Agriculture

Biography

Utilizing her diverse professional experience in the agricultural, sales and not-for-profit sectors, Michele founded Cause Matters Corp., a company designed to build connections around the food plate, in 2001. Cause Matters Corp. focuses on sharing agriculture’s story, science communication, social media strategy and growing a food movement. In each of these core areas, MPK helps organizations clearly identify issues, understand their audience and connect solutions. Michele’s goal is to help you communicate “why your cause matters” – whether you’re a scientist, foodie or in agribusiness.

Agriculture advocate. Science enthusiast.

She knows agriculture because she lives agriculture. She holds degrees in Agricultural Communications and Animal Science from Michigan State University, where she saw science come to life firsthand as a student worker in the animal reproductive physiology laboratory. Michele is past president of College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Alumni Association and had the impact of her work featured in a Spartan Saga. Career highlights include a Regional Directorship for the National FFA Foundation, where she sold over $5 million in corporate sponsorships and led campaigns to develop community support for various Foundation expansions. She has also marketed and sold dairy genetics to more than 25 countries, managed e-business accounts and presented training programs in developing countries. Michele still holds her firsthand farm and science experience as the best contributor to her work.

Speech Topics

Translating Farm to Food

How can you move beyond advocacy?

Have you looked into agriculture’s future? Who will be making decisions about how farmers are allowed to take care of our land and animals? Not agriculture, if we can’t learn to meet at the intersection of farm and food. Sharing your farm, ranch, or agribusiness story is great, but it’s time to go beyond advocacy. Do you have what it takes to translate today’s agriculture to grocery shoppers?

Michele just completed her second book, Food Truths from Farm to Table: 25 Surprising Ways to Shop & Eat Without Guilt. The book addresses myths throughout the grocery store to bring clarity and common sense to the food conversation. She embedded 25 food truths throughout the book to translate how food is grown, why modern practices are used and how marketing is misleading food buyers. The book includes stories of 50+ contributors to translate the science of today’s agriculture on a human level.

All can benefit from taking their skills to another level. Advocacy and telling a story are wonderful but can be rather one-sided. Translating what happens on today’s farms and ranches is key to connecting at a heart level. This eye-opening keynote or training will help your audience learn:

• Tips to distill technical issues such as animal welfare, GMOs, antibiotics, food safety, pesticides and hormones into simpler conversations.
• Techniques to translate the complex business of growing food, fuel, feed and fiber in real-life communications.
• Advanced methods to communicate why food is grown the right way by the right people for the right reasons.
• Leadership skills in the conversation around farm and food as a best business practice.
• Ways to easily integrate these skills across social media channels.

Authentically Agriculture: Connecting on a Human Level

Agriculture isn’t just your work, it’s who you are.

Or is it? Now is the time to translate the agriculture world to the non-ag folks and YOU are the one to do it. It’s also time for us to take responsibility for not communicating about what’s happening on today’s farms and ranches – which means we must relate as humans.

You have the opportunity to connect on common values, regardless of who is on the other side of the conversation. MP’s new program is filled with examples of standing in 100% authenticity for agriculture. She’ll help you find a way to “go beyond the choir” and connect with people who can still be influenced through conversation. Michele’s “agversations” with moms, CEOs, children and media come to life with her humorous look at agriculture’s messages. This program will show you how to:

• Connect on common values – shared interests and results
• Provoke interest and let others learn from your  personal experiences and stories
• Create “agversations” with those within and out of the agriculture to spread your message
• Share what is happening on today’s farms
• Discover how to be casual yet influential in conversation rather than defensive
• Help others understand the importance of ag issues –become more comfortable discussing issues with others
• Interpret the journey from farm to plate with your own stories
• Learn how Michele talks about ag issues to non-aggies comfortably, meaningfully so you too can become a compelling storyteller

Audience members will be inspired to take a hard look at “who am I”,  consider “what does that mean to others” and then take actionable steps through “how do I translate agriculture to something meaningful for others.” Michele is known for lighting a fire under farmers, ranchers and agribusiness people  – this program is designed to help your meeting attendees understand how to relate on a personal basis, as one human to another.

Learn from Michele’s experiences discussing food, fuel, feed and fiber with parents, foodies, influencers, international audiences, friends and nutrition professionals. She’ll give you freedom to be authentic even when you’re not “talking shop” with people who share your same background. MPK is often asked “How can I be in a situation that’s unrelated to agriculture and still share my message?” This memorable program gives the answers – and grows your comfort level, confidence, and clarity.

Typical audience outcomes:

• Use your strengths to comfortably reach beyond the choir
• Find more voices in a bigger, more robust conversation about agriculture
• Identify new tools that allow you to practice the conversation with a variety of non-ag people
• Gain confidence in high risk situations to deliver results

When you’re ready to allow people the opportunity to connect on a human level,contact MPK to help you translate farming to food in a meaningful way.

Celebrating Agriculture Keynote

Celebrate the People, Promise and Passion of Agriculture

When you’re ready to stand up andcelebrate the people, promise and passion in our business,bring Michele to your meeting. You will laugh and cry while celebrating work from the farm gate to the consumer plate. Fill your room with energy and unmatched passion for the agrifood business– MP is known for lighting up audiences and leaving an imprint on their heart.

Michele’s keynote is filled with poignant moments from her life on the farm, lessons from working with farmers from over 25 countries and how to really make a connection that impacts the future of agriculture. She’ll even incorporate kickboxing moves and throw in audience humor as they join her on stage. This memorable keynote will help you understandhow to lead through the significant changes facing agriculture in the 21st century and leave a legacy for your business.

When you attend Celebrating Agriculturepresentation, you will:

• Consider thought leadership in the conversation about food, fiber, fuel and feed
• Understand the necessity of proactive positioning for agriculture

Learn to leverage trust to protect your bottom line

• Identify ways to more effectively connect with key influencers
• Find the power of emotions in connecting with other humans

Outcomes:

• Inspiration for agriculture from one of their own
• Tools to better understand how to communicate about our business

Ways personal legacy can drive your leadership in agriculture

• Grasp of speaking the same language as the 98.5% of the population not on a farm.

Not only will Michele’s lifelong passion and background in agriculture keep your audience on the edge of their seats, Michele’s interactive style gets them out their seat – both at your meeting and back at home.

Testimonials

With Michele’s guidance, our science community learned to make their science meaningful on a personal level. Thanks to Michele we are better prepared to have important conversations about agriculture and science.
Genome Prairie

 The Agri-Business Council of Oregon hired Michele to present a keynote speech at our 2012 Annual Membership Meeting, as well as to facilitate a fundraising workshop with my Board of Directors. She did a fantastic job connecting with both audiences in a way that was entertaining, educational and functional. Her passion for agriculture is true to her heart, and you can see how much it means to her when she speaks. She was worth every penny.

Agri-Business Council of Oregon

 Your “Celebrating Agriculture” presentation was very well received.  Participants certainly benefitted from your experience to become a source of information to educate friends, neighbors, consumers, etc. about farming and speak up for the industry.  Building relationships – one hour, once a week to champion agriculture was a great message to leave  the group with.  Your presentation was educational and informative!

COGA, British Columbia, Canada

 Michele was Alpha Zeta’s keynote speaker at the National Agricultural Leadership Conference and also presented a workshop to the attendees. She did a phenomenal job. Not only was she engaging in her presentation style, but she also presented great information and ideas on how Alpha Zeta members can improve the perception of agriculture in a way that resonated with the students. Alpha Zeta hasn’t had a speaker like that in quite awhile.

Drake & Associates

 Michele’s presentations “Championing Agriculture” and “Responding to the Rhetoric: Overcoming Activist Claims” were the highlight of our National Corn Grower’s Association (NCGA) meeting. Many of our attendees, which included state association staff and grower recruiters, came away from the meeting impressed and energetic about their industry. The six and one-half points to remember when championing agriculture resonated very well and are used by our attendees in their membership recruitment and community relations efforts.

Wow! Dynamic, enthusiastic, energetic right on target, and exemplary are just a few ways to describe Michele and her talents. The custom designed workshops and general session that Michele provided were incredible.
American Farm Bureau Federation

 It is rare to have a person customize their efforts to our precise needs the way you do…I would have to recommend you to anyone that is really serious about strengthening his or her customer skills work with you. Your ability to identify needs and help a staff develop their own solutions is the best I have seen.

Eastern Michigan Grain

 Thank you for touching our hearts, opening our minds and literally letting us kick up our heels.

Wisconsin Association of Fairs

 Michele, your presentation on championing agriculture provided solid suggestions for how participants can approach the communications challenges they constantly face… you took an issue that’s very near and dear to their hearts, yet very general, and gave them practical steps and tools for creating high-impact messages for specific audiences.

Biography

ROBERT SAIK has forty years of experience as a Professional Agrologist, entrepreneur and an
international consultant who’s worked with a wide variety of agriculturalists from Nigeria’s
Minister of Agriculture to Bill Gates. He was one of only 3 private citizens to address the October
2020 FAO_UN High Level Special Event (Rome) organized by the Committee for World Food Security to
address agriculture sustainability.

His latest book, “FOOD 5.0 How We Feed the Future” is a pragmatic look at the five iterations of
agriculture, culminating in an examination of how technology convergence is reshaping the farm and
the consumer. Robert, an outspoken champion of agriculture, is a Distinguished Agrologist, Professional
Agriculture Consultant, a veteran entrepreneur and has been hailed as an agriculture futurist with
unparalleled insight into where the industry is headed. He has leveraged these strengths to found over 15 companies in the areas of Farming, Agri-Retail, Distribution, Media and Ag Tech. He was the founder and CEO of The Agri-Trend/Agri-Data Group of Companies which was acquired by Trimble. He also served as CEO of DOT Technology Corp (Autonomous Farming) through the acquisition of DOT by Raven Industries.
Robert is the founder and CEO of award-winning AGvisorPRO, a technology platform that connects
those seeking agriculture advice with trusted experts who can provide answers now. The goal is to
leverage knowledge to increase agriculture sustainability using AGvisorPRO to shrink time and
space.

Through Saik Management Group Inc he facilitates the PowerFARM peer group for progressive farmers.
His first book, “The Agriculture Manifesto – Ten Key Drivers That Will Shape Agriculture in the
Next Decade” was a 2014 Best of Amazon Books and this TEDx Talk “Will Agriculture be Allowed to
Feed 9 Billion People?” has been viewed over 170,000 times. Robert is a passionate keynote speaker
and is executive producer of the Know Ideas Media a science based multi-media company addressing
issues such as GMO’s and their use in food production.

He has financed both the Rob Saik Bar None Scholarship at the University of Alberta that provides
support for two rural first year students entering the faculty of agriculture and the Robert Saik
Ag Tech Award that supports two urban students entering the Ag Tech program at Olds College.
He serves on several Boards including the Canadian Agri-Food Autonomous Innovation Network (CAAIN)
as well as Proteum Energy. Rob is an advisor to Olds College, is a member of the A100 (Alberta Tech
Entrepreneur Network), a student of Strategic Coach and Singularity University and a member of
Abundance 360. As a partner in Perigro Venture Partners he participates in early-stage technology
investments.

He has been recognized for agriculture leadership by the Alberta Institute of Agrologists
(Provincial Distinguished Agrologist of the Year 2006) and in 2016 was awarded Canadian
Agri-Marketer of the Year by the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association. In 2021 Robert was recognized
as one of Canada’s Top 50 Most Influential Agriculture Leaders and was named one of Canada’s Top 10 Ag Mentors.

Speech Topics

UNTIL WE HAVE STAR TREK TRANSPORTERS

How can we take the knowledge and wisdom of an Agrologist and stretch it thousands of miles or over
millions of acres? Well, all you need is a transporter…but wait, one does not exist … yet. However,
the one thing that COVID-19 has taught us is that we can use technology to shrink time and space in
brand new ways. The world has profoundly and forever changed. This will affect how PAg’s interact
with society and their clients. Rob will take us on a journey of what this technology “convergence”
means for our industry; We are going to look at how you can be on the farm, in the barn or in the
greenhouse without leaving your home…and he will share a new way to monetize your brain.
All this while we wait for the magic words “Beam me up Scotty”.

FOOD 5.0: How We Feed The Future

While denominations such as paleo, vegan, and organic debate which is “the way,” we’re ignoring a truth that affects us all:  to support a population nearing 10 billion by 2050, agriculture must become infinitely sustainable.
To feed the world, we have to grow 10,000 years’ worth of food in the next thirty years, which means farmers worldwide must increase food production by 60 to 70 percent.

This book is about the small percentage of those “farmers of consequence” being called upon to grow the vast majority of the world’s staple food supply. While mighty in their ability, they need support from a general public that increasingly has no idea how they operate.

In Food 5.0, Robert Saik takes you on a journey from the “muscle era” of farming to a future where the convergence of new technologies like sensors, robotics, and  machine learning  make  infinite sustainability achievable.  With the veil lifted on modern agriculture practices, you’ll be inspired to contribute to a culture where farmers can adopt the science and tools they need to carry out their mission of feeding the planet.

THE AGRICULTURE MANIFESTO:

10 Key Drivers that will Shape Agriculture in the Next Decade

Agriculture is no longer Murray McGlaughlan’s “dusty old farmer bent over the tractor wheel” but a full-fledged modern business integrating all the tools available to it. We will look at how Science and Technology are being integrated with modern agricultural practices to provide society with a safe, reliable food supply in an environmentally sustainable manner AND we will look at some of the threats that could potentially erode our ability to feed the people on the planet. There are major technology currents pulling on all of humanity. We can choose to fight the current or be aware of their strength and swim in the same direction…and be ahead of the competition. Rob will take you on a quick journey showing how farmers are integrating technology to feed a growing world population. He will touch on exponentially, robotics, artificial intelligence, sensor integration, bio synthesis (GE and GMO), data systems and environment sustainability.

Finally, we will look at HOW we could integrate all these technologies to best serve our farmer customers through new business opportunities offered by our dealerships. And lastly, you will walk away with a sense that, in spite of what the media reports, things are actually pretty good and getting better all the time.

THE WINDS OF CHANGE 

Managing Your Organization in Turbulent Times

Business, like sailing is constantly buffeted by “The Winds of Change”. The degree to which you can manage change really comes down to how well you read the wind, how well you have set your sails and how well you have trained your crew. Your industry has been buffeted by technology, disintermediation and new competition. How will you manage in these new turbulent waters? Do you know where you are headed? Is your course plotted? Do you know how to use the tools to ensure you arrive at your destination?

Drawing on his entrepreneurial and sailing experience as well as his over 22 years of enrollment in Strategic Coach (a coaching program for entrepreneurs). Rob will talk about ideas and tools you use to adjust your sails as you encounter obstacles and trials. During this session Rob will be introducing some tools for managing change and there will be some time for individual and group exercises. The goal would be for you to walk away with some practical insights as to how you can better manage your individual and business life. As a business leader, Rob will guarantee you will walk away with some actionable strategies while empowering and providing confidence to your team.

KNOW GMO: Will Agriculture be ALLOWED to Feed 9 Billion People?

As a professional agrologist who works with all types of farming operations, I am in a unique position to observe what is going on both in agriculture and society at large. I travel a lot, so I see things especially in urban markets…I am a techie, so I am in-touch with trends and I am connected to agriculture directly, providing me with a unique perspective on what constitutes the perception vs the reality of modern agriculture.
Since the dawn of agriculture, man has been genetically modifying plants and animals to better provide food. This technological evolution continues today in the form of Bio-Engineering.

There is a “disconnect” with what is going on at the farm; how technology is being used and what people “think” is going on at the farm. It’s time to change the conversation from NO GMO to KNOW GMO. It’s time to stop shouting and start listening. And it’s time we had an uplifting discussion about food.

Rob’s TedX Talk which was titled “Will Agriculture be ALLOWED to feed 9 Billion People?” would go hand in hand with his “KNOW GMO” presentation.