Cultivate Conference
Cultivate Conference 2025 brings AgTech innovators together to explore the most pressing challenges in agriculture and the technologies being developed to solve them. This year, Cultivate will focus on insights from the Regional Agriculture Pain Point Report (RAPPR), highlighting industry-wide challenges and opportunities for innovation.
Attendees will gain practical insights, connect with key players in the Grand Farm’s AgTech ecosystem, and participate in discussions that shape the future of agriculture technology. With expert-led keynotes, solution-driven breakout sessions, and high-impact networking, Cultivate provides a platform to drive meaningful progress in the industry.
Conference Goals
Create Feedback Loops Between Industry and Innovation: Ensure AgTech solutions are informed by real-world challenges through insights from the Regional Agriculture Pain Point Report.
Facilitate Meaningful Industry Connections: Bring together our diverse ecosystem of industry innovators to create partnerships that drive real solutions.
Support Technology Validation & Commercialization: Provide a platform for emerging AgTech innovations to gain industry feedback and visibility.
Advance Discussions on AgTech Adoption: Address challenges like connectivity, affordability, and data security that impact technology implementation in agriculture.
Key Focus Areas
Industry Challenges & Solutions: Sessions, workshops, and discussions will center on the Regional Agriculture Pain Point Report, offering insights into:
Pest Management: Strategies to combat herbicide resistance and improve control methods.
Equipment & Automation: Innovations in autonomy, cost reduction, and system connectivity.
Soil Health & Carbon Markets: Exploring sustainability incentives and long-term soil impact.
AI in Agriculture: Practical applications for machine learning, robotics, and predictive analytics.
Site-Specific Crop Management (S-SCM): Yield projection tools and data-driven agronomy.
Targeted Workshops & Discussions: Interactive sessions will bring together our diverse ecosystem to collaborate on real-world solutions.
Networking & Partnership Opportunities: Designed to foster connections between startups, corporations, investors, researchers & educators, growers, and policymakers, Cultivate is where ideas turn into action.
PickTN Conference
Join Maureen at the PickTN Conference in Franklin, TN on February 13th-15th, 2025. Maureen will dive into actionable strategies, cutting-edge techniques, and innovative tools to take your business and marketing game to the next level. Whether you're looking to captivate social media audiences, embrace AI's transformative potential, or learn from proven growth strategies, these sessions have something for everyone.
Premiumize Your Destination
Find out how to attract an audience that is seeking a premium destination and ready to pay for it. Learn how to benchmark other premium destinations and build experiences that allow you to charge more. Explore the essentials you need to put in place to effectively elevate your offerings and uncover unique ways to implement these ideas. We’ll touch on collaboration, food and drink, ticketing strategies, and marketing efforts.
As a result of this session, you will be better able to:
Understand new ideas for leveling-up your destination experiences
Develop optimized pricing structures
Discover marketing efforts that allow you to attract a premium audience
Designing and Executing Your Annual Strategic Plan
Get the tools and mindsets to build a winning strategy and ensure that strategy is actionable for your team and organization. Learn how to identify your strategic options and create a process to help you make marketing choices. Discover how to activate strategic marketing choices and tie them to your financial goals.As a result of this session, you will be better able to:
Develop annual financial goals for your organization
Apply marketing strategies and tactics that align with your financial goals
Translate strategy to achieve common goals and ensure the strategy is actionable and feasible.
Effectively organize, communicate, and activate strategy.
Mid Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention 2025: Short Form Video Trends and Social Media Algorithms: Beyond the Basics
As social media moves more and more toward entertainment, algorithms reward accounts that share videos. Video content tends to receive more impressions and a wider reach. In this session, we’ll go beyond the basics to look at what truly moves the needle on social media.
Thriving Through Diversification: Strategies for Forward-Thinking Farms
Thriving Through Diversification: Strategies for Forward-Thinking Farms
Food | Ag | Ideas Conference
The main day of content is happening on Tuesday, October 8th, at the Machine Shop in NE Minneapolis.
Join us as we navigate the major shifts shaping the future of food and agriculture. Together, let's pave the way for a healthier, more sustainable tomorrow. See you at FAI!
2024 Northeast Dairy Convention: Consumer Trends in the Dairy Industry
Join Maureen Ballatori, Founder and CEO at Agency 29, at the 2024 Northeast Dairy Convention in Saratoga Springs, NY, a 3-day educational business sessions on pivotal industry topics, and engaging panel discussion, and networking opportunities.
New York State of Mind Weekend: Battle of the Bourbons
Join Maureen as she judges some of the best bourbon producers from across New York State, including Black Button Distilling and Iron Smoke Distillery to determine the crowd favorite!
Telling and Selling Your Story with Maureen Ballatori and Michael Lightman
(closed to the public)
Telling and Selling Your Story with Maureen Ballatori and Michael Lightman Wednesday, July 24th from 10:30 am to 12 pm Eastern SUNY Research Foundation Startup Summer School (S4)
Dair-ing to Learn Webinar Series: Brand Marketing 101
On July 9th, Maureen Ballatori will cover the basics of brand marketing as part of the Dair-ing to Learn Webinar Series through the Center for Profitable Agriculture. You’ll learn the differences between brand and product marketing - an important distinction to understand as you launch and scale a brand.
Rev Ithaca Startup Works: Prototyping Accelerator 2024 - Logos & Branding
Maureen Ballatori, Founder and CEO at Agency 29, will be a guest speaker at Rev Ithaca’s summer-long Prototyping Hardware Accelerator program. She will discuss the importance of brand recognition when pitching to prospective partners and investors.
Cultivate Conference by Grand Farm
Join Maureen, Founder & CEO at Agency 29, in Moorhead, Minnesota at the Cultivate Conference by Grand Farm. This conference brings together a diverse community of experts, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and growers to share their knowledge and experiences, create feedback loops, and explore the exciting possibilities of technology in agriculture. Maureen’s session topic is to be determined.
Rev Ithaca Startup Works: Content Session - Discovering Your Brand
Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, a seasoned professional, or simply someone with a passion to express, crafting your brand is essential for standing out in a crowded world. Join Maureen Ballatori, Founder and CEO of Agency 29, virtually for a branding content session.
Rochester Commissary Kitchen Lunch & Learn: What's in a Casual Sales Pitch?
When you only have a short amount of time to make a great first impression, how can you best tell your story? Hear from Maureen Ballatori, Founder and CEO and Michela Hanlon, Account Manager, at Agency 29, and learn the best tips and tricks when it comes to meeting new prospective clients at Farmer’s Market’s, Food Drop-Off’s, and More!