Ag Over Easy Podcast

Janice Person:
Welcome to Ag Over Easy, the podcast and channel where you get breakfast, with a side of agronomic insight. I'm your host Janice Person and today we're celebrating our final episode of the season with a French toast to farmers. We're bringing out extra place mats to welcome a few seasoned Ag professionals from different backgrounds. By blending their unique perspectives, we'll have our sweet syrupy topping for this French toast to farmers. So as we approach a new year, let's look back at 2020, what can we learn? What are we grateful for? And how do we give thanks to our fellow farmers at the heart of this industry? Let's say hello to our first guest. Hey Jonathan Mein. Would you mind introducing yourself?

Jonathan Mein:
No, not a problem, Janice. Thanks for having me obviously, but no, my name's Jonathan Mein. I'm the regional agronomy lead for the Central Plains covering the really Eastern part of Nebraska. I lead the team of technical agronomists in the region who work for all of our brands, Fontanelle, DEKALB, Asgrow, as well as Channel.

Janice Person:
This year what was the farming highlight for you?

Jonathan Mein:
We've really strived to be more digital. Well, this year we got pushed off a cliff and we had to adapt and really embrace what digital meant, whether it's through communication, how do we connect with people, all of those things. And I think that to me is a huge accomplishment because it's kind of taken down those barriers of, "Well, maybe I'm not comfortable with FaceTime." I mean, the amount of times I've had some of my folks go, "Hey, I FaceTimed a grower about an issue and it took 10 minutes and it worked." Those are the types of things that I've been ... and it's amazing.

Janice Person:
Well, I think you kind of got a little bit into the next question already, but I want to say agriculturally, in terms of on-farm what really surprised you this year?

Jonathan Mein:
I started the year in our vegetable business, which, talk about incredible supply chain disruptions through March and April, seeing some growers in some markets go through some incredibly challenging times, but at the same time, then seeing a home gardener renewed interest in growing vegetables that I can't even tell you how many of some of our retailers we work with that service that market who their websites crashed. They were working almost 24 hours a day to fulfill orders because all of a sudden everybody is buying seeds, looking to grow produce on their own, which was super cool to see that happen.

Janice Person:
Yeah. Could you give me one word or a phrase that kind of sums up, describes 2020?

Jonathan Mein:
For me it's probably resilience. I think we've seen, you talk about it and I think 2020 kind of embodies what it means to be a farmer, right? You were thrown different challenges every day. You have to confront them, come up with a plan and address them and move forward and knowing that tomorrow is going to be a new day. There's going to be a new challenge thrown at you and you just figure it out. And I think that pretty much embodies 2020.

Janice Person:
That's a good one. That's a really solid word for this year and I think a very different positive spin on some of it than maybe others would think of first. So what drives you, Jonathan? What drives you to do what you do?

Jonathan Mein:
Oh man, I think having grown up in the Midwest, I think you get accustomed to the people, but I think what's always kind of drawn me back into it and why I kind of did come into agriculture was some really, really great people, really incredibly smart, innovative, passionate people. I think passion is a huge piece of what you see in agriculture. I mean, this is a tough business. I mean, this ain't easy and so you want to be a farmer.

Janice Person:
Very cool. So what's an important piece of successful farming?

Jonathan Mein:
Good farmers, they look at the totality of their operation from a very long-term view, meaning the lands you have, you don't get to just, "Oh, I'm going to ... new ground." Right? So it's the things you do today that sets you up for success three, four, five, 10 years from now. You control what you can control, Mother Nature being one we don't control. So how do you put a plan together in place that is strategic in mind, but also is aligned with what the plan you have for your operation?

Janice Person:
That's a good one. What makes you grateful, not only in your job, but in life in general?

Jonathan Mein:
Oh, for me, you know me, I'm a big relationship guy, so I'm grateful for the people I meet. I'm grateful for the things I learn. I'm grateful for the people around me and grateful for the passion I get to be a part of it and see some great, some fantastic people in what we get to do. I mean, for me, that puts a smile on my face anytime, get to have a great conversation and seeing people be successful. Yeah. I get a big kick out of that.

Janice Person:
So looking back at 2020, if you were in a space where you could send out a toast to farmers, what kind of toast would you send?

Jonathan Mein:
I'll go back to the word I used earlier. I would give a toast to the resilience of the American farmer. I think they have embraced the challenges that are thrown at them, whether it's 2019 and the rain and the weather we saw, or it's 2020 and the weather plus COVID-19, all the other challenges. But, I think I would toast them to that hard work, perseverance and resilience that is what it takes to be a farmer. And I think all of us should thank them for that because it puts food on our table.

Janice Person:
It was so good to have you on the show, Jonathan. Now we're going to bring on another friend of mine, Brian Scott. Hey, Brian, could you introduce yourself?

Brian Scott:
Sure. Hi, Janice. I am a farmer in Northwest Indiana. We grow corn, soybeans, popcorn, and wheat and I am known as the Farmer's Life on social media.

Janice Person:
Thanks, Brian, how was farming for you this year?

Brian Scott:
Not really much effect from a grain farming standpoint. Really it was a pretty, pretty nice year, really good weather. We planted starting in the third week of April, which is like right when we want to and then harvest was on time and pretty smooth.

Janice Person:
Would there be something you'd point out as a highlight for the year?

Brian Scott:
We had in-person school canceled the week before spring break and ended up never going back. That meant our ten-year-old, Matthew had an hour or two of e-learning in the morning and then he would just have to come with me after lunch every day. So he spent every day of planting with us being actually really good help on the farm, not just there for fun. He was actually a good little worker.

Janice Person:
I think a lot of people probably recognize him from your videos.

Brian Scott:
Yeah. He's more famous than me let's just say.

Janice Person:
Was there anything that really surprised you about the year?

Brian Scott:
Oh fall was a surprise. Yields and prices keep going up. That's usually doesn't happen. You usually get one or the other and then it was a very dry fall. We just had a couple of days of rain where we didn't go to the field and other than normal minor stuff, we had essentially zero breakdowns, no downtime. And it was just a smooth, quick harvest, just haven't had one like that before.

Janice Person:
That sounds sweet. Can you give me one word that kind of sums up the year or maybe it's a phrase?

Brian Scott:
Yeah, different would be the word, a lot of that. Like everybody else, sitting around the house for a while and not really going a lot of places.

Janice Person:
What drives you to farm, do social media, all those things?

Brian Scott:
Yeah, so the farming for me, I say I had to leave the farm to know I was supposed to come back. So I worked in town for about six years after college. And that cured me of having a normal job. I found out that wasn't for me, I tell people I'm probably the only person that got to sleep in more and have less stress when I switched my job to farming.

Janice Person:
Can you tell us one important piece that goes into being successful at farming?

Brian Scott:
Sure. We've really been focusing lately on how big of a farm we want to be. We're a little bit odd as far as grain farming goes where we own almost everything we farm. Big yields and stuff are fine, but cutting your input costs is pretty good too when you start looking at the bottom line stuff.

Janice Person:
What makes you grateful, not just in farming, but also in life in general?

Brian Scott:
Yeah. This is maybe a kind of two birds with one stone. We said I left the farm for a few years and there was always an open slot for me to come back. We're didn't have to do anything special business-wise to get me back on the farm and I know there's a lot of people that haven't been able to come back to the farm where they definitely had a more difficult path than I did. I realized I had it pretty easy, but I'm thankful for that and I was able to come back to this lifestyle.

Janice Person:
Yeah. Thinking back to the rest of the year and giving up a toast to fellow farmers, what would you test?

Brian Scott:
I would say over the last year or two, let's give a toast to the livestock people because they've had a bumpy ride.

Janice Person:
That sounds like a great place to wrap it up. Thanks so much, Brian, for joining us today.

Brian Scott:
Thank you.

Janice Person:
Our next guest's business savvy earned her the Executive Women in Agriculture Trailblazer Award from Top Producer. She's also my friend, April Hemmes. Tell us a little bit about yourself, April.

April Hemmes:
I love that intro. Thank you, Janice. I'm a farmer from North central Iowa. I farm corn and soybeans and have some pasture. I'm on my family century farm. We'll be 120 years in the family this year and very proud of that and this is my 35th year on the farm.

Janice Person:
So April, what was this year's farming highlight for you?

April Hemmes:
Oh, I guess this year's farming highlight, I had two of them, a dry spring. We haven't had a dry spring for years, so it was nice not to have to clean up gauge wheels on the planter this spring. And then my second best part was the really good yields I had this fall, even though we were in a D2 drought and fortunately the derechos, the high winds, missed me. So those were truly my highlights of the year.

Janice Person:
Can you tell me what surprised you the most?

April Hemmes:
What surprised me the most is how well the crops did with everything they went through. I only had four inches of rain since July, the beginning of July, so to have actually record yields for my corn and about average yields for my soybeans and they were on my lightest soils. I was thrilled with that.

Janice Person:
That sounds like a great win.

April Hemmes:
Yes.

Janice Person:
All right. If you could give me one word to summarize 2020, what would it be? Maybe a phrase.

April Hemmes:
There's no way one word can summarize this year. Oh, well, I'm going to go with unprecedented. Isn't that great? Other than I'm sick of hearing that word, but so many things we've had to get used to this year that are so different, but we as farmers adapt and roll with it and look forward to the next year.

Janice Person:
Yeah, I would agree. What drives you to do what you do?

April Hemmes:
The love of the land, taking care of the land. Knowing I can get up, make something better, more productive. And the ability to pass that along to the next generation, to our daughter, it really does get me going. And knowing I'm making this soil and ground better than when I inherited it.

Janice Person:
How about one important piece that goes into a successful farm?

April Hemmes:
One important piece, that's good. Caring comes up right away and I don't know why, that's interesting, but just caring for your family and the farm and the soils and things around it. You just have to really put your all into what you do. And a lot of that is just caring about what you do and who you do it for.

Janice Person:
That is the perfect lead in for my next question, which is what makes you grateful, both in your job and your life in general?

April Hemmes:
Wow. I guess that was a perfect lead in. What makes me grateful was to be born into a farming family. Seriously. When I talk to kids and they want to be farmers or anyone, I say, "Unfortunately, you can't just wake up and say, 'Oh, I want to be a farmer.' Like I want to be a fireman or a policeman or something like that. It just isn't possible. You either have to marry into it or be born into it." And I was so to be born into it, to not listen to the naysayers who say girls can't farm and 35 years later, I'm here farming on my own because my husband works in town. He has never driven my tractors or combine or anything, but it's just me out here. So that's what truly makes me grateful.

Janice Person:
All right and so for the final question, what would be your French toast to farmers?

April Hemmes:
You know what, since I never obey the rules and only sometimes if there's something legal involved, I might, but I'm going to have two, I'm going to have two toasts. So one from the farmers, I think we need to be grateful. I would like to toast all the researchers and people who work in the Ag industry because this year we are essential, but I never had a glitch in planting or combining or spraying or anything and that is because of all the people who work in the Ag industry and my great yields and that's because of the research done. And I mean, not only seed research, chemicals, and everything, I am so thankful and would like to raise a big glass to all of those who work in the Ag industry. And as my second one is to all the farmers, I truly could not have made it through 2020 without toasting my fellow friends and farmers. We all need a network. We think we're big and strong and can handle anything, but farmers need a network too. And we need people to cry on their shoulder when we need to. And that's truly what having a network of farmer friends is about, so here's to the farmers.

Janice Person:
That's perfect. Thanks so much for joining us, April.

April Hemmes:
My pleasure.

Janice Person:
Before we end our French test to farmers, I want to look back at the words our guests, each chose to describe 2020. Brian and April went with different and unprecedented, which definitely sum up the year, but I like how Jonathan's word resilience describes how farmers and the Ag community responded. This year was an example of farmers adapting to new technology and navigating the unknown with a certain strength. And I can't help thinking how lucky we are to work in an industry that bands together when times are tough. So here's to the hardworking farmers. May your next season bring the best yields yet. Thanks for listening to our season finale Ag Over Easy, the Channel podcast where you get breakfast served with a side of agronomic insight, be sure to subscribe to Ag Over Easy wherever you listen to podcast or at Agovereasy.com.