FOCUS on Agriculture

Episode 92: Duane Simpson - A Look into the Herbicide Registration Process

Duane Simpson is Head of Ag Affairs and License to Operate, North America, Australia, and New Zealand for Bayer Crop Science. For more detail on his career history, check

Episode 91: Marvin Pritts - Strawberry Production and Factors that Affect Flavor

Have you ever wondered why some strawberries from the grocery store or farmer’s market taste wonderful while others are relatively flavorless? Do you struggle to produce

Episode 90: Ambassador Kip Tom - Threats and Opportunities in Modern Ag

Ambassador Kip Tom served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture from 2019-2020. As a seventh generation farmer, Kip has

Episode 89: Congressman Brad Finstad - Upcoming Policy and How Farmers Can Impact It

Congressman Brad Finstad was elected to Congress in a special election on August 9, 2022, and was sworn in three days later with his family by his side as he took the Oat

Episode 88: Don Ort - Improving Crop Yields by Increasing Photosynthetic Efficiency

Dr. Donald Ort is is the Robert Emerson Professor in Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois and Deputy Director of the RIPE (Realizing Increased Ph

Episode 87: Stu Ellis - Half a Century of Changes in Agriculture

Stu Ellis has been a well-known agricultural communicator in Illinois for 50 years.  He began as the farm broadcaster at WSOY in Decatur and expanded his service to corn

Episode 86: Joni Stepanov - Controlled Environment Agriculture Part II

Joni Stepanov's long career in agriculture has culminated in her current role as horticulture consultant at AmplifiedAg.  In this position, she conducts research to deter

Episode 85: Don Taylor - Controlled Environment Agriculture Part I

The mission of AmplifiedAg is to provide global access to safe food, by growing the indoor agriculture category through innovation, experience, and partnership.  In this

Episode 84: Harvest Recap 2022 and the Challenges Farmers Face

Each year farmers are faced with a unique set of challenges, and 2022 was no exception.  In this episode, Preston and Jason recap the 2022 growing season and discuss the

Episode 83: Jayson Lusk - Unnaturally Delicious: How Science and Technology are Serving up Super Foods to Save the World

Dr. Jayson Lusk is an ag economist at Purdue University, where he is a distinguished professor and head of the Department of Agricultural Economics.  Dr. Lusk studies wha

Episode 82: Duane Simpson - Advocating for Science-Based, Farmer-Positive Agricultural Policy

Duane Simpson is Vice President, Head of North America Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability at Bayer Crop Science.  He leads the company's Policy & Advocacy and Indus

Episode 81: Tim Fredricks & Dan Schmehl - Evaluating the Effects of Pesticides on Beneficial Insects and the Environment

Bringing a new pesticide to market involves years of research and huge capital investments.  As environmental toxicologists with Bayer Crop Science, Dr. Tim Fredricks and

Episode 80: Tara Bohnert - Dairy Farming in the 21st Century and Beyond

Tara Bohnert is a business development manager with Nedap Livestock Management, a Netherlands-based company that provides monitoring equipment for pigs and dairy cattle.

Episode 79: Stuart Smyth - The Effect of Governmental Ag Policy on Global Food Insecurity

Sri Lanka has been in the news recently due to an economic crisis leading to political instability.  One of the factors behind the civil unrest is spiking food prices cau

Episode 78: Randy Myers - Developing New Tools to Battle Emerging Crop Diseases

Diseases attacking agricultural crops cause millions of bushels of yield loss for farmers across the United States each year.  Farmers battle these diseases in several wa

Episode 77: Jayson Lusk - Exploring Consumer Food Insights

Dr. Jayson Lusk is an ag economist at Purdue University, where he is a distinguished professor and head of the Department of Agricultural Economics.  Dr. Lusk studies wha

Episode 76: German Bollero - The Past, Present, and Future of Ag Tech Part III: Training the Next Generation of Ag Scientists

Today we wrap up our series on ag tech with a conversation with Dr. German Bollero.  Dr. Bollero is currently Interim Dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer, & Env

Episode 75: Jack Marck - The Past, Present, and Future of Ag Tech Part II: How Innovative Ag Tech Startups Learn from Farmers

Our Podcast series on the Past, Present, and Future of Ag Tech continues with returning guest Jack Marck, who is managing director of the Illinois Agtech Accelerator.  Lo

Episode 74: Scott Spal - The Past Present and Future of Ag Tech, Part I: How Farmers and Their Partners Utilize Data to Maximize Farm Productivity

Scott Spal is a scientist with The Climate Corporation.  In his current role, he investigates how enhancements to Climate FieldView can improve farmer profitability, as w

Episode 73: Third Anniversary - A description of the top episodes of the 2021-2022 season

Happy 3rd anniversary to the Focus on Agriculture Podcast.  In this brief update, we discuss the 5 most downloaded episodes from the past year.  Be sure to rate and revie