Episode Summary

We took our family for a little staycation last weekend and somewhere between baiting hooks, untangling fishing lines and watching the boys get excited every time they got a bite, I started thinking about some things a little differently.

Turns out fishing is basically a masterclass in business and life. And in this episode, I share eight lessons that hit me while I was out there on the water with the kids. Things that are simple on the surface but run a lot deeper when you start thinking about where you are right now, what you're chasing and whether you're even watching your own bobber.

There's a lot in this one worth sitting with, especially if you've been out there casting lines day after day without catching much lately.

Key takeaways from this week's episode:

• The right time and place matters but chasing it can become its own distraction
• Passion doesn't equal success but it does build the resilience to keep going when things get hard
• You're not always going to catch something, that's life but it's not a reason to quit
• When the line gets tangled, untangle it: problem solvers stay in the game longer
• Watch your own bobber: stop focusing on what everyone else is catching so you don't miss your own bites

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

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Episode Summary

If you're struggling with feeling like things are constantly out of your control, it might be because your day is filled with things that are literally out of your control.

For most of us, our days are stacked top to bottom with chaos, fires to put out and things that are just out of our hands. And when that's all your day is made of, it's no wonder we end up burned out, run down and losing the enjoyment of the life we've worked so hard to build.

I share a story from a season when my dad was laid up post-harvest and everything fell on my shoulders and what that kind of running and gunning eventually costs you. I also share what I've found actually works to take back some control, even in the busiest seasons. It just requires five minutes you give to yourself instead of five minutes the day takes from you.

In this week's episode on control:

• Body and being are the two areas you can actually control: start there
• You don't need a slower season to start, you need five minutes for yourself
• Starting the day with something in your control sets the tone for everything that follows
• What's the alternative if you don't take something back for yourself?
• Small habits compound: a five-minute walk can grow into something that genuinely changes your days

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Episode Summary

Unless you change the mind, you won't change the results. The the phrase that sets the tone for this episode came straight from a cattle marketing school I attended with Doug Ferguson, Mr. Cattlemaster.

I went to learn sell-buy marketing. What I didn't expect was to spend the first half of a two-day class talking about paradigms, commitment, fear of success and why most of us wish positive but expect negative.

I share my honest takeaways from the school: the mindset principles underneath the marketing tactics that apply whether you're running cows, raising row crops or just trying to build a better business. I talk about how our current paradigms shape everything we do, how I came to terms with my own paradigm around the cow-calf sector and why revenue feeds the ego while profit feeds the family.

This one is part mindset, part business fundamentals and entirely worth your time in the tractor.

Key mindset takeaways from the marketing school I attended:

• Your paradigm is the lens you see the world through and it's dictating the results you're getting right now
• Commitment means deciding the price is worth paying for the goal to be achieved, not just being interested
• New levels bring new devils: accept that and you build a resilient mindset
• Revenue feeds the ego, profits feed the family: which one are you chasing?
• Know your costs, deal with today and control what you can

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Episode Summary

We're over halfway through the year, halfway through the growing season and right about at that point where things feel just a little less chaotic than they did a month ago. And that moment, the pocket between the busy seasons, is exactly what this episode is about.

As business owners, farmers and parents, we spend a lot of time just trying to figure out where our time is best spent. This episode gives you a framework for that. Three buckets: the day-to-day tasks that keep everything alive, the catching up on things that fell through the cracks, and the proactive work that actually gets you ahead. Most of us live in bucket one. Some of us occasionally make it to bucket two. Very few of us spend enough time in bucket three and that's where the real difference is made.

Key takeaways from this week's episode:

• There are three buckets for your time: day-to-day, catching up, and preparing ahead. Know which one you're in.
• Important versus urgent is still the most useful framework for deciding where your time goes
• Catching billing errors, updating books and checking in with key relationships doesn't always seem like a priority but they're worth your time
• A smooth busy season isn't luck, it's preparation
• Comparison is the thief of peace and joy, stop measuring yourself against others
• What's important almost always aligns with your long-term goals, what's urgent almost never does

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Episode Summary

Last week I talked about scarcity. What it is, what it steals from you and why it hits hardest when you're already vulnerable. This week, we flip it.

This episode is about what becomes possible when you shift from a never enough mindset to one that actually believes there is enough. Not by ignoring reality. Not by pretending the challenges aren't real. But by choosing to see them differently.

I talk about the difference between being optimistic and being oblivious because those aren't the same thing. The input costs are real. The weather is real. The bills are real. We're not pretending otherwise. But we can choose to see every problem as an opportunity to win instead of just another thing beating us down.

I also get into some practical ways to actually live in that abundance mindset, including a phrase I come back to almost every day that has brought me more peace than just about anything else. Because at the end of the day, the mindset is one of the few things we can actually control. And if we don't like the results we're getting, that's where we start.

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Episode Summary

The truck needs tires again. You just got done taking the sprayer to the shop. The wife wants to go on vacation. Five Target boxes showed up. And somehow it all hits at once.

Those little things have a way of compounding fast. And when they do, it's easy to get sucked into a spiral that's a lot harder to climb out of than it was to fall into.

In this episode, I get into the scarcity mindset, what it actually is, what it steals from you, and why it tends to hit the hardest right when you're already the most vulnerable. I also talk about the patterns we don't recognize until we're already at the bottom of the wave, why we never give ourselves enough credit for the seasons we've already made it through, and what it actually takes to break the cycle and get back to abundance.

In this week's episode on scarcity:

• Scarcity steals two things above everything else: peace and progress
• It always hits hardest when you're already vulnerable
• Comparing yourself to others while you're already in a scarcity spiral makes it worse
• Pattern recognition is the key to not staying trapped at the bottom of the wave
• Action kills scarcity: even one small thing moves the needle
• Define what success actually looks like for you, or you'll never feel like you have enough
• Your thoughts dictate the results you get, if you don't like the results, change the thoughts

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Episode Summary

You pull up the marketing app and there it is again, corn down another six cents. Fifty cents off the highs in just a couple of weeks. That sinking feeling sets in and all the coulda shoulda woulda stories start running through your head.

This episode came straight from a text I got from a client: "Corn really took a hit. It makes it a really big challenge to create new crop sales." I felt that one. So instead of trying to give him an answer I don't have, I started asking questions. The same ones I had to ask myself.

Have you sold any? Why or why not? And the big one we always come back to with our marketing advisor: what scares you more, locking it in and missing the top or not selling and staying exposed to the bottom?

This episode isn't about predicting where corn is headed. It's about understanding how you make decisions in the first place so you can make better ones when the next opportunity comes around. Because there's no universal right answer here, just the one that fits your risk tolerance, your operation and the decision that's actually going to let you sleep at night.

In this week's episode on making marketing decisions:

• Ask yourself the real reason why you haven't sold?
• What scares you more: missing the top, or being exposed to the bottom?
• There's no right or wrong risk tolerance, just the one that's actually yours
• Better decisions come from understanding how you decide, not from predicting the market
• Removing emotion is the first step to building a real marketing plan

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Episode Summary

Are you treating your cost of money like every other input on your farm? Because that's the question I had to ask myself recently.

We're in the middle of a land deal and I had to decide whether or not to tell our banker we were shopping around with FSA and Farm Credit for a better rate. Sounds simple but it wasn't. All the usual stories ran through my head, what if he takes it personally, what if it damages the relationship, what if there's repercussions down the road?

In this episode, I walk through it.The resistance I felt, the conversation I actually had with my banker, and what happened when I just told him the truth. I also get into why most farmers never shop around for interest, even though we'll spend hours chasing a better deal on seed or fertilizer. The short answer: it's uncomfortable, and we feel powerless to the bank.

But here's the reframe: interest is deductible, just like every other input. And your banker is a salesman. The bank sells loans. If you don't treat your cost of money the way you treat every other expense on your operation, you're leaving real dollars on the table.

In this week's episode on interest rates:

• Interest is just another input, treat it like seed, fertilizer, or equipment
• Most farmers settle for "take what we can get" instead of asking what's actually possible
• Feeling powerless to the bank is common but it's not the full picture
• Being honest about shopping around didn't damage the relationship, it led to a better deal
• Good business owners keep their financial info organized so opportunities are easy to act on

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Episode Summary

Coming from the son of the father who tried to get his son back to the operation, it's a tough thing to wrap your head around that if it wasn't for me, the farm would not have had to endure such hardships. But also, if it wasn't for me, the farm would not have survived.

In this episode, I take you back through the full story of our operation.Where we were before I came back to the farm, the expansion that changed everything, the debt that piled up, and the rooms I sat in that I never want to sit in again. The attorney. The banker. The farm crisis hotline. My wife. My parents. All of us trying to figure out if the Ruskamp legacy was going to make it to the fifth generation.

I'm not sharing this to point fingers or earn sympathy. I'm sharing it because somebody listening to this right now is in the same room I was in. And they need to hear that no one is coming to save them and that's actually okay. Because life happens for you, not to you.

Key points from this week's episode:

• Know your numbers before you bring the next generation back, not after
• The workload conversation and the financial conversation are not the same thing
• Expanding too fast without the right structure can snowball in ways you don't see coming
• No one is coming to save you. Ownership is what turns things around.
• Life happens for you, not to you. That mindset shift changes everything.
• The hardships are what make you, don't waste them

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Episode Summary

Here's a question most farmers never stop to ask: how much equipment do you actually need?

If you can reduce your overhead, you're giving yourself a raise. So why do we keep signing up for the opposite?

This episode is a direct challenge to one of the most deeply ingrained habits in agriculture, the automatic reinvestment of profits back into equipment. I dive into why we do it, how we justify it and what it's actually costing us. Not just in payments, but in the capital we could be putting to work somewhere else.

I share some honest thoughts from our own operation, including a tractor we bought with cash that may not have been the best use of capital, a ranch out west that looked rough on the surface but was one of the best-run operations around and the phrase that's been on repeat in my head: those that win are able to figure out what they can do without.

This isn't anti-equipment. It's pro-business. And there's a difference.

In this week's episode:

• Reducing overhead is the closest thing to a guaranteed raise in farming
• We're often reinvesting into assets that depreciate and calling it building equity
• The justification game is one farmers always win but we're asking the wrong question
• Better question: is this the best use of capital?
• It's hard to look around in lean times and not see the cost of past good times
• Take off the farmer hat and put on the business owner hat
• Those that win figure out what they can do without

Resources & Links:

• To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here!

Connect with Garrett:

• Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp
• Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp
• Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp
• Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here!

Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!