Welcome to CropTalk, Your favorite podcast for all things greenhouses, CEA, and AgTech! Whether you've been with us since day one or you're a brand-new listener (hi, welcome, grab a seat!), we're here to bring you insightful conversations with the people shaping the future of agriculture. Hosted by the endlessly curious Kyle Barnett, CropTalk dives into everything from growing tips and industry trends to personal stories and business advice. We talk with growers, greenhouse operators, AgTech…
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In this episode of CropTalk, we sit down with Andrew Howell, Partner at Ascendant Partners. Andrew last joined us 101 episodes ago at episode 174 in November 2021, and he returns to test what actually holds up about getting a CEA company funded or sold heading into 2026 and 2027. We walk through the three legs of the stool he uses to judge any operation: reliable growing technology and a cost…
_*]:min-w-0 gap-3 standard-markdown"> In this episode of CropTalk, we sit down with Ryan Douglas, cultivation consultant and author of Presence Is a Strategy . Ryan brings more than 25 years in commercial cultivation, starting with 15 years growing ornamental flowers across New Mexico, Mississippi, and Massachusetts, followed by a decade in cannabis that included serving as head grower for one of…
In this episode of CropTalk, we sit down with Ryan Archer, co-founder of Horizon Growers, a developer and operator of high-tech greenhouses. Ryan came into CEA in 2018 from a construction background, brought onto a project he was told only was a greenhouse, which turned out to be a 12-hectare semi-closed facility in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, producing 6,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes a year for…
In this episode of CropTalk, we sit down with Jennifer Neujahr and Ted Buis, co-founders of Next Step Solutions. Between them they bring nearly six decades in horticulture: Jennifer spent more than three decades introducing products across six continents, including the 60X scale-up of Hydra fiber while building the horticulture group at Profile Products, and Ted grew a Dutch substrate company from…
In this episode of CropTalk, we sit down with Pieter Slaman, founder of GaaS Solutions and advisor to Green Gardens in Slovenia, and Tim Van Hissenhoven of Cultivators. Pieter spent over a decade scaling Little Leaf Farms into one of North America's leading greenhouse lettuce operations, while Tim was raised in a Belgian greenhouse, spent years in commercial hydroponic lettuce in the Netherlands,…
In this episode of CropTalk, we sit down with Rachael Warner, head grower at Planteva, a vertical propagation company in Canada delivering clean, pest-free starts for leafy greens and strawberries. Rachael holds a master's in plant science with a controlled environment focus and has worked across small, medium, and large-scale facilities before taking on the role of building Planteva's production…
In this episode of CropTalk, we sit down with Dirk Aleven, CEO of FoodVentures and acting president of Revol Greens. Dirk has spent two decades operating greenhouses across Eastern Europe, Asia, Scandinavia, and the US, and was brought in by Equilibrium Capital to lead the Revol Greens turnaround. We walk through what he found when he arrived at the Texas farm, including a sign on the wall…
In this episode of CropTalk, we sit down with David Flynn, CEO of AmplifiedAg, a Charleston-based company building technology and systems for container farming and grow room operations. David spent 25 years as a U.S. Army officer, earned the Silver Star, and found his way into CEA through founder Don Taylor after settling down in Charleston in 2015. We walk through the full arc of Amplified AG,…
In this episode of CropTalk, we close out the Predictions for 2026 and Beyond series with Dave Chen, CEO of Equilibrium Capital. With over $1 billion raised and deployed into large-scale greenhouse operations and companies like Revol Greens and Little Leaf Farms, Dave brings one of the most grounded capital perspectives in CEA. We dig into the faster-than-expected consolidation that reshaped the…
n this episode of CropTalk, we continue the Predictions for 2026 and Beyond series with returning guest Adam Bergman, Managing Director of EcoTech Capital. Our conversation is grounded in Adam's 2026 report, The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good , where he lays out a clear read on the AgTech and FoodTech landscape heading into the year ahead. We dig into why Adam expects 2026 to bring the highest number…
