The Business of Agriculture Podcast

Real estate is the foundation of everything we do in Agriculture. Sometimes that real estate requires outside management or a professional to determine its value. Seth Baker and Ryan Aupperle are two guys who do just that. They are professional farm managers and appraisers in Illinois. They sit down with me to discuss what they do, what they see, and what things will be impacting Ag real estate and the Business of Agriculture. Why would a land owner need a professional farm manager? How do appraisers formulate real estate values? They'll tell you why. Along with some pretty good insights and a story or two about blow ups over the family farm! We even discuss interest rates, the direction in land values, and whether farm land will be "Zillow-ized."

If you earn your living in the Business of Agriculture you likely are familiar with crop inputs. That's all the stuff we use to produce an actual crop, like fertilizer, chemistry, seed, and so on. In the old days there was a model: you had a facility, you brought in stuff from the manufacturer, and you retailed said inputs to a farmer. But technology, consolidation, and the online marketplace is changing this model. Quickly! How do you stay ahead and avoid commoditization? I sit down in this episode with four bright employees of Helena Agri-Enterprises to discuss just that. We discuss soil, innovation, marketplace realities, challenges, and their view on the future of Ag.

Jerod McDaniel is a farmer, rancher, and podcaster from Texhoma, Oklahoma. He joins me to discuss his operation, the challenges of rural western Oklahoma, and the business of agriculture from his perspective. We devote a good amount of time to the topic of cattle but you'll also like Jerod's take on the need for Ag to work with what you're given in any given year and the need for being adaptive to a constantly changing marketplace.

By now you've heard about and most likely seen the Bud Light Super Bowl commercial. The spot proudly proclaims Bud Light doesn't contain corn syrup whereas the brand's two biggest competitors do. Many of our co-horts in the Business of Agriculture - particularly corn growers- are up in arms. While I'm a pro-corn guy from a corn state, I'm gonna tell you in this episode why the commercial was probably good marketing on Bud Light's part. I'll also look a little deeper and explain why this commercial ties nicely with Anheuser Busch's other two commercials, one for Budweiser and the other for Mich Ultra Pure Gold. The theme is socially conscious marketing. One spot touts environmentalism, one sells nature and organic compliance, and the "corn-troversial" one distances itself from a common villain: high fructose corn syrup. While we in Ag may not like it (and we may even feel singled out as corn producers) these are the realities of the marketplace.

J.R. Simplot started as an eighth grade dropout and hit his first entrepreneurial home run with hogs in the 1920s. Mr. Simplot went on to build an empire, mostly with potatoes (If you've eaten a McDonald's French fry, you've had their spuds!). Today Simplot employs 12,000 people worldwide, and is still family owned. The company's Agribusiness division has 93 Ag retail facilities, cattle feeding operations, fertilizer production, a turf business, and potatoes, of course. While speaking at the company's leadership forum, I pulled aside a V.P. and Director for their perspective on all things Ag. Where are the opportunities, where are there threats? How do you avoid stagnation as a successful company and continue innovating? This episode has some great ideas that anyone in the Business of Agriculture can benefit from. Be sure to listen to the end for closing nuggets and entrepreneurial advice to "fail fast!"

If you're in the business of Agriculture you are probably familiar with country grain elevators. You may even think the grain elevator is dying. But it's not. It's just evolving, like everything else in Ag. In this episode I sit down with two grain elevator owners - an Iowan and an Ontarian - and a representative with White Commercial Corporation, a grain brokerage. We talk about the past, present, and future of grain elevators and the role they play in the Ag industry. You'll love this conversation between the four of us — pull a chair up to the table!

Friend of show, Rob Saik, joins me to discuss his latest initiative. Rob is the founder of Agri-Trend, a company he sold to Trimble, and is the new C.E.O of DOT - a Canadian based autonomous machinery manufacturer. We discuss autonomous machinery's application and future in farming. When and why will we see this new technology? What are the benefits (and downside) of autonomous farm implements? And why time and technology march on in the Business of Agriculture.

We in Agriculture are constantly reminded of the need to "tell our story." While I agree with the need for communicating with our non-Ag brethren, oftentimes the story we tell doesn't stick. Why? Because it's about us. And while suburban North Americans might like some behind the scenes peaks into our lives and how we earn our living while producing their food, the message that sells must be All About Them. In this episode I lay out the realities of communicating to our consumers and provide three messages that resonate with Main Street.

At new years time each year I sit down and get reflective about business and the year that was. What things did I accomplish, what did I not accomplish, and how can I improve upon those things for the new year. In this episode I give you an outline for goal setting that'll help you achieve a life and business by choice. More importantly, I discuss the "ah has" one finds when critically looking back at the year that was. If you're looking to eliminate distractions and boost productivity, give this a listen!

Like it or not, the Business of Agriculture is controlled, in large part, by the federal government. This has been the case for at least a century and became more pronounced with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. Since then the Farm Bill has been a package of ever-expanding legislation, adjusted and released about every 5 years. John Newton, Chief Economist with American Farm Bureau Federation joins me to discuss this Farm Bill. Listen to discover what's new in the bill, what changes were made and why, and what's it mean for you and the Business of Ag.