The Business of Agriculture Podcast

Business, in very simple terms, is the act of exploiting one's resources to create something of value. For production Agriculture this means utilizing the sun, water, and soil, along with inputs to create a crop. But how do you know how much and which resources to apply? Turns out there's a great deal of analysis and consultation that goes on behind the scenes of a productive Agricultural operatio...

At this point in 2020, Ag was receiving the first of two rounds of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and things looked a bit bleak. Today, commodity prices are roaring, farm land prices are surging, and farm income projections may enter record territory. But, is this merely the leading edge of hyper inflation for the overall economy? And what about those land prices — they are actually dropp...

Eric Snodgrass has a title long enough to fill the front and back of his business card. Basically, he's a weather dude, atmospheric scientist, and former professor. Eric joins me to discuss climate reality. What's happening with the weather, what it means for Agriculture, and why blaming bovines for green house gasses is like ordering a Diet Coke to wash down your 10,000 calorie buffet dinner. We...

Twice in the last year we've faced a major disruption to our meat supply. The first due to Covid closing packing facilities, the second due to a Cyber attack last week on JBS - the world's largest meat processing company. What does this mean for producers and consumers? More importantly, are these disruptions an expected symptom of an oligopolistic meat packing industry? Brad Kooima, a beef produc...

A lot has changed rapidly when it comes to farm level finances. Commodity prices in grains have doubled in less than a year, while beef producers are getting hammered and pork producers are getting ahead (for now). I sit down with two Ag lenders with American State Bank, a Northwest Iowa community bank with approximately a $400 million balance of Ag loans. Their region is huge in livestock product...

Brice McIntosh is the Vocational Ag instructor and FFA leader in Wheatland, Wyoming. The farm kid turned teacher has plenty of opinions about the Business of Agriculture, the future, and what we're doing right and wrong with instructing our youth. We discuss technology, curriculum, and the skillsets he's instructing (as well as the traits he sees lacking) and much more. Sponsored by Harvest Profit...

Agriculture is increasingly under environmental scrutiny and the pressure will only get worse. The pressure comes from activist groups teaming with trial lawyers, politicians out to control food choice, and wealthy individuals such as Bill Gates whose motives may not be as philanthropic as he portrays. I see calls to tax meat — especially beef — and dairy products under the guise of curing climate...

More than 2 years ago I had the author of Empty Planet on the podcast to discuss the reality: humans aren't going to overpopulate Earth and that we weren't going to run out of food. In this episode, Todd Thurman and I discuss what slowing population growth — and even decline — means for Ag. Hint: Less "feed the world" talk, catering to a wealthier / older customer base, and possibly even competiti...

What's an adjuvant, you ask? They're inert ingredients used in crop protection products to make the chemistry more efficient and effective. Joe Gednalske with the Council of Producer & Distributors of Agrotechnology joins me to discuss technology in crop production. Joe holds 38 patents and has been in the Ag industry for half a century. Which is why I encourage you to share this episode with your...

"Cheese is who we are." That's the statement from Wisconsin Cheese's Chief Marketing Officer, Suzanne Fanning. I invited her on The Business of Ag podcast after reading about the organization's award winning Cheeselandia marketing campaign. We discuss all things Ag promotion, what things Ag gets wrong (way too much preaching to ourselves about ourselves!), and some of the ways Wisconsin Cheese is...

Aquabounty is a company that came on my radar a couple years ago when they purchased and redeveloped an indoor fish farm in Indiana. The company produces genetically engineered salmon — the first animal protein to be GMO (which, as you can imagine, invites a lot of scrutiny). Sylvia Wulf, Aquabounty's CEO joins me to explain aquaculture, discuss salmon consumption and production, and talk about ev...

Bill and Melinda Gates own almost 250,000 acres of productive farm land, and it's my hunch that it's not simply because he loves the smell of dirt. Bill, along with a cooperative media, bills himself a philanthropist. But the world's 4th wealthiest man occasionally passes off as altruism what is in reality control. Two months ago he stated wealthy nations such as the U.S. should switch to a 100% s...

Farmland is an asset that appears to be garnering more attention, even from the non-farming world. But what's an aspiring farm ground investor to do if he or she can't muster the huge price of entry for a tract of land? Enter AcreTrader, the company designed to bring together capital and farmers who need farm land to rent. Carter Malloy joins me to discuss his vision, the farm land marketplace, an...

Brice and Blaine Hitzfield are two of the seven sons who make up Seven Sons Farms — a pasture-based operation in growth mode. The family operation produces beef, pork, and eggs, and has grown into a processor and direct marketer of their products. The brothers also operate Graze Cart — an online platform for direct-to-consumer sales, and Hen Gear — a manufacturer of chicken coops and nesting boxes...

Two main arguments used against animal Agriculture are environmental issues and animal care. We've faced increased regulations on both and endure lawsuits on the environmental front — particularly as related to nuisance lawsuits over odor. Facing a future of greater scrutiny on odor and antibiotics, Ag needs to look ahead. Mike Rincker and TJ Gaydos with DPI Global join me to discuss the reality a...

Agriculture is increasingly impacted by regulation from the local, state, and federal level. But it appears to be getting worse. Activists and conflict groups used to lobby and protest against our industry. Now they hold positions of power. Eric Bream, a California citrus producer and politically active Agriculturalist joins me to discuss the methods of activism, dealing with regulations, and what...

About 900 million acres are devoted to Agriculture in the United States. In addition to those acres are wooded property and other non-farmed land owned by American farm owners. Nic DeCastro saw those acres and — as an outdoorsman — saw an opportunity to help landowners profit by allowing short term usage for hunting and fishing. His company, LandTrust, does just that. As landowners, we must always...

We talk a lot about Ag's need to educate the consumer. There are, however, multiple problems with effectively doing this. First off, the consumer is far removed from the farm. Secondly, the consumer might bristle at being told they need educated. And lastly, the consumer may not even really care — they're eating pretty well without being educated so what's the downside? Farmer and friend of show,...

Following up on the previous episode with Iowa farmer, Kelly Garrett, where we discussed carbon farming, I sit down with Rob West of Thunder Said Energy. He's an energy consultant turned carbon expert, and he believes Agriculture is the answer to carbon sequestration both from an economic and practicality standpoint. This is a hot topic that is in its early stages. Agriculture will be increasingly...

Most farmers are from a farm, not Cason Anderson. Sure, his parents had a few cows on an acreage but they weren't really farmers. Cason is. He got into pecan farming by purchasing used harvesting machinery when he was 18 and picking up some small, un-maintained pecan orchards. Nine years later he and his crew of three farm 840 acres of pecans. He explains pecan production's ups and downs and talks...

We're doing a lot of things in Ag that are still "on the way" to the non-Ag sector. Driverless cars are a concept but self-driving tractors have been in America's fields for over a decade, for instance. But take drones. While we're allegedly on the cusp of drone deliveries to our homes, we've been using drone technology in Ag for several years. And their use is growing. Michael Ott and Emily Carls...

If you haven't noticed, there is a tremendous amount of buzz going around about environment, climate change, and carbon. For years, those who oppose modern Agriculture have latched onto environmental issues as an argument against our industry. But what if Agriculture is the solution — or at least part of the solution — to all that ails the environment? And what if improving the environment also im...

They say there are only four people who understand milk pricing and three of them are dead. Lucky for us, John Newton, Chief Economist of the American Farm Bureau Federation is the one who's alive. He joins me for an informative discussion on milk pricing. Milk pricing — not necessarily what the consumer pays at Kroger, but the pricing for producers — is set through a complex formula originally cr...

Rob Saik joins me to give highlights from his address to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, where he stood up for a vilified modern agriculture. We discuss the hypocrisy of anti-agriculture movements, global reality, COVID's lessons for Ag, technology shortening time and distance for food production, and the future. Pull up a chair for never-dull discussion. Sponsored by Harvest...

Without hops, there is no beer. That's reason enough for you to listen to this podcast because this episode explains the hop industry from farm to frosty glass. Ann George, executive director of Hop Growers of America and Michelle Gooding of Gooding Farms - an Idaho hop producer, explain the production and business side of this vital ingredient. Sponsored by Harvest Profit harvestprofit.com