Growing the Future

The steel-wheeled tractor was a fad once. So was the fax machine. Nobody's laughing at those now. AI is moving through agriculture whether the industry is ready or not. The global AI and agriculture market is approaching five billion dollars and growing at over 26% a year. Eighty percent of agribusinesses say they understand its potential. Only twenty percent have adopted it. And who's actually getting results? Closer to five percent. That gap is what this Growing the Future Productions live event is built to close. Dan Aberhart puts three of the most plugged-in AI power users in ag — Rob Saik, Tim Hammond, and Damon Johnson — in the same room for the first-ever episode of The AI Farm. No vendor pitches. No vague future-casting. Three people who are deep in this every single day. Audience vote at the end. Winner gets bragging rights. You get the ideas. Where AI Actually Disrupts Agriculture — And Where It Doesn't Rob Saik opens with a reframe: agriculture at the farm level ranks low on AI disruption — not because it's behind, but because farming is inherently hands-on and judgment-dependent. The bigger disruption is upstream, in realty, insurance, and the machinery sector. Prediction is where AI excels. Judgment still belongs to you. (00:07:40) — Rob walks through the tools he uses daily: Perplexity, Claude, Notebook LM, and a custom Dossier Builder that profiles anyone he's about to meet. His starter recommendation for producers new to AI: Perplexity. It's reference-based, cites its sources, and aggregates across multiple AI models. If you're perplexed about AI, that's your on-ramp. (00:21:07) — A Power Farm member built a complete grain marketing program by uploading his inventory and contracts into Claude. That's not a future possibility. That happened. Tim's Pick: A Custom GPT That Makes Decisions for Your Team Tim Hammond is in the top 1% of ChatGPT users globally — 26,500 messages, 800-plus threads in a single year. His big move: he fed 1,200 pages of regulatory knowledge into a custom GPT, locked it to that knowledge base only, and deployed it to his whole team. Now they ask the bot before they ask Tim. (00:23:14) — The framework from Jeff Woods' book The AI-Driven Leader: Context, Role, Interview, Task. Most people skip the Interview step. That's where AI surfaces your blind spots and assumptions before it gives you an answer. The farm application: 12,000 acres is the HR ceiling where most operations stall. AI helps you scale past it without adding headcount. Damon's Pick: A Full Farm Dashboard Built in 12 Minutes Damon Johnson — economist, active grain farmer, insurance builder — built a fully integrated farm management dashboard the night before this call. Six tabs. Google Maps field borders. Grain marketing scenarios. Input cost tracking. Seeding date calculator. Spray window tool. Twelve minutes. (00:38:00) — He uploaded years of historical farm data into a Claude project and prompted it to build what would previously have cost millions and years. His framing: Claude is now a prototype partner. Fail fast. Iterate. Build. (00:56:47) — He reads the exact prompt live: a grain marketing calculator for a 7,000-acre Saskatchewan farm, three marketing scenarios, net revenue comparison chart. Type it. Get it. The Poll Results — Where Producers Actually Are 19% haven't touched AI at all. 42% have played with ChatGPT but nothing on the operation. 27% use AI tools regularly for at least one part of their business. 10% have it built into multiple parts of the operation. (00:20:26) What's holding people back: a third don't know where to start. 17% don't trust the technology. 15% are worried about farm data being used. Also covered: Machine learning vs. AI explained without jargon (00:48:08). How to stop AI hallucinations (00:52:36). Drones, Starlink, and Goldman Sachs' $264 billion precision ag disruption number (00:54:24). Dan's live demo: using Claude inside Gmail to scrape 100-plus webinar registration emails and extract every question in seconds (00:46:20). And Whisper Flow — because typing is starting to feel like a fax machine. Final word from all three panelists: Start. Pick one pain point. Play with it. You'll find out what works. Featured in this episode: Dan Aberhart — Host, Growing the Future Productions Rob Saik — Founder and CEO, T1 Technology Corporation / Ag Advisor Pro Tim Hammond — Founder, Hammond Realty Damon Johnson — EVP, Global Ag Risk Solutions / Hub International Resources mentioned: Perplexity AI, Claude (claude.ai), Notebook LM, Whisper Flow, Grip farm management software, The AI-Driven Leader by Geoff Woods, Ag Advisor Pro More from Growing the Future: Podcast: growingthefuturepodcast.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Productions Ground Truth Daily: Available wherever you listen to podcasts Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Somewhere on the prairies, there's a producer trying to do it all. The agronomy. The marketing. The books. The succession. The banking. The strategy. And they're wearing every hat at once — running hot, making decisions with incomplete information, and wondering why the numbers never quite tell the full story. The top farms? They stopped doing that a long time ago. This Growing the Future Productions live event puts Dan Aberhart at the table with seven of the most plugged-in financial and business minds working in Canadian agriculture right now: Evan Shout (Maverick Ag / Farmer Coach), Brian Mack and Justin Simpkins (Grow Lytics), Travis Gerrard and Roxanne Olynick from MNP, and Courtney Thevenot and Tanner Gerwing from Scotiabank Agricultural Banking. The conversation runs nearly 90 minutes and covers the full spectrum — from bookkeeping basics to billion-dollar family legacy questions. Not a panel of polished talking points. A real room of real advisors who already work together behind closed doors, and now you get to hear it. What gets covered in this episode: The 2% / 18% / 80% Split — Where Does Your Farm Land? Evan Shout opens with a number that should stop people cold: over the last 20 years, as farm revenues have gone up and risk has increased, financial acumen in the industry has actually gotten worse. The top 2% aren't just profitable — they're operating with a completely different level of financial sophistication. The next 18% are closing the gap. The other 80% are still treating finance as a back-seat discipline. (00:07:00) — Evan breaks down what separates the top tier, and why building a team is the single most powerful thing an operation can do to move up that ladder. Access to Capital vs. Strategic Advice — They're Not the Same Thing Grow Lytics started by reverse-engineering the perfect credit deal. Not by handing out money — by working backward from what a lender actually needs to say yes, and building the farm's story from there. Brian Mack draws a clear line between knowing your costs and knowing what the bank is looking at when you walk through the door. (00:10:00) — The panel unpacks the difference between getting financed and being financially positioned. You don't want your banker to tell you it's a bad deal. You want to already know that before you show up. What Scotiabank Actually Looks For — And It's Not Just the Numbers Courtney Thevenot is direct: lending decisions aren't just financial. Management strength, character, who you've got in your corner, whether you're trying to do it all yourself — that all goes into the picture. A farm that walks in with a team behind them sends a completely different signal than one that shows up with a stack of paper and no story. (00:12:00) — Courtney makes the case for the banking relationship as an ongoing partnership, not a transactional event. Quarterly calls. Farm visits. The relationship should be built long before you need something. The Mental Health Moment Nobody Planned — But Everybody Needed An audience member, Harry Siemens, drops a question about the farm suicide rate — 3.5 times higher than any other industry. Dan opens the floor. What follows is one of the most honest conversations this panel has. Evan doesn't give the diplomatic answer. He gives the hard one: farming culture has tied identity and legacy to a business in a way that makes failure feel unsurvivable. That's not the truth. But it's the pressure people are carrying. (00:27:00) — Justin Simpkins adds context from time spent in Australia, where the numbers are even more stark. Courtney mentions the Canadian Centre for Agriculture Wellbeing as a real resource. Roxanne talks about peer groups as one of the most underrated tools for connection and permission to be honest. This segment wasn't on the agenda — but it might be the most important twelve minutes in the episode. Benchmarking, Peer Groups & the Trucker Who Blew Everyone's Mind Travis Gerrard talks about what happens when you put a trucking company's operational metrics in front of a room full of grain farmers. Nobody expected it. Everyone walked away wanting to know their numbers that much better. The benchmarking group MNP runs is covering 14% of Saskatchewan farmland — and the data is clear on what the best operations have in common. (00:19:00) — Travis and the panel dig into the power of cross-industry benchmarking, and why getting outside the agriculture bubble — like Dan's example of Strategic Coach — can be the jolt that resets how a producer sees their own operation. AI, Data & the Role of the Farm's Next Hire The panel lands on something the audience was clearly hungry for: the missing seat at the table isn't another accountant or banker. It's a CTO. A tech integrator. Someone who can get real-time data flowing — from grain cards, JD Ops, harvest profit, bookkeeping — so that the advisors in the room can do insight work instead of cleanup work. (00:44:00) — Evan lays out the vision clearly: AI isn't replacing thought leadership, but it will replace data entry, and that changes everything about how fast good decisions can get made. The Third Generation Curse — And the Harder Question Nobody's Asking John Gibson brings it live from the audience floor: why do so many family farm operations succeed through two generations and fall apart in the third? The panel doesn't flinch. Evan talks about the knowledge that gets lost when the generation that built through hard times doesn't transfer that context. Brian Mack says something that stops the room: are you trying to preserve the farm, or are you trying to preserve wealth for future generations? Because sometimes those are two different decisions. (00:49:00) — Evan makes the case for the family office model — keeping the farm intact across generations rather than selling it off every 40 years to settle estates. The math at today's land prices makes the traditional approach nearly impossible. Succession Planning — Separate Rooms, Real Conversations Travis's point lands hard: get the kids in a separate room. Get the parents in a separate room. Because what the next generation actually wants — and what mom and dad assume they want — are often two very different things. That gap, unaddressed, is where farm transitions collapse. (00:38:00) — Roxanne talks about seeing a generational shift in how clients are bringing younger family members into meetings earlier. Evan talks about farm operations actively recruiting external CEOs to run the business while family members stay involved as shareholders. The structure is changing. Who's Missing from the Dream Team? Lawyers. The panel admits it freely. Wills, shareholder agreements, prenups, joint venture agreements — verbal handshakes between multimillion-dollar operations. Evan doesn't mince words: Walmart isn't doing verbal agreements anymore. Neither should you. (01:23:00) — The closing segment also touches on life insurance, climate advisors, agronomists as financial team members, and the AI-specific skill set that's becoming the next frontier for farm advisory teams. Featured in this episode: Dan Aberhart — Host, Growing the Future Productions Evan Shout — Maverick Ag / Farmer Coach Brian Mack & Justin Simpkins — Grow Lytics Travis Gerrard & Roxanne Olynick — MNP Courtney Thevenot & Tanner Gerwing — Scotiabank Agricultural Banking Resources mentioned: Canadian Centre for Agriculture Wellbeing (CCAW) — free counseling and support resources for ag producers across Canada Sask Ag Matters — crisis line and no-cost counseling for Saskatchewan farmers Do More in Ag — mental health resources for the agricultural community Connect with the panelists: Maverick Ag / Farmer Coach: maverickg.com or farmercoach.ca Grow Lytics: growlytics.ca MNP: mnp.ca Scotiabank Agricultural Banking: Contact your local Scotiabank ag banking team More from Growing the Future: Podcast: growingthefuturepodcast.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Productions Ground Truth Daily: Available wherever you listen to podcasts Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

The data is in. Farms that perform better... perform a lot better. And the gap isn't luck. In this live webinar event from Growing the Future Productions, host Dan Aberhart sits down with three of the sharpest minds working on Saskatchewan farms right now — Darren Sander of Crop-Aid Nutrition, Dave Norris of Norris Crop Consulting, and Todd Rowan of IXL Innovations — for a frank, no-sugarcoating conversation about what separates the producers clearing big margins from the ones leaving money on the table. The number? Somewhere between $50 and $100 per acre. Every single year. Compounded over a decade — it's not a number. It's a different life. What gets covered in this episode: Soil Health & the First 30 Days — Darren makes the case that the first 30 days of a crop dictates maximum yield potential. Not the last 30. The first. That reframe alone is worth your time. He also talks about how a soil health program let his operation move from a three-crop rotation to two — and pencil out better. Earthworms optional, but encouraged. (00:04:00) — Darren breaks down the incremental gains philosophy: fertilizer protection, stress reduction, nutrient use efficiency, and how every acre should be growing the crop it's best suited to grow. Grain Marketing & the Probability Game — Dave Norris and Todd Rowan don't predict the future. They work with probabilities. And when warships started heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, they texted their clients to fill their fuel tanks. Fuel was $1.02. The downside risk was 93 cents. The upside was $1.50. That's not a prediction. That's a risk-reward conversation — and the producers who had that conversation in advance came out a lot better than the ones who watched the news. (00:09:00) — The panel unpacks why so many producers make decisions after it feels urgent, and why the best time to act is almost always when it doesn't. Crop Insurance, In-Season Pricing & the 2025-26 Landscape — It's the worst crop insurance environment since before 2021. The panel digs into what that means for in-season pricing on canola, wheat, and durum, and how to think about layering agri-stability on top when the base numbers aren't what they used to be. (00:22:00) — Dave and Todd walk through the mechanics of in-season pricing, the cash flow timing issue with SCIC payments, and how to think about selling new crop canola when fertilizer costs are still wildly elevated. The Fertilizer Problem Nobody's Talking About Enough — An estimated 400,000-tonne shortage of urea in Saskatchewan this year. Producers who didn't pre-buy are scrambling. The panel discusses how this reshapes planting decisions, top-dressing options, foliar programs as a partial substitute, and why the supply-demand models for yield estimates may be fundamentally broken this season. (00:33:00) — Todd flags what this means for crop rotation flexibility. When the only crop penciling out is canola, what happens to everything else? Macroeconomics, Gold, Oil & the Commodity Supercycle — Dave Norris had a supercycle bias since November. He didn't have a war in March as the trigger — he thought it would be El Niño. He wasn't entirely wrong. The panel talks about money flowing into commodities, what governments printing money means for grain prices, and why canola at $700 a tonne may not be the ceiling. (00:40:00) — The canary in the coal mine: when gold and silver started ripping, the smart money was already watching inflation and currency hedges. Farmers paying attention to macros have a structural edge over those only watching local basis. The $70 Poll — What the Audience Said — Dan ran a live poll with over 150 producers on the call. The majority landed between $50 and $100 per acre as the value of strong management decisions. Todd shared a real-world example: in 2021-22, clients who didn't over-contract and took in-season crop insurance pricing pocketed $18/bushel versus $12. Clients who panicked after 2021 and froze in 2022 took $17 off the combine when $22 was on the board. The math on those decisions — compounded over 10 years — is a different farm. (00:56:00) — The close. Dan pulls together the final takeaways from the audience word cloud, and the panel leaves producers with the most important thing of all: knowing when to act, and not waiting until it's obvious. Featured in this episode: Dan Aberhart — Host, Growing the Future Productions Darren Sander — Crop-Aid Nutrition Dave Norris — Norris Crop Consulting Todd Rowan — IXL Innovations More from Growing the Future: Podcast: growingthefuturepodcast.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Productions Ground Truth Daily: Available wherever you listen to podcasts Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

2,333 days ago, Jeff Bennett was the second guest I ever had on this show. Different world. Different market. Different men. Since then we've lived through bull markets, bear markets, a pandemic, and all kinds of crazy in our personal lives. Jeff runs a grain farm in Saskatchewan while quietly building a parallel business out of his garage — custom laser engraved glass and wood pieces, high-end 3D crystal branding work. He didn't start building because it was trendy. He started building because five rough crop years forced a simple question: what do you control when the weather and the banks don't care? This conversation is not polished. It's not motivational. It's a farmer sitting across from me telling the truth about debt, structure, generational disconnect, and what it actually takes to keep going when the math doesn't work. If you farm, you'll feel this one. If you don't, you'll understand something about resilience you didn't before. Timestamps [00:00:00] Cold open — "What breaks first in your life?" [00:01:00] Dan's intro — 2,333 days since Jeff's first episode [00:03:00] What breaks first — Jeff on why breaking isn't an option [00:04:00] What Jeff refuses to depend on anymore [00:05:00] If your kids copied your current operating model [00:07:00] Why Jeff rates himself "just below jaded" on the industry [00:08:00] Five rough crop years and the financial reality no one talks about [00:10:00] "Agriculture is not struggling. Farmers are struggling." [00:11:00] What makes a good farmer — passing it to the next generation [00:13:00] Diversification that isn't just more agriculture [00:15:00] The difference between being tough and being stubborn [00:17:00] Why Dad can't help — the generational disconnect in farming [00:20:00] The economics gap — when a $100K off-farm job won't cover your nitrogen [00:24:00] Succession planning and the kind of help that actually works [00:25:00] "I don't think farming is a good business" — the structural problem [00:27:00] Who's actually making the money in agriculture? [00:29:00] The equipment deal Jeff regrets — and what it cost him [00:32:00] What Jeff would do with $5 million (the answer is boring and brilliant) [00:34:00] What people romanticize about farming that's just wrong [00:36:00] If everything works, what does Jeff's life actually look like? [00:38:00] His son Axel, a 3D printer, and teaching your kids they're not just farmers [00:41:00] If the farm disappeared tomorrow [00:43:00] Has Jeff ever thought about quitting? [00:45:00] "Farmers feed the world" — a belief Jeff doesn't hold [00:50:00] Advice to his younger self: "Buckle up kid. She's about to get rocky." Connect with us Growing the Future Podcast Website: https://www.growingthefuture.ca YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GrowingtheFuturePodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/growing-the-future Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growingthefuturepodcast Join the Growing the Future Mastermind on Skool: https://www.skool.com/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.

Spring 2026 is arriving with a fertilizer market that looks nothing like anything most producers have seen. Urea at $700 a short ton. Elemental sulfur up nearly 8x in 18 months. Global ammonia production down 30–35%. China not exporting. India running at 50–60% production capacity because they can't get LNG shipments through the Persian Gulf. And retailers across Saskatchewan are 30–40% behind on bookings. Josh Linville, one of the most followed voices in fertilizer on X, joined from a ski condo in Colorado. Mario Gaudet has been in the thick of the elemental sulfur trade and has the kind of inside knowledge that doesn't show up in the headlines. Together, they broke down what's actually happening, what even the best-case scenario looks like if the Strait reopens tomorrow (answer: not great), and what decisions producers need to be making right now. This one got into places you don't hear about in mainstream ag media. Why you can't have a green energy mandate without oil and gas refining. Why Morocco building a massive triple super phosphate plant now looks like genius. Why the US imports over 5 million tons of urea per year when North America is sitting on some of the cheapest natural gas in the world. And why the retailer down the road isn't willing to hold inventory anymore, even if he thinks you're going to need it. The practical advice coming out of this conversation was clear: talk to your retailer now, build a forecast together, buy in chunks to spread your risk, and don't cut the nutrition inputs that will cost you two bushels of corn per acre to save $5 upfront. As Josh put it, the market is undefeated, and nobody has ever sold every bushel of grain in one shot. Why would fertilizer be any different? Timestamps [00:00:46] Setting the stage: Urea nearly doubled since December, global ammonia down 30–35%, spring is here [00:02:16] Josh Linville's call: the worst economic environment for farmers he's ever seen [00:05:18] Josh joins from a ski condo in Colorado; the market doesn't stop [00:06:04] Audience poll: Where are you at with your 2026 crop plan? [00:09:34] Mario's rant begins: how elemental sulfur went from $70 to nearly $580 a ton [00:10:31] The connection nobody's making: sulfur, battery production, lithium, and why green mandates need oil and gas [00:13:34] Geopolitics, the Strait of Hormuz, and 40–50% of global sulfur supply at risk [00:14:33] The 10-million-ton sulfur stockpile in Fort McMurray and why it can't get to market [00:15:40] Buying patterns: how procrastinating on fertilizer decisions became the industry's biggest self-inflicted wound [00:19:39] Josh on sulfur: how cleaner air created a new farm input problem [00:20:46] Phosphate and the Strait: Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, three of the top 10 anhydrous exporters, all behind the closure [00:22:23] Tampa Index negotiations, phosphate production costs, and why summer fill pricing won't go down [00:23:22] Josh: we have already seen the cheapest phosphate price we are going to see [00:25:20] Even when the Strait reopens, the tail of this thing will last longer than people think [00:28:29] Morocco's triple super phosphate expansion: playing chess while everyone else played checkers [00:30:21] How high input costs are going to change what farmers buy this season [00:34:15] Josh's biggest rant: don't make a cut that feels good today and feels terrible in October [00:40:17] Alberta's 10-million-ton sulfur block, the LNG pipeline we didn't build, and the opportunity we've squandered [00:43:13] Is this the moment North America gets serious about fertilizer self-sufficiency? [00:45:21] The global food security conversation: who really pays when fertilizer prices go to the moon [00:48:31] Iran, the Strait, and the proxy war between the US and China [00:49:20] Why N-46 is at $1,250 Canadian when we make it in Indian Head, SK [00:54:04] Final advice from Mario: talk to your retailer, forecast what you need, buy in chunks [00:55:19] Final advice from Josh: no farmer sells all their grain at once, so stop treating fertilizer differently Connect with our guests: Josh Linville, VP of Fertilizer at StoneX. Follow him on X for daily fertilizer market updates: @JoshLFert Mario Gaudet, Busy Salt. Elemental sulfur supply across North America Growing the Future platform partners: Crop-Aid Nutrition, soil health and crop nutrition: cropaidnutrition.com Hammond Realty, Saskatchewan agricultural real estate, succession and tax planning: hammondrealty.ca Gripp, farm management software for tracking equipment, logging maintenance, and keeping your team aligned: gripp.ag Bone Trail Originals, handcrafted live edge resin art from a 110-year-old family farm in Saskatchewan: bonetrail.store Growing the Future: Subscribe on YouTube. Follow on LinkedIn and Instagram: growingthefuture.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Canola ran hard. The question wasn't whether to celebrate — it was whether to protect what you'd built. This session came out of a real conversation with a GARS advisor who pointed out something most producers have never heard explained clearly: options and production insurance don't just coexist — they can amplify each other. If you structure it right, you can protect your floor, leave your ceiling open, and potentially have the government subsidize the cost of the strategy through AgriStability. That's the thesis Ryan Bonnett walked through live. He's been trading futures and coaching producers through options for 20 years. He was joined by Derek Tallon — a central Saskatchewan grain farmer who sold 400 tons of canola the week before this session — for a real-world producer perspective on how these tools actually get used. And David Sullivan from Global Ag Risk Solutions rounded out the room with everything you need to know about where production insurance fits into the picture. Nobody was selling anything theoretical here. This was a working session. Topics covered: How to quantify your bullish or bearish position before you ever place a trade — and why gut feelings without numbers will get you burned The difference between call and put options, and when each one belongs in your marketing plan How a collar strategy works in practice: buying a $700 put and selling an $800 call for a net cost of around $10/ton — and what you're giving up to get it Why "I'll hold the option a little longer after I sell the grain" is where hedgers become speculators How paper trades through your RBC or STONEX account interact differently with your GARS policy than a delivery-tied contract does — and why that distinction matters The AgriStability angle: how your option strategy cost becomes an eligible expense, and what that means if you're one of the many producers sitting close to a claim this year What a "whole farm put" actually looks like and how it covers commodities you can't hedge on the exchange The fertilizer and fuel hedging conversation nobody else is having Useful timestamps: 00:04:17 — Ryan introduces the bullish/bearish framework and canola market context 00:07:00 — Crowd poll results: where producers' heads are at on canola prices 00:13:00 — Technical analysis walkthrough: support, resistance, and where this market could run to 00:26:22 — Call and put options explained cleanly 00:35:10 — How put options work as price insurance without elevator contracts 00:39:33 — The collar strategy: how to cheapen your protection 00:42:36 — Derek Tallon's producer perspective on using options as farm insurance 00:46:46 — David Sullivan: how options interact with your GARS production insurance 00:50:00 — The AgriStability layer: how your option cost could be 80% subsidized 00:59:32 — When and how to exit the strategy properly 01:04:29 — Fertilizer and fuel: the hedging conversation farmers aren't having yet 01:17:00 — The hardest part: closing your hedge the same day you make your physical sale Guests in this episode: Ryan Bonnett — independent commodity trading advisor, 20 years of experience coaching Western Canadian producers through options and futures strategies. Derek Tallon — grain producer, central Saskatchewan. Grows canola, wheat, and durum. Brings a grounded, practical lens on how these tools work at the farm level. David Sullivan — production insurance advisor, Global Ag Risk Solutions (GARS). Expert in how production insurance, AgriStability, and marketing strategies interact. One thing that stuck: David put it plainly — a 5,000-acre producer is sitting long on $2.5 to $3 million of grain the moment they plant. Most traders would never carry a position that size unhedged. Most producers do it every single year without thinking about it that way. That framing alone is worth the listen. Follow Growing the Future: Instagram: @growingthefutureproductions LinkedIn: Growing the Future Productions YouTube: Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

The post came after a long drive home from a production show. Jay Peterson had spent the day talking to people at booths, catching up with friends, listening to the Manitoba and Saskatchewan numbers come out on the radio. And somewhere between Saskatoon and Swift Current, something settled on him. Nobody was really having the conversation. Not out loud. Not honestly. So he made a video. Johnny Cash in the background. A simple question underneath it. Why is nobody talking about the fact that nothing we can grow in 2026 is going to make us money? The comments came in five flavors. Some farmers said they'd never quit, no matter what. Some were close to a breaking point. Some said it was just another cycle. Some thought bigger forces were reshaping the whole industry. And some were just trying to make sense of it. This episode is the conversation that followed. Four farmers. Real numbers. No prescriptions. No easy answers. The question underneath all of it: when the math stops working, what are we actually farming for? Guests Jay Peterson — JSP Farms Chris Allam — Allen Farms Norm Shoemaker — Shoemaker Ag Ventures Partnership Jeff Bennett — Bone Trail Land Company Timestamps 00:00 — Jay's TikTok, the long drive home from the production show, and why the comments hit a nerve. 08:34 — The live poll. How does your farm pencil out for 2026? 26% profitable. 42% break even at best. 16% likely a loss. 09:14 — Jay on what he was actually feeling when he made the post. Inputs still high. Prices not following. The sense that everyone was in the same position but nobody was saying it. 13:48 — Norm on the math. It used to take a metric ton of durum to break even. Now it takes close to two. Costs went one way and didn't come back. 15:22 — Jeff on why he stopped trying to predict what the year would bring. Four tough years before a good one. The numbers change every two months. You still show up. 17:09 — Chris makes the case it's not that dire, at least in Alberta. Average contribution margin, a little bit of profit. But he's clear: this was never a one-year home run industry. 19:18 — Cycles. Nobody agrees on where we are. Norm says we got used to good years and probably over-invested in iron. Jay says he might just be a year-by-year guy. 21:44 — Jay on why he never wanted to be a home run farmer. Singles and doubles. The rare triple. What it felt like to watch the bottom fall out mid-harvest last fall. 28:53 — The second poll. What's putting the most pressure right now? Inputs at 55%. Commodity prices at 42%. Land costs at 36%. Equipment at 27%. 29:45 — Whether cutting production costs to meet the market is actually a strategy. Chris says you produce more, not less. Jeff says fertilizing for disaster is its own kind of disaster. 31:43 — Jay on buying base chemical components instead of prepackaged. Why he grows mustard and not canola. Efficiency over volume when the rain isn't coming. 34:24 — Norm on land values. A million dollars a quarter. A son and a son-in-law coming into the operation. The math on return when you run those numbers. 36:32 — What farmers are actually doing differently this year. Variable rate fertilizing. Weekly peer group meetings. Cost benchmarking. Lean Six Sigma on the farm. 43:18 — Jeff on switching acres to canary seed and specialty canola. Crop rotation as a profit strategy. Finally back to a third, third, third rotation after years of disease pressure. 46:00 — The last question. What are you farming for when the numbers don't work? 47:27 — Chris: the next generation, and watching marginal land get better year after year. 48:16 — Jeff: fourth or fifth generation on this land. Leaving a starting point better than the one he was handed. 49:38 — Norm: the kids, the grandkids, and the table. Number six on the way. Who's at the table is what matters. 50:32 — Jay: he got into it because he loves farming. Loves farming with his dad. Loves doing it as well or better than the generations before him. 52:27 — Why Dan wanted to create a room for this conversation. And why it matters that farmers are willing to say it out loud. Platform partners Bone Trail Originals — www.instagram.com/bonetrailoriginals/  Hammond Realty — hammondrealty.ca  Crop-Aid Nutrition Gripp — gripp.ag Connect with Growing the Future growingthefuture.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Back in June 2025, Trent Klarenbach of Klarenbach Research did something nobody had done before. He charted Saskatchewan farmland values going back a hundred years and applied technical analysis to what he found. The chart went viral on YouTube. 52,000 views. And for good reason. The RSI had been signaling overbought conditions for over thirteen years. Previous times the market crossed that line and broke below the two-year exponential moving average, the results were not subtle. A 54% drop after 1922. A 22% drop after 1968. A 60% drop after 1982. Those aren't predictions. That's the historical record. Most people buying land today have never seen it. Tim Hammond runs Hammond Realty. He's been on the floor of the Saskatchewan farmland market since 2002. He manages 80,000 acres for investors, negotiates rental agreements, and watches the bid sheets on every tender. What he's seeing right now is something he hasn't seen before. A split market. Good land in a good area still moving. Average land struggling. Inventory quietly doubling. The spread between the top bid and the second bid widening from close together to five, ten, fifteen percent apart. The top bid is still setting records. But Tim's point is that land is only worth what the second highest bidder will pay. And that depth is getting thinner. This is not a doom and gloom conversation. Saskatchewan farmers hold somewhere around 65 billion dollars of farmland free and clear. The balance sheets are strong. The ag lenders are still positive. If there's a correction, Tim thinks agriculture can absorb the first 15 to 20 percent without a cascade. The question is where it goes from there. That's the conversation this episode holds. What the chart says, what the ground says, and what it means for the decisions you're making right now. Guests Trent Klarenbach — Klarenbach Research. Technical analyst. The first person known to have charted Saskatchewan farmland values across a hundred years of data. Tim Hammond — Founder and CEO, Hammond Realty. Agricultural real estate specialist, former ag lender, manages land for sophisticated investors across Saskatchewan. Timestamps 00:00 — Dan sets the stage. The Robert Angelic webinar in January, tightening capital conditions, and why this conversation needed to happen. 04:00 — The Klarenbach Research farmland study. 52,000 YouTube views. What happens when you apply a hundred years of technical analysis to land values for the first time. 05:00 — Introducing Trent Klarenbach and Tim Hammond. 08:34 — Live audience poll: where do you think Saskatchewan farmland values are headed? Results reveal a split room. 11:50 — Trent walks through the chart. RSI, the two-year exponential moving average, and what the historical pullbacks actually looked like. 54% in 1922. 22% in 1968. 60% in 1982. 13:00 — What overbought actually means and why the RSI can stay elevated for years before anything moves. 15:00 — Tim on what the chart means personally. His great-grandfather handed back the keys in 1933 when land values had halved. The Hammond family's hundred years of farming mapped almost exactly onto Trent's cycle lines. 17:00 — What Dan took from the chart that nobody talks about at the kitchen table. 18:00 — Tim on what he's seeing on the ground right now. The split market. Good land still competitive. Average land going sideways or down. The first split he's seen since 2002. 20:00 — Second live poll on local market conditions. 52% say steady but not as aggressive. 30% still seeing competitive multiple-bid situations. 12% starting to see softening. 21:30 — Inventory. How much farmland has come to market since January and what the doubling of listings actually means in context of one per rural municipality. 23:00 — The bid depth problem. Tenders that used to get ten offers are now getting two or three. The spread between top bid and second bid is widening. What that means for actual land values beneath the headline numbers. 26:00 — Trent on the catalysts that could trigger a trend change. Credit tightening, geopolitics, commodity cycles, retiring farmers reconsidering their position. 30:00 — The long-term buyer question. Tim's dad bought land in 1981 at 80,000 a quarter. It took 27 years to look like a great investment. He still has it. 33:00 — What a 33-year wait looks like depending on your age and whether you can survive the cycle. Trent on what happened to the people who couldn't. 34:00 — If there is a pullback, what does buying the dip actually look like and who has the dry powder to do it. 38:00 — Tim's cell signal. What price movement would actually constitute a sell signal on Trent's chart and how close we may or may not be to that line. 39:00 — The retired farmer wildcard. 30 to 40 percent of Saskatchewan farmland is held by retired farmers and farm families who stopped selling when the asset kept appreciating. What happens if that calculus changes. 42:00 — Audience poll: do you believe technical analysis has value for farmland decisions? 64% say somewhat useful but not definitive. 20% say yes, charts reveal important signals. 16% say farmland is different from other markets. 43:00 — The shift from expansion to efficiency. Why buyers are getting stronger instead of bigger. 45:00 — Rental rates. Poll results: 43% say increasing, 40% holding steady, 11% starting to soften. Tim on managing 80,000 acres of rental agreements and what he's seeing in renegotiations this year for the first time. 49:00 — Rent versus land value. When you're getting 1% on an asset that might start declining, when does the math change? 51:00 — How much Saskatchewan farmland is rented versus owner-operated. Tim's gut on the percentage turns out to be almost exactly right. 53:00 — Rent versus purchase in a tighter market. Why locking in for three years looks different than committing for twenty. 54:00 — Credit conditions and balance sheets. Tim on whether he's seen lenders kill deals yet and what the equity cushion actually looks like. 57:00 — Nutrient mining clauses in rental agreements. Are landlords enforcing them? 58:00 — 42.1% of Saskatchewan farmland is free and clear. What that number means in dollars. 59:00 — Are boomers selling? Why the transfer of farmland may matter as much to the market as new buyers entering it. 01:01:00 — Trent on where he's taking the research next. An announcement coming. Subscribe to find out. 01:02:00 — The next generation question. What happens to the land when the people who said they didn't want it are the ones who inherit it. Connect with Trent Klarenbach klarenbachresearch.com — subscribe to the free newsletter to receive the farmland study directly Connect with Tim Hammond and Hammond Realty hammondrealty.ca Connect with Growing the Future growingthefuture.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Most farm families in Western Canada have built more wealth over the past two decades than any generation before them on the land. A lot of it is sitting in the ground. And that concentration, it turns out, is quietly creating a set of problems most producers have never been introduced to. This session brought the Kohr Wealth team to the Growing the Future Productions live room. Ryan Hillstead, a CPA who spent 16 years in public practice carrying a heavy ag book, walked through three client stories that stopped people cold. Shane Shepherd laid out how whole life insurance works as something you own, not just something you pay for. And tax lawyer Kelly Caruk explained why buying insurance in the wrong place can cost you the very tax advantages you were trying to protect. The conversation also got into what Ryan calls the tax liability can. The one being kicked down the road from generation to generation, growing in step with every acre of appreciating land. Somebody's eventually going to pick it up. This conversation is about making sure there's a plan when they do. Guests: Larry Scammel, Shane Shepherd, Ryan Hillstead, Kelly Caruk — Kohr Wealth Timestamps: 00:00 — Welcome and setup. Why capital concentrated in one asset class can narrow your options across generations. 03:52 — Larry introduces Kohr Wealth, their new partnership with Blue Star Equity, and their two beer rule for working with clients. 06:30 — How Kohr approaches life insurance from a balance sheet perspective. Liquidity, tax exposure, succession, long-term family control. 08:22 — Ryan Hillstead introduces himself. 16 years as a CPA in public practice, partner level with a national firm, heavy ag client base across Saskatchewan. 09:39 — How agriculture has changed in 15 years. Land values, technology, and the shift toward viewing farming as a wealth-building business. 11:42 — The $50 billion of farmland set to transfer in the next decade and why succession conversations have taken over the kitchen table. 12:58 — The disappearing tax tools. TOSI rules, passive income changes, income splitting restrictions, and the removal of surplus strip planning in 2024. 19:00 — Ryan's three client stories. Uncle Gordon. Rod. The estate freeze family with farming and non-farming kids at the same table. 21:05 — Uncle Gordon did everything right. Died with a $4 million investment portfolio. The tax bill on his land ate the whole thing. 23:09 — Rod sold the farm when no one wanted to take it over. Year three, he came in looking deflated. Said he wished he had never done it. 24:40 — The estate freeze family. $40 million corporation. Mom and dad hold preferred shares. The farm may have to sell land just to cover the tax bill when they pass. 30:56 — Shane Shepherd explains whole life insurance. What cash value is, how it builds, and why it behaves differently than anything else on your balance sheet. 33:37 — The farmland analogy. You don't sell the land to access the equity. Whole life works the same way. 38:10 — Kelly Caruk on the tax architecture. Why insurance is taxed differently than almost every other asset class, what capital dividends are, and why structure matters before anything else. 43:50 — The risk of buying insurance in the wrong place. For farm families specifically, a wrong structure can cost you the farming tax preferences you would otherwise have. 48:52 — Audience question: Can insurance companies go broke in Canada? Shane answers. Kelly adds the regulatory backstop. 51:28 — Ryan on the intergenerational tax liability. Generations kicking the can down the road. What it looks like when somebody finally has to pick it up. 54:55 — Shane closes. Tax tools have narrowed. Timing matters. Capital structure is as important as the amount of capital you have. 58:59 — Audience Q&A on preferred shares and estate freezes. Ryan and Kelly explain what preferred shares actually are and how insurance can reduce the estate tax bill, not just fund it. Connect with Kohr Wealth: kohrwealth.com Connect with Growing the Future: growingthefuture.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Now I have the full transcript. Let me create the podcast summary and notes optimized for Simplecast and YouTube. Episode Summary (for the Simplecast summary field): When nothing you can grow in 2026 is projected to make money at average yields and average prices … what do you do? In this live workshop, Dan Aberhart sits down with Dave Sullivan from Global Ag Risk Solutions, Dean Klippenstine from MNP, and producer Jake Leguee to break down the farm financials, benchmark the best operators, and engineer a revenue floor before you seed a single acre. Dave walks through real spreadsheets showing break-even costs have more than doubled since 2010, why the largest crop in Canadian history barely generated a profit, and what the top 25% of managers are doing differently. The panel digs into how to stack crop insurance, AgriStability, and GARS products — including the brand new Yield Plus option — so you can farm with confidence even in a year where the math says you shouldn't be able to. If you only listen to one episode before spring, make it this one. Episode Notes (with timestamps, formatted for Simplecast markdown and YouTube description): Engineer Your Revenue Floor Before You Seed Season 8, Episode 6 The margins are tight. The projections are grim. And spring is coming whether you're ready or not. In this live workshop with nearly 300 registered producers, we cut through the noise and get to the numbers that matter. Panel: Dave Sullivan — Global Ag Risk Solutions Dean Klippenstine — MNP Jake Leguee — Leguee Farms Timestamps: [00:00:00] Welcome and why this workshop exists — the financial questions stacking up at the kitchen table [00:02:55] Setting the stage — projections showing $25–$50/acre below break-even at average yields and prices [00:04:37] Dave Sullivan shares what he's seeing across thousands of farm financials — and why having a common vernacular matters [00:10:30] Break-even costs over time — how we went from $250 to $550/acre in 16 years [00:13:19] The 2026 budget reality — $50–$75/acre losses on average, and why we haven't seen a starting point this tough since 2007–2008 [00:17:19] Top producers vs. top managers — why the most profitable farms aren't always the biggest spenders on inputs [00:20:39] Southeast Saskatchewan benchmarks — the massive gap between top and bottom 25% and where it actually shows up (hint: it's LPM, not inputs) [00:25:07] Jake Leguee on scouting, holding back that extra pass, and why spending more doesn't always mean earning more [00:26:27] Dean Klippenstine busts the "fixed cost" myth — why that term needs to go [00:27:33] Yield Plus explained — the brand new GARS product that layers crop insurance into the calculation and can save 40–70% on premiums [00:30:26] Stacking your coverage — how to combine crop insurance, AgriStability, GARS, and GI-3 for the right fit on YOUR farm [00:34:46] Why locking in canola at this rally matters — and the futures strategy conversation [00:39:46] The AgriStability cashflow trap — great on a spreadsheet, but can you wait 12–18 months for the check? [00:44:00] The "trough of despair" — why a 70% crop can actually pay better than a 90% crop when your coverage is stacked right [00:49:23] Quotes move fast — why your GARS quote is only good until something weird happens (and weird things are happening a lot these days) [00:54:52] How GARS treats futures contracts, delivery contracts, and trade accounts [00:59:43] Why relationships with the right experts are the real competitive advantage [01:00:50] Final takeaways — know your numbers, understand your options, and get yourself on the right side of the distribution curve Key Takeaway: The gap between the top 25% and bottom 25% of farms is massive — and it's not about spending more on inputs. It's about knowing your numbers, controlling your LPM, benchmarking against your region, and engineering a financial floor before you ever hit the field. This is the year to get that right. Resources mentioned: Global Ag Risk Solutions: agrisksolutions.ca MNP Benchmarking GARS Yield Plus product (new for 2026) AgriStability & provincial crop insurance programs Register for the Convergence Conference at convergenceconference.ca and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Liquidity & LegacyWith Ted Cawkwell, The Cawkwell GroupFarm balance sheets may look strong on paper. But beneath the surface, lending behavior is changing, capital is more disciplined, and the margin for error is narrowing.In this live conversation, Dan and Ted discuss:Why profitable farms can still experience financial pressureThe difference between strategic sales and forced salesHow liquidity issues surface before they become obviousWhat well-prepared farm operations tend to have in commonWhy “just hold the land” isn’t always a complete strategyTed works directly with farm families, lenders, and advisors across Western Canada and beyond. As the #1 RE/MAX farmland realtor globally, he has been involved in hundreds of farmland transactions and sees patterns long before they become headlines.This episode is not about predictions. It’s about structure, positioning, and understanding how capital behaves when conditions shift.Chapters / Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction & why this conversation matters 02:30 – Market sentiment vs. reality on farmland values 06:45 – What’s changed recently in buyer and seller behavior 12:30 – Profitability, cash flow, and leverage pressures 18:00 – Liquidity vs. legacy: real tradeoffs 26:00 – Investor behavior, rental land, and capital availability 34:00 – Risk, balance sheets, and selling strategically 42:00 – Productive vs. marginal land dynamics 50:30 – Perspective, cycles, and long-term thinking Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

This is Part 3 of a three-part live conversation with Robert Andjelic, Canada’s largest farmland owner and this is where the discussion got real. No slides. No prepared remarks. Just live questions from producers, lenders, and operators trying to understand what happens when capital tightens. In this session, Robert responds to questions about: – Cash flow vs land value – How banks actually behave when risk rises – Why liquidity disappears before prices fall – What breaks first when leverage is stretched – How operators protect the land when margins compress – And why “survival” is not failure, it’s strategy Several moments in this Q&A landed hard, including Robert’s blunt reminder: “Your balance sheet won’t save you if your cash flow breaks.” This conversation isn’t theory. It’s lived experience, shared in real time.00:00 Part 3 - Audience Q&A & Closing05:40 Banking Relationships and Financial Advice12:01 Global Agriculture and Market Dynamics33:30 Cryptocurrency and AI in Agriculture41:21 The Inevitability of War and Global Tensions41:46 China's Ambitions and Global Power Dynamics42:34 Climate Change and Carbon Credits44:51 Agricultural Financing and Real Estate51:42 Interest Rates and Economic Predictions56:35 Farmland Investment Strategies01:06:19 Global Trade and Agricultural Competitiveness01:23:48 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts  Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

In this episode, we discuss:Why capital availability matters more than interest ratesWhat lenders look for first when credit tightensHow to speak to banks using the metrics that matterWhy preparation gives producers leverageHow operators separate themselves in tighter cycles🎧 This is Part II of a three-part series with Robert Andjelic.Part I explores why a capital squeeze may be comingPart II focuses on how to preparePart III examines outcomes, opportunities, and who benefits as cycles turn Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Is There a Capital Squeeze in Agriculture?In this special live episode, Dan Aberhart sits down with Robert Andjelic to explore a question many producers are quietly asking:Is capital tightening around agriculture — and if so, why now?This is not a prediction episode and not financial advice.It’s a first-principles conversation about how credit systems work, what lenders are responding to, and why agriculture is being affected indirectly by pressures elsewhere in the economy.In this episode, we cover:Why banks are under pressure — and why agriculture is not the problemHow commercial real estate, shadow banking, and regulation affect farm creditWhere we are in the broader economic and capital cycleWhy capital availability matters more than interest ratesHow agriculture differs from other asset classes during downturnsWhy preparation and clarity matter more than predictionRobert also shares perspective from decades of experience across commercial real estate, capital markets, and farmland investing — including why he believes agriculture remains one of the strongest long-term sectors, even as conditions tighten.This episode is Part One of a two-part seriesPart One: Understanding the capital environment and why this time is differentPart Two: What to do next — practical preparation, lender conversations, and positioningIf you operate a farm, ag business, or work closely with agricultural finance, this episode is designed to help you think more clearly about the environment ahead — without panic, and without noise. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Episode NotesWhy most diets work briefly—and then quietly collapseThe hidden cost of extreme approaches to food and fitnessGrowing up overweight and learning to separate identity from behaviorWhy protein, fiber, hydration, and sleep are foundational—not optionalThe difference between weight loss and healthAlcohol, energy, and the trade-offs we don’t like to talk aboutWhy tracking creates awareness, not obsessionHow agriculture schedules complicate nutrition—and how to adaptAccountability as a support system, not a punishmentBuilding habits that can survive busy seasons, travel, and stressThis episode is a reminder:You don’t need a new body.You need a way of living that doesn’t break the one you have. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Farmers don’t need another polished sales pitch — they need tools that actually work when iron is hot and harvest pressure is on.In this live episode of What Farmers Want, host Dan Aberhart puts ag-tech innovation to the test in a Shark Tank–style format designed for one audience only: farmers.🎙 Andrew Leaman, Founder & CEO of Chariot Command, joins the show to present technology built around visual monitoring, thermal imaging, and AI — designed to detect overheating components, mechanical failures, and fire risks before they become catastrophic.Andrew isn’t pitching to investors or executives.He’s pitching directly to producers and agronomists who live with this equipment every day.👨‍🌾 Farmer & Agronomist PanelWyatt Bolt – Bolt Seeds FarmDarwin Kells – Lambton AgraRiley Kushniruk – K4 AgWith candid discussion from the live audience and real-world scenarios ranging from combine bearings to grain dryer fires, this episode dives into:The true cost of downtimeWhy most fires don’t come out of nowhereHow thermal imaging sees what humans can’tData ownership, insurance implications, and OEM relationshipsWhat farmers would actually pay for preventative technology🤝 Presented by Cornerstone Credit UnionLyndon Lisitza, Director of Rural Tech Activation at Cornerstone Credit Union, joins the conversation to share why supporting practical, farmer-driven innovation matters — and how financial institutions can play a role in accelerating adoption without hype.This is an honest, unfiltered conversation about ag-tech, risk, and reality — exactly how farmers like it.🔗 Learn moreChariot CommandFounder: Andrew Leaman📧 andrew.leaman@chariotcommand.com Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

In this episode of the Growing the Future Podcast, Dan Aberhart sits down with Corliss Rassyle for a candid conversation about leadership, purpose, and what it really means to lead your life.Corliss shares her journey from growing up on a Saskatchewan farm, to building a successful business, to losing everything and rebuilding from the inside out. Together, they explore self doubt, imposter syndrome, personal responsibility, and the internal work required to move forward with clarity and confidence.This episode is for anyone in agriculture, entrepreneurship, or leadership who feels called to something more and wants to take ownership of where they’re headed next.Corliss will also be joining us in person as a keynote speaker at the Convergence Conference.Topics Covered• What real leadership looks like and why it starts on the inside• Growing up on a Saskatchewan farm and early lessons in responsibility• Chasing success and still feeling unfulfilled• Losing everything and rebuilding from scratch• Self doubt, imposter syndrome, and internal validation• Vision, purpose, and personal responsibility• Leading your life instead of drifting through it• Becoming who you need to be to fulfill your vision• Why community, coaching, and events matter• What Corliss will bring to the Convergence ConferenceTimestamps00:00 Welcome and episode introduction01:07 Introducing Corliss Rassyle03:15 Growing up on the farm05:00 Building a business and finding purpose09:32 The hero’s journey and hard seasons13:02 Losing everything and rebuilding17:00 Where real change begins18:18 Vision, purpose, and leading your life21:36 Becoming who you need to be24:02 Learning to value the journey27:17 Call to LEAD and leadership without titles32:00 What changes after doing the work33:13 Convergence Conference and what’s possible39:04 Final reflections and where to connectGuestCorliss RassyleInternational Speaker, Author, Coach, and Founder of Corliss Co.Website: https://www.corliss.caLinksConvergence Conferencehttps://www.convergence.agGrowing the Future Podcasthttps://www.growingthefuturepodcast.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

In this episode of the Growing the Future Podcast, Dan sits down with a prairie-based entrepreneur and investor helping unlock a new wave of ag-tech innovation across Western Canada.The conversation spans angel investing, Startup TNT, and the roots of prairie innovation — from early farm accounting software and fertilizer exits to today’s venture-backed ag-tech startups. Along the way, we dig into a powerful idea: agriculture doesn’t just need better technology, it needs farmers back in the innovation value chain as owners, not just test pilots.This episode also reflects on the Yorkton Harvest Showdown Ag Tech Pitch, where Dan and his guest recently connected with emerging founders — several of whom will be featured in upcoming episodes.If you’re a farmer, founder, investor, or someone curious about how ag-tech actually gets built and funded, this conversation offers a grounded, honest look at capital, community, and purpose-driven investing.Key Topics / Bullets (Optional but recommended)Angel investing in agricultureStartup TNT and prairie startup ecosystemsThe legacy of AgExpert and early ag innovationWhy farmers are losing equity in the value chainPurpose, responsibility, and investing in communityHow ag-tech startups actually get fundedStartup TNT: https://www.startuptnt.comGrowing the Future Podcast: https://www.growingthefuturepodcast.ca Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

In this conversation, Dan Aberhart introduces the upcoming Convergence Conference, now in its third year and happening February 3–5, 2026 in Regina. The banquet keynote speaker is Matt Havens — a leadership and generational expert with a background in corporate strategy and a knack for comedy.Dan and Matt dive into the challenges of modern farm businesses, from information overload to multi‑generational dynamics. They discuss why simplicity beats burnout and how prioritizing what really matters can help cut through the noise. Matt shares how humor makes tough conversations easier and why we often have more in common across generations than we think. They also touch on the unique challenges of family farms — being hard on family, managing multiple age groups on one yard, and the importance of empathy.The episode offers a taste of what Matt will deliver at Convergence 2026 and underscores why his message is right on point for anyone in agriculture. Tune in to hear practical ideas for leading with intention, building culture, and making space for real progress. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

In this episode of Growing the Future Productions, we explore what it means to go from Chaos Commander to CEO with Tim Schaefer, founder of Encore Consulting.Tim has over 20 years of experience helping farm families professionalize their operations, strengthen leadership, and prepare the next generation to succeed.In this episode:The difference between managing chaos and leading a businessHow to let go of control without losing your edgeWhat it takes to professionalize your farm operationHow to build systems and people that work without youWhy clarity and communication create freedomWhether you’re stuck in the middle of harvest madness or planning your next growth phase, this episode will give you perspective, calm, and a plan for leading your farm like a business.Brought to you by:Aberhart Ag Solutions and GRIPP — the accountability app built for farms.Try GRIPP risk-free for 90 days at gripp.ag/partner/aberhart🎙 Host: Dan Aberhart🎙 Co-Host: Nicole Dube👤 Guest: Tim Schaefer, Encore Consulting🌾 Growing the Future Productions – Innovate. Collaborate. Transform. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.