exactly does our fuel come from? 

How will farmers play a role in the new innovative energy sources coming to market? Matt talks about lessons learned from E-85 and how changing the gasoline standard could open up a wide array of new options for fuel (and agriculture). He also looks ahead and how CountryMark will continue to innovate to stay reliable and serve the farmer. 

An estimated 88% of Americans will consume turkey this Thanksgiving – that equates to more than 46 million turkeys! It’s big business for farmers across the country, including here in Indiana where the state has become the fourth largest producer of turkey in the country. Becky Joniskan, president of the Indiana State Poultry Association, joins this week to share more about Indiana’s turkey production and the innovation making it possible. 

Becky talks all things poultry in Indiana – ranging from key innovators like Miller Poultry and Maple Leaf Farms – to the well-informed at-home farmer with a smaller flock. She also dives into turkey’s growing presence in many forms (deli meats, sausage links and more) on your grocery store shelves, With poultry demand on the rise, where are the opportunities for innovators to disrupt the industry? Becky talks nutrition, genetics and environment as spaces ripe for new discoveries and how poultry farmers approach adoption of new innovations. She talks about the critical role of Indiana corn and soybeans to poultry farmers’ success and what’s ahead for the industry. 

Network perks include free co-working space and steep discounts

Starting a new business, service or product is a daunting task, but inventors, innovators and founders have long been described as courageous, audacious and brave. Less often acknowledged and rarely addressed are other attributes these trailblazers share: loneliness, brutal stress and even fear.

In Indiana, that lack of attention on the psychological price of entrepreneurship stops today with the launch of the Indiana Founders Network, an organization supported by TechPoint but led by members.

“No Indiana organization focused on the tech sector has coached more startups than TechPoint’s leadership and venture support teams,” said TechPoint President and CEO Ting Gootee. “And as we discussed how best to execute on new strategies designed to further strengthen Indiana’s digital innovation economy, we realized we couldn’t fully do that if we don’t address the long-ignored reality that founders need more personal support. We also realized there’s no organization better positioned to do this than TechPoint.”

Part of the stress founders experience results from the fact that they are forging new ground and don’t want to get beat by a competitor, so they are hesitant to ask for help. They’re also incredibly busy trying to raise capital, deal with legal and regulatory issues as they work to get their product to market.

Gootee described the Network as a critical need based on thousands of conversations with founders had by her and by the TechPoint team in their current and former positions.

Prior to joining TechPoint, Gootee helped found Elevate Ventures and spent 11 years there in leadership, driving its growth into one of the most prolific investors in the nation. Chelsea Linder, TechPoint’s vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship, spent seven years in leadership roles at gener8tor, where she worked directly with more than 200 founders and coached thousands more across the country. Dennis Trinkle, senior vice president, talent, strategy, and partnership, is the author and editor of 18 books and more than 75 articles on entrepreneurship, technology, leadership, teaching and learning and co-developer of an award-wining videogame on the entrepreneurial process—Fireworks: The Entrepreneurship Experience. Roger Shuman, director of venture engagement, has spent nearly seven years at TechPoint supporting startups and scaleups and connecting them to capital. Together, this is one of the most experienced teams working with founders in Indiana.

Linder said a key element of the Network is that it will be led by its members.

“TechPoint will be the convenor, but we’re just buying the snacks and bringing entrepreneurs to the table,” Linder said. “The members will tell us what they need and want, and we’ll bring in the experts in those areas. Some meetings will be ideal for everyone; others might address a specific need of only a certain segment. Our hope is that the group will forge relationships and create their own individual safety nets in addition to the one we’re developing.”

The Network is open to founders who can support each other, access information and resources necessary to move their businesses forward and build relationships with people facing similar challenges. Targeted sectors include advanced manufacturing and logistics, agbiosciences, life sciences and healthcare, and technology. In addition to peer support, the long-term vision is to also open doors for Indiana founders to TechPoint’s membership, partners and corporate networks, including the Indiana CIO Network.

TechPoint will organize regular gatherings where founders can build peer relationships and share their personal experiences and insights with the group. Members can network across sectors, giving founders a non-competitive and safe environment to build relationships and learn from each other.

Participants will enjoy access to a free, 10-day co-working pass at the 16 Tech Innovation District, the Network’s exclusive coworking space provider for Central Indiana. 16 Tech members will have free access to the network. Additional perks include up to 90 percent off the cost of Hub Spot software and other discounts.

“One of the unspoken truths of innovation-driven entrepreneurship is the public pressure to say that everything is going great. Belief is the pre-condition for making a vision reality, yet this leads to tremendous stress and pressure felt by founders,” said Emily Krueger, president and CEO of 16 Tech Community Corporation, the non-profit responsible for the 16 Tech Innovation District in downtown Indianapolis. “Places like 16 Tech and programs like the Indiana Founders Network are designed to provide support to navigate the resource challenges and personal stress of entrepreneurship.”

The Network is open to startup founders, those with an idea but who haven’t yet moved forward with it and those who want to become a co-founder. It is not a space for investors or vendors. It offers connections to other entrepreneurs, access to members-only events, small peer group conversations and meetups, visibility through a membership directory, discounts to other ecosystem events and services, eligibility to be considered to pitch at TechPoint Pitch Nights and access to education, coaching and mentors via the TechPoint Venture Support platform.

In addition to business activities, TechPoint will appoint a Founders Network Leadership Council from among Network members to ensure the organization is driven by founders first. Membership in the council will be a two-year commitment and by application only. Sponsorship opportunities will be available for non-founders. The network’s founding sponsors are Ice Miller and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. TechPoint members can join the network at no cost. Others can join for $105 per year. Learn more about the Network here.

 

A new scientific review paper published this month provides important insights into the current knowledge base of rumen methanogens – the microorganisms that produce methane as a byproduct of their metabolism in the rumen, or stomach, of ruminants like cattle and sheep – and the gaps that exist in the field. Deep understanding of how methane is produced in the rumen is critical to reducing livestock’s greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously increasing their productivity through improvement of energy intake from feed. In this groundbreaking paper titled “Evolving Understanding of Rumen Methanogen Ecophysiology” (htps://bit.ly/47wruTZ) published in Frontiers in Microbiology as part of The Methane Moment research topic, the authors call for more research in the diversity, physiology, and metabolism of rumen methanogens.

As the number one agricultural source of greenhouse gases worldwide, ruminants like cattle produce methane as part of their normal digestive process. Currently, this type of methane production contributes approximately 4 percent of total emissions annually, with a single bovine belching about 220 pounds of methane. It also accounts for a loss of 2 to 12 percent of the energy provided by the feed for cattle, as methane, that could otherwise be used to produce meat and milk through microbial fermentation process in the rumen.

BiomEdit’s Director of Microbial Discovery Research and one of the lead authors, Dr. Dwi Susanti, believes additional research in this area is urgently needed: “Providing scientists and innovators more detailed information on the ecophysiology and diversity of methanogens in the rumen gives the scientific community the best chance of developing solutions to help livestock producers mitigate methane emissions and increase productivity to feed a growing population.”

“Gaining the most robust understanding of rumen methanogens is key to bringing the best solutions possible for livestock, the producer and the planet,” said Aaron Schacht, CEO of BiomEdit. “This publication is not just informative – it is eye-opening for anyone curious about the biology of methane emission in livestock production. By enhancing our understanding of the microbial ecosystem in the rumen of livestock, we are better equipped to unlock significant innovation.”

Methanogens have been studied for more than 80 years, underpinning the science of the methane-reducing solutions we see today, which provide varying outcomes. They are difficult to study in vitro and are the only microorganisms known to produce methane in anaerobic environments. Consequently, the information on their physiological properties remains mostly inferred from non-rumen, often human, and environmental settings.

One of the key challenges is that rumen methanogens are very difficult to grow in culture. This has limited the ability to study their physiology and metabolism in detail. However, the authors of the paper point to recent advances in culture-independent approaches, such as high-throughput omics technologies that enable the simultaneous analysis of large amounts of biological data, as beginning to fill this gap.

The researchers also highlight the importance of understanding the interactions between rumen methanogens and other microbes in the rumen. The rumen is a complex ecosystem that is home to a wide variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and protozoa. These microorganisms work together to break down the feed that the animal eats producing beneficial nutrients for the animal. This community has evolved over 50 million years, exhibiting resilience and adaptability to environmental changes, which makes modulating this system very challenging and complex. Recent advancements in DNA sequencing and data analysis have made it much easier to identify the members of this ecosystem and predict how they interact to affect digestion and methane production.

Several important research areas to fill the above-mentioned gaps were noted in the paper by the researchers. These include:

Researchers on the paper included:

Link to the paper: https://bit.ly/47wruTZ

Parvovirus – a potentially deadly disease in puppies – has been called the world’s most common canine infectious disease. The viral infection is one that has long been battled through a preemptive vaccine regimen and treated by managing the clinical signs of the infection. However, a new innovation from Indiana-based animal health giant Elanco is transforming canine care through science. This week, we are joined by Elanco veterinarian and veterinarian technical marketer, Dr. Jennifer Miller, to talk about the newly approved monoclonal antibody treatment for canine parvovirus. 

What is parvovirus, how is it caused and what were the treatment options before Elanco’s breakthrough monoclonal antibody? Dr. Miller talks about its severity, its commonality and why this innovation was so critical for puppy owners. She also gets into the years it takes to bring innovation to market and the rewarding feeling of watching it save lives in clinics across the country.  

How does this become the next wave of innovation at Elanco? Dr. Miller talks about the transferable opportunities to other animals and to human health. She also gets into the collaborative spirit working to advance the innovation ecosystem and what she sees as the future of animal health. 

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