Many independent actors, adapting together

Food systems are changing faster than most of our institutions can keep up.

The Future Herd is a podcast about understanding where our food actually comes from—how it’s grown, governed, financed, regulated, and lived with—and what it will take to adapt together in the decades ahead.

Hosted by Jesse Hirsh, the show explores leadership through collaboration across agriculture, policy, technology, labour, and climate. Rather than treating food as a sector to be optimized, The Future Herd treats it as infrastructure: ecological, social, economic, and political.

Season One is developed in alignment with the Agri-Food 2050 process, a long-term effort to think beyond short political and market cycles and toward the resilience of Canada’s food system over the next generation. The show’s founding partner is the Agricultural Adaptation Council, whose role is to create space for experimentation, dialogue, and collaboration across parts of the system that rarely speak to each other. Additional partners and perspectives are welcome.

This introductory episode sets the foundation for the season by introducing the core idea behind the “future herd”: food systems are made up of many independent actors—farmers, animals, ecosystems, institutions, technologies, and communities—coordinating without central control. Adaptation emerges from interaction, not command.

Across Season One, conversations return to a set of recurring themes, including long-term thinking and the meaning of 2050, interacting drivers of change, labour and the future of work, climate resilience, digital infrastructure and AI, public trust and narrative, equity and inclusion, governance as coordination, lived experience from the frontlines, and the persistent gap between vision and action.

The Future Herd is for farmers, producers, policymakers, technologists, and anyone who eats—and wants to better understand the system they depend on.

What does it really take to prepare the agri-food sector for the future?

In this episode of The Future Herd, Jesse Hirsh is joined by Ruth Knight, director with the Agriculture Adaptation Council and chair of the Agri-Food 2050 committee, for a wide-ranging conversation on foresight, leadership, and cultural transformation in agriculture.

Rather than treating the future as something to be predicted or controlled, Ruth argues that future readiness is a mindset—one rooted in curiosity, patience, dialogue, and imagination. Together, they explore why resilience emerges from conversation rather than consensus, how play and experimentation can unlock innovation, and why engaging younger generations is essential to the long-term health of the agri-food system.

This episode examines the tension between problem-solving and big-picture thinking, the limits of top-down planning, and the need to shift from systems of control toward systems of emergence. At its core, the conversation asks how leaders can create the conditions for adaptation, learning, and collaboration over the next 25 years.

1. Why foresight is a practice, not a prediction
2. Curiosity and patience as leadership strengths
3. Dialogue versus debate in sector-wide planning
4. Play, imagination, and safe experimentation
5. Intergenerational leadership and youth engagement
6. From control to emergence in agri-food systems
7. Building cultural capacity for long-term resilience

Ruth Knight

Director, Agriculture Adaptation Council

Chair, Agri-Food 2050 Committee

Independent Agronomist and Rural Development Consultant

The Future Herd explores leadership, collaboration, and long-term thinking in agriculture and food systems. Through conversations with sector leaders, policymakers, producers, and innovators, the podcast examines how we adapt together in an era of uncertainty.

In this episode of The Future Herd, Jesse Hirsh speaks with Jennifer Wright of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council about what it will take to prepare Canada’s agri-food workforce for the decades ahead. Their conversation explores why technology alone cannot deliver the future many envision, and how skills, training systems, and collaboration form the real foundation of innovation.

They discuss the growing importance of micro-credentials, upskilling and reskilling the existing workforce, and hybrid training models that meet people where they are—from farms to living rooms. The episode also tackles a persistent challenge in future-focused work: how to move from conversation to action, and how short-term deliverables and shared accountability can sustain momentum toward 2030 and 2050.

At its core, this is a conversation about people—how we prepare them, how we support them through change, and how collaboration becomes the infrastructure that allows a sector to move forward together.

In this episode of The Future Herd, Jesse Hirsh sits down with Rene Van Acker, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Guelph, to explore the evolving role of universities in shaping the future of agriculture and food.

At a time when climate volatility, technological disruption, and political short-termism are redefining the operating environment for farmers and institutions alike, what responsibilities do academic leaders carry? And how can universities foster the collaboration, interdisciplinary research, and entrepreneurial energy required to build a more resilient food system?

Van Acker reflects on the University of Guelph’s agricultural heritage and its culture of practical engagement—where research is designed not just to generate knowledge, but to put that knowledge into action. The conversation explores the importance of extension and public engagement, the power of cross-sector collaboration, and the growing role of students as drivers of innovation.

The discussion also confronts climate change directly. While political rhetoric may fluctuate, farmers are experiencing increasing weather volatility firsthand. The challenge for institutions is to embed long-term foresight into planning processes that often default to short-term thinking.

This episode is a thoughtful exploration of leadership, institutional responsibility, and generational momentum in the agri-food sector.

1. Why collaboration is foundational to long-term agricultural resilience
2. The evolving role of extension and knowledge mobilization
3. Interdisciplinary research and entrepreneurialism in agri-food
4. Leadership as the creation of “open space” for new futures
5. Students as engines of innovation and transformation
6. Climate volatility as the defining foresight challenge

The Future Herd is a podcast about collaboration and leadership in a changing food system. Each episode features conversations with leaders, innovators, and thinkers shaping the future of agriculture and food.

If Canada is serious about competing globally in agri-food, commercialization can’t be an afterthought.

In this episode of The Future Herd, Jesse Hirsh sits down with Dana McCauley — chef-turned-strategist, former food manufacturing executive, and one of Canada’s most influential food innovation leaders. Dana’s career spans fine dining, food media, corporate leadership, and national ecosystem development. Few people understand as clearly how ideas move from kitchens to factories to global markets.

Together, they explore:

• Why food innovation is as much about culture as it is about technology

• The hard realities of commercialization in Canada

• What scaling a food business really demands

• Why mentorship and knowledge-sharing are critical infrastructure

• How Canada can build a more coordinated, competitive agri-food sector

This is a conversation about systems — and the people who quietly build them.

If you work in food, agriculture, manufacturing, research, or policy, this episode offers a grounded look at what it actually takes to turn ambition into durable industry.

About The Future Herd:

The Future Herd explores leadership, coordination, and foresight in Canadian agri-food. We speak with the builders shaping the next generation of food and farming.

Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of innovation, agriculture, and authority.

Guest: Tyler McCann, Managing Director, Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI)

Global trade is shifting. Geopolitics is intruding into supply chains. Food is no longer just food — it is leverage, resilience, and power.

In this episode of Future Herd, Jesse Hirsh sits down with Tyler McCann, Managing Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), to explore what leadership looks like in a world where stability can no longer be assumed.

Together they examine:

1. Why the global context for Canadian agriculture has fundamentally changed
2. The discipline of focus in a sector overwhelmed by issues
3. How policy actually moves — and why convening matters
4. The cultural tendency toward incrementalism in Canadian agri-food governance
5. Why diversity of participation strengthens policy outcomes
6. The difference between a commodity sector and a strategic one
7. The urgent need to build domestic value-added capacity

Tyler draws on his experience inside federal government and now at CAPI to explain how coalitions form, how priorities get chosen, and where the real leverage points exist in shaping Canada’s agri-food future.

At the heart of the conversation is a simple but consequential question:

Does Canada treat agri-food as a strategic sector — or as a commodity engine navigating price cycles?

In an era of geopolitical volatility, that distinction matters.

About the Guest

Tyler McCann is the Managing Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI), an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing policy solutions for Canada’s agri-food system. He previously served in senior advisory roles within the federal government and operates a farm in western Quebec.

About Future Herd

Future Herd is a podcast exploring leadership, strategy, and structural change across Canada’s agri-food sector. We focus on systems, policy, innovation, and the people shaping the future of food.

If this conversation resonates, share it within your network and continue the discussion inside your organization. The future of Canadian agri-food will not arrive on its own — it will be organized.

Agriculture is navigating a period of rapid change. Markets shift quickly, public conversations about food are shaped by social media, and the next generation of farm leaders is stepping into roles that previous generations never had to imagine.

In this episode of Future Herd, Jesse Hirsh sits down with farm leader Steph Towers for a conversation about what leadership looks like in a sector facing uncertainty and transformation.

Steph reflects on how many agricultural leaders arrive in their roles not through deliberate ambition, but because someone needs to step up and do the work. From there, the discussion explores how curiosity, transparency, and emotional intelligence are becoming essential leadership skills in modern agriculture.

They discuss how farmers communicate with the public in the age of TikTok and Instagram, why lifelong learning is becoming a core leadership competency, and how stronger relationships — both within the sector and with the public — may be the most important foundation for agriculture’s future.

The conversation also touches on mental health in farming, the importance of collaboration across the sector, and why technology will never replace the human relationships that hold agricultural communities together.

If the future of agriculture depends on the quality of its leadership, this conversation offers an important glimpse into what that leadership might look like.

Key Themes

1. How farm leaders often emerge through necessity rather than ambition
2. Why curiosity can be more powerful than defensiveness in public conversations about agriculture
3. The role of emotional intelligence in modern agricultural leadership
4. How social media is reshaping trust between farmers and the public
5. Why relationships remain the foundation of agriculture’s future

About the Guest

Steph Towers is a farm leader and advocate who has taken on numerous leadership roles across agriculture, helping connect producers, organizations, and communities. Her work emphasizes collaboration, lifelong learning, and strengthening the relationships that underpin the agri-food sector.

Indigenous agriculture in Canada is often discussed through the lens of food security and community food systems. But what happens when the conversation shifts toward scale, capital, and commercial participation in the broader agri-food economy?

In this episode of Future Herd, Jesse Hirsh speaks with Camden Lawrence of First Nations Agriculture & Finance Ontario. Camden works at the intersection of agricultural development, financing, and community capacity building, helping First Nations producers and communities explore agriculture not only as a pathway to food sovereignty, but also as a vehicle for economic growth and long-term prosperity.

Their conversation explores the structural realities of modern agriculture: the capital required to enter the sector, the importance of scale in supplying large buyers, and the institutional supports needed for communities to build viable agricultural enterprises. Camden also reflects on the momentum emerging across First Nations communities, where interest in agriculture is growing alongside efforts to develop the financing tools, partnerships, and leadership needed to support it.

This episode offers a thoughtful look at Indigenous agriculture as an evolving part of Canada’s agri-food landscape — and raises important questions about how the sector might grow in the years ahead.

Topics Discussed

1. The role of First Nations Agriculture & Finance Ontario
2. Indigenous agriculture and economic development
3. Financing challenges in agriculture
4. The economics of scale in modern food production
5. Community capacity and agricultural leadership
6. Food sovereignty and commercial agriculture
7. Opportunities for Indigenous participation in the broader agri-food sector

About the Guest

Camden Lawrence works with First Nations Agriculture & Finance Ontario, an Indigenous-led organization supporting agricultural and agribusiness development across First Nations communities in Ontario. The organization provides financing support, advisory services, and programs aimed at helping Indigenous producers and communities develop sustainable agricultural enterprises.

About Future Herd

Future Herd is a podcast exploring leadership across Canada’s agri-food sector as we think toward 2050. Through conversations with farmers, policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders, the show examines the ideas, institutions, and innovations shaping the future of food and agriculture.

Links

First Nations Agriculture & Finance Ontario

https://www.firstnationsag.ca

Future Herd

https://thefutureherd.ca