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!

Episode Summary

I was in the sprayer the other day and a thought hit me: should farmers actually be sharing equipment? So I took the question to social media and the responses came flying in. Some people swore by it. Some said it had blown up in their faces. Others said it depends entirely on who you're doing it with.

In this episode, I dive into that question head on and talk about the real economics behind equipment ownership and why the math doesn't always work the way we want it to. We get into the different ways sharing can actually look on a farm, the struggles that almost always come up and what it actually takes to make it work long term.

I also share our own experience co-owning a sprayer: the good, the hard, and what changed when the dynamic shifted. Because here's the honest truth: sharing equipment works until it doesn't. And knowing the difference ahead of time is everything.

This one is practical and worth a listen if you've ever thought about whether there's a smarter way to manage your equipment costs without giving up control of your operation.

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

Happy Memorial Day and what better way to honor it than by sitting down with someone who actually lived it.

This week I brought on my good friend Tyler Sharp, Southwest Kansas native, former private security contractor, 22-year fire department veteran, and owner of Sharp Shooting Supply.

In this episode, Tyler opens up about going overseas to Kandahar, Afghanistan as a precision overwatch contractor in his early twenties, the firefight that sent him home and the long road back to faith and purpose. He also talks about what he's built since, a thriving gun store, a deep commitment to his community, and a perspective on gratitude that stops you in your tracks.

This one is raw, real, and a reminder that the freedoms we enjoy on a holiday weekend came at a cost most of us will never fully understand.

In this week's Memorial Day episode with Tyler Sharp:

• Sacrifice looks different for everyone and it deserves our respect
• Asking for help isn't weakness, bottling it up doesn't work
• The change that pulls you out of a dark place often comes through the people closest to you
• Faith, community, and purpose are powerful tools for putting the pieces back together
• Building a business on relationships and customer service will always stand apart
• Gratitude for the sunrise is a practice, not a feeling

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 Tyler:

• Follow Tyler on Facebook
• Follow Tyler on YouTube
• Sharps Shooting Supply Website

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

This is part three of our series on the real stressors of the busy season. We talked about the weight of the workload. We talked about keeping the business from falling apart. Now we're getting into the one thing most farmers won't admit is suffering until it's already broken: the work and family life balance.

In this episode, I get honest about the realities of trying to be a good farmer, a good husband, and a good father all at the same time. I talk about why we work the way we do, where that comes from, and why "we'll do it later" is one of the most dangerous things we can say to the people we love most.

I also share a different way to think about balance, not as a scale that needs to be perfectly even, but as a checking account. Are you making more deposits than withdrawals? Because the busy season has a way of draining that account fast, and most of us don't notice until we're already in the red.

At the end of the day, we say this is all for our kids and our family. But if we're never around to build something they actually want to be a part of, what's it really all for?

Key Takeaways:

• Balance isn't a scale, think of it like a checking account
• Make deposits before the busy season starts making withdrawals
• It's the change in your presence that hits hardest, not the absence itself
• Be aware, communicate, and build your non-negotiables as a family
• Allow yourself to quit, the work will always be there
• None of it gets better by accident, it takes intention

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 farm will take every minute you have and every dollar you own. And right now, in the middle of the busy season, it's doing exactly that.

This is part two of a three-part series on the stressors we're all carrying this time of year. Last week, I talked about the weight of the workload. This week, I want to talk about what quietly happens to your farm business when you're only focused on the fields.

The bills that pile up. The marketing move you meant to make. The invoice you forgot to send. The crop plan you threw out the window because you just needed to keep moving. These things don't feel urgent when the sun is shining and your neighbor's planter is already rolling but they add up fast, and they can cost you more than you realize.

In this episode, I get honest about the emotional decisions we make in the middle of the season, why the business side is always the first thing to slide, and what you can actually do about it without pulling yourself out of the tractor on a good day.

Because if you wouldn't go a month without checking on the crop, you can't afford to go a month without checking on the business either.

Key points from this week's episode:

• The small things slip first: don't let them
• Markets, bills, and decisions don't stop because you're busy
• Pause, detach, and don't make quick emotional decisions
• Build a plan and know what's important versus what's urgent
• Think back to your goals, are your actions actually aligned?

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

In this episode, I talk about something most of us just push through without ever stopping to address: the weight of the workload and what it actually costs us when we let it run unchecked. The endless to-do list, the weather decisions, the breakdowns, the mental load of trying to do everything right. It adds up fast. And if we're not careful, it quietly robs us of the very thing that made us fall in love with this life in the first place.

This is part one of a three-part series on the stressors we're all carrying right now. I get into the difference between what's truly important and what just feels urgent, why we tend to chase productivity over progress, and how staying present with what actually matters, in the business and at home, can help us carry that weight a little better.

Because at the end of the day, we've only got so many seasons. Let's make sure we're actually showing up for them.

Key Takeaways:

• The busy season has a cost, know what it's taking from you
• Important and urgent are not the same thing
• Always do what's important first
• Productivity isn't the same as progress
• Stay present with what matters, both in the field and at home

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 traded one hour of my time for $7,900. Not from some big investment or a lucky break but just by showing up to my annual farm insurance renewal meeting and being willing to ask a few questions.

In this episode, I talk about return on time (ROT) and why it might be the most overlooked metric in your operation. We grind through long days, early mornings, and late nights, but most of us have never stopped to ask: what is my time actually worth? And more importantly, am I spending it on the things that matter most?

I share a few examples from our own operation, including signing up for an NRCS program and the decision we made to sell our cow herd, and how return on time played into both of those. I also get honest about the fact that I'm still very much in the middle of figuring this out myself.

This episode isn't about optimizing every minute. It's about being more intentional with the hours you have and remembering that not every return shows up in your bank account.

Key takeaways:

• Track Your Time
• Prioritize Your Tasks
• Plan Your Day
• Delegate to Protect Your Operation
• Schedule Quiet Time, It's More Valuable Than You Think

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!