KFMA Podcast

Dr. Elaine Johannes is the Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Professor in Community Health for KSRE and is a state Extension Specialist. We sat down to talk about mental health in agriculture and rural communities. While it's just the tip of the iceberg, we discussed issues and concerns regarding stress and mental wellness for agricultural producers and their families, as well as opportunitie...

You have most likely heard people promoting the idea of deducting excess/residual fertilizer when buying farm ground. So, what does it mean? Is there a deduction available? If so, what documentation do you need? We invited Kristine Tidgren, Director for the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, to discuss and help us understand this popular topic.  Resources: https://www.calt.iastate.edu/blogp...

The 2018 Farm Bill was extended in December of 2024. With the deadline to sign up for ARC/PLC approaching in April, we sat down with Robin Reid to discuss the programs and what to consider when making program decisions. Also included in the bill were ad hoc payments, currently being referred to as Economic Assistance Payments, for farmers. We discussed some details related to these payments and ho...

The 2024 Kansas Land Values Book was released in December. We sat down with Robin Reid to discuss trends across the state, how the farm economy is affecting land values, and her predictions for the coming year.  Resources: 2024 Kansas Land Values Book: https://agmanager.info/land-leasing/land-buying-valuing/kansas-land-values-book-2024  

The 2025 Women Managing the Farm Conference is just around the corner! Lori Rogge and LaVell Winsor, co-chairs of the conference committee, joined me for this episode of the podcast. We discussed how Women Managing the Farm originated, what people can look forward to at this year's conference, and so much more. 

The KSU ag econ department offers an online course called Finances and The Farm. This is a self-paced course to help enhance farm management skills. We sat down with the instructors, Robin Reid and LaVell Winsor, to talk about what this class offers and why it is valuable to producers of all sizes and levels of experience. Resources: https://agmanager.info/events/finances-and-farm-online-class

In 2024, several KFMA producers filled out a survey regarding utilization of various conservation practices. The data from this survey has been used for research by Dr. Jenny Ifft and graduate student Delide Joseph to evaluate how conservation practices relate to farm profitibaility. They joined us for this episode of the KFMA podcast to discuss their preliminary findings as well as ideas for futu...

Dr. Jenny Ifft joins us to discuss high coverage crop insurance options available to producers, specifically SCO (Supplemental Coverage Option) and ECO (Enhanced Coverage Option). These are growing in popularity and may become more of a necessity as farmers navigate low margins with the farm economy downturn.  Resources:  SCO and ECO Payment Calculator: https://agmanager.info/crop-insurance/crop-i...

A topic that applies to everyone: social security! We receive numerous questions about social security benefits. For this episode, we sat down with David Seymour. David is a Senior Public Affairs Specialist with the Social Security Administration, serving the Kansas City region. He covered many topics, including full retirement age, the earnings limit, disability and survivors' benefits, and much...

As the dealine for PRF (Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Insurance) is approaching, we thought it would be a good time to sit down with Dr. Jenny Ifft to discuss various forage insurance options for producers. In looking at forage risk management, producers continue to have more options available to insure against loss on their forage crops. Some have been around for years and are growing in popular...

This is a topic we like to cover each year, especially as we are heading into the winter. Tax planning is extremely important for farm businesses because of the potential income volatility from year to year. In this episode, we discuss multiple tools farmers can use to manage their taxable income. 

Susie Latta, Marshall County Extension Agent, joins us to talk about all things Medicare! She has a focus in financial management and spends significant time counseling individuals on signing up for Medicare. In this episode we talk about the SHICK (Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas) program and some Medicare basics in general.  https://www.ssa.gov/medicare https://www.kdads.ks.gov/ser...

What does a farmer take into account when purchasing equipment? What important factors should they consider? How do equipment purchasing decisions affect profitability? We discuss all of this with Dr. Brady Brewer, Associate Professor in the Ag Economics department at K-State, in this episode of the KFMA podcast. This episode is centered around a recent presentation Dr. Brewer provided at the annu...

We receive several questions about options to save for retirement, and some times about options to contribute to retirement for employees. For this episode, Alice Tunks-Jones, Financial Advisor with Edward Jones, joins us to answer some of those questions. We discussed 5 specific types of retirement accounts, contribution limits and deadlines, and how they pertain to individuals and employers. 

Every year, KFMA publishes an executive summary to showcase certain pieces of data for KFMA farms from the prior production year. KFMA Executive Director, Mark Dikeman, and Associate Director, Kellen Liebsch, joined us to share about the 2023 KFMA executive summary. You can find the summary publication at the below link:  https://agmanager.info/kfma/whole-farm-analysis/kfma-executive-summary/2023-...

Depreciation is one of the topics on which we receive several questions each year. There are a lot of rules regarding depreciation for tax purposes, but it's also one of the most valuable tax planning tools farmers have available. In this episode, we discuss the basics of depreciation, different rules to be aware of, and how it can be an effective tool for farmers and ranchers. 

We hear a lot about cash accounting and accrual accounting, but it can be challenging to know the difference between the two and how they are both used. Kellen Liebsch, Associate Director for KFMA, sits down to talk about the two accounting methods, how they can be utilized, and the pros and cons of each method.

The 20th annual Women Managing the Farm Conference is almost here! We sat down with the committee co-chairs, Sandra Wick and Lori Rogge, to discuss the upcoming conference. We also discussed the history of Women Managing the Farm, the overall goal and vision of the conference, and what to look forward to in the future.  Conference Website: http://womenmanagingthefarm.com/ AgManager: https://agmana...

Dr. Brian Briggeman joined us to discuss farmer cooperatives across the state of Kansas. Dr. Briggeman is a professor and the Director of the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center at K-State. We discussed the history and the current state of co-ops in Kansas. Dr. Briggeman also filled us in on all the services provided for co-ops through the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center. 

We sat down with Bob Kohman to discuss a recent KFMA study over machinery and repair costs. Bob and Chelsea conducted this study over the summer with the primary goal of observing the relationship between machinery investment and repair costs on KFMA farms. The data and observations were presented at the annual Risk & Profit Conference at K-State in August. 

In this episode, we are joined by Kay Prather, the program coordinator for the Kansas Agricultural Mediation Services (KAMS). Kay shares with us the background, purpose, and mission of KAMS. Resources: KAMS Website: https://www.k-state.edu/kams/about/ KAMS Toll Free Hotline: 1-800-321-3276 Kansas Ag Stress: https://www.kansasagstress.org/  

Robin Reid joins us back on the KFMA podcast to discuss trends in Kansas ag land values. We also took time to talk about her latest research on agricultural land ownership in Kansas. Make sure to follow the links below for resources discussed in the podcast. 2022 Land Values Book: https://www.agmanager.info/land-leasing/land-buying-valuing/kansas-land-values-book-2022 Analysis of Agricultural Land...

Dr. Jenny Ifft joins us again on the KFMA podcast to discuss a new research project. This study looks at agricultrual land turnover in the state of Kansas. During this episode, Dr. Ifft discusses the current findings and preliminary observations. 

Dr. Jennifer Ifft, associate professor and Flinchbaugh Agricultural Policy Chair at K-State, joins us to discuss insurance and FSA program options for livestock producers.  More on Dr. Ifft: https://www.agmanager.info/contributors/ifft  

Dr. Brian Briggeman, professor in the Agricultural Economics Department at K-State and Director of the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center, joins us again to provide a macroeconomic update. We discussed trends with interest rates and inflation through 2023, potential for a recession, the state of the labor market, and how all of this relates back to agriculture.