AgCulture Podcast

What makes farm data worth paying for? Collecting more information is one thing. Using it to make a better business decision is another. In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul Windemuller talks with Andrew Burdock, CEO of Insure.ag, about his journey from aerial imagery and orchard analytics at Aerobotics to building a crop insurance agency. Andrew shares what he learned about selling tech...

A family farm can own valuable land, generate millions of dollars in revenue, and still operate without a budget, written job descriptions, clearly defined authority, or an effective succession process. In this episode from the AgCulture archives, Paul speaks with farm business consultant and longtime Idaho farmer Dick Wittman about what separates professionally managed farms from businesses that...

Across agriculture and food production, consolidation has replaced thousands of independent operations with fewer, much larger businesses. Maine’s lobster industry has largely resisted that trend—and not by accident. In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul speaks with fourth-generation lobsterman Steve Train about the rules, traditions, and conservation practices that have kept lobstering c...

Can a program create value for the dairy industry while leaving individual farmers questioning how their money and data are being used? In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul Windemuller speaks with agricultural journalist and dairy market analyst Sherry Bunting about the debate surrounding dairy checkoff funding, sustainability reporting, and farmer representation. Drawing on her reportin...

What does a disruption at a port or on a river have to do with the price a farmer receives? In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul Windemuller speaks with Ken Eriksen, founder and Managing Member of Polaris Analytics and Consulting, about the transportation network connecting agriculture to markets around the world. Drawing on his experience working on the waterfront, at USDA, and in commo...

WHAT'S IT ABOUT Why can the same technology create real value on one dairy farm and turn into a disappointing investment on another? In this solo episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul Windemuller shares a framework for understanding what makes technology a good fit for a farm. Drawing on farm visits around the world and his own experience in Michigan, he explores how climate, natural resource...

Most people picture cranberries floating in water—but that is only one brief part of a year-round farming operation. In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul speaks with fifth-generation Wisconsin cranberry grower Amber Bristow about how cranberries are actually grown, harvested, protected, and marketed. Amber takes us inside her family’s 250-acre cranberry marsh, explaining the specialized...

If you buy a $500,000 piece of farm equipment, do you actually have the right to fix it yourself? That question has been at the center of a years-long fight over agricultural equipment repair—and it has now reached a major turning point. In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with longtime right-to-repair advocate Willie Cade to unpack the proposed $99 million John Deere class ac...

For years, it appeared that the entire American egg industry was heading toward cage-free production. State governments passed new housing requirements. Major retailers, restaurant chains and food-service companies made cage-free commitments. Egg producers invested billions of dollars in new barns, equipment and management systems to meet that expected demand. But the transition has not gone quite...

What does it take to move thousands of cattle or sheep across an ocean—and why do importing countries want live animals rather than packaged meat? Australia’s livestock export industry connects producers across northern and western Australia with markets throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It is a complex supply chain involving farms, exporters, quarantine facilities, veterinarians, liv...

A freestall may look like a fairly simple piece of bent steel. But behind its modern design lies decades of observation, experimentation, failure and research into how cows naturally move, rest and behave. John de Jonge grew up on a dairy farm in British Columbia before entering agricultural manufacturing and dairy barn equipment. In the 1990s, he became part of a small group that began using time...

Agriculture runs on more than data. It runs on judgment. The experienced operator who knows when the weather forecast doesn’t quite feel right. The manager who can recognize a problem before it shows up clearly in the numbers. The farmer who has spent 20 years learning which constraints matter most when there is no perfect answer. But much of that knowledge has never been written down—and as exper...

Most Americans know George Washington Carver as “the Peanut Man.” But peanuts are actually one of the least interesting parts of his story. In this solo episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul goes beyond the familiar version of Carver’s life to explore how he approached one of the biggest agricultural challenges facing the American South: How do you build resilient farms and rural communities when...

Farmers around the world are being asked to become more sustainable—but who pays for it, and how do we decide what "sustainable" actually means? In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with fellow dairy farmer and Nuffield Scholar Wilco Brouwer de Koning to explore what he's learned studying biodiversity across dairy systems around the world. From the Netherlands&#39...

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. New software, sensors, robots, and dashboards promise to revolutionize dairy farming. Yet for many producers, the day-to-day reality hasn't changed nearly as much as the headlines suggest. Recorded live at the MilkPro Summit 2026 in Brazil, Paul shares one of his most requested keynote presentations, drawing on his experience as a dairy farmer and his res...

Originally aired as one of our most popular conversations, we're bringing this episode back for a replay. Farmland has become one of the world's most sought-after investment assets—but what actually drives land values, and where is agricultural real estate headed next? In this episode, Paul sits down with Steve Bruere, President of Peoples Company, to discuss the forces reshaping agricultural land...

Artificial intelligence is changing agriculture at an incredible pace—but is it changing AgTech investing? In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul welcomes back Aidan Connolly, one of agriculture's leading technology investors and thought leaders, to discuss what has changed since their last conversation nearly two years ago. As the founder of AgriTech Capital and former executive at Al...

Why do farmers—some of the most independent people you'll ever meet—continue to build organizations they own together? In this solo episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul explores one of agriculture's oldest and most misunderstood business models: collective enterprises. Inspired by conversations at a recent conference in New Zealand featuring leaders from Fonterra and several of the count...

Artificial intelligence is dominating conversations across every industry—but what does it actually mean for farmers? In this special episode, the tables are turned as Paul joins Sarah Nolet, founder of Tenacious Ventures and host of the AgTech So What podcast, to discuss his journey from first-generation dairy farmer to one of agriculture's leading voices on AI and farm data. Paul shares how...

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, Paul takes a step back from technology and the future to look at one of the most influential agricultural leaders in American history: George Washington. Most people remember Washington as America's first president and the commander of the Continental Army. Few realize that throughout his life, he considered himself first and foremost a fa...

When farmers think about improving performance, they typically focus on genetics, nutrition, reproduction, or ventilation. Lighting rarely makes the list. But what if one of the most overlooked management tools on a farm is also one of the most influential? In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with Pieter Hanssen, Global Head of Dairy & Business Development at HATO Lighting...

Agriculture is surrounded by technology. We have sensors, software, robots, satellites, AI, genetics, automation systems, sustainability platforms, traceability tools, and more data than ever before. Yet across every conference, farm visit, boardroom discussion, and industry conversation, the same challenges continue to surface. In this solo episode, Paul shares observations from dozens of convers...

Most farmers spend their time focused on production. Plant the crop, raise the yield, deliver it to the local elevator, and move on to the next task. But what happens after that may have just as much impact on profitability as anything done in the field. In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with Mike Steenhoek, Executive Director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, for a fasci...

Brazil is already an agricultural powerhouse in crops, beef, and sugarcane. But could dairy be next? In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with Marcelo Pereira de Carvalho, CEO of MilkPoint Ventures and one of the most influential voices in Brazilian dairy. Marcelo shares the story of how he built MilkPoint from a simple dairy website into one of the largest dairy communities in...

The dairy industry has made more genetic progress in the last 15 years than at any other point in history. But most people don’t fully understand what’s actually driving it. In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with Nate Zwald — President of Progenco and former President & COO of ABS Global — for a deep dive into the data infrastructure, genomic revolution, and technologica...