Growing the Future

Canola is priced off documents written in another country, and most of the people growing it have never read one.Susan Stroud spent more than fifteen years in the cash grain business, buying by truck and rail and loading out on barge, before building No Bull Ag into a grain and oilseed analysis service. She joins Dan and co-host Ryan Bonnett of ABB Solutions for a working session on the policy machinery underneath the canola market.What's InsideHow a California low carbon fuel standard, commissioned by a movie star governor, set off the renewable diesel boom that built Canada's crush capacityWhat a RIN actually is, what a small refinery exemption does, and what happened when the hardship calculation was quietly rewritten this SeptemberWhy canola oil fell off the tax credit map entirely in 2025, and the single amendment that brought it back for 2026Where canola meal goes, why meal has overtaken oil as the profit driver in crush, and what broiler chickens have to do with your basisHer read on why the risks are stacking bullish, and why she still tells producers to keep selling into strength rather than sitting on their handsResources MentionedNo Bull Ag market insights, with a two week previewAgVentures international toursConnect with Susan Stroud:No Bull Ag: nobullag.comX: @SusanNobullConnect with Ryan Bonnett:ABB SolutionsConnect with Growing the FutureWebsite: growingthefuture.caYouTube: Growing the FutureInstagram: @growingthefuturepodcastLinkedIn: Growing the FutureSubscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Agriculture does not run along a single track. The agronomy decisions, the farm business pressures, the succession conversations, and the quiet health questions underneath all of it are connected -- and for most people in agriculture, they never land in the same room. Convergence Conference 2027 was built for that room. You are invited. Convergence Conference 2027 | February 2 to 4, 2027 DoubleTree by Hilton, Regina, Saskatchewan Theme: Cross Currents Four pillars. One room. A few hundred people who think the way you do -- or challenge the way you do. Agronomy. Farm Business Management. Health and Wellness. Agri-Food Production. Get your tickets now at: www.eventbrite.ca/e/convergence-conference-2027-tickets-1989958462329   In this briefing, Dan Aberhart sits down with Terry Aberhart (conference founder), Warren Bills (MNP), Laura Shoemaker (farmer and repeat attendee), and Courtney Thevenot (Scotiabank) to talk about what the room has produced over three years and what is being built for 2027. Warren Bills makes a live money-back guarantee on YouTube. Laura Shoemaker proposes a retirement workshop and is elected to chair the committee before the hour is out. We are also working on Ag Rocks for Charity, an opening-night live music and community fundraiser in support of STARS Air Ambulance. We will share more as that piece takes shape.   Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Four pillars: agronomy, farm business management, health and wellness, agri-food production 1:00 -- Convergence Conference 2027 is open -- February 2 to 4, DoubleTree Regina 2:00 -- Platform partners and panel introductions: Terry Aberhart, Warren Bills, Laura Shoemaker, Courtney Thevenot 5:00 -- Terry Aberhart on the gap in agriculture that started the conference 8:00 -- Jessica Jansen keynote and the moment that defined what Convergence actually is 10:00 -- Warren Bills on the post-COVID case for in-person gatherings 12:00 -- Laura Shoemaker: the live-concert analogy for being in the room 14:00 -- Courtney Thevenot on what makes this conference different from any other in agriculture 17:00 -- Terry on choosing your own journey -- and why unexpected speakers land hardest 19:00 -- Diamond Fernandez, integrative health, and the cholesterol research nobody expected 22:00 -- Warren's three takeaways: being seen, Matt Havens on generations, Diamond Fernandez 25:00 -- 2027 banquet: Patty Durand and Chris Corbett, family business improv 27:00 -- Laura on farm succession, transition planning, and the retirement conversation agriculture avoids 33:00 -- Warren on the life change he made at Convergence 2025, and his live money-back guarantee for 2027 37:00 -- Terry's three takeaways: network, deep-topic breakouts, agriculture as an optimistic room 46:00 -- The conference hall of fame: years of speakers and why the roster matters now 48:00 -- convergence.ag -- four pillars, why it matters, ticket call to action 49:00 -- Journey Track preview: arriving prepared, going deeper, leaving with a plan 51:00 -- 2027 speaker roster taking shape 53:00 -- Courtney's three takeaways: caliber of speakers, breadth of topics, intimacy of the room 55:00 -- Laura's three takeaways: holistic approach, always at least one thing you didn't expect 58:00 -- Warren's live guarantee on YouTube: e-transfer your money back if you don't get value 1:00:00 -- Audience survey, the retirement workshop idea hatched on air, Cross Currents theme confirmed 1:01:00 -- Closing: February 2 to 4, 2027, DoubleTree Regina, convergence.ag   Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future  Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Most operators assume the best farms in their region are spending a lot more to get a lot more out of their land. The data says otherwise. Travis Girard, a farm management consultant with MNP, and Dean Klippenstine, also with MNP, return for the second session in the Know Your Numbers benchmarking series, drawing on a database that now covers roughly 1,500 farms and 8.5 million acres across the Prairies. What's Inside - Why the production expense gap between top performing farms and average ones came in at just seven dollars an acre, not the twenty five to fifty most people guessed - Seven years of profitability data across the region, including the one year almost everyone assumes was the worst, and wasn't - The three things Dean Klippenstine says separate profitable farms from the rest, starting with crop selection - Why labor, power, and machinery costs come down to mindset more than acres under management - What bringing your three worst fields up to your own farm's average gross margin could be worth in a yearResources MentionedMNPMNP Know Your Numbers benchmarking seriesConnect with Travis Gerrard: Travis GerrardConnect with Dean Klippenstine: Dean Klippenstine Linked In: Dean KlippenstineConnect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Subscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

A $1.2 million combine is only as fast as the slowest part of the yard behind it, and for most harvests, that slow part isn't the field. It's the space between the combine and the bin: the trucks, the augers, the dryer, and the person running between all three. Dan Aberhart brought three operators together who've each solved that bottleneck a different way, from a hundred-thousand-dollar retrofit to a fully automated grain-handling site eight months and one generation in the making. What's Inside • How Brennan McArthur built an automated grain-handling system near Watrous that dumps a legal Super B in about eight minutes, and what actually pushed him to build it • Vince Pawluski's remote-control retrofit kit that lets one operator run more than one machine, and the real dollar cost of an idling tractor • Trevor Scherman on why a magnetic drop pan is still the cheapest data-collection device on the farm, even as combine automation does more of the calibration itself • What each guest thinks won't be automated for years yet, and why the combine seat is the last one they expect to see empty • Where smaller automated units fit against Western Canada's big-iron reality, and why swarm technology hasn't earned trust yet If the data side of this conversation landed for you, look for the back-catalog episode with sprayer specialist Tom Wolf on calibration and coverage. It's the same instinct Trevor brings to a drop pan, applied to the boom instead of the header. Resources Mentioned • SureGain (Trevor Scherman's harvest data and drop pan work) • LV Control (Winnipeg-based grain handling automation) • John Deere Operations Center (JD Ops) • Agromatix Pro • STARS Air Ambulance Connect • Connect with Trevor Scherman: SureGain • Connect with Vince Pawluski • Connect with Brennan McArthurConnect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Subscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Canola's up on a good rally, fertilizer's down from its spring highs, and for the first time in a while, Western Canadian producers have a little swagger back. But every rally raises the same question: is this the one you lock in, or the one that convinces you to wait too long? Dave Norris of Norris Crop Consulting and Todd Rowan of IXL Innovations, two grain marketing advisors working with the top tier of Western Canadian producers, join Darren Sander of Crop Aid Nutrition, a working farmer near Rosetown, Saskatchewan, to read where this crop actually stands and what it means for pricing decisions this fall. The math is tight. Two bushels an acre off the Canadian canola average works out to about a million tons. With crush running at 14 million tons and exports near 9 million, a crop landing at 21 million tons instead of 23 leaves someone rationed. The panel breaks down the real story on crop size, why China stepping back into the market matters more than most producers realize, and what the fertilizer and fuel numbers actually tell you about locking in the 2026 crop now. What's Inside Why 2 bushels off the Canadian canola average works out to about a million tons, and what that means for pricing What it means when 14 million tons of crush and 9 million tons of exports meet a crop that might land at 21 million tons Why China stepping into the canola market in August is a signal worth watching, and what it tends to wake up in other buyers Why fertilizer at $850 a ton looks different once you compare it to what canola is actually worth right now The real reason most producers miss good pricing windows: they respond to a push notification, not a website they have to remember to check A live read on the August USDA report as it dropped, and what it changed in the room in real time If this conversation makes you think about who's actually watching your marketing decisions, go back in the catalog for our episode with Derek Squair on what a grain market coach actually gets paid to do, a conversation that asks the same question from the other side of the table. Resources Mentioned Norris Crop Consulting IXL Innovations Crop Aid Nutrition's soil health program Connect with Dave Norris www.nccag.ca Connect with Todd Rowan Text 306-260-3353 Connect with Darren Sander Crop Aid Nutrition   Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Subscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.