Todd Martin has been in agriculture all his life. Growing up on the family dairy farm in south
Arkansas, he was no stranger to what it took to be involved in Ag – long hours, hard work, innovation
and a love for the land. Todd was educated at the University of Arkansas where he studied
Agricultural Economics. After starting his career with Merrill Lynch in the commodities markets, he
landed a position with Ciba-Geigy, a legacy company of Syngenta. Since 1990, Todd has been
involved in both domestic and global roles encompassing seeds, traits and crop protection areas of
the agriculture sector.

Todd has been involved in sales, marketing and business development on every continent.
Retiring from Syngenta after 25 years, Todd joined the Independent Professional Seed Association
in 2015 as CEO and has been a tireless supporter of the Independent Seed Business both locally
and nationally.

Todd founded a consulting business, specializing in M&A, management services and advisory
services. In that area, he has worked with Cerberus Capital Management, Blackstone, Stephens,
Inc. and Inari, Inc among others. He has founded several companies, including EarthOptics, a soil
sensing company using sensors to map and measure soil characteristics in agriculture. EarthOptics
in a very short period of time, has become an National leader in climate and sustainability, leading
opportunities in sequestering soil carbon and reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
In 2020, Todd founded South by Northwest Hospitality and acquired 3 Northwest Arkansas
restaurants. In addition to Southern Food Company, an original concept from Todd and his wife
Marti, they have now added Theo’s and Eastside Grill to their hospitality portfolio.
Todd remains passionate in support of the Bumpers College of Agriculture and the University of
Arkansas. He is an advocate for the City of Fayetteville and the Downtown Fayetteville Coalition,
serving as Past Chair of the City’s Advertising and Promotion Commission as well as a founding
member of the DFC.