The Business of Agriculture Podcast

We've seen what Russia's invasion of Ukraine has done to roil commodity markets but what else does this mean for American Ag? Todd Thurman and Ryan Moe join me for a discussion about the contagion of military conflict in the Black Sea region. Is this the beginning of a global power reset? What will China do in the aftermath of Ukraine? Most importantly, if this is a wake up call to North American Ag to diversify customers and suppliers, will we take the call? This is a great discussion on a topic with lots of tentacles! WARNING: This episode contains adult language. Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

Record amounts of capital are sitting on the sideline looking for somewhere to go. Inflation is at a 40 year high. Interest rates are poised to jump multiple times in the next year. Asset values — from soybeans to farm land to cars and equipment — are up by record percentages. What does all this mean for the Business of Agriculture? Bill Conerly, economist and business consultant provides context and explanation on economic realities impacting Ag. Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

Logan Lyon has a corporate job, two children, and a wife with farm ties. He uses those ties for access to machinery to farm his own 200 acres himself. Logan provides his perspective and predictions on the future of Ag. Among them: There will be farmers like him who work in town and farm 1,000 or fewer acres then there will be large-scale operators. The future will employ smaller, less expensive farm implements. Consolidation will occur among Ag organizations as the number squeeze continues. There's plenty more outlook and predictions in our discussion…give it a listen!! Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

The "Joe Rogan Crisis," as one media outlet is calling it, began with activist musician Neil Young's ultimatum that Spotify stop streaming Rogan's podcast or pull Neil's music from its service. Spotify stuck with Rogan, the media is still talking about the incident two weeks later, and 76 year old Neil Young's career got a shot in the arm with weeks of free promotion. So what does any of this have to do with Agriculture? Everything, that's what. Give this a listen! Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

Agriculture's mentality and unstated business model has forever been: Make more food because population growth is going to exceed our ability to produce. But what happens when we have adequate production to feed humanity (which we already do) and the population begins to decline (which is about to happen in a couple decades)? Demographic changes are happening fast. Developed nations are getting older, women aren't having enough babies to replace our current population, and eventually we may run out of immigrants to fill our Ag jobs. Todd Thurman joins me to discuss a topic that most people in Agriculture have never even considered — a future with fewer mouths to feed. Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

Sustainability has been a buzzphrase for the past decade but how do you define it? That was a major subject at the recent Vision Conference with sessions devoted to accurately measuring emissions and how to compensate Ag for Earth-friendly practices. Also discussed at the conference: Tech's advance via autonomous machinery (there are 130 robotic orchard sprayers already deployed in the west) and the growing influence of consumers on food production. Ag entrepreneur and friend of show Rob Saik, founder of AgVisorPro, shares highlights from the Vision Conference as we discuss what it means for the Business of Agriculture. Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

In January of 2022 the Biden administration announced that one billion dollars of government money would be deployed to make meat less expensive. This, in response to the recent (and rapid!) run-up in protein prices. Details of the plan are still a bit unclear. One major objective of the spending is to expand slaughter capacity among smaller scale meat processors. Will this make meat less expensive for the consumer? Will it help meat producers? Jim Heimerl, a large-scale Ohio pork producer who also dabbles in beef production, joins me to discuss meat realities. Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

The Biden administration kicked off the new year by doubling down on its spending to change the meat processing industry. Their proposal calls for $1 billion to be dedicated to expanding independent meat processing. Expanding local and regional meat processing away from the oligopolistic packers is a fine concept, especially for us who rely on small, independent butchering facilities in rural America. But…the stated purpose of the legislation is to lower meat prices for consumers and that math simply doesn't add up. Todd Thurman joins me to discuss the economics of meat. Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

Running south of Portland, Oregon, the Willamette Valley runs about 120 miles and the farmers there produce some 300-plus crops. One major crop is grass seed. If you've bought a bag of grass seed at your nursery or home improvement store, there's a very good chance it came from Oregon. While speaking to the Oregon Seed League conference, I ran across Brenda, Macey, and Shelly — three women with family roots in Oregon Ag who are now running their own diversified Ag operations. Each of them used their base in grass seed production to expand their Ag operations into tree nuts, a trucking company, and even an international Ag export company. Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com

Like most things in production Ag, there's a whole lot going on before the burger hits your plate. How has beef production changed, what cattle genetics are sought after, where has beef steered its ship wrong in the past, will we see vertically integrated beef the way the pork and poultry industry have gone, what's in the future for American beef? I sit down with Kim Ford of Cross Diamond Cattle Company - a major producer of Red Angus genetics, and Randall Adolph of Freedom Hills Ranch of Illinois to discuss all this and more. Sponsored by LandTrust landtrust.com