Straight Talk with NDFB

In today's episode, host Alisha Nord travels solo to Pembina County, North Dakota. Alisha rides along with Nathan Green in the sugar beet harvester. Nathan visits about how sugarbeet production works, where it gets harvested, and whether this year's harvest is a boom or a bust.  To contact the hosts, email emmery@ndfb.org

In this episode, our hosts Emmery and Alisha head to the field to visit with Emmery's family about soybean harvest. Dwight Grotberg (Emmery's dad) talks about how the soybean crop looks, market challenges, and why their family hired custom harvesters. Billy Kelly, Demeray Custom Harvesting, also joins the show. He shares about combining his way from Arizona to North Dakota and how the so...

Join hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord as they begin a new season of Straight Talk with NDFB, “Harvesting with NDFB.” We are visiting with farmers across North Dakota as they bring in the harvest.  In the first episode, our hosts visit with Kristie Sundeen from Brocket, N.D. Kristie and her husband harvest canola on their farm. Kristie visits with us about raising canola, the challenges that c...

In today’s episode, cohosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord round out season 7 of Straight Talk with NDFB, reflecting on the season, and discussing plans they have for summer 2024.  We discuss: How to prioritize the important things in life  Letting things go that no longer serve  The importance of showing up  How discipline can set you free  Our hosts will be taking a break from podcasting for th...

NDFB Straight Talk hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord travel to Wimbledon, N.D., to visit with Matt and Bethany Peterson, owners of Aligned Ag. Aligned Ag offers precision ag services, crop protection, soil sampling services and sells Pioneer seed to the Wimbledon and surrounding areas.  Matt and Bethany are active in NDFB and serve on NDFB’s Young Farmers and Ranchers committee. The Peterson’s...

NDFB Straight Talk hosts Emmery and Alisha visit with Jeff Schafer, a farmer and rancher near New Rockford, N.D. Jeff is a 5th generation farmer who currently works with his children (6th generation) and grandchildren (7th generation!) on the family farm. Three county Farm Bureaus teamed up to bring Jolene Brown, a farmer and award-winning speaker, to Fessenden, N.D. to talk about succession plann...

Calving, planting, and harvesting are the lifeblood of the farm and ranch. The new beginnings of spring calves and seeds and the completion of harvest in the fall are the things we as farmers and ranchers live for. But what happens when these busy seasons start to pile up and you go from excited to a little bit more… stressed? In today’s episode, hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Dr...

Hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Jolene Brown, a walking, talking spokesperson and champion for the people of agriculture. Jolene is a farmer in eastern Iowa, contributor to Successful Farming magazine’s popular family business column, author of two great books, and an inductee into the prestigious CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame. In this episode, your hosts discuss ideas from her upcomi...

In this episode, Straight Talk with NDFB hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Randy Martinson, founder of Martinson Ag Risk Management. Martinson Ag offers a variety of crop marketing and crop insurance packages to its customers. Randy grew up on a family grain and livestock farm near Milnor, N.D., where he farmed for ten years. Randy is well-known for introducing complex marketing str...

Our Straight Talk hosts, Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord, were live and in person at NDFB’s 2024 Young Farmers and Ranchers conference., February 2-3 and spoke with Dahltin Pahl. Dahltin is a farmer from Ellendale and active NDFB member, who joined our hosts to talk about his experience with NDFB. Dahltin is an ag lender for Ag Country and has been involved with NDFB for several years. He has serv...

In today's episode, we answer the question “What are you going to do today so your great-grandkids can farm someday?”  Hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Andy Junkin about his business “Stubborn Farm.” Andy is originally from Bobcaygeon, Ontario, but now lives in eastern Iowa with his wife and four kids. Andy helps stubborn farmers work better together.  Join us as we talk about...

Merry Christmas to all from Straight Talk with NDFB! In this episode, hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Courtney Lesmeister, part-owner of Wayne-N-Jean's Evergreens.  Courtney Lesmeister, friend of Alisha, married into a family owned and operated Christmas tree farm when she married Lloyd Lesmeister, son of Wayne and Jean, owners of Wayne-N-Jeans Evergreens. Courtney now works...

In this episode, Straight Talk hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Nic de Castro, founder and CEO of LandTrust.  Nic grew up hunting and exploring the outdoors. After several years in the corporate world across the United States, Nic found himself in Bozeman, Mont., with a passion to begin his own company founded on his love of the outdoors. Enter LandTrust. LandTrust is an online pla...

Hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Chelsey Erdmann, a 6th generation farmer and social media influencer. She also serves on NDFB's Promotion and Education Committee . Chelsey lives with her husband Kyle in Fessenden, N.D., and farms with her brother, parents and three children on the family farm.  Chelsey is a North Dakota native and has an Ag Economics degree from NDSU. She ori...

In this episode of Straight Talk with NDFB, our hosts visit Billy Kelly from Killarney, Ireland. Billy comes to the United States every year to work for Demeray Harvesting and Trucking (DHT)  as a crew chief. Billy begins harvest in Arizona and works his way north, finishing in North Dakota before driving back to Arizona to fly home to Ireland.  Emmery and her family have worked with DHT and Billy...

In this episode of Straight Talk with NDFB, hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Dr. Ruchi Bhardwaj, Grower and Education Program Manager for Grand Farm. Ruchi was born and raised in New Delhi, India and moved to Fargo in 2009 to attend NDSU, where she met our co-host, Alisha Nord. Ruchi has a Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate – all from NDSU. She joined the staff of Emerging Prairie...

In this episode of Straight Talk with NDFB, hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord visit with Doug Ferguson who owns a stocker/backgrounding operation in SE Nebraska and is the author of Doug's Market Intel. Doug teaches a cattle marketing school focused on helping people become Master Marketers in the cattle industry.  In this episode we talk about:  An overview of Sell/Buy Marketing  How to...

Straight Talk with NDFB hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord talk to Matt Retka about ND Ag Wetland Trade , a program to give farmers an opportunity to buy and sell wetlands.  Matt  works for Stantec , the engineering firm contracted to facilitate the development and establishment of bank sites and work with landowners through every step of the process. In this episode, learn:  How ND Ag Wetland...

In the first episode of Season 7 of Straight Talk with NDFB, hosts Emmery Mehlhoff and Alisha Nord-Donelly get down to the nitty-gritty of marketing with Progressive Ag’s owner and founder, Ray Grabanski. Ray has several degrees in economics and law and is a recognized industry leader in risk management methods.  Progressive Ag pursues excellence in farm risk management specializing in wheat, corn...

In this promo episode for Season 7, Emmery introduces her new cohost, Alisha Nord-Donnelly. Learn more about Alisha, in her own words, and find out how the communications landscape has changed for NDFB from a long-time employee, Dawn Smith-Pfeifer, who has been with the organization since before the internet. Your also cohosts provide food for thought on the good, the bad and the ugly side of tech...

In the final episode of NDFB's Straight Talk legislative season, your host, Emmery Mehlhoff visits with N.D. Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. The 68th Legislative Assembly was a success for agriculture in North Dakota. Landmark changes to the "corporate" farming structure in North Dakota will help expand animal agriculture and create partnerships that were unavailable before....

North Dakota's 68th Legislative Assembly finished its work in late April. Overall, the session was very positive for agriculture in North Dakota. Your host, Emmery Mehlhoff visits with NDFB's lobbyists, Pete Hanebutt and Meghan Estenson, about the significant wins and some disappointing losses during the session. NDFB went into the session with a mission to move animal agriculture forwar...

We might think the state of North Dakota spends way too much money, but there are leaders in the appropriations committee who are fiscally responsible and are looking for ways to give money back to the taxpayers of the state. In this episode of Straight Talk, your host, Emmery Mehlhoff visits with the chairman of House Appropriations, Rep. Don Vigesaa, who has also been a strong friend of NDFB for...

Our polarized society makes assumptions that the people serving in our Legislature only want to win instead of doing the right thing. Learn why that's not true from two North Dakota legislators. As the 68th Legislative Assembly draws to a close, your host, Emmery Mehlhoff, takes an opportunity to interview two freshman legislators and their thoughts going into the session and what they learne...

In recent years, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards have become increasingly popular in the investment world. While these were supposed to encourage investments in companies that prioritize environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and good governance practices, as with anything, when you impose specific standards on society some necessary segments suffer. Agriculture...