AgCulture Podcast

Most companies talk about values. Very few actually use them.
In this episode, Barrett Ersek breaks down how Holganix built a culture where values aren’t just words on a wall—they’re used to make real decisions, guide hiring, and shape the direction of the business.
From gratitude and resilience to the concept of “flow,” this conversation dives into a different way of thinking about leadership—one that’s driven by purpose, not just pressure.

MEET THE GUEST
Barrett Ersek is the Founder and CEO of Holganix. With a deep commitment to soil health and a long-term vision for regenerative agriculture, Barrett has been a driving force behind building biologically based solutions that are good for growers, the planet, and the bottom line.
At Holganix, Barrett leads company strategy with a focus on market creation, commercialization, and scale. His work spans building teams and advancing go-to-market execution across both Holganix Ag and HGX, the company’s environmental assets platform.
He holds three patents and is widely recognized as an expert on innovation and organizational leadership.

ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast".This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.
Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels and encounters with important figures around the world.
Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

Most businesses don’t start with a perfect plan—some start with a crisis.In this episode, Barrett Ersek shares the story behind Holganix, from building and selling a successful lawn care company to a turning point that changed everything—a warehouse fire that forced a completely new way of thinking.What followed wasn’t just a new business, but a new direction: from chemicals to biology, from lawn care to agriculture, and from making money to building something that actually matters.This is a raw look at entrepreneurship, risk, and what it takes to build something from the ground up in agriculture.

MEET THE GUEST
Barrett Ersek is the Founder and CEO of Holganix. With a deep commitment to soil health and a long-term vision for regenerative agriculture, Barrett has been a driving force behind building biologically based solutions that are good for growers, the planet, and the bottom line.At Holganix, Barrett leads company strategy with a focus on market creation, commercialization, and scale. His work spans building teams and advancing go-to-market execution across both Holganix Ag and HGX, the company’s environmental assets platform.He holds three patents and is widely recognized as an expert on innovation and organizational leadership, with work featured in Harvard Business Review and The London School of Business’ Think.

ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast".This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels and encounters with important figures around the world.Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

For decades, agriculture has followed one simple rule: bigger machines, more acres, more efficiency.
But what if that model is starting to break?
In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with Andrew Bate, co-founder of SwarmFarm Robotics, to explore a radically different vision for the future of farming — autonomous swarm robotics.
Built by farmers in the field, not engineers in an office, SwarmFarm challenges the assumption that scale equals success. Instead of one massive machine, Andrew and his team are deploying fleets of small, autonomous robots designed to farm more precisely, more efficiently, and ultimately — better.
This conversation dives into the tension between precision agriculture and large-scale machinery, the rise of micro-targeted farming systems, and how new technologies like AI, computer vision, and connectivity are finally making autonomous farming viable.
If you’ve ever wondered whether agriculture should keep scaling up — or rethink the system entirely — this episode will challenge your assumptions.

MEET THE GUEST
Andrew Bate
Andrew Bate is the founder and CEO of SwarmFarm Robotics, an Australian agtech company based in Queensland that develops autonomous farming robots. A farmer himself, Bate co-founded the company with his wife, Jocie, building it from their family farm after becoming frustrated with the increasing size and limitations of traditional agricultural machinery.
Initially bootstrapped, SwarmFarm introduced a new model of farming based on smaller, autonomous machines working collaboratively. Bate’s work focuses on enabling more precise, efficient, and adaptable farming systems, challenging the long-held assumption that bigger equipment leads to better productivity.

ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast".This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.
Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels and encounters with important figures around the world.
Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

What if the biggest decisions shaping your farm today are actually being made a decade in advance?
In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with Tony Klemm (CEO) and Tom Meade (Chief Science Officer) from Enko Chem at the World AgriTech Summit to explore how the next generation of crop protection is being built.
Unlike most of agriculture, where decisions are made season to season, Enko is working on problems that don’t fully exist yet — identifying future pest, disease, and resistance challenges and developing solutions years before they reach the farm gate. Using advanced discovery technologies adapted from the pharmaceutical industry, they are rethinking how new chemistries are identified, tested, and brought to market.
This conversation dives into the shift happening in crop protection — from legacy molecules and slowing innovation pipelines to a new model built on collaboration, precision application, and more sustainable, highly targeted solutions.
If you want to understand where chemistry, regulation, and farm productivity are heading — and what tools will be in your toolbox 10 years from now — this is a conversation worth paying attention to.
Listen to the episode now!

MEET THE GUESTS
Tony KlemmTony Klemm is the CEO of Enko Chem, Inc. with over 30 years of experience in agricultural biotechnology. Prior to joining Enko in 2025, he served as VP of Global Business Development and Licensing at Corteva Agriscience, where he led strategic growth and innovation in the Seeds Business Unit. Tony has held leadership roles at Dow AgroSciences and DowDuPont and has extensive experience in global negotiations, partnerships, and commercialization strategies. He holds an Executive MBA in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and a Bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University.
Tom Meade, Ph.D.Tom Meade is Chief Science Officer at Enko Chem and has more than 30 years of experience in crop protection and trait discovery. He began his career at Mycogen and later held leadership roles at Dow AgroSciences, where he led global traits discovery. Tom has authored multiple scientific publications and holds 27 U.S. patents. He earned his Ph.D. in Entomology from UC Riverside.

ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast". This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels and encounters with important figures around the world.Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

Over the last three decades, the U.S. wine industry was one of agriculture’s biggest premiumization success stories.
Demand grew steadily. Vineyards expanded. Wineries multiplied. Capital flowed in. Valuations rose.
But today the industry is facing something very different.
Consumer demographics are shifting, younger generations drink differently than boomers, new lifestyle trends are emerging, and excess supply is forcing the industry into a painful market correction.
In this episode, Paul sits down with Rob McMillan — one of the most respected analysts of the U.S. wine industry and the author of Silicon Valley Bank’s widely followed State of the Wine Industry Report.
Rob has spent over three decades analyzing the economics, capital cycles, and structural forces shaping wine. His insights have become essential reading for winery owners, investors, and operators across the world.
But this conversation goes far beyond wine.
It explores what happens when a premium agricultural sector built on long production timelines collides with changing consumer demand.
The lessons apply across agriculture — from specialty crops to premium food brands.

MEET THE GUEST
Rob McMillan
Rob McMillan is Executive Vice President and founder of the Silicon Valley Bank Wine Division and one of the most influential analysts in the U.S. wine industry.
For more than three decades, Rob has studied the financial health, demand patterns, and structural shifts shaping the wine business.
He is the author of Silicon Valley Bank’s annual State of the Wine Industry Report, described by the New York Times as “probably the most influential analysis of its kind.”
Rob’s insights are widely used by winery owners, investors, journalists, and industry leaders seeking to understand the evolving dynamics of premium wine markets.

ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the Ag Culture Podcast.
This podcast explores the global forces shaping agriculture — from emerging technologies and investment trends to shifting consumer behavior and industry innovation.
Join Paul Windemuller as he shares conversations with leading thinkers, entrepreneurs, and operators across agriculture.
🎧 Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts