Fifth-generation apple grower Jamie Sonneville is on a mission to help farmers prosper despite a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive landscape. She is the founder and CEO of Pultneyville, N.Y.- based Agri-Trak, a company that empowers farmers with cutting-edge technology and deep agricultural expertise to build more sustainable, profitable and efficient farming operations. Agri-Trak helps farmers use data-driven approaches to fully optimize their operations.
Sonneville started the company in 2020 after experiencing first-hand the challenges of growing apples on her family farm. "It's clear that margins are razor-thin and family farms are struggling to compete. My mission is to help save family farms and ensure that they are here for generations to come." And now, after four years of building the technology and platform, the company has received 97% user satisfaction scores from use of its technology to manage more than 10,000 acres of farmland growing 30 different types of produce. Agri-Trak currently serves farms in four states, including small and medium-sized family farms that are looking to thrive for multiple generations.
Through Empire State Development’s New York Ventures program, Sonneville received funding through programs supported by State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding, including the Pre-Seed and Seed Matching Fund and the Community and Regional Partner Fund, via Launch NY. The programs have helped Sonneville grow her business even further, following her earlier successful participation in the tech stars accelerator, and the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab. In 2021, Agri-Trak also was a Round Three finalist and Audience Choice award winner for most innovative pitch in the Grow-NY food innovation and agriculture technology business competition.
While Sonneville is helping farmers across the country to optimize their operations, she is also acting as her own customer, through running her family farm. Her energy, passion and commitment to helping farmers, families, and workers is improving outcomes for agriculture in New York State and beyond.