The Business of Agriculture Podcast

Mike Way started his Ag career selling citrus upon graduating from Fresno State. A few years later, he hopped over to vegetables with a few partners. Today he is the CEO and half owner of Prime Time — a California-based grower / shipper / packer of produce specializing mostly in peppers. Mike explains the challenges of providing year-round vegetables to the food service and retail marketplace while also navigating California's increasingly anti-Ag policies. Both of those challenges spurred his business to expand into Mexico. Chances are, you've eaten a Prime Time pepper. If you're looking for the story behind that pepper, here it is. Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

North American farmers are losing valuable bushels of corn and soybeans at both the front and back end of their combines -- those bushels never making it to the grain bin. We in Agriculture have been conditioned to focus on increasing production. But what about the money being lost by losing yield on crops you've already produced? That was the motivation for Craig Ganssle, founder of Farmwave, which uses AI technology to reduce grain loss. Craig is joined by Midwest farmer, Jacob Smoker who explains his results using the Farmwave system. Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

In a year's time, interest rates have more than doubled, commodity prices have declined by roughly 15 percent, while land and cash rent prices are in record territory. So, is everything alright with farm financials? John Maman with Nutrien Financial joins Damian to discuss Agriculture money and the marketplace. No, it's still not the 1980's and yes, you should have a firm understanding of the 5 C's of credit! Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

If you work in the Business of Agriculture, you likely know of a dysfunctional family farming operation. Contrary to the pastoral vision of farming portrayed in children's books, many farms are stress-filled places to work with family members in conflict, run by narcissistic owners. So says Andy Junkin who works as a farm mediator and advisor to keep family farming operations from imploding. Andy joins Damian to discuss succession plans, working with the next generation, and the 9,000 hour rule. If you're a farmer in that 77%, you may not like what you hear in this episode. Which is exactly why you need to hear it! Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

Farmland values have been on a tear the last couple years. Who's buying America's farms and why are they doing so? Is it true that institutional investors are keeping farmers from expanding ownership? Will interest rate hikes cause farm ground prices to plummet? Are foreigners buying the property next door? Is farmland still a good investment? Should there be restrictions on who can own farm ground? Paul Pittman of Farmland Partners answers all those questions and more — buckle up for a fast moving discussion! Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

Drone technology is evolving at a rapid pace. Will we see a future where unmanned aerial vehicles replace the traditional crop duster? Likely not for a number of practical reasons as well as the technology advancements being made in manned agricultural aviation. A more likely scenario is where drones compliment airplanes (as well as terrestrial application units) for greater precision, reduced product application, and improved production. In this forward looking episode Damian sits down with Bill Reynolds of Leading Edge Aerial Technology, Andrew Moore with National Ag Aviation Association, and Mike Dipaola CCO of Taranis. Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

"Our industry is going to require 60,000 4-year college graduates and we're around 38,000 students graduating from the Ag curriculum currently." So says Dr. Tom Paulson, department head at Morningside U's Applied Agricultural and Food Studies. Dr. Paulson is joined by Tom Moss and Liz Zoebel, two of 75 students studying Agriculture at the Sioux City, Iowa college. They discuss what they're learning, what they're not learning, where we can help them develop professionally, and much more. Tune in to this spotlight on tomorrow's Ag leaders. Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

Have you noticed steaks and chicken breasts are considerably larger than they were just a couple decades ago? Switching to pork, have you noticed your chops are less flavorful (maybe that explains the popularity of bacon)? Todd Thurman and Nevil Speer join Damian to discuss the meat production model and how we've gotten to a place of less flavor and huge carcasses. Can we reverse this trend by focusing on consumer preferences or will Agriculture continue to focus on production rather than consumers? Profit margins of tomorrow depend on our response to consumer signals. Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

Every five years congress hashes out, argues about, and then releases a new and revised Farm Bill. At least that is what's supposed to happen, although it may not happen for the 2023 version. Paul Neiffer, the Farm CPA, joins Damian to explain the current Farm Bill, predict what's in the new version, and discuss proposed changes. The new Farm Bill's spending is set to grow by 60% -- much of it for nutrition programs — but where else will this money end up? Listen and find out! Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

Fact: There will be fewer American farmers ten years from now than there are today. In no way is this meant to be fatalistic or negative, it's just reality. "Peak farm" occurred in 1935 with 6.8 million farming operations in the U.S. The number has been declining ever since to two million farming operations today. Of those two million operations, about 175,000 do almost all the heavy lifting of food production and farm the vast majority of acres. That number is expected to drop as farm consolidation continues. Facing this reality, what strategies should be employed to succeed if your customers are farmers and each year there will be fewer of them? Joel Farley and Eric Lohse of Midwest Ag Advisors discuss their business and what they're doing to expand in the face of Ag consolidation.