CAST CEO Chris Boomsma was a guest on episode 459 of the Agbioscience Podcast from AgriNovus Indiana. The episode is titled “CAST’s Chris Boomsma on peer review, public trust + protecting scientific discovery in agriculture.”
The agbiosciences are being asked to answer harder questions faster than ever, while public trust in institutions and expertise is thinning. In the episode, Chris discusses what it takes to produce science that farmers, researchers, companies and policymakers can all rely on. He explains how CAST’s peer-reviewed, expert-led process works and why that rigor matters when decisions carry real economic, environmental and food-system consequences.
Topics covered in the episode include:
- What CAST is: CAST’s mission and the convening role it plays across the agriculture ecosystem
- Where science is needed most: the biggest issues facing agriculture and where credible, evidence-based information is most urgently missing
- Inside the process: what peer-reviewed, expert-led report development looks like, and why the vetting is the point
- Trust in a skeptical era: how CAST reaches audiences who don’t automatically trust science or formal research bodies
- Rigor meets accessibility: balancing accuracy with usefulness for producers, industry leaders and decision-makers
- A research sector in transition: how shifting funding models, political pressures and new expectations for public impact are changing agricultural science
- Speed vs. care: the gap between how fast industry needs answers and how long careful science takes, and how CAST is responding
- Misinformation’s soft spots: the agriculture topics most vulnerable to oversimplification, and where trusted scientific voices matter most
- What’s next: what CAST and similar organizations must do differently, or more boldly, to protect scientific credibility
AgriNovus Indiana is the state’s initiative focused on advancing the agbiosciences sector through education, research and talent development; strategic collaborations among corporations, industry associations, government and universities; the creation and support of new companies; and branding and targeted promotions. AgriNovus Indiana is part of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP). Learn more at agrinovusindiana.com.
