FieldLark AI: https://fieldlark.ai/

Advancing Eco Agriculture: https://advancingecoag.com/

Regenerative Agriculture Podcast: https://advancingecoag.com/podcasts/

FoA 386: Challenging Assumptions About Regenerative Agriculture With John Kempf

Today we’re joined by John Kempf, founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture. John first joined me on the podcast two years ago for episode 386 titled “Challenging Assumptions About Regenerative Agriculture”. That episode was widely shared and provided me with a ton of interesting feedback. So I was eager to bring John back on especially to discuss this new AI regenerative agronomist tool they’ve launched which is called FieldLark AI. As I hoped, John and I also get somewhat philosophical about technology use and ethics, and we talk about a separate but similar project he has taken on of building a digital clone of his knowledge and expertise. We talk about what that process looked like and how he’s using Digital Clone John in his daily life. And you agronomy nerds definitely will want to stick around to the end because we talk about some fascinating insights about nitrogen that John and the AEA team have been helping their customers take advantage of.

First though, let me read some background here about John because I think it’s fascinating and it really informs his perspective and his focus with AEA.

John Kempf is an entrepreneur, speaker, podcast host, leading crop health consultant, and designer of innovative soil and plant management systems. He founded Advancing Eco Agriculture in 2006 and serves as Chief Vision Officer and Executive Board Chairman.

In the early 2000s, Amish farmer John Kempf was on a quest to save his family’s fruit and vegetable farm in Northeast Ohio. After years of intensive pesticide use, pest and disease pressure was unmanageable and unaffected by continued chemical applications. This resulted in an almost total loss three years in a row.

After years of extensive agronomic research, first-hand growing experience, and close mentorship John found new crop management methods. The practices he discovered and the products he created were the beginnings of Advancing Eco Agriculture.

Burro website: https://burro.ai/

FoA 271: Ag Robotics Roundtable: https://futureofagriculture.com/episode/foa-271-ag-robotics-roundtable

I’m really excited to share today’s episode with you. Charlie Andersen is one of the most impressive and intelligent founders that I’ve had the chance to speak with. I can remember being blown away with him when he was a part of our Ag Robotics Roundtable which became episode 271 of this podcast clear back in 2021.

Charlie co-founded Burro in 2017 and today they have over 600 systems running in the field, which is arguably the largest fleet of mobile robots running in an outdoor agricultural setting today. If you’ve never seen a Burro before, think about like a flat bed cart, for lack of better term. They are 5hp to 20hp autonomous vehicles that go up to 6.5 mph in speed. They can tow, haul things, mow, spray, and patrol all autonomously. They even can be used with a docking station to recharge themselves to run continuously. They are very cool, and uniquely designed to augment human labor rather than trying to fully replace it.

Charlie grew up on a working fruit and vegetable farm and says he was obsessed with machinery as a kid. He went on to get an MBA at Harvard Business School and he founded Burro after working for CNH, where he reported to the head of the North American operating unit and worked on special projects across sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and autonomy M&A.

Today’s episode is another installment in our Tech-Enabled Advisor series. The idea here is to better understand agtech through the lens of the BUYER and USER of that technology rather than just the entrepreneurs or investors behind it. I’ve received some super positive feedback about the return of this series. By talking to the buyers rather than the sellers of the tech, we got an unfiltered introduction to the technology and more importantly got to see HOW its used and the VALUE that it provides.

To do this, I partner with a company and together we invite one of their customers onto the show. The catch is that they’re not allowed to script these individuals or dictate what to say or edit it after it is recorded - it has to be real and unfiltered.

So today’s episode featuring Todd Kirwan of Apex Precision Agriculture is produced in partnership with AgWorld.

And I’m really excited to be partnering with them again, as they were a part of the last time I did this tech-enabled advisor series. But for anyone who might not be familiar, Agworld has been operating since 2009, developed by and for growers & agronomists, and is independently owned. The Agworld ecosystem digitally connects growers with their staff, agronomist, contactor, ag retailer and anyone else that is involved in the farming process. The tool is set up to enable collaboration in the digital farming process, so farmers can maximise financial and crop performance. With Agworld you can plan your crop, mitigate your risks, and improve your profitability. And you’re going to get a great illustration of what that looks like on the ground and in practice in today’s episode with Todd Kirwan.

Todd and I discuss what types of cultural changes need to happen in a farming operation to get the most out of technology, where things go wrong in the attempts to get the most value out of farm data, why he believes the challenging farm economy makes tools like AgWorld even more critical and some of the changes he sees happening in the future of agriculture.

A little background on Todd:

Todd Kirwan is the founder of Apex Precision Agriculture, a consultancy focused on helping growers and agribusinesses transform their operational data into their most profitable asset.

With over 25 years in large-scale production agriculture, his career has been dedicated to bridging the gap between field-level agronomy and high-level financial strategy. Over that time, he’s seen the industry from every angle, from moving pipe on the family farm to directing operations for a multi-state farming enterprise.

Through his experiences in farm management, he recognized a critical need for a partner who understands not just the data, but the human dynamics of implementing change. And that led him to starting Apex Precision Agriculture.

Todd grew up working in his family’s farming operation and then started his own custom applicator business. That led him into farm management and leadership for a rapidly expanding farming company called Lance Funk Farms. He then stayed on after Lance Funk sold to AgReserves, which is the agricultural company owned by the LDS church. It was that time at Lance Funk Farms, when they were hyper focused on growth that Todd really embraced how technology can improve a farming operation.