Beyond The Bushels

Third-generation farmer Mitch Konen works just east of the Rocky Mountains near Fairfield, Montana—about 35 miles northwest of Great Falls. On 1,100 irrigated acres and 500 dryland, he raises malt barley and wheat on the century-old Greenfield Irrigation Project. Mitch also serves as president of the National Barley Growers Association, representing producers across the U.S. and advocating for fai...

Fourth-generation dairyman Kyle Woodkowski runs the last dairy farm in the town of Boston, just south of Buffalo, New York. At 31, he’s carved his own path—starting from scratch in his early 20s, renting barns, and slowly growing a herd through grit, debt, and late nights. Today, he’s preparing to move his 55 milking Jerseys into a brand-new freestall barn on land owned with his family—built after...

Fresh out of Southern Illinois University, 22-year-old Zach Kampwerth has traded college papers for feed buckets. Now farming alongside his dad and grandfather near Carlyle, Illinois, Zach balances 50 acres of his own row crops with the family’s 125-sow farrow-to-finish hog operation. It’s a full-time return to the fourth-generation farm where he grew up—and his first harvest as a full-time produc...

Doug’s farming story started in the veal barn—long before he had the acres or the equipment to call himself a grain farmer. What began with milk-fed calves in a specialized building grew into a 5,000-acre grain operation, a rebuilt bin site after a 2012 derecho, and a transition plan that now includes his son, grandkids, and two full-time employees. In this episode, Doug shares the labor-intensive...

For Kent and Melissa Williams, farming was never handed down in neat rows—it was built acre by acre, loan by loan, and long night by long night. From a small grain farm on the Indiana side of the Wabash to running combines across the line in Illinois, their story is about grit, faith, and refusing to quit when the odds (and the interest payments) stacked high. In this episode, Kent shares the leap...

Tracey Clifford didn’t plan on coming back to the farm—until life changed her course. A third-generation farmer from northeast Indiana, Tracey spent years with FSA (county office to state leadership) before returning home in 2021 after a tragic accident. What followed was a humbling, hope-filled rebuild: learning her lane alongside her dad, trusting a tight-knit crew, and discovering that surrende...

For Ethan Carothers, farming is equal parts grit, faith, and forward motion. A fourth-generation farmer from northwest Ohio, Ethan came home from Ohio State in 2016, launched a custom spraying business with a HAGIE high-boy, and built a life where family and farming intersect every single day. In this episode, Ethan shares how spraying acres for neighbors and the local co-op gave him the cash flow...

Josh Carlson didn’t just come back to the farm—he carved out his place before graduation. From renting 10 acres at 14 to hauling pigs and hustling through Iowa State, Josh’s story is grit, faith, and family-first farming in small-town Iowa. In this episode, Josh talks about the early days alongside his brother Ben, the quiet sacrifices his dad made to give them a head start, and what it’s like to...

Quint Pottinger didn’t plan on returning to the farm. He was headed for med school when one phone call from his grandmother changed everything. What started as 80 acres has grown into a multi-thousand-acre operation in the heart of Kentucky bourbon country. From bagging deer corn in his shop to supplying distilleries with clean grain by the tote, Quint shares how early failures (like 2,000 tomato...

In the very first episode of Beyond the Bushels, Mitchell sits down with Laura Ehnle, a third-generation farmer from central Illinois who’s carrying her family’s legacy into a new era of agriculture. From family cabins in Minnesota to tornadoes on the home farm, Laura shares what it means to raise kids and grandkids around a combine, why old tractors still matter, and how she found her voice in bo...