Top Producer Podcast

In today's podcast we have a conversation with Mitchell Hora of Continuum Ag about the recent release of the updated CI scoring model and methodology from USDA. We review what this means for farmers who can deliver their crop directly to a biofuel plant or an elevator that then delivers the crop. This guidance was sorely needed, but we still have to wait for IRS to provide even more guidance.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Matt Noggle a rancher in Southeastern Michigan that finishes about 200 head in his feedlot and raises about 100 cows. He and his wife have an active direct to consumer business that markets his cattle. Matt is also a business coach for Legacy Farmer and works actively with about 50 farmers in their operation.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Gavin Willis of the Washington Red Raspberry Commission. Most of the frozen raspberries grown in the US comes from Whatcom County in Washington state due to the unique soil conditions and weather. These growers are facing issues related to labor and foreign competition but are very resilient. It can cost upwards of $50,000 to put in an acre of raspberries and mother nature does not always cooperate.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Joe Whitworth of the Freshwater Trust based in Oregon but works for farmers throughout the West to help them economically enhance their irrigation systems to help conserve water and reduce fertilizer flows into streams. They currently have a large project in the Snake River Basin to help farmers change from flood irrigation to pivots.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Tim Welles of CIC Services. This firm acts as a manager of captive insurance companies and in the podcast we review how captives work and the advantages that may occur to certain farm operations.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Reece Langley of Langley Consulting LLC. Reece has been actively involved in the farm bill process and served many years on the Rice and Cotton organizations before starting his own consulting business a few years ago specializing in Ag Policy. Reece is currently involved in trying to get manufacturers a tax incentive to buy domestic production.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Siddhartha (Sid) Jha of Arbol. Arbol provides various types of climate risk insurance alternatives and data analytics to help farmers and agribusinesses manage climate and other risks. They continue to research additional risk management products that can help farmers.

In today's podcast Paul does a solo session on the SDRP Double Up. Paul received a lot of emails, texts and calls on the SDRP payment limits; how to increase the limits; and whether we will get an additional top up later this summer.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Seth Meyer director of FAPRI at the University of Missouri. Before starting that role, he was the chief economist for USDA starting in the first Trump administration and continuing through the Biden administration and the state of the second Trump administration. We discuss those roles and how FAPRI is operated today.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Shay Foulk of Ag View Solutions. Ag View has converted the Excel based Profit Manager to a free online Farm Profit Manager that is available to all farmers.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Jeremy Matuszewski of Thunderstruck Ag Equipment based in Manitoba Canada. Thunderstruck represents several ag related products including the Razors Edge Concave that Jeremy developed himself a few years ago.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Devin Fuhrman of Nationwide Insurance. Nationwide will be celebrating 100 years and is trying to help farmers make it through the next 100 years. It is a mutual company founded by farmers and continues to be a leader in the farm insurance industry. They ahve develop farm risk ready platform on their website to help farm families manage their risk more efficiently.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Ron Dunker of Oaken. Oaken is a start-up company initiated by Purdue University that helps farmers manage their landowner relationships. As more and more land transitions to owners with little or no involvement in ag, this becomes even more important.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Shawn Arita at the North Dakota State University Agricultural Risk Policy Center. We discuss how the issues in the Middle East are affecting fertilizer price and supply plus how the trade issues are compounding the effect on farmers. For those of you that primarily listen to the podcast you may want to head to the Farm Journal YouTube channel to view the podcast due to our use of charts.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Jim Parry and Cameron Rafati of Iron Ridge Advisors. Most farmers will enter into a 1031 exchange when they sell farmland to defer the income tax. Most prefer rolling it into farmland, but in many situations they either can find good land to invest in or they run up against the 45 day deadline. Jim and Cameron provide an opportunity for farmers to still defer the tax by utilizing a Delaware Statutory Trust (DST). In the podcast we review how a DST works and when it is and is not appropriate for farmers.

A conversation with Erik Glenn of the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust. This trust was the first state specific land trust that allows ranchers and farmers to put conservation easements on their land that both comes with tax benefits and in many cash economic benefits that allows the family to keep the land available for multiple generations and/or expansion. Several other states are offering the same type of trust for their rancher and farmers.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with the Alsum family from Wisconsin who just won the most recent Top Producer of the Year award. In the podcast we discuss their farm operation, how it started and how the succession process is coming along. Larry Alsum grew up a fourth generation dairy farmer but pivoted to a first-generation producer farmer and packer.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Josh Linville of StoneX. Josh is a repeat visitor and we discuss the current world supply and demand situation for fertilizer. One comment from Josh was that the nitrogen to corn ratio is at the second highest level ever for this time of year, second only to 2005, right before the ethanol boom started. Back then corn had a 2 in front of its price and nitrogen was over $200 a ton wholesale.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Cory Walters, associate professor at the University of Nebraska. Cory grew up on a farm in NW Montana, but has spent his career in academia and helps farmers with many items but in today's podcast we discuss typical risk management options. We then have a discussion on how farmers might be able to utilize a micro captive insurance company that they own and operate and how that might help their farm operation.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Drew Blankenbaker of Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT. Drew and his team help farmers who are farming organically or trying to transition to organic obtain land that will be tied up for longer periods of time. The fund does allow the farmer to purchase the land after six years for fair market value. They have pipeline of over $50 million of farmland, now they just need to find the investors.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Tim Nuss of Nuss Farms in Lodi, California. Tim is a fifth-generation farmer whose family raises about 10 different crops and he is also this year’s Top Producer Next Gen award winner. Tim and his younger brother also started The Modern Acre podcast back in 2018 and have about 450 episodes on that.

In today's podcast, Paul has a conversation with Edward and Rebecca Dalton of northern Ohio. The Dalton's raise corn, soybeans, wheat and spelt on their farm but also finish about 450 head of dairy beef that they sell directly to the consumer. They are Top Producer of Year candidates for 2026.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Meg Whitty of Lanza Jet. Lanza Jet has the first Ethanol to SAF facility in Georgia that just officially produced its first gallon of SAF in November (on her birthday). We are still waiting for further IRS guidance on Section 45Z SAF tax credit, but we now have actual production that can take advantage of it.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chris Roehm of Cash Balance Plan Partners. Most farmers are aware of 401(k) plans where you can set aside up to $70,000 or more in a year. A Cash Balance Plan allows older farmers nearing retirement to set aside and deduct up to $300,000 or more in a year. These plans can be a great option to help farmers nearing retirement to continue to defer paying taxes until age 75 or later.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chris Barron of Ag View Solutions. We discuss the overall profit trends in corn and soybeans for 2025 and then based on their database review the trends for 2026. It appears that corn is profitable in both years, but soybeans are not even with estimated 2025 PLC/ARC payments to come in October.

In today's podcast Paul shares a story of a Christmas to remember and also provides 22 slides of his growing up years on the farm. For those of you who listen to the podcast, you may want to go view this on YouTube at Farm Journal Top Producer.

In today's podcast Paul does a solo update on the new Farmer Bridge Assistance Program and the SDRP Stage 2 details. The final rule has not been issued on the new FBA program, but we provide estimates of payment amounts since it similar to the 2024 ECAP program paid earlier this year. Then Paul reviews how SDRP Stage 2 works and provides a link to a free calculator to estimate your payment.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Eric Dinger of Land Option. This company helps farmers determine options for cover crops, carbon credits and other ways of increasing revenues for their land.

In today's podcast Paul provides an update on the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) Stage 2 program that was started on Monday, November 24, 2025. Paul reviews how the Stage 2 works, the addition of quality loss payments under Stage 1 and does a projection of how much "topup" payments may happen sometime in 2026. Finally, Paul reviews a calculator that he worked up that projects what your initial payment will be under Stage 2.

In today's Podcast Paul has a conversation with Alison Bogart of Bogart Risk Auditing. We discuss of the risks that farmers face with internal controls and cash management. Alison shares some of the horror stories about embezzlement in the farm industry.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chalmers Carr, III. He and his wife were the 2017 Top Producer and they currently farm about 6,000 acres of peaches in South Carolina and abut 750 acres of vegetables. In the podcast, we discuss the growth of the farm operation (he is a first generation farmer) and review how the H2A program works and some changes coming to it. We also go over how crop insurance helped keep them in business.

In today's podcast Paul does a solo podcast on two new benefits from the One Big Beautiful Bill - Trump Accounts and the new Rural Opportunity Zone. The Trump Account can't be funded until July 4, 2026 and the Rural Opportunity Zone changes take place January 1, 2027, but it is important to understand how these two new provisions can increase your wealth and save on income taxes.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Steve Bruere of Peoples Company. Steve has been on the podcast before and we review some of the changes happening with Peoples Company including their development of FarmWorth and a discussion on AI, Land Values and the upcoming Land Investment Expo in January.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Oleg Alba of AcreStrong. Oleg and his team at AcreStrong helps farmers negotiate the best lease they can for solar, wind or battery installations. Even with the recent tax law changes, renewables will continue to be an additional source of income for farmers.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Brandon Hurst of South Central Idaho. Brandon and his dad has a very diversified farm operation and we discuss how much more is involved with growing potatoes than corn or soybeans. Brandon also has developed a social media presence and we discuss how that has helped his farm operation.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Jace Young of Legacy Farmer. Jace and crew at Legacy Farmer helps farmers understand their financial accounting and make a tool for proactive management not reactive look in the mirror. Learn more about Legacy Farmer here:  https://start.legacyfarmer.com/proven-system-1?comet_source=YT&comet_custom=Top-Producer

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Chris Tozlian of Pinion Global. Chris and his team help farmers automate their accounting system with certain technology tools including Xero. We discuss how those tools can help farmers and how AI is continuing to make accounting easier and the cost is not prohibitive.

Curious how estimated ARC and PLC payments are calculated for next October? We break it all down for you in this episode of the Top Producer Podcast.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Mitchell Hora of Continuum Ag regarding the changes to Section 45Z enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Most of the changes are beneficial to farmers but the actual benefit is still to be determined.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Dalton Dilldine of NE Arkansas. Dalton is the 2025 Top Producer Next Gen winner and has a very interesting story about having to start farming at an early age after his dad passed unexpectedly.

In today's podcast Paul reviews the major income tax related provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill. There is also one major gift and estate tax provision that all farmers will appreciate.

In today's podcast Paul does a solo update on the major farm related provisions that are included as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Paul grades the added provisions as a B+ and almost made it to an A.

In today's podcast Paul has another conversation with Josh Linville of StoneX. Josh follows and reports on the fertilizer market and with the turmoil in the Mideast, prices have risen. Even if the cease fire holds, fertilizer prices are likely to remain high especially phosphate.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Cassidy Johnston of Colorado. Cassidy and her husband manage a large ranch operation in the Colorado mountains and also provide a ranch management consulting business. I think this may be the first time that I heard someone on their first date be told they need to use more lube (Cassidy was learning to AI a cow).

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Ben Laine of Terrain. Ben provides economic insight on the dairy industry, and we discuss some of the key trends affecting the industry. Even though fluid milk consumption is down, cheese and yogurt has made up for it. We review the expansion of the industry into the I-29 / I-35 corridor.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Todd Thurman of Swine Insights. Todd started his career with Cargill and spent many years overseas setting up hog operations. He currently owns Swine Insights and helps projects all over the word with management and also consults on the long-term demographics trends for the industry.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Dave Fogel of Advanced Trading. Dave has been with Advanced Trading for almost 40 years and Advanced is now part of the CIH team. We discuss his career and go over the trends for corn, soybeans and wheat.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Brent Judisch. Brent and his wife farm near Waterloo, Iowa and he is also a full time salesperson for PK Midwest, a John Deere dealership with about 30 locations in the Midwest. We discuss his farming history and go over the trends for combines, tractors and sprayers.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Matt Woolf of Terrain. Matt is an economist that works on the nuts, fruit and vegetables part of the farming industry and also has a background in farming in California. These industries have undergone a lot of changes over the last few years due to Covid and tariffs. We review those changes and the outlook for that part of Ag.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with John Steeves of Rabo Bank. John was raised in Canada but is now in charge of rural banking for all of North America and we discuss how farmers should be right sizing their assets and liabilities, how interest rates may change due to tariffs and other related topic.