Regenerative Ag with Biodel’s Ben Cloud & Dr. Paul Zorner, Ep #35

Welcome to an episode on agtech, soil health and regenerative agriculture. Here’s some context: one of the big mysteries we’re facing today is how we’re possibly going to feed 10 billion people while transforming agricultural practices that are truly unsustainable. Modern farming is a technological marvel that has dramatically reduced hunger over the last century, but it relies heavily on synthetic fertilizer, which is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, and intensive farming practices that have degraded soil’s ability to grow food.

To understand this issue better and learn about some potential solutions, I sat down with agricultural biologist Dr. Paul Zorner and Biodel Ag CEO Ben Cloud. They both bring decades of experience in agriculture and see great potential in regenerative ag practices and innovative agtech technology, including a new product called Sequester. I learned a lot from this conversation and think you’ll enjoy it. Here we go.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• [3:00] What is happening to soil today & why it matters
• [7:22] The role of synthetic fertilizers in the future
• [11:18] Soil health & soil biology
• [13:30] What is regenerative agriculture & its state in the world today
• [15:27] The barriers to adopting regenerative practices
• [19:10] Biodel Ag, their work & Ben’s background
• [22:56] Biodel’s customers & the value proposition of Sequester
• [27:40] Paul’s background & how he came across Ben and his team
• [29:09] Sequester’s potential & opportunities for impact
• [31:02] The next couple of years at Biodel
• [33:14] The agtech market today, its potential for contributing to climate solutions & other opportunity areas
• [37:57] The innovation gaps & areas where greater attention is needed
• [40:23] ​​The agtech market over the next decade

Resources Mentioned

• Biodel Ag
• Sequester
• Soil Health Institute
• Dr. Jay Golden at Syracuse University & the Dynamic Sustainability Lab
• “The Next Fintech Revolution: Agriculture Finance” by Nik Milanovich in Forbes
• The Wizard and the Prophet by Charles Mann
• Alternative Fuels and Chemicals Coalition

Connect with Ben Cloud & Dr. Paul Zorner

• Connect with Ben on LinkedIn
• Connect with Paul on LinkedIn

Connect with Jason Rissman

• On LinkedIn
• On Twitter

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