Chairman and CEO Billy has spent his entire career helping farmers. As a recent college graduate in the 1980s, he helped family farm friends write business plans to grow their operations and reduce debt. This led to him launching Ag1, a company that provided crop insurance, grain marketing, risk management advice and working capital. Ag1 was acquired by DTN, as well as Crop1 Insurance, Inc. acquired by Iowa Farm Bureau. Now addressing the universal U.S. farming challenge of the Yield Gap, Billy and the OptimalAg team used three years of certified independent seed trial plot data to create Yield Optimizer. It guides farmers in selecting the seeds that will perform best on each location. Yield Optimizer helps ensure a profitable yield or provides a performance protection payment.
Theresa leverages her extensive background in product management and development to enhance operational efficiency and strategic growth for OptimalAg. With more than 20 years of experience, Theresa has successfully launched high-impact products and streamlined product development processes to boost market presence. Dedicated to fostering innovation and building high-performing teams, Theresa drives OptimalAg towards achieving its strategic objectives.
Jim has been managing research protocols for agronomic and plant breeding experiments for more than 30 years. This has allowed him to collaborate with farmers, seed producers, research partners and regulatory officials to produce results that deliver profitable crop performance. Jim previously served as the executive director of the Iowa Crop Improvement Association, the official seed certifying agency for Iowa. Jim also led the Iowa Crop Performance Tests which deliver unbiased performance comparisons among hundreds of corn hybrids and soybean varieties across Iowa.
Kevin brings 32 years of experience in econometrics, market analysis and advanced statistical modeling to OptimalAg. He founded Quantum Hedging where he was the lead for its Market Intelligence Lab and served as the chief economist at Farmers Business Network after it acquired GeoGrain, a market intelligence firm he created. Kevin holds a PhD from North Carolina State University, specializing in economics.
Ryan is a 15-year seed testing veteran with a passion for all things agronomy, especially crop performance testing and yield trial management. He curates the crop performance testing segment of the Iowa Crop Improvement Association and manages a portfolio of private contract research projects. Ryan has a proven track record for integrating cutting-edge technologies like GPS automation, UAV photogrammetry, and advanced data analytics into yield-trialing workflows, ensuring quality and precision.
20/01/2026
