Latest News From Diversification

Wayne Gehrke and Carolyn Brummel share how they diversified beyond corn and soybeans and made the most of what they already had so they both could farm full time.

“As a young person, if you’re not going to be proud of what you do, don’t waste your time," he advises. "Be proud of what you do, and everywhere you go, be excited about it and talk about it.”

Bateman’s Mosida Farms in Utah is named the 2024 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year by the IDFA because of their ability to innovate and diversify to better care for their cattle and land.

What does a geologist, an obit writer and a rocket scientist have in common?

Legacy Farmland Trust offers landowners a way to preserve and protect their assets for generations to come.

The oilseed crop offers farmers the opportunity to grow three crops in two years. It can be used for sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and animal feed production.

More than 50% of farmers intend to grow their operation, based on responses in Purdue’s February 2023 Ag Economy Barometer. If you’re thinking about scaling your farm, it’s important to first ask these questions.

Melissa Nelson’s dilemma to find the perfect card sprouted a business that allows her to channel her creative and entrepreneurial spirit to express her love for the farm.

With 200-plus landlords and numerous vendors, agribusiness customers and employees, strong relationships are the core of Engel Family Farms, a 2023 Top Producer of the Year finalist.

At Seven Springs Farm in Cadiz, Ky., the calculator drives decisions. With acute focus on ROI, Joe Nichols has expanded and contracted his farm’s size and scope through the years. 

If there was ever a time to consider producing for the global market, it’s now.    

I encourage all ag producers to think about vertical integration, starting with these questions.

In theory, adding a value-added enterprise sounds like the perfect reaction to fluctuating commodity prices.

Common goals, trust and open communication feed Pennsylvania operation

Archie Griffin knows short-term thinking is critical, but he takes the long view.

Business growth can mean more acres, employees or revenue. What does it mean to you?

Jennie Schmidt brings a vital view to food production and consumption.

Farm Journal is bringing producers together at some of America’s top farms and we want you to be one of them. 

When the Borg family added chickens to their diversified beef and row-crop farm, they had enough opportunity to bring their daughters back into the business and start building a sustainable future for their operation.

This week Paul Neiffer has a conversation with Tim Richter and Jackson Dohlman, partners in Saratoga Partnership.

Need a good conversation to fill some tractor or road time this summer? Subscribe to “The Farm CPA Podcast” with Paul Neiffer.

Have you stopped to think what’s next for your operation?

After major expansion, Chase Dewitz is focused on inner growth

Newcomer diversified personally as he took over the farm by working as a seed rep, eventually growing seed for companies, selling crop insurance and slowly adding acres along each step.

Green beans are harvested in June and can be double cropped to green beans again or to soybeans. For Turner, it’s a $100 per acre minimum benefit over corn or soybeans.

The 60 second advertisement will highlight the 6 for 6-Pack program that means every 6-pack of beer purchased helps transition six square feet of farmland to organic production.

Is it time to test-drive a niche crop? There’s risk, but the rewards could be high. Don’t be afraid to try something new, but don’t let the excitement of a new possibility make you lose sight of your bottom line.

Ten agtech startups will have a superb platform to springboard their innovations via the AgLaunch and Farm Journal Row Crop Challenge.

Chris Adams of Grand Forks, N.D., is a transforming his family's operation.

Ron Rabou made a shift from a price taker to a price maker.

David Heidt is far more than a gravedigger—he is a minister of comfort. Beneath the ground of Heidt’s farmland, 2,500 meticulous horse burials testify to his care and service.

After 20 years of shrimp production on his Illinois farm, Grover Webb’s seafood business has gone from strength to strength, built on his livestock background, a focus on savings, and insistence on top-quality shrimp.

AgLaunch, based in Memphis, Tenn., will be expanding its Farm-Centric Innovation Model to create agriculture businesses, attract investment capital, and enable farmers to participate in the innovation process.

AgLaunch, based in Memphis, Tenn., will be expanding its Farm-Centric Innovation Model to create agriculture businesses, attract investment capital, and enable farmers to participate in the innovation process.

Tony Schwarck of Riceville, Iowa, diversified his family's crop operation with a feedlot.

Row-crop operations are taking acres out of production to add poultry barns

The Corteva Agriscience unit is reviewing its portfolio of seeds and pesticides. The company may sell some “tangential” crop seeds to focus on core products.

Advocates: Hemp could again dominate Pennsylvania fields

The age of marijuana farming in the U.S. has arrived, although most farmers are caught on the sidelines. As individual state cultivation barriers topple at a dizzying pace, U.S. agriculture’s billion-dollar dance with marijuana has begun and there will be no strike of the clock at midnight.

New ways of marketing your product direct to your customers is a way of trying to stay ahead of the markets. Dierks Farm not only sells beef online, but also handles the logistics of how it arrives.

In today's show, we'll visit with a Pam Dierks of Dierks Farms who talks about how they had to diversify to a different type of marketing so that their sons could be a part of their farm. Part 1 of a series.

Cargill Goes Tech With Plan to Nurture New Wave of Food Startups

Rise of 'hobby farms' means more untrained growers get maimed, killed