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 Inside How a California low carbon fuel standard, commissioned by a movie star governor, set off the renewable diesel boom that built Canada's crush capacity What a RIN actually is, what a small refinery exemption does, and what happened when the hardship calculation was quietly rewritten this September Why canola oil fell off the tax credit map entirely in 2025, and the single amendment that brought it back for 2026 Where canola meal goes, why meal has overtaken oil as the profit driver in crush, and what broiler chickens have to do with your basis Her read on why the risks are stacking bullish, and why she still tells producers to keep selling into strength rather than sitting on their hands Resources Mentioned No Bull Ag market insights, with a two week preview AgVentures international tours Connect with Susan Stroud: No Bull Ag: nobullag.com X: @SusanNobull Connect with Ryan Bonnett: ABB Solutions 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.

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 year Resources Mentioned MNP MNP Know Your Numbers benchmarking series Connect with Travis Gerrard: Travis Gerrard Connect with Dean Klippenstine: Dean Klippenstine Linked In: Dean Klippenstine 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.

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 McArthur 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.

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.

Picture the one person your farm cannot run without. Now picture their chair empty tomorrow morning. Can someone else access the accounts, make payroll, or explain what the farm owes and why? If those answers only live in one person's head, the farm is not prepared, no matter how good the balance sheet looks. Jace Young grew up watching his grandfather's 55 year, multimillion dollar Kansas farm operation collapse into bankruptcy in 2005, then built Legacy Farmer to help other families get their financial house in order before the same thing happens to them. Jolene Bolding, Manager of Advisory Services at Farm Credit Canada, has her own story of a farm sale her family decided on before she ever got a seat at the table. Wade Berlinic, Associate Broker with Hammond Realty's Ag Exits and Acquisitions Strategies team, sees what happens when that conversation gets put off until the land is already on the market. Together they walk through why only 12 percent of Canadian farms have an actual transition plan, what it costs a family when nobody has one, and the five stage process Jace uses to move an operation from financial blind spots to a plan everyone in the family can actually see. What's Inside - Why a farm can look bulletproof on paper and still not be prepared for one empty chair - The story behind Jace Young's grandfather losing a 55 year, multimillion dollar Kansas operation, and what it did to the family afterward - Why only 12 percent of Canadian farms have a written transition plan, and what that gap actually costs - The five stage process Legacy Farmer uses to move a family from financial blind spots to a real plan: Position, Production, Profit, Protection, and Prosper - Why the conversation almost never starts with the numbers, it starts with pride, ego, and who is willing to ask for help - What $55 billion in Canadian farm assets transferring in the next decade means for every family still putting this conversation off If this conversation hits home, go back in the catalog for our episode with Elaine Froese on farm family transition and communication, one of the clearest voices in Western Canada on getting these conversations started before they're forced. It also pairs well with our conversation with Robert Andjelic on where farmland capital is actually moving right now. Resources Mentioned Legacy Farmer's five stage framework: Position, Production, Profit, Protection, Prosper Connect with Jace Young LegacyFarmer.com Connect with Jolene Bolding Reach out to your local FCC field office to connect with a business advisor Connect with Wade Berlinic - Hammond Realty 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.

Every farmer has somebody they call. The story we tell about that is a farmer who doesn't know what he's doing, hiring someone else to think for him. Jaeda Hoppe thinks that story is wrong. She went independent at 24, after two of her clients tracked her down through her mother's hair salon and asked her to work for them privately. Four years later, she still has the same five clients she started with. This conversation is about what she actually gets paid for, once the theory runs out. What's Inside - What a producer is actually paying an independent agronomist for, once the theory runs out - Why she recommends every young agronomist start in ag retail, even though almost nobody treats it as an end goal - The built-in objectivity problem when a retailer's margin depends on which product they recommend - Why she's seen close to zero measurable results from the biological products she's evaluated - Compartmentalizing stress: the skill she says separates the farmers and agronomists who last from the ones who don't - Her weekly Sunday text subscription sharing field observations, and why she built it Connect with Jaeda Hoppe Hoppe Agronomy 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.

John Kempf, Melissa Werkema, and Kevin Elmy on Regenerative Economics GTF Productions Live Briefing, in partnership with Sask Soils | August 5, 2026 17,000 farmers registered for a national program teaching cover cropping, nitrogen management, and grazing. 10,000 are actively engaged. When surveyed, 89% said they had already implemented, expanded, or enhanced one of those practices. The holdup was never belief. It was cost, cash flow, and not knowing the ROI. This briefing puts three specialists on that exact question, with the economics front and center the whole way through. What's Inside - John Kempf's nitrogen protocol: ammonium and nitrate ratios, replacing 25% of your first 100 units of nitrogen with sulfur, and why foliar urea outperforms soil-applied nitrogen 4 to 1 - The trace minerals, boron, manganese, cobalt, and molybdenum, behind a claimed 25 to 30 percent yield bump - Why the form of a nutrient matters more than the amount on your soil test, and how sap analysis catches what a standard report misses - Cover cropping as functional plant groups, and the economics of building soil through custom grazing - Why ruminant manure, bison and cattle specifically, builds soil biology that cold-climate soils can't get any other way - What actually triggers a producer to change practices, and why it's rarely curiosity If you want more on tissue and sap testing, look for the Late Crop, Right Call and Tissue Testing episodes in the GTF Podcast back catalog. Resources Mentioned Advancing Eco Agriculture Cover Crops Canada -- Kevin Elmy's consulting practice, author of Not Just Dirt Sask Soils (Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association) Farmers for Climate Solutions, FARM program -- funding partner behind this briefing Rangeland Bison -- Dean Andrus Connect with John Kempf Advancing Eco Agriculture Connect with Melissa Werkema Future Analytics -- Red Deer, Alberta Connect with Kevin Elmy Cover Crops Canada Connect with Sask Soils sasksoils.ca -- annual conference February 10-11, 2027 in Regina (Sask Soils' 40th anniversary), cover crop workshops this fall 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.

A drought area of Saskatchewan just got two weeks of standing water. Harvest is coming and margins are tight either way, but the numbers still have to work. Most farm finance advice arrives as a binder nobody opens. This conversation is five numbers, in plain language, from a CPA who goes home to a working grain and lentil farm at night. Richelle Boyd, MNP's National Leader for Crop Services, and Dean Klippenstine, a senior partner in MNP's agriculture practice, walk through what good looks like on a real operation and what to check first when something feels off. What's Inside - Gross margin: whether the crop is producing enough room for the rest of the farm - Cost of production: finding your real break-even number per acre - Cash flow: why a profitable year on paper doesn't mean the account is ready - Debt servicing: manageable debt versus debt that leaves no room for a bad crop - Working capital: the cushion between what you can turn into cash and what's coming due Resources Mentioned MNP -- "The Numbers Every Farm Business Should Know" -- mnp.ca/en/insights/directory/the-numbers-every-farm-business-should-know MNP Agriculture practice -- mnp.ca/en/industries/agriculture Connect with Richelle Boyd MNP -- mnp.ca/en/personnel/richelle-boyd Connect with Dean Klippenstine MNP Agriculture -- mnp.ca/en/industries/agriculture 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.

Four operators in Western Canadian agriculture spent thirty days building with AI, then sat down to tell Dan Aberhart what actually changed. An independent agronomist carrying sixty-plus harvests of judgment, a six-thousand-acre farmer who calls himself a nine who never finishes anything, an entrepreneur scaling a plasma-activated-water nitrogen business, and a Saskatchewan farmland realtor running a team of thirteen all walked into the same AI cohort a month earlier. What they bring back: a satellite-imagery call that stopped an unnecessary reseed, a combine deal an AI advisor told them to walk away from, an agent built at four in the morning that caught financial red flags nobody assigned it to find, and a hard-conversation coach one of them didn't know he needed. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Cold open: the AI cohort joke 2:51 -- Welcome to Growing the Future Productions Live 4:15 -- How this started: 60 days from signal to launch 7:08 -- Meet the panel: Robert, Joe, Chris, Tim 15:16 -- What business problem each of them was actually trying to solve 20:20 -- What the personal operating diagnostic revealed about each of them 30:00 -- Talking openly about AI skepticism and confidentiality 35:39 -- Robert: the gopher-field call satellite imagery corrected 40:34 -- Joe: the combine deal, the AI advisory board, and slowing down emotional decisions 42:51 -- Chris: building diagnostics and agents for the whole team 43:52 -- Tim: the AI tool built to help him have hard conversations 45:57 -- Tim: strategic blueprints and running land-value scenarios 48:24 -- Where each of them takes this next 55:06 -- Cohort 2 details: dates, seats, price, and the guarantee 56:02 -- The real vision: a course with a room, or a room with a course 57:53 -- Closing words from the panel 59:57 -- Sign-off Resources Mentioned GYFOS (Growing Your Future Operating System) Cohort 2 -- application at growingthefuture.ca Personal Operating Diagnostic (built from Kolbe, CliftonStrengths, and Enneagram assessments) AgriTrend -- the independent agronomy mentorship network Robert Woolf came up through Nitride Corp / Green Lightning -- plasma-activated water, a nitrogen source Pioneer Seed and Covers & Co. -- Joe Larre's seed businesses Hammond Realty -- Saskatchewan farmland brokerage Connect with the Panel Robert Woolf CCA -- Crop Innovations Inc., independent agronomy Joe Larre -- MJM Ranches, St. Walburg SK (Pioneer Seed, Covers & Co.) Chris Nykolaishen -- Nitride Corp Tim Hammond -- Hammond Realty 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.

Half of Saskatchewan is watching the canola fill pods. The other half is still sitting in water. 30% of the cropland in the province rated moisture surplus at the time of this conversation, and the ministry's own word is that flooding is the number one source of crop damage in Saskatchewan this year. Yellowing fields, drowned-out low spots, pulses going backwards. The decision framework for in-season nutrition changes when you're not sure which half of the province you're in. Greg Patterson has been doing tissue analysis at A&L Canada Laboratories for decades. Darren Fischer is a technical advisor with Crop-Aid Nutrition who was in the fields in real time during this conversation. This is what they said on July 13, 2026, with the season in exactly the condition it was in. What's Inside - Two seasons on the prairies at once: what each one means for your in-crop nutrition decisions right now - A farm-walk report from Darren Sander at Sander Farms near Sovereign, Saskatchewan -- his fungicide and foliar strategy mid-season - Why you should never apply a fungicide without pairing a foliar with it, and why that's even more true in a wet year - Potassium as the yield driver in both wet and dry conditions: for every pound of nitrogen the crop needs early, it needs three of potassium - How to read a tissue report: the fuel-gauge analogy, what dropping levels actually mean, and why a great crop should drive you crazy - The phloem connection: how potassium and boron work together to move photosynthates through the plant, and what happens when boron is low - The nitrate accumulation trap: when it looks like a nitrogen problem but it's actually a potassium and boron imbalance - Boron in Western Canada: why we're afraid of it, why that's costing yield, and what the research on microbial activity actually says - Foliar selection by condition and crop stage: which product when, and how to think about tank mixing with herbicides and fungicides - Handheld tissue testers vs. lab analysis: what the correlation data actually shows - The fastest way to get a tissue sample to the lab: paper bag, Purolator envelope, 24-hour turnaround - The economics: how to think about a $5-6 foliar pass when you're already sending the sprayer out for fungicide - Frost risk in a late year: why well-fertilized crops mature faster and reduce your window of exposure If you want more from Greg Patterson on soil biology and tissue analysis, the Engine of the Soil series is where he goes deep -- look for those episodes in the GTF Podcast back catalog. And if shallow rooting and soil health in a wet year is where your season is, that same series has the framework. Resources Mentioned A&L Canada Laboratories -- alcanada.com (plant monitoring program, tissue analysis, 24-hour turnaround) Crop-Aid Nutrition -- cropaidnutrition.com (foliar products, educational videos, crop tour program) Ag in Motion -- Crop-Aid Nutrition at Booth 381; A&L Canada Laboratories on site Connect with Greg Patterson A&L Canada Laboratories -- alcanada.com Call the lab and ask for Greg, Beth, Mike, or Chris -- they take questions and find answers A&L technical reps in the field are trained directly by Greg Connect with Darren Fischer Crop-Aid Nutrition -- cropaidnutrition.com 1-866 number and email on the website -- ask for Darren Fischer by name Crop-Aid Nutrition on YouTube -- educational videos on foliar timing and application 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. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Cory Doctorow has spent 25 years at the Electronic Frontier Foundation watching the same story repeat across industries: a digital lock gets built in, a legal framework gets constructed around it, and the people who depend on the machine lose the right to fix it. He coined the word for how this happens. Enshittification is now in the Oxford English Dictionary. In agriculture, the mechanism is called parts pairing -- a chip that decides who is allowed to fix your equipment and what components can connect to it. The data your tractor generates is a second layer of the same argument. And the remote immobilization of stolen tractors in Ukraine is a third. Cory's position is that all three are the same issue, that the law enabling them passed in 2012 after 6,132 Canadians said no and 53 said yes, and that farmers are one of the most effective political forces in this country when they choose to use it. This is not Growing the Future's verdict on any equipment manufacturer. What's Inside - What enshittification means and why John Deere became Cory's clearest example of it outside tech platforms - Parts pairing: how a chip on your equipment determines who can fix it and what components can connect to it - How data generated by your tractor was being siphoned -- and why data ownership and right-to-repair are the same underlying issue - Honeybee, a Saskatchewan head-end manufacturer, cannot connect their products to Deere equipment because of digital locks, not any technical limitation - Canada's Bill C-11: the Copyright Modernization Act passed in 2012 after 6,132 Canadians opposed it and 53 supported it - Digital sovereignty: from Ukraine's remotely immobilized tractors to what happens if that switch gets turned toward Alberta - Why voting with your wallet does not work in a monopoly, and what the Grangers' fight with the railroads in 1890 has to do with where we are right now - A specific call to action: CCLA, Open Media, and the EFF -- and why farmers are one of the most effective political forces in this country when they choose to be Also discussed: Cory's new book "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI" -- Number 1 Canadian bestseller, New York Times list, and in the same week enshittification was added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Resources Mentioned The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI -- Cory Doctorow (Number 1 Canadian bestseller -- available at Indigo and McNally Robinson) Electronic Frontier Foundation -- eff.org Open Media -- openmedia.ca Canadian Civil Liberties Association -- ccla.org pluralistic.net -- Cory's daily newsletter Honeybee -- Canadian head-end manufacturer, Saskatchewan Agri GPS bridge -- referenced by audience member Jim Hale as an example of third-party ag tech workaround If you want to hear more from the GTF back catalog on what it costs when farm equipment goes down, start with: Matt Yanick's episode: Downtime: The ROI Killer . And if the data question from this conversation stays with you, Wade Barnes' Farmers Edge series looks at who owns what comes off your farm. Connect with Cory Doctorow pluralistic.net craphound.com Book: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI -- Indigo, McNally Robinson, and all major booksellers 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.

In agriculture, being busy is practically a badge. Ask anybody how they're doing and you'll get some version of underwater. So how does a 25-year-old fifth-generation grain farmer from Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, who also writes federal grain policy, finishes a master's thesis, teaches university, and referees hockey across the country, have more room in her day than most people do? Kate Sauser has ADHD, a system she built around how her brain actually works, and a tattoo on her wrist that reads "everything in time." This is the episode where she explains it. Resources Mentioned Albert Einstein: "Time is relative, its only worth depends on what we do as it is passing" Billy Joel: "Vienna" -- "Slow down, you're doing fine. You can't be everything you want to be before your time." Google Calendar -- Kate's primary scheduling tool ChatGPT -- Kate uses it for daily task planning, meal planning, and workouts 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.

One refinery south of Edmonton will process a million tonnes of canola feedstock this year, more than 10% of Canada's entire canola crop at a single facility. The US renewable fuel standard needs another 2.7 million tonnes on top of that, and Indonesia is moving toward a 50% biodiesel blend requirement. In the 2000s, corn ethanol turned a $2.50 crop into a $9 crop in under a decade. Growing the Future's foremost live briefing examines whether canola is about to run the same play, and what the structural demand shift already means for Prairie land values. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Opening: the renewable diesel demand story and the canola-as-fuel structural shift 3:00 -- Sponsor acknowledgments and panelist introductions 5:00 -- Is canola food or fuel, and does the distinction matter? 6:00 -- Shaun Wildman: calorie analysis and why food affordability is not the argument 9:00 -- Quick Dick McDick: Saskatchewan's 24 million canola acres and the case for playing both markets 13:00 -- Ryan Bonnett: the corn ethanol parallel and how US biofuel policy drives domestic demand 14:00 -- RIN credits and the 12-cent-per-pound penalty for Canadian-sourced canola in US markets 16:00 -- Indonesia's B50 blend requirement and what global feedstock scale actually looks like 18:00 -- Local processing expansion: Cargill in Regina, LDC and Richardson in Yorkton doubling capacity 22:00 -- The bottleneck: crush capacity is the ceiling, not canola production 27:00 -- Scale check: the US diesel market and how much canola it would take to move the needle 28:00 -- EPA rates canola second-best vegetable oil for US renewable fuel programs 32:00 -- Saskatchewan's carbon advantage: 67% lower footprint through zero-till canola 36:00 -- US winter canola expansion as a future risk to Canadian market share 39:00 -- Could canola's price floor shift from $500 to $700 per tonne? 45:00 -- Prairie land values: what the renewable diesel demand shift means for buyers and holders 48:00 -- Large land acquisitions, the Minette deal, and what it means for the next generation of operators 52:00 -- Closing round: one takeaway from each voice in the room 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.

In April 2026 the United Nations revised its worst-case climate scenarios downward and declared the most catastrophic projections highly implausible. Almost no one in Canada covered it. Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and host of Canada's number one rated food podcast, has spent 25 years doing the work the room needs: holding science, policy, and politics to the same standard. In this conversation, he takes on three issues agriculture keeps being told what to think about, climate policy, gene editing, and the Canadian fear of failure, and gives the room the version it hasn't been getting. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Dan's opening question: think of one issue in agriculture you've changed your mind on in the last five years 1:30 -- "Don't Follow the Flock" -- live intro and platform housekeeping 3:00 -- Dr. Sylvain Charlebois: The Food Professor Podcast, Dalhousie, Canada's number one food podcast with zero budget 4:00 -- Ireland, Brexit, and the economic lesson Canada keeps missing about CUSMA 10:00 -- Audience poll: when you hear a strong opinion from a non-farmer, what's your first instinct? 11:00 -- Why civic engagement in food systems makes farming stronger, not weaker 13:00 -- Demand chain management: build from the consumer back, not the farm gate forward 15:00 -- How Canadian media coverage became one-sided and why it keeps getting harder to correct 22:00 -- The GTF promotion ad that was rejected -- and what that reveals 23:00 -- Topics Sylvain is asked not to raise on Ottawa stages 25:00 -- The "mini-me" problem in academia: conform, or get canceled 33:00 -- MYTH 1: Climate change -- the UN revised its worst-case scenarios downward; almost no Canadian outlet covered it 40:00 -- Carbon pricing at $110 a tonne with emissions still rising: what the data actually shows 44:00 -- MYTH 2: Gene editing -- why transparency and consumer buy-in are the one thing the industry keeps skipping 46:00 -- MYTH 3: Going broke is bad -- what a Purdue lunch table of ag entrepreneurs revealed about Canadian risk culture 49:00 -- Monette's bankruptcy, Robert Andjelic, and why Canada should treat risk-takers as a national asset 51:00 -- Ryan Bonnett's question: Sylvain's three priorities for Canadian agriculture 52:00 -- Where Canada leads the G20 in agricultural science, and where it falls short 53:00 -- CUSMA, July 1st, and what the non-renewal actually signals for investment in Canadian ag 54:00 -- Close and upcoming: Strathcona renewable diesel with Quick Dick McDick and Sean Wildman; right-to-repair tractors with Cory Doctorow Resources Mentioned The Food Professor Podcast -- Dr. Sylvain Charlebois (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major platforms) Episode: Interview with US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra -- on The Food Professor Podcast Agri-Food Analytics Lab -- Dalhousie University (dal.ca/agri-food-analytics-lab) Postmedia op-eds -- Dr. Sylvain Charlebois writes every two to three days (available at major Postmedia outlets) MNP / Dalhousie G20 agricultural science comparison study -- referenced in conversation, available through Agri-Food Analytics Lab Connect with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois The Food Professor Podcast: thefoodprofessor.ca Dalhousie University Agri-Food Analytics Lab: dal.ca/agri-food-analytics-lab X / Twitter: @FoodProfessor 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.

The person everyone asks how they do it all is usually the last person to have a tidy answer. Kate Sauser is a policy manager at Grain Growers of Canada, a fifth-generation farmer from Churchbridge, SK, a high-level hockey referee, a competitive softball player, and a master's student finishing her thesis, all at 25. In this conversation, she shares the three-part framework behind her course on time: the problem most operators carry but rarely name out loud, the single decision that changes how the whole calendar feels, and the practical moves that make it work week to week. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Pre-registration responses: what does "I don't have time" actually mean? 1:00 -- Live intro: "How Does She Do It All?" and platform housekeeping 3:00 -- Kate's background: family farm near Churchbridge, Grain Growers, U of S, hockey, softball, 25 6:00 -- The over-committer's honest answer: time is relative to what you decide to do with it 9:00 -- Live poll: which of these sounds like your week? 11:00 -- Why technology makes the time problem worse before it makes it better 12:00 -- Kate's daily to-do list system: schedule blocks, high-priority vs. rolling low-priority tasks 14:00 -- Pen to paper: why writing it down works better than any app 15:00 -- "Everyone gets angry at time but doesn't work with it" -- the shift that started everything 16:00 -- The $86,400 analogy: if you had that many dollars to spend today, would you waste it? 18:00 -- The "Everything in Time" tattoo and the philosophy behind it 19:00 -- Modern myths about time and the scarcity loop they reinforce 21:00 -- Harry Siemens on day-timers, five priorities, and why four and five often disappear by noon 22:00 -- Hard stops and focused blocks: how Kate finished her master's thesis 25:00 -- ADHD, late diagnosis at 23, and the paralysis that comes before the system 31:00 -- Is ADHD a disability or a superpower? Kate's answer 34:00 -- Turning guilt into fuel: how a negative emotion becomes next-day productivity 37:00 -- Burnout is real: Kate's honest account of hitting the wall and what actually helps 38:00 -- Attitude as a daily choice: Harry Siemens' 1986 motto and why Kate agrees 42:00 -- Calendar as a bank account: if you want to be rich with time, check it often 45:00 -- Alex Clark in the chat: values alignment and what "pouring from an empty cup" actually means 45:00 -- Habit stacking: doing two things at once with purpose, not guilt 49:00 -- Kate's live exercise: "Did you spend yesterday, or did you let it happen to you?" 52:00 -- CTA: Everything in Time -- Kate's full course inside the Growing the Future Mastermind 53:00 -- Close and upcoming: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois on Friday Resources Mentioned Atomic Habits -- James Clear The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control -- Katherine Morgan Schafler Verity -- Colleen Hoover (fiction; mentioned as Kate's last great read) Goodreads -- book-tracking and rating app (goodreads.com) Google Calendar -- Kate's primary calendar tool 75 Hard -- fitness and discipline challenge referenced for habit stacking Connect with Kate Sauser Grain Growers of Canada: graingrowers.ca 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.

Every July, Prairie operators make new-crop decisions that set their cash flow for the next twelve months, usually reading the same headlines as everyone else and reacting to the loudest one. In this conversation, grain marketing advisor Ryan Bonnett puts his daily client read on a stage: what is actually moving canola, wheat, corn, and soybean markets right now, and where the summer selling window sits inside the seasonal pattern. Colin Brisebois, VP of Products and Market Strategies at FCC, adds the lender's view, what disciplined marketing looks like once it shows up in an operation's cash flow. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- The spring everyone just lived, and why the marketing window opens at the worst possible time 3:30 -- Welcome to Ryan Bonnett and Colin Brisebois 6:00 -- Live poll: how much of your 2026 crop is still unpriced 10:00 -- Beat the average, not the top: Ryan's core marketing philosophy 13:00 -- Colin on discipline: know your cost of production before you build a plan 16:00 -- Seller's remorse, and the parameters that remove it 19:00 -- The 80/20 problem: why most operators miss the top of the market 21:00 -- Crop conditions across the Prairies and the US heading into summer 28:00 -- Know your unique ability: when to hire the discipline you don't have 31:00 -- Ryan's seasonal chart: why prices rally into seeding and fall after 34:00 -- The summer selling window, and put options as price insurance 39:00 -- Reading the charts: double tops, RSI, and shifting momentum 42:00 -- China, Iran, and the headlines that don't move price until money does 45:00 -- New biofuel regulation, the floor under canola, and the policy risk underneath it 49:00 -- Bullish or bearish, defend your answer: Ryan's discipline test 52:00 -- Domestic processing and the case for building crush capacity at home 55:00 -- Colin's three pillars at FCC: knowledge, advice, capital 58:00 -- The $50 billion wealth transfer, and who replaces the next generation of ag talent 1:01:00 -- The cohort program: Ryan and FCC's plan to bring this education to more operators 1:03:00 -- Close Resources Mentioned Ryan Bonnett's grain marketing client cohort program, run in partnership with FCC Connect with Ryan Bonnett Grain marketing advisor (public brand name pending -- link to follow once confirmed) Connect with Colin Brisebois VP, Products and Market Strategies, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) 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.

Robert Andjelic has been bearish more often than not for three years. In January, he stood in front of a packed room and called a capital squeeze. This time he came back fired up about something different: three converging forces he believes put Canada in the strongest agricultural position in a generation. What follows is Robert defending three years of public predictions, line by line, before laying out the new one. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Dan opens. Robert's backstory: escaping Croatia as a boy, building a commercial real estate empire, the Saskatchewan land bet that started at $400 an acre 5:00 -- Audience poll: who's bullish, neutral, or bearish right now 8:00 -- Why farmer suicide rates stay high even when the numbers look good 12:00 -- The fall 2023 call to lock in farm debt, revisited 18:00 -- Mark to market: the Saskatchewan farmland call, three years of FCC data 21:00 -- Why Robert owns zero acres of farmland in the United States 23:00 -- The eight early signs of credit tightening, in order 30:00 -- What a major operator's financial trouble this year means for the rest of the industry 41:00 -- Rent versus buy: the framework Robert actually uses on his own land 45:00 -- Why the smaller rural towns keep shrinking 52:00 -- Why Canada is technically in a recession as of mid-2026 59:00 -- The Hormuz oil shock compared to the 1979-81 shock 1:04:00 -- How the live audience rated Robert's three-year track record 1:06:00 -- The cattle herd rebuild that's still years from equilibrium 1:10:00 -- The bullish thesis: the Strait of Hormuz, a developing super El Nino, and the aquifers running dry 1:13:00 -- Robert's probability breakdown for an agricultural super cycle, 2026 to 2028 1:20:00 -- Why Robert doesn't trust AI to predict what happens next 1:21:00 -- Inside the Strait of Hormuz: vessels waiting, insurers pulling back, years to rebuild 1:29:00 -- Closing: investing by the numbers, not the narrative Resources Mentioned FCC Farmland Values Report -- cultivated land value data cited for Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta NOAA El Nino Watch, issued May 14, 2026 Reuters reporting on Strait of Hormuz vessel traffic and tanker movement Connect with Robert Andjelic Canada's largest private farmland owner, 450,000+ acres across Western Canada 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.

The math of buying in has changed. The math of staying in has too. David Widmar of Agricultural Economic Insights and Eric Olsen of MNP Farm Management bring the US and Canadian numbers together to examine what farmland affordability, cash rent pressure, and the post-ZIRP interest rate environment actually mean for producers running a farm in 2026. Two countries. One calculator. The gap between what land is worth and what it can earn has never been wider. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Dan opens: the 16-year cash rent stat and what it signals about the moment we are in 0:07 -- David Widmar: how ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy) inflated asset values from 2008 onward 0:08 -- New Fed chair Kevin Warsh: five review areas, inflation as priority one, what it means for rates 0:09 -- Eric Olsen: Canadian interest rate outlook -- stable to slightly up, no major jumps expected 0:11 -- David: US row crop squeeze -- lower commodity prices, stubborn cost structure, Iran conflict pushing energy and fertilizer back up 0:12 -- US government ad hoc payments: second highest since the 1920s, and why that carries risk 0:14 -- Eric: Canadian farm support programs -- AgriStability, crop insurance (98% participation in Manitoba), GARS 0:17 -- David: How ARC and PLC work -- risk management programs with a built-in payment delay problem 0:19 -- David: "Musical chairs" -- why ad hoc programs create systemic risk rather than resolve it 0:20 -- Eric: AgriStability explained -- margin-based, plannable, based on your numbers not a county average 0:23 -- Eric: "Farmers are sophisticated businesspeople" -- the $2-3M floor that surprises people outside agriculture 0:24 -- David: The paradox of risk management -- tools that reduce short-term pain can build long-term fragility 0:30 -- Dan introduces the farmland affordability calculator David built for registrants 0:31 -- Metric 1: Down payment years -- Indiana at $15K/acre, $326 rent, 35% down = 16 years of cash rent saved (was 6 in the 1990s) 0:34 -- Eric: Canadian read on Metric 1 -- $8,500/acre in the Regina plains, $180/acre rent, nearly identical ratio 0:36 -- US vs Canada land ownership structure: 60%+ rented in Illinois regions, 70% owned in western Canada 0:38 -- Harry Siemens (audience): How does the farm community make sense of high land values and next-generation transition? 0:39 -- David: Path to equilibrium -- lower land values, lower interest rates, slower appreciation, or some combination of all three 0:41 -- Eric: The case for separating the real estate business from the farm operating business; barriers to entry for young producers 0:44 -- Harry Siemens: Are large corporate landowners (200,000+ acres) healthy for the industry? 0:45 -- Eric: Supply and demand reality -- large land releases will affect prices; the market is starting to work 0:47 -- David: How lenders managed large land holdings in the 1980s crisis and what that signals for today 0:49 -- David Schmidt (Rabobank, Alberta): Are lenders shifting from asset-based to cashflow-based lending decisions? 0:49 -- Eric: Yes -- lenders taking a harder look at business fundamentals; younger producers will feel it first 0:51 -- Metric 2: First-year payment calculator -- US approaching 300% (3 acres to cover payment on 1), Canada at 195-250% depending on rate 0:56 -- Alex Clark (Rabobank): Not tightening so much as asking better questions -- creative lending options, extended amortization 0:57 -- David: Closing takeaway -- about half of US farmland appreciation since the 1980s came from falling interest rates; don't assume you are immune to rate risk if you own land outright 0:59 -- Eric: Thanks, upcoming MNP benchmarking series; Dan previews Robert Andjelic's return next week (bullish on commodities super cycle) 1:01 -- Dan closes: Building Your Operating System cohort update, August cohort opening Resources Mentioned Agricultural Economic Insights farmland affordability calculator (shared with registrants via event link) ARC and PLC farm bill programs (US) -- risk management programs for row crop producers AgriStability -- Canada's margin-based whole-farm income support program GARS -- private margin-based insurance product for Canadian producers Connect with David Widmar Agricultural Economic Insights: https://aei.ag/overview Connect with Eric Olsen MNP Farm Management: mnp.ca 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.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses farm financial stress, identity, and mental health in agriculture, including reference to suicide rates in the farming community. If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available. Numbers are listed at the end of these notes. Three to one is the male-to-female suicide ratio in agriculture. Most of the people carrying the hardest financial weight in farming right now are also carrying it alone, measuring their worth by what they produce. Corliss Rassyle has spent decades working in the space between what a farm earns and what a farmer is worth. Dan built this room for those people. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Cold open 1:30 -- Dan's disclosure: a company erased to zero and what the new start required 4:00 -- Welcome: who this room is built for and the three-to-one ratio in agriculture 5:00 -- Mom at the Easter griddle: "I've done nothing with my life" 6:30 -- Why we get the measure of success wrong and where it starts 9:00 -- Saskatchewan is resource-rich -- so why do so many people in agriculture feel unfulfilled? 10:00 -- Subconscious programming: the belief systems formed in childhood still running adult lives 13:00 -- The 1,111 vision: how Lead Conference Canada came to be 15:00 -- Sitting in the back row of the venue: the moment the number confirmed itself 17:00 -- Workshop begins: Corliss takes the room 22:00 -- The question to sit with: what belief are you holding about yourself right now? 23:00 -- Thoughts create emotions, emotions create actions, actions create results 27:00 -- The Five A's: Aware, Acknowledge, Assess, Affirm, Accept 29:00 -- The five most powerful sentences: I am, I can, I will, I release, I forgive 30:00 -- Acceptance: Corliss's brother and the question "Why won't you let me help you?" 33:00 -- Dan's experience: what happened when a room of men did this work together 37:00 -- Same rain, two different meanings: the drought and the wedding 38:00 -- Corliss's divorce: rebuilding one step at a time from a two-bedroom apartment 43:00 -- Love what you do: Corliss's father and 60 harvests 47:00 -- 86 tickets on launch day vs. a goal of 1,111: what fear does and what vision does instead 52:00 -- Mom gives permission for the TEDx: "You should use it to help people" 54:00 -- You have full power over your story 55:00 -- Corliss's programs and how to connect Resources Mentioned TEDx Talk by Corliss Rassyle -- search "Corliss Rassyle TEDx" (Dan to confirm link) Lead Conference Canada 2026: corliss.ca/led2026 Called to Lead (self-paced personal development program): corliss.ca Do More Agriculture Foundation: domore.ag Saskatchewan Farm Stress Line: 1-800-667-4442 This episode is brought to you by Bone Trail Originals, Crop-Aid Nutrition, Hammond Realty, and GRIPP. Connect with Corliss Rassyle Website: corliss.ca Lead Conference Canada: corliss.ca/led2026 Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future CRISIS SUPPORT If you are struggling, please reach out. Canada -- Talk Suicide Canada: 1-833-456-4566 Canada -- Saskatchewan Farm Stress Line: 1-800-667-4442 Canada -- Do More Agriculture Foundation: domore.ag U.S. -- Call or text 988 Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.