America once built a factory school that turned farm kids into aircraft technicians in a matter of weeks, and then used that talent pipeline to help win a World War. For producers reading this in 2026, the story is less about nostalgia and more about what happens when an industry stops complaining about a labor …
Private equity seems to have lost its appetite for the once red-hot “foodtech” sector. Wildly overhyped – and overvalued – experiments in things like fake meat, vertical farming, and every variation of food delivery imaginable have wrecked investor confidence. Adding to the pressure is a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, as well as shifting debate about …
What Insiders are Tracking in the FoodTech Sector in 2026 Read More »
The United States is the third-largest country in the world by area, with approximately 2.43 billion acres of land. More than half – 1.3 billion acres – is privately owned. About 47% of those acres are mostly forest, with the rest being farms and ranches. The largest owners of that land don’t tend to vary much from year …
LA Rams Owner Stan Kroenke Now America’s Largest Private Landowner Read More »
In this episode… Kevin Van Trump and Todd Loechler sit down and discuss current corn, soybean, and wheat markets, including price targets for both the 2025 and 2026 crops. The pair also discusses the current macro and geopolitical wild-cards and how they are positioning their current investments, including stocks, metals, real estate, land, etc… There …
Frank Zyback was growing more and more frustrated with the labor and inconsistency of the irrigation systems of the times in the 1940s on the semi‑arid Plains of eastern Colorado. Zyback’s own farm in Strasburg, CO, would become the first laboratory for his experiments with a brand new concept, “pivot irrigation”. The early rig looked …
Pivoting on the Plains: How One Colorado Farmer Rewrote the Rules of Risk Read More »
Evidence is overwhelming that city kids are much more likely to develop allergies than children in rural communities. The notable difference between these kids’ immune systems has given rise to lot’s of theories but new data sheds light on possible reason why – their immune systems may mature faster, and breast milk appears to play …
Why Farm Kids Have Fewer Allergies Than City Kids…Hint, You Can Thank Mom! Read More »
UK-based “Bactery” has developed a six-inch device that’s designed to be buried in a farm field where it produces enough electricity to power remote IoT devices. It sounds a little crazy at first, but proof-of-concept field trials show that these “soil batteries” – or “bacteries” – really do work! Bactery cofounder Jakub Dziegielowski explains that …
Soil Microbes Might One Day Power All Your Farm Gadgets Read More »
A US-led intervention in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro could have significant impacts on global markets this year. While the country’s vast oil reserves are currently taking the spotlight, US agricultural stakeholders are eyeing the reopening of a significant export market. Venezuela’s economy has contracted more than -60% since Maduro …
Our family will be hosting our annual FARMCON event in KC this week, so no additional Van Trump reports will be released. Our full 2026 coverage schedule will resume next Monday morning, January 12th. I will also be sharing the big takeaways and conversations from FARMCON next week. Thank you for your consideration and support. …
We had the pleasure a few months ago to meet John Puleo from JP Tower Consulting, who specializes in cell tower lease renewals, buyouts, and new lease negotiations. John had recently consulted for one of our clients who was in buyout negotiations and delivered such impressive results that we did some more research and feel …
