Podcasts about Agricultural economics

This episode takes a unique approach to ag finance: “Think like a lender. Act like an investor. Farm like an operator.” Jake explains how sophisticated lenders and institutional investors evaluate farming operations differently than producers often evaluate themselves. The discussion challenges farmers to step back and ask an important question: “If your farm walked into your office asking for a loan… would you approve it?” We break down: What lenders actually look at first when evaluating an operation What separates a “bankable” farm from a risky one Why consistency and decision-making discipline matter more than acres alone How lenders think in terms of risk while farmers often think in bushels The conversation introduces a practical framework for understanding farm financial health through three key buckets: Liquidity — Can you survive? Working capital Cash flow flexibility Burn rate management Equity — Can you withstand shocks? Land values Leverage ratios Collateral strength Efficiency — Can you win long-term? Cost structure ROI on assets Decision quality Jake also explains why institutional investors continue to value farmland as an asset class, what they see in agricultural real estate, and whether current farmland prices are sustainable. Additional topics include: Whether farmland is overpriced, fairly valued, or still undervalued What could actually cause land values to decline Why farmland may remain strong while farm cash flow weakens Long-term land financing versus operating lines Flexible financing structures and matching debt to asset life How growth-oriented operations approach lending differently What top-tier operators are doing differently in today's economy Conversations successful operators are having with lenders right now The episode also explores how data, performance analysis, and decision-making tools used in athletics and business could transform financial management in agriculture. Want Farm4Profit Merch? Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/Farm4Profit Media is not a financial, legal, or tax advisor. Content is provided for informational purposes only, and we serve solely as a platform for third-party opinions. Any actions taken based on this content are at your own risk. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Arlan Suderman is the Chief Commodities Economist for StoneX Group and he helps us wrap up the week's market action and share risk management options. Derrell Peel holds the Charles Breedlove Professorship of Agribusiness in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University. He helps analyze the Cattle on Feed Report released today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the latest episode of Growing Minds. In this episode, we're moving away from our traditional format, to preview what's coming for the new school year - audio revision notes— made for second-level students who want to study smarter, not harder. In this short teaser, we're giving you a taste of what's coming: quick, focused audio notes that breaks down key topics into simple, memorable points designed to support your exam preparation. In this episode, Agri Aware's Agricultural Science Co-ordinator Roisin Byrne will focus on Soil Science, Grassland Management & Agricultural Economics. We surmise the key points on soil pH and how it affects crop growth, rotational grazing and boosting grass production, right through to understanding farm costs and profit. Answers to the quiz go to www.ifj.ie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IFPRI-AMIS Seminar Series | IFPRI Policy Seminar A Narrow Strait, Global Consequences: Hormuz Strait and Fertilizer Markets Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) April 23, 2026 Fertilizer markets have entered a phase of heightened uncertainty, where geopolitical risks intersect with highly concentrated production, energy dependence, and fragile logistics. These risks are no longer hypothetical. The Strait of Hormuz represents a critical chokepoint for fertilizer trade, with around 35 percent of global urea flows, over one quarter of ammonia trade, just above 20 percent of phosphates, and roughly 45 percent of global sulfur exports transiting the Strait. Ongoing restrictions on maritime traffic through Hormuz underscore its role as a key pressure point in global fertilizer supply chains. Even partial or temporary disruptions can reverberate through markets, while a prolonged or intensified disruption would pose serious challenges for securing adequate nutrient supplies ahead of future cropping seasons. Moreover, even in the event of an easing or reopening, restarting production, logistical normalization, and contract re‑alignment would take time, delaying a full recovery in supply flows. This IFPRI-AMIS seminar looks ahead to assess how fertilizer markets may evolve under these conditions. Drawing on the latest market intelligence and trade analysis, speakers will examine transmission channels from constrained shipping and elevated insurance risks to energy‑driven production costs, price volatility, and regional supply vulnerabilities. The discussion will focus on implications for major importing regions, risks to fertilizer affordability and application decisions, and potential knock‑on effects for agricultural production and food security, as well as policy and market responses to strengthen preparedness in an increasingly uncertain global environment. Opening Remarks Monika Tothova, Senior Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) Secretary Landscape of Fertilizer Markets Delphine Leconte-Demarsy, Fertilizer consultant, Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) Changes in Fertilizer Trade Flows Shawn Arita, Associate Director and Associate Research Professor, Agricultural Risk Policy Center, North Dakota State University (NDSU) Panel Discussion Africa: Maria Wanzala, Director of Policy, African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) Brazil: Joana Colussi, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University India: Shalender Singh, Chief Manager, Marketing, Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited United States: Veronica Nigh, Chief Economist, The Fertilizer Institute Concluding Remarks Joseph Glauber, Research Fellow Emeritus, IFPRI More about this Event: https://www.ifpri.org/event/a-narrow-strait-global-consequences-hormuz-strait-and-fertilizer-markets/ Subscribe IFPRI Insights newsletter and event announcements at www.ifpri.org/content/newsletter-subscription

Our guest for today's podcast is Dr. Gaurav Aggarwal.  Dr. Aggarwal is a Managing Partner at Vivo Capital, a global healthcare specialist with a multi-strategy investment platform covering venture capital, private equity, and public equity strategies. The firm seeks to support the expansion of healthcare access via investments in the industry, and to catalyze innovation and growth via its "Ecosystem Strategy." Dr. Aggarwal and has invested in the life sciences sector for over 25 years including almost 10 years at Vivo Capital at the time of this recording.  Prior to Vivo, Dr. Aggarwal was Chief Business Officer of Ocera Therapeutics, a publicly traded clinical-stage company, prior to which he served as a General Partner at Panorama Capital. He began his career in private equity at JPMorgan Partners. Dr. Aggarwal currently serves on the board of Unicycive Therapeutics and on the boards of several private companies across the medical device, pharmaceutical services and biopharmaceutical sectors. Dr. Aggarwal received his M.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons and his B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. Without further ado, here is our conversation with Gaurav Aggarwal.

Derrell Peel holds the Charles Breedlove Professorship of Agribusiness in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He has served as the Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist since 1989. His work focuses on livestock market situation and outlook and marketing/risk management education for producers.Dr. Peel works in all areas of livestock production economics and marketing for all beef cattle production sectors. Additionally, he works on meat demand and meat supply chain issues and beef product marketing. He also works in the area of international cattle and beef trade and have particular expertise in the Mexican cattle and beef industry.

History proves when production gets too high, market prices always inevitably fall.

New insights show how limited cattle supplies are forcing gradual but significant industry changes.

In this Event Spotlight episode of The Impact Farming Show, Tracy sits down with Jordan Underhill, Director of Exhibitions for DLG North America, to talk all things Canadian Dairy XPO 2026. Taking place April 1–2, 2026 in Stratford, this premier dairy-only event brings together producers, industry leaders, and innovators from across Canada and beyond for two high-impact days of learning, networking, and discovery. Jordan shares the story behind the Canadian Dairy XPO, including when it first launched and the mission driving its continued growth as a world-class dairy event. Designed to connect producers with leading-edge technology, genetics, equipment, and insights, the XPO has become a must-attend for forward-thinking dairy operations. We dive into what attendees can expect in 2026—from a dynamic trade show floor featuring top-tier exhibitors to engaging speakers and practical, producer-focused sessions. Whether you're looking to explore the latest innovations, gain fresh management insights, or build valuable industry connections, this event delivers real value. In this episode, we cover: - The history and mission behind Canadian Dairy XPO - What makes the 2026 event a can't-miss opportunity - Trade show highlights and exhibitor experience - Speaker sessions and key topics for dairy producers - What a typical day at the event looks like If you've never attended before, this episode gives you a full behind-the-scenes look at what your day at the XPO could include, along with why it continues to be a cornerstone event for the Canadian dairy sector. Thanks for tuning in, Tracy How to learn more and register. https://canadiandairyxpo.ca .................

What if the biggest decisions shaping your farm today are actually being made a decade in advance?In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul sits down with Tony Klemm (CEO) and Tom Meade (Chief Science Officer) from Enko Chem at the World AgriTech Summit to explore how the next generation of crop protection is being built.Unlike most of agriculture, where decisions are made season to season, Enko is working on problems that don't fully exist yet — identifying future pest, disease, and resistance challenges and developing solutions years before they reach the farm gate. Using advanced discovery technologies adapted from the pharmaceutical industry, they are rethinking how new chemistries are identified, tested, and brought to market.This conversation dives into the shift happening in crop protection — from legacy molecules and slowing innovation pipelines to a new model built on collaboration, precision application, and more sustainable, highly targeted solutions.If you want to understand where chemistry, regulation, and farm productivity are heading — and what tools will be in your toolbox 10 years from now — this is a conversation worth paying attention to.Listen to the episode now!MEET THE GUESTSTony KlemmTony Klemm is the CEO of Enko Chem, Inc. with over 30 years of experience in agricultural biotechnology. Prior to joining Enko in 2025, he served as VP of Global Business Development and Licensing at Corteva Agriscience, where he led strategic growth and innovation in the Seeds Business Unit. Tony has held leadership roles at Dow AgroSciences and DowDuPont and has extensive experience in global negotiations, partnerships, and commercialization strategies. He holds an Executive MBA in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and a Bachelor's degree from Iowa State University.Tom Meade, Ph.D.Tom Meade is Chief Science Officer at Enko Chem and has more than 30 years of experience in crop protection and trait discovery. He began his career at Mycogen and later held leadership roles at Dow AgroSciences, where he led global traits discovery. Tom has authored multiple scientific publications and holds 27 U.S. patents. He earned his Ph.D. in Entomology from UC Riverside.ABOUT THE PODCASTDiscover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast". This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels and encounters with important figures around the world.Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

Choosing replacement heifers shapes the productivity of a breeding herd for years to come.This week on the Head Shepherd podcast, James Starling joins Mark Ferguson to discuss the 'Optimised Heifer Selection' project, which focuses on combining genomic tools with visual assessment to improve heifer selection. Based on the Limestone Coast in South Australia, James runs a self-replacing Angus herd alongside a prime lamb enterprise. After two decades working in global financial markets, he returned to farming with a strong focus on data, value and decision making.In this conversation, James explains why identifying the right replacement heifers is one of the most important profit drivers in a breeding herd. The discussion covers how combining visual assessment with genomic tools can improve selection for first cycle conception, rebreeding performance, longevity and lifetime productivity.With TSU sampling and genotyping now underway across the project's core herds, the goal is to generate practical data from commercial operations and test how well genomics can complement traditional drafting decisions.The episode also touches on market signals, cost of production, maternal versus terminal breeding strategies and why measuring performance is becoming essential for livestock businesses operating in high-cost production environments.'Optimised heifer selection – Integrating genomic selection tools and on-farm assessments to maximise lifetime productivity' is a Meat & Livestock Australia Producer Demonstration Site project. Contact Georgia Pugh (E: georgia@nextgenagri.com M:+61 408 947 488) for more information about the project. Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited. We help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best: info@nextgenagri.com.Thanks to our sponsors at MSD Animal Health and Allflex, Heiniger Australia and New Zealand, and ProWay Livestock Equipment. Please consider them when making product choices, as they are instrumental in enabling us to bring you this podcast each week.Check out the MSD range HERECheck out Allflex products HERECheck out Heiniger's product range HERECheck out ProWay's product range HERE

02/27/26: Joel Heitkamp is on vacation and has Richland County Commissioners, Nathan Berseth and Perry Miller, filling in for him on "News and Views." They're joined by Daniel Julson to talk about tax season, specifically digging into the taxing on tips, Trump accounts, deductions, and more. Daniel Julson graduated in 2015 from North Dakota State University with a degree in Agricultural Economics with an emphasis in Accounting. He received his CPA license in January 2017. (Joel Heitkamp is a talk show host on the Mighty 790 KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. His award-winning program, “News & Views,” can be heard weekdays from 8 – 11 a.m. Follow Joel on X/Twitter @JoelKFGO.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If the last U.S. herd rebuild can be described as a “jackrabbit” rebuild, this current period is completely the opposite, says Oklahoma State University economist Darrell Peel.The beef industry is on pace for a slow rebuild, and this episode of The Angus Conversation dives into the “why.”Cattle feeder Steve Sunderman and stocker-operator Gene Copenhaver join Peel to discuss tight supplies, margin pressures and how producers are adapting. From heavier finishing weights to rising capital requirements for the next generation, the guests explore what's shaping today's dynamics and long-term outlook. The guests share why they're “cautiously optimistic” and yet emphasize the importance of risk management.HOSTS: Miranda Reiman and Mark McCullyGUESTS:Derrell Peel is an ag econ professor at Oklahoma State University, holding the Charles Breedlove Professorship of Agribusiness in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He has served as the extension livestock marketing specialist since 1989, focusing on livestock market situation and outlook and marketing/risk management education for producers.His work covers all areas of livestock production economics and marketing for beef cattle including meat supply chain and international cattle and beef trade with an expertise in the Mexican cattle and beef industry.Gene Copenhaver is a fifth-generation cattleman whose family dates to the 1850s in Washington County, Va. Copenhaver currently manages his family's stocker operation in southwest Virginia with his son, Will. He was an agriculture loan officer for 38 years and served his clients who were primarily cattle producers in five East Coast states.Copenhaver is currently serving as National Cattlemen's Beef Association president.He has been married to his wife, Jodi, for more than 35 years, and they have three grown children, Brad, Will and Jaymee, and one granddaughter.Steve Sunderman is a sixth-generation farmer rancher who works alongside his parents near Norfolk, Neb. Sunderman Family Farms is a farming, cow-calf and cattle feeding operation. Steve has served the board of the Nebraska Cattlemen Association and is currently vice chair of the taxation committee as well as past chair of the marketing & commerce committee and past member of their executive committee. He is also a past chair and vice chair of the National Cattlemen Beef Association's live cattle marketing committee.Steve is a co-founder and president of Sunderman Investments, an investment firm focused on rural downtown development and value-added ag investments.SPONSOR:Angus Media: Are you ready to find your next influential Angus sire? Angus Journal subscribers will receive a free copy of the Angus Bull Book: Spring 2026 Angus Sire Directory, mailed right alongside their March edition. Visit www.AngusJournal.net to subscribe to the Angus Journal today.Angus Media: A sale book isn't just a sale book. You have options. Big or small, private treaty or live auction, Angus Media's Pasture to Publish online portal is here to serve you. Visit www.AngusMedia.org to learn more.  Don't miss news in the Angus breed. Visit www.AngusJournal.net and subscribe to the AJ Daily e-newsletter and our monthly magazine, the Angus Journal.

Ward Black     During his career, Ward has worked in multiple sales, procurement, research, and business intelligence roles for private companies, Fortune 500 corporations, and public institutions. Ward holds a BSA and MS in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Georgia Green Industry Association […]

About the Guest Dr. Derald Holtkamp is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostics and Production Animal Medicine (VDPAM) in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa, U.S.). He received his DVM, MS in Agricultural Economics, and B.S. in Agricultural Business with a minor in statistics, all from Iowa State University. Prior to joining Iowa State, he was a private veterinary consultant. He has also served as a technical services veterinarian for ADViSYS Inc., Vice President of Swine Applications for MetaFarms Inc., Director of Pork Development for E-Markets, Inc., and veterinarian for Smithfield Foods in Warsaw, North Carolina. Dr. Holtkamp's research focuses on managing infectious swine diseases, biosecurity, disease risk assessment, and the economics of animal health and disease. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, delivered over 70 invited presentations internationally, and given more than 220 invited talks across the United States. In addition, he has mentored over 275 professional and graduate students. What can you expect to learn from this episode of Popular Pig? How pig mortality directly impacts US competitiveness and why productivity gaps matter far beyond individual farms. What global benchmarking data shows about how the US compares to countries like Brazil and why mortality is a major driver. How PRRS continues to play a significant role in lost productivity and why its true economic impact is likely underestimated. Why biosecurity failures are usually tied to everyday processes, not rare events or one time mistakes. How identifying, prioritizing, and monitoring biosecurity risks matters more than debating rules like downtime length.

Livestock sale barns are often thought of as places where cattle are bought and sold. But for many producers, they also serve as important gathering spaces — places to exchange information, build relationships, and stay connected in an industry that can be isolating at times.In this episode of Nebraska FARMcast, Ryan Evans talks with Marilyn Schlake and Dr. Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Nebraska Extension about their new research on the social value of livestock sale barns in Nebraska. The conversation explores what they observed on sale days, what producers told them about connection and mental well-being, and why these spaces matter to both individuals and rural communities.The research is summarized in the report Beyond the Auction: The Social Impacts of Nebraska's Livestock Sale Barns, available from the Center for Agricultural Profitability.

University of Georgia research shows farmers don't want help managing stress, they want help managing the financial pressures causing it.

In this episode of the Farm4Profit Podcast, we sit down with Joe Kerns, a 30-year industry veteran and Iowa State University graduate who has worked across procurement, risk management, nutrition, hedging, livestock marketing, and operational benchmarking. Joe doesn't sugarcoat the situation—and his perspective raises uncomfortable but necessary questions about the future of U.S. agriculture, especially pork production.Joe explains why he believes the pork industry is on the brink of becoming “a serf to the packer,” tracing the roots back to the 1998 hog price collapse and the financial community's push for mandatory packer contracts. The result? The negotiated cash market has collapsed from roughly 17% in 2002 to around 1% today, leaving producers without meaningful price discovery and shifting risk almost entirely onto the farm.We also tackle the growing loss of faith in USDA reporting, including:Corn yield overestimations that led to bad marketing decisionsThe September 2024 hog supply miss that sent futures $20/head higherDeclining participation in USDA reports and what that means for accuracyHow flawed data distorts markets, hedging decisions, and producer confidenceBut this episode isn't just about problems—it's about opportunity.Joe outlines how producer-driven, anonymous data aggregation could flip the power dynamic back toward farmers. With enough participation, predictive analytics could unlock insights across genetics, nutrition, management, equipment, and animal health—turning farm data into a monetized advantage instead of a liability.We also explore:Why pork producers may actually be agriculture's quiet sustainability success storyHow efficiency gains from genetics and feed conversion are reshaping protein productionWhy beef prices are likely to remain elevated—and why politics are missing the pointThe hard reality behind renewable diesel, SAF, and global energy policyWhat happens to independent producers if nothing changesThis is a candid, data-driven conversation about power, control, and survival in modern agriculture—and why the next decade may determine whether independence remains viable at all. Want Farm4Profit Merch? Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of The Pet Food Science Podcast Show, Dr. Aleksan Shanoyan from Kansas State University explains how economics, consumer behavior, and supply chain dynamics shape modern pet food trends. He shares new insights from large-scale research on buyer preferences, pricing responses, and the gap between what consumers say they want and what they actually purchase. Learn how these findings can guide better product design and marketing decisions. Listen now on all major platforms!"Understanding why consumers select specific products is more valuable than only tracking what is being purchased at a given moment."Meet the guest: Dr. Aleksan Shanoyan is a Professor and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar in Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. His work focuses on agribusiness management, agri-food marketing, supply chain resilience, and the economic forces shaping pet food purchasing behavior. He leads research exploring consumer preferences, pricing responses, and industry needs within the pet food sector.Liked this one? Don't stop now — Here's what we think you'll love!Don't miss the chance to be part of the Pet Food Inner Circle!Join now and connect with leading experts in pet nutrition: https://petfoodinnercircle.com/What will you learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:20) Introduction(09:07) Supply chain changes(10:50) Consumer review patterns(14:37) Price response insight(18:11) Attribute competition(25:15) Wish list versus cart(37:05) Final QuestionsThe Pet Food Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:* Trouw Nutrition* Kemin- Biorigin

In this segment, Tracy speaks to Paula Law the Event Chair for CrossRoads - Alberta's Crop Conference about their upcoming January 2026 event. Join Tracy and Paula in this segment as they discuss the theme of this year's event "Grow Boldy," key event speakers, networking opportunities, and so much more.  About CrossRoads - Alberta's Crop Conference CrossRoads provides a dynamic platform where farmers can engage with leading experts, share experiences, and explore the latest trends shaping the agricultural landscape. What to Expect: - Exceptional Speaker Sessions - Dynamic, Relevant Topics - Latest Insights for Western Farmers -  Valuable Networking - Essential Tools to Keep Farmers Ahead of Industry Trends CrossRoads – Alberta's Crop Conference is brought to you by three of Alberta's crop commissions, comprised of farmers and staff from Alberta Canola, Alberta Grains and Alberta Pulse Growers. Not from Alberta? That's perfectly ok. The event is hoping to draw farmers from across the prairies. Tune into this week's segment to learn all about this event. SHOW RESOURCES: CrossRoads Conference Event Info https://crossroadscropconference.ca Purchase Tickets - https://crossroadscropconference.ca/tickets/ Don't Wait. Early Bird Savings Deadline is December 31, 2025. .................. ✅ Important Link to Follow

This podcast is sponsored by Learning Quest. As parents, we all want to set our children up for success—but when it comes to planning for their education, the options can feel overwhelming. One powerful tool to consider is a 529 account, which allows you to invest in your child's future education no matter what path they choose. In this episode, we're joined by Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson, an expert on 529 programs and the Kansas Learning Quest® plan. He shares insights on how families can make the most of these accounts and confidently plan for their children's educational journeys. Topics we cover include: What a 529 plan is, along with its uses and key benefits The best time to open a 529 account Who can contribute to a 529 plan and contribution limits Guidance on setting up a 529 account Tune in for an informative conversation designed to help you better understand 529 plans and how they can support your child's educational future.   Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson was born and raised on a cattle and grain farm near Assaria, Kansas. After graduating from Southeast Saline High School, Steven went on to study Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, where he was elected Student Body President and graduated with honors. Steven began his career in the financial services sector while remaining involved in the family farm. He continued his education at the University of Chicago where he received a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance and business policy. Steven's financially-focused education was a valued tool in the financial services sector when he led the development of an asset allocation software program that calculated the highest return of investment for a particular need. His interest and expertise in financial issues during the economic downturn of 2008-09 was a catalyst in his decision to enter public service. Steven ran for the state legislature and was elected in 2010. His financial and agricultural background led to committee appointments including Chairman of the Tax Committee, Chairman of Insurance and Pensions Committee, and a member of committees including Appropriations and Agriculture and Natural Resources. Steven was elected the state's 42nd state treasurer in 2022 and assumed office on January 9, 2023.   Before investing, carefully consider the plan's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This information and more about the plan can be found in the Learning Quest Handbook, available by contacting American Century Investment Services, Inc., Distributor, at 1-800-579-2203, and should be read carefully before investing. If you are not a Kansas taxpayer, consider before investing whether the beneficiary's or your home state offers a 529 Plan that provides its taxpayers with state tax and other benefits not available through this plan. Notice: Accounts established under Learning Quest and their earnings are neither insured nor guaranteed by the state of Kansas, the Kansas State Treasurer or American Century. Administered by the Kansas State Treasurer, Steven Johnson. Managed by American Century Investment Management, Inc. The availability of tax or other state benefits (such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors) may be conditioned on meeting certain requirements, such as residency, purpose for or timing of distributions, or other factors. As with any investment, it is possible to lose money by investing in this plan. The value of your Learning Quest account may fluctuate, and it is possible for the value of your account to be less than the amount you invested. The earnings portion of non-qualified withdrawals is subject to federal and state income taxes and a 10% federal penalty. Please consult your tax advisor for more detailed information regarding the Roth IRA or for advice regarding your individual situation. Taxes are deferred until withdrawal if the requirements are met. A 10% penalty may be imposed for withdrawal prior to reaching age 59 ½. ©2025 American Century Proprietary Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. Connect with Megan and Sarah We would love to hear from you! Send us an e-mail or find us on Instagram or Facebook!        

To unpack what the eased US tariffs means for South Africa’s agricultural economy, John Maytham speaks to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa and senior fellow at Stellenbosch University’s Department of Agricultural Economics. Presenter John Maytham is an actor and author-turned-talk radio veteran and seasoned journalist. His show serves a round-up of local and international news coupled with the latest in business, sport, traffic and weather. The host’s eclectic interests mean the program often surprises the audience with intriguing book reviews and inspiring interviews profiling artists. A daily highlight is Rapid Fire, just after 5:30pm. CapeTalk fans call in, to stump the presenter with their general knowledge questions. Another firm favourite is the humorous Thursday crossing with award-winning journalist Rebecca Davis, called “Plan B”. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Afternoon Drive with John Maytham Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 15:00 and 18:00 (SA Time) to Afternoon Drive with John Maytham broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/BSFy4Cn or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/n8nWt4x Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the Leading Voices in Food podcast, host Norbert Wilson is joined by food and nutrition policy economists Will Masters and Parke Wilde from Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition, Science and Policy. The discussion centers around the concept of the least cost diet, a tool used to determine the minimum cost required to maintain a nutritionally adequate diet. The conversation delves into the global computational methods and policies related to least cost diets, the challenges of making these diets culturally relevant, and the implications for food policy in both the US and internationally. You will also hear about the lived experiences of people affected by these diets and the need for more comprehensive research to better reflect reality. Interview Summary I know you both have been working in this space around least cost diets for a while. So, let's really start off by just asking a question about what brought you into this work as researchers. Why study least cost diets? Will, let's start with you. I'm a very curious person and this was a puzzle. So, you know, people want health. They want healthy food. Of course, we spend a lot on healthcare and health services, but do seek health in our food. As a child growing up, you know, companies were marketing food as a source of health. And people who had more money would spend more for premium items that were seen as healthy. And in the 2010s for the first time, we had these quantified definitions of what a healthy diet was as we went from 'nutrients' to 'food groups,' from the original dietary guidelines pyramid to the MyPlate. And then internationally, the very first quantified definitions of healthful diets that would work anywhere in the world. And I was like, oh, wow. Is it actually expensive to eat a healthy diet? And how much does it cost? How does it differ by place location? How does it differ over time, seasons, and years? And I just thought it was a fascinating question. Great, thank you for that. Parke? There's a lot of policy importance on this, but part of the fun also of this particular topic is more than almost any that we work on, it's connected to things that we have to think about in our daily lives. So, as you're preparing and purchasing food for your family and you want it to be a healthy. And you want it to still be, you know, tasty enough to satisfy the kids. And it can't take too long because it has to fit into a busy life. So, this one does feel like it's got a personal connection. Thank you both for that. One of the things I heard is there was an availability of data. There was an opportunity that seems like it didn't exist before. Can you speak a little bit about that? Especially Will because you mentioned that point. Will: Yes. So, we have had food composition data identifying for typical items. A can of beans, or even a pizza. You know, what is the expected, on average quantity of each nutrient. But only recently have we had those on a very large scale for global items. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of distinct items. And we had nutrient requirements, but only nutrient by nutrient, and the definition of a food group where you would want not only the nutrients, but also the phytochemicals, the attributes of food from its food matrix that make a vegetable different from just in a vitamin pill. And those came about in, as I mentioned, in the 2010s. And then there's the computational tools and the price observations that get captured. They've been written down on pads of paper, literally, and brought to a headquarters to compute inflation since the 1930s. But access to those in digitized form, only really in the 2000s and only really in the 2010s were we able to have program routines that would download millions and millions of price observations, match them to food composition data, match that food composition information to a healthy diet criterion, and then compute these least cost diets. Now we've computed millions and millions of these thanks to modern computing and all of that data. Great, Will. And you've already started on this, so let's continue on this point. You were talking about some of the computational methods and data that were available globally. Can you give us a good sense of what does a lease cost diet look like from this global perspective because we're going to talk to Parke about whether it is in the US. But let's talk about it in the broad sense globally. In my case the funding opportunity to pay for the graduate students and collaborators internationally came from the Gates Foundation and the UK International Development Agency, initially for a pilot study in Ghana and Tanzania. And then we were able to get more money to scale that up to Africa and South Asia, and then globally through a project called Food Prices for Nutrition. And what we found, first of all, is that to get agreement on what a healthy diet means, we needed to go to something like the least common denominator. The most basic, basic definition from the commonalities among national governments' dietary guidelines. So, in the US, that's MyPlate, or in the UK it's the Eat Well Guide. And each country's dietary guidelines look a little different, but they have these commonalities. So, we distilled that down to six food groups. There's fruits and vegetables, separately. And then there's animal source foods altogether. And in some countries they would separate out milk, like the United States does. And then all starchy staples together. And in some countries, you would separate out whole grains like the US does. And then all edible oils. And those six food groups, in the quantities needed to provide all the nutrients you would need, plus these attributes of food groups beyond just what's in a vitamin pill, turns out to cost about $4 a day. And if you adjust for inflation and differences in the cost of living, the price of housing and so forth around the world, it's very similar. And if you think about seasonal variation in a very remote area, it might rise by 50% in a really bad situation. And if you think about a very remote location where it's difficult to get food to, it might go up to $5.50, but it stays in that range between roughly speaking $2.50 and $5.00. Meanwhile, incomes are varying from around $1.00 a day, and people who cannot possibly afford those more expensive food groups, to $200 a day in which these least expensive items are trivially small in cost compared to the issues that Parke mentioned. We can also talk about what we actually find as the items, and those vary a lot from place to place for some food groups and are very similar to each other in other food groups. So, for example, the least expensive item in an animal source food category is very often dairy in a rich country. But in a really dry, poor country it's dried fish because refrigeration and transport are very expensive. And then to see where there's commonalities in the vegetable category, boy. Onions, tomatoes, carrots are so inexpensive around the world. We've just gotten those supply chains to make the basic ingredients for a vegetable stew really low cost. But then there's all these other different vegetables that are usually more expensive. So, it's very interesting to look at which are the items that would deliver the healthfulness you need and how much they cost. It's surprisingly little from a rich country perspective, and yet still out of reach for so many in low-income countries. Will, thank you for that. And I want to turn now to looking in the US case because I think there's some important commonalities. Parke, can you describe the least cost diet, how it's used here in the US, and its implications for policy? Absolutely. And full disclosure to your audience, this is work on which we've benefited from Norbert's input and wisdom in a way that's been very valuable as a co-author and as an advisor for the quantitative part of what we were doing. For an article in the journal Food Policy, we use the same type of mathematical model that USDA uses when it sets the Thrifty Food Plan, the TFP. A hypothetical diet that's used as the benchmark for the maximum benefit in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is the nation's most important anti-hunger program. And what USDA does with this model diet is it tries to find a hypothetical bundle of foods and beverages that's not too different from what people ordinarily consume. The idea is it should be a familiar diet, it should be one that's reasonably tasty, that people clearly already accept enough. But it can't be exactly that diet. It has to be different enough at least to meet a cost target and to meet a whole long list of nutrition criteria. Including getting enough of the particular nutrients, things like enough calcium or enough protein, and also, matching food group goals reasonably well. Things like having enough fruits, enough vegetables, enough dairy. When, USDA does that, it finds that it's fairly difficult. It's fairly difficult to meet all those goals at once, at a cost and a cost goal all at the same time. And so, it ends up choosing this hypothetical diet that's almost maybe more different than would feel most comfortable from people's typical average consumption. Thank you, Parke. I'm interested to understand the policy implications of this least cost diet. You suggested something about the Thrifty Food Plan and the maximum benefit levels. Can you tell us a little bit more about the policies that are relevant? Yes, so the Thrifty Food Plan update that USDA does every five years has a much bigger policy importance now than it did a few years ago. I used to tell my students that you shouldn't overstate how much policy importance this update has. It might matter a little bit less than you would think. And the reason was because every time they update the Thrifty Food Plan, they use the cost target that is the inflation adjusted or the real cost of the previous edition. It's a little bit as if nobody wanted to open up the whole can of worms about what should the SNAP benefit be in the first place. But everything changed with the update in 2021. In 2021, researchers at the US Department of Agriculture found that it was not possible at the old cost target to find a diet that met all of the nutrition criteria - at all. Even if you were willing to have a diet that was quite different from people's typical consumption. And so, they ended up increasing the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan in small increments until they found a solution to this mathematical model using data on real world prices and on the nutrition characteristics of these foods. And this led to a 21% increase in the permanent value of the maximum SNAP benefit. Many people didn't notice that increase all that much because the increase came into effect at just about the same time that a temporary boost during the COVID era to SNAP benefits was being taken away. So there had been a temporary boost to how much benefits people got as that was taken away at the end of the start of the COVID pandemic then this permanent increase came in and it kind of softened the blow from that change in benefits at that time. But it now ends up meaning that the SNAP benefit is substantially higher than it would've been without this 2021 increase. And there's a lot of policy attention on this in the current Congress and in the current administration. There's perhaps a skeptical eye on whether this increase was good policy. And so, there are proposals to essentially take away the ability to update the Thrifty Food Plan change the maximum SNAP benefit automatically, as it used to. As you know, Norbert, this is part of all sorts of things going on currently. Like we heard in the news, just last week, about plans to end collecting household food security measurement using a major national survey. And so there will be sort of possibly less information about how these programs are doing and whether a certain SNAP benefit is needed in order to protect people from food insecurity and hunger. Parke, this is really important and I'm grateful that we're able to talk about this today in that SNAP benefit levels are still determined by this mathematical program that's supposed to represent a nutritionally adequate diet that also reflects food preferences. And I don't know how many people really understand or appreciate that. I can say I didn't understand or appreciate it until working more in this project. I think it's critical for our listeners to understand just how important this particular mathematical model is, and what it says about what a nutritionally adequate diet looks like in this country. I know the US is one of the countries that uses a model diet like this to help set policy. Will, I'd like to turn to you to see what ways other nations are using this sort of model diet. How have you seen policy receive information from these model diets? It's been a remarkable thing where those initial computational papers that we were able to publish in first in 2018, '19, '20, and governments asking how could we use this in practice. Parke has laid out how it's used in the US with regard to the benefit level of SNAP. The US Thrifty Food Plan has many constraints in addition to the basic ones for the Healthy Diet Basket that I described. Because clearly that Healthy Diet Basket minimum is not something anyone in America would think is acceptable. Just to have milk and frozen vegetables and low-cost bread, that jar peanut butter and that's it. Like that would be clearly not okay. So, internationally what's happened is that first starting in 2020, and then using the current formula in 2022, the United Nations agencies together with the World Bank have done global monitoring of food and nutrition security using this method. So, the least cost items to meet the Healthy Diet Basket in each country provide this global estimate that about a third of the global population have income available for food after taking account of their non-food needs. That is insufficient to buy this healthy diet. What they're actually eating is just starchy staples, oil, some calories from low-cost sugar and that's it. And very small quantities of the fruits and vegetables. And animal source foods are the expensive ones. So, countries have the opportunity to begin calculating this themselves alongside their normal monitoring of inflation with a consumer price index. The first country to do that was Nigeria. And Nigeria began publishing this in January 2024. And it so happened that the country's national minimum wage for civil servants was up for debate at that time. And this was a newly published statistic that turned out to be enormously important for the civil society advocates and the labor unions who were trying to explain why a higher civil service minimum wage was needed. This is for the people who are serving tea or the drivers and the low wage people in these government service agencies. And able to measure how many household members could you feed a healthy diet with a day's worth of the monthly wage. So social protection in the sense of minimum wage and then used in other countries regarding something like our US SNAP program or something like our US WIC program. And trying to define how big should those benefit levels be. That's been the first use. A second use that's emerging is targeting the supply chains for the low-cost vegetables and animal source foods and asking what from experience elsewhere could be an inexpensive animal source food. What could be the most inexpensive fruits. What could be the most inexpensive vegetables? And that is the type of work that we're doing now with governments with continued funding from the Gates Foundation and the UK International Development Agency. Will, it's fascinating to hear this example from Nigeria where all of the work that you all have been doing sort of shows up in this kind of debate. And it really speaks to the power of the research that we all are trying to do as we try to inform policy. Now, as we discussed the least cost diet, there was something that I heard from both of you. Are these diets that people really want? I'm interested to understand a little bit more about that because this is a really critical space.Will, what do we know about the lived experiences of those affected by least cost diet policy implementation. How are real people affected? It's such an important and interesting question, just out of curiosity, but also for just our human understanding of what life is like for people. And then of course the policy actions that could improve. So, to be clear, we've only had these millions of least cost diets, these benchmark 'access to' at a market near you. These are open markets that might be happening twice a week or sometimes all seven days of the week in a small town, in an African country or a urban bodega type market or a supermarket across Asia, Africa. We've only begun to have these benchmarks against which to compare actual food choice, as I mentioned, since 2022. And then really only since 2024 have been able to investigate this question. We're only beginning to match up these benchmark diets to what people actually choose. But the pattern we're seeing is that in low and lower middle-income countries, people definitely spend their money to go towards that healthy diet basket goal. They don't spend all of their additional money on that. But if you improve affordability throughout the range of country incomes - from the lowest income countries in Africa, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, to middle income countries in Africa, like Ghana, Indonesia, an upper middle-income country - people do spend their money to get more animal source foods, more fruits and vegetables, and to reduce the amount of the low cost starchy staples. They do increase the amount of discretionary, sugary meals. And a lot of what they're eating exits the healthy diet basket because there's too much added sodium, too much added sugar. And so, things that would've been healthy become unhealthy because of processing or in a restaurant setting. So, people do spend their money on that. But they are moving towards a healthy diet. That breaks down somewhere in the upper income and high-income countries where additional spending becomes very little correlated with the Healthy Diet Basket. What happens is people way overshoot the Healthy Diet Basket targets for animal source foods and for edible oils because I don't know if you've ever tried it, but one really delicious thing is fried meat. People love it. And even low middle income people overshoot on that. And that displaces the other elements of a healthy diet. And then there's a lot of upgrading, if you will, within the food group. So, people are spending additional money on nicer vegetables. Nicer fruits. Nicer animal source foods without increasing the total amount of them in addition to having overshot the healthy diet levels of many of those food groups. Which of course takes away from the food you would need from the fruits, the vegetables, and the pulses, nuts and seeds, that almost no one gets as much as is considered healthy, of that pulses, nuts and seeds category. Thank you. And I want to shift this to the US example. So, Parke, can you tell us a bit more about the lived experience of those affected by least cost diet policy? How are real people affected? One of the things I've enjoyed about this project that you and I got to work on, Norbert, in cooperation with other colleagues, is that it had both a quantitative and a qualitative part to it. Now, our colleague Sarah Folta led some of the qualitative interviews, sort of real interviews with people in food pantries in four states around the country. And this was published recently in the Journal of Health Education and Behavior. And we asked people about their goals and about what are the different difficulties or constraints that keep them from achieving those goals. And what came out of that was that people often talk about whether their budget constraints and whether their financial difficulties take away their autonomy to sort of be in charge of their own food choices. And this was something that Sarah emphasized as she sort of helped lead us through a process of digesting what was the key findings from these interviews with people. One of the things I liked about doing this study is that because the quantitative and the qualitative part, each had this characteristic of being about what do people want to achieve. This showed up mathematically in the constrained optimization model, but it also showed up in the conversations with people in the food pantry. And what are the constraints that keep people from achieving it. You know, the mathematical model, these are things like all the nutrition constraints and the cost constraints. And then in the real conversations, it's something that people raise in very plain language about what are all the difficulties they have. Either in satisfying their own nutrition aspirations or satisfying some of the requirements for one person or another in the family. Like if people have special diets that are needed or if they have to be gluten free or any number of things. Having the diets be culturally appropriate. And so, I feel like this is one of those classic things where different disciplines have wisdom to bring to bear on what's really very much a shared topic. What I hear from both of you is that these diets, while they are computationally interesting and they reveal some critical realities of how people eat, they can't cover everything. People want to eat certain types of foods. Certain types of foods are more culturally relevant. And that's really clear talking to you, Will, about just sort of the range of foods that end up showing up in these least cost diets and how you were having to make some adjustments there. Parke, as you talked about the work with Sarah Folta thinking through autonomy and sort of a sense of self. This kind of leads us to a question that I want to open up to both of you. What's missing when we talk about these least cost diet modeling exercises and what are the policy implications of that? What are the gaps in our understanding of these model diets and what needs to happen to make them reflect reality better? Parke? Well, you know, there's many things that people in our research community are working on. And it goes quite, quite far afield. But I'm just thinking of two related to our quantitative research using the Thrifty Food Plan type models. We've been working with Yiwen Zhao and Linlin Fan at Penn State University on how these models would work if you relaxed some of the constraints. If people's back in a financial sense weren't back up against the wall, but instead they had just a little more space. We were considering what if they had incentives that gave them a discount on fruits and vegetables, for example, through the SNAP program? Or what if they had a healthy bundle of foods provided through the emergency food system, through food banks or food pantries. What is the effect directly in terms of those foods? But also, what is the effect in terms of just relaxing their budget constraints. They get to have a little more of the foods that they find more preferred or that they had been going without. But then also, in terms of sort of your question about the more personal. You know, what is people's personal relationships with food? How does this play out on the ground? We're working with the graduate student Angelica Valdez Valderrama here at the Friedman School, thinking about what some of the cultural assumptions and of the food group constraints in some of these models are. If you sort of came from a different immigrant tradition or if you came from another community, what things would be different in, for example, decisions about what's called the Mediterranean diet or what's called the healthy US style dietary pattern. How much difference do this sort of breadth, cultural breadth of dietary patterns you could consider, how much difference does that make in terms of what's the outcome of this type of hypothetical diet? Will: And I think, you know, from the global perspective, one really interesting thing is when we do combine data sets and look across these very different cultural settings, dry land, Sahelian Africa versus countries that are coastal versus sort of forest inland countries versus all across Asia, south Asia to East Asia, all across Latin America. We do see the role of these cultural factors. And we see them playing out in very systematic ways that people come to their cultural norms for very good reasons. And then pivot and switch away to new cultural norms. You know, American fast food, for example, switching from beef primarily to chicken primarily. That sort of thing becomes very visible in a matter of years. So, in terms of things that are frontiers for us, remember this is early days. Getting many more nutritionists, people in other fields, looking at first of all, it's just what is really needed for health. Getting those health requirements improved and understood better is a key priority. Our Healthy Diet Basket comes from the work of a nutritionist named Anna Herforth, who has gone around the world studying these dietary guidelines internationally. We're about to get the Eat Lancet dietary recommendations announced, and it'll be very interesting to see how those evolve. Second thing is much better data on prices and computing these diets for more different settings at different times, different locations. Settings that are inner city United States versus very rural. And then this question of comparing to actual diets. And just trying to understand what people are seeking when they choose foods that are clearly not these benchmark least cost items. The purpose is to ask how far away and why and how are they far away? And particularly to understand to what degree are these attributes of the foods themselves: the convenience of the packaging, the preparation of the item, the taste, the flavor, the cultural significance of it. To what degree are we looking at the result of aspirations that are really shaped by marketing. Are really shaped by the fire hose of persuasion that companies are investing in every day. And very strategically and constantly iterating to the best possible spokesperson, the best possible ad campaign. Combining billboards and radio and television such that you're surrounded by this. And when you drive down the street and when you walk into the supermarket, there is no greater effort on the planet than the effort to sell us a particular brand of food. Food companies are basically marketing companies attached to a manufacturing facility, and they are spending much more than the entire combined budget of the NIH and CDC, et cetera, to persuade us to eat what we ultimately choose. And we really don't know to what degree it's the actual factors in the food itself versus the marketing campaigns and the way they've evolved. You know, if you had a choice between taking the food system and regulating it the way we regulate, say housing or vehicles. If we were to say your supermarket should be like an auto dealership, right? So, anything in the auto dealership is very heavily regulated. Everything from the paint to where the gear shift is to how the windows work. Everything is heavily regulated because the auto industry has worked with National Transportation Safety Board and every single crash investigation, et cetera, has led to the standards that we have now. We didn't get taxes on cars without airbags to make us choose cars with airbags. They're just required. And same is true for housing, right? You can't just build, you know, an extension deck behind your house any way you want. A city inspector will force you to tear it out if you haven't built it to code. So, you know, we could regulate the grocery store like we do that. It's not going to happen politically but compare that option to treating groceries the way we used to treat the legal services or pharmaceuticals. Which is you couldn't advertise them. You could sell them, and people would choose based on the actual merit of the lawyer or the pharmaceutical, right? Which would have the bigger impact. Right? If there was zero food advertising, you just walked into the grocery store and chose what you liked. Or you regulate the grocery store the same way we regulate automotive or building trades. Obviously, they both matter. There's, you know, this problem that you can't see, taste or smell the healthiness of food. You're always acting on belief and not a fact when you choose something that you're seeking health. We don't know to what extent choice is distorted away from a low-cost healthy diet by things people genuinely want and need. Such as taste, convenience, culture, and so forth. Versus things that they've been persuaded to want. And there's obviously some of both. All of these things matter. But I'm hopeful that through these least cost diets, we can identify that low-cost options are there. And you could feed your family a very healthy diet at the Thrifty Food Plan level in the United States, or even lower. It would take time, it would take attention, it would be hard. You can take some shortcuts to make that within your time budget, right? And the planning budget. And we can identify what those look like thanks to these model diets. It's a very exciting area of work, but we still have a lot to do to define carefully what are the constraints. What are the real objectives here. And how to go about helping people, acquire these foods that we now know are there within a short commuting distance. You may need to take the bus, you may need carpool. But that's what people actually do to go grocery shopping. And when they get there, we can help people to choose items that would genuinely meet their needs at lower cost. Bios Will Masters is a Professor in the Friedman School of Nutrition, with a secondary appointment in Tufts University's Department of Economics. He is coauthor of the new textbook on Food Economics: Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). Before coming to Tufts in 2010 he was a faculty member in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University (1991-2010), and also at the University of Zimbabwe (1989-90), Harvard's Kennedy School of Government (2000) and Columbia University (2003-04). He is former editor-in-chief of the journal Agricultural Economics (2006-2011), and an elected Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition (FASN) as well as a Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA). At Tufts his courses on economics of agriculture, food and nutrition were recognized with student-nominated, University-wide teaching awards in 2019 and 2022, and he leads over a million dollars annually in externally funded research including work on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy (https://www.anh-academy.org), as well as projects supporting government efforts to calculate the cost and affordability of healthy diets worldwide and work with private enterprises on data analytics for food markets in Africa. Parke Wilde (PhD, Cornell) is a food economist and professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Previously, he worked for USDA's Economic Research Service. At Tufts, Parke teaches graduate-level courses in statistics, U.S. food policy, and climate change. His research addresses the economics of U.S. food and nutrition policy, including federal nutrition assistance programs. He was Director of Design for the SNAP Healthy Incentives Pilot (HIP) evaluation. He has been a member of the National Academy of Medicine's Food Forum and is on the scientific and technical advisory committee for Menus of Change, an initiative to advance the health and sustainability of the restaurant industry. He directs the USDA-funded Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Partnership. He received the AAEA Distinguished Quality of Communication Award for his textbook, Food Policy in the United States: An Introduction (Routledge/Earthscan), whose third edition was released in April 2025. 

In this special series on corn production from The Crop Science Podcast Show, Dr. Terry Griffin from Kansas State University explains how solar storms can throw GPS off right when farmers need it most, and what it means for planting and harvest. He shares what happened during the May 2024 outage, including the yield and financial losses for corn and peanut growers, as well as the tough decisions farmers had to make in the field. Learn how to manage GPS disruptions and be prepared for possible future interruptions. Listen now on all major platforms!"Conservative estimates suggest half a billion dollars in lost corn production due to GPS outages during peak planting."Meet the guest: Dr. Terry Griffin is Professor of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. He earned his B.S. in Agronomy and M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University. His research spans geospatial analysis and big data applications for farm decision-making. Recognized internationally for his contributions to precision agriculture, Dr. Griffin provides unique insights into the vulnerabilities and opportunities of digital farming.Click here to learn more!Liked this one? Don't stop now — Here's what we think you'll love!What you will learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:16) Introduction(09:09) Space weather explained(15:16) May 2024 solar storm(19:06) Solar cycle insights(28:06) Ag consequences(38:49) Preparing for GPS outages(46:41) Final three questionsThe Crop Science Podcast Show is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:- KWS

Our second part of this week's College Roadshow coverage on AgriTalk features Professor Glynn Tonsor from the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. We talk protein demand, market fundamentals and more with Prof. Tonsor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this segment, Tracy speaks to Paula Law the Event Chair for CrossRoads - Alberta's Crop Conference about their upcoming January 2026 event. Join Tracy and Paula in this segment as they discuss the theme of this year's event "Grow Boldy," key event speakers, networking opportunities, and so much more.  About CrossRoads - Alberta's Crop Conference CrossRoads provides a dynamic platform where farmers can engage with leading experts, share experiences, and explore the latest trends shaping the agricultural landscape. What to Expect: - Exceptional Speaker Sessions - Dynamic, Relevant Topics - Latest Insights for Western Farmers -  Valuable Networking - Essential Tools to Keep Farmers Ahead of Industry Trends CrossRoads – Alberta's Crop Conference is brought to you by three of Alberta's crop commissions, comprised of farmers and staff from Alberta Canola, Alberta Grains and Alberta Pulse Growers. Not from Alberta? That's perfectly ok. The event is hoping to draw farmers from across the prairies. Tune into this week's segment to learn all about this event. SHOW RESOURCES: CrossRoads Conference Event Info https://crossroadscropconference.ca Purchase Tickets - https://crossroadscropconference.ca/tickets/ Don't Wait. Early Bird Savings Deadline is December 31, 2025. .................. ✅ Important Link to Follow

Economist Dr. Jada Thompson highlights how much cheaper disease prevention is rather than trying to manage a disease that has already arrived.

Beyond the higher consumer prices and animal losses, outbreaks are also very costly to monitor and contain.

The cattle industry is riding high on prices—but running low on cows. In this episode of the Red Dirt Agronomy Podcast, Dr. Derrell Peel, OSU Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, joins the team to unpack how drought, market cycles, and global trade have shaped today's record-setting beef economy. Peel explains why herd numbers have fallen to their lowest level in 70 years, and why it could take until the end of the decade to rebuild.From wheat pasture leases to feedlot margins, the discussion dives deep into how grain, forage, and feed costs influence decisions on the ranch. The crew also explores producer strategies in a volatile market—from managing risk to making the call on heifer retention. Whether you're a cow-calf producer, stocker operator, or just watching the beef prices at the grocery store, this episode brings timely insight into the complex world of cattle markets.Top 10 TakeawaysU.S. beef cow herd is at a 70-year low—the tightest supply in generations.Cattle prices are at record highs, and analysts expect peaks through 2027.Drought forced widespread liquidation, reducing herds beyond intended levels.Herd rebuilding will be slow—likely taking the rest of the decade.Feedlots benefit from cheap corn, extending feed periods to offset low supplies.Beef demand remains strong, even with expensive retail prices and alternatives available.Ground beef drives the U.S. beef market, making up nearly half of consumption.Imports of lean beef add value to U.S. cattle by balancing fat and lean ratios.Market volatility is a growing risk, making risk management crucial for producers.New producers should proceed cautiously, leasing land or starting small before buying high-priced cattle.Timestamps00:00–04:00 – Opening and crop updates from Dr. Josh Lofton: best summer in years, but grain markets are low.04:00–10:00 – Wheat planting delays, moisture variability, and forage conditions across Oklahoma.10:00–12:00 – Crop quality nationwide and tie-in to cattle feed and grain prices.12:00–14:00 – Introduction of Dr. Derrell Peel, OSU Livestock Marketing Specialist.14:00–17:00 – Record-high cattle prices amid record-low inventories.17:00–20:00 – Feedlots thriving on cheap corn; stocker margins tightening.20:00–24:00 – Drought's impact on herd liquidation; slow path to rebuilding.24:00–28:00 – Consumer beef demand remains strong despite high prices.28:00–32:00 – Myths about government assistance for herd rebuilding.32:00–37:00 – Drought cycles, herd age, and long-term herd quality.37:00–42:00 – Political factors, trade issues, and market volatility.42:00–47:00 – Ground beef's crucial role and the importance of imports.47:00–51:00 – Restaurant beef prices and consumer demand resilience.51:00–53:00 – Practical advice for new landowners and market timing. RedDirtAgronomy.com

Becky Tenges, owner of Equine BodyWorks LLC and a life-long lover of horses, brings her extensive knowledge and training to the horse and its team of trainer, farrier, veterinarian and other equine professionals. Becky, the daughter of a farrier, grew up in Southern California on an Arabian horse ranch and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics from UC Davis. After leaving a twenty-year career in Investment Banking, Becky returned to her involvement with horses, initially for the therapeutic benefit they provide to humans; and now for the therapeutic benefit that she can provide to them. With over 40 years of experience with horses, Becky's focus in her business practice is to provide therapeutic relief to her equine clients and information and answers to their owners and trainers. Becky brings straightforward methodologies and a heartfelt dedication to reducing discomfort and enhancing movement & performance.

In this powerful new episode of The Food Professor Podcast, presented by Caddle, co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois dissect the forces shaping Canada's food and agriculture economy—from farmland bubbles and provincial politics to the latest retail coffee price increases.The show opens with Michael's visit to Prince Edward County, where he talks about reconnecting with past guest Dan Sullivan of Rosehall Run Vineyards and celebrates the growing influence of culinary innovator and recent guest Charlotte Langley, whose tinned-seafood brand Nice Cans is redefining Canadian bespoke tinned fish dining. Sylvain weighs in on stalled interprovincial trade and Premier Doug Ford's ongoing feud with Crown Royal and Diageo, exploring the politics of booze, bans, and consumer choice - and his support of ice cream maker Chapman's. The hosts also spotlight the wild-blueberry disaster in Atlantic Canada, where drought and fires have slashed yields by up to 70%, threatening regional processors and exports.Then the conversation shifts to a fascinating—and controversial—guest: Trent Klarenbach, BSA AgEc PAg, Special Crops & Grain Marketing Analyst and Founder of Klarenbach Research. A former Saskatchewan farmer turned analyst, Trent explains how he uses technical analysis—tools typically reserved for stock markets—to assess farmland value. His research suggests land in Saskatchewan and Alberta may be overbought, echoing warning signs that preceded the dramatic farmland correction of the 1980s.Trent describes how investor psychology and market cycles shape agriculture just as they do equities, applying RSI and Elliott Wave patterns to farmland data. He details his own journey through farming's booms and busts, his motivation for building a subscription-based insights service, and the mixed reactions he's received from farmers, lenders, and ag-finance professionals. For listeners seeking deeper understanding of the economics—and emotion—behind land ownership, his approach reframes how to think about farm equity and risk.The episode wraps with Michael and Sylvain analyzing temporary-foreign-worker fines, Tim Hortons' price move and Starbucks store closures, and Donald Trump's revived talk of U.S. dairy access. They close on a high note—what soaring bullion signals about global uncertainty and food-price volatility.Website: https://www.klarenbach.ca/YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@KlarenbachResearchPodcast:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL28YhqW-kvxkfu1I6xFdtaa5BN1GVoHxa&si=_iVqyKVYCkfm6S1m  The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

Do you ever feel like Bible reading has become routine? Maybe life’s distractions, spiritual fatigue, or lack of inspiration have dulled your passion for God’s Word. But Scripture reminds us that “the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12)—it’s not just words on a page, but a divine conversation meant to transform our hearts. Joe Navarro, known online as @joechristianguy encourages us in today's prayer and devotional to approach the Bible not as a chore, but as a gift from our loving Father. By asking God to renew our desire for His Word, experimenting with new ways of study, and remembering that Scripture is for transformation, not just information, we can rediscover joy in meeting God daily through His truth. Main Takeaways God’s Word is living and active—it has power to refresh our weary souls. Prayer is the starting point: ask God to rekindle your hunger for Scripture. Changing your approach—like trying a new translation, using audio Bible, or joining a group—can spark renewed excitement. Bible study is not just about knowledge, but about transformation. Delight, not obligation, is what God desires for us as we engage His Word. Bible Verse References Hebrews 4:12 – God’s Word is living and active. Psalm 119:18 – Open my eyes to see wondrous things in Your law. About Joe - Joe Navarro, known online as @joechristianguy, is a Christian content creator, entrepreneur, and cultural voice passionate about making faith approachable and impactful for the next generation. With over 4.5 million combined followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Joe delivers bold, Gospel-centered truth through a mix of daily encouragement, short-form teachings, comedic skits, and authentic life experiences. His unique blend of theology, humor, and clarity has created space for millions of young believers and skeptics alike to engage with Scripture and real conversations about following Jesus in a digital world. In 2023, he co-created the popular card game Discernment alongside Jacob and Julia Petersen, which is now available in major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Museum of the Bible, and Mardel. He also holds a degree in Agricultural Economics with a minor in Sales from Texas A&M. Sign Up for Joe's Newsletter here! https://joechristianguy.com/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Bible Verse of the Day: "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." – Hebrews 4:12 How Is the Word of God Living and Active? (Hebrews 4:12) Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that Scripture is not just ink on a page but a living, active force in the lives of believers. Unlike human words or philosophies, God’s Word is constantly at work—penetrating, discerning, and transforming us. The imagery of a “two-edged sword” underscores Scripture’s precision. It cuts deep, revealing hidden motivations and exposing the true state of our hearts. Nothing is beyond its reach—not our thoughts, not our intentions, not even the parts of us we try to keep hidden. This verse also carries both comfort and challenge. Comfort, because God’s Word brings life, direction, and encouragement. Challenge, because it confronts us with truth, reminding us that nothing is hidden from God’s gaze. The call is clear: approach His Word with humility, letting it shape us into people who live in step with His will. Daily Meditation God’s Word is alive, speaking across all times and cultures. It penetrates beyond outward behavior, reaching our deepest thoughts and motives. Scripture is an instrument of both encouragement and correction. Through the Word, we encounter God’s presence and align with His purposes. Let’s Pray Father, I come to You honestly—sometimes my heart feels distant, and my excitement for Your Word fades beneath the weight of life’s distractions. But I know Your Word is living and powerful, and I long for that closeness again. Please rekindle a deep passion within me to seek You through Scripture. Open my eyes to see the beauty, truth, and life in every page. Stir my spirit with fresh hunger to know You more and to treasure Your voice above all else. Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve treated Your Word casually or out of routine. Help me approach it with awe and expectation, knowing that You are ready to speak each time I open my Bible. Let my heart burn with joy and wonder as I encounter You in new ways. Teach me to delight in Your truth and to let it transform me daily.In Jesus’ name, Amen. About Joe - Joe Navarro, known online as @joechristianguy, is a Christian content creator, entrepreneur, and cultural voice passionate about making faith approachable and impactful for the next generation. With over 4.5 million combined followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Joe delivers bold, Gospel-centered truth through a mix of daily encouragement, short-form teachings, comedic skits, and authentic life experiences. His unique blend of theology, humor, and clarity has created space for millions of young believers and skeptics alike to engage with Scripture and real conversations about following Jesus in a digital world. In 2023, he co-created the popular card game Discernment alongside Jacob and Julia Petersen, which is now available in major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Museum of the Bible, and Mardel. He also holds a degree in Agricultural Economics with a minor in Sales from Texas A&M. Sign Up for Joe's Newsletter here! https://joechristianguy.com/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

I'm really fascinated by today's topic of looking into pest and disease outbreaks in animal agriculture from an economist's point of view. Our guest, Jada Thompson, is going to discuss the economics behind prevention of these biosecurity issues,the economic impact when outbreaks do occur, some of the tradeoffs in the difficult decisions that need to be made, what that means for producers and consumers, and a whole lot more. To give you a little bit of background on Jada: Dr. Jada Thompson is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at the University of Arkansas. She worked in private industry for a few years managing customer insights and pricing analytics before earning her Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Colorado State University in 2016. Dr. Thompson's research primarily focuses on animal health and livestock economics with emphasis on the poultry industry. She also came very highly recommended from Dr. Trey Malone who was on this show last year on episode 434. So thank you Trey for the referral to Jada.

When U.S. beef, pork, and poultry are exported, they're tested to make sure residues from antibiotics, dewormers, or other animal health products stay below certain limits. The catch is that those limits aren't the same everywhere. What's considered safe under U.S. rules might not pass in places like the European Union, Japan, or Mexico. That mismatch can lead to trade barriers, rejected shipments, and lost market opportunities—even if the product is perfectly fine by U.S. standards. To help us understand what this means for producers, we're joined by Akinbode Okunola, a graduate research assistant and Ph.D. student in Agricultural Economics here at Nebraska. He and his advisor, Dr. Elliott Dennis, recently published an article about how U.S. veterinary drug residue regulations compare with those in major export markets and how that may impact trade. More: https://cap.unl.edu/news/veterinary-drug-residue-regulations-major-us-export-markets/

In todays episode host Lorrie Boyer talks with Dr. Michael Langemeier, Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University about the most important shifts in farm management thinking: moving from focusing on bushels per acre to cost per bushel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our coverage of College Roadshow at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln continues with a conversation with Brad Lubben, Extension Associate Professor, Agricultural Economics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's episode, we're discussing the complex and urgent topic of global food demand. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, ask countries to make measurable progress in reducing poverty, achieving zero hunger, and supporting every individual in realizing good health. While also mitigating climate change, sustaining the environment and responsible consumption and production habits. Researchers have recommended sustainable diets - planetary health diets. For example, the Eat Lancet Planetary Health Diet. However, others have criticized some of these diets for not addressing the economic and social impacts of transitioning to such diets. Is it possible to balance changing diets, rising incomes, and economic growth with economic feasibility, environmental impact, and long-term sustainability? Well, that's what our goals are today. Our guests today are Andrew Muhammad of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and Emiliano Lopez Barrera from Texas A&M. They are my co-authors on a new paper in the Annual Review of Resource Economics entitled Global Food Demand: overcoming Challenges to Healthy and Sustainable Diets. Interview Summary Andrew let's begin with you. Why is it important to study the economics of dietary habits and food choices in a global context? Well, it's important for several reasons, right? When we think both about food security as well as environmental outcomes and maintaining biodiversity, in keeping both human beings and the planet healthy, we really do need to think about this in a global context. One could see agriculture as a global ecosystem where decisions in one country clearly have impacts on outcomes in others. While at the same time, we need to see food as a means by which we satisfy the demands of a global community. Whether it be through our own domestic production or international trade. And then the last thing I'll say, which is really most important are all the actual things we want to tackle and mitigate and correct, fix or improve. Whether it be the environmental issues, global food security outcomes, individual diets, mitigating obesity issues globally, right? It's pretty clear that most of the things affecting human beings in the environment as it relates to agriculture are global in nature, and there's an economic component that we need to consider when addressing these issues in a global context. Thank you for sharing that. And I am interested to understand what the role of economics in dietary habits is as we explored it in this review paper. In economics, this is a pretty long history, one could say going back centuries, right? This idea of how income growth impacts food spending on a household or individuals, as well as what economic affluence in development does to sort of how diets transition. And so, for example, it's been long established, right, as individuals get richer, a smaller and smaller share of their income is spent on food. So therefore, food dynamics become less important in [a developed, rich country versus a developing country where a large percentage of income is still spent on food. And what does that mean? That means that while I may find price shocks annoying, and while I may find higher grocery prices annoying, in a developing world that clearly has some implications on the nutritional needs and food decisions far more than it would have on me, for example. But the other thing which is something that has been highlighted for quite some time, and that is this transition from basic staples - from rice, grain, corn, cassava, potatoes, etc. - to more complex food products like high protein dense meat products, fish, milk, dairy, and even highly processed products that are deemed unhealthy. But the point is, as we look at the full spectrum of countries from least developed to most developed, you see this transition from basic staples to these protein dense products as well as complex processed products. This is a really important point about what are the trends across countries and over time as incomes change and as global prices affect choices. And I do appreciate what you're saying about those of us in, say a country like the United States, where we may be able to absorb some of the shocks that may happen with food prices, we also recognize that there are folks from lower income households where those kinds of price shocks can be really challenging. That's true. But this is a different story when we're then talking about developing countries and some of the challenges that they face. Thank you for sharing that. I'm also interested in understanding what do economists mean by a nutritious and sustainable food demand, especially in the context of global or cross-country comparisons. What are some of the things that you uncovered in this review? Yes, and I think the main thing, which is particularly interesting, is how early diets transition. How quick countries go from being staple dependent to sort of relying more on protein in consumption and demand. And that happens pretty early and so long before you get to say, countries like the United States with a per capita income of around $50,000 per person, you start seeing transitions quite early, right? Whereas income goes from say less than a $1,000 per person to maybe $5,000 and $10,000, you see these transitions right away. And in fact, you begin to see things level off. And what that means is when we think about, for example, animal protein production, which is in the context of dairy and beef, which is considered relatively more harmful to the environment than say poultry production. What you do find is that in these developing countries, they really do transition right away to meat with just minimal income growth. Whereas at the same time, when you start seeing income growth at the higher end of the spectrum, you don't see that much of a change. Now, something that's also unfortunate, what you find is that with income growth, you do see decrease in consumption of vegetables. A part of that is that some staples are counted as vegetables, but another part of that is that wealth and influence doesn't necessarily lead to improved diets. And that's something that's unfortunate. And what it says is that interventions are possibly needed for these improved diets. But to really get back to your question, this idea when we say sort of a nutritious diet, obviously we're thinking about diets that satisfy the nutritional needs of individuals. While at the same time mitigating unhealthy outcomes. Mitigating obesity, cardiovascular disease, etc. But then coupled with that is this whole notion of sustainable agricultural production. And I think one of the difficult things about both nutritious and abundant food as well as environmental outcomes, is we really are thinking about sort of trade-offs and complementarities. Then I think economics gives us a real keen insight into how these things play out. Andrew, you make me worry that we're locked in. That is as soon as income start to rise, people move to more animal protein-based products. They move away from some fruits and vegetables. And knowing that the environmental consequences of those choices and even the health consequences, my question to you is what kinds of interventions or how do you think about interventions as a way to shape that demand? Is that an appropriate way to think about this? Alright, so there's a few things. One is just sort of provide nutrition education globally. Having countries and their governments sort of understand these outcomes and then making a concerted effort to educate the public. The other thing is what you often do see is incentivized, for example, fish consumption. Incentivizing poultry production. And you do actually see a lot of incentives for poultry and egg consumption. And I think of like the Gates Foundation in that One Egg a Day initiative to help with child stunting and child growth in the developing world. And so, they're clearly protein alternatives to bovine type products. And I have to be clear here. Like I'm only speaking about this in the context of what's being said, in terms of the environment and animal production. But the other thing I think, it's probably even more important, right? Is this idea that we really do need to rethink how we, both in the developing world as well as in the developed world, rethink how we think about nutrition and eating. And that's just not for developing countries. That's for all countries. And obviously there's one last thing I'll highlight. You do have to be sort of concerned about, say something like taxes. Which would be clearly regressive in the developing world, and probably much more harmful to overall consumer welfare. The point is that taxes and subsidies seem to be the policy instruments of choice. Great. Thank you for that. Andrew has just shared with us some of the issues of what happens as incomes rise and the changing patterns of behavior. And that there are some implications for sustainable diets. Emiliano, how can we use the type of data that, Andrew talked about to model food systems in terms of health and nutrition. What can we learn from these models and, what should we do with them? Emiliano – Yes, thank you. Andrew really pointed to like many very important issues, aspects. We see some worrisome trends in the sense that current diets are going in the direction of showing less nutritious. Also, we are looking at a lot of issues in the environmental externalities, embedded resources. A lot of that within the current diet trajectory. Economic models, they have this advantage that they can connect these things together, right? Each time that we decide what we are purchasing for eating each day we are deciding in a combination of these resources embedded in the food that also some potential nutritional outcomes or health outcomes related to that diet. And the models help to connect these things very well. We can trace this back from more, sort of naive approach where we do have lifecycle assessments where you just track the account numbers through the different stages of the food. And you can just basically trace the footprint or head print of the foods. But you can come up with more advanced models. We have seen a huge advance on that area in the last 10-15 years where models can really connect the things in a more holistic approach. Where you can connect the demand systems and the supply system both together. And then from and calibrate the models. And then also they're very useful to project to the future, different states of the world in the future. By doing that sort of exercises, we can learn a lot of how these things are connected, and how potential different pathways towards the future will also have potential different outcomes in terms of nutrition. But also, in terms of environmental pressure. We can model things, for instance, we were talking a little bit on how to shape these different sorts of diets. That's a thing that is advancing more and more in the modeling literature. We can see that people are going from these earlier approaches where we just get a particular diet that we have as a goal, and then we use that as a sort of counterfactual compared to the baseline sort of trajectory. Now we are looking more and more people doing exercises like how we can actually get there with this, for example, differential value added taxes where you kind of harm some type of food and then you kind of incentivize the consumption of others, as Andrew was saying. And we are looking at a lot of those sort of exercises at the global level, localized, and we are learning a lot of these intricate relations from the models. I think that's bottom line. And in that sense is models are really well equipped to this problem in the sense that show this holistic picture of the issue. Thank you for that. And what we've been learning from these models is this holistic picture, but can you tell us anything about how these models help show these relationships between diet and health outcomes and environmental sustainability? I mean, what's happening? Are we seeing models help predict the greenhouse gas emissions or changes in cardiovascular outcomes? What are you seeing? Well, typically when we do baseline projections, we use a lot of end use information where we have been studying things backwards, and in these integrated relationships. And when we look into the future, these relationships get stronger. Like some low income, middle countries tend to sort of repeat similar patterns of things that we have seen already in more industrialized countries. We have all this nutrition transition that comes strong. Pretty fast and pretty strong within the models. And when we look forward, the problems are not only going to be like the ones we see now, but probably somewhat worse. Especially in the pressure on the use of natural resources. So that's one thing that we have seen. Another thing that we have seen is that there can be a lot of potential multiple dividends of alternative pathways, right? We have this sort of baseline situation where diets kind of go that way and they become less sustainable, less healthy. We have dual burdens, multiple burdens of malnutrition rising in many countries at the same time. But then when we kind of model this counterfactual situation where what if we get a different diet that can follow certain guidelines or a flexitarian diet or even a vegan diet, whatever. All of those things can bring together some multiple dividends in the sense that you can certainly reduce the pressure on the use of natural resources in many degrees. And then also at the same time, you can reduce the burden of the health outcomes. That's a thing that we have been learning. Another thing that is interesting and is really strong in the model is that you can actually see a lot of synergistic things, synergistic goals that we can learn, but also a lot of potential tradeoffs, right? When we shift towards these sorts of alternative diets in an ideal world, well then, a lot of sub populations in certain parts of the world may suffer that thing too. There are multiple benefits, but also there are a lot of tensions. And we are learning more and more about those as well. And models actually showing those synergistics, but also some of these potential trade-offs in a very, very interesting way. Thank you for sharing that because one of the topics I was interested in understanding is can folks actually afford these diets? I mean, there was a lot of controversy around, or concern around an Eat Lancet diet in saying can people afford this. And we actually review that in the paper. What you're telling me is that there is a possibility of understanding distributional effects within societies of if we move our diets in this certain way who's able to afford it. Whether the implications for lower income folks in that society as compared to other model diets. Is that a fair assessment of some of the work that you've seen? Yes, absolutely. If, for instance, when we're doing the models, I'm going to put an example, we do this sort of incentivizing certain kind of foods and we put high taxes on other kinds of foods. Well one thing that is interesting is that all of these potential benefits or spillovers or global spillovers are really interconnected with also trade policies. And global models can tell us a really compelling story about that. In a more connected sort of world, when you do something in certain region that can have some benefits, then that creates spillovers to others. Let's say you reduce the demand of food in certain regions, certain countries, you can shape that. Then that globally through global markets can affect the accessibility or affordability of food in other regions. In that sense, those two things are connected and bring some benefit. But when you look at deeper in that particular region where you're trying to intervene with certain taxes for certain kind of foods, it is obviously going to bring some challenges. Some equity challenges because those particular areas that are devoted to produce that kind of food are also related to a lot of workers, a lot of producers, farmers, etc. And a lot of those are going to get the negative effects of this sort of policies. So that's one side. Then the other side is, yeah, when you affect prices, prices affect obviously the consumers as well. And again, in those certain regions when you have some population that is already are having some challenges to afford certain kind of food, if you impose a tax, then that again will handle those population. There is a lot of work to do to look at the details. And sometimes global models or two aggregated models can fail short in that direction. But we see that in an aggregated world, let's say. Yes, I appreciate and want to pick up on both something you and Andrew have been really pushing. Is this interconnectedness. Once we intervene in one part of the market or in even one part of the world, there are reverberations throughout. And these models sound really rich, and you started to hit on something that I want to learn a little bit more. And it's this idea that the models aren't perfect. Can you tell us a little bit more about some of the limitations of these models, especially as it relates to policy design or policy discussion? Yes. Well one thing that is, and the more you look at these things, is some of these models or mostly global models, they do have again this benefit that you can see many things interconnected at the same time. But that then you have to neglect something. There is a trade off in that decision. And typically, you are looking at things at a slightly aggregated sort of level. So typically, you have a average representative consumer or an average representative producer in a different region or a different country. With that, you then could miss a lot of the heterogeneous effects that a policy or a counterfactual state of the world will have on a certain population. In many cases we will fall short on that. And one thing that we have seen, and it's really cool, and I think it's a really good advancement in recent years more, people is doing, is that sort of multi-scale kind of approach where you do have a sort of global model to solve certain situation and then with that you calibrate in a more granular type of level of model. That sort of multi-scale approach it's working pretty well to see more of these multi-level effects. But sometimes global models can fail short on getting a heterogeneous result, I guess. Thank you for sharing that. And it's important to understand that models are not perfect, and that we're regularly as a discipline, as a field, we're always working on improving the models, making them more realistic, and more responsive to policy shifts. And so that begs this question, and then I'm going to open this up first to Andrew and then back to you, Emiliano. In this review paper, we were looking at the state of the world, the state of the art of research in this space. And my question to you both is what are some places where you see a need for new research or new research questions that we haven't really dealt with? What are you seeing as important places to go here? Here's the thing. I wouldn't necessarily refer to it as sort of new research, but certainly where we definitely need more research. And so, for those studies that continue to link greenhouse gas emissions with animal protein production, and really trying to think about what that would necessarily mean if we in some way mitigate animal protein production. Particularly let's say cattle and dairy. What does that necessarily mean for countries at the lower end of the spectrum where that initial demand for protein is needed. While at the same time we're not seeing changes in the developing world. The point is, where do we get the most bang for our buck? Do we get the most bang for our buck environmentally by trying to mitigate consumption globally? Or in some way trying to mitigate consumption, say in the United States and Europe, while at the same time letting Botswana and other countries carry through on that dietary transition that would otherwise occur. And I do think I've seen studies like that. But I do think this whole issue of where best to mitigate meat production and where best to sort of let it go. The other thing, and we're going to continue with this going forward. And that is particularly in the developing world this idea of how one manages both rising obesity and rise in malnutrition all at the same time. Like that is a very sort of precarious position for governments to find themselves in. One, having to both feed people more than what's available, while at the same time having a subset of the population eating too much. Whereas unlike the United States where we could pretty much have a blanketed dietary strategy to try to reduce size, girth, and just sort of eating habits. In the developing world, you really do have to manage the dual negative outcomes of both obesity as well as malnutrition. Great. Thank you. And I really appreciate this idea of where do we target interventions? Where do we, as you said, where do we get the biggest bang for our buck? And then this really complicated tension of some folks is experiencing food security challenges, others are facing issues around obesity. And we actually see in some places where those two things come together really complex ways. What's the right set of policies to actually solve both of those problems? And how do you do that well? Emiliano, what are you thinking about in terms of new directions or areas to go? So, in terms of approaches like more in a technical way, but I'm going to be brief from this I promise, I feel that there is a lot of work to do in multilayer modeling. I think that's a really exciting avenue that people are trying. And there are different ways to go from top bottom sort of approaches in the demand spectrum, but also in the resource embedded spectrum. So that's pretty exciting. But then topically, I think Andrew covered pretty well. I will say also that we do have the multiple burdens of malnutrition. On top of that thing that I would mention is the food waste. A thing that I have learned in the past that food waste is a big portion of the overall purchasing basket. And it's coming pretty clear still is way sort of underdeveloped kind of area because it's a very difficult thing to measure. There are not a lot of papers that can address this globally or look at long run trends and things like that. But it's typically mirroring the dietary transition as well. But we really need to learn how that looks. Is this a thing that we used to think 5-10 years ago? It was more like a sort of static problem in rich countries that they tend to waste food. But now we're looking more and more that this is an increasing problem in more developing countries, emerging economies. And as soon as we get certain threshold of income, people start purchasing more than what they need. And then we see more and more food waste. And that area I think is somewhat overlooked or still a good challenge to be addressed. And then from there, when you look at that, we should look at how that again enters the big picture, right? I mean, there are a couple of papers that have combined these changes in diets, reducing food waste as a part of it, and so like that. But still there is a lot of work to do on that. We tend to think also, and again, similarly to with the other things, that food waste is not a great thing. It's a clear sign of inefficiency in the global food system. Food waste itself also has a lot of embedded resources, right? One of them is labor. So, we just try or do a huge amount of effort to just reduce or eliminate food waste or reduce in a big portion of food waste. Then what's going to happen with a lot of employment that it was devoted to that. I think that particular fact is somewhat overlooked too. But again, those are the sort of areas I would be excited to look in the near future. I really appreciate this point about food waste. That's an area that I've been working on mostly in the US. And I agree, I think there's some critical places for us to consider. And also thinking about what that means for modeling. I know with the Thrifty Food Plan here in the United States, there's an assumption of a 5% food waste and that's a big assumption. When you can imagine just how different households may respond to incentives or how prices may influence their choice or maybe even lack of choice as food waste does occur. So, I think you are touching on some really important points, and I really like how, Andrew, you're talking about the importance of targeting. Bios Andrew Muhammad is a professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. He is an expert in international trade and agricultural policy. He assists state and national agricultural decision-makers in evaluating policies and programs dealing with agricultural commodities, food and nutrition, natural resources, and international trade. Emiliano Lopez Barrera is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Texas A&M University. His current research focuses on understanding how future patterns of global food consumption will affect human health, and how the agricultural changes needed to support the ongoing global nutrition transition will affect the environment. He combines econometric tools with economic and nutrition modeling to explore the trade-offs and linkages among diets, human health, and environmental sustainability. Prior to his grad studies, he worked as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank at the Central Bank of Uruguay. 

New K-State Range Management Extension Specialist Does Woody Encroachment Impact Land Values Sweet Potato Harvest   00:01:05 – New K-State Range Management Extension Specialist: Starting the show is Molly Reichenborn, K-State range management Extension specialist, as she says what she hopes to bring to K-State and Kansas farmers and ranchers as she begins her job.  mreichenborn@ksu.edu    00:12:05 – Does Woody Encroachment Impact Land Values: Jackson Lindamood, graduate research assistant in K-State's Department of Agricultural Economics, keeps the show moving by explaining if woody encroachment impacts land values.  Land Value Impact of Woody Encroachment in Kansas   00:23:05 – Sweet Potato Harvest: K-State horticulture Extension specialist, Cynthia Domenghini, ends the show passing along information on harvesting sweet potatoes. She says the key is to harvest before the first freeze.      Send comments, questions or requests for copies of past programs to ksrenews@ksu.edu.   Agriculture Today is a daily program featuring Kansas State University agricultural specialists and other experts examining ag issues facing Kansas and the nation. It is hosted by Shelby Varner and distributed to radio stations throughout Kansas and as a daily podcast.   K‑State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well‑being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan

Do you ever feel like Bible reading has become routine? Maybe life’s distractions, spiritual fatigue, or lack of inspiration have dulled your passion for God’s Word. But Scripture reminds us that “the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12)—it’s not just words on a page, but a divine conversation meant to transform our hearts. Joe Navarro, known online as @joechristianguy encourages us in today's prayer and devotional to approach the Bible not as a chore, but as a gift from our loving Father. By asking God to renew our desire for His Word, experimenting with new ways of study, and remembering that Scripture is for transformation, not just information, we can rediscover joy in meeting God daily through His truth. Main Takeaways God’s Word is living and active—it has power to refresh our weary souls. Prayer is the starting point: ask God to rekindle your hunger for Scripture. Changing your approach—like trying a new translation, using audio Bible, or joining a group—can spark renewed excitement. Bible study is not just about knowledge, but about transformation. Delight, not obligation, is what God desires for us as we engage His Word. Bible Verse References Hebrews 4:12 – God’s Word is living and active. Psalm 119:18 – Open my eyes to see wondrous things in Your law. About Joe - Joe Navarro, known online as @joechristianguy, is a Christian content creator, entrepreneur, and cultural voice passionate about making faith approachable and impactful for the next generation. With over 4.5 million combined followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Joe delivers bold, Gospel-centered truth through a mix of daily encouragement, short-form teachings, comedic skits, and authentic life experiences. His unique blend of theology, humor, and clarity has created space for millions of young believers and skeptics alike to engage with Scripture and real conversations about following Jesus in a digital world. In 2023, he co-created the popular card game Discernment alongside Jacob and Julia Petersen, which is now available in major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Museum of the Bible, and Mardel. He also holds a degree in Agricultural Economics with a minor in Sales from Texas A&M. Sign Up for Joe's Newsletter here! https://joechristianguy.com/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Bible Verse of the Day: "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." – Hebrews 4:12 How Is the Word of God Living and Active? (Hebrews 4:12) Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that Scripture is not just ink on a page but a living, active force in the lives of believers. Unlike human words or philosophies, God’s Word is constantly at work—penetrating, discerning, and transforming us. The imagery of a “two-edged sword” underscores Scripture’s precision. It cuts deep, revealing hidden motivations and exposing the true state of our hearts. Nothing is beyond its reach—not our thoughts, not our intentions, not even the parts of us we try to keep hidden. This verse also carries both comfort and challenge. Comfort, because God’s Word brings life, direction, and encouragement. Challenge, because it confronts us with truth, reminding us that nothing is hidden from God’s gaze. The call is clear: approach His Word with humility, letting it shape us into people who live in step with His will. Daily Meditation God’s Word is alive, speaking across all times and cultures. It penetrates beyond outward behavior, reaching our deepest thoughts and motives. Scripture is an instrument of both encouragement and correction. Through the Word, we encounter God’s presence and align with His purposes. Let’s Pray Father, I come to You honestly—sometimes my heart feels distant, and my excitement for Your Word fades beneath the weight of life’s distractions. But I know Your Word is living and powerful, and I long for that closeness again. Please rekindle a deep passion within me to seek You through Scripture. Open my eyes to see the beauty, truth, and life in every page. Stir my spirit with fresh hunger to know You more and to treasure Your voice above all else. Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve treated Your Word casually or out of routine. Help me approach it with awe and expectation, knowing that You are ready to speak each time I open my Bible. Let my heart burn with joy and wonder as I encounter You in new ways. Teach me to delight in Your truth and to let it transform me daily.In Jesus’ name, Amen. About Joe - Joe Navarro, known online as @joechristianguy, is a Christian content creator, entrepreneur, and cultural voice passionate about making faith approachable and impactful for the next generation. With over 4.5 million combined followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Joe delivers bold, Gospel-centered truth through a mix of daily encouragement, short-form teachings, comedic skits, and authentic life experiences. His unique blend of theology, humor, and clarity has created space for millions of young believers and skeptics alike to engage with Scripture and real conversations about following Jesus in a digital world. In 2023, he co-created the popular card game Discernment alongside Jacob and Julia Petersen, which is now available in major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Museum of the Bible, and Mardel. He also holds a degree in Agricultural Economics with a minor in Sales from Texas A&M. Sign Up for Joe's Newsletter here! https://joechristianguy.com/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In this moving and insightful episode, J.R. sits down with author Tong Ge as part of the Author's Circle series to explore her debut novel The House Fiddler. Born and raised in China, Tong shares the incredible true story that inspired her book—based on her grandmother's harrowing and courageous life spanning war, political upheaval, and bound-foot oppression in early 20th-century China.

ICF has its international awards program for which it is famous.  But that does it take to become one of America's ”Most Dynamic Metro Areas?” and where are they located? Heartland Forward's Chief Reseach Officer discusses the results of the ”think and do tank's” long-awaited report and drops facts behind the reason that, despite the fact it has 39% of the national population, this vast American expanse of talent, resources and states, from North Dakota to Texas, only attracted 10% of investment - until recently.  But things are changing, as Lou learns in part 2 of his conversation with Dave Shideler. David Shideler serves as the chief research officer for Heartland Forward's research team which includes visiting senior fellows Richard Florida and Maryann Feldman. With a mission to help improve the economic performance in the heartland and change the narrative of the middle of the country, the original research efforts focus on four key pillars: innovation and entrepreneurship, human capital, health and wellness and regional competitiveness. Shideler joined Heartland Forward after more than a decade at Oklahoma State University, serving as a professor and Community and Economic Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural Economics. In these roles, he oversaw projects in community and rural development and small business development, and published peer-reviewed research articles on the economic impacts of internet access, incentive programs, and local food production. Shideler holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics and an M.A. in Economics from the Ohio State University, an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the Pennsylvania State University, and a B.S. in Community and Rural Development from Clemson University.

ICF has its international awards program for which it is famous.  But that does it take to become one of America's ”Most Dynamic Metro Areas?” and where are they located? Heartland Forward's Chief Reseach Officer discusses the results of the ”think and do tank's” long-awaited report and drops facts behind the reason that, despite the fact it has 39% of the national population, this vast American expanse of talent, resources and states, from North Dakota to Texas, only attracted 10% of investment - until recently.  But things are changing, as Lou learns. David Shideler serves as the chief research officer for Heartland Forward's research team which includes visiting senior fellows Richard Florida and Maryann Feldman. With a mission to help improve the economic performance in the heartland and change the narrative of the middle of the country, the original research efforts focus on four key pillars: innovation and entrepreneurship, human capital, health and wellness and regional competitiveness. Shideler joined Heartland Forward after more than a decade at Oklahoma State University, serving as a professor and Community and Economic Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural Economics. In these roles, he oversaw projects in community and rural development and small business development, and published peer-reviewed research articles on the economic impacts of internet access, incentive programs, and local food production. Shideler holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics and an M.A. in Economics from the Ohio State University, an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the Pennsylvania State University, and a B.S. in Community and Rural Development from Clemson University.

we welcome Ethan Branscum, a farmland investment leader with a deep background in ag finance, to explore the growing intersection of agriculture and alternative investment. As Partner and Director of Farmland Investments at Sower Farmland Fund and Legacy Farmland Fund, Ethan helps manage a portfolio of properties that connect farmland owners with investors—all while prioritizing legacy, flexibility, and profitability.Ethan shares his personal path from his upbringing and education at the University of Arkansas to over a decade in ag finance and credit. He breaks down the mission behind Legacy Farmland Fund: giving landowners a new path to transition their asset without selling out their identity. Listeners will get a refresh on how Legacy enables contributors to trade farmland for ownership shares—maintaining long-term exposure to farmland returns, gaining liquidity, and relieving themselves from day-to-day operations.We dive into today's land investment landscape, exploring what investors are looking for, how farmland compares to other asset classes, and which U.S. regions are catching the most interest. Ethan also unpacks how technology and data are changing the way land is valued, managed, and selected for investment.For farmers, this episode provides guidance on what makes a strong farmer-investor partnership, what Ethan looks for in operators, and how Sower supports profitability and growth from the ground up. He offers candid advice for producers considering leasing versus owning, and shares examples of farmer success stories made possible through Sower's model. Want Farm4Profit Merch? Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to The Relatable Voice Podcast! I'm so excited about today's episode because we're heading to Canada to speak with a truly inspiring guest. Joining us today is Tong Ge, a talented author with a fascinating background. Tong holds a bachelor's degree in Finance and Banking and a master's in Agricultural Economics, but she has since taken an incredible leap into the world of literature. Her latest book, The House Filler, is out now. Find out more at: https://tong-ge.com/

AgriCorps: http://www.agricorps.org/Movement for School-Based Agricultural Education: http://www.sbae.org/4-H Liberia: https://4hliberia.wordpress.com/Trent McKnight's TedX Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2pPO29DaYsToday's episode is going to open a lot of eyes I think. We tend to think of youth programs like 4-H and FFA as great things for the kids to be doing. Very few recognize them for the power they have to not only develop young agricultural leaders but also as tools for spreading ideas and technologies. That's what today's episode is about, and it's a personal one for me. I grew up in 4-H and FFA and both organizations had a profound impact on my life and my worldview. Then in 2012 I joined a team led by today's guest, Trent McKnight, and spent several weeks in the country of Liberia interviewing farmers about food insecurity and farming practices. That experience also left a permanent impression on my life. So I've known Trent for about 25 years now and have had a chance to work with his non-profit organization, AgriCorps in various capacities over the years. In fact Trent first appeared on this show WAY back on episode 27, which i posted in November of 2016, so over eight years ago. For those of you not familiar, 4-H and FFA are youth agricultural organizations. 4-H varies a lot state to state and country to country, but in Liberia which is a country in subsaharan Africa that we will focus on today, they have what is known as a school-based agricultural education model. So in that way Liberia 4-H is similar to how FFA is here in the states. It involves three major components: classroom instruction in agriculture as part of their school, leadership events and contents, and a project outside of the classroom which in Liberia they refer to as a Home Entrepreneurship Project or HEP. If it sounds like a great way to learn a lot about agriculture and develop yourself as a leader and entrepreneur, you're absolutely right. But it's also more than that. The model was intended to lower the risk of adopting new agricultural innovations and as you're about to hear it is also very effective in doing just that. Some biographical background: Trent McKnight is an experienced international agriculturalist, investor, and cattle rancher from rural West Texas. Trent holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Agricultural Economics and Comparative Politics from Oklahoma State University and The London School of Economics, respectively. He has held leadership positions, including national president of the Future Farmers of America and chair of the USDA Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Advisory Committee. In 2013, Trent founded AgriCorps, a nonprofit organization focused on improving school-based agricultural education in sub-Saharan Africa. Through AgriCorps, he created the International Agricultural Education Fellowship Program under the Trade Title of the 2018 Farm Bill and launched The Movement for School-Based Agricultural Education. G. Umaru Sheriff is the National Executive Director and co-founder of 4-H Liberia, a local Non-Governmental Organisation reviving efforts from the 1970s and 1980s, when Liberia boasted over 1,000 4-H clubs. Under his leadership, 4-H Liberia has worked in hundreds of rural communities and empowered thousands of youth through School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) and leadership development. Committed to evidence and learning, Umaru partnered with Northwestern University, Innovations for Poverty Action, and AgriCorps on the largest randomized

President Trump's tariffs are sending shockwaves around the world, and across car dealerships here in California, the U.S.'s largest car and truck market. A 25% tariff is being placed on all vehicles imported into the United States, but that tariff also covers car parts that are used to assemble vehicle models associated with "Made in the USA." The tariffs will likely mean higher prices for all kinds of new vehicles. Guest: Brian Ellis, Glendale Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep Perhaps no California industry will face a bigger impact from tariffs than agriculture. In 2018, during President Trump's first term in office, the US engaged in a trade war with China. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that farmers took a $27 billion dollar loss from retaliatory tariffs. But what will happen this time around? Guest: Colin Carter, Professor of Agricultural Economics, UC Davis A Eureka woman is suing a Catholic hospital chain after she was denied emergency abortion care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Katrina Fitten.  She is also the CEO and CFO of New Day For You Financial Services.  She is a national leader in business funding solutions. Katrina helps women business owners secure $100k in funding in 100 days or less, with same-day approvals and next-day funding.  Katrina's company empowers them to build financial empires. With a Bachelor's in Agricultural Economics, an Executive MBA, and 30 years of professional experience, she has facilitated over $1 million in funding this past year supporting a growing community of women entrepreneurs on their path to becoming first-generation millionaires. Recognized by ESSENCE Magazine and MSN, Fitten is committed to helping women revolutionize their relationship with money and gain confidence in their cash flow to achieve financial peace and generational wealth Talking Points/Questions What a wild time! What is your general take on money, finances post-election?Question 1: How might the proposed changes in the tax code affect small business owners, especially in terms of profit margins and tax write-offs?Question 2: How will Trump's probable proposal of increased tariffs impact mid-to-low income families and business owners?Question 3: How do you predict the potential impact on consumers and business owners if there is deportation enforcement of immigrants?Question 4: What are the implications of the ongoing discussions about Social Security benefits for everyday Americans?Question 5: How can listeners take proactive steps to navigate these financial uncertainties? #STRAW #BEST #SHMS  Support the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.