Day two of the American Seed Trade Association’s Field Crop Seed Convention is in the books.
Highlights from the day:
Seed Expo: The largest seed industry tradeshow floor in North America opened to an enthusiastic crowd. Companies finished hanging posters and blowing up beach balls, then opened the doors to the tradeshow floor at noon. The tradeshow features 114 of the who’s-who of seed industry vendors. Many are familiar faces but a dozen are brand new to ASTA this year.
2023 Agriculture Economy Report and Majors Panel: Each year, the most well-attended sessions at the FCSC are Dan Basse’s Agriculture Economy Report and the “Majors Panel”. The Majors Panel brings together senior leaders from the Big Four, moderated by Basse, to dig more deeply into Basse’s economic forecast. This year was no exception: the sessions were packed. A summary of Basse’s presentation is available here.
Ag Tech Innovations Showcase at Seed Expo 2023: Back by popular demand, this evening’s Ag Tech Innovations Showcase featured a series of companies offering the latest and greatest in technology. Innovators offered 10-minute TED-talk style presentations to an enthusiastic crowd. Presenters included:
o JABB of the Carolinas: using fungal endophytes to manage environmental stress to improve crop production.
o Phenome Networks: data management platform – NOT what you thought.
o Heubach Colorants: addressing the ban on microplastics in seed coatings colorfully.
o Pattern Ag: seeding the future – harnessing predictive agronomy for smart seed selections.
o Direct Enterprises, Inc: CeraMax Organic – a sustainable solution for managing seedborne pathogens in organic crops.
o aerialPLOT, LLC: automated data collection for enhanced crop phenotypes and field trial QC.
o FieldWatch: leveraging mapping to facilitate communications with seed producers.
o DPH Biologicals: better together – biological seed treatments paired with traditional iPM.
What to Look Forward to Tomorrow
New this year, Seed World U.S. will be hosting the Seed World Innovate Series: three panel discussions featuring senior thought leaders from around the industry. The first two discussions run tomorrow, both on the Seed Expo Stage.
PANEL 1: Changing the Game with Capital ‘I’ Innovation (Thursday, 12:00-12:45 pm)
From feeding the world, to tackling climate change, to managing land more sustainably, the seed industry is on the frontline of some of the biggest challenges facing the world today. With challenge comes incredible opportunity … for those who can innovate to meet changing needs.
What does it take, not just to brainstorm a single great idea, but to execute on innovation effectively, efficiently and consistently? What strategies and tools do some of the best seed industry innovators today use to help meaningfully move the needle forward on innovation? What makes yesterday’s go-to innovation toolkit outdated today … and a bulky anchor tomorrow?
We’ve invited three senior seed industry thought leaders to dig into what makes and breaks innovation. The panel will be moderated by Seed World U.S. editor Aimee Nielson and features:
Colin Steen, CEO at Legacy AgriPartners
Myron Stine, President at Stine Seed Company
Ponsi Trivisvavet, CEO & Director at Inari
PANEL 2: Influence for Action (Thursday, 2:00 – 2:45 pm)
The seed industry has an incredible story to tell. In small and giant ways, it is front and center on solving many of the world’s biggest challenges. Yet, let’s be honest: the seed industry doesn’t always do an excellent job of telling its own story. In fact, the seed industry story that consumers, policy makers, job seekers, and the general public hears is often shaped — even controlled — by outside voices.
If the seed industry wants the license to operate — the ability to use the kinds of innovations and draw the kind of people it needs to be effective — it needs to better showcase the public good, from local to global, that it does every day. Effective advocacy and building influence are pivotal parts of getting that story heard.
Come listen in on Seed World Group’s Influence for Action Panel about how we as individuals, companies, associations, and the collective seed industry can build more influence and meaningfully leverage advocacy. We’ll be tackling big questions: How has the post-pandemic ‘new normal’ changed the nature of influence and advocacy? What’s different looking towards 2024: do we keep doing what we’ve been doing or is it time to change the game? Who should be telling the seed industry story, and is there a ‘right’ (or wrong) way to do it?
Most importantly, we’ll be talking tools: what concrete strategies can we take back to our own roles, regardless of where we fit into the seed value chain, that will allow each of us to better contribute to building the seed industry’s voice?
The panel will be moderated by Seed World Group director of content Madeleine Baerg and will feature three senior seed industry thought leaders:
Ian Miller – CEO of Pairwise
Mark Cool – Global Seed Policy Lead at Corteva
Sarah Wilbanks, Ph.D. – CEO at the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA)
Have you had a chance to stop by the Seed World Media Center yet?
In between networking events and learning opportunities, make sure to find a few minutes to stop by the Seed World Media Centre, powered by Corteva Agriscience. Seed World Group President Shawn Brook, Seed World Group Director of Content Madeleine Baerg, and our new Seed World U.S. editor, Aimee Nielson, will be hosting at the Seed World Media Centre and would love to share a few minutes with you. Pop by anytime!
