The Business of Agriculture Podcast

Rob Saik joins me to discuss technology that will allow farmers and Ag professionals to seek and share information. Rob is the founder of AgVisorPro, an app bringing together those who need answers with those possessing expertise. Knowledgeable experts load up their profile and make themselves available for consultation. Those seeking a solution from an experienced person find said person online....

The media sells advertising by perpetuating fear. One fear story that's resonating in the coronavirus era is that there may be food shortages — particularly in the produce aisle, due to labor shortages. Steve Scaroni with Fresh Harvest, Inc. joins me to give the straight scoop about produce and labor shortages. His company is the nation's largest H2A labor user. He explains to us the unique challe...

Agriculture is the basis of our prosperous nation but to have a thriving Agriculture you need inputs. Amid the global pandemic and disruption to the world economy and trade, will we have adequate supplies to keep on producing? Joanie Grimes with Premium Agricultural Commodities, Inc. (PACI) joins me to discuss supply issues and the future of Ag. PACI is an Ohio-based buying cooperative that acts a...

The federal government just passed a $2 trillion relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 23.5 billion of those dollars are specifically oriented to production Agriculture with another $359 billion devoted to small business loans. What does this mean for you and the business of Ag? Jim Wiesemeyer, Washington DC policy analyst for Pro Farmer joins me to share insights and information...

Amidst all the runs on groceries and panic buying of food there is a lesson for society: American Agriculture produces abundant food and it's among the safest food supply on Earth. The American livestock production and processing system faces disease threats every day and does an amazing job of fending off those threats. That's why the coronavirus crisis isn't made worse by an accompanying shortag...

As consumers hoard toilet paper and hand sanitizer in response to coronavirus, it appears there is more panic than pandemic. Luckily for American shoppers, the grocery shelves are still stocked even as consumers load up on copious amounts of canned goods. While the Covid19 virus presents many challenges for the global economy, it also presents an opportunity for Agriculture — we're not taking time...

Damian Mason responds to plant-based meat's claims of: "better for you" eating, "better for the environment," and livestock production and meat eating as "a prehistoric industry."

What do SARS, H1N1, the Influenza epidemic of 1917-18, and Coronavirus have in common? If you guessed, "They're all viruses that originated in China," you'd be right. But that's not all. China also has given the world the latest outbreak of African Swine Fever — which threatens the global hog herd and pork supply — and the Emerald Ash Borer, which by some estimates has had an economic impact in ex...

Delaney Howell is an Ag broadcaster and communicator. She joins us to discuss Agricultural communication and how we can do it better. We also talk about the reality of "us versus them" mentality in our industry, and the reality of infighting between and within commodity groups. Delaney and I admit we sometimes point out what Ag gets wrong as an industry, so we take time to highlight a few of the a...

Video surfaced recently showing presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg making statements that created a firestorm among the people of Agriculture. Like everyone in the world's most important industry, I found Bloomberg's statements to be Agriculturally ignorant. But unlike some in Ag, I didn't respond emotionally. Rather, I thought we should take this as a moment to demonstrate the role Agricult...

I push the need to constantly ReInvent to remain relevant in a constantly evolving marketplace. Ag retail is just such a marketplace. With consolidation at the manufacturing and retail level combined with a decreasing farmer base, retailing Agricultural products is a real challenge. It's a challenge Cody Hostler is up for. He worked for Sioux Nation — a South Dakota independent Ag retailer — for 8...

Per the Indiana Department of Agriculture, hardwoods are my home state's largest agricultural industry in terms of economic impact. That's why I thought it was time to give timber it's due credit. Ray Moistner, Executive Director of the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Association and Brett Franklin of Tri-State Timber sit down with me to talk wood. You'll learn some things you didn't know about the l...

Jay Hill wasn't a farm kid but at age 16 he decided he wanted to be a farmer. He went about pursuing his professional vision by joining forces with his father — who wanted Jay to attend college — by producing onions on the ten acres his father owned. Jay also worked for a produce company for 14 years, all the while learning the ins and outs of Agribusiness. Today, Jay operates or is partnered on a...

Starbucks made an announcement pledging to do its part to save the world. The coffee chain, with 31,000 stores worldwide, will "encourage" customers to opt for dairy alternatives rather than cow's milk to accent their over-priced beverages. I explain why Starbucks chose milk as its sacrificial cow (because the industry won't fight back), and the coffee company's real motivation (hint, it's money)....

Chris Mittelstaedt isn't from a farming background but he became an Agricultural entrepreneur at an early age — he sold vegetables from his mom's garden around his suburban Philadelphia neighborhood out of a radio flyer wagon. Today, Mr. Mittelstaedt owns and runs The FruitGuys, a fruit business specializing in delivery to corporate offices. Chris started The FruitGuys in 1998. The company now del...

On January 6th, 2020, Borden Dairy filed for bankruptcy protection. The 163 year old milk processor's announcement comes just 2 months after Dean Foods - the nation's largest milk processor - filed for bankruptcy. Within minutes of the Borden news breaking, social media warriors were blaming Walmart for the company's demise. Friend of show and dairy woman, Katharine Lotspeich joins me to sort out...

This week's Golden Globe Awards is the first (of way too many) Hollywood awards shows for the year. It's also the first award show to distinguish itself by serving an all-vegan menu. This, along with increasing media hit pieces on the meat industry's safety and environmental impact, have me convinced 2020 will be a flash point in the argument against livestock farming and meat consumption. In this...

Rich Bradbury is an Oregon rancher with an eye on the future. Along with other cattlemen, he started a cooperative to process and market their brands of beef. Country Natural is their conventional beef product but he's most excited about their other brand, Desert Mountain Grass Fed Beef. And that's where the growth has been. Rich talks to us about ranching in the desolate drylands, the potential f...

I'm so excited to announce the release of my new book, Food Fear — How Fear is Ruining Your Dinner and Why You Should Celebrate Eating. It's straight talk about food, foodies, farming, food fights, food police, food myths, and the future of food and food production. Nicole Hahn joins me in this episode to discuss the memorable and intriguing content in Food Fear. She should know, she was the book'...

I first heard of Regenerative Agriculture this spring via congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's televised town hall meeting. Given Ms. Cortez's stance and multiple comments on the evils of cheeseburger consumption and cow farts, I assumed this thing she was talking about was as outlandish as her other views. Then I was introduced to Gabe Brown's book, Dirt to Soil — One Family's Journey Into Re...

Friend of show, Rob Saik, joins me to discuss his new book, Food 5.0 and the future of food production. He explains the 5 iterations of Agricultural advancement then tells us what will change moving forward. We share our predictions (some of which you may agree with and some of which you won't!). What if the world's most used herbicide is pulled from the marketplace? What sort of technology will e...

Greg Peterson began his business of reporting on used farm equipment sales prices in 1989. After a decade of hand written figures and entering data into desktop computers, then sending out floppy discs, his business flourished. Today his company, "Machinery Pete," compiles sales information from around North America on the value of Ag equipment. His business is a resource as well as a selling foru...

Friend of Show, Andy Ambriole joins me to discuss the positives and negatives of both conventional and organic farming practices. He is the owner of BioSteward Farms and he's been an Ag entrepreneur since age 9. He got into organic production for business reasons — he's not a zealot like those folks at the Non-GMO Verified Project! Andy and I discuss the attributes of both cropping systems and why...

If you work in the Business of Agriculture, you understand the reality of what's happening in rural America. Many small towns that once supported a grain elevator, a farm store, an implement dealership, and several other businesses have been shuttered. With consolidation came a degradation of life in many parts of rural America. Some rural communities haven't suffered from consolidation — they nev...

Past client and host of the Moving Iron podcast, Casey Seymour, joins me for my first ever "Swap Cast." In this episode we discuss the future of farming, who's going to farm, what equipment they'll use, and where the opportunities lie. Consolidation will continue — as they always have in the Business of Agriculture — but beyond the commodity line lies plenty of fertile ground. We discuss all this...