Doug Applegate started farming and taking night classes at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs at age 16.  He earned an associate degree in Farm Management and has taken many additional studies including programming and electronics.  He and his wife love farming, working together and serving in their church.  Doug has always enjoyed building things for the farm and passed this passion onto their two sons. 

Praxidyn, their manufacturing company, was started with their sons to create automation for the farm.  Mechatronics is their specialty, and they do the mechanical and electronic engineering along with all the software from the embedded control, app, and cloud service software.  Mixmate is their first product and is an automated blending and recordkeeping system primarily used to blend crop protection products.  Farming and engineering are Doug’s two career choices, and he has the privilege of doing both with his family.   

Doug has also been involved with AgGateway since 2012.  AgGateway is a global, non-profit organization with the mission to develop the resources and relationships that drive digital connectivity in global agriculture and related industries.  He works with many individuals and companies who contribute their time in standardizing data communications so that farm equipment and office data systems can all work together for the traceability of crop inputs and farm production. 

All of these endeavors have led to greater operating efficiency for their farm and for others around the world. 

Chad is the third generation of accredited farm managers in the Hertz family. During his 25 plus years at Hertz Farm Management, he served as a professional farm manager and licensed real estate agent, advised ag technology and precision agriculture, and leads the information technology team. 

Chad is an active member of several professional and local organizations including the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA). He is a past president of the Iowa Chapter of the ASFMRA and winner of the ASFMRA Early Career Award. Today Chad serves on the Non-Operating Landowner working group with 4R plus, an Iowa organization promoting conservation and soil health efforts with farmland owners and operators.  

Chad graduated from the University of Illinois College of Agriculture with a degree in Agronomy earning Highest Honors. He earned a Master of Science degree in Ag Economics at the University of Illinois as well, specializing in production economics and precision agriculture. 

 

Brian Lutz leads the Farming Solutions & Digital sub-function within the Research & Development organization for Corteva Agriscience.  In his role, Brian is responsible for the development of digital solutions that support the R&D pipeline and enable Corteva’s business.  He also serves as a member of the R&D Leadership team. Brian joined Corteva in 2021 in the Portfolio Strategy Program Management role and continues to contribute to the company’s long-term strategic planning. 

Prior to starting at Corteva, Brian was Chief Science Officer at The Climate Corporation, and was also a member of Bayer Crop Science’s R&D Leadership Team. Before joining industry, he had an academic career focused on studying soil carbon and nutrient dynamics and has an extensive amount of experience working at the science-policy interface on topics associated with global environmental change. 

Brian was raised on a fourth-generation corn and soybean farm in Ohio and remains closely connected to his family’s farming operation.  Brian earned his undergraduate degree in Biology from the College of Wooster and his Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry from Duke University. He also holds certificates from Northwestern University in executive education and business management. 

Ben Sloan is Vice President of Strategy and Product for Ever.Ag. He is responsible for the design, development, and deployment of FieldAlytics. Prior to his role at Ever.Ag, Ben led the development of first of its kind tools at AgSolver connecting farm profitability with environmental performance. Ben holds Masters and Bachelor’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University. 

Ron Osborne

Global Head of Technology for Agriculture, Amazon Web Services (AWS) 

Kathleen Glass

VP of Marketing, AquaSpy

As President of Ever.Ag Agribusiness, Ernie leads a team focused on solutions for Ag Retailers and Ag Service Providers and enhancing their engagement with Growers. With over 30 years of experience delivering solutions to agribusiness spanning digital agronomy solutions and business management, Ernie has had the pleasure of working with Ag Retailers up and down the supply chain. The mission of Ever.Ag is to streamline the supply chain to feed the world’s growing population and is exemplified by their ever-advancing solutions. Ernie was raised in Alberta, Canada and currently resides in Tennessee. 

 

Bob Trogele, PhD

Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President 

AMVAC

Ulrich (Bob) Trogele joined AMVAC in January 2015 to focus on growing the business across multiple product lines and geographies, achieving greater profitability, and establishing a pipeline of future opportunities through innovation and strategic relationships. As COO he oversees sales, marketing, and business development on a global basis. Additionally, he has been a voluntary Adjunct Professor at the Berlin School of Economics & Law, educating Asian European MBA’s as future leaders in global business and society. He is an independent board director of Clean Seeds Capital Group and the Farm Journal Foundation and sits on the board of the Agricultural Retailer Association.