The Millennial Ag Podcast

It is a consensus that Mental Health is one of the most unacknowledged issue in agriculture. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Millennial Ag is bringing you our very first series. We dive into why we care, how we can help, how we can break the stigma, and provide resources to anyone that may need them. We are real, we are raw, we are Millennial Ag.

This week Millennial Ag is joined by JW Wood, a feedyard manager in Idaho. Animal Protein has been in the news this week, with Tyson's CEO taking out full page ads in metropolitan newspapers warning of a protein shortage coming to America. we get the straight story from JW, some background on what's happening in the supply chain and reassurance that America's farmers and ranchers are still producing food for the American people. Join us this week as we delve into how the American beef supply chain has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

This week, Millennial Ag heads into unfamiliar territory. Yes, we're still talking about the coronavirus, but we're joined by two very special guests in unique situations. Derek Orsenigo and Brittany H. Lee join us from Florida to discuss their perspectives from specialty crop vantage points. Brittany gives us the lowdown on the Florida blueberry situation, while Derek shares how his leafy green, herb and sweet corn operations are struggling. This glimpse into a smaller but highly specialized sector of agriculture is fascinating, and the struggles they are facing due tot he pandemic are no less severe than more traditional agriculture sectors. Tune into this week's episode - you don't want to miss it.

This week, we are joined by an incredible guest with some awesome insights into current consumer buying behavior. Janette Barnard has a deep background in the animal protein and agriculture supply chain arenas. We discuss why consumers are opting for more traditional protein sources, and leaving plant-based alternatives on the shelves. Janette takes us down a path of talking about how the agriculture supply chain is inflexible, but why that isn’t necessarily a bad thing (at least in non-pandemic times), how the alternative protein business may actually be more adapted to scaling up and down quickly, and what all these sudden changes mean for the face of our industry as we know it. She gets us really excited about the possibilities coming wide open for direct to consumer marketing, and shares insights of what this kind of sudden onslaught of innovation could mean for agricultural producers. This is one episode you don’t want to miss - fast paced and fun, Janette Barnard hits this week’s topic out of the park.

Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on American health and the economy, and agriculture unfortunately is no exception. Among the hardest hit are our nation’s dairy farmers. While store shelves and food banks sit empty of nature’s most nearly perfect food, dairy producers across the country are literally dumping milk down the drain. This week, we’re joined by two dairy-derived Millennials. Hank and Katy DeVries, siblings from a dairy in Southern Idaho share their on-the-ground experiences with dumping their family’s livelihood and hard work straight down the pipes. Hank talks about what it’s like to literally watch a day’s hard work disappear before his eyes without hope for compensation, while Katy talks about her efforts to try and provide a shot of adrenaline to the industry locally. Problems have piled on top of problems for dairy farmers, who haven’t experienced a year of black ink since 2014. Coronavirus is snowballing the bad effects of years of bad prices, but our guests display agriculturists’ eternal optimism by showing where the light can still be found, even in times of crisis and loss.

This week, we reflect. The coronavirus pandemic has demanded we slow down, and with that decreased pace comes time to consider what really matters. Katharine and Valene share how the first quarter has changed constantly for them since they first shared their New Years goals with you. They talk about how they have and are adapting, both to shifting goals and workplace needs and demands. They share howt he slowdown ahs affected them individually and together, and finally, recognize the vulnerability this situation is nearly demanding is them how to grow strong, and instead of using fear as an excuse, use it to face everything and rise.

Coronavirus. Surprised? Yeah, us neither. But we thought we'd put our own Millennial Ag spin on it. This week, we bring in a millennial guest, Mr. Patrick Linnell. Patrick is an analyst for Cattlefax, and keeps a close eye on agriculture markets, interpreting trends and dissecting the numbers to help us understand what the heck is going on. We engage in lively conversation, trying to understand how coronavirus has impacted the agricultural markets, how long it may last, how we can deal with it, and most importantly, looking at it through the millennial lens. Tune in while you're in quarantine, and don't forget to drop us a line ([email protected]).

Let's talk about CAFOs. Confined Animal Feeding Operations. Yep, we're going there. It seems like they're always in the news, and even in the western U.S., activity against larger animal ag operations seems to be gaining ground. Why? Valene and Katharine dig into this issue this week. We talk about some of the legislation being brought against animal agriculture, why this might be happening, and how livestock producers can begin to work to protect themselves and others in the industry. We talk about animal rights activists, how they're not backing down, and how agriculturists can respond.

This week, Katharine and Valene travel further along in the discussion they started in the last episode. After asking if civility even exists anymore, and reflecting on some political experiences they shared, the conversation naturally turned to how agriculture is used and abused in American politics. It’s a presidential election year here in the States, and rather unusually, agriculture has turned up more often on the debate stage and candidates’ issues platforms. Katharine and Valene get a little bit sideways with each other, discussing their viewpoints about how agriculture is represented politically. You’ll want to tune in to this week’s episode of the Millennial Ag Podcast to hear their take on agriculture, politics, and how we learned we have different viewpoints about this issue, but were still able to have a civil conversation.