Join the ag business community for this showcase of emerging innovation in agriculture technology.
Sonny Ramaswamy
President, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Keynote: “The Vision Thing”
A big picture look at scope and nature of innovation that is unfolding in such key areas as biology (seeds/genetics), digital (information) and mechanical (drones, GPS). What does the future hold?
Sonny Ramaswamy is an agricultural scientist who currently serves as President and CEO of Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. For a six year term (2012-2018), he served as a member of the Obama and Trump Administrations as Director of National Institute of Food and Agriculture. From 1997 to 2006 Ramaswamy was University Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Entomology at Kansas State University. He was then the Associate Dean of Purdue University College of Agriculture and directed the University's agricultural research programs from 2006 to 2009. From 2009-2012 he served as the Reub Long Professor and Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University.
Marshall Stewart
Vice Chancellor Extension & Engagement, University of Missouri
Keynote: “Technology Can Fuel a Dynamic Future”
The exciting promise unfolding with innovation and technology to build a strong future for agriculture. Technology can be a driving force in economic development across the region.
Marshall Stewart leads the MU Extension and continuing education programs, as well as university-wide engagement. In addition to his role as vice chancellor, Dr. Stewart serves as chief engagement officer for the University of Missouri System, where he leads statewide outreach efforts. His All Things Missouri initiative aims to create a 21st century model for extension and engagement.
J.J. Jones
Co-Founder, Roots & Legacies
Event Emcee - J.J. is a frequent presenter on consumer attitudes and trends regarding agriculture and food from both a domestic and international perspective.
Panel: Promising Research in the Academic Pipeline
Brian McCornack, Associate Professor of Entomology, Kansas State University. “Understanding the impact of increased productivity on beneficial communities and sustainability of current practices.” His work includes identifying tangible solutions to emerging pest issues in field crops. He has developed a web-based decision support system designed to facilitate the delivery of information to various stakeholders. These IPM tools are designed for use on large commercial farms.
Melissa Goellner Mitchum, Missouri Soybean Endowed Professor of Plant Science, Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri. “Plant nematode interactions, with a focus on soybean cyst nematode.” Dr. Mitchum’s work focuses on the molecular basis of the plant-nematode interactions in a quest to reducedamage from plant-parasitic nematodes which cause nearly $1 billion in crop losses annually.
Bob Rowland, Professor of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University and Randall Prather, Curator’s/Distinguished Professor of Reproductive Biotechnology, University of Missouri. “Collaborative efforts to detect and control swine disease.” Both have focused on the swine disease PRRSV (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus). Rowland’s work has focused on understanding the role of host genetics in disease response. Prather’s lab has created pigs that are not susceptible to PRRSV. The lab has made over 70 different genetic modifications for agriculture and medicine.
Panel: New Technology Solutions in the Marketplace
Todd Firkins, Executive Director of Commercial Operations, GrowSafe Systems. “New technology to measure and monitor animal health and performance.” The systems automatically measure multiple biometric and environmental inputs in livestock production environments, continuously monitoring individual animal health and performance status without relying on conventional means. This enables producers to make data-driven decisions to make genetic selections for more feed efficient bulls and heifers as well as monitoring welfare, disease, individual animal gain and behavior.
Donald DeJong, Co-Founder, Sedron Agriculture. “Innovative technology to treat animal wastewater.” Sedron Ag’s process captures nutrients using a cost effective, environmentally-friendly, and robust self-contained processing facility configured to convert manure slurries into a pathogen-free fertilizer product that can be stored and applied at the exact time and amount needed for maximum crop uptake.
Arsalan Lodhi, Founder and CEO, WISRAN. “Measuring time/cost of farming activities.” Customer pain is an invisible operating loss, not trackable by field. Work Intelligence System Running ANalytics (WISRAN) improves workers and equipment utilization to boost profits. The systems hands-free meters, analyzes to identify over spend on equipment, labor and fuel by field in real-time during operation.
Event Sponsors
Interested in sponsoring this event? Please contact Erica Venancio
erica.venancio@agbizkc.com | 816.912.2084