Michael Ott

Cquesta, Inc.

Chief Executive Officer

Michael Ott is the CEO of Cquesta, a deep root trait company that helps crops tolerate stress and earns carbon credits to farmers with no change in agronomic practices.  Michael is also the Founding CEO and Board Member at Rantizo, the nation's largest drone-spraying company. Before Rantizo, Michael worked in corporate venture capital backed by Monsanto, Novozymes and Bunge, where he invented a patented technology that delivers a tiny amount of nitrogen to a rice seed as it grows.  Michael has a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Iowa and two decades worth of experience in finance and agriculture.  He is an author on five patent applications and has raised over $180 million in investments over the course of his career. Michael was named PrecisionAg 2021 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Sessions With Michael Ott

Monday, 18 March

  • 04:30pm - 05:00pm (CST) / 18/mar/2024 09:30 pm - 18/mar/2024 10:00 pm

    CQuesta | Carbon is a Problem - Cquesta is Running it into the Ground

    Using deep-root trait technology from the Salk Institute, Cquesta is building a gigaton-scale carbon removal opportunity. Harnessing the global footprint and efficiencies of production agriculture, this drop-in solution for commodity crops delivers durable carbon credits for buyers and improved crop performance in weather extremes for farmers.  

Tuesday, 19 March

  • 01:00pm - 01:30pm (CST) / 19/mar/2024 06:00 pm - 19/mar/2024 06:30 pm

    Carbon Credits: Opportunities and challenges as a policy tool

    Climate & Sustainability

    Carbon credits are a vital tool in tackling climate change. How do carbon credits incentivize emission reductions and drive innovation? With offsets a key strategic tool for companies and countries to meet net-zero goals, how are companies using offsets in their strategic planning and investment decisions as they navigate the path to energy transition? What are the benefits and limitations of using offsets as a tool to address climate change?