One scientist's vacation 30 years ago is a big reason why you don’t end up with caterpillars in your lettuce today. The class of chemistry derived from this remarkable bacteria is called Spinsoyns based on the scientific name for the bacteria, Saccaropolyspora spinosa.
To tell this incredible story of a bacteria discovered in an unlikely location, we’re joined by Jesse Richardson, a field scientist at Corteva Agriscience based in Mesa, Arizona. Jesse has been with the company for about 39 years, where his job is to characterize new active ingredients and to provide technical education and technical service to growers and pest control advisors.
Joining Jesse is Pest Control Advisor (PCA), Bill Fox. Bill has been a PCA since 1978, and is based in Yuma, Arizona serving farmers on both sides of the Arizona California border. He’s going to give us a field-level perspective on what impact spinosyns have had for farmers in his area.
“ So it's a naturally derived product, but what was most exciting about it was it had the ecotox attributes of a biological, but the performance attributes of a synthetic…So when I saw its efficacy and this combination of safety on these natural enemies, I knew that we had something that was going to just blow the doors off the industry.” - Jesse Richardson
Jesse and his colleagues were convinced about the efficacy of this natural bacteria-derived insecticide. But as we’ve heard in other episodes, there’s still a process to taking the science and turning it into a solution. It was a commercial success for Corteva Agriscience because it was embraced almost immediately by growers and PCA’s like Bill Fox.
“ It's just a fun time to be a PCA and to see what we accepted back when I was a kid, and now to see how effective these new products are on the same pests that I couldn't kill 20 years ago or so...Its been pretty fun.” - Bill Fox
A few takeaways from this episode:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
Termites are not typically considered an agricultural pest, but they are a great example of how science, in particular biology, can be used to create better pest management solutions that have real economic impacts.
Termites cost U.S. homeowners at least $5 billion per year. The landmark innovation in termite pest control happened about 30 years ago, with a partnership between Corteva Agriscience and the University of Florida to develop Sentricon. It’s a story of not only a new tool to use against termites but a new way to think about pest management.
Stephen Gates joins us from Cooks Pest Control. Gates has a degree in entomology and has been helping Cooks offer Sentricon to their clients for nearly 27 years. We’ll also be hearing from Garima Kakkar and Neil Spomer, Corteva experts who work behind-the-scenes to improve Sentricon every year. Garima is the Global Biology Lead for urban pests and Neil works as a field trial modernization lead.
“ This time of year and in the spring it was running wild. Just trying to take care of current customers who were having swarms, dealing with damaged claims, dealing with new customers, working with them because they were having swarms.... Homeowners are scared. They hear about these things and now all of a sudden they see them. And now my biggest investment's being chewed on by a bug, right?” - Stephen Gates
Before Sentricon was created, liquid chemicals were the only option for homeowners to protect themselves from termite damage. With Sentricon, pest control technicians set up bait stations. These bait stations use the natural behavior and biology of the termites against them. But the genius behind Sentricon is not just getting the termites to eat bait, it’s capitalizing on something called trophylaxis which means that termites rely on their hunters and foragers to not just collect food, but to regurgitate it to the rest of the colony.
“ For termite baiting to work, you need it to be both non repellent, you don't want the termites to know that they're eating anything that is bad for them, and it has to be really slow acting so that they have time to go back to the colony and through trophylaxis, share it with the rest of their nest mates.” - Neil Spomer
A few takeaways from this episode:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
On today’s episode we explore the incredible power of seed applied technology. Seed treatments are incredible tools that help protect the seed and seedling plant in the first 10-30 days of development. The fact that the technology is delivered on the seed itself without having to spray or make any sort of extra pass with equipment makes this area of agriscience sometimes overlooked or even underappreciated.
To dive into this technology further we are joined by Mark Howieson, who serves as the global technical services team leader for the Seed Applied Technology Segment of Corteva Agriscience. We also hear from Iowa farmer Scott Van Veldhuizen who farms corn and soybeans. Scott shares the impact progressive seed technology has had on his operation especially in regard to cutworm infestations.
“You know, when I was a kid it was work all sun up to sun down….we're definitely more efficient, you know, 20 to 30 years ago you couldn't do this job by yourself.” - Scott Van Veldhuizen
Scott doesn’t consider himself a first adopter of new ideas, but maybe more like a fast follower. Through his farming career he has collaborated with companies like Corteva Agriscience on a variety of trials, and he’s always looking for what might help him get more efficient and continue to boost his yields. And obviously that requires a lot of trust in the technology. That trust comes from the fact that there’s a whole lot that goes into creating the right recipe that fits Scott’s genetics and his situation. Howieson shares that what makes seed applied technology dynamic are the different needs of farmers. So not every seed treatment is the same. Mark likes to look at it like a recipe where each ingredient is important, but they also have to compliment each other in a way that leads to better outcomes for farmers.
“ There's a chemistry element of it where you're working with formulations and then there's a biological element where we’re putting microbes and biologicals on the seed…And the interactions with the people and the people in the industry, it's pretty incredible. I mean, seed treatment is a relatively small network, and it's where you really have to put yourself out there and understand a lot of different disciplines to truly be successful.” - Mark Howieson
A few takeaways from this episode:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
On today’s episode, what goes into the traits farmers can purchase with their seed? How are these traits found, developed and ultimately packaged into crop genetics?
Julian Chaky who leads the trait characterization and development team at Corteva Agriscience joins us to explain how the genetic traits are found, developed and packaged into usable crops. Joining Chaky is a sixth generation farmer in Iowa, Mark Knupp, who shares how this technology impacts his production. The process of arriving on a trait and getting it to the point that it can be grown in the fields of farmers like Mark is extensive. That’s where the trait characterization and development team come in.
“ It's shepherding a trait from discovery. So you have to discover a trait first, and then you need to ensure that it actually works in the plant as designed. And so what we do is we do a rigorous greenhouse and field testing to ensure that we understand how the trait actually behaves… And then the other portion that's really critical for us is to make sure…there's no yield drag, that there's no secondary effects.” - Julian Chaky
Trait packages are created by companies like Corteva Agriscience to offer farmers a wide range of benefits like herbicide resistance, pest management and water utilization. The evolution and development of trait “mining” all begins with identifying the farmers' needs. Before any trait identification, characterization, and development happens there has to be a clear business case for how this technology will bring value to farmers.
“ The weather patterns that are changing, we don't seem to get the normal rains anymore…We've gone through droughts the last two or three years, but we've had excellent crops. I'll put a lot of that onto the genetics.” - Mark Knupp
Some takeaways from this episode:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today’s episode, we sat down with farmer and podcaster Corey Hillebo and Corteva Agriscience chief technology and digital officer Sam Eathington. Hillebo and Eathington help us to better understand how to unlock agriscience innovation, both at the farm level and at the corporate level.
“Can we use the science to find another crop or crops for Iowa? Like there's no doubt with Brazil coming on and being a major competitor of ours and we are just doing an amazing job as farmers and Corteva is doing an amazing job with science… It would be awesome if we could find something else that is of value. We could do really well to take some pressure off.” - Corey Hillebo
Science and technology are changing fast. It’s entirely plausible that the products that are returning value to farmers and shareholders today might be entirely different in the future. As Corteva Agriscience chief technology and digital officer, Sam Eathington shares that his pursuits in research and development are focused on current farmer issues, future farmer issues and what return on investment they can develop for both producers and shareholders.
“At the end of the day, it's really about capital allocation and what should we prioritize and why…Part of my job is to help take the science and turn it into why we care from the business. And that is a really important part…We can do incredible science, but if we don't figure out how to link it and make it into a business value, it never goes anywhere… And so my role is a lot about how to help communicate that and explain that and then help make choices about where we invest and where we don't invest.” - Sam Eathington
Some takeaways from this episode:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today’s episode: agriscience versus nature. The ability to farm land productively and profitably requires that farmers bend nature to their will on some level. But that doesn’t mean that farmers and scientists can’t find ways to work with nature, minimize off-target effects and conserve biodiversity. A great model species to think about these concepts related to farming and nature is the honeybee.
Jonathan Nixon is an entomologist at Corteva Agriscience who works within the insect management biology group in the crop health division. Not only are bees his full time job, beekeeping is also his hobby, his side business, and his PhD that he is completing in honeybee genomics.
“ What we want to do, first and foremost, is provide some better tools for our growers. Some better solutions for them. And a lot of that is focused on really reducing pest numbers out in the field. And you know, within our group, insect management, those target pests are insects. Honeybees are also insects, and it's a very fine line to walk between balancing that target potency on the pests so that your growers are able to protect their fields while also mitigating the off-target effects on our pollinators.” - Jonathan Nixon
These are the complex realities being faced by farmers like Maryland producer Trey Hill. Over the last twenty years, Hill and his team at Harborview Farms have made several intentional decisions to make their large scale farm a more sustainable operation. After Trey found out there were some environmental groups in the area willing to pay for the costs of planting cover crops he decided to give it a try.
“ My life's a process. My life's a learning living thing… I always thought there was all this anti-farmer sentiment within the environmental community, and what I found is most people like us. You know, once you start getting in there and you take on a leadership role…people want to hear what you have to say.” - Trey Hill
Some myths busted in this episode:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today's episode, the challenge and opportunity of hybrid wheat. We've discussed previously how much hybrid corn has increased corn yields over the past century. Wheat is an important crop around the world; but why haven't hybrids been commercialized in the same way? Today we take a look at how agriscience is changing the game for hybrid wheat. Corteva Agriscience is on the cusp of making hybrid wheat a commercial reality.
Global Wheat Lead for Corteva Agriscience Jessie Alt works with a team of field breeders to produce new varietal wheat that is suited for local conditions. Originally from a farm in southern Minnesota, Jessie spent the first part of her career as a soybean breeder. She joined the wheat team six years ago and says the challenge of bringing hybrid wheat to the market was a big part of what excited her about the opportunity.
“ I think hybrid wheat is the most exciting plant innovation that I have been involved with in my career…It's a hard problem to crack. I think it will really change farmer profitability with wheat. And it brings that next level of tech and innovation that I believe the wheat crop has been missing.” - Jessie Alt, Ph.D.
Brad Erker is the CEO of Colorado Wheat, which is an umbrella term used to describe three different wheat organizations that he manages in Colorado. The Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee, the Colorado Association of Wheat Growers, and the Colorado Wheat Research Foundation. Brad grew up on a wheat farm in eastern Colorado, but spent part of his early career in the Midwest as a corn breeder. He has been back focused on wheat full-time for the past 21 years.
“ If the technology does provide a value to the farmer, they will adopt it…But it definitely is a different scenario than in corn and soy. For one, it's grown in more marginal land. It's grown more out west, where the rainfall is much lower, the inputs are much lower. The mentality of the farmer, I think, is quite different when it comes to input costs in general, whether it be cost of seed or seed treatment or fertilizer rates or cost of equipment. All of those things I think are different in that wheat space than in the corn and soy space.” - Brad Erker
Some takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today’s episode, we start to unpack the category of biologicals. Are biological products ready for prime time on the farm, or still struggling to prove their return on investment? Where are biologicals finding traction and what are the barriers and opportunities for this category going forward?
To begin to peel back some of the layers of this nuanced topic, we’ll speak with Corteva researcher Josh Armstrong, who leads Corteva’s integrated discovery and bioprocess department.
”What I see is sort of this confluence of opportunities with new formulation technologies, production technologies, genetic engineering technologies that are setting us up to have a next generation of biological products that are going to truly deliver the kind of efficacy and performance that growers have come to expect from crop protection chemistry.” - Josh Armstrong
We’ll also visit with California grower, Joe Coelho, a 4th generational farmer who grows a number of specialty crops, including citrus, pistachios, and almonds. Joe also has a day job where he serves as the director of sustainability and member outreach for American Pistachio Growers. Joe brings a deep understanding of the need for any new product to show its value, and has a long history of understanding the importance of enhancing biology on the farm.
“You have to consider these things almost like investments that are - if you think about it operationally - capex versus opex. It’s going to take you some time. It's an investment into your soil. And it’s not a bandaid approach, and you're getting more out of everything when you make that investment.” - Joe Coelho
Some takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In this episode, what would a truly renewable biofuel look like? Well, the feedstock would have to come from a crop that is productive, profitable, and resilient to grow. And one that has a low carbon intensity score that’s going to displace minimal amounts of acres of other cash crops. Could winter canola be that crop? It’s sure looking that way, in the mid-south at least.
Today we hear from Chad Berghoerfer, global product director for biofuels for Corteva Agriscience. He shares about the partnership between Corteva, Bunge, and Chevron Ag Renewables to put the technology and infrastructure in place to work with farmers and expand winter canola acreage in the mid-south. Chad has been with Corteva Agriscience for over 23 years and has regularly worked in new ventures from corn breeding to precision agriculture to drones and a lot in between. He has been focused on growing winter canola for renewable biofuels for the past three years.
“ There hasn't been a new cropping system in the United States in quite some time to this size and degree..” - Chad Berghoerfer
You’ll also hear from Jamison Turner today, a farmer in Western Tennessee who has been growing winter canola over the past two years. Jamison provides a really clear picture of what winter canola looks like from a farmer’s perspective.
“ Canola had a bad rap in our area. That was the biggest thing that came up in conversation first is: are you worried about producing this and not getting paid? And I told them ‘no’. No more than I would be any other crop that we've grown. So that's been the first thing.” - Jamison Turner
Some takeaways from this episode include:
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Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today's episode: how can technology help with timing on the farm? We're talking specifically about fungicide applications and a tool that uses the power of artificial intelligence to signal when the optimal time is for a fungicide application within the spectrum of timing per label directions.
Today you’ll hear from Corteva Agriscience research scientist Layton Peddicord about this fungicide timing tool, how it works and why it works. You’ll also hear from Illinois farmer Makenna Green about her experiences with the tool on her family’s farm. Makenna is the sixth generation in her family to farm in East Central Illinois where they primarily grow corn and soybeans. After graduating from college she came back to her family’s operation, Heritage Family Farms, a couple of years ago.
“ That disease triangle that we talk about with the host, environment and pathogen, I can't put all of those things together as well as something like this model can do. And so we really feel like it gives a peace of mind because it's able to factor in things that we can't factor in to decide on timing.” - Makenna Green
Like a lot of things in farming, fungicide timing is part science, part experience, part intuition and maybe even a little bit of luck. Researchers at Corteva Agriscience saw this as an opportunity to utilize the latest in data and technology to provide more data-driven recommendations to farmers. Layton Peddicord says the idea behind the fungicide timing tool is to improve the return on investment for farmer customers.
“ We've had research ROI trials for fungicide kind of side-by-sides, comparing our Corteva timing versus the grower standard timing back since 2020…We've been averaging around five bushel advantage compared to the grower timing and typically our average is compared to the untreated checked are around nine to ten bushel. So it's been very promising so far.” - Layton Peddicord
Some takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In this episode, we’re going to dive even deeper into the science and behind making reduced stature corn a reality. Plant physiologist Jeff Habben has been with Corteva Agriscience for about 30 years and has developed a tremendous depth of knowledge and expertise about how corn and soybean plants grow, develop and function.
“ Hormones are very powerful molecules, and so what you can do is that you can develop bioassays that look at the level of hormones or how the hormones are sensed in plants. That's how we learned about how gibberellins, for example, can affect plant heights…The trick is that these hormones just don't control one thing. They control many different things in the plant. And the other part too is that these hormones interact with each other. So you need to know not just a specific hormone that you're interested in, but how they interact too. So it makes it very complex.” - Jeff Habben
Southwest Iowa farmer John Becker farms about 2,000 acres and has also been a Pioneer sales representative since 2009. As both a farmer and a seed rep, Becker understands better than most that when it comes to genetics, one size does not fit all and everything comes with its own risks and rewards. Together, our two guests walk us through the decision making and process in introducing and developing new varieties.
“ I mean it's no different than a stock portfolio when you look at your lineup for seed. Every single product has risks and rewards. We're excited as all get out because we have a lineup that has many, many less risks than we have had in the past… But my job is to individually work with every single customer and make sure that we put together a plan. It's my job to make sure that I know every single operational need. Everybody wants yield, but some people are more risk takers than others.” - John Becker
Some takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today's episode: Does corn really need to be so tall? It's time to explore this concept of reduced stature corn, otherwise commonly referred to as short corn. When you picture a mature cornfield, I imagine you're probably thinking of tall green stalks, towering overhead, and there are some agronomic advantages and disadvantages to this.
So some corn breeders are developing varieties that are intentionally shorter. One of those breeders is Dr. Sarah Lira, who you've already heard from on this show back on episode eight when she was talking about perennial ground cover.
“ And that's basically the system we're setting up for breeders with short corn, is that they can focus on selecting on yield and they can focus on selecting on yield in higher densities. So when you can plant the plants in a higher density, they're not going to get tall and fall over. So you can continue to select on yield more aggressively than we've ever been able to do before.” - Dr. Sara Lira
Sarah has also been working on some shorter corn varieties and this concept of reduced stature corn. It has a lot of farmers intrigued. Blake Johnson is one of those farmers. He's a fifth generation corn farmer in Nebraska.
“ Probably the most exciting thing that we've been looking at on the horizon that is not here yet is short statured corn, because when we're in the high yielding environment. We're wanting to push populations. A lot of times when you push that population, those plants are gonna fight in that competitive environment and actually get taller than they should.” - Blake Johnson
Some takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today’s episode we dive into a critical topic that is usually hidden in plain sight: formulation science.
It’s easy to think of agricultural products as straightforward chemistries that get sprayed from a tank. An insecticide is an insecticide; a fungicide is a fungicide. The active ingredient is what is going to give us the outcome we want. But a product is not just made up of that active ingredient. How a particular product is formulated really makes all of the difference.
“ When it comes to formulations on the farm, I'm not your typical scientist…I rely on that person that is selling me that product to really give me good advice. And I've never really had a problem with formulations until this last year.” - Lance Lillibridge
Lucky for all of us, there are people who do want to be that scientist. John Atkinson is one of them. John leads the global application technology research and development team at Corteva Agriscience. For the past 13 years or so, he has developed countless formulations for herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc. Each one comes with its own unique challenges and approaches.
”We're trying to troubleshoot the product and (trying) to understand, before we set the final composition…What are the challenges the farmer is going to encounter? How do we design a robust, reliable product? And just really try to think from the grower's perspective and really understand the use case for the product to ultimately develop a strong product.” - John Atkinson
Some Takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today’s episode: what might it look like to create a better cover crop system? A group of researchers and farmers are seeking to answer this question.
Cover crops can help reduce soil erosion, preserve soil biology, build organic matter, suppress weeds and improve water and nutrient retention. So why do fewer than 10% of US row crop acres incorporate cover crops? There is risk involved. The seed costs money and if the weather doesn’t cooperate, you can waste precious capital and not even get a stand. And some cover crops can be difficult to terminate, requiring herbicides, mowing, crimping or tillage, all of which can add costs and labor.
“Rather than trying to breed species that are directly competing for the same resource: light water, nutrients…The proper way is actually to breed them so that they're living in their own niche.” - Sara Lira, Ph.D.
How can advances in science and management help them to become a viable option for more farmers? That’s the question Dr. Sara Lira and colleagues have been asking. Sara is a research scientist at Corteva Agriscience who has been working with farmers like Chris Gaesser, who you will also hear from on this episode. Chris farms in southwest Iowa and has conducted on-farm collaborations with Sara over the years.
“There's always something green on the ground. You're going to (have) a lot less nutrient leaching. The weed suppression is there, so you're creating a very stable environment…and ideally it's saving you some passes throughout the year.” - Chris Gaesser
Some Takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
Digital agriculture, decision science and generative artificial intelligence (AI) all converge into a new tool for agronomists and seed sales reps. How will this enhance the way trusted advisors make recommendations to farmers?
Imagine you're an agronomist traveling from farm to farm. You have an assistant riding along in your passenger seat who can answer your every question about product information, yield history, etc. They're with you all of the time and they seem to be able to recall any relevant piece of information you want or need in seconds. They have access to a vast network of pooled knowledge covering many years and many different geographies that can easily be condensed into a casual conversation.
By now most of us have heard of ChatGPT, Gemini, Anthropic or one of the other chat-type AI interfaces. These tools utilize generative AI because they can predict patterns in data and use them to provide information that is relevant and tailored to specific questions and requests. Corteva Agriscience has recently introduced CARL, a new AI-driven tool to help agronomic advisors.
Matt Smalley, Ph.D. has led the effort to get a new generative AI tool into the hands of Corteva agronomists and sales reps. In today’s episode, we’re going to not only talk about this tool, but also better understand where digital fits in the modern farm, and what difference artificial intelligence could make in our ability to execute better agronomic decisions.
”Project CARL stands for Corteva Agronomic Research Library… it's a generative model, kind of like ChatGPT, that's been augmented with Corteva agronomic research library. And so it has increased skill in answering questions in the agronomic realm. And it's also been augmented with Pioneer product information.” - Matt Smalley, Ph.D.
Agronomy Innovation Manager Mike Anderegg is an early user of CARL, and part of the team helping to get it into the hands of Corteva Agronomists.
“ The data influx that we have had for a number of years has raised the question: now what do we do with it? …We are starting to discover what we can do with it…I think we're still just scratching the surface of what we can do with that next level of intelligence.” - Mike Anderegg
Some Takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today’s episode, we look into the path forward for gene editing in agriculture. What will that look like for farmers and for consumers?
In our last episode we clarified some of the key differences between gene editing and transgenic crops, or what most know as GMOs. Transgenic crops have been widely adopted over the past 30 years, but very few gene edited crops are currently on the market. Why is that and what will it take to make this technology more widely available?
To tackle these questions and others, we are joined by Corteva Agriscience global leader of regulatory and stewardship Reza Rasoulpour. He’s a molecular and cellular biologist by training who has been with the company for over 18 years.
Reza describes Corteva’s newly launched Genlytix gene editing ecosystem designed to accelerate sustainable agriculture, specifically in seed and biological products.
“When you think about gene editing, anyone can gene edit. I mean, it's almost a democratized type of technology, It's really accelerated plant breeding. So the only way to maximize the value for everyone in agriculture is to be more vocal and take a much more collaborative approach… It would be a shame if misinterpretation and the wrong kind of assumptions for this type of technology led to regulators or others inhibiting the opportunity for local solutions to local problems.” - Reza Rasoulpour
Heather Hampton Knodle is a fourth generation farmer in south central Illinois. She joins the episode as well to pose some of the questions she has as a farmer and mother thinking about the future. Heather poses important questions about this technology and some ideas she has for real problems on the farm that this technology might help to solve down the road.
Some Takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.
In today’s episode, we begin to explore the tremendous opportunities that are emerging as a result of gene editing. This ability to apply cutting-edge technology to crops is distinctly different from transgenic or GMO approaches, and its impact could be even greater on the future of food and agriculture.
It shouldn’t seem far-fetched that breakthroughs in genetics can really impact things on the farm, because we’ve seen it before. Both the scientist on today’s episode, Dr. Dave Bubeck, and the farmer, Heather Hampton Knodle, remember clearly what things were like when transgenic crops hit the market.
Dr. Dave Bubeck is a research director at Corteva Agriscience, and has been working for seed companies for over 33 years. He works in the seed product development group and spends a lot of his time with the seed commercialization team.
“ That's the real advantage of genome editing is that we'll get to a speed of product development that is far beyond what we could do with conventional breeding.” - Dave Bubeck, Ph.D.
Heather Hampton Knodle is a fourth generation farmer in south central Illinois. Like others carrying on a legacy of farming, she has seen first hand the impact some biotechnology can have on the industry.
”There's just kind of this implicit trust that some scientist somewhere is going to be working on this. I think many people have taken for granted the type of seed and genetic technology that we've been able to tap into.” - Heather Hampton Knodle
Some Takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is a podcast brought to you by Corteva Agriscience. Host Tim Hammerich visits with both scientists and farmers about how agricultural innovations are discovered, developed and deployed on the farm.
In today’s episode we explore how nematodes might be impacting your crop without you even knowing it. These microscopic worms are everywhere; they are the most abundant multicellular organism on the planet. But often, they go completely unnoticed because they can’t be seen without a microscope. What we most often see in agriculture is their impact on crops. Whether you grow row crops like soybeans, specialty crops like vegetables, or permanent crops like grapes, it’s important to know your nematodes.
Corteva nematologist Dr. Tim Thoden discusses his work both from the perspective of someone fascinated with nematodes, and someone who acknowledges the enormous impact they can have on farmers.
“It is believed that the damage that nematodes globally do is around $120 billion to $150 billion US dollars per year…it's a huge economic damage.” - Tim Thoden, Ph.D.
California raisin grape grower Michael Logoluso has seen the impacts of nematodes for the past three decades. He is a farm manager for Lion Farms which is a large grower and packer of dried-on-the-vine California raisins.
“We need a few tools in our toolbox, right? So Salibro would be one of them…I think going forward it's going to make the other tools that we have available at this current time have a little more life on the shelf.” - Michael Logoluso
Logoluso and Thoden discuss the economic impact of nematodes, modern agricultural practices for managing these microscopic pests, and the development of new solutions like Corteva's Reklemel, a synthetic nematicide sold under the name Salibro. They cover the complexities of nematode management, the role of healthy soils, and integrated pest management strategies while emphasizing the need for continuous innovation and respectful treatment of the environment.
Some takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is a podcast brought to you by Corteva Agriscience. Host Tim Hammerich visits with both scientists and farmers about how agricultural innovations are discovered, developed and deployed on the farm.
In today’s episode, what does it take to build a world record hybrid? And why does it take so long to develop new hybrids? We follow the journey of the seed from inbreds to hybrids to traits to production to commercial products.
Our guide on this journey of the seed will be Corteva Agriscience digital seed lead and distinguished laureate Dean Podlich. You heard from Dean in our last episode about the history of agriscience innovation as it relates to genetics. Today, you’ll get a peak into what all goes into the latest and greatest in crop genetics, specifically as it relates to corn. Dean describes all of this work, this journey of a seed to preparation for the main event, which is what happens on farms every year across the world.
“ This is what drives this long-term genetic gain: this constant obsession about creating new variation, measuring it in all the ways that we described, and identifying ones that are going to be superior on the farm and continuing that process over and over again.” - Dean Podlich
Virginia farmer David Hula joins the show to highlight what can happen when quality genetics meets excellent management practices. Hula earned world record corn yield of 623.8439 bushels per acre with a hybrid from Corteva Agriscience.
“ That is probably the most stressful time that I have is picking the hybrids. Because we try to position hybrids for particular acres.” - David Hula
The journey of a seed is rigorous, nuanced, and complex. It starts with a seemingly infinite number of possibilities and involves slowly narrowing those down through what Dean Podlich describes as a gauntlet process to eventually end up with a couple dozen products with potential.
Some takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is a podcast brought to you by Corteva Agriscience. Host Tim Hammerich visits with both scientists and farmers about how agricultural innovations are discovered, developed and deployed on the farm.
In this episode we look back at the history of agriculture to help inform the future. Specifically, we explore how genetics have propelled the current agriculture industry and how we can leverage that technology to solve future problems producers will face.
Agriscience digital seed lead and distinguished laureate Dean Podlich joins the show to share his perspective of the historical development of crop hybrids as the overseer of digital solutions to help develop seed products with Corteva Agriscience.
“ If you go back a hundred years ago, the average bushels per acre in the US is somewhere between 25 and 30 bushels per acre. You fast forward to today, it's in the high 170s. So you're talking about a 7x increase in productivity on the farm over the last a hundred years. And, and that in itself, it's just an incredible story. It's really one of the best examples of innovation and technology as an industry in the history of agriculture, and that's happening for corn in the US.” - Dean Podlich
Two farmers are also included in this episode. Illinois producer Heather Hampton-Knodle shares the economic concerns that are on the minds of many farmers. David Hula who farms in Virginia describes the importance of genetics on all of his acres, including his world record corn yield of 623.8439 bushels per acre with a hybrid from Corteva Agriscience.
“Our corn is handling the droughts much better. Part of it is management, but the corn themselves are doing better…The corn hybrids are clearly better from disease, standability, stay green, drought tolerance, and of course yield.” - David Hula
The episode explores historical advancements in crop genetics, emphasizing the significance of Henry Wallace's work with hybrids and Raymond Baker's contributions to germplasm. Today, scientists and farmers continue to build on their work with modern tools, including digital tools and gene editing, to enhance productivity and sustainability on farms.
Some takeaways from this episode include:
Agriscience Explained is a podcast brought to you by Corteva Agriscience. Host Tim Hammerich visits with both scientists and farmers about how agricultural innovations are discovered, developed and deployed on the farm.
