Ag Over Easy Podcast

Amity Shedd:
Hi there. Welcome back to Channel Chat: Season Two. I'm your host, Amity Shedd. And for this episode, we are in Campbellsburg, Indiana, with Channel Seedsman, Brady Bishop, Technical Agronomist Whitney Monin, Indiana Channel farmer Dave Peters and Chad Grote, who's a crop consultant for Wheat Tech. When we got to Indiana, it was sunny and so hot. There was corn taller than us in some places, but in others, farmers were finishing up a replant. Everyone agrees that it's been just a really tough year.
Dave and his family had been farming for years. They used to be dairy farmers and now Brady and Whitney, a pair who work with Chad to help Dave's grain operation. Each person brings a different area of expertise to help Dave have his best season yet. And as Dave can attest to, it's never too late to have your best season. So let's go ahead and get started.

Amity Shedd:
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Channel Chat. I'm your host, Amity Shedd, and today we are in Campbellsburg, Indiana. We have lots of guests at the table today. Welcome, everybody. Thank you for joining us today.

Whitney Monin:
Thank you.

Chad Grote:
Thank you very much.

Amity Shedd:
All right, so let's go ahead and get started with some introductions. Just tell us a little bit about yourself. We can start with Brady.

Brady Bishop:
I'm Brady Bishop, Channel Seedsman here in the Campbellsburg, Indiana. I've been with Channel since 2016. Graduated from Purdue University in 2011. And this is my third spring here with Channel.

Amity Shedd:
And you work here with Whitney. She's your TA?

Brady Bishop:
Yep.

Amity Shedd:
Whitney, tell us a little about yourself.
Whitney Monin:
Yeah, absolutely. My name is Whitney Monin. I'm a technical agronomist and I serve our Channel Seed business in all of Southern Indiana and Kentucky. I graduated from the University of Kentucky with my master’s in integrated plant and soil science. And before that I have a bachelor's degree from Western Kentucky University. Go Tops! And I grew up on a small hobby farm, and I think that's kind of where my passion for agriculture came from. And I've been working for Channel now for about five years, five-and-a-half years. And it's a very interesting job every single day of the week. And I'm just really excited to be here with you guys today.

Amity Shedd:
Right. Thanks for joining us. I'm going to hop over to Dave. Dave, want to go ahead and tell us about yourself and your relationship with Brady?

Dave Peters:
Okay. Brady's my seed salesman and we use Channel® seed. I've been a dairy farmer all my life up until four-and-a-half years ago. Very happy to be out. And now me and my brother, we have grain farm and corn, wheat and soybeans. And we're very happy to use the Channel seed.
Amity Shedd:
And four-and-a-half years ago, is that when you started Channel seed as well?

Dave Peters:
No, we were doing Channel seed probably about six, seven years.

Amity Shedd:
Oh, wow. OK, cool. Chad, your turn.

Chad Grote:
I guess I'm up. I grew up in Greensburg, Indiana, and then went to school at the University of Kentucky, got my degree in plant and soil science. From there, I moved to West Kentucky where I began working for a company called Wheat Tech. And as the name suggests, we primarily looked at wheat while I was there in the beginning. And then we moved into corn and soybeans after that. All along while we've got a research group that we work with, lots of seed companies, chemical companies as well. Channel has always been a part of the group, which I greatly appreciate very much. So I've been with that company ever since I've graduated. It's been about 16 years now.

Amity Shedd:
And how long have you worked with these folks? Dave and Brady and Whitney?

Chad Grote:
Well, so Dave basically was one of my first clients up here when I moved up here. He was gracious enough to let me look at some of his crops, which I greatly appreciate. And then Whitney and Brady, I have met over the last, I guess it's probably been four years now or so. And like I said, we have collaborated in our research plots as well as use them as resources for what's going on out in the field.

Amity Shedd:
And you work with many Channel Seedsmen?

Chad Grote:
So I've got actually, I've got a cousin that's also a Channel Seedsman named Pat Grote.

Amity Shedd:
Very cool.

Chad Grote:
And I actually had a grower down in West Kentucky that was first with Crows and now is with Channel named Sam Koblenz. And so yes, about probably 10 years, I've been familiar with the transition going into Channel actually from that standpoint, and I've got several growers that do work with Channel.

Amity Shedd:
Right. Dave, can you talk a little bit about how you work with Brady and Chad on your farming operation?

Dave Peters:
Chad, he goes through in the winter and we pick out our varieties and then we order by what we found out on the test plots and stuff through the summer. Then we take that information and the yield information and put that together. And that makes our next spring planting what we order and what we'll plant. So Chad and Brady kind of work together. And so it's been very helpful.

Amity Shedd:
And how long have they been working together with you on your operation?

Dave Peters:
Brady's been with us about four years and we were with a neighbor that was a Channel seed salesman about three years prior to that. And Chad has been with me about four years.

Amity Shedd:
And can you think of a specific time ... This year might be a good example of how Chad and Brady's services have really helped you get through the season. I know before we sat down for this conversation, we were talking about what a tough year it's been.

Dave Peters:
It's been a very tough year. And so, we'll go out and we'll look the crops over and which ones we can keep and which ones we have to destroy. And then we have to come back and replant with what particular variety and stuff like that.

Amity Shedd:
Chad, can you speak to that a little bit and Brady you as well about this year in particular and how you're working with your customers and farmers?

Brady Bishop:
So yeah, this year has been probably one of the ... Well, it has been the toughest year that I've experienced as a Seedsman. And talking like with Dave and a lot of other growers, I mean, these guys have farmed a lot longer than I've even been alive. So they're saying it's one of the toughest years they've ever experienced as well. So it's been a battle just trying to get the crop up out of the ground, getting it going, variety selection. I mean, we had ended up bringing in some earlier maturity varieties than we've ever planted down in this neck of the woods just because we got such a late planting and some replants. So I know Dave, we've got some 97-day corn on his farm this year on some later plant and stuff. And normally that 109-day range is about the earliest we kind of get in down here. So just spend a lot of firsts this year for me and them as well I think so it's just been ... Working with the guys has been very crucial this year, just trying to keep in touch with him, know what's going on just on a supply side as well, getting the replant in, making sure they've got enough seed to get everything planted they need. So it's been a struggle all the way around.

Amity Shedd:
Right. And Chad, how do your consulting services play into that?

Chad Grote:
So I think, and Brady hit on it too, collectively, there's so many decisions being made in a short period of time, whether that's replanting decisions, whether that's planting for the first time, especially in a year like this. And then on top of that, you also have to worry about your herbicide, your chemistries and everything else. And so, it's always nice to have people that have experience in that situation that you can rely on to make sure that you're not missing anything because I don't know everything. When you're making lots of decisions, sometimes you have to step back and make sure that you're making the right one and Brady, Whitney, Dave and I, all collectively as a group, try to pull as much resourced together as we can, information as well. And then also the experience part of that I think plays a huge role in just knowing what you're dealing with and what you face on a day-to-day basis. So collectively, I think you can always make a better decision than just trying to do everything by yourself and realize that there's experts in other areas. And I think that's what I appreciate about working with Brady and Whitney and Dave is just the openness of trying to make those decisions.

Brady Bishop:
It's more of a team.

Whitney Monin:
Yeah. And I think that's the reality of what we have sitting at this table and what a lot of people who are probably listening to this podcast need to know is that farming by nature is a team sport. And I don't think any of us can be successful individually. Every single year provides an opportunity to learn and grow new things while the crop is growing. And it's just been a great opportunity this year to put our skills and our expertise into action because the reality is what a lot of folks who are listening to this podcast and what we have been through here in Southern Indiana is historically unprecedented. So while we can think and draw on so many experiences, there are things that none of us in this room have experienced, but we put all that collective experience on the table and said, "Well, we don't know what could happen, but we do know this." And from that, we draw the recommendation. From that, we decide to move a 97-day corn product that we don't usually grow in Southern Indiana that historically does well in Iowa and Minnesota, but based on what we know about that product and its characteristics and we think it can work. So that's how we make that recommendation. So it's just really powerful when you look at this table and think all these different minds collectively coming together, ultimately to help make Dave's operation successful, and I think we're all kind of united in that bond is we want to see Dave make the most yield possible, even in a bad situation.

Chad Grote:
Absolutely.

Amity Shedd:
Right. You have all these brains and all this knowledge helping you out. Do you want to speak to that a little bit, Dave?

Dave Peters:
Well, I would say this, that when it came time to plant a shorter-season corn, we had the opportunity to buy from about four or five different companies. And Brady was our choice because of the service and by knowing that we could get a good hybrid from the Channel company.

Amity Shedd:
And what does service specifically mean to you in your operation?

Dave Peters:
If we've got a problem, we call and then they come and check it out. And so I needed a good high-yielding hybrid to fill in on all this ground that was flooded out. Some of it was replant, some of it was first plant. And so we let Brady help us with that decision.

Amity Shed:
Right. And you, Whitney and Chad, both offer services that are different, but like Whitney said, all related and all working towards one goal. What does service mean to you guys?

Chad Grote:
Well, I think from my standpoint is, you want to be there, you want to see the problems before anybody else does. Because the quicker that you can see problems arising in that situation, the quicker you can pivot and make decisions to offset anything that Mother Nature may throw to you. And it's been my experience, and it goes back to all of us here at the table again, the more sets of eyes that you have in the area that are looking at different things, the more communication that there is. It helps everybody at the end of the day. I mean, this podcast for instance, we may hit on something that somebody thought, "Hey, I didn't realize that was going on in Southern Indiana." And if it just helps that one person in that situation, it's very important. And Dave, it takes a lot of trust for somebody to say, "Hey, I want help." Or, "I need help." And I think that, for me, service is a lot of trust at the end of the day.

Amity Shedd:
Right. Whitney?

Whitney Monin:
I would say when I think about service, Chad was talking about thinking ahead, and I would think about it as a proactive not a reactive approach to a relationship. Brady and I actually started talking about this growing season in the fall because we were seeing a historically unprecedented wet fall, which was delaying harvest, causing more compaction in the field. We weren't doing fall burndowns. And so even last October, me and Brady are thinking about what's coming for his customers like Dave in the spring. Now, we couldn't have anticipated that the water really wasn't doing a runoff. And then it was going to make all these other decisions when it comes to planting and tillage practices and getting our spring burndown sprayed timely. We had no idea that all of that was going to happen, but we did know our farmers were already starting off behind. So we were making recommendations. Brady was placing seed, he was having those customer interactions one-on-one, thinking about the specific fields where the products needed to be placed, already knowing that we had hurdles to jump. So I think that's what service means to me is, anticipating Dave's needs before he even knows he needs them and thinking about the Channel products that are going to be really important given those hurdles that have to be jumped because you have to have agility and flexibility in our business because we are all ruled by Mother Nature, and there's a lot of things that are outside the realm of what we can control. But there are also a lot of things that are inside the realm of what we can control, and I think that's what differentiates a Channel Seedsman from another brand that anybody listening to this podcast could buy from, is we are anticipating those needs specifically related to seed-and-seed placement. And we are ultra laser-focused at getting that right as much of the time as we possibly can.

Amity Shedd:
Right. We have a Seedsman here. You could probably speak to service a little bit, Brady.

Brady Bishop:
This year's kind of put us to the test.

Amity Shedd:
I would believe that, yeah.

Brady Bishop:
Yeah. So actually, I mean, today we're sitting here July, what? 10th, 11th, and we were actually delivering seed half the day yesterday. So I mean, two years ago we had a wet spring and I thought it was bad, but this year has been, I mean, it's been awful. So just juggling seed here and there, switching varieties out just ... And the thing is, Whitney and I were talking there yesterday and this morning, we've got corn right now that's just coming out of the ground and we walked in the field two hours ago that was tasseling, going to have an aerial fungicide application put on it tomorrow. So it's, just the amount of things you've had to kind of watch this year. Like I said, we were all caught up in trying to get seed out the door and get it delivered, get guys plans, and get it replanted. Well, that whole time that was going on, there was a crop in the field growing. So we had to make sure we could see the trees for the forest, I guess. I mean, we had to make sure we were still keeping an eye on that crop that was already knee-high, waist-high, whatever. And the corn just checking insects, checking stands. So it was just nothing was consistent this year. Everything was just kind of all over the board and it's made it a challenge. So every day you wake up ... This spring, I'm always the kind of a guy I like to kind of know what I'm doing the next day, but this spring that has just been completely tossed out the window. So it's just, it's been a challenge and I hope all the customers have been patient with us to try to get them what they need and all that stuff in a timely manner. But this year's kind of put it to the test.

Amity Shedd:
Yeah. And it's absolutely no secret that farming is hard and it's a gamble. And Dave, I know before we sat down, you were talking about how ... Or even I think you mentioned at the beginning that you're glad you're not a dairy farmer anymore.

Dave Peters:
Yes, ma'am.

Amity Shedd:
Why do you ... Why are you in the ag business? Why do you farm? What keeps you in it? Even though we have years like this, where it's been so difficult?

Dave Peters:
As a young man, we started out in the dairy business and I grew up in it and it got to be such a nonprofitable part of farming. And so when we sold the dairy cattle, it was a real blessing because we now could go to green farming, which is a lot more profitable than dairy farming. And what was the other question?

Whitney Monin:
Why do you do it? Why do you do it when you have years like this where it's so hard?

Dave Peters:
I grew up in it. It's one of those things, you experience it only as you grow up in it. And I told my wife, I said, "If I had to do this next year, like this year, I would quit." So we're still happy to be farming, and at my age I don't want to quit and I always feel like if I quit, I won't live long. So to stay active is very important to me.

Whitney Monin:
Right. What do you love about it?

Dave Peters:
I guess the challenges are to making money in this environment. And that's really what helps with the Channel people is they helped me make those decisions where I can still continue to make money. And we're happy about that.

Whitney Monin:
Right, absolutely. Chad, can you talk a little bit about why being a crop consultant and having a crop consultant, using one, is so important in today's agriculture world?

Chad Grote:
Well, I think it's a grower-to-grower kind of a situation to be honest with you. I've worked with a lot of different people of ages and groups since I've been doing this. I will readily tell you that my dad would have probably been a person that probably wouldn't have hired anybody just because he felt like he could see everything that he needed to. And it probably speaks as much to somebody like Dave. When I think about somebody that's open-minded enough to say, "Hey, maybe I'm weak on these areas. Where can I go for help?" And I think that by and large probably shows as much about that person to me, that they say, "Hey, I want to sharpen my knife continually. I don't want to just sit here and do the same things that I've done always over and over again." Maybe it's because they've got a young son they are trying to bring up in agriculture. Maybe it's because they're looking into retirement and they want to continue to show those around them that you can improve, even the things that you've done over and over again. And crop consulting to me is the closest that I can get to farming to be honest. I grew up on a farm, had a large family, and they sold that farm, in the late 90s. And I've always enjoyed the people part of it as well because the thing that is fun about agriculture to me is it's fun to solve problems out in the field, but it's also an opportunity to be there for people. And I think ultimately that's the great thing about agriculture and the country that we live in, in a lot of ways, especially in rural America, is it's not just about the job, but it's about the people that you sit next to, that you have the opportunity to help, or they help you. And that's probably as much as what's drawn me, kept me in agriculture is anything is one, I learn every day. But two, if I can do anything while I'm on this Earth to help somebody else, most of the time, I'm probably helping myself because it's always a wonderful thing to help somebody. And it makes the day better at the end of the day.

Amity Shedd:
Right. And what Whitney said, it is a team sport. You all have the same goal, right? And we all need food; we all need you guys.

Whitney Monin:
Yeah. It's it really is a beautiful relationship. You know what I mean? It's hard not to get emotional about what Chad is talking about because Dave is describing what farming means to him, and it's a way of life — it's not just something you would put on a business card. It's who you are, it's not what you do. And that's what is so beautiful about, at least how I feel, getting to work with people like Dave and Chad and Brady. And what's so refreshing about Dave is the first time I met Dave, me and Brady went to go walk a soybean plot that he had on his farm, and Dave called Brady and said, "You've got to come out here. Your Channel products look awesome in the plot. You got to come see it." And that was the first time I met Dave. And when people are inspired by your products and just have a genuine love for growing things, it's hard not to be-

Amity Shedd:
That's special.

Whitney Monin:
It's hard not to be excited. And I've spent several occasions with Brady and Dave and we're riding through the field and bumping along the field edges and jumping out of the truck. Do we need to replant here? Do we not need to replant here? And what I'm always just so excited to go visit with Dave is I can tell he's very intent on learning and getting better and growing. That's the most beautiful thing about agriculture is to watch plants and people grow. And there's not a whole lot of professions, I think, that you can totally point to that. So it's just a really unique dynamic that we get to be a part of in the field. And when I think about Channel and Wheat Tech and the relationship that we have been building over the last couple of years together, that's also what inspires me, when I work with people like Chad, is Wheat Tech is really interested in helping our farmers do better. And that's why we invest in a lot of variety testing with Wheat Tech. We have good relationships together, I go and speak to their group, listen to these guys, talk as well. So it's a passionate relationship and I think you're hearing that from a lot of people at the table.

Amity Shedd:
Right. Brady, what brings you to being a Seedsman? What brings you to agriculture and farming?

Amity Shedd:
Agriculture culture and farming?

Brady Bishop:
So I grew up on a family farm as well. Done it ever since I was old enough to walk. I remember when I was little, Mom and Dad have told me stories like I'd be at a tee T-ball game and a tractor would drive by, and I couldn’t care less about the baseball game, and I'd point, and go, "Hey." But so yeah, grew up on a family farm. And like I said, I still farm with my dad today. My wife and I own some ground, rent a little bit of ground ourselves. And then, I have my seed business. So the last couple of years actually have been … I've spent less and less time on the farm just because my business has kind of taken off a lot more than what I guess I expected it to, which is a great thing.

Amity Shedd:
Right, yeah.

Brady Bishop:
But I still have to get, I have to keep my sanity, so I do have to hop in the tractor or sprayer or semi or something and have some of that me time, me time to drive. I mean, like I said, I've grown up with it. That's all I've ever really known, never had any interest to do another job, period. I've never worked at a gas station or a fast-food joint or whatever. When I was in school, I worked in an agronomy lab for a year, and then I worked for a farmer up there and actually ended up me and his daughter ended up getting married.

Amity Shedd:
Oh.

Brady Bishop:
Yeah, so I still make trips up to school quite a bit, to the in-laws. So yeah, it's all I've ever really done. So it kind of, it just fits, I guess.

Amity Shedd:
I love that. What are you guys seeing coming up in the future in agriculture that's really exciting? Where do you see it going? What's coming next?

Brady Bishop:
So I'll jump in and say we're getting into the digital age in agriculture. With Climate FieldView™ [platform] and the prescription farming, that's kind of where it's headed. We're farming on a micro basis now versus macro. So it's not just field by field, it's part of field by part of field. We've went through the phase of everything's been getting bigger — bigger planters, bigger combines, bigger everything. Now we're getting into everything just getting to be more precise. So to me, that's where I see everything kind of going.

Whitney Monin:
I think Brady is really touching on things that are at the forefront of our industry. If you look back at what agriculture looked like 50 years ago, it's almost inconceivable how different what we're doing today is from where we were then. I actually had this conversation with another Seedman yesterday. I was asking him, I said, "Think about where we've been 50 years ago. What do you think 50 years from now will look like?" And we just sat there, both in the truck silent.

Amity Shedd:
Right.

Whitney Monin:
Because it's almost hard to believe. I think the limitations of what we can continue to do in agriculture will only be limited by the technology of which we have to apply to our discipline. And Brady's talking about a micro basis. I think the reality is we have to start talking about it on a plant-to-plant basis. I mean, we start looking at the genetics and everything that's going into plant breeding to make our plants stronger, resistant to said insect, tolerant to said herbicide. The world is changing. And I think our crops are only going to be limited by what we can do from a technological perspective. And the reality is we have to continue to be more efficient. We have to do better than we've ever done before. The farmers of the future have to be better than the farmers before, otherwise we're not going to be able to be successful.

Amity Shedd:
Right.

Whitney Monin:
The amount of land that our growers have to farm is less every single year. There's more people living who have affluent diets who need to eat, and our farmers are going to be the problem solvers of the world.

Amity Shedd:
Absolutely.

Whitney Monin:
It's almost inconceivable where we're going to be, I think, Amity.

Amity Shedd:
Yeah. Yeah. Chad?

Chad Grote:
You know, I think the technology thing is, to echo Brady and Whitney, I think is something that right now that we focus on. I also think though that what is our crop rotation's going to look like, 25, 30 years from now. We have hemp now that people are trying to research. Corn is being grown on every continent at this point in time, just about. And the thing that always intrigues me is, soybeans really haven't been in this country that long in a lot of ways, and we've shown that we can get good at growing those. And we've shown that we can get good at growing corn. What's the next step? What's the next crop? What's the next thing that we can bring to the forefront for the world, to supply not just the world's needs but to have our kids grow up on a farm. It may not be a traditional corn, soybean, wheat farm one day. And I think that's the thing to me that's intriguing is, we continue to get so good at corn and so good at beans and pretty good at wheat, and I don't know that there's not another crop out there at some point in time that we may need to in this country to develop and say, "Hey, we're going to be the world's leader on this now."

Amity Shedd:
Right. Dave, I'm interested to hear your perspective. You've been doing this awhile. What are you, past, present, future, what are you thinking?

Dave Peters:
My dad, they started out with horses, and then we went to little tractors, and we went to big tractors. And now we're going to see tractors with no drivers. So things are going to change. I'm going to get a great-grandchild today and to think what that child will see by the time they're my age is kind of scary.

Brady Bishop:
That's probably the best way to put it.

Dave Peters:
They may be doing it with a spaceship. I have no idea. But it's exciting. I worry about how could a young man start farming today. But if he actually has that will, he can do it. And to think he's going to have to take on 8,000 acres or 10,000 acres to be competitive is going to be a scary thing. How are you going to do that borrowing $10,000 acre land? That young man's got challenges that we didn't have as young kids. Now we had challenges too. And people laughed at me when we bought our land, but today they're not laughing no more. So is it going to be that way for that young man today that's just being born? So it's a very, very interesting concept.

Whitney Monin:
It is. Well, I think there's no doubt that our industry is changing. And I think what Dave is talking about is how are the future generations going to be able to continue to be successful? And I think there's way more outside influences that are opening the doors and looking into agriculture than there ever have been before. And sometimes, that can be a really positive thing. And sometimes that can be a really negative thing because, in terms of the American consumer, most people are four-plus generations away from a farming enterprise. And so I think us as agriculturalists, as agronomists, as scientists, as representatives for our industry at large, I think we have to continue to do a good job of telling our story. And I think that's the way we can help people understand how viable, how vibrant, how important, how beautiful, our industry is and how focused growers are about serving a greater good.

Amity Shedd:
To finish out this conversation, unless anybody wants to add anything else, I would love to hear favorite farming or agriculture memory, something that has stuck with you, that you remember when the days get hard, anything come to mind?

Whitney Monin:
Well, I grew up on a small hobby farm. I say all the time that my dad has the heart to be a farmer, but he just wasn't. But our farm was actually owned by my great-grandfather. And he had a small tobacco base and had some beef cattle on the farm. And when I was in fourth grade, my parents made what most people would say is a life-altering decision. They moved me and my sister from the city to the farm because they believed so passionately that we were meant to grow up in a rural environment. And they felt that that's where we were going to grow into the best versions of ourselves was to move to the farm. So when I was in fourth grade, we moved to the farm and I will never forget we had horses, chickens, rabbits, 4-H projects, I mean, good, all-American farming experience growing up, me and my sister on the farm. And I will never forget something that happened, and it didn't really happen to me, I just watched it happen. We had horses on our farm, and my sister's Palomino pony named Sandy, my sister's riding this horse across the field and she gets bucked off. I watched my sister get bucked off in the middle of the field, bucked off so hard, throws off her helmet, lands on the rock.

Amity Shedd:
Oh wow.

Whitney Monin:
Literally, a gory experience. And my sister was probably 8 years old, and I'm standing at the barn, watching my sister get bucked off. And I don't know, half amused, half worried about her, just normal, older sibling stuff. And my sister comes walking back up to the barn lot, crying, muddy, dirty, throw's her riding helmet in the barn lot. And my dad watched her get bucked off from the house. And so in this time that Emily's walking across the pasture, muddy, bloody, and she's walking across the pasture and my dad's walking up to the barn and she says, "I'm done. I'm going into the house." And my dad says, "No, you're not." She said, "What do you mean?" He said, "You're going to go catch Sandy. And you're going to get back on." And you know, it's not necessarily a farming experience, I'd say on-farm experience, I guess, and small, my life, I think in a lot, and a lot of the people at this table was just made up of a lot of small, character-defining moments. And for me, it wasn't even happening to me, but watched my dad put my sister back on the horse, literally crying, muddy and bloody, and he said, "You're going to ride for at least 10 more minutes."

Amity Shedd:
Yeah.

Whitney Monin:
And she rode. And when you grow up on a farm, you have all of these small moments that come together to define who you are. And to me, that was one. It was a lesson in determination, wherewithal, never give up. And so that's probably one of my favorite memories growing up on the farm.

Amity Shedd:
That's a good one. That's a good one. Lesson learned.

Whitney Monin:
Yep.

Amity Shed:
Who's next?

Chad Grote:
I think for me, there's two things that I always love the smell of, and that is plowed ground and fresh-cut alfalfa hay. And I can always remember, it always brings me back when I smell those two things because my dad, he didn't say a lot of things, but he always allowed me to ride on the fender of a tractor everywhere we went. And he never told me I couldn't, or he never said, "You're not allowed to." But he allowed me just to be there, and to experience everyday life on the farm on the fender of a tractor. Which is probably where so many of my memories really start, at the end of the day. And I think about those things. That you can see so many things just sitting there. Whether you're a little kid and you're sitting there dreaming about what you're going to do one day, or about half asleep on the floor of a tractor, in a combine. Those are the memories that I probably cherish as much as anything because those are the reasons why I do the things now. Because I enjoyed every moment riding on that tractor with him.

Amity Shedd:
Right. Brady? Dave?

Dave Peters:
For me, as I look back, I learned the dairy business, and you have to have such concentration in that business. So we kind of let our farming practices go, not that we went downhill, but we weren’t on top of the game. And by taking Chad and working with him, we became ... Last year, we had like a 240-bushel average on our corn. And for me at my age, I didn't realize that I could do that at this point in time. And it was very satisfying that me and my brother could get those kind of yields. We put up a great big green bin and filled it up. So it was very, very satisfying.

Amity Shedd:
Yeah. Simple, but definitely satisfactory.

Dave Peters:
And the other thing is the family. Just raising a family, four children, and now the grandchildren, and now the great-grandchildren. That part of my life is probably more exciting for me than the agriculture. But-

Amity Shedd:
They go hand in hand.

Dave Peters:
Hand in hand.

Amity Shedd:
Yep. That's a beautiful thing. Brady, last but not least.

Brady Bishop:
Yeah. So mine's kind of some of the same things what Chad said. I mean, I spent my entire childhood either on the fender, in the buddy ... well, not buddy seat. On the arm rest of the tractor. I don't know how many hours I've slept and had my head against the back of the 4430, Dad hit a bump, bounced my head off of it. I mean, just growing up on the farm, that's all I ever wanted to do when I was a kid. Then whenever we had our daughter, my wife brought her out to ride in the combine with me the first time. So, I don't know. That was gratifying.

Amity Shedd:
Yeah, that's special for sure.

Brady Bishop:
Yep.

Amity Shedd:
I loved it. This was so fun. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being on this podcast, having so many cool people join together for, I keep coming back to what Whitney said, but a team sport. Farming is one common goal, and it's really great to have all you guys here talking about it. And I'm just so appreciative. Thank you for letting me be a part of it. This was really fun.

Chad Grote:
Thank you very much.

Dave Peters:
Thank you.

Brady Bishop:
Appreciate it.

Amity Shedd:
Yep. All righty. That's it. It was a fun afternoon hosting Dave, Chad, Whitney and Brady at the podcast table this episode. They're good people working hard to keep farming collaborative and rewarding. Now let's send it over to grain marketing consultant Matt Bennett to wrap up his tips on bin management.

Matt Bennett:
This is Matt Bennett, the grain marketing consultant with Channel Seed, and I'm coming to you with our third part in the series. This will be our last one talking about bin management.

So I think bin management might be one of the most important things that we can pay attention to because here in the last several years, I can assure you, net income has been tight. That's no secret. But producers who have been able to manage their bins better have certainly been able to, quote-unquote, manufacture some income where maybe they didn't think that income was going to be available.

So one of the main things that I can tell you is that in a typical year, you will have carry in the market, which we've already touched on. And so this past year, in 2018, just to let you know how this all played out. During harvest, we were looking at prices, December corn trading $3.50, $3.60 a bushel. At ADM Decatur, which is the main processor in our part of the world, we saw basis levels running about 35 cents under the board of trade.

So whenever we put our corn in the bins, just going to Decatur even, we were going to be lucky to get $3.30 or $3.40 a bushel for our corn. All right? So you put the corn in the bin. We saw a little bit of a rally, obviously seeing your spring insurance price up at the $4.00 level in February. We saw a rally between harvest in the winter time frame, but somewhere in there a lot of folks decided that they wanted to maybe move forward and sell some corn. So interestingly, the basis at Decatur before harvest was completed went from 35 cents under the December to option the December. And also interestingly, July corn was trading at $4.00 and above in that winter time frame. So a producer who decided to go ahead and sell July corn at $4.00 at that time, the basis was still running 10, 15 cents under the July.

So you fast-forward until this time of the year, whenever I'm actually recording this, which would have been in May of 2019. You would see a lot of your elevator systems, including the one that I'm referencing, bidding option price and even above. So our current bid for July into Decatur is running 7 cents over the board. So a producer who had sold corn basis the board at $4.00 actually saw their basis continue to improve, and the basis went from 35 under whenever they put it in the bin to 7 cents over the board. You've also got to factor in not only that 42-cent gain but what did they gain based upon the carry in the market? And of course, it was significant.

So when you look at putting corn in the bin, that corn, whenever it went in the bin, it was only worth $3.25 to $3.40 depending on the time frame you're looking at. A lot of folks are actually selling that corn, even if they put risk management in place, over $4.00 a bushel. Which is a significant gain, a significant return on your investment, and I would encourage, highly encourage, any producer who has grain bins to become a better student of how this basis works.

My last point as we try to wrap this up. We have to always understand that the owner of cash corn is king. I absolutely want to retain ownership of my corn as long as I possibly can. There's always marketing strategies that can help you participate in the market going up after you give up your corn. But the bottom line is, I don't want to sell it until the market tells me it's time to sell it. Then I want to be a price-maker instead of a price-taker. And whenever I've got the corn in my bin, that's exactly what I can be.

So once again, this has been Matt Bennett with Channel Seed, and I'm going to wrap up this bin management portion of our podcast here.

Amity Shedd:
Thanks for listening, and don't forget to subscribe to this podcast to hear more from season two of Channel Chat. Learn more at channelpodcasting.com.