Pioneer Mindset

Episode Summary

The farm will take every minute you have and every dollar you own. And harvest is where that phrase hits the hardest.

I recorded this one on a Tuesday morning, right in the middle of harvest. We'd just started combining the night before after nearly three weeks of rain. And before I even sat down to record, I got the call about a flat tire on the trailer. That's harvest. It always comes first.

This episode is as much a reminder for me as it is for you. Because if we're not careful, harvest wins at the expense of our body, our faith, our family and our business. We justify it every time, but at the end of the day we've got to ask ourselves, at what expense?

I walk through how harvest affects each area of the Core 4, why our worth being tied to our productivity is one of the biggest drivers behind all of this and what we can actually do to be more intentional so we don't end up looking back on another harvest season wishing we had done it differently.

Key takeaways from this week's episode:

• Harvest is both important and urgent, and that's what makes it so hard to step back from.
• Your worth is not tied to your productivity, even if it feels that way this time of year.
• As a business owner, you don't get paid to stay busy. You get paid to be effective.
• Think of family balance like a bank account. Make deposits before the season so the withdrawals don't put you in the red.
• Plan your week even when it feels like you don't have the time. Ten minutes on Monday saves you from forgetting the things that actually matter.

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

Have you ever bought a farm before? Until you've actually gone through the process, it's really hard to know what to expect.

We just bought some farm ground here recently and going through it firsthand taught me a lot. Some of it I wish I had known sooner. Some of it I wish I had done differently years ago. And all of it is worth sharing before you find yourself in the middle of it trying to figure things out on the fly.

In this episode, I walk through the full farm buying process from start to finish, including what financial information the bank actually needs and why, how the appraisal works and who should be ordering it, what the title company does and why it matters who you choose and what FSA programs are available and how to use them creatively to structure a deal that works for you.

I also share one of my bigger takeaways from going through this: be willing to buy the less than perfect farm so you can one day be more equipped to buy the perfect one. And the best time to start preparing for this? Before the opportunity ever shows up.

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 back with Zach Smith for part two of this conversation. If you missed part one, go back and listen first. There's a lot of good context in there about Zach's background, how Stock Cropper started and what it's actually like to try something nobody in your area has ever done.

This week we get into where Zach is today. The Stock Cropper system has evolved and he's been deep in developing the Cluster Cluck Drive, an autonomous solar-powered pen mover for backyard chickens and small livestock. We talk through the new intercropping arrangements he's running in 2026 with corn, beans and oats, including the Quintuple Bio Pass system that produced a 70 bushel advantage in trials over conventional 30 inch corn with the same seed and fertilizer. We talk about experimenting on a budget, why your neighbors' opinions shouldn't factor into your decisions and why the spirit of building your own solutions in agriculture has slowly been handed off to the guy in town selling out of a 2.5 gallon jug.

Zach also shares what the Low Rangers are trying to do in Iowa with conservation advocacy, why 45Z is one of the biggest opportunities agriculture has seen in years and why more farmers adopting strip till and cover crops is actually an economic self-interest issue just as much as an environmental one.

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 Zach:

• Follow on X here
• Follow on Instagram here
• Follow on Facebook here
• Follow on TikTok here
• Follow on YouTube 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

This week I'm bringing on a guy I've been wanting to get on ever since we crossed paths at a friend's field day. Zach Smith, known across the ag world as The Stock Cropper, is a fifth generation Iowa farmer who has spent the last decade doing things most people in his area thought were flat out crazy.

If you've been thinking about trying something new, this one's for you. And if you're already in it and just keep getting knocked down, this one's really for you.

In part one, we cover Zach's background from ag retail to taking over the family farm to stumbling into strip intercropping and eventually co-creating what became the Stock Cropper system. We talk about how the unconventional path has almost always led to the best outcomes in his life, how a conversation on Twitter in February 2020 led to the Cluster Cluck 5000 and why the number one return from the Stock Cropper experiment wasn't the yield records at Precision Planting. It was the people.

Come back for part two that drops next week!

In this week's episode with Zach:

• The unconventional path is usually where the best opportunities are hiding
• Going out into the world before coming back to the farm gave Zach a perspective and network he couldn't have built any other way
• Take chances relative to where you're at in life so you don't out-kick your coverage
• What other people are doing is not the only truth in the world
• Finding one other person willing to try something different can completely change your trajectory
• The closer you get to where you're supposed to go, the stronger the resistance gets

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 Zach:

• Follow on X here
• Follow on Instagram here
• Follow on Facebook here
• Follow on TikTok here
• Follow on YouTube 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

Is bigger better? Or does bigger just mean more risk?

That question showed up on X a while back wrapped in a phrase that got a lot of pushback: the only way out of debt is to grow your way out of it. I've got thoughts on that. Strong ones. Because we lived it.

In this episode I get honest about our own expansion story. Building the hoop building in 2016, doubling the cow herd, then adding a third group of cattle when we were already under financial pressure. We thought we could spread those fixed costs across more units and somehow come out ahead. We couldn't. And it actually sped up some of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make.

I'm not anti-growth. I want to be clear about that. But I am very much for being intentional about how you grow, when you grow and why. Because that farmer mindset of just add more, divide the costs over more units and everything pencils out. That's not a business plan. That's a feeling.

This episode is about knowing the difference between direct and indirect costs, understanding where your operation actually stands before you take on something new and asking the hard questions before you sign anything.

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

Would your future self recommend the circles you're currently in or think you could do better?

This episode came straight from a weekend in Kansas City at the Singular Agronomics dealer conference. Being in a room full of the right people who are genuinely curious, open-minded and willing to try new things was a good reminder of just how much the circles you're in shape who you become. Not just the five closest people to you, but the outer circles too. The rooms you put yourself in. The conversations you choose to have.

I talk about the difference between being present in a room and actually showing up for the people in it. I share a quality I deeply admire in someone I got to spend time with, the ability to make you feel like the conversation you're having is the most important one in the room. And I challenge myself and you to be that person more often.

This one is a little shorter, but there's a lot of take home value, especially if you tend to stick to yourself at events or if you've ever walked out of a networking opportunity wondering if it was worth your time.

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'm back with Doug Ferguson, Mr. Cattlemaster, for part two of this conversation. If you haven't heard part one yet, go back and listen. Doug shares his background, how sell-buy marketing works and more.

This week we get into what actually keeps people from implementing sell-buy marketing after the school. We talk about the difference between being interested and being committed, and what it really takes to push through when motivation fades. Doug opens up about his sobriety journey and how quitting drinking created a quantum leap in his business, his relationships and his ability to focus. We swap some stories about the pens from hell that you never forget and why those hard years are actually the ones that made the most impression.

Doug also shares some practical advice for anyone sitting on the fence about attending a sell-buy school: start tracking your costs right now, before anything else.

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 Doug:

• Follow on Facebook - Mr. Cattlemaster
• Follow on Youtube - Mrcattlemaster1
• Learn more about Mr. Cattlemaster on his website 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

This week I'm Doug Ferguson, Mr. Cattlemaster, to the podcast! He is one of the most unique thinkers in the cattle industry and this conversation did not disappoint.

Doug teaches sell-buy marketing, a strategy that flips the traditional buy-sell approach. Instead of buying cattle and hoping the market cooperates on the back end, you capture your profit on the buy and that one shift changes everything about how you operate, how you make decisions and how you handle the emotional rollercoaster of the cattle market.

In part one of this two-part episode, we talk about how Doug got started, including the $7,000 he spent on 18 calves nobody wanted and how sell-buy marketing has allowed him to build a seven-figure cattle business over time. We also get into the double-binding messages the cattle industry sends itself, why knowing your numbers is the foundation of everything and what it actually looks like to stay disciplined in the sale barn when the auctioneer is doing their job and your hands are shaking.

Part two drops next week. Don't miss it.

In this week's episode with Doug Ferguson:

• Sell-buy marketing flips the script: you capture your profit on the buy, not the sell
• Revenue feeds the ego, profits feed the family: focus on what actually goes home
• Most cattle producers aren't tracking their true expenses and their guesses are way off
• Build a fudge factor into your cost calculations so unexpected problems don't become crises
• A hyper mind cannot control a hyper body, emotions cost you money in the sale barn
• Know your numbers, build your barn card, stick to it
• There's tuition to be paid in any business, the goal is to learn from it and keep going

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 Doug:

• Follow on Facebook - Mr. Cattlemaster
• Follow on Youtube - Mrcattlemaster1
• Learn more about Mr. Cattlemaster on his website 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

This is part two of my audio field day series. Last week we walked through the strip crop trial. This week I'm taking you through the rest of what we've been doing on our farm this year: small grains, non-GMO corn, twin row cover crops, cover crop management in front of corn and beans and our reduced nitrogen trial.

As I said last episode, I'm not a researcher. I'm a farmer trying things, watching what happens and sharing what I see. Some of it's working great. Some of it's a work in progress. And a few things flat out surprised me when I went back and looked at the numbers. But that's the whole point, learning as we go and hoping the conversation goes both directions.

If you're considering any of these practices on your own operation or you've got thoughts on what we could be doing differently, I genuinely want to hear from you.

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

When's the last time you went to somebody else's farm and just tried to learn something?

Field days are one of the most underrated things in agriculture and this episode is my version of one. Nothing fancy or formal, just me walking you through what we're actually doing on our farm this year and what we've learned along the way.

Before we get into it, I share a thought that's been on my mind heading into field day season: we tend to over-expect what we're going to get out of events like these. We walk in expecting to be blown away and walk out disappointed. The reality is if you pick up just one thing, one idea that makes you curious enough to learn more, that's a high ROT on your time. That's the bar.

This episode is part one of an ongoing audio field day series. Today I'm walking through our strip crop trial: eight rows of corn, eight rows of beans, 20-foot strips, lots of trial and error and a few things I'd do differently next time. I talk through how we set up the planter, how we handled weed control and fertility across two different crops in the same field, and what harvest is going to look like this fall.

Thanks for tagging along for this one and be sure to listen in on part 2 in the next episode!

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!