10.31.2025
Jord BioScience Founder Dr. Linda Kinkel Named 2025 Top Agri-Food Pioneers by World Food Prize Foundation
Jord BioScience Founder Dr. Linda Kinkel Named 2025 Top Agri-Food Pioneers by World Food Prize Foundation
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, Oct. 29, 2025 – Jord BioScience, a leading science and analytics company providing customizable microbial solutions for agriculture, is proud to announce that Dr. Linda Kinkel, Founder and Chief Science Officer, has been named a 2025 Top Agri-Food Pioneers (TAP) award recipient by the World Food Prize Foundation. This prestigious award recognizes Kinkel’s contribution to agriculture innovation, crop yield improvement and sustainable food production.
After decades as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota studying microbes that enhance plant health and productivity, Kinkel launched Jord BioScience with the goal of translating her microbial research findings to real-world use in agriculture. She has personally traveled across the globe to develop Jord’s 6,500-isolate global microbial library and identify microbial interactions that help protect, stimulate and/or feed targeted plants, ultimately increasing agricultural productivity. Now, she leverages her research and expertise alongside the Jord science team to build transformational intelligent microbiomes that enhance synthetic chemistry and biological crop solutions.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized among this talented group of individuals and thank you to the World Food Prize for this award,” Kinkel said. “In all my travels and research endeavors, I have always looked for the greater good, and as I look at this cohort, agriculture’s future has never been brighter.”
Kinkel joins an esteemed cohort of 39 changemakers from 27 countries recognized for their bold and innovative contributions to global food security.
The TAP list, in it’s second year, celebrates individuals driving transformative solutions to the most pressing challenges in agriculture and food systems. Honorees were formally recognized during the 2025 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, held October 21–23 in Des Moines, Iowa. For more information about Jord BioScience, visit jordbioscience.com.
About Jord BioScience Jord BioScience, founded on research from the University of Minnesota, is a science and analytics company developing cutting-edge microbial technologies to enhance crop productivity and sustainability in agriculture. The company leverages over three decades of research by Dr. Linda Kinkel and her team, who collected thousands of unique soil microbes globally. Jord’s proprietary technology and custom formulations are designed to extend product lifecycles, enhance crop performance, and expand market adoption of microbial solutions. From product concept through commercialization, Jord BioScience fast-tracks novel product development, reducing discovery from years to less than 10 months. This approach maximizes value and results in today’s competitive marketplace. The company is currently conducting product development trials in the U.S., Argentina, and Brazil.
