Grain Weevil: Introduction to Innovation | Innovator Insights

This segment features Chad Johnson, Ben Johnson and Zane Zents, founders of Grain Weevil in Aurora, Nebraska, a grain safety and management robotics startup which began to keep farmers out of dangerous grain storage bins. 

To adequately manage stored grain, farmers are regularly exposed to potential falls, entrapments, and long term conditions such as Farmer’s Lung. To address these issues, Chad Johnson (CEO), Ben Johnson (Chief Innovation Officer), and Zane Zents (Lead Software Engineer) were challenged to build a robot for a friend that led to their founding of Grain Weevil.

Questions/Prompts from the Videos

• Where do your ideas come from?
• What advice would you give yourself as a kid now?
• Talk about the importance of persistence.
• Talk about identifying mentors.
• What’s your best advice for young innovators?

NOTE: Spanish version is captions only.