Spotlight on Manulife Investment Management’s Casey Vetsch
By Michelle Pelletier Marshall, Women in Agribusiness Media & Manulife Investment Management Staff (September 17, 2024)
Manulife Investment Management is the asset management arm of Manulife Financial Corporation. With leading capabilities in public and private markets, they partner with institutions to understand their needs and create tailored solutions to meet them. As of June 30, 2024, they employ more than 600 investment professionals in 20 geographies to manage US$655 billion in AUM on behalf of investors worldwide. Their timberland and agriculture businesses manage diversified global portfolios of farms and forests covering over 5.8 million acres across the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile and New Zealand.
They have been a long-time sponsor of the Women in Agribusiness (WIA) Summit (and our sister event, Global AgInvesting) and this year support at a Bronze level, including an exhibit table at the event and sponsorship of a student scholar, which helps defray the cost for a student to attend the Summit to make important industry connections, see the many career options available in the ag sector, and learn about the trends and issues facing the industry today. Manulife Investment Management is committed to diversity in the workplace and creating environments where every individual feels accepted, valued and included so it is no surprise that WIA has garnered their support and attention, and we are grateful to have their backing. In addition, the company keeps on the cutting-edge of learning, training and developing their employees and providing opportunities to keep them up to date with current issues in the ag sector, which Summit support and attendance provides.
With that, Manulife Investment Management has chosen to highlight Casey Vetsch, who is a quality service specialist with the Manulife Investment Management Farmland Management Services (MFS) team, based in Washington state. Vetsch grew up in the agricultural industry, spending summers working on her grandparents' cattle ranch in Southeastern Oregon and setting netting for salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska, during the sockeye salmon run. She joined the MFS team four years ago and currently focuses on the Washington apple and cherry platform that it manages for investor clients.
WIA Today talked with Vetsch to learn more.
1). WIA Today: Can you tell us about your career path and how you became a quality assurance specialist?
Vetsch: When I joined MFS, I was lucky enough to work under Curt McDonald, also a quality assurance specialist, who has over 35 years’ experience in the tree fruit industry. During the three years I spent shadowing Curt, I gained valuable experience learning about tree fruit, orchard management and fruit quality. During the past year I have shifted my focus to soil health and plant nutrition – looking into how we might further implement regenerative practices on our clients’ orchard properties. I also serve as a stewardship coordinator for our region with responsibility for the implementation of the Leading Harvest Farmland Management Standard, a third-party verified sustainability standard. Additionally, I help implement sustainable practices on our properties and engage with the local community.
2). WIA Today: We understand you have a unique background that has helped with your quality assurance role – please explain.
Vetsch: I graduated from Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington, with a degree in plant sciences and herbal medicine. Shortly after graduating, I welcomed my daughter, Isla. After spending a year focusing on my daughter, I started an apothecary for an acupuncturist in Seattle. Being a mother has been a wonderful experience, and my passion for natural medicine has only continued to grow as I’ve raised my daughter. A few years later, I transitioned to work with a medical cannabis company, where I built a program for extracting and formulating cannabis constituents for anti-nausea and anti-anxiety purposes. Additionally, I managed the company's nursery, establishing a spray program and improving the nursery's overall condition. My diverse background in plant sciences and herbal medicine has been invaluable in my role as a quality assurance specialist, providing me with a solid foundation in both practical and theoretical knowledge.
Also, my background in natural and holistic medicine has had a strong influence on my approach to working with our clients’ farm properties. Soil can be viewed as a microbiome, very much like gut flora. Just as a healthy gut leads to overall better health, healthy soil leads to healthy trees, stronger production and high-quality products. If the soil is missing nutrients, the effects are evident, much like how deficiencies in our bodies can lead to brittle hair, brittle nails and inflammation. I believe that by focusing on improving soil health, we can achieve better outcomes for our crops. This perspective is central to my role as a quality assurance specialist.
3). WIA Today: How has your role grown over the years?
Vetsch: Throughout my first two years at MFS, I focused primarily on fruit quality – walking and inspecting orchard blocks, documenting harvests and observing fruit come out of storage and packaged at packing houses. More recently, my focus has shifted towards research and development, with much of my time spent researching regenerative practices and setting up trials in our orchards.
During the growing season, a lot of my time is spent observing orchards for issues, looking at analytics and soil analysis, attending field days and meeting with researchers to discuss most recent findings during data collection. I work closely with Washington State University (WSU), MFS property managers, and other industry professionals to find the best ways to support soil health, promote fruit quality and implement sustainable practices based on trials and research.
During the winter months, I focus on data analytics and organize trials for the next season. It is also the season for learning, planning and participation in industry events. Researchers from around the state present their latest findings and studies at the Northwest Horticulture Show, which I attend every year along with many colleagues.
4). WIA Today: Can you share a project or initiative where your quality assurance efforts made an impact?
Vetsch: This spring, we teamed up with WSU researchers to develop a trial on a 16-acre apple block in Washington state’s lower Yakima Valley. The trial aimed to use as many local and sustainable resources as possible, utilizing what we already had on site and sourcing other materials and inputs within proximity to the ranch. For the trial, we received donations of biochar from two different sources: one made from a wood feedstock and the other from wheat chaff.
When establishing a new orchard, the soil is typically sterilized during land preparation. We added biochar to support the introduction and replication of healthy microbiology to kickstart the soil food web development. This approach has the potential to meet the nutritional needs of the plants through the cycling of that biology, reducing the need for added inputs and creating a strong microbiome within the soil, which is absorbed by orchard trees. Our hypothesis is that adding the biochar upfront should positively impact overall orchard health, fruit quality and nutrition, ultimately leading to greater land value and apple prices received, while also reducing the need for chemical intervention. The trial is projected to run for a minimum of three to five years but will continue to be monitored longer term. While we have already begun collecting data, it will take a couple of crops cycles before we really start to see the impacts on fruit quality. Changes to soil quality may be noted much sooner. Currently, we are also monitoring a small preliminary trial where biochar has been banded across the top of the soil in an established cherry block. The trees are still too young for fruit production, but we have observed an increase in biological respiration using the Haney Test. The Haney test is a method of measuring the quantity of soil nutrients that are available to the soil microbiology and to the plants. It integrates both chemical and biological measurements. This project exemplifies how our quality assurance efforts can make a tangible impact on our farming practices and outcomes.
5). WIA Today: Do you see any current trends in quality assurance that you find exciting or concerning?
Vetsch: I am really excited about the increasing focus on the relationship between food and health, responding to the needs of both consumers and investors. I have no doubt that a shift to sustainable practices across the industry will be beneficial to not only human health and wellness, but also to the strength and wellness of other biological communities.
6). WIA Today: Has technology changed the way you approach quality assurance?
Vetsch: Yes and no. There are incredible technological systems becoming available, many of which we are in the process of testing.
I am especially excited about the future of water management via moisture probes; precise spraying and pollinating via drones; programable self-operating equipment; censors that attach to trees to read sap flow rates; and censors that monitor core temperatures of fruit and temperatures in the canopies of orchards.
All that said, many of these technologies are incredibly expensive, and can evolve so quickly. Technology requires large investments in time, energy and money, and being outside in the elements can result in lots of wear and tear on the instruments. I am excited to see which direction some of these technologies take and how they will be implemented over next several years.
7). WIA Today: How do you stay up to date on the latest developments in quality assurance?
Vetsch: I work very closely with local universities, specifically WSU and their extension office. I also attend conferences and industry events to stay updated on what’s trending, industry changes and regulations. Staying current on research and building a solid network of industry contacts has been paramount. I am always looking “outside of the box” for unconventional tools and techniques.
8). WIA Today: What advice would you give to someone aspiring to a career in agriculture quality assurance? And what does the future in the field hold for you?
Vetsch: Quality assurance encompasses so much. I think that to really be great in this role, you must understand the entire growing process from seed to sale and understand the process from a holistic perspective. Having a deeper perspective of “WHY” something happens or how issues could be prevented from happening in the future is crucial. The role involves much more than looking at quality. It’s playing centerfield - you are both offense and defense.
As far as my goals in the field, I intend to continue to study and learn more about regenerative farming practices and encourage these methods and educate local communities on the benefits of such.
This includes encouraging the next generation of farm operators to adopt regenerative farm practices and contribute to building better ecosystems. One way I have already begun working towards this is by partnering with a local high school, Naches Valley High School, where we have collaborated on a local pollinator project. The students are learning about local solitary pollinators, building bee houses for our client properties and assisting us in managing them. I believe this experience will be incredibly beneficial to the students, the farms and the local communities. I hope to create similar opportunities in the future.
A brief note on Manulife Investment Management:
As the world’s largest natural capital investment manager,¹ we create value through the sustainable management of natural resources for the benefit of our investors, the environment, and local communities. As of June 30, 2024, we manage $15.7 billion in AUM. Our farms and forests are integrated with comprehensive property management operations in each country through subsidiaries, affiliate companies, or investor-owned entities.
1 IPE research, as of January 29, 2024. Ranking is based on total natural capital assets under management (AUM), which include forestry/timberland and agriculture/farmland AUM. Firms were asked to provide AUM, and the as of dates vary from December 31, 2022, to December 31, 2023.
Manulife, Manulife Investment Management, Stylized M Design, and Manulife Investment Management & Stylized M Design are trademarks of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and are used by it, and by its affiliates under license. Manulife Investment Management’s timber and agriculture services are the operation of real assets and property management and are not authorized to provides, nor do they provide, investment advice or investment advisory services. Additionally, this content is not intended nor should be construed as an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security or to participate in an investment strategy.
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