Videos

Indiana Association of Soil + Water Conservation Districts’ Liz Rice on balancing economic and environmental sustainability, the state’s innovative advantage

AgriNovus CEO Christy Wright with a checkup on Indiana’s agbioscience economy, hubs, headquarters + their impact on the state + launching a new economic identity for sustained momentum

ISDA’s Don Lamb on convening the corners of the agbioscience industry to drive impact + meaningful change

AgriNovus CEO Christy Wright with a checkup on Indiana’s agbioscience economy, hubs, headquarters + their impact on the state + launching a new economic identity for sustained momentum

We switch chairs this week and our interview host, Hoosier Ag Today's Eric Pfeiffer, joins us to talk through the state of production agriculture, its impact on innovation, surprising findings out of Purdue on farmer adoption of AI and how innovators/producers can meet in the middle to drive greater impact for both sides.

Eric also gets into Hoosier Ag Today's new partnership with Circle City Broadcasting, bringing Indiana agriculture news to television in the Indianapolis market.

DIAL Ventures’ Allan Gray on their new $30M fund, supporting entrepreneurship + creating the next wave of agbioscience innovation

AgriNovus’ Tim Dixon on the 2026 Velocity startups, advancing ideas into market-ready solutions across bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health

Last week, AgriNovus announced that 12 startups will participate in its 2026 Velocity accelerator, a five-month program that awards entrepreneurs a total of $75,000 in cash prizes for their technology solutions divided equally between the strategic categories: bioinnovation, farmer-focused innovation and food is health.

Behind this year’s cohort magic is the organization’s Senior Director of Innovation, Tim Dixon, who joins us this week. He gets into:

Tim’s journey to joining the AgriNovus team and what drew him to the organization

How he defines innovation – and how the definition has evolved over the years

Most promising areas of innovation across agbioscience that have opportunities for transformational impact

How startups should think about customer adoption in a tight farmer and agribusiness market

What makes Indiana uniquely positioned to lead in agbioscience versus other regions of the country

Velocity’s launch and how it’s designed to address gaps in the ecosystem

Tim’s ambitions for Velocity in year one and what he believes competing teams need to be successful

The importance of collaboration among companies, universities, investors and entrepreneurs to turn ideas into market-ready solutions

Outcomes that will signal success for Velocity in 2026

What has him most excited about this year's cohort of startups

DIAL Ventures’ Allan Gray on their new $30M fund, supporting entrepreneurship + creating the next wave of agbioscience innovation

DIAL Ventures’ Allan Gray on their new $30M fund, supporting entrepreneurship + creating the next wave of agbioscience innovation

AgriNovus CEO Christy Wright with a checkup on Indiana’s agbioscience economy, hubs, headquarters + their impact on the state + launching a new economic identity for sustained momentum

Purdue’s Dr. Trey Malone on simplifying ag economics research, preparing for the future vs. predicting it + how consumers are behaving amid a rapidly changing food system

#podcast #agriculture #economics #purdueuniversity

Sustainability. It’s a big word that carries several meanings – particularly across the agbioscience value chain. From conservation practices on the farm to technologies that create a more efficient use of the land, innovators in agbioscience are always seeking to do more with less. Underpinned in that effort is economic sustainability and how different practices create fluctuations in margin for farmers and companies alike. Today we are joined by Executive Director of the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Liz Rice, to talk pressing challenges when it comes to the land and what it takes to support farmers in this space.

Highlights include:

The role of IASWCD in supporting farmers, communities and local conservation efforts around the state

How the conversation on sustainability and conservation has evolved over the last decade

Challenges farmers and district leaders are facing right now that feel most pressing and urgent

Soil health and how Liz defines it in practical terms

Balancing expectations of environmental stewardship with the economic realities of agriculture

Some of the most effective practices Liz has seen adopted today and why they are gaining traction

The role Liz sees farmers playing in climate resilience

New technologies, data and research – and how they will impact the land

Strong partnerships across the ecosystem that she sees making impact

How sustainability can be an even bigger part of our state’s agbioscience story

What’s ahead for her team that has her most excited

DIAL Ventures’ Allan Gray on their new $30M fund, supporting entrepreneurship + creating the next wave of agbioscience innovation