439 Farm data can and will be used against you - Live from Groundswell 2026

Only 4% of Benedikt Bösel's customers scanned the QR code on their meat — even though that code would have shown them the life of the specific cow they were eating, its pasture, its movement, everything. The other 96% either trusted the brand completely, or simply didn't care. That number sits at the centre of this conversation.This episode was recorded live at Groundswell 2026, the UK's largest regenerative agriculture festival. Koen moderated a 55-minute panel on a question that matters as much to investors as to farmers: who actually benefits when data is collected from farms?The four panellists: Ichsani Wheeler, soil scientist at the OpenGeoHub Foundation and satellite data researcher building an open-access soil registry; Benedikt Bösel, farmer of a 3,000-hectare operation in eastern Brandenburg running a digital twin alongside the physical farm; Antony Yousefian, co-founder of The First Thirty, an investment firm building the data infrastructure to turn farms into preventative healthcare systems; and Matthijs Westerwoudt, co-founder of Wilder Land, building what he calls a Strava for biodiversity using AI-powered acoustic monitoring.Video credit @Commonland.In this session:— Why Benedikt says most farm data has been useless — and what is finally changing— Why Antony believes the cost of communicating with plants has collapsed— The NHS values one quality-adjusted life year at £30,000 — and why that number should reframe the entire food system— The 2013 US case where aggregated farm data was used to set surveillance pricing on inputs against the farmers who generated it— Why only 4% of customers scanned the QR code with full cow data — and what that tells us about the real entry point to consumer behaviour change— How Wilder Land is turning bird species counts into a biodiversity score farmers can put on a product label— What Benedikt's wife's iron levels after birth have to do with all of this-------This session is part of the AI 4 Soil Health project which aims to help farmers and policy makers by providing new tools powered by AI to monitor and predict soil health across Europe. For more information visit ai4soilhealth.eu.Thoughts? Ideas? Questions? Send us a message!Find out more about our Generation-Re investment syndicate:https://gen-re.land/ Thank you to our Field Builders Circle for supporting us. Learn more hereSupport the show=======In Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food podcast show we talk to the pioneers in the regenerative food and agriculture space to learn more on how to put our money to work to regenerate soil, people, local communities and ecosystems while making an appropriate and fair return. Hosted by Koen van Seijen.👩🏻‍💻 VISIT OUR WEBSITE 📚 JOIN OUR VIDEO COURSE 💪🏻 SUPPORT OUR WORKJoin GumroadShare itGive a 5-star ratingBuy us a coffee… or a meal! =======🎙 YouTube channel🔗 Linkedin📸 InstagramJoin our newsletter!=======The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed financial advisor or investment professional before making any financial decisions.Feedback, ideas, suggestions? Get in touch!