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Farmers included in Ag Innovations Showcase

For the first time, the Ag Innovations Showcase has put a spotlight on farmers. Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst was the keynote speaker Monday saying farmers need innovations and innovators to stand up for modern farming practices in the face of consumer criticism. Hurst tells Brownfield Ag News, “Innovations get adopted because they help their customers, they helped us as farmers, but they can’t be adopted unless the FINAL customer – that shopper at a supermarket – if she’s not willing to buy food produced WITH the innovations that are on display here, then the innovations will fail.” Hurst grows corn and soybeans in Northwest Missouri.

Interview with Blake Hurst:

The Ag Innovations Showcase, in its eighth year, brings start-up ag tech companies together with investors, researchers, and government and corporate executives. This year, 25 countries are represented.

Showcase Co-Founder Rohit Shukla of the Larta Institute tells Brownfield, they realized they should have had farmers involved from the very beginning and this 2016 show changes that.

Interview with Rohit Shukla:

The Ag Innovations Showcase is underway through Wednesday at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.