Latest / AG Bull / AG Squawk with Davis Michaelsen | Krista Swanson | NCGA

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AG Squawk with Davis Michaelsen | Krista Swanson | NCGA · AG Bull

0:10
SPEAKER_01: Well, look at them cattles go.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: After a sputtering start, the complex managed to hoof it back into positive territory today.
0:20
SPEAKER_01: It was another harrowing trip through four handle territory for the corns, but by the end of the day, the grains actually came out what I would call not too bad.
0:30
SPEAKER_01: The thread of farmer frustration may emerge in today's program.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: We'll confront and discuss that frustration head on with one of agriculture's premier economists.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: From behind the big blue, bodacious microphone of AgBull, your pal Davis Michelson, pleased as punched to have you along here for Ag Squawk in the afternoon.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: It's the first of October.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: Ah here we are.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: I have some reports from central Iowa just today.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: Hot off the presses.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: Still soggy.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: Still not uh still not rollable out there for combine.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: And that's uh that's one of a number of sources of frustration.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: This one, of course, just being the most recent source of frustration.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: My guest today, Krista Swanson, chief economist from the National Corn Growers Association, NCGA, is here to talk about some of those frustrations.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: There have there have been some surveys that NCGA and the American Soybean Association have have worked together to gather some information.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: There are several articles that she's written lately.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: There's a little bit of good news.
1:43
SPEAKER_01: There's a little bit of, well, what do I do with that?
1:45
SPEAKER_01: type of stuff in there.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: And just anxious to talk to Krista.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: And she's uh she's fresh off winning a major award.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: I think maybe we'll start, we'll start there with Krista Swanson from NCGA.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: Glad to have you along.
2:00
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3:05
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3:12
SPEAKER_01: Take it slow, however you want to do it.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm just glad that you are here this afternoon for the conversation because this is going to be a good one and a very necessary one.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: If you caught my discussion yesterday of retail fertilizer prices, maybe I betrayed a little too readily.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: I really don't have have the solutions.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't have a rose-colored solution to the future.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: Fertilizer prices kind of headed in the same in the right direction.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: Corn futures were headed kind of in the right direction.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: We had the two of them kind of coming together on my big workup, but there's a there's a vast expanse there, and things things aren't going to get any easier anytime soon.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: And uh so it's it's important that we have have Krista here with us to talk about the economics about this stuff.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: Plenty of intro here.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: More than we probably needed.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: Let's let's get into export sales.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: Export sales of soybeans in the weekend at September 24 were well above both last week and the same week.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: Last year, wheat export sales came in just above the bottom end of the range of pre-report expectations.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: Corn export sales, not that great.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: 536,000 metric tons for the week.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: That was below expectations, below the prior week, and below the same week last year.
4:31
SPEAKER_01: Over to the markets, the tail of the ticker.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: Corn turned back to the upside in early session trade as soybeans continued lower.
4:39
SPEAKER_01: Wheat futures farmed two to three cents with Chicago and KC flavors neck and neck on gains.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: Livestock futures were lower, although the cattle complex bounced from session lows at least early on.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: Now rounding into the lunch hour, corn futures succumbed to broader commodity market pressure, exploring fresh for the move lows below five bucks in the December contract.
5:02
SPEAKER_01: Downside momentum accelerated in soybeans, which were trading double digits lower around noon.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: Wheat, however, was off session lows and pairing losses.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: Fat cattle were mixed, feeders mildly higher, and lean hogs didn't get the memo.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: Still trading not far from session lows around noon.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: And let's go over and check the settlements.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: All told, I've got December corn hanging on.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: White knuckle grip on the five handle 502 at settlement today, up one and one quarter cents on the day.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: Soybeans lower on the day.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: I've got uh 1284, that's down nine on the day.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: Meal was lower, oil was was also lower.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: And then on your wheats, uh, we wound up six cents lower, six eighty-one and three quarter.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: The KC wheat was down oh around four or so.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: The December contract at 737 and one half, and then over to the livestocks.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: It uh looks like we've got October feeder cattle.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: We're down 245 at 338.87 and one half.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: October fat cattle 219 and 30 on settlement, 62 and a half higher on the day.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: And the lean hogs just couldn't catch a break today.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: Off 50 cents in the December contract, 68.92 and a half.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: October down$1.22.5,$77.50.
6:24
SPEAKER_01: Looking further out, losses were a little bit less.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: Clear out to the May 27th, 79, 62.5, down 22 and 1 half cents.
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6:54
SPEAKER_01: And with that, let me bring in Krista Swanson from the National Corn Growers Association.
7:01
SPEAKER_01: Krista, it's it's terrific to have you on here.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: I know you've got a ton of things going on.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: You're traveling all the time.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Big stuff doing.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: We sure appreciate you taking a moment here to talk to me and my uh my beloved viewers here on Egg Squawk.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: How are you today?
7:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, glad to be here.
7:18
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for the invitation.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: I am I'm doing pretty well despite it being another gloomy, rainy day on our farm here in west central Illinois.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know.
7:30
SPEAKER_01: I I'm aware of this.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm a farm kid.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: I was back in the day anyway.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: There's no such thing as Friday on the farm, but Krista, today, you're, you know, you kind of got one foot in the farm, one foot in the business world.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: It feels like Friday to me.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Is it just me?
7:45
SPEAKER_01: Do you get that sense?
7:45
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's the the over we're overcast here in KC too.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: It feels like Friday to me.
7:51
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
7:52
SPEAKER_02: To me, it never feels like a Friday, right?
7:54
SPEAKER_02: It seems like every day is another work day.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: But the way that between the news cycle and the farm cycle and the business, we also operate a seed business and have four kids.
8:04
SPEAKER_02: So I I think I'm just in a in a constant go mode.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: Good for you.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: Good for you.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: Let's let's begin by getting to know you just a little bit.
8:14
SPEAKER_01: You mentioned a farm, did you say West Central Illinois?
8:18
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: Talk to us about that.
8:21
SPEAKER_01: Give us a little farm, Cred.
8:22
SPEAKER_01: Did you did you grow up on a farm?
8:24
SPEAKER_02: I did.
8:25
SPEAKER_02: I grew up on a farm right in the center of Illinois, about 100 miles southeast of uh from where my husband and I now farm.
8:32
SPEAKER_02: So grew up on a corn and soybean farm there, and now uh work as an agricultural economist.
8:39
SPEAKER_02: My husband and I on our farm today raise corn and soybeans.
8:42
SPEAKER_02: So aside from my professional work doing that, I also mentioned earlier the seed business too.
8:48
SPEAKER_02: So I the way I look at it is I spend a lot of my professional life studying the same decisions that we are making every day at home here too.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: It kind of kind of gives it a little bit of a practical flavor, doesn't it?
9:02
SPEAKER_01: I bet that comes in awfully handy for your uh for your professional work.
9:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it really keeps you grounded and in touch with the people that we're serving.
9:11
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I I I have one, like you said, one foot in each door, know what's happening on our farm and how we're feeling and impacted.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: And I think there's I've always said it's it's a mutually beneficial relationship uh between my work and home because you know, sometimes there's things that I'm keeping up on at work that are helpful for our farm and vice versa.
9:30
SPEAKER_02: Uh knowing what's going on on our farm often informs some of those research choices and and things to dive into for work.
9:38
unknown: Yeah.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: How did you how did you become chief economist for the National Corn Growers Association?
9:44
SPEAKER_01: But is that was that a a little girl's dream from back in the day that you're, you know, just had to get there one day?
9:50
SPEAKER_01: What did that path look like?
9:51
SPEAKER_01: How did you how did you wind up where you are?
9:53
SPEAKER_02: Good question.
9:54
SPEAKER_02: So not not really, I would definitely not say little girl's dream.
9:58
SPEAKER_02: In fact, as much as I always loved agriculture in the farm, I I guess I think I, especially maybe in my teenage years, had had the dream of of maybe moving away from getting getting to see what else was out in the world.
10:10
SPEAKER_02: Not so much that I wanted to leave, leave the farm or where I was from, but the beautiful thing about agriculture that I've learned over the years is that you can do so much through the farm.
10:21
SPEAKER_02: And what we're doing on our farm is so interconnected with the world.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: So I can have that opportunity to live on a farm and raise my kids on a farm and still get to be engaged in in so many things happening at the national level, at the international level.
10:35
SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of the beauty of that full circle moment for me.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: But throughout my career, I've gotten to see ag economics from a lot of different angles.
10:43
SPEAKER_02: After my master's in ag econ, I worked for the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association, where I did farm tax and accounting.
10:50
SPEAKER_02: I didn't love that job, but it was really foundational to everything that I'm doing, understanding those farm financial records has been beneficial throughout my career, but also clearly for our own farm.
11:04
SPEAKER_02: Then got to work for First Farm Credit Services, which is now part of Compeer.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: So got to see agricultural economics from that point of view.
11:12
SPEAKER_02: And then I spent five years working for the University of Illinois, Department of Ag Econ, where I worked with Gary Schnicke and others on the farm doc team and got to be a contributor there where we're communicating farm economics and policy.
11:24
SPEAKER_02: And you asked how I ended up at NCGA.
11:26
SPEAKER_02: So getting to that, you know, that was an interesting next step for me.
11:30
SPEAKER_02: I I didn't really necessarily see that coming, but I guess I want to point out here the importance of people in your type and circumstances.
11:39
SPEAKER_02: You know, Gary Schnicke was one of the people that that that helped bridge this gap to NCGA.
11:45
SPEAKER_02: He said to me one day, you know, we don't, I would I would hate to lose you from our team here, but this is an opportunity you might want to think about.
11:52
SPEAKER_02: When he had seen the NCGA posting, uh, they hadn't previously had an economist position, so it was a newly added thing.
11:59
SPEAKER_02: And earlier that same summer, this was 2022, I had participated in the NCGA Women and Mentors program as a farmer member attendee.
12:09
SPEAKER_02: And I got to know a few of the NCGA staffs.
12:12
SPEAKER_02: And one of those uh wonderful women that was engaged in that, who's an NCGA staff member and still is, uh, she also reached out to me and said, hey, you should consider this opportunity.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: So I took that leap.
12:25
SPEAKER_02: And looking back, I think this role has really brought together all those different aspects of my career from you know the accounting and lending side, research, communications, policy, bringing all those pieces together.
12:38
SPEAKER_02: So that's that's been really exciting.
12:41
SPEAKER_01: Christy, you mentioned something there that I think is really important as we see more and more young people decide to leave the farm.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's at crisis levels or not.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you can speak to that, but you said something really important.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: You can see what's out there without having to completely divorce yourself from the farm life.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: In fact, you can actually do both.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: I think there's a sense out there, and I had a sense for a good long time as a farm kid that the the two were mutually exclusive, but you're here to say that they are not.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, we know that agriculture and it this begins from the farm gate, but agriculture is a global industry and it's so interconnected.
13:22
SPEAKER_02: And so yeah, it's been amazing to be able to live on a farm, raise my family on a farm.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: As I watch my four kids growing up, I think there's no better place to grow up than on a farm.
13:32
SPEAKER_02: So I'm so great I get that grateful that I get that experience, but also get to be involved in you know, contributing towards, you know, what's happening at the national policy level and being engaged in an organization like NCGA and previously with University of Illinois from the academia side.
13:50
SPEAKER_02: But I'm grateful for that opportunity.
13:52
SPEAKER_02: And I think especially in today's environment where remote opportunities are out there, we have even more of those chances.
14:00
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's so wonderful.
14:01
SPEAKER_02: I was I was really blessed to have a boss that offered me a remote position in December 2010.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: I remember saying when he asked me if I was interested in doing this job remote, I said, what does that even mean?
14:15
SPEAKER_02: That was before before it was kind of a more standard part of our world as it is today.
14:21
SPEAKER_02: But because of those changes, that opens the door to so many more opportunities for people like me who want to be able to continue living in and being engaged on the farm, but also can bring that insight to some of these types of roles.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: Well, we're gonna we're gonna get to some of the heavier issues that I promised in in just a moment, but I do feel like we need to toot your horn just just a little bit here.
14:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm a dad of daughters and girl power, I'm all about girl power.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: This I got this from a press release.
14:51
SPEAKER_01: Women in agribusiness announced the winners of its inaugural WIA Leadership Awards.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: That's Women in Agribusiness, a new program recognizing the industry's most influential women for their specific contributions to the future of the food and ag sector.
15:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh, September 24, just a few days ago, during the 2026 Women in Agribusiness Summit in New Orleans, you were awarded, you got an award for advisory and consulting leadership.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Congratulations on that down in down in New Orleans.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: That's fantastic.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh how did it feel?
15:23
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean for you to uh to be recognized in such a way?
15:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so thanks, Davis.
15:29
SPEAKER_02: And this was really an honor to receive the inaugural advisory and consulting leadership award.
15:34
SPEAKER_02: As you already explained, this set of awards was created to recognize work that women are doing and the ways that the many different ways that women are leading in in specific areas.
15:45
SPEAKER_02: So it was really meaningful to me because this is the part of my work that I care about the most, and that is helping people move from information to better decisions.
15:55
SPEAKER_02: So as an economist, I'm constantly working with all kinds of information, data, markets, policy, research.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: But I've learned over time that that information alone rarely leads to the outcome.
16:08
SPEAKER_02: It's how we can apply it to our circumstances and break it down in an understandable way.
16:14
SPEAKER_02: And really my entire personal work philosophy is centered on measuring success less by the work that I produce and more by whether the people that I'm serving are better equipped for what comes next.
16:27
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, that that really means a lot to me and certainly currently strive to uh live that out in the work that I do.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, congratulations once again on that.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: That's that's outstanding.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh let's let's kind of ease our way toward the discussion here.
16:47
SPEAKER_01: Let's let's start with NCGA.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: Matt Frostic, as I understand, began his term.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: Was it just today as NCGA president?
16:56
SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
16:57
SPEAKER_01: Have I got all that correct so far?
16:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's right.
16:59
SPEAKER_02: October 1st is the start of our new fiscal year, and so that's when we roll into the new officer position.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, a lot of transition as we kick off the new year for NCGA.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: Mr.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: Frostic came from NCGA's input cost task force, and he's he's talked about a few of his priorities, and I want to bring these into the discussion.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: I know that there are other priorities and probably priorities that you have beyond these, but securing passage of legislation for your round E15, passing the farm bill, diversifying demand for corn.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: Sounds like we've got the right guy in the right place at the right time with uh with the inputs cost task force.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: Can you I don't how how much do you know about the the task force on inputs?
17:48
SPEAKER_01: Can you speak to us about what that's about?
17:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: So the inputs cost task force was a group that was created from one of our action teams about this time last year.
18:00
SPEAKER_02: And the purpose was to just dive into input costs, and it was made up of a select group of a few of our board members, a few other farmers that were specifically interested in this.
18:13
SPEAKER_02: And when I say farmers, I'm talking about some of our grower leaders from our action team and then some staff.
18:19
SPEAKER_02: So I was one of the staff people that was part of that team, and really we we tried to investigate input costs from a lot of different angles and dive into it from a lot of ways.
18:29
SPEAKER_02: One of the big things that came from that task force was the inputs cost work that we did put out this summer that we started working on months ago, but uh published earlier this year.
18:43
SPEAKER_02: And one of the things that the farmers kept asking, of course, is why are input costs so high?
18:48
SPEAKER_02: Uh, is there anything we can do about it?
18:50
SPEAKER_02: And how do the costs that we compare here, excuse me, how do the costs that we're paying here in the US compare to what farmers in other countries are paying?
18:58
SPEAKER_02: So, in doing that type of comparison, we wanted to dive into Brazil because they're the biggest global competitor uh for corn in the in the global marketplace.
19:08
SPEAKER_02: And we engage with Kinetic, which is a global research firm that has really robust data collection from thousands of farmers in both the US and Brazil.
19:20
SPEAKER_02: And we try to look at what are farmers paying for actual units of inputs.
19:27
SPEAKER_02: And I will acknowledge this gets a little bit tricky here because Brazil and the US are not apples to apples.
19:34
SPEAKER_02: You know, the the growing seasons are different, the pest pressures are different, the regulatory environments are different, the market structures are different.
19:41
SPEAKER_02: So what we try to do though is while acknowledging those things, dive into what farmers are paying per a specified unit of seed or crop protection product.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk specifically about that right now.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, I've I've got a chart from your research there.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: Before I do, clearly farming is farming can be very frustrating for corn farmers in particular on the ground in the field trying to earn a living in the present economic conditions.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: Probably a little bit demoralizing, frustrating at the very least.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of what we talk about from here on out, at least for a little bit, I think may speak to that frustration.
20:27
SPEAKER_01: Some of it may uh manifest some of that frustration.
20:31
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's not the right word, but we've got lots to talk about here.
20:36
SPEAKER_01: And when we're talking about, well, why are fertilizer prices so high?
20:39
SPEAKER_01: What do other countries look like?
20:42
SPEAKER_01: You you put out a sort of a workup.
20:44
SPEAKER_01: National Corn Growers publishes a report on U.S.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: versus Brazilian raised crops.
20:50
SPEAKER_01: Just a quick quote U.S.
20:52
SPEAKER_01: corner corn growers are the most productive and efficient in the world.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: On average, they produce roughly twice as much corn per acre as their counterparts in Brazil while using fewer inputs.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: However, Krista, there's a rub there that uh that advantage in production somehow has not turned in to more cash in the farmers' pockets.
21:15
SPEAKER_01: Did I read that right?
21:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you read that exactly right.
21:19
SPEAKER_02: You know, from an economic perspective, if we have this kind of productivity and efficiency advantage, we would expect that to show up as a competitive advantage or there to be a value associated with it.
21:30
SPEAKER_02: And farmers certainly aren't seeing that in their in their budgets or their their margins left at the end of the day right now.
21:37
SPEAKER_02: And so part of what we've been trying to figure out is where is that value going?
21:42
SPEAKER_02: And this some of this diving into what farmers in the US and what farmers in the Brazil uh pay for inputs is is a result of of that reality.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: And so how does is, I mean, there must be agronomic differences, differences in how this goes, but one of the things that the article mentions is the regulatory burden.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: Now you're not implying a completely regulatory.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: Free environment here as I understand it.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: But the the regulations differ greatly from the US to Brazil, don't they?
22:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, certainly not advocating for, you know, no regulation.
22:21
SPEAKER_02: You know, some of that regulation is in place to ensure that the products and methods, the product not only that we're using, but also that we're producing are safe.
22:30
SPEAKER_02: So not advocating for that, but more so trying to better understand how some of these differences influence costs and try to pinpoint how much that really adds up to.
22:42
SPEAKER_02: Some of the differences that we found in this study were really, really large.
22:47
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, for even some of the ones that were smaller, we saw really consistent gaps that US farmers were paying more for seed and crop protection products.
22:56
SPEAKER_02: And so it's less about any one statistic and more about this pattern.
23:01
SPEAKER_02: And diving into, I guess I should also say that this research asked more questions.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: It didn't necessarily answer questions.
23:10
SPEAKER_02: It was helpful to better understanding the situation and open the doors for what questions, what are the better questions that we should be asking?
23:19
SPEAKER_02: And how do we identify what all is contributing to this gap?
23:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: I uh I have this, I have the same, the same limitation, maybe we could call it.
23:31
SPEAKER_01: I mentioned earlier in the show, I did a whole show on retail fertilizer prices yesterday, and I don't have the answer.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I I don't have any good solutions other than to educate, to inform the best that I can, to put information in front of folks.
23:45
SPEAKER_01: Farmers are smart people, the whole ag business, you know, get those wheels turning just a little bit.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like that was that was part of the goal in in this year.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: Get that information in front of people, show them the reality of the situation and get the wheels turning.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: Is that fair?
23:59
SPEAKER_02: Get the wheels turning and open the door for some conversations and and further research in the space.
24:05
SPEAKER_02: That's what what we're we're trying to do here.
24:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
24:09
SPEAKER_01: Part of the frustration I think that farmers have, at least that I've had, let me I'll just put it on me.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: I've been frustrated watching the the back and forth going on about two things, the farm bill and year-round E15.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: It must be professionally frustrating for you to sort of watch these.
24:29
SPEAKER_01: We get so close, and then nope, nope, didn't get it.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: And then we get close to this.
24:33
SPEAKER_01: And oh, here's here's a little nugget of good news, but nope, didn't get it, didn't quite get it.
24:38
SPEAKER_01: How do you deal with that?
24:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it's it's you know, I actually use the analogy.
24:43
SPEAKER_02: This is going back to February, so there's been a whole lot more happened since then, but I was speaking at an event in North Dakota, and I had been on a plane and then been off the plane, and then been back on the plane, off the plane again, and then on a different plane, and on my trip out there.
24:59
SPEAKER_02: And so as I was speaking to that group, I used that as an analogy for kind of how some of this policy stuff with Farm Bill and E15 feels to us.
25:07
SPEAKER_02: It's like you're you're on and you think you're moving, and then all of a sudden you're back off, and and then you're then you're on a different plane or maybe a different bill to use that analogy and spell it out a little bit more.
25:18
SPEAKER_02: But that is that is a bit how it's feeling.
25:20
SPEAKER_02: And anyone who's been on a plane in that situation can understand the frustration that comes with that.
25:27
SPEAKER_02: And so, yeah, certainly, you know, you asked earlier about NCGA's priorities.
25:32
SPEAKER_02: NCGA's mission is to create and increase opportunities for corn growers.
25:38
SPEAKER_02: And so E15, definitely a big piece of that.
25:42
SPEAKER_02: Farm bill, another policy in terms of supporting our corn growers.
25:46
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, of course, you know, trade is a big issue and there's some things on that front right now.
25:52
SPEAKER_02: And then those are some of the more near-term things, but we are also spending a lot of time this year focused on long-term opportunities.
26:02
SPEAKER_02: We have to be thinking of, you know, the old saying about when's the best time to plant a tree 20 years ago, the next best time is today.
26:08
SPEAKER_02: And so we're thinking ahead to what are what are going to be those demand drivers of the future and how can we be positioning right now to ensure that that demand is there in the future.
26:19
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times people think of trade almost as a monolith of demand.
26:23
SPEAKER_01: Well, we we need to get more demand in in trade.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: Is is that is that focus ill-placed, or is are you are you thinking about fresh trade sources perhaps in addition to other new demand sources?
26:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, we're always thinking about fresh trade sources, not just for corn, but also for ethanol and DDGs.
26:47
SPEAKER_02: Any anytime we can get, we call it corn in all forms, anytime we can get corn usage to increase, whether that is corn itself or others, always looking for those new demand opportunities globally, but also have to think about the importance of some of the critical trade partners we have.
27:07
SPEAKER_02: A big priority for our organization on the trade front right now is USMCA, especially with that seemingly kind of hanging in limbo a bit as far as what the future looks like.
27:18
SPEAKER_02: And Mexico is the largest U.S.
27:21
SPEAKER_02: corn export market.
27:22
SPEAKER_02: The great thing about Mexico is that we share our southern border.
27:26
SPEAKER_02: You know, we can we can ship it by truck, we can ship it by rail, it can be shipped by ship too.
27:32
SPEAKER_02: But uh, unlike, you know, we want to take advantage of that market that's right next door and continue to have a solid trading relationship.
27:39
SPEAKER_02: And then Canada, you know, to the north again, sharing the that border where we have we can use all the different modes of transport and makes uh shipping back and forth easy.
27:49
SPEAKER_02: They're the largest export market for ethanol, but also they are a major potash supplier.
27:55
SPEAKER_02: So when we think about the importance of that relationship, it really, really works both ways because we're dependent on you know that relationship for potash, an important fertilizer product for farmers.
28:08
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it's just important when we have both the markets we sell into and the inputs that we're using on our crops.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you want to speak to this or not.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: It seems to me like year-round E15, as as much talk as there's been, okay, now we've got high fuel prices right now that sort of put an exclamation point behind a cheaper source of uh of octane of fuel to drive our cars around for crying out loud, but also cleaner air, you know, all the all the benefits, encouraged our agriculture, all this sort of stuff.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: It seems like it should have been a layup years ago.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you can tell me why it hasn't hasn't latched on.
28:49
SPEAKER_01: Is it a partisan issue?
28:51
SPEAKER_01: Is it a is it I don't know.
28:53
SPEAKER_01: I I can't make heads or tails of it, Krista.
28:56
SPEAKER_02: I know it does seem like it.
28:57
SPEAKER_02: I think at one point I even said, you know, we would say it's a win-win-win.
29:01
SPEAKER_02: It's a you know lower cost fuel, it's better for the environment, you know, the the those wins, and and I think there you could say it's it's better for the it's good for the economy.
29:12
SPEAKER_02: There's just wins all around.
29:14
SPEAKER_02: And to your point, like why is this not a layup that we can just or take it a step further, a slam dunk, maybe?
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
29:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you would think that everything points in that direction.
29:26
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's just uh it seems like continues to be this has been on the table for how many different sessions of Congress now, and just seems to be those political holdups.
29:37
SPEAKER_02: Part of that is what is the give and take that has to go along with any bill that we that we get passed, and just getting it across the finish line.
29:46
SPEAKER_02: And and part of it is too that, you know, I'm I'm not the the policy expert by any means, but it seems like you know, part of the ability to get it passed, generally speaking, is uh linking it with a different piece of must-pass legislation that may or may not actually be true in practice.
30:07
SPEAKER_02: We we did see it move as a a standalone piece in the house this year, so may not actually need that.
30:14
SPEAKER_02: But you know, that's been the other pieces.
30:16
SPEAKER_02: We only have a few of those must-pass legislations every year.
30:20
SPEAKER_02: And so if if the legislators decide that that's the protocol, then there's really only a couple opportunities every year.
30:28
SPEAKER_02: And then if it doesn't fly on one of those, then then you know you're holding out for the next one.
30:35
SPEAKER_02: So that's part of the the challenge too.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: You all did a uh over there at NCGA, did a recent joint survey with the American Soybean Association that demonstrated some of the the frustration and the uncertainty that that some of these issues bring up, E15, not the least of those, of course, but demand and inputs prices, all of these sorts of things.
31:02
SPEAKER_01: Can you tell me generally what you find out?
31:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I think that this survey gave us some real numbers to put behind that anecdotal evidence of like what you're saying.
31:13
SPEAKER_02: Farmers seem frustrated.
31:14
SPEAKER_02: I would say the tone that came across in this was maybe cautiously better, but not really comfortable.
31:23
SPEAKER_02: And I think part of that too is that the timing of this survey, it was done from September 1st to September 8th.
31:30
SPEAKER_02: And so that was a period of higher prices, rising prices over that time frame, too.
31:38
SPEAKER_02: Maybe if we were to repeat this survey today, results might look a little bit different because I think some of that immediate farmer kind of perception of what's happening gets reflected in this.
31:50
SPEAKER_02: But even with that context, these numbers you know still indicate a lot of concern out in farm country.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: About two-thirds of growers told us that they were either moderately or very concerned about the farm economy.
32:05
SPEAKER_02: Another one that stood out was that over 90% of the respondents said that they were either more concerned about their own farm financials compared to a year ago, or equally concerned as a year ago.
32:19
SPEAKER_02: And the reason that one really jumps out is because if we think back to a year ago as the baseline, September of last year, there was, you know, calls of emerging farm crisis, farm economy in trouble.
32:33
SPEAKER_02: And so that's not a great baseline to say that 90% of farmers, over 90% of farmers say their own farm financials now are the same or worse as that.
32:43
SPEAKER_02: We asked about corn profitability for the 2026 crop.
32:48
SPEAKER_02: And only about one in 10 growers said that they expected this 2026 corn crop to be clearly profitable.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: There was a fair there was a large, the largest category said marginally profitable or break-even, but you know, to to have to be on that upswing in prices at the time of this survey, and only one in ten said clearly profitable, I think that's really telling too.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
33:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, and now we've got just let's just keep talking about the tales of woe.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, now we've got it's too soggy in a lot of places and the gut slot of the corn belt to get out there and get after this corn and finally, finally, after a very uncertain growing season, see what's what's actually out there.
33:32
SPEAKER_01: That's got to be adding to the uncertainty.
33:34
SPEAKER_01: And a certain percentage, it seemed like in that survey, it was a 26% or somewhere in that neighborhood, really had no idea what they were going to do about inputs for for the coming year.
33:45
SPEAKER_01: That that doesn't bode well, does it?
33:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there was still, like you said, 26% that we asked about their potential decisions about 2027 inputs and and what or any changes that they might make.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, over a quarter said that they didn't know yet.
34:02
SPEAKER_02: And I I really don't think that's all that surprising, though, because you know, you're talking about where farmers are at today.
34:10
SPEAKER_02: This was done about a month ago, and so you know, in in a lot of the Midwest, you know, it it wasn't as it wasn't behind to not be started harvest at that point and still have a lot of those decisions in front of you.
34:24
SPEAKER_02: Where we're at now, that's starting to feel a lot more frustrating.
34:27
SPEAKER_02: I'll say on our own farm, we've been in the field only a couple days doing soybeans, and none of them were even really full days because you had to wait so long for things to dry out in the morning and then it got wet in the evenings and just seems like it rains some more every day.
34:44
SPEAKER_02: That's keeping keeping us from from getting out there in the field.
34:47
SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, once once the calendar turns to October, then that starts to make you feel a little bit antsy if you're not able to be rolling.
34:56
SPEAKER_02: And so I know we're anxious to see where those yields are as we think about 2027 decisions.
35:02
SPEAKER_02: And I think this also plays into the rolling crop cycles.
35:05
SPEAKER_02: I did an article recently as well that was really simple, but it it outlined with with a visual as well of, you know, for for people that may not understand this, that you know, farmers are operating in multiple crop cycles at a time.
35:21
SPEAKER_02: Farmers may be selling the 25 crop, harvesting their 26 crop, and already buying inputs for their 27 crop at the same time.
35:29
SPEAKER_02: And so they're managing the profitability and input and and return cycle for a few different crops at at the same time right now.
35:39
SPEAKER_02: And and that also can be a challenge when you're when when those things aren't all working as as you would like them to work.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: And reading that article, I was I was really struck by that idea of managing three different crops from three different sort of sources.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: You know, you've got the you've got some that you need to sell, you've got some that you need to harvest, you've got some that you need to plan to get into the ground all at the same time.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: That's a that's a an awful lot to juggle at the ag outlook forum.
36:15
SPEAKER_01: Let's get back to the high input prices just a little bit because I think these these two kind of go together.
36:22
SPEAKER_01: But you compared high inputs prices to mud, and as I recall, there were there were children, there was a four-wheeler involved.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: Can do you remember you know what I'm talking about?
36:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
36:34
SPEAKER_02: So can you give us that?
36:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so on the Sunday before I the weekend before I got looked for them, we got a lot of rain.
36:41
SPEAKER_02: As I've been saying, we've been getting a lot of rain a lot here lately.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: And my kids were anxious to get the four-wheelers out in the mud and and ride around.
36:48
SPEAKER_02: And you know, just thinking about that made me think that high input costs are kind of like that that mud on a four-wheeler.
36:55
SPEAKER_02: You know, it when you're when you're coming into the muddy patch, it slows you down, then it sticks.
37:01
SPEAKER_02: And when you when you move forward, it it has a way of spreading across the farmstead, like you know, on a gravel driveway or grass that they then drive through.
37:12
SPEAKER_02: And so I link that up to you know, high input costs, they they slow us down, make it harder to make forward progress, and have a way of spreading across the whole operation.
37:22
SPEAKER_02: That was that was the analogy that I used there.
37:24
SPEAKER_02: So always like to try to bring a visual into something when I can.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: That's an excellent visual, an excellent visual.
37:31
SPEAKER_01: And you like me, we we don't necessarily have have rosy news for everyone on all of these.
37:39
SPEAKER_01: We take it upon ourselves to put the information out there.
37:41
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, when there's good news to be reported, we'll give it.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: I I wonder if you might end this portion of our conversation, not necessarily with the good news.
37:50
SPEAKER_01: You know, don't sugarcoat it, Krista.
37:52
SPEAKER_01: Give it to us straight.
37:54
SPEAKER_01: But to talk about moving forward, you know, maybe on the other side of Harvest.
37:59
SPEAKER_01: What are what are your priorities as a member of NCAA as a as an officer or staff member in NCGA?
38:07
SPEAKER_01: What's the National Corn Growers Association going to be focused on in the next several months?
38:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a good question, Davis.
38:14
SPEAKER_02: And I guess I'll I'll highlight one of your team members here.
38:17
SPEAKER_02: I noticed Jim Weismeyer's report yesterday, the 10 reasons for optimism, and enjoyed reading that because I think so often we are talking and in frustrating situations.
38:30
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes as an economist, I'm not always bearing the best news that there is to bear.
38:36
SPEAKER_02: And so uh appreciated his report and highlighting those reasons for optimism and you know, just really elevating that that there are things to be optimistic about.
38:47
SPEAKER_02: I would say from NCGA's perspective, I mentioned this earlier, but we are not just focused on the short term, but also the long term.
38:55
SPEAKER_02: And so we have, you know, we released a report earlier this summer that was highlighting what we're calling America's crop, corn, especially in light of the 250th anniversary of America.
39:06
SPEAKER_02: Corn's been part of all of the past 250 years.
39:09
SPEAKER_02: And so we've been thinking about what does it mean for corn to be a part of the next 250?
39:14
SPEAKER_02: But we have what we're calling a 10, 10, 10 strategy of what if we can get 10% of the maritime global maritime market, 10% of the sustainable aviation field market, and 10% of the uh bioplastics market.
39:31
SPEAKER_02: And so if corn could fill those buckets, that's a whole lot of bushels.
39:36
SPEAKER_02: And we're not obviously, like I said, this is a long-term strategy that is in the early stages.
39:42
SPEAKER_02: Part of what our goal is for this fiscal year is thinking about how we make that reality and start to establish some of the frameworks to you know pave that pathway for corn.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: But I one of the things I guess to just what gives me some optimism as I think about the future is we've already talked about this.
40:01
SPEAKER_02: US farmers, they are extraordinarily productive.
40:05
SPEAKER_02: They're innovative, they're adaptable, and there are real opportunities out there for feed, fuel exports, biobased markets, some of those other maritime, those markets that I just mentioned.
40:18
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I think that what we have to remember is that opportunity doesn't automatically become profitability.
40:23
SPEAKER_02: And so we have to really intentionally build those things, and that's going to take decades, which is why that we are working on that right now, to you know, give the next generation of farmers a viable reason to stay on the farm, which ties back to what we were talking about earlier.
40:40
SPEAKER_01: You said something that I really liked, and I'm writing it down.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: That's why I appear just a little bit distracted.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: Opportunity doesn't necessarily add up to profitability.
40:50
SPEAKER_01: You gotta you gotta jump when the when when you can.
40:53
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
40:54
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: Krista Swanson, chief economist from NCGA.
41:00
SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for being here.
41:01
SPEAKER_01: Let's you know what, let's let's exit that conversation.
41:04
SPEAKER_01: Now I've a few more things.
41:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh talk to us about, you know what, it's October 1st.
41:08
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to know this about you.
41:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh, what's your stance on pumpkin spice and pumpkin spice related beverages?
41:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you have strong opinions?
41:16
SPEAKER_01: Strong opinions?
41:17
SPEAKER_02: Uh yes and no.
41:19
SPEAKER_02: So I am, if you know me, I am a very basic decaf coffee drinker and don't like a lot of fluff in my drinks.
41:28
SPEAKER_02: So I have no problem with pumpkin spice, but I just don't do the fluffy drinks to begin with.
41:34
SPEAKER_02: So I I am a big fan of pumpkin things like pumpkin bread.
41:40
SPEAKER_02: Actually, just over the weekend, I made some pumpkin chocolate marble bread.
41:43
SPEAKER_02: Oh, hell yeah that is very delicious.
41:45
SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, nothing against pumpkin itself.
41:49
SPEAKER_01: Oh, pumpkin pumpkin chocolate marble bread?
41:52
SPEAKER_01: I've never heard of such a thing.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's that is it a family recipe?
41:56
SPEAKER_01: Did you come up with that yourself?
41:57
SPEAKER_01: You a big baker?
41:58
SPEAKER_01: Is that what we got going here?
42:00
SPEAKER_02: I am a big baker.
42:01
SPEAKER_02: So I used to have the baking blog back in the day.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: So this is one of those recipes that was on the blog maybe about a decade ago.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: So is that blog still out there?
42:12
SPEAKER_01: You know, they say the internet's forever.
42:14
SPEAKER_01: Is that something we can track down?
42:15
SPEAKER_01: What was it called?
42:16
SPEAKER_01: Do you mind telling us?
42:17
SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah.
42:18
SPEAKER_02: So I had a blog for a while.
42:20
SPEAKER_02: Well, also a baking business.
42:23
SPEAKER_02: Actually, this started for my FFA SAE project, sold baked goods, it evolved into a baking business, sold wedding cakes at one point.
42:31
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, so Bits of Joy Bakery, my middle name's Joy.
42:35
SPEAKER_02: So that was the name of that, and then had a blog alongside of that for I don't know, several years.
42:42
SPEAKER_02: I said I said a decade ago, but I it was more than a decade ago.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: Time passed.
42:47
SPEAKER_02: I just started thinking about the years here, and I'm like, it was more like two decades ago.
42:53
SPEAKER_01: Time time passes fast, it gets away from us.
42:55
SPEAKER_01: Bits of joy.
42:57
SPEAKER_01: Huh?
42:57
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
42:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna I'm gonna track that down.
42:59
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we can talk again in the future and uh and we'll talk about bits of joy because I I love to consume baked goods.
43:06
SPEAKER_01: See, I'm at the other end of that supply chain myself.
43:09
SPEAKER_01: Central Illinois, did you mention it's rainy and cloudy there?
43:14
SPEAKER_01: Still like way too soggy to get out in the field today.
43:17
SPEAKER_01: What's the weather look like out your window, like right now?
43:20
SPEAKER_02: Like right now, it's raining, and it's been raining all day.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
43:25
SPEAKER_01: Same here in KC.
43:26
SPEAKER_01: You know, the heat broke, which I like, but it's just just rainy and wet.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: Let me go to the National Weather Service, and then then we're gonna have a little bit more fun, and then I'm gonna cut you loose, I promise.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
43:38
SPEAKER_01: The National Weather Service is calling for heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms in the southern plains.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: A slow-moving front combined with tropical moisture will maintain the threat of locally considerable flash and urban flooding across much of Texas and Oklahoma through tomorrow.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: Isolated severe storms capable of mainly severe wind gusts appear possible over portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas this afternoon and evening.
44:05
SPEAKER_01: Eyes on the skies, everybody, particularly in uh Kansas.
44:09
SPEAKER_01: Oklahoma and Texas here.
44:11
SPEAKER_01: Alright, Krista.
44:12
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to highlight some items of mild interest before I let my guests go.
44:17
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: This day, October 1st, a couple of Bonnies to talk about.
44:23
SPEAKER_01: First, in 1868, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
44:28
SPEAKER_01: Louisa?
44:29
SPEAKER_01: Louisa.
44:30
SPEAKER_01: Louisa.
44:30
SPEAKER_02: Louisa, I think.
44:31
SPEAKER_01: Louisa May Alcott.
44:33
SPEAKER_01: Published in 1868.
44:35
SPEAKER_01: 1910.
44:37
SPEAKER_01: Bonnie Parker.
44:38
SPEAKER_01: It's the birthday of Bonnie from Bonnie and Clyde.
44:41
SPEAKER_01: It just said here American criminal.
44:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure there was more to her than that.
44:46
SPEAKER_01: I saw this whole thing that toward the end of their reign of thievery, that she had injured her leg horribly and actually couldn't walk.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: It sounded awful being on the run with the with the bum leg like that.
44:59
SPEAKER_01: In uh 1968.
45:02
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's getting to be Halloween.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm not a big Halloween guy.
45:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh Harvest, fine.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: Halloween, not so much.
45:07
SPEAKER_01: George Romero's Night of the Living Dead was released in theaters in the year 1968.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: And just just one more thing.
45:16
SPEAKER_01: Give me one second.
45:20
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to play a little game with you if you're if you're ready.
45:24
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
45:24
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna play Finish That Lyric.
45:27
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
45:27
SPEAKER_01: And I'm guessing that this is gonna be way before your time.
45:31
SPEAKER_01: So this is completely unfair of me.
45:33
unknown: Okay.
45:34
SPEAKER_01: But you know, unfairness is sort of part of part of uh what we do here.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: It's our Ag Bull injustice.
45:40
SPEAKER_01: And uh today that that injustice is aimed directly at you.
45:44
SPEAKER_01: Let me make sure that this is working.
45:46
SPEAKER_01: Oh, there we go.
45:47
SPEAKER_01: That sounds alright, doesn't it?
45:49
SPEAKER_01: Sounds nice.
45:50
SPEAKER_01: Um so I want you to finish the lyric 1983, the number one hit by Bonnie Tyler.
45:58
SPEAKER_01: Okay, the lyric begins like this.
46:02
SPEAKER_00: Once upon a time I was falling in love.
46:06
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm only falling apart.
46:11
SPEAKER_02: Nothing I can do.
46:15
SPEAKER_02: Is it something about breaking your heart?
46:17
SPEAKER_02: Very close.
46:18
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
46:22
SPEAKER_02: Of course.
46:23
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I should have gotten that one.
46:25
SPEAKER_01: You were close, you got the heart part.
46:27
SPEAKER_01: I got the heart, and it's the heart that counts.
46:29
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean, Krista?
46:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then when you when you said the song that you were going for in the time frame, I was thinking I'm never gonna know this, but actually do I do know that song.
46:38
SPEAKER_01: So, so that uh yeah, number one in uh clear back in 1983.
46:44
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't seem that long ago.
46:46
SPEAKER_01: Anyway, Bonnie Tyler's totally clips of the heart.
46:49
SPEAKER_01: Krista Swanson, chief economist for the National Corn Growers Association.
46:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh congratulations once again on your your Women in Agribusiness Award.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: That's uh you should be very proud of yourself.
47:01
SPEAKER_01: That's outstanding.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: And uh thank you for for your your patience with us today, with your frankness and and for your candor.
47:08
SPEAKER_01: We uh we really appreciate being able to talk to you on this level.
47:11
SPEAKER_01: That's that's really great, Krista.
47:12
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for spending the time.
47:13
SPEAKER_02: Yep, thanks so much for having me.
47:15
SPEAKER_02: And Davis, I have to call you out on one thing here because I today, October 1st, is also Jimmy Carter's birthday, and we have to recognize him as a president who is also a farmer and just a flat out, really good person, too.
47:30
SPEAKER_01: Well said, well said.
47:31
SPEAKER_01: Also this day.
47:32
SPEAKER_01: What year was it?
47:33
SPEAKER_01: Do you know off the top of your head?
47:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh I don't know.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: I don't either.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: I don't either.
47:37
SPEAKER_01: I could look it up, but it might throw off my internet and uh my we don't want to do that.
47:42
SPEAKER_01: We'll dip out.
47:43
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to press my buttons here.
47:44
SPEAKER_01: Well, happy birthday, Jimmy Carter.
47:47
SPEAKER_01: Well said, well said, Krista Swanson, we appreciate you being on with us here on AgSquawk in the afternoon.
47:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh beloved viewers, may I direct you to Agbol.com where you can dig deeper with Ag Bull Intel.
47:59
SPEAKER_01: Take your marketing by the horns with Agbol Intel, Agbol.com or call 855-737 Farm.
48:06
SPEAKER_01: 855737 Farm or Agbol.com.
48:09
SPEAKER_01: Jed Sidwell back first thing in the morning to get you set up with the taste of that Agbol Intel, and then I'll fill you in with an end of the week wrap-up kind of a thing.
48:17
SPEAKER_01: Tomorrow afternoon, come back for another Ag Squawk.