Pioneer Mindset

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!

Episode Summary

Fertilizer can represent 10 to 20% of total input costs and yet many operations are still running the same rates, with the same suppliers, year after year without questioning whether that money is actually working as hard as it could be. In this week's episode, I dive into some figures within our own operation and how smarter agronomy, supplier shopping, and efficiency-focused thinking can add up to real, meaningful savings.This episode challenges you to find just 5 to 10% improvement in your own operation.

In this week's episode on cutting fertilizer costs:

• Start with better soil data
• Use an independent agronomist
• Shop multiple suppliers
• Poor man's variable rate technology
• Book fertilizer in the fall

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 recently talked with Mary Jo Irmen from Farming Without the Bank and this week I'm reflecting on that conversation, diving into one of the most fundamental and often overlooked mindset shifts in farm business management: evaluating which expenses are truly a need versus a want. This episode challenges you to flip the traditional income-minus-expenses equation on its head. I also touch on concepts from Mike Michalowicz's book Profit First. This episode offers practical examples, honest self-reflection, and challenges you to examine the fear and generational conditioning that can keep farmers from making hard but necessary financial decisions.

Highlights from this week's episode:

• The "Profit First" flip
• Life insurance and investing as priorities, not afterthoughts
• Need vs. want, line by line
• Scarcity vs. abundance mindset
• Fear and generational conditioning
• Uncomfortable now or uncomfortable later

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

This week I welcome Quentin Connealy, an Eastern Nebraska farmer, social media creator, and podcast co-host to Pioneer Mindset. Tune into our conversation where we cover the realities of modern farming, from flooding and weather extremes to ag tech adoption, mental health, and staying positive through the inevitable cycles of farm life. Quentin shares how wakeboarding in a cornfield back in 2017 accidentally launched his social media presence, and how that platform evolved into a genuine community-building tool and even a business asset.

Join us for this grounded conversation that is full of practical wisdom for anyone in agriculture.

In this week's episode with Quentin:

• Farming the Missouri River Bottom
• Social media as therapy
• Mental health and peer groups
• Early adopter approach to ag tech
• Technology budget discipline
• Between Two Farms podcast
• Surviving the down cycle

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 Quentin:

• Follow Quentin on Instagram @qconnealy19
• Follow Quentin on X @qconnealy19
• Follow Quentin on Tik Tok @qconnealy
• Follow Quentin on LinkedIn
• QJ Connealy Family Farms 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

As we enter Holy Week, I wanted to focus this week's podcast episode on faith, perspective, and the weight we all carry.

I walk through the parable of The Prodigal Son and how each character, the younger son, the older son, and the father each represent struggles we all face in our own lives.

From chasing what we think we want, to feeling overlooked even when doing everything "right," to learning how to extend grace and love, this episode challenges you to see yourself in the story and reflect on where you're at today.

I also share how hardship, pressure, and uncertainty often become the very things that draw us closer to faith and how shifting your perspective can change how you carry those burdens.

Whether you're strong in your faith, struggling, or somewhere in between, this episode is an invitation to lean in, reflect, and grow, especially during a season meant for exactly that.

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!