Doubling Down on Data: Giving You the Edge in Agriculture

Originally aired November 16, 2021

Farming, technology, and research experts examine the role of data and data interoperability in improving farm profitability and reducing agriculture’s impact on global warming. The panel explores how third parties are developing platforms to enable data sharing while protecting farmer privacy, how to integrate and ground-truth models, and how climate-smart decisions can be made competitive along the agricultural supply chain. Sponsored by ASU LightWorks.

Speakers

Sally Rockey

Executive Director, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR)

Dr. Sally Rockey is the inaugural Executive Director of the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research. FFAR leads public-private partnerships to support bold agricultural science, filling critical research gaps and investing in the future scientific workforce. Before FFAR, she led extramural research programs in both agriculture and biomedicine at federal agencies.

Debbi Reed

Executive Director, Ecological Services Market Consortium (ESMC)

Debbi Reed has led ESMC since 2019. ESMC is a member-based organization launching a national-scale ecosystem services market program for agriculture to recognize and reward farmers and ranchers for their environmental contributions to society. She brings decades of experience in agricultural climate change mitigation and sustainability at the national and international levels.

W. Banks Baker

Manager, Animal Welfare & Agriculture Supply Chain Sustainability, McDonald’s

W. Banks Baker leads McDonald’s agriculture technology efforts, focused on monitoring and measurably improving animal health and welfare while increasing production efficiencies. He develops and implements comprehensive protein sustainability strategies, including outcome-based corporate supply chain animal health and welfare programs.

Mark Manfredo (Moderator)

Professor, Morrison School of Agribusiness, W. P. Carey School of Business, ASU

Professor Mark Manfredo’s research focuses on commodity price analysis and agribusiness risk management, with emphasis on futures and options markets and price forecasting. He served as Director of the Morrison School of Agribusiness and Associate Dean of the ASU W. P. Carey School of Business.

Dorn Cox

Co-Founder, FarmOS; Executive Director, GreenStart

Dorn Cox is a founding member of the Farm Hack community, Executive Director of GreenStart, and a farmer working a 250-acre multigenerational family farm. His participatory research focuses on collaborative open-source research and development for regenerative agricultural systems. He is team lead for OpenTEAM, a community of farmers, scientists, engineers, and food companies advancing soil health and climate solutions.