FarmLogs Hosts Roundtable with Sonny Perdue and Leaders in Ag

Last week we hosted Secretary Sonny Perdue, Governor Rick Snyder, and representatives from Michigan’s agribusiness community for a roundtable discussion about the biggest issues impacting the ag economy today. 

The evening provided us with the opportunity to discuss how technology solutions can make a positive impact on agriculture. Our Co-Founder and CEO, Jesse Vollmar, presented on the challenges of running a profitable operation in today’s farm economy: “In the world we live in today, only growers that have a disciplined approach to grain marketing are going to survive, and that’s a challenge our team can help address.”

Jesse Vollmar presenting on how FarmLogs is using technology to help create a better future for farming.

Attendees were able to see the FarmLogs Marketing tool in action, highlighting how we're using technology to make it easier for growers to more efficiently and profitably market their crops. Perdue noted that “…real productivity depends on technology, both from a data standpoint and being able to have access to it.”

During the roundtable, commodity and agribusiness leaders were able to present the specific challenges their industries are facing to the Secretary for discussion. Net neutrality, internet accessibility, gene editing, and infrastructure upgrades were among the top concerns.

Sonny Perdue and Jesse Vollmar discussing net neutrality during the roundtable.

Net neutrality is a topic that farmers are deeply connected to, and Vollmar noted that without it a company like FarmLogs might not be able to exist in the future. This lead to a broader conversation regarding insufficient internet access for rural america, a problem that Perdue said the 2018 Farm Bill hopes to solve.

Despite the array of challenges in the industry, the sentiment of the evening can be summarized in Vollmar’s closing remarks from his presentation, “Together we can leverage technology to serve the industry and keep the U.S. on the forefront of innovation.”

Secretary Sonny Perdue (left), Jesse Vollmar (middle), and Governor Rick Synder (right)