Seeds to Success:  Updates for Indiana Seed Companies
Breakout Session
August 11, 2021
 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
1 CCA CEUs:  Crop Management

 
Sponsored By:

Facilitator:  Natalie Markle, CISCO Seeds 

Natalie Markle is the President and CEO of The CISCO Companies and has been an employee of CISCO for the past 18 years.  Natalie graduated from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.  Natalie and her fellow CISCO employees pride themselves on providing the best in turf, forage, and cover crop seed and sharing knowledge to their dealers.    

Natalie grew up in her family's feed and seed store on the southside of Indianapolis and continues to live in Johnson County with her husband and two children.  Natalie has been a proud board member of the Agribusiness Council of Indiana since 2019.

Speaker: Dustin Johnson, CISCO Seeds

Dustin Johnson is the Ohio Valley regional agronomist for The CISCO Companies.  Dustin studied agronomy at Purdue University and is experienced in applied crop research and federal crop insurance.  Dustin lives near Kokomo, Indiana, and operates a farm business with his wife and children that specializes in high-quality dry hay for dairies, beef cattle, and horse farms, as well as certified organic grains.  

Dustin passionately believes in soil conservation and the power of extended, diverse cropping rotations to harness the natural productivity of farmland.

Speaker:  Al Klapp, Valagro

Al Klapp is a Market Development Manager at Valagro USA.  For the past six years, he has worked with R&D and sales teams to bring innovative biostimulant technologies into the speciality and row crop markets in the US and Canada.  Prior to Valagro, Al spent 10 years as contract researcher working with pre-commercial seed, crop protection and biological products for a variety of companies.  He is passionate about finding new solutions to help growers make every acre as productive as possible.  Al graduated from Auburn University with a MS degree in Plant Pathology. 

He lives in Fairhope, AL with his wife and two children.

Speaker:  Dr. Jianxin Ma, Purdue University

Jianxin Ma is a professor in the Department of Agronomy and Center for Plant Biology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. Dr. Ma received his Ph.D.in Plant Genetics and Breeding from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and had postdoc training in Plant Genomics at Purdue University and the University of Georgia. He is internationally recognized for his outstanding contributions and innovative research on plant comparative genomics and soybean genetics.  He has authored 96 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals including Science, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Genetics, Nature Plants, PNAS, Plant Cell etc., and delivered over 100 invited talks. He is the primary inventor of three patents and patent applications, demonstrating the potential of his research findings for crop improvement.

Dr. Ma has provided extensive services to the scientific communities, serving/served as an associate editor for several journals including the Plant Genome, the  Plant Journal, and G3 etc. Dr. Ma is the recipient of 2016 Purdue Agricultural Research Award and was a University Faculty Scholar (2012-2017), and was elected as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow in 2018 and a Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) Fellow in 2021. 

Speaker:  Bob Walters, FieldWatch 


As CEO / President of FieldWatch, Bob manages the operations as well as provides strategic direction for the company.  Bob joined FieldWatch as the first employee in 2014 and has helped expand the online mapping registries to 22 states and one Canadian Province.  FieldWatch has experienced double digit growth each year during his involvement with now 30,000 users and 45,000 crop and apiary sites mapped.  FieldWatch manages four registries, DriftWatch, BeeCheck, CropCheck, and SeedFieldCheck.  In addition, FieldWatch has the online and mobile portal, FieldCheck, that provides a one stop access for applicators to view sensitive crops and beehives.  Our continued focus on the sustainability of plants, pollinators, and people will drive our growth for the next several years.