This week's guest on Open Mic is Jim Farrell, President and CEO of Farmers National Company. 

With declining commodity prices, land values, and net farm income some fear a  repeat of the 1980's farm crisis.  In this week's interview, Farrell discusses the similarities and differences to the last great bear market, steeper declines for land prices, the potential effects of larger enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program and the growing percentage of land controlled by investors and absentee owners

Jeff Nalley

Jim Farrell, CEO Farmers National Company

This week’s Open Mic guest is Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council. As trade tensions with China have shifted more of their imports from Brazil, U.S. soybean farmers have successfully diversified their global demand base. Sutter says domestic supplies have higher quality than soybeans from anywhere else in the world and thus prove a better value for customers both in raw beans and in soy products. Sutter says production sustainability is becoming a greater priority in some markets which is a big advantage for U.S. soybean farmers and he sees increases in both global demand and production of oilseeds. 

This week’s Open Mic guest is Duane Highley, CEO of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. This western cooperative is embracing the growing need for electric power among its one million customers and 200,000 square miles of challenging terrain with an “all of the above” approach to power generation. Highley says the cooperative is utilizing advanced battery technology to add wind and solar generation to the base load capacity of the system. At the state and federal level, Highley says rural cooperatives need faster permitting, less regulatory red tape, and better access to funds to assist in generating and delivering power to rural America. 

This week’s Open Mic guest is Mariah Scott, CEO of Rantizo. Drone technology is being utilized at an amazing pace across many aspects of industry and especially agriculture. Spray drones now cover millions of acres of crops and the potential for growth is astronomical. Scott has been instrumental in forming the American Spray Drone Coalition, which is speaking out against legislation that would limit access to drones manufactured by Chinese companies. 

This week’s Open Mic guest is Dr. Tom Zacharias, President of the National Crop Insurance Services. Crop insurance companies have proven effective in providing risk management resources for farmers and ranchers who have suffered losses from various extreme weather events over the past several months. He outlines many of the changes the industry has undergone and how the public-private partnership delivers quicker help for policyholders. Zacharias says companies are financially sound and ready to provide even greater tools for crop, livestock and specialty crop growers for the season ahead. 

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. Farmers continue to help feed the hungry, but the number of Americans who are hungry and food insecure is greater today than during the Covid pandemic. Babineaux-Fontenot says the food lines may have moved back inside the buildings, but the need for food continues to grow as contributions are down and federal commodity donations have decreased. Babineaux-Fontenot says federal nutrition programs should be amended to avoid food “cliffs” and help individuals transition away from assistance programs.