ZimmCast 734 - Interviews from FPS

Welcome to The Zimcast, a program dedicated to bringing you what's new in agricultural marketing.

The Zimcast is the official podcast of AgWired and hosted by Chuck and Cindy Zimmerman.

Hello and welcome to The Zimcast. I'm Chuck Zimmerman.

I've lost count of how many Farm Progress shows I've attended, but it's a lot.

This year in Boone, Iowa, we had great weather, and that's just not always the case.

But it was also an opportunity to see friends as well as clients.

I was only on the site for Tuesday and half of Wednesday, but I recorded 26 interviews that you can find on Ag Newswire in our virtual newsroom for the event.

So speaking of clients and the fact that we're always interested in what's new in the world of agribusiness, I'm going to share interviews with several companies.

They include Scott Nelson with Make Hay, Thad England with Groundwork BioAg, Craig Dick with Phospholutions, Scott Trebovich for Tyrannus, and Steve Nicholson for Rabo AgriFinance.

They'll go in that order.

I'm at the Farm Progress show and I'm visiting with Scott Nelson.

And Scott, you've got a company called Make Hay.

That sounds just perfect for this kind of an audience we've got out here.

Tell me a little bit about your company and what you do.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

I appreciate it, Chuck.

So Make Hay, first and foremost, consumers today want to know more about where their food is coming from.

They want to know the ingredients they're putting in their body.

They want to know who's growing it.

That is no longer a nice-to-have.

It is table stakes.

Therefore, all the companies in the food and agricultural space are trying to figure out how to tell the consumers more about where their food comes from.

Food transparency is a thing, and it's not going away.

Okay.

That's number one.

Number two is there are amazing stories that are happening on this land every day.

We've visited many, many, many, many farms and many, many, many producers and growers and ranchers and whatnot.

And the things that happen on their land on a daily basis are fascinating.

And so we saw all of this and we're like, how do we export this storytelling?

How do we create a larger platform for these stories to be heard?

While doing so, how do we create a secondary revenue stream for farmers without having to leave?

Leave their land to help them prosper on their farms.

So we created a platform, and it's all about digital video content creation.

So we are connecting the producers with brands and companies that have stories to tell around food and where it comes from.

So you've built a platform to do this.

Describe, in layman's terms, we probably need,

what that takes to create that.

Kind of a platform.

And where are you at in sort of the building up of this?

Yeah, so we're already backed.

So we're backed by Purdue University.

It all incubated out of one of their amazing programs there called Dial Ventures.

So it's a fellowship program incubator.

So Purdue University is behind us.

And then a high alpha innovation, which is out of Indianapolis, one of the leading venture capital studios in the world.

So we have some really good backers behind us.

We're about five months old.

The technology is built, and the platform is there.

There are farmers and ranchers and producers already on it, utilizing it.

It's a very simple platform that creates different briefs or different project assignments,

footage requests from certain brands that then get fed to the farmer.

The farmer will get a text or an email saying, this brand, this company wants footage of this.

Maybe they just want, like, simple video footage of harvest season.

Maybe they want simple footage of, like, the most important practice on their farm.

A day.

A day in the life of a farm in Indiana, in Iowa.

All sorts of different requests that make for really good video content.

Then the farmer, the rancher, the producer goes and creates that content, uploads it back into our platform.

And then you have a platform full of all sorts of different video content that can be monetized.

So these farmers who are creating the content, essentially, do you have certain standards they have to meet?

Or, you know, how does that play?

Yeah, so it starts on the brand company side, the folks that are looking for the content.

Looking for that specific video storytelling that they want to be told.

They will put into the brief, we call it.

So think of it as just, like, guardrails and requirements around the type of footage that they need.

So our software, leveraging AI and all sorts of really amazing little, you know, bells and whistles of technology in today's world,

will help generate a specific ask for that farmer that specifically tells them what to go shoot

and the types of things they want them to talk about in their own words.

Like, we don't want to put too many hands.

We don't want to put too many handcuffs on what they're creating, because then it's not authentic.

But we give them the guardrails on which to, like, this is what we're looking for.

So I assume they create some kind of an account, a farmer account.

And then who would be other people that would want accounts in there?

It would be obviously these brands, right?

Yeah, exactly.

So think of all these equipment manufacturers that are here.

Think of John Deere.

Think of Kubota.

Think of Fendt.

Think of all of these folks.

All of these folks here have customers that are using their equipment.

And as a brand, as a company here, I want those stories.

I want to know what that farmer is doing with my machinery.

And if he could create some content from, you know, the tractor on autopilot around harvest season

that I can then use across my social media channels as the brand or elsewhere throughout, you know,

different sort of distribution points, that's gold in today's world.

They want real, raw, authentic storytelling from the people.

People that are using their products.

So that's a perfect example of, like, there are lots of folks out there with John Deere equipment.

There are lots of folks out there with Kubota equipment.

And Kubota, like someone like Kubota, they leverage celebrities, right?

Like Blake Sheldon or whatnot.

But, like, there's a lot of folks like you and I that might have a Kubota that can use the camera on their phone

and press play on a video.

And that content can then be leveraged by a brand like Kubota or insert any brand that's here,

manufacturer or company, to tell.

And that's one of the stories of how their customers are using their equipment.

And that raises awareness.

It gets to the right channels.

It's diverse.

It's really interesting, authentic content from the people using their product.

So can farmers get an account that don't necessarily want to create a count for a brand but to find something on the road?

Exactly.

So that's the other thing.

So farmers can create their own profile, and they'll be in our system.

So let's say there's a farmer that really wants to work with insert brand, right?

He has.

He has a piece of their tractor, or he has a piece of their equipment, and he's never worked with them before.

He can fill out in his profile the types of companies and manufacturers and brands that he wants to create for.

And then when that brand comes into our platform, and they create a brief, create a content footage request,

that person will come up as one of the outputs of, like, here are the types of farmers that have raised their hands that would want to create for you.

So it's a way for brands, excuse me.

It's a way for farmers, producers.

It's a way for producers of all kinds to connect with companies and brands and create content for them.

So it's kind of a matchmaking service in some respects as well.

You have farmers already involved in it.

How are things going here at the start?

Yeah, so we started very intentionally with a closed invite-only group of a variety of different farmers across eight to nine different states.

And that's just as a technology company.

We need that input and insight from real farmers and producers to get their feedback on, like, all right,

it's too hard to do this, or you need to simplify that process, or I can't upload this video.

What's going on?

So we had about 60 days of feedback from the field, if you will, and now we're at a place where we're starting to invite pilot partners on,

the brands, to start sending out this request to all of these different farmers.

So things are going really well.

The farmer interest is really awesome, to be honest.

There's a lot of folks out there that might want to tell their story,

but they don't know how to.

They don't have the resources, they don't have the time.

So in a platform like that, us, that can enable them and give them a little bit of help, you know, it seems to be working thus far.

And then for the content creators that are already doing really amazing things with big followers on, like, TikTok and Instagram,

you see them, they're all around the show, by the way.

We just met a bunch of them.

So they're already really good content creators.

They know what they're doing, right?

But they're also farmers first or what have you, but they create content.

It's a part of the daily operation, right?

And so they, like,

our platform because, yes, they're working with brands and companies right now,

but this will expose them to other ones that they may not have ever thought that they actually could create content for.

So it's a good, diverse group of farmers that are utilizing our technology for different use cases.

Are you focused on certain kinds of commodities or crops at this point?

Right now, obviously, specialty crop seems to make sense in terms of, like,

when you start to look at the supply chain and, like,

basically where that specific product was grown and where it came from.

Whereas some of the row crop stuff and what we're doing, there's a few steps removed, right?

But we've seen folks that just want to support agriculture at large.

And so they just want, like, video content of a farmer doing really interesting things with water.

Or they want a farmer talking about the fifth generation of their farm and what that means.

They want really great, amazing footage of harvest season.

So there's a lot of different ways to kind of utilize our product.

Is it planned?

No.

Is it planned?

Or do you foresee that this would be something, whether it's farmers or brands, outside the United States?

Yes.

Yeah.

We wanted to start here, of course.

But we already have a lot of inbound interest from, you know, South America, Europe, et cetera.

But first and foremost, this is where we will start.

But yes, this is, I mean, farming is global, as we know.

Food is coming from all over the place, right?

And so how do we amplify and empower agriculture at large?

Well, how does a farmer get involved?

What's the steps?

And where do they need to go?

For now, they can go to GoMakeHay.com.

That's our website.

And you click on Farmers, and there's a sign-up sheet.

And we're actually, we're here with a whole team, introducing ourselves to not only brands,

but farmers, and getting them to sign up.

It's very easy to sign up to this product.

But yes, for now, GoMakeHay.com, click on Farmers, and you'll have the sign-up right

in front of you.

All right.

Well, before we close, anything else you want folks to know we didn't touch on?

It's a simple piece of technology that we've got.

And we've got a lot of input from the farmer's side.

We understand that there's a lot of tech startups that come into agriculture.

And they don't necessarily listen or have empathy for that farmer.

We spent seven months listening and hearing and trying to figure out the best farmer-first

product.

So, I guess that's what I'd want people to know, is that we have their backs, and we've

built this in a very intentional manner.

All right.

Well, this is fascinating, Scott.

You've got a good idea here.

And look to stay in touch.

as you develop. So here from the Farm Progress Show, I'm Chuck Zimmerman reporting. At the Farm

Progress Show, I'm visiting with Thad England, and first of all, Thad, tell me the company you work

for and what you do. Yeah, so Groundwork BioAg, and I am the U.S. strategic account lead for North

America. Well, let's jump into some questions here. What's been the response to, I guess, a

product, Rutella, by farmers this season? Yeah, so a quick step back there. So Rutella is a mycorrhizal

fungal inoculant, right? So Groundwork BioAg has been in business for a little over 10 years now,

which is 2014, and so what we have is a highly concentrated mycorrhizal fungi. It's a beneficial

fungi to 90% of all plant species on the earth. What we're seeing this season, this season is

unique in its own right as far as we've had several wet feed events, some pretty

mild drought events, but they're still significant. Overall, it's been extremely positive,

right? So out of the gate, we had better stock diameters in corn and soybeans, extremely good

nodulation on the soybeans as well. What we're anticipating as we're going through a grain fill

and finishing out this crop correctly, we're anticipating higher test weights, overall better

plant health as well. That's going to equate to a pretty serious yield bump. Well, the farm economies,

it's kind of a mixed bag right now, but you know, when you're looking at margins being tighter this

year, how's Rutella offering farmers more value and ROI? Yep, absolutely. So what we're looking at

is twofold necessarily. So we went, well, and I take that back. What we're looking at is threefold

as far as where growers can get a better ROI when using Rutella. Number one, and what I think is top

of mind is soil health, right? When you are investing in Rutella,

you're investing in soil health on your farm. Secondly, we can see a marked difference in

nutrient availability and nutrient efficiency when using Rutella. So what Rutella does and

what mycorrhizal fungi does is that it makes better logistics for those nutrients within

those plants. So when we're seeing where you can be more efficient, we're actually looking at some

phosphorus and some nutrient use efficiency tools as well. So nutrient reduction strategies that

plays right into our hand as well. Pair all that up with, you know,

improved economics, better soil health. We also have an additional revenue stream for growers as

well. What we've known is that by using Rutella, we are sequestering quite a bit of carbon into that

soil permanently. We're able to monitor and measure and verify how many tons of carbon

they're sequestering into that soil and then pay them for those tons. Yeah, the earlier this year

when you launched Rutella Carbon, tell us a little bit about the program and the benefits to growers.

So when you look at Rutella, Rutella is a biocatalyst, right? Without a healthy

rhizosphere, without that mycorrhizal fungi in that soil, we really, we struggle to complete

a life cycle of that plant. So what our response to Rutella Carbon has been so far has been very

happy with the responses so far from the growers that participated in 2023. This is a brand new

program. We weren't able to do this. We knew that mycorrhizal fungi is sequestering carbon into that

soil. It wasn't until 2023 that VERA updated their methodology to allow for soil amendments like

Rutella to be applied. So growers are extremely happy. It's a product-based carbon program. We're

doing soil samples every year. We're doing multiple tons sequestered every year the growers are in the

programs. It's going to equate to some great revenue for the farm gate at a time that's paramount.

So what have your customers' response been to this?

The response has been positive overall.

They think that it makes sense. This is one of the more logical carbon programs on the market

because it is a product-based program, right? We understand a product is going to be used on their

farm. And when done correctly, it's going to sequester carbon. The caveat there is that every

grower that gets in our program will get a soil sample on every farm every year. We share that

information with them at no additional cost right now. So that's where they think there's extremely

good value for what we're getting out of it.

So how can growers sign up if they want to learn more?

Absolutely. So you can go to our website, groundworkbioag.com. Click on the carbon tab as

well. Otherwise, please reach out to me. I typically work with our more strategic accounts in

the U.S., but I'm happy to do some one-off and education opportunities as well.

And I said at the beginning, we are at Farm Progress Show. What brought you here?

Absolutely. I'm blessed with several

very good partners, right? So I get to go in their booth with them and talk about the

opportunities to not only look at the carbon program, but agronomically. We're seeing some

phenomenal results right now. So it's always good when we've got good performance in the field too.

So I'm happy to help support farmers and my partners here today.

Well, thank you very much, Thad, for visiting with me and spending some time at the Farm

Progress Show. And I'm Chuck Zimmerman reporting. At the Farm Progress Show,

I'm visiting with

Craig Dick here at the Phospholutions booth. And Craig, I think you've got a couple of things

we'd like to talk about. And there's several different things, but when it comes to just

farmers or whoever are looking for product, you know that you'll have it available for them.

Yeah. We just recently announced a partnership with Toros Agri in Turkey to manufacture

Rhizosorb 839-0, the next generation of phosphate fertilizers.

And we've been working with them for a while, and they're doing some pretty awesome – they're

very successful – is put the phosphate fertilizer at scale to meet the North American demand

that farmers have.

So this agreement – what does that mean ultimately, in the long term?

Well, what it means is, especially today, is there's a real challenge with phosphate

fertilizer here in North America. The price is very high relative to the cost of corn right now. it's one of the worst ratios ever. And so in terms of the price, you can see the cost will increase.

But the answer is no, you've got to go back to cash.

You've got to use it again.

Yes, but it's incredibly expensive.

I mean, this isn't a premium product.

No, it's not a premium product.

It's an income out of value.

Yeah.

It's one of the worst ratios ever.

And so that with the low price of corn, growers are looking for a way to save money.

And so, you know, there's limited imports into the U.S. because around the world, a lot of production is curtailed.

We have the countervailing duties limiting imports here.

So the price of phosphate is really high.

And by switching your MAP or DAP to Rhizosorb, a grower can save 10% on a per acre basis.

Well, let's talk about the Rhizosorb technology and a little bit about the technology itself.

Yeah, Rhizosorb was developed at Penn State University in their horticulture department.

And in 2016, our founder and CEO licensed those patents and built a world-class R&D team to bring the technology to row crop.

And so we launched that product, Rhizosorb 839-0, in 2023.

And we've got more than 500 small plot and replicated in large-scale field trials,

demonstrating the efficacy and ability to increase phosphorus uptake by 50%,

which results in 10% on a per acre basis for grower savings.

Yeah, that's a good word there, savings for farmers,

because when it comes to the inputs, you've got, I guess, an offer maybe to kind of help with that for fall applications?

Yeah.

We know growers are hesitant to reduce their applied rates of fertilizer.

And so we have a grower guarantee program that will, if growers purchase 200 acres, a minimum of 200 acres,

they can enroll in the program.

And it's a warranty program that if their yields are less than a 10-year APH, they can get up to a $40 payment.

But going back to the product itself, tell us a bit more about the efficiency.

And, you know, we've got to get that sustainability word in there, too.

Yeah, so Rhizosorb is more efficient.

We can improve phosphorus uptake in the plant, but we also reduce runoff and leaching.

And so we can reduce runoff by 78% and leaching up to 84%.

So not only are we getting more phosphorus in the plant, we're leaving less into the environment.

So those areas of the country where, you know, like Lake Erie watershed, they're impacted by phosphates,

we can reduce that.

So we can truly help those farmers do a better job environmentally.

But the great thing is with Rhizosorb, it doesn't cost them more to do that.

In fact, if you switch to Rhizosorb, yes, there's the 10% savings, but there is a small yield increase.

And so most growers will see on average about a $20 ROI from switching from MAP or DAP to Rhizosorb.

What else would you want customers to know about that we may not have touched on here?

So a couple more points on sustainability is we have a lifecycle analysis,

conducted on Rhizosorb, it shows a 45% reduction in carbon emissions from switching from MAP or DAP to Rhizosorb.

And the benefits for that for the growers is this whole 45Z low carbon fuels tax credit that is getting a lot of industry buzz.

If that goes through, Rhizosorb is an easy way for a grower to drop his CI score.

Simply switch out your MAP or DAP for Rhizosorb, that's all you got to do, and you'll see a lower CI score and potentially some more premiums from the ethanol production.

That's what we're, I know a lot of farmers are hoping for, and of course they would like to get some finality in some of the, what are the rules for this, right?

Yeah, so that's one of those deals that may or may not happen.

One thing that has another additional program that we are part of is we were approved as an enhanced efficiency fertilizer in the state of Pennsylvania.

And so what that means is we are now approved for CSP and equip grants.

So that's real money, that's $10 to $50 an acre, you can enroll in both programs, and we're currently working to roll that out nationwide.

So hopefully by this time next year, we'll be able to announce that we're in a bunch of other states with that program.

All right. Well, thank you very much, Craig, it's always great to see you, and we're here at the Farm Progress Show in Iowa.

I'm Chuck Zimmerman reporting.

At the Farm Progress Show, I'm visiting with Taranis, and I have with me Scott.

Scott, introduce yourself to us.

Tell us your name and what you do.

Hey, good morning. Thanks for stopping by.

My name is Scott Trubovich.

I am the sales leader here at Taranis.

I've been with the company just over four years.

And, you know, regardless if you're on the East Coast or if you're in Colorado, we'd love the opportunity to service you on your row crop needs and crop intelligence services.

Well, let's talk a little bit about that.

So, I mean, what are the services you provide?

At the end of the day, I think our service and our value proposition really relates back to

the efficiency and the value of time that ag retail and our customers are facing today from the grower perspective.

So, you know, we use drones and satellites and artificial intelligence and AI models and all these things, but it doesn't matter if you don't use it.

And we think that just by engaging with our information, the data provided, whether it be the comforts of your home, from your cab, from the beach, from your kid's ballgame, wherever that location might be,

you can have a bird's eye view of one image per acre across your crops six times throughout the season.

So, here at the show, what is the kind of the message you want to give to or leave with the farmers that are coming by here?

Yeah, so if you look around, you see we've got a kind of a tailgate theme here this week, Chuck.

And really what it's all about, it's focused on, I think, two things.

On the business side, it's focused about making sure that you've got a plan.

Okay?

Okay.

And really, are you available?

Do you see what's going on in your fields?

And do you have a plan of key learnings from this year also going into next year?

And how do you alter that plan or that playbook, as we're talking about here through the football theme, of making things better and improving upon what you did this year, making it next year?

The farm economy is in a challenge spot right now.

And we think that our service can help provide, you know, not only the efficiency perspective,

but also how can you help manage your resources as well.

So by utilizing the tools that we have, the sort functions that we have, we'd love to show anybody that comes by the booth a demonstration of how our product works and how you can look and identify both situations that you might have and concerns, but also validate decisions you've already made with your advisor, too.

So would we characterize this as kind of like software?

And is that something that can work?

You know, because there's so many different varieties of hardware these farmers have with their equipment, for example.

Well, with our service, really, all you need is your computer and, if you would like, a mobile app or a mobile device or a tablet.

How you consume the data is really up to you.

We are, you know, agnostic in terms of Apple or Android.

It doesn't matter.

And also, you can utilize this information as long as we can put it in a shape file or a browser.

Okay.

We can bring it into our system as a layer.

You can utilize this information however you want to do it.

We can even build, create zone maps and create prescriptions, put those prescriptions on a thumb drive and take it out to the implementer of your choice.

So if you're doing a replant, if you're doing a variable rate fertilizer or a herbicide recommendation, regardless if you're using a spray drone or if you're using a ground rig, as long as it goes into a shape file, we're good to go.

You mentioned AI earlier.

Is that something that is going to work?

Is it going to be more and more of a part of what you do and making that more, I don't know, precise or simple?

Our models are always learning.

Okay.

And the company was founded in 2015.

And as we've grown over time, we've made significant investments, I think, in all four phases of our business.

You know, when I look at product and R&D is where we're talking about now and artificial intelligence.

I'll come back to that.

But we've also gone out.

And we want to focus on agronomy as a sales organization and help bring those agronomy insights to the retailer, the advisor, as well as to the grower and making sure that that relationship is there and there's a good spot.

We also have operations that are centered out of Westfield, Indiana.

That's our global headquarters.

And so everything is based out of that North American office.

And like I said, regardless of where we're at in the country.

As long as we're servicing.

As long as we're servicing our major row crops, we want to be part of that with those.

Back to the AI piece.

There's two functions that the AI does.

Both one is analyzing the images that get uploaded.

We take at least one image per acre up to six times a year in 2024.

And we're looking at ways to enhance that going into 2025.

And, you know, so artificial intelligence comes in on the first side of doing tagging.

So whether you're looking at your stand count or you're trying to find out what your weeds are.

Or early detection of diseases and insect defoliation.

Those sort of things we can help out.

As well as nutrient deficiencies.

What we just launched last month is a new enhancement to our dashboard called Ag Assistant.

Ag Assistant brings in a self-derived language model to help with recommendations.

Both from a season perspective and then in 2025 both as well as in a mission perspective.

So every time we fly the field, we've got an easy button.

For the advisor or the grower to click.

To see what's been gathered.

What's the summary on that field.

And let's create a digital three ring binder and a plan to go forward to remember.

And bring that into our winter discussions as we're planning for the season coming up.

So where do farmers go to get more information and talk about your services?

Sure.

We're aligned with several major retailers.

We also work with several large co-ops that are throughout the Corn Belt.

And our website is Taranis.com.

That seems pretty simple.

Well thank you very much Scott for visiting with me here at Farm Progress Show.

I'm Chuck Zimmerman reporting.

At Farm Progress Show I'm visiting with Rabo AgriFinance.

And Steve tell me your name and what you do.

Sure.

I'm Steve Nicholson.

I'm the Global Sector Strategist for Grains and Oil Seeds for Rabo Bank and Rabo AgriFinance.

I know that you guys put together a lot of data and reports.

And you know.

An area we would like to take a look at.

An area we would like to talk about is say like the farm economy and how that's really doing at this point.

Yeah.

So we're here at Farm Progress as you know.

And we get a chance to talk with both of our farm clients and also our wholesale client banks.

But the topic is really what's the farm economy?

How bad is it going to get?

And what's going on?

And what's your expectations?

So anyone listening is going to know that the farm economy is in a tough spot right now.

You know commodity prices are high.

We've had good production across many geographies which is building stocks in the world.

And you know our expectations.

You know we're in this for two or three years.

It's going to be tough.

And so for folks here at Farm Progress Show who are trying to sell farmers things.

You know that's going to be a tough sell.

And what's the value proposition?

Why should you buy my product?

Whatever that might be.

And how do you make my farm more efficient?

I think is their opportunity.

But you know.

We look across all the farm input space.

You know machinery tends to be the first thing that gets hit.

Farmers pull back on capital expenditures on machinery.

We do see them start to pull back on fertilizer and also chemistry.

You know they have to make adjustments.

And where can I cut?

Where can I not?

The one thing that's interesting though is in the research we've done is that seed doesn't really see.

You know you don't see that plummet of sales with seed.

Or you know cost or prices of seed like you do with chemistry and fertilizer when commodity prices go down.

So the seed guys are you know they're in a privileged spot and a good spot.

Because farmers have to have seed and how do you cut back seed to produce a crop?

So lots of questions about prices and I you know my kind of my topic is kind of my word is doldrums.

You know we're in a top of doldrums now that's going to be here for a while.

And you just have to and to farmers you know you've got to reward rallies.

So when you talk about prices this can mean different things.

You know the commodities they have to sell.

And how about the inputs in order to grow them.

Sure.

Well absolutely.

And so when you look at the input sides input prices tend to be pretty sticky.

And it takes them a while to adjust to a new paradigm of lower commodity prices.

And that usually takes upwards of two upwards maybe three years depending on what you're looking at.

Or what you're talking about.

But you know right now input costs are still pretty high.

You're still you know that thousand dollars an acre to put corn in is still pretty realistic.

But we know that that's not going to be realistic when you look at commodity prices of corn prices below four dollars a bushel you know cash crop in the country.

So that's you know that's going to take some adjustment time and be tough for everybody before it's all said and done.

There was another element to this that we mentioned before.

Mentioned before we started.

And I'm trying to remember what that was.

So we're talking about tariffs.

Yes.

So you know this is election year and that always brings up a lot of hair raising discussions and people get kind of emotional about that.

But I think it's we need to talk about both tariffs and protectionism around the world and for U.S. agriculture.

And I think this would be true for South American agriculture as well.

Agriculture has thrived better in a free market system than it has in a in a protectionist or a tariff system.

And when you look at the you know the both candidates.

You know going to the White House or want to go to the White House and in twenty five.

You have some concerns there and on both sides and there's we can point fingers both ways.

You know former President Trump has certainly talked about I'm going to raise tariffs on everything coming the United States to 60 percent I think is how he said it.

And then raise them again on China particularly.

And we know and my colleague in China has told us very clearly that you know if that happens China will retaliate against the United States.

That's not going to be good for agriculture.

And prices and we have you know the 17 18 crop years were very real very recent history and very real about we know what happens.

And we don't need that in a price environment we have now a very low prices.

At the same time when you go when you look at the Biden administration and a potential Harris administration.

You know trade has not been on the top of their their hip parade.

And I think agriculture has been pretty frustrated with them that they can't seem to get much action out of them on trade.

And and that in my game.

In my view they need to step up their game.

So if they're going to be involved with agriculture and let's be kind of cold about it.

If they want to attract rural voters they're going to have to be involved in agricultural trade issues.

And so that's a that's a big issue.

And just the protections around the world and the fact that we no longer have there's a lot more bilateral and trilateral trade agreements which makes it very very complicated.

So for people that want to know more information about this particular topic.

Can they go to your website to find sure that.

So go to raboag.com and we can give you some information there.

Also that'll give you where offices are and where bankers are and that you're the raboag or finance banker is your best route into us.

Anything else you'd want to touch on that we didn't.

It's a great question.

I think we've touched on a couple of issues.

The one thing I would say I've kind of noodle in my brain is thinking about producers and think about when they buy inputs.

They spend all this money for seed and fertilizer and chemistry but they've done nothing on the revenue side.

And you think about hog crush.

You think about soybean crushers.

You know once they buy that or elevators they buy that corn they buy the soybeans they hedge that off.

And the farmers basically that Texas hedge has got a leg hanging out there of all this cost but there's nothing against it.

And so I would encourage farmers to think about hedging that cost.

Not you know you can't hedge the fertilizer in the sense of the natural gas but I'm talking about you're going to produce a crop.

You've got crop insurance as a backstop.

So use the markets to help at least get to a point where you can pay those bills.

And then of what's left over if you have grain left over then that's where you can you know play a little bit if you haven't.

All right Steve well thank you very much for visiting with me here.

We're at Farm Progress Show in Iowa this year.

I'm Chuck Zimmerman reporting.

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