Growing the Future

Ever wondered about where our guests are now?! On this episode Dan caught up with none other than Andy Caygeon Junkin, also known as Stubborn Farmer!  In the early days, Andy discovered a profound truth—that every cowboy carries a tale of sorrow. While burning the midnight oil in college, he realized that farming isn't just a right but a privilege. The struggle to preserve the family farm, salvage...

From skeptical beginnings to recognizing the power of technical analysis, Trent Klarenbach, Grain Market Analyst with Klarenbach Research, shares the highs and lows of his journey in trading and investing. 💼📈 Learn how Trent bridged the gap in grain marketing for farmers with the Klarenbach Report covering equities, cryptocurrencies, and more! He has been on a rollercoaster of constant learning...

Harry's journey is like a rollercoaster of creativity and curiosity! 🎢  From his early days as a vinyl-spinning DJ to his unexpected detour into app development, it was clear that Harry had the entrepreneurial itch.  But it was when he stumbled upon the fascinating world of podcasting and vertical farming that things got serious!  Vertical farming – yes, you heard that right! Picture crops reachi...

Step into a world where farming meets sci-fi – welcome to the realm of Digital Ag! It’s like having your own farm robots– intelligent technologies working their magic before, during, and after farm production.  Buckle up, because in this episode Dan and Jacqueline Keena, Managing Director of EMILI, are taking you to Innovation Farm, where the newest startups test their latest tech.  It's not just...

In a world where the landscape of agriculture is ever-evolving, the responsibility of cultivating the next generation of ag leaders falls on our shoulders.  Are our classrooms adequately equipped with agricultural knowledge?  It's startling how even in close-knit ag communities, the education on farming practices seems insufficient. But what if we fail to nurture the youth today? Will they know th...

Picture this.....  The 2024 Crop Olympics commence with a vibrant and lively opening ceremony, celebrating the rich diversity of crops from various regions around the world.  Each country's team enters the stadium with their unique crops, displaying colorful and bountiful harvests.  It wasn't easy to make it this far!  That's where people like Jarrett Chambers, President of ATP come in. Starting w...

Andy Junkin grew up on a farm outside Bobcaygeon, Ontario. Seven generations. His father's farm. He came home from Guelph ready to work it. His dad plowed down his first crop because his uncle said it looked better. That was the beginning. What followed was a decade of trying to save his parents' marriage while figuring out whether he even had a right to farm. He eventually sat on a barn beam, in...

If you grew up in a small rural community you know that it can be isolating at times…   You spend hours on the farm, prioritizing everything else before yourself.   As the days become shorter and darker, it's easy to feel your mind wandering and you start to get that heavy feeling.   Although you acknowledge that you should be grateful for having food and shelter, you still feel a sense of darknes...

The rat sweats….  Every agricultural entrepreneur has had them! You wake up in the middle of the night panicked on how you’re going to make payroll.  Trevor Thiessen, President of Redekop Manufacturing shares how he beat the rat sweats and set big goals and achieved them for the future of the company.  If theres one thing for certain, Trevor has carried the old school ag virtue and rolled those va...

Rituals…    We all have them when it comes to our operations!    You need to spray xyz fungicide every year at this date….    As far as you know, bull 321 is the best among the herd in the pen.   What if we introduced new technologies and broke free from our usual routines?   By using genomics you can help ensure success for your farm in the future.   This where Heather, Vice President of Operatio...

When you think Saskatchewan what comes to mind?  Is it the land of the living skies?  The beauty in the fields?  The incredible people?  There’s no denying there’s something special in the air when you enter the province.  Michael Muscoby is no exception, a true representation of Saskatchewan Spirit!  Through trails and tribulations his family has always adapted to the ever changing landscape.  Hi...

Show jumping can teach a person plenty about venture capital. In show jumping (VC Agtech) , where horses (startups) are racing (solving farmers problems ) against a clock where time (money) is running out to navigate many challenging obstacles (regulatory hurdles, finding customers, and developing a sustainable business model) , the horse (founder) has a personality of their own; the team must get...

DOWNTIME -- The ROI Killer Matt Yanick knows what an hour of downtime costs on a working farm. Not the parts. Not the labor. The window that does not come back. This episode covers the one metric most operations track poorly and most operators underestimate. Equipment management is not a maintenance question. It is a margin question.   What's Inside - How to calculate the true cost of downtime on...

From the frontlines of Ukraine to Canadian Ag!   Yevgen’s journey has lead him all around the world before finally reaching Canada - a place he now calls home.   Through determination, perseverance and a no fear mentality Yevgen has built a very successful career in agriculture.   Currently he teaches at Olds College and works with the DOT Autonomous Farming Platform.   He has taken his passion of...

If you are involved in the ag industry in Western Canada, you've more than likely read this man's work in the Grainews, The Western Producer, or maybe even the Financial Post.  Have you ever thought about the writer behind the article?  Toban Dyck grew up on a farm but started out his career ambitions with the written word as his craft.  This lead him to become an award winning writer for many dif...

Agronomy and basketball coaches have more in common than you may think....   A coach is to help an individual or their team grow.   It's not always encouragement.....   Sometimes it's being kind of strict, pushing them, knowing what their boundaries are, what they can, what they can't do, and what they're not ready to do.   The perfect example of that would be when you introduce producers into var...

Fertilizer pricing does not move like a normal commodity. It swings on geopolitics, supply shocks, and timing windows that punish anyone who waits too long or buys too early. Josh Linville has spent his career inside that volatility, reading the signals most producers never see. This episode breaks down why fertilizer markets behave the way they do, and what that means for when you buy.   What's I...

Soil is the foundation of our food system, and yet most people know very little about it…..   The soil is a complex ecosystem with countless interactions taking place between different elements.   In order to produce healthy crops, producers must manage these interactions carefully.   This is where Greg Patterson comes in.   Greg is a wealth of knowledge on soil fertility and health, and he has sp...

Growth isn’t always easy…..   Taking the leap from doing what you know, to doing something your passionate about can be scary   Chris Jones is the definition of entrepreneurship, he always took the leap       In the blink of an eye he left his education to pursue entrepreneurship and invent his first product   He quickly became known as the man of sporting goods after inventing a football receiver...

Franck Groeneweg is truly an international agricultural adventurer!    From the fields of France …   … to Iowa,   … to Saskatchewan,   … to Haiti,   … and now to Montana,   … this man has traveled the globe to pursue his passions.   Franck has supplied distributed farm equipment internationally across 32 states to Europe and back.    Franck has represented Canada internationally as an Envoy, learn...

A farmer is an incredibly hardworking and determined individual. A coach is a motivating source of inspiration who pushes you to your full potential no matter the pain or obstacle. Farmer Coach is an executive agriculture training program that brings primary producer entrepreneurs together into a group setting to learn and share collaboratively on topics and behavior that drive agriculture forward...

Elaine Froese has spent decades working with farm families across Canada on one problem that the business literature almost never addresses: the succession conversation that everyone knows needs to happen and almost no one starts. The fields, the equipment, the operating loan -- farms handle those. What they struggle with is the conversation about who is getting what, when, and why. Elaine calls h...

In a world where founders of agtech companies are the superheroes of the story…. Sean O’Conner and Kyle Scott of Emmertech are the self described “Alfreds'” of the Canadian Ag Tech world. Kyle Scott is the Managing Director at Conexus Venture Capital and Emmertech. Sean O’Conner is the head of Conexus Venture Capital who runs the VC fund on behalf of Conexus and Emmertech. This $60 million dollar...

Korey Peters built Farmerizer around a straightforward observation: most farmers are operating with production systems that are sophisticated and marketing systems that are not. The gap between those two things is money left on the table. This episode covers what farm marketing actually looks like when it is done intentionally -- not just waiting for a bid and accepting the best one, but building...

Take a deep breath ... Nitrogen gas makes up almost 80 percent of the atmosphere. We breathe it in and out all day long, but in this state it is useless to the plants we grow to feed the world. Above our heads is a vast vault of unusable nitrogen; under our feet, a limited amount of fixed nitrogen. Synthesis of this unusable nitrogen into fertilizer through the Haber-Bosch process has fuelled the...