Farming on Purpose

“You don’t have to be on one end of the spectrum or the other. It’s okay to find the middle ground.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Ali Lightfoot of Lightfoot Farmstead in Tennessee to talk about building a direct-to-consumer farm business while balancing full-time jobs, raising kids, and figuring it out one step at a time.  Ali shares how she went from having zero agricul...

“We have to evolve to keep what we have.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Hannah and Ashley Rainville, two sisters from a multi-generational dairy farm in northern Vermont, to talk about what it looks like to face one of the hardest decisions in agriculture—stepping away from the system you were raised in.  Hannah and Ashley share the reality behind their family’s decision...

“Convenience replaced skill, and we stopped noticing what we lost.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Kody Hanner, founder of The Homestead Education, to talk about what happens when life forces you to rethink everything—your food, your health, and the way your family operates.  Kody shares the story of her husband’s end-stage liver disease diagnosis at 33 and the decision th...

“Policies built for emergencies rarely stay temporary.”  In this solo episode of Farming on Purpose, I continue the conversation about resource allocation in agriculture — but this time through the lens of policy, infrastructure, and the decisions that quietly shaped modern farming.  Most farmers today operate within a system that was built long before they ever planted their first crop. Grain ele...

“People really want the agricultural life. They want to learn how to do it right—they just need someone willing to show them.”    In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Frank Baggiolini, asset manager and content creator for Outlaw Ranch Care, to talk about a growing shift in rural America: the rise of first-time landowners and the opportunity agriculture has to welcome them.  Fran...

“Farmers markets are great — but they’re a narrow pipe between farmers and consumers.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Dan Brunner, founder of Market Wagon, to talk about one of the biggest challenges in local food systems: distribution.  Dan comes from a background in software and logistics, but his interest in food systems goes back decades. Long before grocery delivery w...

“Every generation of farmers has asked the same question: What do we do with what we have?”  In this solo episode of Farming on Purpose, I take a deep dive into the history of agriculture — not just as a timeline of events, but as a story of resource allocation.  From subsistence survival to the Homestead expansion, through industrialization, the Green Revolution, the 1980s farm crisis, and into t...

“You don’t know what you don’t know — and that’s what keeps people up at night.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Jace Young, founder and CEO of Legacy Farmer, to talk about the financial side of agriculture that most producers avoid — until they can’t.  Jace grew up on a multi-million-dollar Kansas farm that ultimately went bankrupt. Years later, working in ag banking — inc...

“You’re going to make mistakes — and then you’re going to learn from those mistakes.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Hayley Darnielle, owner of Crooked Creek Farms in Montana, to talk about building a diversified, direct-to-consumer farm business from the ground up.  What started as a simple Facebook page and one milk cow has grown into a full-time operation providing raw...

“You don’t have to have a perfect farm — you just have to open the gate.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Megan Daluge, a fifth-generation Wisconsin dairy farmer and co-founder of Milk’n Mamas, to talk about what diversification really looks like when you’re committed to keeping the dairy — and the family — at the center.  Megan shares how she and her sister navigated famil...

“If you don’t start early enough to make a plan, it never takes care of itself.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Heidi Olson, certified farm succession planner and founder of Pathfinder Legacy Advisor, LLC, to talk about why succession planning is about far more than paperwork—and why waiting too long puts both farm families and farmland at risk.  Heidi brings decades of ex...

“You don’t just clock out of agriculture — it’s a lifestyle.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Olivia Harms — a sixth-generation rancher, country-western artist, and self-employed musician balancing life on the ranch with life on the road.  From growing up on a family ranch dating back to 1872, to performing on national television and major rodeo stages, Olivia shares what i...

“You can’t raise a cow that only has steaks on it — it doesn’t exist.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Nola and Mikaela Schultz, a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law team behind Schultz Country Market, to talk about what it really takes to build a direct-to-consumer meat business inside a multi-generation farm.  We cover the realities of processing, pricing, inventory manage...

Finding your place in agriculture isn’t always simple—or straightforward. In this special mashup episode of Farming on Purpose, we’ve pulled together stories from past guests who share how they discovered (and sometimes redefined) their role on the farm or ranch. From balancing family dynamics and business decisions, to stepping into unexpected responsibilities, to building side ventures that make...

Starting a farm from the ground up isn’t easy—but it’s possible. In this episode, I pulled together stories from beginning farmers who are doing just that. Some bought back family ground. Others started with just a few acres, raising food for their own families and learning as they went. A few had help, and many didn’t. But every single one had to work through doubts, learn from failure, and find...

“You can do anything you set your mind to. I say that all the time—and I say that as a working mom. There’s judgment, exhaustion, and chaos, but I’m building a legacy for my daughter. She doesn’t know any different—this is just life for her, and that’s what makes it worth it.”  — Penny DuSablon  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Cole and Penny DuSablon, the husband-and-wife te...

“If cash is king, cash flow is queen.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Tressie Mitzner, economist with Kansas Farm Management, to talk about the side of ranching and farming that no one gets excited about—but everyone needs to understand: taxes, recordkeeping, and financial strategy.  Tressie shares how she and her husband built their cow-calf operation from the ground up,...

“I don’t want to spend my short years on this earth doing things that are insignificant.” — Andrew Miller In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Andrew Miller, co-founder and CEO of Tulip Valley Farms in Washington’s Skagit Valley. We talk about the realities of building an agritourism-centered farm business, navigating regulations and community pushback, and choosing a meaningful...

“Imperfect planning is still better than no planning. If you don’t talk about it now, the people you love are going to be in a really hard spot.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I sit down with Jessica Groskopf, a Nebraska Extension Economist and fourth-generation farm wife who has spent over a decade helping families navigate some of the toughest conversations in agriculture: estate plann...

  ”A topic we talk about on the podcast or have talked about several times is the stories that we tell ourselves and how much they matter and shape our daily lives.”  In this episode, I share why the Farming on Purpose podcast is shifting for summer and reflect on the stories we tell ourselves in agriculture. Inspired by The Psychology of Money, I explore how tail events—those rare, life-changing...

 ”We're not six year olds anymore. We're not children anymore. We're adult children and we're trying to raise our families too and continue a legacy. So there has to be grace on both sides.”  In this episode of Farming on Purpose, I visit with Paige Dulaney, a ranch wife and mom of three from northeast Colorado. We talk about balancing motherhood and ranching, the real-life challenges of farm tran...

(Insert audio file of the episode (or link to listen on Spotify/Apple Music/etc.)     ”We're trying to create awareness to critical issues and food production that are important to consumers.”  In this episode, I visit with Robby Sansom, CEO of Force of Nature, to explore what regenerative agriculture really means—and why more farmers and ranchers are starting to take a second look. We talk about...

 “  I think the biggest thing is just starting that conversation and thinking about it and like coming up with a plan that works for you and your family, and that's gonna look different for everybody based on how old your kids are, how much you trust your kids.”  When ER nurse and farm wife Katie Hammock started seeing farm injuries too often in the trauma center, she knew more could be done. In t...

” Every little boy wants to be a cowboy when he grows up and so I think that's kind of kinda where it started.”   First-generation rancher Zak Copeland shares how he built a goat grazing and cattle business from the ground up with no family background in ag. From hatching chicks in a basement to running 120 goats for targeted grazing jobs, Zak’s story is all about grit, creative income streams, an...

” Just having the confidence and the know-how that, like if something were to happen like 2020 did we'd be good for a while. And I want other people to feel that way too.”   Homesteader and homeschooling mom Emmaline Newton shares how her family transformed three wooded acres into a thriving homestead. From raising their own meat to growing a garden that feeds six, Emmaline dives into what it real...