The Business of Agriculture Podcast

If you're in business, at some level, you're in sales. So, how exactly would you rate your sales game? Do you ask the right questions? Is your product knowledge keeping up? Do you understand the needs and problems of the customers you seek to serve? St. John ("Sinjin") Craner, a sales and marketing trainer specializing in Agriculture explains how selling has evolved and why the methods of yesterda...

The Mississippi River is low and that's causing shipping problems for Agriculture. Mark Milam with Independent Commodity Intelligence Services joins Damian to discuss issues of transportation, supply, and distribution of fertilizer for crop year 2024. Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

The chasm between beef and dairy is being bridged as the two industries fuse in a trend that could be good for beef, dairy, consumers, the marketplace, and maybe the environment. The advent of sex-specific semen made a whole lot of dairy cow uteruses available. Meanwhile the beef industry needed calves. The result: beef bulls being bred to dairy calves creating calves intended specifically for the...

As it turns out, we've not always been good to our soil. Fortunately we're starting to better understand the living organism beneath our feet. However, we're still mistreating this valuable asset that's selling for $15,000 to $20,000 per acre in some areas. David Kleinschmidt of Progressive Agronomy and Illinois farmer Mike Imhoff discuss cover cropping, soil biology, advanced soil testing, and pr...

Using a $40 million federal grant paid over five years via USDA's climate initiative, DeLong company created the "Grown Climate Smart" program. A 38 branch Ag retailer and grain elevator, DeLong has roughly 250,000 customer acres enrolled in the program that incentivizes wind breaks, cover cropping, tillage reduction, and nutrient management. Now the question is: Will consumers or downstream Ag cu...

Farmland prices have been on fire the last couple years. But are those prices peaking? Beyond the huge sale numbers seen on social media, Ag property has been selling well but…there are signs of a cooling off. What can we expect moving forward? Will the institutional investors remain in Ag land? And what are the drivers of farm ground pricing and sales? Howard Halderman of Halderman Real Estate &...

Businesses are encouraged to conduct assessments of their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. In short: What are you good at, what do you suck at, where will tomorrow's money be made, and what things could put you out of business? The most critical element of an effective SWOT Analysis is the ability to be critical. That's why I brought in Ryan Moe, member of The Business of Ag Succe...

Used machinery markets are heating up earlier than normal. Is this because farmers in need of equipment recall getting shut out during the supply chain disruptions of Covid or is there a used equipment shortage? What are interest rates — more than double what they were just a year or so ago— doing to the farm implement market? Does a farmer need the newest and shiniest machinery in an era of evolv...

Comet Bio is a technology-enabled food ingredient company that, after eight years, is finally ready to churn out food ingredients. The company extracts fiber — arabinoxylan to be specific — from wheat straw and turns it into an ingredient for food companies to use in food for human consumption. This is a win-win for everyone involved: New demand for an Ag by-product (straw) is always good, creatin...

Organic food sales growth still outpaces conventional, despite food inflation and even after nearly two decades of "organic" being a thing. Additionally, the margins are better for organic. So, how much longer can "organic" grow organically? How do organic chicken farms operate, is it the same as vertically integrated conventional poultry production? Where does the product end up? Lorenzo Bared, V...

I was recently asked by two investor friends of mine, "Damian, if I handed you a billion dollars, where in Ag would you invest it?" The question, as well as the six weeks of pondering it inspired in my head, made me think this was a solid and stimulating topic for The Business of Agriculture. Looking from 2023 and beyond, where within our industry will there be a need for investment capital to fue...

Silage — in case you're unfamiliar— is high moisture forage chopped and stored for cattle feed, principally dairy animals. It derives its name from the fact we used to blow this forage into silos. That's not done much anymore for reasons of safety, practicality, and scale. The most common method of ensiling and storing cow feed involves piling it on concrete, packing it with a large tractor, then...

Regenerative practices have become a new area of focus in production Agriculture. But what about our grazing lands — are we managing those lands for healthier soil, a healthier environment AND a healthier bottom line? Hugh Aljoe and Jim Johnson with Noble Research Institute, an Oklahoma-based ranch and research entity operating on 14,000 acres, join Damian. They discuss the important role grazing...

A few years ago there was a great deal of hype surrounding Controlled Environment Ag (indoor farming). Money was pouring into the space from outside investors. Along with the money came the media coverage, which brought more money and more hype. According to some, we were just a short time away from never eating vegetables grown conventionally in fields again. Yet, here we are in 2023 still eating...

My farmer friends at XtremeAg say, "The limiting yield factor isn't the seed, it's probably us." Well, that's not necessarily the case — another huge limiting yield factor is loss due to pathogens. With so many nasty diseases out there, our problem has often been misdiagnosis or a failure to treat our crops before the damage is done. Fortunately, new technology has emerged to detect pathogens befo...

We're several years into various programs looking to sign up acres for such things as carbon sequestration, nitrogen reduction, cover crops, and other regenerative practices. Yet, there are still not very many acres signed up. Why is that and what will it take to get more acres involved with ecosystem marketing? In this episode Damian asks the questions you've asked him. Why are companies paying f...

If you're in modern day production Agriculture, you are in business. Probably to the tune of millions of dollars of allocated capital. Yet, many farmers don't flex their money mindset or think like entrepreneurs. This could make for real on-farm struggles moving into an era of high interest rates, consolidation, and demographic changes on North American farms. Evan Shout, CFO of Saskatchewan's HGV...

Every Summer we begin to analyze crop reports, look at the markets and ask the question, "Will Ag make money this year? And if so, which sectors?" Jarod Creed of JC Marketing & Ag Financial Services joins Damian to discuss farm income, recent ag economic history, political winds shaping or shifting Ag, and other forces impacting farm revenue. The good news: 2023 looks profitable for many. The bad...

We produce a LOT of agricultural output here in the United States and the trend line for increased productivity isn't letting up. So what happens when we run out of places to sell our output or creative ways to burn through our crops as we've done with ethanol or renewable diesel? Will we see calls for controlling the supply through a quota system on production? Damian Mason predicts (with 58% acc...

As you've likely heard me say, we in Agriculture suffer from commodity mindset. When we think of growing margins, we think of reducing costs, getting bigger, and making more with less. But what happens when there's almost no efficiencies to be gained, or worse yet when we make so much stuff that even through efficiencies the margins are paltry due to an oversupply of food? Well, what if I told you...

The proliferation of biological crop inputs over the last several years has been almost overwhelming. I personally believe soil biology — understanding it and working with the soil versus against it — is the next frontier for production Agriculture. That said, the world of biological soil and crop enhancements is crowded while still a bit murky. What exactly is in those jugs of biologicals, what d...

Mike Way started his Ag career selling citrus upon graduating from Fresno State. A few years later, he hopped over to vegetables with a few partners. Today he is the CEO and half owner of Prime Time — a California-based grower / shipper / packer of produce specializing mostly in peppers. Mike explains the challenges of providing year-round vegetables to the food service and retail marketplace whil...

North American farmers are losing valuable bushels of corn and soybeans at both the front and back end of their combines -- those bushels never making it to the grain bin. We in Agriculture have been conditioned to focus on increasing production. But what about the money being lost by losing yield on crops you've already produced? That was the motivation for Craig Ganssle, founder of Farmwave, whi...

In a year's time, interest rates have more than doubled, commodity prices have declined by roughly 15 percent, while land and cash rent prices are in record territory. So, is everything alright with farm financials? John Maman with Nutrien Financial joins Damian to discuss Agriculture money and the marketplace. No, it's still not the 1980's and yes, you should have a firm understanding of the 5 C'...

If you work in the Business of Agriculture, you likely know of a dysfunctional family farming operation. Contrary to the pastoral vision of farming portrayed in children's books, many farms are stress-filled places to work with family members in conflict, run by narcissistic owners. So says Andy Junkin who works as a farm mediator and advisor to keep family farming operations from imploding. Andy...