A Better Way To Farm Podcast

Are you losing valuable nutrients in the field after harvest? 🌽

Corn stalks hold more value than you may realize. Rod explains how residue management, soil biology, and carbon can play a role in next year’s crop.

Before you decide what to do with your stalks know your numbers.

What You'll Learn:

• Why the fungi-to-bacteria ratio matters for soil health
• When to apply a stalk digester for better coverage
• How to calculate the value of nutrients left in your residue

What can you learn from walking your own fields, testing new ideas, and seeing what actually works?

In this episode, Kayla talks with farmers Scott and Brian about field days, tough growing conditions, farm trials, and the lessons they keep bringing back to their own operations.

What You'll Learn:

• Why seeing results in the field can change the way you think
• Why early seedling and root development matter
• How tissue and soil sampling can help guide decisions

In this episode, Andrew sits down with a first-generation farmer from Minnesota who talks about how he started questioning the dry broadcast program he was using. Wyatt then began researching agronomy and found a different approach through a field day. His story is a great reminder that farming is always a learning process.

What You'll Learn:

• Why a complete fertility system matters more than simply adding products
• How soil testing can help create more precise micronutrient recommendations
• What foliar feeding can add to a fertility program

In this episode, Rod and Kayla look back on the past few weeks and the lessons they picked up from farmers, field days, and business owners.

From learning to focus on what matters most to seeing what other farmers are testing, the message is simple: keep learning, keep looking, and always find ways to do better.

What You'll Learn:

• Why doing great things may require you to do fewer things
• How outsourcing the right tasks can give farmers more time to focus on higher value work
• Why field days and farmer to farmer learning can lead to better decisions

This episode shares an Iowa farmer's journey of making small changes, learning more, and improving step by step. From better soil testing to better fertilizer use and new ways to apply products, each improvement helped move the operation forward.

What You'll Learn:

• How to improve your farm even when you cannot do everything you want 
• How better planning and soil testing can help you make better decisions
• Why small changes can lead to big improvements over time

Sometimes better farming starts with one simple decision: be willing to change.

In this episode, we sit down with an Iowa farmer who grew up farming the traditional way. As he started managing his own ground, he began exploring no till, cover crops, and a different approach to fertility. The results gave him plenty of reasons to keep going.

What You'll Learn:

✓ How changing fertility practices helped improve farm yields

✓ Why no till and cover crops can improve soil structure and water infiltration

✓ How liquid fertility can complement a soil health system

In this episode, we talk about upcoming field days and why hands on learning matters so much. We share what farmers can see in the field, from liquid fertilizer systems and drones to root pits, soil testing, and real-world crop trials.

What You'll Learn:

• How deep roots can access nutrients beyond the normal soil sample
• Why field trials can reveal lessons for the next crop
• How better nutrient management can improve efficiency and long-term soil health

Sometimes the biggest test isn't choosing between right and wrong. It's choosing between something good and what God has called you to do.

In this episode, Rod walks us through Numbers 32 and the story of Reuben and Gad, who found good land and wanted to settle there before reaching the Promised Land.

A farm is more than acres and equipment. It is a business, a family, and a legacy.

In this episode, Rod sits down with Kayla to talk about growing up in the family business, the lessons that shaped her, and what it takes to build a stronger future for farmers and their families.

So, how do you create enough opportunity for the next generation to come home?

The message is simple: you don't have to follow someone else's blueprint. Find what works for your farm, your family, and your future.

What You'll Learn:

• Why every job on the farm and in the business matters
• How education and leadership can strengthen a farm business
• Why adding revenue streams can create opportunities for the next generation

High input costs, high interest, and uncertain markets are putting more pressure on farmers than ever. So how do you protect the farm when you can't control the price of grain, the weather, or interest rates?

You start with what you can control.

In this episode, Rod challenges farmers to stop relying on "plant and pray" and start looking closely at what each input is doing for the farm. The goal isn't simply to grow more bushels. 

It's to grow profitable bushels.

What You'll Learn:

• Why chasing yield alone doesn't guarantee profit
• How knowing your numbers can change farm decisions
• How small decisions today can help protect the farm for the next generation