Crop Diagnostix

Huge thank you to Chad R. Scebold and the TOTAL ACRE team for inviting me to speak at the Total Acre Grower Clinic this week.    Rebecca Helget and I had a blast sharing our passion for predictive crop management with over 400 data-driven growers, highlighting how gene expression technology can improve product selection, while increasing yield and ROI.    Was an absolute pleasure meeting the legends themselves, champion growers Randy Dowdy and David Hula, and getting their insights on our product. There’s nothing more invigorating than working with farmers who are redefining what’s possible.

We are excited to welcome Rebecca Helget as our new VP of Agronomy at Crop Diagnostix! 🌱 Rebecca brings over a decade of experience in sales, business leadership, agronomy, and biological products. Her strategic vision has driven her to transform businesses and develop new markets across industries. With a Master’s in Plant Science from SDSU, Rebecca combines her technical expertise with a passion for proactive crop management. She thrives on creating systems for long-term success, empowering teams, and challenging conventional thinking by encouraging farmers to explore new opportunities. Outside of her professional pursuits, Rebecca enjoys camping with her family, exercising, reading, and coaching soccer. Rebecca’s leadership will be pivotal as we continue to empower growers and build the future of predictive agriculture. Please join us in giving Rebecca a warm welcome! 🎉 #CropDiagnostix #Welcome #Leadership #Agronomy #Innovation

A big THANK YOU to all the incredible businesses that will be exhibiting at the 2025 Grower Clinic! Your support makes this event possible and we’re excited to showcase the latest in industry innovations and solutions. We can’t wait to connect with all of you and see the amazing products and services you bring to the table. 🌱 #TotalAcreClinic2025 #UnlockYourBusinessPotential #StudentoftheCrop

We’re hiring!   Crop Diagnostix is looking for a VP of Agronomy who can leverage their technical background and business development skills to disrupt the AgTech industry.   Currently, farmers are over-applying inputs like fertilizer and pesticides by 65%, which is not only detrimental to the environment - it’s hurting our farmers’ margins. Existing technologies like tissue sampling, IoT sensors, and satellite imagery aren’t providing the proactive crop health recommendations that farmers need. At Crop Diagnostix, we’re using cutting-edge genomics and AI to revolutionize our understanding of crop health, so that farmers can apply the right products at the right time, rate, and place.   If you or anyone you know is passionate about using predictive tools to revolutionize agriculture, please reach out!   Link to apply: https://lnkd.in/gdg6W7Yx

As we move into the next phases of this years Activator cycle, we want to highlight some of the amazing alumni from previous cohorts! Our first alumni highlight is Joseph Swift and Crop Diagnostix from the 2023 cycle. At the intersection of AI and plant biology, Crop Diagnostix is a innovative force in the Eco space. They have gone on to win a number of awards and competitions; most recently winning the grand prizes at the MIT Water, Food and Agriculture Innovation Prize, HBS New Venture Competition and the Harvard Shark Tank as well as being named a 2024 World Agri-Tech Featured Startup. We can't wait to see what they do next!

Interested in applying your biotech background to transform agriculture? Crop Diagnostix is hiring a Research Associate I or II with experience in molecular biology to optimize and scale our genomic sequencing workflows. Top candidates will have experience in molecular techniques such as RNA purification, PCR, and NGS. If you’re passionate about using cutting-edge genomics and AI to make agriculture more productive and sustainable, we want to talk! https://lnkd.in/g2U8J8GK

Can’t believe it’s been a year since we pitched to Mr. Wonderful for the $100K prize at the Harvard Shark Tank. Special thank you to Reza Satchu for inviting me back to talk about the competition and the impact it’s had on Crop Diagnostix. And always great catching up with Kevin O'Leary and getting his advice on the business. We’ve made incredible progress over the past year and are preparing to grow the team! Stay tuned for updates.

The Crop Diagnostix team had a productive week in North Dakota! We shared our entrepreneurial journey at StartupBREW Fargo, showcased our product at Grand Farm Field Day, and pitched at the Cultivate Conference. We met with many inspiring farmers, agronomists, seed companies, biological companies, and investors who continue to fuel our vision. A huge thank you to the Emerging Prairie and Grand Farm teams for providing a platform to share our work and connect with a vibrant community of partners. Excited to keep pushing the boundaries of agriculture alongside some amazing startups (Pivot Bio, ClearLeaf, Earnest Agriculture, Bactelife Industries, Inc. and many more)!

On Monday, May 6, the MIT Water, Food, and Agricultural Prize held its final pitch night, co-sponsored by J-WAFS. Keynote speaker Florian Schattenmann, CTO of Cargill, opened the event by speaking about the need for collaboration to drive sustainability in agriculture. Five finalist teams then pitched their exciting innovations including water treatment technologies and software to help farmers manage their data. At the end of the night, Crop Diagnostix was awarded first place and received $30K in prize money for their solution that uses gene sequencing and AI to better understand crop health so that farmers can optimize their inputs and maximize yield. Tarragon Systems took home both the $15K second place prize and the $5K audience choice award. The company uses machine learning algorithms to make recommendations for food ordering quantities in order to reduce food waste at restaurants. Congratulations to the winners and all of the finalist teams!

Thank you to the amazing MIT Water, Food, & Agriculture Innovation Prize team, judges, and mentors for an amazing competition and final event last night. Honored to be taking home the grand prize amongst so many stellar teams solving the biggest challenges in climate, food, and agriculture. Special shoutout to Chafik Barbar for being the best mentor throughout the process, and congrats to Tess Harper and Tarragon Systems for taking home not 1, but 2 prizes! We’re incredibly grateful to all the sponsors (including Cargill, PepsiCo, and Google) for accelerating Crop Diagnostix’s mission of helping farmers feed the world sustainably. 🌱