The Business of Agriculture Podcast

More than half the states in the U.S. are considering "right-to-repair" laws according to a recent article. Legislation at the federal level is being pushed by Montana senator Jon Tester. Pushers of "right-to-repair" regulation position themselves as victims of big equipment companies. Big equipment companies, on the other hand, claim they have the right to void warranties if owners put the wrenches to their increasingly sophisticated machines and, in doing so, make a mess. Ultimately, I believe this issue will resolve itself as equipment gets increasingly complex and as the ownership model morphs into more of a subscription. Fred Simkin, right-to-repair proponent and engineer joins me for a discussion (and occasional disagreement) on the subject. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

I've been hearing the complaint, "it's hard / impossible for a young person to start out in farming these days" for decades. Recently, an interviewer went down this road about the struggle of young people to get into farming and blamed the phenomenon on "corporate-ization." You've no doubt heard this complaint yourself, but is it even true? If it is true, why is it? In this episode I provide some historic perspective, numbers, data, outlook, and reality: that commodity production favors scale and size, whether you're in the business of making corn or manufacturing copper. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

Kelly Garrett is an entrepreneurial farmer from western Iowa. His business interests include farming, trucking, plant food distribution, ag retail, and now: direct to consumer beef. Kelly joins me to discuss the motivation behind creating GLC Beef and the opportunities for increasing profit margins by becoming vertically integrated. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

We've been hearing about carbon credits for several years in Agriculture. Finally, the vagueness of the ecosystem marketplace is becoming more clear. In this episode we learn how farmers enroll their acres to get compensation for carbon sequestration and nitrogen reduction. Who pays for these environmental objectives? How much money is available and how are the arrangements structured? What practices are eligible (or not allowed)? And what — besides annual revenue — are the benefits to participants? Mariah Murphy, Truterra's Director of Retailer and Farmer Services, explains Ecosystem Services and how Ag producers can benefit by starting with a soil health assessment.

The Business of Agriculture trades commodities. We produce them, buy them, sell them, and process them to make products for our end users. But who does all this trading and who ultimately, uses the goods we make? Dave Smoldt and Kyle Schrad with StoneX Financial give us a behind the scenes look at customers they serve and how they help end users navigate the commodity markets for their business — and ultimately for profitability. We discuss marketing, risk management, supply management, the impact of ESG on Ag businesses, the reality of economics and the truth of "market volatility." Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

U.S. net farm income set a record in 2022, up 14% from 2021 to $160.5 billion. To put it mildly, things in Ag are good financially speaking. 2022's farm income number is double what it was just 3 years ago during the China - U.S. trade spat. What does this mean for those of us who earn our living in Agriculture? Will expenses rise by more than income (2023 will be the most expensive crop ever planted!)? Will the good times keep rolling or are we about to be blind sided? And what should we in Ag be doing now to capitalize on the positive financial situation while managing for the next downturn? Paul Neiffer, The Farm Accountant, and Chris Barron with Ag View Solutions address all this and more! Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag, AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com, and Truterra truterraag.com

Agriculture has a lot of battles to fight beyond the daily challenges of producing our food, fuel, and fiber. Causes against production Ag have turned into religious movements as well as full-blown business models. Call it what it is, it's "the conflict industry" and in places like Holland, farms are being forcibly liquidated by government to reach an alleged environmental objective. This subject is just one that we cover in this episode about Agricultural advocacy with guests Natalie Kovarik and Tara Vander Dussen. If you don't know these ladies, you soon will as they're tearing it up on social media elevating Ag one video at a time. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com

In 2022 American farmers produced the fourth largest soybean crop on record at 117 million metric tons or roughly 4.4 billion bushels. The good news: Demand is matching global supply and prices are decent. The challenging news: Our demand for soybean oil is outpacing our demand for soybean meal. Given the math (about 80% of a soybean is meal, 20% is oil), this presents a challenge. That's why the soybean industry has issued a challenge to find more innovative ways to utilize soybean meal. Mac Marshall, VP of Market Intelligence with United Soybean Board joins Damian for an always interesting dialogue about soybeans, world markets, and more. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com

Cow farts cause "climate crisis" and climate crisis is reducing crop yields, eating eggs causes high cholesterol, global population growth will cause mass starvation, sunlight exposure is harmful to your health. You've likely heard these dire predictions confidently proclaimed by so-called experts. The only problem: Most of these doomsday scenarios are inaccurate. Yet they persist but why? Todd Thurman joins me to discuss the peril of following "experts," the reality of our future versus doomsday paranoia, and why people cling to false or disproven narratives. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com

Shay Foulk with Ag View Solutions predicts cost of corn production for 2023 will average $5.35 per bushel. That number is an all time high and it's due to an increase in every crop input from nitrogen to diesel to labor. The story is the same for the other major commodity of soybeans, and presumably for wheat as well. The reason: crop input price inflation. The good news: farms are still predicted to turn a profit in 2023, helped by high commodity prices. And, these are nominal dollars, not real dollars (we'll explain!). What does all this mean to you, me, the rest of the Ag sector and our consumers? Shay joins Joe Vaclavik of Standard Grain to shed light on marketplace outlook amid the most expensive crop ever planted looming this spring. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com