CropTalk

Why are we still an extraction economy, pulling non-renewable resources, like gas and oil, from the ground?

Hemp can be grown quickly, with little water, using renewable energy.

Zev Paiss, director of Colorado operations for Universal Hemp Supply Co., a sustainability consultant educator for about 35 years, was on the podcast today and talked about the promising future of hemp.

Listen in as we chat about how hemp cultivation is moving our society forward into a more eco-friendly harvest economy.

How do you recover an art and craft that has been lost to history?

After almost a century of laws prohibiting the propagation and use of all kinds of cannabis products, including hemp, generations of institutional knowledge have been lost.

Today's producers are having to rediscover and relearn old techniques, or reinvent the wheel with new technology.

Andrew Bish is the COO of Bish Enterprises and the CEO of Hemp Harvest Works, and he is at the forefront of this exciting work.

His companies have been inventing large-scale hemp harvesting equipment to help resolve some existing bottlenecks in terms of separation of flour from stalk.

He also wants to keep people safe while still delivering a high quality result at a considerably faster pace.

He has exciting ideas for small growers and large.

Agriculture is about inputs, yields, and profit margins--like any business, it is all about numbers.

Fortunately, because the numbers on agriculture are so granular, you can easily create powerful data analytics models using tools like Microsoft Excel's pivot tables.

To learn how becoming a pivot table master can improve your bottom line, I spoke with Gordon Rowe III. Gordon works as Special Ops at North Creek Nurseries and is the President at growE Solutions.

Using data modeling techniques found on sites like PowerPivotPro.com, Rowe was able to make huge gains in his ag business, which is good news for all of us.

Start clean. Stay clean.

It's more than a mantra; it's the only way to grow.

Jon Vaught, PhD, the CEO of Front Range Biosciences, is on today's episode of CropTalk. Dr. Vaught is using his expertise in organic chemistry to rescue and strengthen orphan crops like coffee, hemp, and cannabis, from disease through clean stock technology.

By growing plants using tissue culture and greenhouse practices like integrated pest management and fertility practices, Front Range is able to create crops that are free of pathogens, pests.

Frances (Franny) Tacy is a hemp farmer, educator, speaker, product developer, and distributor of Franny's Farmarcy hemp products in Leicester, NC.

Tacy has a background in forestry, education, and pharmaceuticals and runs Franny's Farm with her family. It is a working hemp farm, goat farm, and agritourism destination designed to educate and inspire people.

Tacy is a mover and a shaker in the movement to bring a wide variety of hemp products to a growing market.

Having a great team has more to do with you than you think.

If you're not actively seeking to better yourself, you're not only cheating yourself out of growing as a leader, your team is missing out on the opportunity to grow, too.

Leaders who seek to replicate themselves continually learning, while providing opportunity and example for their team to do the same, are creating a group of people who are as invested in their business as they are.

And that, as a leader, is an invaluable resource.

We're back with part two of this special episode of the CropTalk podcast with Mick Donahue, co-owner of North Carolina Farms. Mick is a grower, but shares some amazing insight on leadership, business, people, and processes, based on his time working as a missionary.

Your business is limited by your capacity.

Want exponential growth?

Give people a mission around your business that they can believe in. Develop leaders who feel that mission in their DNA and let them take over the day to day details of your business so you can focus on the bigger picture.

You can do more, but not without empowering others to do the same.

Today's guest on this special episode of the CropTalk podcast is Mick Donahue, co-owner of North Carolina Farms. Mick is a grower, but shares some amazing insight on leadership, business, people, and processes, based on his time working as a missionary.

Agriculture education starts at the dinner plate and moves backwards.

Teaching the next generation what they're eating and where their food comes from is invaluable to creating better food consumers and, ultimately, a healthier community.

On this week's episode, Charlie talks with Tim Downing, farmer and agriculture educator about the need for connection between consumer and producer and what role our education system can play in creating students who are informed and equipped to make better food choices.

Results are what count.

On today's episode of CropTalk we are joined by 4th generation farmer, Joe Swartz, whose growing techniques and outcomes prove his hydroponics expertise. Joe is celebrating his 35th year as a full time, year-round grower of herbs and vegetables, and is also the current VP at American Hydroponics, one of the leading hydro-systems equipment manufacturers in North America. Joe came on the show to share his time-tested core principles of growing production.

Your pest control program is only as good as your worst scout.

Your scout is your eyes, your ears, your nose in relation to your crops, so why aren't more growers more committed to hiring great ones?

On this special solo episode, host Charlie McKenzie talks through the 3 personality traits he's found are common to every great pest scout.