Patio Ponderings

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, recorded on the road in Des Moines after the first day of the Iowa Pork Congress, I share an observation that kept coming up in conversations across the trade show floor. I didn’t hear much discussion about hog margins or markets — even with profitability where it is today. Instead, I kept hearing the same questions: Where are t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jim talks with Aaron Kuhn , Regional Manager with Poet Biorefining in Portland, Indiana , about market realities facing farmers as they head into the 2026 crop year. Coming off a sharp USDA report and entering the spring crop insurance pricing window, corn marketing decisions are getting tight — especially in the Eastern Corn Belt. Aaron breaks down what he’s seei...

Send us Fan Mail Join Jim at the Fort Wayne Farm Show for an energizing conversation with Mary Marsh Heigele from New Ag Supply in North Central Kansas. Mary brings a unique perspective on agriculture, having grown up in California's almond country and now farming wheat, corn, and cattle in Kansas with her husband Hayden. In this episode, we explore: How New Ag Supply ships replacement plante...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is my raw take from the Fort Wayne Farm Show. I intended to record more interviews, but the show floor was packed — so instead, I’m sharing what I saw, heard, and felt over three days. We talk about the WASDE bombshell that set the tone for the week, how farmers are thinking about tightening belts in 2025, what suppliers are saying (and not saying), and whether biolog...

Send us Fan Mail This solo episode starts with a memory from 1978 on the tailgate of my grandfather’s Ford pickup and ends with the blunt reality of 2025 farm bookkeeping and modern USDA market reports. What connects those pieces is uncomfortable: farming profitability has always been fragile. My grandparents scraped through the Depression with $12.34 a month in recorded farm income. My grandfathe...

Send us Fan Mail This solo episode starts with the simple act of closing out farm books and ends with a phone call that hits much deeper. A young professional in agriculture reached out after losing his job and facing a major crossroads: pursue an accelerated doctorate program out of town or stay close to home and fight for a place in an uncertain ag job market. It was a conversation about choices...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast , Jim Smith is joined by Justin Fix, Ph. D. , a swine geneticist with AcuFast , joining the conversation from Muscatine, Iowa. This is a wide-ranging discussion about how agricultural roots shape perspective as careers evolve — especially in an industry that has shifted from family-run operations to large, integrated systems. Justin s...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast , I sit down with Jay Setchell for a wide-ranging conversation shaped by farm life, service, perseverance, and the quiet grit required to keep moving forward when life gets hard. Jay grew up on a working farm where responsibility came early and lessons were learned through doing. From dangerous chores around silos and augers to long d...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast , I sit down with longtime friend, mentor, and Iowa farmer Roy Bardole for a wide-ranging conversation about conservation farming , soil health , faith, and stewardship. Roy grew up farming in Iowa’s prairie pothole region, shaped by parents and grandparents who lived through the Great Depression, drought, loss, and relentless hard wo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, I sit down with longtime friend and FarmHouse brother Jim Bishop for a conversation that took a different turn than originally planned — and ended up right where it needed to go. Instead of focusing heavily on farm stories, Jim and I explore leadership, identity, burnout, and the human side of work. Drawing from Jim’s experience in e...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, Jim sits down with longtime friend, fellow FarmHouse brother, and ag-industry leader Mark Voors for a conversation that blends leadership, personal growth, faith, and the deep internal work that shapes a meaningful career. Mark’s path has taken him from FFA State Officer, to roles with John Deere, Monsanto, Cargill, and ultimately to...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Patio Pondering , Jim sits down with longtime friend, FarmHouse fraternity brother, and Purdue Dairy Judging Coach Brian Engleking to explore a life shaped by dairy cattle, youth leadership, and an unexpected medical crisis that forced him to rebuild from the ground up. Brian shares his journey from growing up on a small Indiana dairy farm to becoming a Holstein...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast , host Jim Smith reflects on one year of living alcohol-free — not from rock bottom or rehab, but from a quiet decision to reclaim clarity, creativity, and control. Jim shares the real story behind his turning point — the morning-after moment that made him realize alcohol had become more ritual than reward. From there, he talks a...

Send us Fan Mail Chloe Buchanan grew up in Leo, Indiana, found her footing in 4-H, and now manages a Great Lakes team at Trans Ova Genetics as a professional services embryologist —doing on-farm IVF collections , embryo transfer (fresh & frozen), and supporting cattle and small-ruminant programs. We talk about what an embryologist actually does, the difference between lab IVF roles and field P...

Send us Fan Mail Former Market to Market host and Ag News Daily co-founder Delaney Howell shares why her motto is “Progress Over Perfection.” From farming in Tama County to running a boutique marketing agency and launching her new initiative She Creates Rural , Delaney reveals how to start before you’re ready, build momentum, and trust yourself in business. We cover: Progress Over Perfection : why...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode of Patio Pondering Podcast , Jim reflects on the art of interviewing after listening to Patrick Bet-David’s podcast conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The experience sparked a key question for every podcast host: who’s really the star of an interview — the host or the guest? Drawing on stories from his own podcasting journey, Jim shar...

Send us Fan Mail  Farmers often say, “My land is my retirement plan.” But what happens when that plan never gets cashed in? In this solo Patio Pondering episode, Jim Smith, Ph. D. dives into the hard realities of retirement planning in agriculture. From the trap of buying equipment at year’s end to minimize taxes, to the risks of relying on farmland as a “retirement plan” that never gets sold, Jim...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode, Jim shares his perspective on the Pro Farmer Crop Tour , crop yield estimates, and how farmers can cut through the “black box” of USDA reports. Drawing on his 2020 scout experience, he recounts fields that ranged from 300-bushel corn in Illinois to derecho-flattened zeros in Iowa—showing the extremes of U.S. agriculture. Along the way, Jim addresses common cr...

Send us Fan Mail  Every business has a “70%” — the single biggest cost or effort that quietly drives success or failure. In pig production, that 70% is feed. It’s not flashy, it’s not exciting, but it makes or breaks profitability. In this solo episode, Jim Smith shares why focusing on the fundamentals often delivers bigger results than chasing the newest, shiniest ideas. Drawing on decades of swi...

Send us Fan Mail For our 50th episode, we’re not pulling any punches. Jim sits down with Jerod McDaniel , a farmer, cattleman, and unapologetic contrarian from Texhoma, Oklahoma , who’s made a name for himself by doing what most in agriculture won’t: calling out the broken systems, the lazy thinking, and the comfortable lies. Jerod took over his family’s operation at 18 and has spent the last thre...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode of Patio Pondering , Jim reflects on a moment at the Indiana State Fair that left him unsettled when he witnessed something wrong and didn’t speak up. What started as an uncomfortable memory became a deeper reckoning with silence, regret, and the choices we make in real time. This isn’t just a story about livestock or county fairs. It’s about leadership, respo...

Send us Fan Mail You know him as the voice of AgriTalk , delivering market insights with clarity and conviction. But in this episode, Chip Flory sits on the other side of the microphone to share the personal journey that shaped his life in agriculture media. This is not a conversation about markets or grain reports . Instead, we dig into Chip’s rural Iowa upbringing, the influence of his mother’s...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode of Patio Ponderings Podcast , host Jim Smith, Ph. D.—farmer, swine nutritionist, and ag communicator—reflects on the evolving face of modern agriculture. Over the past few weeks, Jim watched hay and wheat straw harvests unfold across northeast Indiana. What once was a one-person job has become a fast-moving operation involving truckers, baler operators, skid l...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Patio Pondering , I sit down with longtime Ag Twitter friend and powerhouse Corteva territory manager Emily Flory Carolan . From cold calls in cornfields to designing homes during a sabbatical from ag, Emily’s path has been anything but linear. We dig deep into: Her ag roots and how a childhood moment in a grain truck shaped her early view of the industry Lesson...

Send us Fan Mail What do show pigs and school bands have in common? According to Colby Stackhouse , a whole lot more than you'd expect. In this episode of Patio Pondering , I talk with Colby—band director at Leo Junior/Senior High School —about his unlikely journey from barn boots to baton. Raised on a working farm and seasoned through years in 4-H livestock programs , Colby learned early how...