This episode features a conversation between Phil Dillard, Founder of Thruline Networks, and Randy Krotz, Chief Executive Officer of AgWiki Incorporated, an online social media organization focused on bringing food producers from all over the globe together to address food production challenges. In this episode, Randy talks about comparisons between small agriculture and big ag, the utmost importance of healthy soil in farming, and how farmers benefit greatly from global discussion, activating changemakers within the community.
This episode features a conversation between Phil Dillard, Founder of Thruline Networks, and Randy Krotz, Chief Executive Officer of AgWiki Incorporated, an online social media organization focused on bringing food producers from all over the globe together to address food production challenges. AgWiki works to build relationships between farmers, ranchers, researchers, dieticians, and educators.
Randy also served as the CEO of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, a consumer-focused ag movement consisting of more than 125 farmers and rancher-led organizations and industry partners engaged in dialogue about how food is grown and raised.
In addition to nearly 30 years of experience ranging in food, health care, agriculture, and biotechnology, Randy owns and plays an active role in the diversified family farm in North Central Kansas on which he was raised.
In this episode, Randy talks about comparisons between small agriculture and big ag, the utmost importance of healthy soil in farming, and how farmers benefit greatly from global discussion, activating changemakers within the community.
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Guest Quote
“As I've been around farmers all over this planet my entire career, the joy that a farmer has, they enjoy talking to consumers, there's no question. But a farmer from Alabama talking to a farmer from Kenya is one of the most exciting conversations you can ever watch take place. And you can say Alabama to California. You can say China, talking about hog production from Iowa to Beijing. I mean, farmers, talking to farmers about those things, it's so inspiring for farmers to be able to take part in those conversations. What we did was we looked at this issue around hunger, we looked at this issue around technology sharing and education and information sharing, and we created a platform in AgWiki to help do that. That was the goal.” - Randy Krotz
Episode Timestamps
(02:17) Randy’s role
(06:47) His industry background
(10:47) Small ag versus big ag
(14:17) The importance of healthy soil
(19:41) Addressing hunger through AgWiki
(22:20) How farmers benefit from global discussion
(25:19) Developing the future of AgWiki
(32:07) Activating communities to make change
(39:42) Quick hits
Links
Phil Dillard: Hello and welcome to Thruline to the 4th Sector where we're exploring fourth sector capitalism and impact investing as an invitation to innovation and changing the world. This episode features a conversation between Phil Dillard, Founder of Thruline Networks, and Randy Krotz, Chief Executive Officer of AgWiki Incorporated, an online social media organization focused on bringing food producers from all over the globe together to address food production challenges. Ag Wiki works to build relationships between farmers, ranchers, researchers, dieticians, and educators.
Randy also served as a CEO of the US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, a consumer ag movement consisting of more than 125 farmers and rancher led organizations and industry partners engaged in dialogue about how food is grown and raised.
In addition to nearly 30 years of experience ranging from food to healthcare to agriculture and biotechnology, Randy owns and plays an active role in the diversified family farm in North Central Kansas on which he was raised. In this episode, Randy talks about the comparisons between small egg and big egg, the utmost importance of healthy soil and farming, and how farmers benefit from global discussions that activate changemakers within the community. Now, please enjoy this interview between Phil Dillard and Randy Krotz.
Well, hey Randy. Thanks so much for coming on the show and taking some time to speak with us today.
[00:01:41] Randy Krotz: Thank you very much for having me. I look forward to the conversation.
[00:01:46] Phil Dillard: Yeah, definitely do. Um, when I heard about Ag Wiki, I said, Hmm, that sounds interesting. I wonder what that really means. And then when I dug into it, I was really, really excited about the work you're doing because I think it's [00:02:00] just critically important to the future of agriculture, regenerative agriculture, and just sharing best practices around the.
On one of the most important issues that we've got and it's food, how we make it, how we use it, how we don't waste it, how we empower great people to be part of the process. So I'm very excited to have you on. I'm very excited to, um, learn more about what you're doing. So I start, um, with the very first part of our first segment, the easy part, you a little bit of background, a little bit of your journey, a little bit of getting to know you.
So when people ask you what you do, um, how do you describe what.
[00:02:36] Randy Krotz: Well, generally speaking, I have, I have been in the public relations, uh, arena for most of my career, but with a science background. So I tried to bring my, my degrees in, in agriculture forward to help people understand what's going on in agriculture and also to over the years to deal.
Some of the crisis arenas that [00:03:00] have existed around food, whether that's been because of pesticide use or a whole host of things related to animals and, and, uh, feeding animals for food. Um, so that's my, my path has been, generally speaking, trying to communicate the science of agriculture to a large group of people, whether it's people in the political arena or consumers themselves.
So can
[00:03:26] Phil Dillard: you talk a little bit about that? The uninitiated agriculture seems kind of simple, right? I grew up driving from a suburb to another suburb or to the city. You drive past fields, you see people out there. You see stuff growing. You think it's, I think it's pretty simple. Can you talk a little bit about the complicated science of modern.
[00:03:47] Randy Krotz: Well, I, I, I can, but that's actually, um, I think the opinion that a lot of people have, uh, as they watch food being grown, it is very hard to, to step back and understand [00:04:00] the, the depth, and again, I, not to overuse the term, but the science that's involved in producing food and, and feeding people and, and limiting waste, food waste, which is so important.
And also raising food in a manner. Is, is healthy and safe for animals, and also that preserves our soil and actually tries to make a better soil, uh, exist than when we started. So there is a lot to it today. It varies so much across the board. You know, you have, you have large agriculture, which, which feeds the vast majority of the people, particularly in the United States, but even around the world.
And that agriculture can seem, um, a little off. At times, I think, I think people look at it and feel, and see large equipment going across fields and, Hey, what are they doing? They're, they're dropping a seed in the, uh, in the soil and up comes the plant and they harvest it. There's so much more to it than that.
We were just talking, [00:05:00] uh, on our. Farm yesterday about soil testing, what we need to do to make sure that we have the best soil, uh, available, what nutrients we need to be putting back in the soil, what we need to be doing to continue to enhance organic matter, uh, keeping our, our pH, the acidity, particularly in this part of the United States in a level.
Uh, at a level that allows us to maximize our food production. Uh, and then today, you know, utilizing all that soil information to plant, um, a crop where it needs to be planted, where it can, uh, best apt grow at a seed population that works for that particular soil type that we're not over. That we're not wasting water, uh, where we do have the opportunity to irrigate.
Uh, so much of the, of the Midwest is still, uh, dependent upon rain and thunderstorms and whatnot. But, uh, it is a complex and risky business. And obviously a lot of what's produced and [00:06:00] what you were probably driving by, Uh, actually goes for animal feed, and that's just the realities of agriculture. We produce a fair amount of corn and soybeans in this country to go through poultry, pork and, and beef, and, and now also with a growing piece of it going to to fish.
So there's kind of a quick summary. Yep.
[00:06:20] Phil Dillard: Oh, sure. Yeah. You covered the important areas. Bigs, farm versus small farm, human feed versus animal feed, right? Or human food versus animal food. Soil health versus seed health or, or seed innovation, uh, water management, uh, and resources. The what I think of as the big areas of generating food before you think about.
Mechanical inputs, distributions and things like that. If you think about your background and like, if you can guide us through a little bit of like how did your experiences teach you more and more about the, those areas that got you to where you are today? .
[00:06:59] Randy Krotz: I think [00:07:00] that, uh, you know, coming up on a farm, born and raised on a farm in, in north central Kansas, uh, that was very diverse from cattle hogs, we even had some sheep from time to time, as well as a vast number of crops gives you exposure.
You know that even parts of the country don't have, there's a lot of the United States from an agricultural standpoint, that is certainly no longer diverse. Right? We we're some a farmer's either growing crops or they're raising livestock. It doesn't cross over near like it used to. You don't grow. You don't.
Go buy a farm that's producing their own vegetables, their own, um, animals and their own grain to feed the animals. That is just, doesn't occur near like it used to. Part of that is the, the cost of the inputs and the, and the restrictions that come with that, but I think. You know, moving into science right out of college, coming out of, out of Kansas State with a, with a degree, that really helped [00:08:00] me understand the pests that impact agriculture as a whole, whether they're animal pests or, or, um, Uh, crop pests.
But then in working for a company that was trying to help farmers with that, right, at the same time, dealing with the heart issues of regulatory science and making sure that the pesticides that were being used, uh, were properly regulated and that farmers were using them correctly, uh, which is much more of a hurdle than a lot of people actually.
But then moving into, you know, primarily taking all that work and experience lifelong and agriculture and moving it over into the public relations arena, trying to help consumers understand how their food has grown and raised at the same time, helping farmers understand that they're not doing a good job communicating that information to consumers, and it's leaving huge gaps for people in what their experience is with agriculture.
What their general thoughts are [00:09:00] about ag, again, back to how food is grown and raised. So that's from, from being in the corporate side of agriculture to the nonprofit side of agriculture, and now with a startup, my goal has, has generally evolved from consumers talking to farmers and ranchers to now having.
Try to get in a place where farmers are talking to farmers all over the world together and sharing information and technology that we may in the United States understand and utilize very well, uh, and other parts of the world do as well. But there's very important parts of the world where many of the malnourished are the 850 people, 850 million people that go to bed every night, malnourished the, the whole evolution.
Of taking this information and getting it shared, uh, and trying to find a way to share the technology, uh, across peer-to-peer in the farming and [00:10:00] ranching arena. And you want to do it with scientists helping you, uh, university researchers, helping you get that information out to people.
[00:10:09] Phil Dillard: Sure. Absolutely. I mean, it's really interesting.
I think a lot of the Americans think about big ag versus small ag. They say, uh, especially I'm in California, right? Lots of people say, I want to know where my food's coming from. I want something that's local, inorganic and, and all that. And then I talk to big food people who say it's not realistic to feed the world.
Uh, these small organic farms. But you know, in the US I see a lot of these small organic farms coming into our farmer's markets and I was just in the Philippines, uh, digging into this as well, where a 10th of the population is small farms who benefit from this sort of stuff. You said it's hard for a lot of reasons.
Can you talk a little bit about, about some of the challenges that are similar and different for small ag versus big ag that you see in the US and.
[00:10:56] Randy Krotz: You bet. And I'm, I'm glad you brought up California because [00:11:00] it's actually such an example of every kind of food production, um, you know, from, from so many organic properties and, and farmers that, that actually are on large scale, um, all up through the San Joaquin Valley, uh, in different areas of California.
You do see farmers now that. That are growing organically, that are on the acreage, that's more representative of what you might see, a wheat farmer in Kansas. So that's, that's great stuff. It's not easy to stay there. Uh, as an organic farmer, it's, it's challenging from an, from a pest standpoint, from weeds and insects.
It's tough to get registered now, to be able to grow, to have a soil registered, to be organic. Right, because you. Basically in most states, I think in the United States as a whole, you know, you have to basically go three years without the use of any kind of synthetic products on that ground, on that soil before you can [00:12:00] begin to grow organic.
So there are challenges with being organic. There's benefits to it in the grocery store. I think the US now is somewhere between, I'll just broadly say six and 9% organic, uh, purchases of food. Right or wrong. You can argue that a lot of that happens in grocery stores where people can afford to pay the prices for those foods.
It's one of the challenges of organic production. You generally have generally not always, generally have lower yields and can have higher labor costs because of some of the pest challenges that you're experienced with. But when you start talking about lower yields on a per acre basis, it's just difficult to.
To bring somebody to the point of going that way on a large scale. What I see happening is other conservation measures that this broad agriculture that we've mentioned three or four times now across the United [00:13:00] States continues to adopt. And they also in some way can help to market that. And I think some food companies, you know, are saying, okay, we're gonna ask our farmers to grow food in a sustainable manner.
So food companies are listening to consumers and are doing a good job in nudging farm production in the right direction. Just real quickly, back to your specific question about organic production. I'm not sure how much more growth we'll see in that area. I sometimes, I think the challenges can be so mighty in some areas that it's just hard to expand it, but that niche market will continue to grow.
Those food, those food markets in downtown St. Louis and in Santa Barbara, wherever they might be, are going to continue to want, you know, and be able to pay for those, those foods that are grown in that, in that special manner. That are perceived safer. [00:14:00]
[00:14:00] Phil Dillard: Sure. Um-huh . I think the objective, I think what most people want is we want nutrient dense foods that are pretty fresh, that are fairly produced so that people are making a, a living wage.
That there's like low carbon impact on the environment and, um, that they're very accessible and affordable to a, to a broad range of people. I think that's what most people want in this. There's organic, there's regenerative ag, there's healthy soil, and I don't know if people know the difference between dirt, uh, and healthy soil.
How would you define it and how would you, how would you clarify like how those things come together to get a, a broad amount of healthy food for a large swath in the American popul?
[00:14:45] Randy Krotz: First and foremost, um, soil not moving is critically important. You know, the, the, uh, as a child I always heard that, uh, you know, rainstorms and floods and what part of the country is experiencing right [00:15:00] now is God's way of trying to flatten the Earth.
And it was always said in just out in Kansas, but there's some reality. As we have experienced decades and decades, if not centuries, uh, of soil washing down rivers and into the Gulf of Mexico or, you know, other places in the country, um, and around the planet. So getting a soil not to move. And not lose it is the start of this whole equation.
You've got to be able to keep your soil in place and there are situations like massive floods where that's gonna be almost impossible to do. But generally speaking, the conservation measures that I think small farmers and large farmers put in place have grown to the point that we have much. Less soil at risk of washing away than we've ever had before.
And the reality of losing soil is so astronomical. It's [00:16:00] hard to measure. I mean, to lose, to lose an inch of top soil when you only have six inches of top soil to begin with, it's not something you replace very quickly because it, it takes hundreds of years to turn into topsoil. So, I start with that and then I would say that as a whole, you know, there is a perception that a small farmer can tend better to their, to their soil than maybe a large farmer.
I generally think that that's without a lot of truth to it. I think, uh, You know, regardless of the size of the producer, that you can do things to add to your organic matter, which is so important, particularly in these areas of regenerative agriculture where you're wanting to keep your nutrients in place, make those nutrients that are in that soil available to that plant, or, you know, fruit, vegetable, whatever it might be.
So part of this whole equation comes around to [00:17:00] where is the market availability. When you look at fresh fruit and vegetables and you list it as one of your things as fresh, you want it as fresh as it can be. Well, when my family steps out on their front porch, there isn't a market for our food for sometimes hundreds of miles.
And if it is a market, it's only a market of four to 8,000 people, maybe 25,000 people. So that's part of why. Modifying the soils in their farms across the Midwest into vegetable markets and, and fruit and, and gardening and whatnot, becomes a challenge because there isn't a market right there for the, for that crop, which in California or the East coast, or even parts of the southeast particularly, you know, you get fresh tomatoes in Florida because the market is right.
By the time they get to St. Louis, sometimes they're no longer fresh. And that's the reality of it. And that's why [00:18:00] I think over time that that evolution to livestock production, using, using the grain that we produce to produce livestock, and then providing, you know, fresh meat. Around the globe. It's the path that we've gone.
But I think there's, there's synergies around all this. I think the expectation that farmers can serve their local markets has some limitations to it because there's not always a local market to serve. Um, you know, everybody watches Yellowstone. That's a great example. You know, there's all these cattle being.
There's not a market there for that many cattle. Those cattle go all over, you know, when they're, when they're harvested and, and they go all over the, the, the United States and the world. So, you know, it's a big complex business that has some, unfortunately creates its own limitations sometimes. .
[00:18:49] Phil Dillard: Yeah. You make a really interesting point that I haven't heard often, and it's the distance from the market and why it, it dictates what you grow.
Like a lot of people are concerned that there's [00:19:00] not enough, not enough food for people on the planet. The understanding that I've developed from people in the industry is there's enough land, there's enough food, there's enough capacity to grow and feed the planet. It's what you grow, where and how you use it and, and how you make those markets work that really matter.
Growing tomato. In Iowa isn't probably the best use of that era of the land. There's other things we should consider with that sort of growth. Uh, I think that's a really important point to ping on as we shift into asking you about like how you got into what you're doing, because obviously you have an extensive knowledge of the industry across all the different sect sectors of it, and you are thinking, how do I deliver the most?
To this industry. At what point did you know you needed to make the change into, into Ag Wiki and, and why'd you build the company? .
[00:19:47] Randy Krotz: So we initially built the company because we were looking to address hunger, and one of the aspects of hunger is transportation and the lack of roads, which you [00:20:00] just nearly said a moment ago, which is just the reality of developing world, the developing world on this planet.
And you know, if you could do anything to enhance distribution of food, it'd probably. Right. You know, you want water. Water availability is critical and a soil that can utilize that water's critical. I think specifically to me, I have spent a vast majority of my 35 years in this industry focused on helping consumers understand food production, and I think that's a critical part that farmers need to keep.
The shift that I made was, there's so much going on around climate. There's so much going on from, from regulatory technology, environmental, economic, consumer communication that I want. To help farmers have access to that information, [00:21:00] and as I've been around farmers all over this planet my entire career, the joy that a farmer has, they enjoy talking to consumers.
There's no question, but a farmer from Alabama, Talking to a farmer from Kenya is one of the most exciting conversations you can ever watch take place. And you can say Alabama to California. You can say China, you know, talking about hog production from Iowa to Beijing. I mean, farmers talking to farmers about those things.
It's so inspir. For farmers to, to be able to take part in those conversations, that what we did was we looked at this issue around hunger. We looked at this issue around technology sharing and education and information sharing, and we created a platform in Ag Wiki. To help do that. That was the goal.
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And now back to the interview.[00:23:00]
My assumption is that those farmers are excited for a couple reasons. The first being that they could help each other out and they could find somebody who they wouldn't normally meet who's experiencing the same thing. And it's just kind of cool to meet them and, and help somebody out. But it's also that, um, there's unexpected benefits in the conversation, whether it's, uh, technical or communication or just building a friendship.
Can you share some of the insights that you've learned, sort of, of how the farmers benefit from this conversation?
[00:23:34] Randy Krotz: The conversation that always jumps off the table for me is the, uh, two farmers talking about, and it was actually a, a Midwest farmer and an African farmer, and they were speaking specifically, uh, around corn production and water usage and, um, This was a California corn producer actually that had some water limitation in his production capacity, and they [00:24:00] simply know how to grow corn with less water in Africa than we do in the United States.
A lot of times, some of these resources that we have available we take for granted and we shouldn't, because, you know, our aquifers and our, and our groundwater is depleting in many, many places on the. And so I just saw this conversation take place between these individuals specifically around can I produce what I'm producing in the United States now on the same acreage with less resources, specifically water.
So that was just a very cool conversation. We saw some farmers, um, from. And Maine Maine's a fairly significant potato producing part of the United States and they grow a lot of potatoes in the Ukraine and it was a great conversation around, at that point in time, it was around GMOs and using genetically modified crops to to manage pest population, particularly [00:25:00] the potato beetle.
And what it meant, what it could mean for the environment, for those kinds of products to be available. And they, you know, they just get in great conversations around, uh, particularly the soil. And if you listen, and where I've seen more than any air Brazilian farmers and us soybean producers talking about soil and the rainforest and, you know, the incredible soil that's down there and whether or not they're, it's being preserved the.
We have learned to preserve soil here in the US because of the, the risk of erosion that we have. So just really neat conversations.
[00:25:38] Phil Dillard: I think it's great. I'm really glad you shared that. And as you were talking, a couple things came to mind. The first thing was I was like, Randy Kratz is like the Neil Degrass Tyson of agriculture , right?
Because when I listen to him, you know, on Star Talk and his books and different. He pulls different astrophysicists and scientists together to, to connect and share insights, but also [00:26:00] gives a better perspective of history and practical application of the technology. And what I'm hearing you say is you're connecting people.
Not only so that they can just share information, but share best practices and, and learn from each other in a way that elevates the craft, uh, in a way that possibly makes it better for the small farmer, uh, possibly makes it better for the big farmer, and definitely as a potential to make it better for the consumer to get healthy food and to, to eliminate hunger.
Tell me if I'm on track with that and also if there are any unexpected lessons or insights that you're, that you're learning that help you. The future of Ag Wiki. .
[00:26:40] Randy Krotz: So, um, I'm a huge fan of Dr. Tyson. He and I worked, we collaborated actually on a movie, uh, called Food Evolution. Uh, if you ever get a chance to look at it, he narrated a film that was basically talking about some of these myths that you and I are touching on right now around food [00:27:00] productions and did a great job.
And actually he's involved in another project in that same, uh, arena. Now, as I understand, I haven't, I haven't spoken to him about it. I do believe there's a value in there being a spokesperson for agriculture like there is in other areas of science. Um, you know, I, I'm very intrigued and, and, uh, complimented by your, your thoughts and, and my knowledge in this space.
There's a lot of people with this knowledge. There really is, um, we do a poor job of getting in front of people like you that can extract it from us. Uh, to be honest with you, , um, from an insight, I mean Ag Wiki's built around the fact of getting these farmers to have conversations with one another. I don't care whether it's about.
Or cattle production or you know, conserving soil, whatever it might be. We want farmers talking to [00:28:00] other farmers and we want an academic that can look at that conversation and weigh in when they want to. With research, we want videos available from farmers in all over South America or even Asia, showing other parts of the world what they're doing to grow and race food and to do it in a way.
You know, listen, we have to be mindful of the economy for farmer's sake, but the environ. Is right now, at least in the crosshairs of most countries, from a standpoint of we need to be doing things that that help and further food production while doing no harm. Right. Let's produce what we can produce and do no harm.
And that's what I hope comes from this. And I truly believe, I believe in my heart, the best way to get some of that accomplished is peer-to-peer conversations [00:29:00] with an ear to the consumer.
[00:29:03] Phil Dillard: Yeah, I can, I can totally see, see that. I'm curious about how the ag is constructed, how it's growing, and what success looks like to
[00:29:13] Randy Krotz: you.
Well, as any new company, we're a bootstrap company, so we've, we've, uh, for those of you that might not be familiar, it's basically we've. With our own funding to this point, to a large degree. We've done crowdfunding once. That's, that is, I think as I've learned so much about startups, uh, and particularly in agriculture and in tech, technology funding is a crucial part, is we continue to, to build out Ag Wiki and the, in the, the website, the app that exists for the product.
You know, we have a long way to go. We want to be out there, uh, still today. Raising money and gaining investors. You know, we have shares, we're a Delaware based C corp, but we're not a [00:30:00] public company obviously at this point. So, you know, the investment, getting people to invest and understand what we're trying to do when we get to have this kind of conversation, Phil, it's, it helps.
It really does. People look at this and say, wait a minute, this is something I want to be a part of. Very interestingly, young people. Attached to this much more quickly than what a more senior audience does. If I'm talking to a bunch of seniors in high school, uh, or even, um, you know, some, some relatives of mine that are in their mid twenties, they grasp this very quickly.
They understand the importance and the significance, and they. much higher on their list of priorities than say, at an old, you know, a 50 plus age consumer. That's just the reality of, of the business. So, um, you know, the, the, the steps for us are to continue develop, To develop our, our site, uh, [00:31:00] to be able to market it more aggressively, to be out there, um, you know, talking to the audiences that we need to, to, you know, to, to be very frank, to put me on an airplane or on videos and be where I need to be to get people engaged.
Particularly with the influencers, and I'm not talking about influencers online, but just the key influencers at the, at the United Nations and the U S D A and other ag, ag policy organizations around the globe that are just so crucial to our success and where we want to go with AG Wiki.
[00:31:40] Phil Dillard: Actually, you know, I, I love, I love both of those sides of influencers, especially with the, with the youth.
Cuz I mean, I think increasingly people care about food and health and longevity. Um, climate for the, for Gen Z and millennials is the, is the existential threat. Whereas if it was Gen X and boomers, you're, you're concerned about, Uh, nuclear war, [00:32:00] right? They're concerned about climate and biodiversity, um, collapse and ecosystem collapse, and those are real, but different threats, but caused by many, many of the same things.
So the influencer, you know, the TikTok person who breaks down what regenerative agriculture is or. Why, uh, organic is hard to scale or why big food isn't always so bad or what you should and should not be concerned about for, for G M O? You know, um, I haven't seen the ag version of, uh, Greta Tomberg, right.
But I have seen, uh, there's a script called Gen Z for the trees, and they're with this, they're working with this nonprofit then I know, called the Rainforest Partnership. And what they did was they were very concerned about, uh, sustainable. And they just did some work on Google Maps, a bunch of college, high school and college students that pressured the global council on, uh, sustainable palm oil to update their processes and [00:33:00] their data and, and pressured some corporations to change their approaches towards generating palm oil.
Cuz they were like, we want the palm oil, but we don't want you to be burning the the rainforest. And I share that story because I think it's an interesting opportunity for community, um, activation. And I'm curious, um, in the Ag Wiki story, is the community activation mostly focused on the farmers or how does it, how does it expand into the industry to activate people to make change?
[00:33:29] Randy Krotz: It's an incredibly important balance because, um, we want anybody and everybody that's involved and interested in food production to be a part of Ag Wiki. We want it to be a resource for that type of information. We don't want it to be a place where, you know, it becomes a, a, a haven for. You know, one-sided information or people that aren't willing to, to hear both sides is probably better stated.
So, [00:34:00] you know, that's always a concern for me with, with an open product like Ag Wiki, but I do agree that, that that spokesperson for agriculture that we need maybe isn't out there. , you know, and a, and someone youthful and energetic would be great to have. You know, when I was in one of my roles, we looked at trying to find that spokesperson and we went everywhere from, you know, 20 somethings all the way to states, men and women that could somehow carry that message.
I'm trying to think of the dirty jobs. Um, right Mike, I can't think of Mike Row. Anyway, Mike, You, Mike Rowe. Yeah. You know, we, we've talked to Mike Rowe at one point saying, Hey, is this, is this a role you could play in? And the other thing that happens to agriculture is coming together and getting everybody aligned behind those issues is very difficult.
I, I was very fortunate and ran an organization for [00:35:00] several years that, that brought all aspects of agriculture together. There was still the aspects that weren't quite aligned, that, that when you brought in ethanol production, that you lost some people, you know, and, and then when you brought in GMOs, some people went, oh man,
[00:35:19] Phil Dillard: you lose some other people.
People go, oh, we don't wanna, we don't wanna use food for fuel. That's bad, right? We don't want, that's bad.
[00:35:26] Randy Krotz: Right. Everybody was at the table, but engagement is hard to maintain. You know, that that segmentation that exists in, in food production is so complicated, complex. You know, when Greta gets to stand up in front of people and, and rail on.
Right about the environment. It's a singular message, you know, it is, whether it's pretty singular, whether it's fossil fuels or agriculture, whatever it is that, that she's working to address. Um, you know, countering those messages [00:36:00] from such a complex environment that exists in production, agriculture is very, very hard to do.
[00:36:07] Phil Dillard: Well, I think you do have a singular message, right? You're. And hunger and malnutrition and create food that is medicine for people on the planet. Right? If I was to distill, to distill what I hear you and your mission about really for your whole career, that that, that's, those are the three things that I would call out and I think you're, um, taking some great steps in, in the right direction to create something that's really, um, really helpful for all participants in the in.
In the process, I'm, I'm really excited for what you're,
[00:36:42] Randy Krotz: Well, I appreciate that. I, I am too. I think we've, uh, uh, we've had some, some good victories as we bring AG Wiki along. You know, the, the audience is our biggest challenge, uh, along with continuing to develop a platform that can handle that audience. Um, but, uh, [00:37:00] But I'm confident and, uh, that we'll get there.
And I think when, when we get to tell the story and help people understand how complex this is and how, how the technology in the United States isn't always the ultimate answer, but man, if that could be more broadly available. Uh, and if, and farmers are willing to share it, the, the people that, you know, some corporations get a little touchy about sharing all that stuff, but farmers want other farmers around the world to have the information and technology they have, and we want to help make that happen.
[00:37:36] Phil Dillard: Yeah. I love, I love the, the point that you make about technology, cuz it's a really important one, right? We started exploring ag tech solutions and people started talking about drones and automated picking machines and things like that. And I said, hold on a second, you know, I'm thinking about tech in a different way because we want things that are going to be helpful to the ecosystem.
It doesn't help me to go to South America or Africa and [00:38:00] bring, uh, drones and machines in that take away. Jobs , right? And take away from, from the ability of folks to be engaged in, in agriculture is, especially if you're keeping the costs low and you're doing positive things for the environment. So how about a mechanical, you know, build the berm so you make it easier to reach the avocados, to pick them, as opposed to trying to create a, a machine that that does it right?
Make something that works inside the ecosystem and works within, within the environment Technology. It should be process as well as information technology, and it's not just a better machine to do the job.
[00:38:38] Randy Krotz: I totally agree with you. There are so many challenges with those jobs, and I think you touched on something so important there.
We see reluctance with, Hey, we've got tractors that we could send to to Kenya. Well, those tractors are gonna take human jobs away. You know, if, if everything kind of evolves, if the food production cycle [00:39:00] increases, there's other jobs created. And I know those are hard things to convince people, but, but it's the reality and technology for me and that we get, you know, that I get exposed to just very quickly is yesterday we made the decision on our farm to to soil test basically.
Every cubic yard of soil. So that allows us then to feed that information into a computer program that then allows it to feed into when we're applying fertilizer, when we're applying pesticides, when we're planting seed That. Regulates how much is utilized. And you know, I, I watched a planter last year as a kid when, when the planter rose overlapped, they just, you know, you just planted twice as much as you needed to.
On those, on today, those rows shut off on that planter. So you know, you're not double applying [00:40:00] a pesticide or a. Fertilizer that we used to apply behind the plant, but we still do today instead of overlapping. The GPS system tells that plant not to spray that part of the field again. So technology for us is doing so much and.
We get lost in that when we think of what other parts of the world need, because it's really so much more basic. They need access to water. They need to be able to to, to drill through a basically rock layer that's six feet below the soil surface, that there's all sorts of water underneath, but they don't have the means to drill through that rock layer.
Those are the things that need to be advanced in some parts of the.
[00:40:43] Phil Dillard: Wow. Well, Randy, thanks so much for your time. It was a really great conversation. I feel like we could go for a, a whole lot more time. Hopefully we'll come back and do, uh, where are they now? Uh, part of the show. Um, but as a partying shot, if you were to say, is there, I'm not gonna go with like two of my quick hits.
Um, [00:41:00] what is one of the most important things that individuals can do to lead to a better future for agriculture individuals?
[00:41:09] Randy Krotz: Consumers. I think from maybe a selfish point of view, I believe consumers working hard to connect themselves with agriculture and food production, um, is very, very helpful. And it's not just to get in touch with what.
You see food production as it's your small farm down the corner, but it's also understanding where, you know, 80% of the meat comes from on the planet. Getting a grasp on those types of things would be very, very helpful. At the same time, continuing to pressure the agricultural system to evolve, I think that pressure has to come from consumers than to food companies and ultimately to farmers and ranch.
[00:41:56] Phil Dillard: Okay. And we've talked a lot about farmers and ranchers and what the food [00:42:00] industry should do. What do you think is the most important thing that governments and NGOs should do to lead to a better future in this
[00:42:07] Randy Krotz: industry? Well, I think a quick hit for me would be that that governments and policy around the world, Needs to help drive farmers to a path of better conservation and food production.
Sometimes it takes a nudge, you know, to go from, to go from full till farming to no-till. Farming is a little painful and you're gonna see a couple of years of reduced yield until you get that soil back where it needs to be. And I. Making sure that governments are helping drive environmental issues around the globe is critical.
Whether again, you, I could have used an example as a livestock production, what we do with waste from livestock production's, another great example.
[00:42:59] Phil Dillard: Great. [00:43:00] Yeah, absolutely. Totally understand. Well, thanks so much for your time and for your great insights. And, uh, if people are trying to reach you, how do they.
[00:43:09] Randy Krotz: My email is rp k r otz ag wiki.com, and I'm I'm on ag wiki.com. Uh, Randy Krutz, KR otz.
[00:43:20] Phil Dillard: Outstanding. Well, thanks so much for, for making the time and thanks everybody for joining us on a another episode of Through Line to The Four Sector. We hope seeing you again here sometime soon.
[00:43:30] Randy Krotz: Thank you very much.
[00:43:33] Phil Dillard: Thank you for listening to this episode of Thruline to the 4th Sector. I'm your host, Phil Dillard. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a rating and tell a friend. To learn more about the four sector economy, visit thrulinenetworks.com. That's T H R U L I N E networks.com. Thanks again, and we hope to have you with us in the next episode.