The Business of Agriculture Podcast

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.

When you think of buying a piece of farm ground, you probably think of the very real possibility that the soil is depleted. But what if it's got more than enough fertility and what if you can actually use that banked fertility to lower your taxes? Turns out, per IRS Section 180, you can depreciate excess fertility on newly acquired farm land (purchased, not rented). Alec Bean with Agricultural Soil Management explains this crinkle in the tax code that might make your next farm land purchase a bit better for your tax plan. Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

Much of American Agriculture is predicted to have a prosperous 2023. But there are concerns. Commodity prices are high but so are inputs. Exports set a record last year but geopolitical strife is simmering on the verge of boiling over. What's the future hold for Ag? Arlan Suderman, Chief Commodities Economist with StoneX Financial and a self-proclaimed "glass half-full" guy discusses farm economics, trade, domestic consumption, burning through over-production, and why the USDA is wrong about China among other things.

The Amazon effect is coming to Agriculture. In fact, it's already here. If you need something on your farm, chances are you can order it up on your smart phone and have it by the end of the week. Even chemicals, seed, and fertilizer. But will Ag retail go away? Not likely, given the proximity, relationship, and handling capacity. Lance Ramthun, founder of Farmerce, discusses his company's incarnation, growth curve, and value proposition. This is a fun and moving discussion about the future of Ag input allocation! Sponsored by: Pattern Ag pattern.ag AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com Truterra truterraag.com

All indications are, money is going to be blowing into Agriculture from a myriad of sources over the next year, largely in the form of environmentalism. Is this trend for real? Will the funds come from a new Farm Bill? Are corporate players truly investing in Ag or just covering their tales in the new era of ESG — Environmental, Social, and Governance movements? John Duff of Sero Ag Strategies provides his take on the matter. While carbon sequestration programs are still evolving, nitrogen reduction programs, carbon intensity scores, and even water reduction and quality initiatives are in the offing. While some in Ag look at this new environmentalism with skepticism, there appears to be money behind the movement. Agriculture is a business, which means this revenue stream should be on everyone's radar. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

If you've worked in the Business of Agriculture for one year or the past 50 years, all you've known is increased globalization of our industry. That's changing and the pace of change will likely accelerate during the next decade. Todd Thurman, co-host of The Business of Ag Success Group discusses the rise of globalization as we examine American Ag exports past, present, and future and what tomorrow's global markets might look like. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

North American Agriculture has benefited greatly by China's rise during the last couple decades. But, as you've heard, all good things must come to an end and in this case, the end might not end well. Tensions between China and the west — particularly the United States — have ramped up. And frankly, those tensions aren't likely to subside. In this episode we discuss trade, numbers, and the reasons it's time to start weaning North American Agriculture off the adversarial customer that is China. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

American Agriculture often times suffers from a disorder I've termed Acute Commodity Mindset. Symptoms of this disorder include thinking customers should purchase what we produce — regardless of what they actually want — and resisting opportunities to up-sell higher profit margin products. We saw both of these behaviors in the recent "spat" with Mexico, who initiated a ban on GMO corn beginning in 2024. Mexico softened their stance on Genetically engineered corn after being threatened by American Ag. Unfortunately, we'll take the wrong lesson from this "victory" over our number two Ag customer, who I believe will ultimately look to replace the U.S. as a corn provider. XtremeAg's Matt Swanson discusses the issue. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

A few years ago, it seemed that capital was on every corner looking for a place to invest. But even in those cash-rich days, not a lot of investors looked at Agriculture as an investment objective — aside from biological crop inputs and technology. Then there is Open Prairie, an Illinois-based private equity group deploying investor money into growing agricultural companies. Open Prairie's founder and CEO, Jim Schultz discusses the landscape of Ag venture capital, why he's bullish on Ag, and the future. Mr. Schultz also explains — in simple terms — the process of investing and how his fund works, then he shares some great illustrations citing companies you may have heard of! Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

Luke Roush was just a kid when I met him, now he's managing a diversified Indiana farming operation with his father. We talk about skill sets, strengths, weaknesses, employee management, growth, money, the future, and more. What does Luke see from his perspective? Where are the challenges, and where are the opportunities? How does technology adoption favor his generation? What concerns do the next generation of farmers have? Most importantly, what excites tomorrow's farmers? It's all here! Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com