Top Producer Podcast

In today's podcast Paul does a solo podcast on the new Emergency Commodity Assistance Program plus an update on what might happen with income taxes this year. Paul touches briefly on ECAP and how farmers might qualify for an increased payment limit and the restrictions on that for certain legal entities. On income taxes, he reviews how the situation in 2017 is different from 2025 and then goes over the various options for doing income tax cuts or raising tax revenue. This will not be the final podcast that Paul does this year on taxes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast, Paul has another conversation with Mike Rohlfsen and Jeff Kazin of AgrisAcademy. Their company provides risk management training for farmers and we discuss an update from the last time we had them on the podcast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Kimberly Ratcliff of Texas. She is the 2025 Top Producer Woman in Agriculture winner and has a unique story of leaving New York City to move back to the farm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Mark Hanna, a farmer in North Central Iowa that was a 2025 Top Producer finalist. Mark and his family have a row crop and hog operation, but Mark has also been involved with investing and helping over 50 ag startups.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with John Guglielmi, executive director of Total Acre. Total Acre provides help to farmers to improve their yields by utilizing data provided by both their farm and other farms. Total Farm was started by David Hula and Randy Dowty who have won numerous corn and soybean yield contests.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chris Barron of Ag View Solutions. Chris has been on the podcast before and today we discuss 2025 corn and soybean budgets. As expected corn looks better than soybeans at least right now. Farmers should try to maximize yield and revenue versus just looking at costs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Dave Janson of Strategic Farm Marketing. The crop insurance decision is coming soon and there are even more products available that can help farmers maximize their risk coverage. Plus ECO discount has gone up by almost 50% this year compared to last and many farmers should consider this option.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Tara Smith of the Torrey Advisory Group based in Washington DC. Tara is an advocate for the ag industry and grew up on a corn and soybean farm in central Illinois. We discuss the prospects for a new Farm Bill and how crop insurance is the best risk management option for farmers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Kaden Stein a young CPA based in Dodge City, Kansas. Kaden purposely came back home to be a CPA which also allows him to support his cattle habit. Although there are challenges to being a rural CPA the rewards more than make up for it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chase Larson of Bestifor Farms in North Central Kansas. Chase is also a 2025 Top Producer of the Year candidate and has created several entrepreneurial businesses including pet food and water software.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Erin Arick and Mitchell Parks of Figured. Figured provides cloud-based management software to help farmers better run their business. We discuss how this solution works and how it can help farmers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Paige Harding, a new attorney in Dodge City, Kansas. Paige grew up on a cow calf operation and after graduating from law school was able to come back to her hometown. Paige was also involved in several pageants and has developed a blog on benefits of rural living and even has time for her own cattle operation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with John Schwarz, an attorney and farmer in Northern Indiana. John focuses on providing legal services to farmers including helping farmers circumvent the pitfalls of dealing with FSA and NRCS. John also farms non-gmo soybeans using irrigation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul does a solo webinar on the details of the $10 billion economic aid and $20 billion disaster aid that was enacted late last week by Congress. For those that would like to see the Power Point portion of the webinar, Paul is providing free access to the webinar at his blog www.farmcpareport.com. That webinar was posted early Monday morning. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and this aid may be a Christmas gift for most farmers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Austin Allred of Royal Family Farms in Central Washington State. Austin and his family have a very diversified farm operation including row crops, potatoes, dairy and beef. Austin also is in charge of their worm farm, and we spend a bit of time discussing how you farm worms and why this is important for their operations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Brian O'Neill, owner of Huron Orchard Services. Brian and his team manages many almond and pistachio orchards near Fresno. We discuss how important water and labor is for growing these crops. We then dive into some of the key details on growing these nuts including estimated annual production, pricing and harvesting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Mike Gustafson of Farmers First Trust. Mike grew up on a farm in NE Nebraska and is currently a principal in Farmers First Trust that offers an additional way to defer income taxes when selling farmland or certain other farm assets. He also shares a unique story regarding his brother and how he overcame losing an arm in a farm accident.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Todd Welle of Honour Ag. Honour Ag provides both input and equipment financing for farmers and their motto is to make it easy. We discuss how they provide that financing and some of the industry trends.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Matt Boos of Agrigrowth consulting. Matt helps farmers grow their business which may not just be the farm business. He is also a firm proponent of being part of a peer group.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Erik Oberbroeckling who farms with his family in NE Iowa. They also have a trucking operation that hauls silica sand, milk and other commodities on a year-round basis. We spend time discussing the farm and trucking operation and how diversification has helped both businesses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Amy France. Amy and her family farm in Western Kansas but she is also the new chairwomen of the National Sorghum Producers and we discuss her role with that organization. We also review Section 45Z and how sorghum can be part of that process.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul does a special report on the Farmer Assistance and Revenue Mitigation (FARM) Act that was introduced in Congress late last week. This Act is passed would make materially large payments to most farmes to help mitigate the revenue losses that most farmers are facing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Emily Oberbroeckling. She and her husband farm in NE Iowa but she is also a full time farmland appraiser with Peoples Company. We review some of the key trends affecting land values including that the latest quarter may have seen a slight increase in values.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with John Newton, Executive Head of Terrain. John was previously the chief economist for the Republican Senate Ag Committee and has been in his current role less than a month. We discuss the prospects for a new Farm Bill and other related matters.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has another conversation with Mitchell Hora of Continuum Ag regarding Section 45Z and how this may help provide additional revenue to farmers. We are still waiting for guidance from the IRS on the credit, but here are certain steps that farmers should take now to be prepared to participate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Shaun Haney of RealAgriculture. Shaun is located in Alberta, Canada but has extensive experience with US Ag too. We review how politics works in Canada which is different from the US but may be moving our way a bit which may not be good.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Brian Grete, editor of Pro Farmer. We discuss the history of Pro Farmer, the Pro Farmer crop tour. We also share some of the stories from the crop tour.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Reid Weiland, a sixth generation farmer based in North Central Iowa. Reid's operation has focused more on the infrastructure than purchasing land to grow and become more efficient. We also discuss the benefit of being in a peer group and his time farming in Brazil, where more importantly he met his wife. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul does a solo podcast discussing how a farmer can take advantage of a Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange. But Paul also reviews some of the pitfalls if farmers are selling land with improvements. In many cases this will result in gain that the farmer was not counting on.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chris Barron of Ag View Solutions. We review updated cost estimates for 2024 corn crop plus review the cost of carry of corn or soybeans.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has another conversation with Jim Rothermich of Iowa Appraisal. The peak of land values was around June 2022 and values have dropped about 6% since then. If crop prices stay low, there is a good chance for another 15% or so drop, but prices still remain strong but for how long.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast, Paul has a conversation with Jim Angell, an attorney in Salina, Kansas that works primarily with farmers. We discuss some of the pitfalls of succession and estate planning along with how difficult it is to attract attorney's and CPAs to rural America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Pete Nelson of AgLauch. AgLaunch helps ag tech start up companies and farmers work together. It is a partnership between the farmers and the agtech companies. This is something a farmer may be interested in being part of.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Matt Gunderson, vice president of Farmers National Company. Farmers National was founded October, 1929 right at the start of the depression. The company currently has 12 business lines serving farmers and clients in 40 states with almost 300 employees. The company is employee owned since 2001. We also discuss how having a good team is important for estate and succession planning and how a sale-leaseback of farmland might help some farmers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Scott Brown, a professor at the University of Missouri. In his career, Scott has specialized in the livestock industry including dairy and help formulate policy for multiple Farm Bills. Scott has been part of the FAPRI team for many years and we review the goal of FAPRI and discuss some of the trends in the livestock industry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Josh Linville, VP in charge of fertilizer at StoneX. We review the current trends in fertilizer costs and supplies and take a look at how our trade restrictions are creating issues for these supplies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Roxane Lieverse, who is in charge of Rabobank's Canada services for Canadian farmers. Canada ag production has some similarities to US ag production but also many differences which we review. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Jon Davis of Everstream AI. That company provides risk analysis on the supply chain including ag and energy. John is an applied meteorologist and got his passion for weather visiting his grandparents' farms in eastern South Dakota. We review how weather is changing the effect on ag production.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Jerry Gulke who likely has the longest career of writing for Farm Journal and Top Producer. We discuss markets, farming and business in general.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Eric Mueller of Legacy Farmland Fund. This fund is structured as a Section 721 exchange fund which operates similar to a 1031 exchange. This is especially helpful for farm families that have various goals for their land. Perhaps some want to keep and some want to sell. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul provides an overview of the major items included in the House Farm Bill proposal. Although not all of these proposal will pass, it is important to know how they may affect your farm operation and the proposal is very bullish on production ag. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Deon Graupner who operates cropsprofits.com. This company helps farmers understand how marketing works and how to be implement strategies. But most important, Deon is our first person based in South Africa to join the podcast. Primary crops in South Africa our similar to ours and they also have the same issues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s podcast Paul has a conversation with Scott Irwin, a professor at the University of Illinois. Scott grew up on a farm in Iowa and has a passion for all things all and is a prolific provider of information on commodity marketing and biofuels.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s podcast, Paul has a conversation with Tracey Wiedmeyer, CEO of Gripp.Ag. This company helps a farmer deal with all types of paperwork including machinery maintenance, H2A record keeping, and if there is one thing I know, farmers hate paperwork.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Jeff Kazin and Mike Rohlfsen of AgrisAcademy. Both Jeff and Mike spent many years with Cargill in risk management and merchandising and have created a business to educate farmers on how to manage risk. If you are interested they provide full 10 week training program in the winter two nights a week for 40 plus hours.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast, Paul has a conversation with Tom Haren, owner of AgPROfessionals based in Greeley, Colorado and Twin Falls, Idaho. Tom got his career started dealing with ag environmental issues and expanded the business to help farmers find and develop dairies, feedlots, poultry operations and other related livestock businesses. The last few years the company has expanded into the renewable energy sector which helps farmers diversify and prosper. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Greg Vincent with Ag Spectrum. Greg and I discuss how maximizing corn yield is not just one action item but a whole series of processes to maximize the yield. Greg is with Ag Spectrum, a company that has been helping farmers for 41 years with this process.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast, Paul has a conversation with David Muth of People Company Capital Markets. We discuss how institutional investors have reacted to higher interest rates on their land investments. We also discuss how Net Zero may affect land values. Cash flows higher but possible reduction in land appreciation. Plus, we dig into some of the direct investment options for retail investors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast, Paul has a conversation with Doug Toal of RhizeBio, an Ag Start-up. We discuss his career before starting RhizeBio and what is the goal for the company in how they help farmers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's podcast, Paul has a conversation with Hallie Shoffner who is the latest Top Producer Next Gen winner. Hallie is a rice and soybean seed farmer in NE Arkansas. Most of you are probably happy that you don't have to clean your combine at least 300 times during harvest. Hallie and her team do that plus cleaning the grain cart, etc. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.