The Business of Agriculture Podcast

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

Farmers love to talk about the weather but in this episode we go deeper and talk about systems, climate, global weather patterns, and the year ahead. My guest is Eric Snodgrass, Senior Science Fellow for Nutrien Ag Solutions. Will we see the sort of devastating dryness we experienced in the west in 2022 make a repeat? Will we have subsoil moisture replenished? And what about the Mississippi river…will it fill up soon? Those questions and more in this episode of The Business of Agriculture. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com

Lasse Jakobsen was born in Denmark, now the Millennial heads up U.S. business development for the company his grandfather created to serve European hog production. Today, Protekta is a joint venture with a Danish organization that produces feed additives, among other things, for pork, poultry, and primarily dairy producers. Lasse discusses the advantages of selling to a consolidating industry, lessons learned about customer outreach, surviving Covid disruptions, the advantage he has from working in Europe, and other business perspectives. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com

Your smart phone has more technology and capability than NASA's Apollo program had 50 years ago. Think about that, then think about the technology in today's modern farm machinery. Data collection, yield monitoring, analysis down to the square foot…It's amazing to say the least. John Deere business development manager Dan Paschke joins Deere dealer representatives Jeremy Ostrander and Jon Carlo of Agrivision Equipment and PrairieLand Partners to discuss farm machinery, technology, and the past and present of the Business of Agriculture from their perspective. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com

Two weeks ago I posted on social media a photo of an antique tractor next to a modern machine. In my post I referenced the advancements we've made since the antique tractor worked the land — 7 times increase in per acre yield, less natural resource consumption per calorie produced, environmental advancements, etc… Then, as often happens on social media, the detractors began commenting. This post brought out the nostalgia for simpler times back when small farms could compete and farming was easier and more profitable. The only problem with these comments of course is that they're completely inaccurate. In this episode I debunk revisionist Ag history. The good old days weren't always good. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com

Renewable diesel is the new buzz talk everywhere in Agriculture. Will its take off and reality match the fervor in farm circle discussions? Will the tax credits giving RD lift off remain with us? Will more biofuel fuel the "no food for fuel" debate? Well, yes, that's almost a guarantee! Mac Marshall, VP of Market Intelligence with the United Soybean Board talks all things soybean and renewable diesel, from numbers to acres, to marketplace issues and more. Sponsored by Pattern Ag pattern.ag and AGvisorPRO getagvisorpro.com