Top Producer Podcast

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with John Steeves of Rabo Bank. John was raised in Canada but is now in charge of rural banking for all of North America and we discuss how farmers should be right sizing their assets and liabilities, how interest rates may change due to tariffs and other related topic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Skye Root of Root Agricultural Advisory based in Meridan, Idaho. Skye started his career as a water rights consultant and then spent about 10 years with Nuveen before starting his own firm about 8 years ago. The firm provides farm management services, appraisal and other related services. We also review what is happening with the permanent crop side...

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Susan Stroud of No Bull Ag. Susan went out on her own a few years back after working several years for ADM and Continental Grain near St. Louis. We discuss the possible impact of tariffs, the turmoil with Section 45Z and other topics. Susan also puts on an annual conference in St. Louis and just got back from taking several farmers on a tour of the P...

In today's podcast Paul does another solo session on what changes might be coming to income taxes. The Senate passed a budget resolution last week that effectively authorizes up to $6 trillion of tax cuts over 10 years. Paul dives into the changes that might happen to the Trump Tax Cuts and other possible tax law changes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul does a solo podcast on the new Emergency Commodity Assistance Program plus an update on what might happen with income taxes this year. Paul touches briefly on ECAP and how farmers might qualify for an increased payment limit and the restrictions on that for certain legal entities. On income taxes, he reviews how the situation in 2017 is different from 2025 and then goes ove...

In today's podcast, Paul has another conversation with Mike Rohlfsen and Jeff Kazin of AgrisAcademy. Their company provides risk management training for farmers and we discuss an update from the last time we had them on the podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Kimberly Ratcliff of Texas. She is the 2025 Top Producer Woman in Agriculture winner and has a unique story of leaving New York City to move back to the farm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Mark Hanna, a farmer in North Central Iowa that was a 2025 Top Producer finalist. Mark and his family have a row crop and hog operation, but Mark has also been involved with investing and helping over 50 ag startups. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with John Guglielmi, executive director of Total Acre. Total Acre provides help to farmers to improve their yields by utilizing data provided by both their farm and other farms. Total Farm was started by David Hula and Randy Dowty who have won numerous corn and soybean yield contests. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chris Barron of Ag View Solutions. Chris has been on the podcast before and today we discuss 2025 corn and soybean budgets. As expected corn looks better than soybeans at least right now. Farmers should try to maximize yield and revenue versus just looking at costs. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Dave Janson of Strategic Farm Marketing. The crop insurance decision is coming soon and there are even more products available that can help farmers maximize their risk coverage. Plus ECO discount has gone up by almost 50% this year compared to last and many farmers should consider this option. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Tara Smith of the Torrey Advisory Group based in Washington DC. Tara is an advocate for the ag industry and grew up on a corn and soybean farm in central Illinois. We discuss the prospects for a new Farm Bill and how crop insurance is the best risk management option for farmers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Kaden Stein a young CPA based in Dodge City, Kansas. Kaden purposely came back home to be a CPA which also allows him to support his cattle habit. Although there are challenges to being a rural CPA the rewards more than make up for it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chase Larson of Bestifor Farms in North Central Kansas. Chase is also a 2025 Top Producer of the Year candidate and has created several entrepreneurial businesses including pet food and water software. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Erin Arick and Mitchell Parks of Figured. Figured provides cloud-based management software to help farmers better run their business. We discuss how this solution works and how it can help farmers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Paige Harding, a new attorney in Dodge City, Kansas. Paige grew up on a cow calf operation and after graduating from law school was able to come back to her hometown. Paige was also involved in several pageants and has developed a blog on benefits of rural living and even has time for her own cattle operation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with John Schwarz, an attorney and farmer in Northern Indiana. John focuses on providing legal services to farmers including helping farmers circumvent the pitfalls of dealing with FSA and NRCS. John also farms non-gmo soybeans using irrigation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul does a solo webinar on the details of the $10 billion economic aid and $20 billion disaster aid that was enacted late last week by Congress. For those that would like to see the Power Point portion of the webinar, Paul is providing free access to the webinar at his blog www.farmcpareport.com . That webinar was posted early Monday morning. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas...

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Austin Allred of Royal Family Farms in Central Washington State. Austin and his family have a very diversified farm operation including row crops, potatoes, dairy and beef. Austin also is in charge of their worm farm, and we spend a bit of time discussing how you farm worms and why this is important for their operations. See omnystudio.com/listener f...

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Brian O'Neill, owner of Huron Orchard Services. Brian and his team manages many almond and pistachio orchards near Fresno. We discuss how important water and labor is for growing these crops. We then dive into some of the key details on growing these nuts including estimated annual production, pricing and harvesting. See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Mike Gustafson of Farmers First Trust. Mike grew up on a farm in NE Nebraska and is currently a principal in Farmers First Trust that offers an additional way to defer income taxes when selling farmland or certain other farm assets. He also shares a unique story regarding his brother and how he overcame losing an arm in a farm accident. See omnystudi...

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Todd Welle of Honour Ag. Honour Ag provides both input and equipment financing for farmers and their motto is to make it easy. We discuss how they provide that financing and some of the industry trends. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Matt Boos of Agrigrowth consulting. Matt helps farmers grow their business which may not just be the farm business. He is also a firm proponent of being part of a peer group. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Erik Oberbroeckling who farms with his family in NE Iowa. They also have a trucking operation that hauls silica sand, milk and other commodities on a year-round basis. We spend time discussing the farm and trucking operation and how diversification has helped both businesses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Amy France. Amy and her family farm in Western Kansas but she is also the new chairwomen of the National Sorghum Producers and we discuss her role with that organization. We also review Section 45Z and how sorghum can be part of that process. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.