As politics go, the Farm Bill resorted to a broader coalition of food, fiber and commodity support. That action was decades ago but this environment - on top of an election year - is making the waters even tougher to navigate for leadership. Jonathan Coppess is an Ag Policy professor at the University of Illinois and now studies how these bills are made after working on the staff side of the street a few years ago.

He’s famous for his trombone skills and performance locations, eagle cams and other adventures on his Kansas Farm. Derek Klingenberg is ready for another season of eagle watch from his live stream of an eagle nest. We also catch up about new places he’s brought out the trombone and new players in the pasture.

Making the transition from one generation to the next can be a touchy subject. Like anything communication goes a long way and it could have started in a mentoring relationship or other exchange of ideas. Clint Fischer started Braintrust Ag as a way to help facilitate the idea sharing and transitions in farming operations.

Seven states are up against the clock to get a water deal reached over the Colorado River and who gets what allotment. As the 2026 deadline approaches, the food versus cities debate simmers over the precious resource. Kathryn Sorensen is the director of the Kyle Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University and gives us perspective on the issue.

Our two farmer profiles for 2023 wrap up in Illinois as Chad Bell gives us the report on the rain that arrived in time and helped exceed expectations while Mike Schulte in Oklahoma says he was more in a meets the lower expectations category as dry weather continued but moisture did arrive to change the end of the year.

Season three of combine karaoke discovered fun and a big crop for Franklin County, Iowa farmer April Hemmes. Her farm caught just enough rain at the right time and she was singing that tune around the world talking soybeans.

Mike Naig goes into detail on Iowa's response to the 2023 outbreak of HPAI, or High Pathogenic Avian Influenza. Millions of birds in Iowa have been killed because of the virus. Naig discusses the response this cycle compared to the 2015 outbreak.

Beth Hoffman went to the farm as a spouse, now she's published a book about her transition to farmer and author from journalist. We bring back Beth to discuss the year on the farm with changes in demand, new offerings on the property and what being a good neighbor means in Monroe County, Iowa.

We take a step back to the basics of grain marketing by reviewing terminology and the fundamental discussion of how markets work in commodities. Ashley Bettenhausen is a grain market advisor with Valiant Marketing in Wishek, North Dakota. She loves talking the basics and takes time to explain them.

Partnering solar and agriculture is under review and in the research phase in the heart of the Corn Belt. Nick Peterson is with Alliant Energy who is partnering with Iowa State University on the concept of renewables and food on the same tract of land. The concept is called agrovoltaics.