When a problem arises within Georgia’s agriculture industry, George Vellidis would like the University of Georgia’s Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture (IIPA) to be one of the first places industry leaders turn for answers. To become that resource, IIPA experts need the kind of on-the-ground insights only insiders can provide.
That’s the animating idea behind IIPA’s inaugural Industry Advisory Board (IAB), which officially launched at a kickoff meeting on Monday, June 29. The board brings together 16 leaders spanning the agricultural value chain—from major equipment manufacturers and venture capitalists to working farmers in Georgia—forming a pipeline between institute-led research and the industries it aims to serve.
“I want IIPA to be intimately tied to serving stakeholder needs, particularly in the agtech industry as we continue to help it grow in Georgia,” said Vellidis, professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) who became the institute’s first permanent director in 2024. “I felt like it was important that we recruit some people who can help us understand the impactful problems across the state. Ultimately, that’s what I hope happens here.”
Since 2022, IIPA has united more than 90 faculty members across seven UGA schools and colleges, approaching the challenge of advancing next-generation agricultural systems, such as precision irrigation and robotics or AI-driven crop management. While the institute has grown quickly, hosting international conferences and distributing seed grant funding, Vellidis wants to ensure that discovery is more than just that.
“We don’t want to publish and leave it on the shelf,” he said. “I want the Institute to be intimately tied to serving stakeholder needs.”
The IAB is designed to do that.
Vellidis tapped Anthony Llano, CAES director for industry partnerships and entrepreneurship, to serve as the board’s inaugural chair, leading the recruitment effort of a representative group of industry leaders. The result is a board that Llano described as deliberately diverse:
- Kelly Gillespie, Chief Science Officer, Digital Farming, Bayer Crop Science
- Justin Burns, Chief Innovation Officer and VP, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Georgia Research Alliance
- Caitlin Jackson, Director of AgTech, Center of Innovation, Georgia Department of Economic Development
- Michael Bailey, Global Director, High Value & Small Crops, Deere & Company (John Deere)
- Mark Breutzman, Global Engineering Leader, Kubota Research & Development N.A., Kubota Corporation
- Travis Frey, Chief Technology Officer, Pivot Bio
- Mark Rodgers, Farmer & General Manager, Hillcrest Farms Inc. (McDuffie County, Ga.)
- Michael Howell, VP of Agronomy, Ostara
- Nick Schroer, Partner & Venture Capitalist, Trailhead Capital
- Bryce Wilberding, VP & Venture Capitalist, Lewis & Clark Partners
- Mark Theuerkauf, Chief Business Officer, AgZen
- Donald Chase, Elected Chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission, Peanut Farmer (Macon County, Ga.)
- Brad Edenfield, Farmer & General Manager, RT Farms Inc. (Burke County, Ga.)
- Matt Rushing, VP & Global Deployment Lead, AGCO Corporation
- Juan De Villena, Senior VP of Quality Assurance & Food Safety, Wayne-Sanderson Farm
- Loran Shallenberger, VP of Regenerative Energy & Agrivoltaics, Silicon Ranch
“We wanted to be very intentional about representation,” said Llano, a 20-year industry veteran who spent time at John Deere and J.P. Morgan Chase. “Data-type startups mixed with Original Equipment Manufacturers, venture capitalists, and three producers and farmers.
“I think, fundamentally, what a lot of these folks in industry see is that partnering with UGA not only validates some of their business priorities, but also affirms the reputation that we have as a partner of choice—both for our talent, our research capabilities, and the way we work.”
In other words, Llano said, the value proposition is this: Partner with UGA, which has an excellent reputation for work in agtech and building relationships with stakeholders who benefit, and receive firsthand access to novel viewpoints, ideas, and innovations that will ultimately help each company or producer’s bottom line.
“We’re genuinely grateful for the commitment they have made to IIPA and UGA,” Llano said. “But, of course, it’s not just philanthropy. Their service on the Board over the next 2-3 years also benefits their organizations in significant ways.”
Llano and Vellidis envision the board as a type of market sensor, to identify where capital is flowing, what barriers exist in agtech markets, potential workforce gaps that need filling, and problems that are truly urgent, not just exploratory.
“I also see these relationships becoming transactional in the future,” Vellidis said. “If they have a problem they don’t want to solve in house, we’d like to serve as a resource to contract and solve on their behalf.”
And, through UGA’s burgeoning Innovation District, precision agriculture can be one of the best vehicles at the university for producing products and startups that may be scaled and commercialized.
“We’re not asking anyone to come help balance books or look over expenses,” Vellidis added. “We want you to tell us your ideas and needs and help us fuel a conversation that drives our institute and Georgia’s agriculture industry forward.”
Anyone interested in learning more about service on Industry Advisory Board (IAB), or the Institute more broadly, may contact Anthony Llano at anthony.llano@uga.edu.