A Roadmap to Better Decision Making

“It's not bringing in the new ideas that's so hard. It's getting rid of the old ones.” —John Maynard Keynes Today on FARMCON Conversations, we're joined by longtime friend and FARMCON partner Ken Packard of StoneX.Ken has spent more than 30 years in commodity futures and agricultural risk management, and our conversation quickly moved to how producers manage the entire ...

Soil is often called the world’s most under-appreciated natural asset. It sustains global food production, holds water, hosts vast biological communities, and stores vast amounts of carbon. Yet, despite its critical role, agricultural soil remains one of the most fragmented and poorly understood resources in modern farming. Enter the Varda Foundation, a non-profit organization building digital infrastructure designed to unify ...

It’s the third week of September, which means it is once again time for the annual “National Farm Safety and Health Week” in the U.S. For many rural areas, harvest season is the busiest time of year, and also one of the most dangerous. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the agriculture industry is consistently at the ...

NEW FARMCON PODCAST - Today we’re joined by Walter Cronin, co-founder and president of White River Nutrition, for a deep dive into what may be one of the more important structural shifts developing across the soybean complex. Walter was bullish the last time we had him on — and despite the move we’ve already seen in beans and soybean oil, ...

The United States is mounting a new push to expand domestic fertilizer manufacturing, driven by high farm-input costs, vulnerable international supply chains, and heavy reliance on imports for key crop nutrients. The effort combines large private-sector projects in Louisiana with a new $500 million USDA financing program, faster permitting initiatives, and temporary trade relief intended to bridge the gap until ...

China’s hog industry is in a difficult cyclical trough: pork supply remains heavy even as farm-level capacity is being cut, while weak consumer demand has prevented prices from recovering decisively. According to reports, the industry is losing an estimated -$3.8 billion per month, with hog prices dropping below local production costs and slaughterhouses facing severe operational margin squeezes. China is ...

USDA is launching a pilot project that could reshape how the market’s most closely watched crop estimates are produced. Operating within a broader “Data Modernization Plan,” the initiative will test satellite imagery, geospatial analysis, crop models, and potentially artificial intelligence alongside traditional farmer surveys. Announced September 1 at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, the department says the effort ...

NEW FARMCON PODCAST - This week Kevin and I cover a lot of ground, starting with why the rise of AI may actually make the human edge more valuable, not less. Kevin explains why street smarts, intuition, experience, hospitality, and the ability to “see around corners” could become increasingly important as everyone gains access to the same intelligence tools. We ...

I think we are getting dangerously close to having the wrong argument about data centers. Across rural America, communities are beginning to push back against massive AI data-center developments over concerns about farmland, water use, electric rates, traffic, and the possibility that these projects could permanently change local communities. Those are legitimate concerns... I had them myself a couple of ...

NEW FARMCON PODCAST - Kevin and Todd cover a lot of ground this week—from why Kevin is getting more aggressive pricing corn and wheat, to what could push soybeans toward $14, why higher wheat insurance guarantees could change 2027 planting decisions, and where dangerous “air pockets” could develop if bullish fund money starts heading for the exits. They also dig ...