Top Producer Podcast

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Tim Schnabel of Switch Bioworks. Switch is a start up company that is developing microbes that will create nitrogen fertilizer for corn in the soil and will "switch" the nitrogen to the corn when it needs it. We also discussed the history of biologicals and how they have evolved into the third generation.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Ben Williamson of Grid Road Parters. Ben and his partner invest in various Ag Tech ventures which still has a lot of room to grow. We talk about the types of investments, how many are in a fund and the time frame for investing a fund like theirs.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Jackson Stansell who founded Sentinel Ag back in 2021 to help farmers with in season nitrogen management. We review how that helps farmers along with some the trends happening with nitrogen management. Jackson ended by saying that not applying nitrogen in season is also nitrogen management.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Theo Beaumont of Halter. Halter provides virtual fencing to ranchers in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Instead of dealing with the maintenance headaches of actual fencing, this product allows the rancher to keep and move cattle anywhere on their land.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with David Stelzer of Azure Standard. David's father pivoted to organic back in the 1970s and David has been able to expand the farm operation to over 5,000 acres in Oregon, however, their team sells over 12,000 products that are shipped to over 4,000 locations in the US to consumers. We also discuss some of the trends in organic farmer and the returns.

Paul does a Q&A session based on 8 questions that he has received from listeners of the podcast. 

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Emily Berrier of Farm Family Insurance. Emily is the chief underwriter for the company and we discuss some of the issues and trends that farmers face in dealing with risk management and mitigation.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Grant Fitzgerald of Farmers National based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company offers a vertically integrated solutions for farm landowners. We dive into how the third generation of owners requires different solutions than the second generation and how farm management differs for various types of owners.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Jim Rothermich of Iowa Appraisals on the land price trends in Iowa over the last six months. Even with all of the turmoil in the farm sector, the average price per CSR2 in Iowa is actually up a $1 from December 2025 with increased volume. It appears that it may be even stronger going into the last half of the year.  

In today's podcast Paul does solo podcast on the projected 2026 ARC and PLC payments for 8 crops including corn, soybeans and wheat. We know that for 2025 to be paid starting October 2026 you will automatically be paid the higher of ARC-CO or PLC. We have final MYA prices for wheat, barley and oats. I dig into some the key details for each crop.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Joe Peiffer, an attorney in Iowa that handles a lot of debt restructuring for farmers and was actively involved in the development of Chapter 12 bankruptcy that helps farmers mitigate their tax exposure. He is seeing more challenges for row crop farmer, and we dig into the details for all of the various chapters in the bankruptcy code.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Wes Davis of Meridian Ag Advisors. Wes is an Ag economist who works with a variety of clients to research farm related items. We discuss some of the key "black swans" that Ag is facing, the overall ag economy, thoughts on Farm Bill 2.0 and other related items.

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Tyler Davis of Saunders Real Estate located in Lakeland, Florida. Florida ag has seen a rapid shift from citrus to other crops or development which has created interesting succession issues for these farm families. Tyler and I discuss some of the options that these farmers have implemented in their succession.  

In today's podcast Paul has a conversation with Nick Tsiolis of Farmers Keeper. Nick and his team provide risk management services to thousands of corn, soybean and wheat farmers from farmers with 150 acres to those with 90,000+ acres. Nick is passionate about farmers understanding their profitability and how to manage the risk to maintain that profitability.

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