Jen Koukol

In today's rapidly evolving agricultural landscape, the conversation between farmers and consumers has never been more crucial. During the Women in the Field main stage event at the 2025 Farm Progress Show, a panel of experts noted that ag stands at an exciting crossroads where tradition meets innovation. "People are asking questions. They are wanting to engage with farmers," said Tara Vander Dussen, co-host of the Discover Ag podcast.

Feels like the 1980s? Maybe the 2010s? Farmers are once again facing the challenge of an economic downturn. But it doesn't have to be doom and gloom for your farm business. Utilizing financial awareness, making appropriate equipment decisions and smart cropping choices, and leaning on advice from others as well as lessons learned in the past can help you come out on the positive side. “Where we’re at today bears a strong resemblance to where we were then [2013-14],” says Owen Wagner, Rabobank.

When was the last time you wrote something down. Like, took a pen to paper and wrote down a provoking thought? A list? A reminder? Most of us drop a note in our phones, make an audio reminder. But not in the 1960s. Weathered, faded and stained by time or dirt from my Grandpa Jerry’s fingerprints each time he pulled it from his front left pocket, a stack of 1960s seed company pocket notebooks were left behind. Grandpa farmed in south-central Minnesota his entire life.