Justin Fruechte and Jared Knock joined me for a 2021 postmortem. We talked about the factors affecting agriculture in 2021 as well as a big picture discussion about how agriculture has changed as the West has been settled. Jared and Justin will be with us for a live podcast recording with Steve Kenyon at the 2022 Farm and Ranch Conference in Deadwood, SD January 21st, and 22nd.
Wally Olson of Ranching.FYI joined me to discuss an interesting statement he made on a recent webinar. He said, "Every ranch needs some sheep." Wally isn't great mind in ranching I have heard say this. So, I wanted to know why he thinks this is the case and how people can go about getting into the sheep business.
Enrique Guerrero is a rancher from Chihuahua, Mexico. He joined me to discuss his recent project in mine land regeneration. We talk about his history of ranching, how he got started with regenerative agriculture, and how the mine land regeneration project got started and went on to win an award for sustainable mining.Sponsor:PorkCheckoff.org/sustainability
Steve Strasheim is a vegetable farmer in Iowa. He joined me to talk about the mindset it takes to make a living on 2 acres of a vegetable farm. We talk about the business of selling, what works as far as marketing, and how to learn to love selling.Sponsor:DPHBio.comhttp://DPHBio.com
Bart and Shannon Carmichael run a seed stock operation North of Faith, SD. Over the last several years they have been on a journey to find a cow adapted to their environment. They joined me to talk about that process. We talked about what they have learned, where they have learned it, and the importance of always challenging your own thinking.Sponsor:DPHBio.com
Pete Ferrell of Ferrell Ranch and 4L Grazing joined me to discuss the difference between succession and perpetuating an ecological and economic unit that can benefit generations to come. We also talked about the value of separating the land business from the management company as well as ways to create buy-in among those who want to be a part of the business.Sponsor:PorkCheckoff.org/Sustainability
Elaine Froese is a agricultural business transition expert. She joined me to discuss the ways farm families get stuck as well as how they can go about getting unstuck.
Luke and Natalie Kovarik joined me to discuss how they have used technology to build a business that can scale as first generation operators. We talk about the importance of making use of overheads to produce multiple streams of income as well as tools like Performance Beef and how it has helped them keep track of where they are in their backgrounding operation.Sponsor:PerformanceLivestockAnalytics.com
Steve Kenyon a grazier and educator in Canada joined me to discuss how he manages every year to prepare for a drought. We talked about his approach to grazing in good years and drier years and how he thinks about grazing given the history of a given paddock's management.
Aaron and Tara Helmick joined me to talk about the journey they have been on toward radically transforming their business. We talk about what facilitated that change, how they decided which direction to head, and some of the lessons they have learned on the road less traveled.