Tuesday, June 8
Wednesday, June 9
Thursday, June 10

Forged As One: Event Schedule

Stay in touch with what’s happening, where you need to be and who to expect. All times are in Central Standard.

Tuesday, June 08

Welcome & Leadership Updates

Dr. Jacqueline Applegate

President of Bayer Crop Science North America

Gwyn Schramm

U.S. Strategic Accounts and Licensing Lead | Bayer Crop Science

Tuesday, June 08

Unlocking the Data Advantage: The Bayer Breeding evolution

Todd Dohrmann

Bayer Head of Breeding North America | Bayer Crop Science

Tuesday, June 08

Defining the Digital Ag Opportunity

Jeremy Williams

Head of The Climate Corporation and Digital Farming | Bayer Crop Science

Tuesday, June 08

Running your Business under Biden’s administration

Duane Simpson

VP and head of the North America Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability team | Bayer Crop Science

Tuesday, June 08

Open Q/A with Presenters

Tuesday, June 08

Keynote Speaker: Create the Future

Jeremy Gutsche

New York Times bestselling author, an award-winning innovation expert, and the CEO of Trend Hunter

Tuesday, June 08

Closing Message

Wednesday, June 09 at 8:00 am

The Ever-Changing Evolution of Ag Content Consumption

Farm Journal’s Stephanie Gable and Rhett Hawkins will present insights into farmer and retailer media consumption habits. Where are farmers and retailers consuming content? How are they consuming content? What type of content are they interested in? Are their consumption habits changing? How can company’s best reach them. Enjoy this one hour break out from one of our industry’s leading content creators.

 

Stephanie Gable

Vice President, Client Relationship Development – Data-Driven Performance Marketing | Farm Journal

Rhett Hawkins

Enterprise Account Director | Farm Journal

Wednesday, June 09 at 8:00 am

Precision Breeding for the Modern Farm

Farmers today are constantly looking to their seed provider for the newest product innovation to come down the pipeline from technology suppliers. Elite corn and soybean genetics continue to be the driving force that powers the innovation engine. In this session, you will get an inside look at Bayer Crop Science’s breeding efforts to continually create better products through better decision making. Join Loren Trimble, Head of Product Development Hybrids in North America, and Michael Kovach, Head of Soybean Product Design, as they illustrate how the integration of technology and data, along with field-level observations, has led to improved product characterization, placement, and ultimately – performance.

Michael Kovach

Head of Soybean Product Design | Bayer Crop Science

Loren Trimble

Head of Product Development Hybrids in North America | Bayer Crop Science

Wednesday, June 09 at 9:00 am

Navigating the Carbon Discussion

There is a lot of Carbon noise in the agriculture industry but what exactly does this mean for your farmer customers? Join Bayer Carbon experts to hear how Bayer is pioneering in this space, what questions you should be asking, who has credibility and why and how farmers should get involved now. Robert Myers, PhD, Associate Professor at Mizzou will explain how Carbon programs provide opportunity beyond the incentive with improved soil quality, higher yield potential and leaving healthier land for future generations. Learn how the Bayer Carbon Program offers your farmers simplicity, flexibility and certainty as well as a partnership in results.

 

Dr. Jeffrey Seale

Director of Climate Policy and Strategy & Science Fellow | Bayer Crop Science

Rob Myers

PhD- Adjunct Associate Professor | University of Missouri

Arlene Cotie

Sustainable Ag, Global Innovation Lead | Bayer Crop Science

Lisa Streck

Carbon Business Model Grower Lead | Bayer Crop Science

Wednesday, June 09 at 9:00 am

Create the Future- Deep Dive into Tactics for Disruptive Thinking

We’ve reached a point in time when everyone wants innovation, but most people don’t know how to make it happen. In our era of rapid change, disruption, and possibility, there are so many great opportunities within your grasp. However, smart, successful people consistently miss out. In this breakout, Jeremy will expand on his keynote presentation and share tactics to overcome the 7 traps that keep us stuck to the path we are already on.

Jeremy Gutsche

New York Times bestselling author, an award-winning innovation expert, and the CEO of Trend Hunter

Wednesday, June 09 at 10:00 am

Bring value to your customers with XtendFlex® soybeans

The opportunity you have with XtendFlex® soybeans is NOW!  Is your organization poised and prepared to communicate the advantages of XtendFlex soybeans and the Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System with your customers?  Join Bayer experts during this breakout, to learn how to communicate the proven performance, advanced weed control and unparalleled innovation that the System of Choice provides to your customers. During this session, you will hear how our testing footprint is expanding, bringing you more data to support your customers.  We will also highlight the benefits of spraying early and the 5-year Xtendimax® herbicide with VaporGrip® Technology label. Our commitment to the success of your soybean business goes beyond today, we will continue to bring innovations and share our outlook for next generation technologies.  We are invested and ready to answer your questions.

Megan McQuoid

Soybean Traits Marketing Manager | Bayer Crop Science

Brian Nemmers

U.S. Soybean Germplasm and Deployment Lead | Bayer Crop Science

Devin Hammer

North America Roundup and Dicamba Herbicides Technical Manager | Bayer Crop Science

Martha Smith

Global Industry Affairs Lead | Bayer Crop Science

Wednesday, June 09 at 10:00 am

Social Strategy: Some Best Laid Plans and Some Worst Possible Outcomes

Shannon Craig made some mistakes in social strategy so, hopefully, you don’t have to! In this session, you’ll learn the principles behind a solid social strategy to help reach your audiences, leverage the power of your platforms, and accomplish your business and communication goals. 

Shannon Craig

Director of Strategy | Paradowski Creative

Wednesday, June 09 at 11:00 am

The Road Through Regulatory

  Bringing traits to market while ensuring food safety, product efficacy and no negative environmental issues, is no easy path.   In this breakout session you will learn what steps and process are required to satisfied regulatory agencies around the globe.  You will also learn the science based approach  Bayer is taking to continue bring next generation technology to you.

Dan Kendrick

Head of Regulatory Affairs Corn Traits | Bayer Crop Science

Wednesday, June 09 at 11:00 am


The Best Stimulator to Your Business’s Growth is Often Overlooked

How to Identify It Right and Fix it Fast, Every Time.

It is natural in the life cycles of every company to reach a plateau. However, when the plateau continues with no end in sight, it is time to worry — this is when we find it necessary to disrupt the status quo and look for opportunities to jolt our businesses back to life.

Even successful business owners chase after the “one thing” they think they need to overcome to make that next big leap forward in their businesses. Their mistake is failing to apply an unbiased, data-driven evaluation that ensures they’re focusing on the weakest link. This often results in lost time, lost money, frustration, and feeling overwhelmed. 

To really grow your business and profitability, you need to filter out all the possible issues and instead invest resources in the right vital need at the right time. 

What if there was a repeatable process that was proven to flush out that vital need each time you were ready to invest time and resources into growing your business? 

Jeani Ringkob, from StoryBuilt Marketing and Consulting will be sharing the process she uses to help businesses do just that. Including access to an assessment to start narrowing in on your vital need, allowing you to change the trajectory of your business growth and get better results for the efforts you put into your business.

 

 

Jeani Ringkob

Certified Fix This Next Advisor and a StoryBrand Certified Guide | StoryBuilt Marketing and Consulting

Thursday, June 10 at 8:00 am

Social Media: There’s a bigger picture

Social media is a valuable tool for seed companies. It can help build brand, deepen customer relationships, create a venue to convey value through information and education, create an affordable and efficient stage to demonstrate thought leadership and more. 

 Yet, despite the potential and the fact that most everyone at least has a presence, these channels remain underutilized for most providing little more than an online photo album for pictures, the occasional merch contest and online greeting cards. 

 This session will explore the many ways social channels can augment your sales force, provide a venue for customer service and help shape and position your brand as a valuable marketing, sales and relationship tool without breaking the bank. You will leave this session with ideas on how to enhance your social media presence in a way that adds value – verses something you feel you just have to do because everyone else is.  

 There will be an optional social media workshop 4 weeks after this session (online) to discuss and review progress and make recommendations to ensure your social presence is well shared, and well liked. 

 

 

Ross Dobson

Marketing Strategist and Founder/President of Sir Isaac

Thursday, June 10 at 8:00 am

Digital Innovation in Seed Production

Digitization of agriculture continues to offer advancements to currently accepted practices.  In this breakout  you will learn how Bayer is taking a digital approach to seed production by  incorporating tools to capture more data, streamline processes and maximize machine learning.  Each of these elements will be discussed in depth to show the digitization is not just moving away from an analog platform.

Alec Sheridan

Head of NA PR Precision Systems | Bayer Crop Science

Thursday, June 10 at 9:00 am

Leaders as Coach: Cultivating Team Success

Leaders know the best teams move fast, are committed, and skilled individuals. However, creating this level of performance requires a shift from power/position leadership to coaching leadership. This session introduces the five practices of coaching leaders to increase your team impact. 

Dean Heffta

Speaker, Trainer, and Founder | Clarus Results

Thursday, June 10 at 9:00 am

Agronomy Experience in Post-COVID World

Communicating your agronomic story probably changed a bit last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.  What hasn’t changed is growers continue to rank agronomic information high in deciding to work with their seed supplier.  In this breakout, you will learn what worked and what will continue  to be a part of how we share agronomic information to help growers navigate crop management issues.

 

Ryan Gilbert

Knowledge Transfer Agronomy Project Manager | Bayer Crop Science

Thursday, June 10 at 10:00 am

The System Approach: Leading the corn conversation with your customers

The future is bright for the introduction of innovative corn products and technologies to the marketplace, but you still must keep focused on today’s needs to best serve your customers. With new products, come questions on trait and hybrid recommendations, matched with agronomic needs, based on individual field conditions. The conversation is no longer product alone. Ryan Tichich, North America Corn Agronomic Systems Lead, will kick off the session by showcasing what’s on the horizon for Bayer Crop Science’s corn portfolio. Jody Gander, Corn Traits Market Development Manager, and Connie Davis, North America Corn Disease, Yield and Stress Market Development Manager, will then dive into a few corn agronomic hot topics to empower you to have a system-focused conversation with your farmer customers throughout the growing season.

Connie Davis

North America Corn Disease, Yield & Stress Market Development Manager | Bayer Crop Science

Ryan Tichich

Corn Agronomic Systems Team Lead, North America Market Development | Bayer Crop Science

Jody Gander

Market Development Manager for Corn Traits | Bayer Crop Science

Thursday, June 10 at 11:00 am

Seed to Seed: Growing the next generation of corn products under glass in the Arizona desert

Join us for an exclusive look inside the Bayer Corn Product Development center just outside of Tucson, Arizona.  

 The greenhouse has been in operation for just over a year after a more than three-year, $100 million construction project. The facility uses robotics and automation to grow corn for seed development and production for farmers around the globe. 

 Short corn is just one of the innovations coming through this state-of-the-art facility.  

 Join Digital Strategy Lead April Carroll and Operations Lead Megan Dickens as they take you inside the automation space and greenhouse, fielding Q&A along the way. 

April Agee Carroll

Nursery Design and Data Strategy Lead | Bayer Crop Science

Megan Dickens

Production Operations Lead | Bayer Crop Science

Thursday, June 10 at 11:00 am

Energy as a Signal for Change Resilience

 Ever wonder why some changes are easier to navigate than others?  What are some things we can do to help ourselves and others navigate change more effectively? Join us for a discussion about the transitions we go through when we experience change and explore some tools that can help each of us become more change resilient.  While 2020 was certainly a year of unprecedented changes, we know change is constant and it is necessary that we learn how to more effectively adapt so we can realize the benefits change offers.  This session will focus on how you can boost your change resiliency as well as help others to navigate change more effectively by exploring how we balance our energy  and introduce tools you can use every day.

Tia Schoth

Talent Management Lead | Bayer Crop Science

Bree Champagne

Organizational Development and Effectiveness Expert U.S. | Bayer Crop Science