Brett Sciotto

CEO, Aimpoint Research, LLC

Marc Vanacht

Principal, AG Business Consultants

Marc Vanacht is the principal of AG Business Consultants. Vanacht specializes in business strategy and development, product and marketing management, market research, and analysis for organizations, government agencies and businesses steeped in agriculture and the food chain. Vanacht has worked with equipment manufacturers, regional cooperatives, national and regional distributors, seed and chemical companies, publishers, farm management, and software companies throughout the U.S., the Americas, Europe, Africa and East Asia. Fluent in five languages (English, French, Dutch, German, and Spanish), Vanacht holds degrees in Business Administration, Law, Economics, and Philosophy.

Sid Parks

Senior Product Manager, Agronomy Information Services, GROWMARK, Inc.

Sid Parks serves as Senior Product Manager, Agronomy Information Services for GROWMARK, Inc. in Bloomington, Illinois.  In this capacity, he oversees development and utilization of precision farming technologies and information services for GROWMARK and the FS companies.

In addition to these responsibilities, he has served on many advisory groups and committees related to modern production agriculture, including the American Society of Agronomy, Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois State University, The Fertilizer Institute, AgGateway’s Precision Ag Council, and the National Science Foundation Visiting Committee for Agricultural Technology.

Sid is a Certified Professional Agronomist (CPAg) and Certified Crop Adviser (CCA).  He holds an M.S. in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois, and B.S. in Ag Science from Illinois State University.

Prior to GROWMARK, Sid worked with a major seed company.  He was raised on a family grain and livestock farm in Western Illinois.

Allison Nepveux

Director of Sustainability, Bushel

Allison Nepveux is the Director of Sustainability at Bushel, an independently owned and operated software company headquartered in Fargo, N.D. Allison is leading Bushel’s strategy around how to enable sustainability and traceability using Bushel’s innovative software products and solutions.

Prior to joining Bushel, Allison led the U.S. grain industry’s work on sustainability, biotechnology and crop protection in overseas markets. She also previously worked on supply chain technologies for the fresh produce industry and is the 4th generation of cow-calf producers in Texas.

Robert Saik

Founder & CEO of AGvisorPRO

A lifetime entrepreneur, recognized in 2021 as one of Canada’s Top 50 Most Influential Agriculture Leaders, Robert has been sought for his expertise from the likes of Bill Gates, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, The International Fertilizer Association and most recently the UN_FAO Committee on World Food Security. A sought after keynote and author of “FOOD 5.0 How We Feed The Future”, Robert has leveraged his passion for innovation to found and lead many organizations in the areas of farming, ag retail, fertilizer manufacturing and distribution, consulting, precision agriculture, data management, and robotics. As Founder of Agri-Trend/Agri-Data (now Trimble) and as CEO of DOT Technology Corp (now Raven), Robert has a unique ability to identify and address “white space” he sees in the agricultural sector. Now, as Founder & CEO of AGvisorPRO, his team is creating a global connectivity channel to increase agriculture sustainability, farm profitability and enhance global food security.

Jonah Kolb

President, Moore & Warner Ag Group, LLC

Jonah Kolb leads business development and consulting initiatives at Moore & Warner Ag Group, working with private and institutional investors to build direct farmland portfolios. He also advises start-ups, private equity, and venture capital funds pursuing opportunities in production agriculture and agribusiness. His professional experience includes evaluating agricultural big data technology and trends, business development at Cargill, risk management for CF Industries, and consulting and private equity in agriculture and renewable energy.

Jason Keith

Director of sales, Commercial Vehicle & Off Highway (CVO), Bosch North America

Jason Keith is Director of Sales, Commercial Vehicle & Off Highway for Bosch North America. He is responsible for product sales in Bosch’s mobility sector including fuel systems, sensing devices, control units and other products within the construction, agriculture and material handling fields. His role includes growing digital agriculture offerings such as NEVONEX, Smart Spray, and Intelligent Planting Solutions.

Since joining Bosch in 1997, Keith has held numerous leadership positions within the Powertrain Solutions and CVO divisions and is the executive champion for Bosch’s “A World In Motion” STEM education program in collaboration with the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Michael has been active in the Digital transformation of Agriculture since 1994, as it continues to evolve from Precision technologies to Decision based systems with a careers experience of implementing electronics for automation from planting through harvest. As Vice President of Strategic Business Development – Agriculture for Topcon his responsibilities combine strategic relationships, product development and business strategy to drive growth. His personal experience includes utilizing technologies of measurement; optical, sonic, and positioning toward improving in field efficiency and is a co-inventor on patents for Auto Steering, Sensors and User Interface. In support of developing a stronger industry, Michael currently serves on the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), Ag sector board, co-chairs the councils for Ag Innovation & Future of Food and serves on the Regulatory council. He received bi-partisan endorsement in being appointed to serve a 2^nd term on the federal taskforce for the Connectivity & Technology needs of Precision Agriculture in the USA under the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). He is a founding board member of Ag Data Coalition not for profit corporation and has served as moderator of Germany’s VDI conference on Connected Off Highway vehicles 2018-2021. Michael is frequently a guest speaker at conferences and podcasts on Precision Agriculture or related subjects.

As a native of California, he has familiarity with vegetable crop production and irrigation of the Western US. Michael holds a BS from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; MBA from Golden Gate University, graduate of the California Ag Leadership Program (Class 33) and has also been recognized as a member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity. He and his wife Kara have a daughter and enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, and beef cattle ranching in their spare time.

About Topcon Positioning Group
Topcon Positioning Group is headquartered in Livermore, California, USA (topconpositioning.com). Topcon Positioning Group design, manufacture and distribute precise positioning products and measurement solutions for the global surveying, construction, agriculture, civil engineering, BIM, mapping and GIS, asset management and mobile control markets.  Its brands include Topcon, Sokkia, Tierra, Wachendorff Elektronik, Digi-Star, RDS Technology, NORAC and 2LS. Topcon Corporation (topcon.com), founded in 1932, is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7732).