In this episode of Future Food, which I co-hosted with my wonderful colleague, reporter and resident rancher Lauren Stine, we talk to Lew Moorman and Nick Honegger of Soilworks, a newly-created investment group focused on regenerative agriculture. Nick and Lew founded SoilWorks after working together at Scaleworks, the B2B SaaS focused investment organization founded by Lew.
We talk about how they moved into the very different world of regenerative agriculture, what regen ag means to them, their first investment – the acquisition of livestock management app PastureMap — and more generally about where they see the future of our food systems.
Lew and Nick are driving for a more mainstream adaption of regenerative agriculture. They believe it could be the key to remodeling our existing food systems in a healthier and more sustainable way. There are a lot of aspects that need to come together to make the shift to a more regenerative system, so stay tuned to hear about how Lew and Nick believe we can facilitate the change.
Listen below, or on your favorite podcasting app.
Key Topics:
03:43 Where food systems will be in 2050.
06:08 What is regenerative agriculture and what is its role in systemic change?
07:34 The journey from tech-based companies to agriculture.
10:09 Lew’s tipping point to regenerative agriculture adoption.
11:57 How Lew and Nick plan to scale these models into their investment thesis.
16:56 Nicks’ tipping point to regenerative agriculture.
19:14 What companies they are looking at investing in.
20:57 Is there a potential for co-investors?
22:50 How they discovered PastureMap.
25:14 The challenges of scaling the platform.
27:23 How they are applying their tech backgrounds to their agricultural endeavours.
33:10 How should regenerative agriculture product be regulated and labelled?
34:00 The importance of consumer communication.
Enjoy!
