Cultivating a smarter future for weed control

Ray Archuleta is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist with the Soil Science Society of America and has over 30 years of experience as a Soil Conservationist, Water Quality Specialist, and Conservation Agronomist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. Ray is the co-founder of the Soil Health Academy and helped develop the term Biomimicry, the strategies and Agroecology principles for improving soil at scale. Ray teaches soil-health concepts to interested producers worldwide.

Martin Crompton brings more than two decades of leadership experience across the United States and Europe at the intersection of regenerative agriculture, food systems, and commercial strategy. As Head of Operations at Union Grove Farm in North Carolina, he led the transformation of the vineyard into the first Regenified-certified table-grape operation in the United States and one of only a handful of farms to reach Tier 5, Regenified’s highest standard for regenerative outcomes. Martin is deeply engaged in the U.S. regenerative movement and maintains active working relationships with leading practitioners across farming, food, health, investment, and AgTech. His on-the-ground work at Union Grove includes early adoption and multi-year field use of FireHawk within a regenerative IPM system, giving him an operator’s perspective on how bioherbicides can support vineyard performance.

Kathleen Hallal has been guiding community efforts to reduce the use of conventional pesticides in public spaces for over a decade. She spearheaded the adoption of Irvine, California’s Organic City Policy with the support of scientists and medical professionals. She served as Head of Climate and the Environment on the Mayor’s Advisory Council and was a recipient of the California State EPA Department of Pesticide Regulation Integrated Pest Management award for Irvine’s program. She is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP) by the Northeast Organic Farming Association, a co-founder of Non Toxic Communities, and earned her M.A. from the University of Southern California.

Dr Huber’s agricultural research over 55 years has focused on the epidemiology and control of soil-borne plant pathogens, with emphasis on microbial ecology, cultural and biological controls, nutrient-disease interactions, pesticide-disease interactions, physiology of host-parasite relationships, and rapid microbial identification techniques. Dr Huber is a past Chairman of the USDA-APS National Plant Disease Recovery System and a member of several governmental Advisory Boards. He is the author or co-author of over 300 journal articles, six books, and 84 special invited publications.

Dave Schwartz is the Executive Vice-President of Sales at Verdesian Life Science. He is also the co-owner of Independent Inputs, a Distribution Partner of Pioneer Seed distributing Soybean Seed Treatments and seed-treating equipment to 1,250 Pioneer Seed Dealers in the United States since 2006. He advises Contact BioSolutions on business development, sales, and distribution channels in the U.S. agricultural input markets.

Dr Smeda is a weed physiologist with a research and teaching appointment in weed science. His research focuses on the development of alternative weed-management systems for corn, soybean, and vegetables, identification of resistance mechanisms in herbicide-resistant weeds, and the biology and control of invasive weeds in roadside and other non-crop areas. He teaches Principles of Weed Science and co-instructs a graduate course on Weed Science Research Principles and Techniques. He also serves as the Director for Undergraduate Programs in the Division of Plant Sciences.