Growing the Future

Hosted by Dan Aberhart , Terry Aberhart

Business TechnologyInterviews guestsExplicit

Website RSS feed

Episodes

183

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

About the show

CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER. The Growing the Future Podcast features conversations on innovation, entrepreneurship, and personal and professional growth in the agriculture community.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 20, 20261 hr 3 min

The Crop Is Ready. Is Your Yard?

A $1.2 million combine is only as fast as the slowest part of the yard behind it, and for most harvests, that slow part isn't the field. It's the space between the combine and the bin: the trucks, the augers, the dryer, and the person running between all three. Dan Aberhart brought three operators together who've each solved that bottleneck a different way, from a hundred-thousand-dollar retrofit to a fully automated grain-handling site eight months and one generation in the making. What's Inside • How Brennan McArthur built an automated grain-handling system near Watrous that dumps a legal Super B in about eight minutes, and what actually pushed him to build it • Vince Pawluski's remote-control retrofit kit that lets one operator run more than one machine, and the real dollar cost of an idling tractor • Trevor Scherman on why a magnetic drop pan is still the cheapest data-collection device on the farm, even as combine automation does more of the calibration itself • What each guest thinks won't be automated for years yet, and why the combine seat is the last one they expect to see empty • Where smaller automated units fit against Western Canada's big-iron reality, and why swarm technology hasn't earned trust yet If the data side of this conversation landed for you, look for the back-catalog episode with sprayer specialist Tom Wolf on calibration and coverage. It's the same instinct Trevor brings to a drop pan, applied to the boom instead of the header. Resources Mentioned • SureGain (Trevor Scherman's harvest data and drop pan work) • LV Control (Winnipeg-based grain handling automation) • John Deere Operations Center (JD Ops) • Agromatix Pro • STARS Air Ambulance Connect • Connect with Trevor Scherman: SureGain • Connect with Vince Pawluski • Connect with Brennan McArthur Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Subscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

August 12, 20261 hr 4 min

Sell High or Sell Wrong - A Pre-Harvest Market Briefing

Canola's up on a good rally, fertilizer's down from its spring highs, and for the first time in a while, Western Canadian producers have a little swagger back. But every rally raises the same question: is this the one you lock in, or the one that convinces you to wait too long? Dave Norris of Norris Crop Consulting and Todd Rowan of IXL Innovations, two grain marketing advisors working with the top tier of Western Canadian producers, join Darren Sander of Crop Aid Nutrition, a working farmer near Rosetown, Saskatchewan, to read where this crop actually stands and what it means for pricing decisions this fall. The math is tight. Two bushels an acre off the Canadian canola average works out to about a million tons. With crush running at 14 million tons and exports near 9 million, a crop landing at 21 million tons instead of 23 leaves someone rationed. The panel breaks down the real story on crop size, why China stepping back into the market matters more than most producers realize, and what the fertilizer and fuel numbers actually tell you about locking in the 2026 crop now. What's Inside Why 2 bushels off the Canadian canola average works out to about a million tons, and what that means for pricing What it means when 14 million tons of crush and 9 million tons of exports meet a crop that might land at 21 million tons Why China stepping into the canola market in August is a signal worth watching, and what it tends to wake up in other buyers Why fertilizer at $850 a ton looks different once you compare it to what canola is actually worth right now The real reason most producers miss good pricing windows: they respond to a push notification, not a website they have to remember to check A live read on the August USDA report as it dropped, and what it changed in the room in real time If this conversation makes you think about who's actually watching your marketing decisions, go back in the catalog for our episode with Derek Squair on what a grain market coach actually gets paid to do, a conversation that asks the same question from the other side of the table. Resources Mentioned Norris Crop Consulting IXL Innovations Crop Aid Nutrition's soil health program Connect with Dave Norris www.nccag.ca Connect with Todd Rowan Text 306-260-3353 Connect with Darren Sander Crop Aid Nutrition Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Subscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

August 11, 20261 hr 0 min

Farm Succession Planning Canada: Are You Prepared?

Picture the one person your farm cannot run without. Now picture their chair empty tomorrow morning. Can someone else access the accounts, make payroll, or explain what the farm owes and why? If those answers only live in one person's head, the farm is not prepared, no matter how good the balance sheet looks. Jace Young grew up watching his grandfather's 55 year, multimillion dollar Kansas farm operation collapse into bankruptcy in 2005, then built Legacy Farmer to help other families get their financial house in order before the same thing happens to them. Jolene Bolding, Manager of Advisory Services at Farm Credit Canada, has her own story of a farm sale her family decided on before she ever got a seat at the table. Wade Berlinic, Associate Broker with Hammond Realty's Ag Exits and Acquisitions Strategies team, sees what happens when that conversation gets put off until the land is already on the market. Together they walk through why only 12 percent of Canadian farms have an actual transition plan, what it costs a family when nobody has one, and the five stage process Jace uses to move an operation from financial blind spots to a plan everyone in the family can actually see. What's Inside - Why a farm can look bulletproof on paper and still not be prepared for one empty chair - The story behind Jace Young's grandfather losing a 55 year, multimillion dollar Kansas operation, and what it did to the family afterward - Why only 12 percent of Canadian farms have a written transition plan, and what that gap actually costs - The five stage process Legacy Farmer uses to move a family from financial blind spots to a real plan: Position, Production, Profit, Protection, and Prosper - Why the conversation almost never starts with the numbers, it starts with pride, ego, and who is willing to ask for help - What $55 billion in Canadian farm assets transferring in the next decade means for every family still putting this conversation off If this conversation hits home, go back in the catalog for our episode with Elaine Froese on farm family transition and communication, one of the clearest voices in Western Canada on getting these conversations started before they're forced. It also pairs well with our conversation with Robert Andjelic on where farmland capital is actually moving right now. Resources Mentioned Legacy Farmer's five stage framework: Position, Production, Profit, Protection, Prosper Connect with Jace Young LegacyFarmer.com Connect with Jolene Bolding Reach out to your local FCC field office to connect with a business advisor Connect with Wade Berlinic - Hammond Realty Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Subscribe to the Growing the Future Podcast wherever you listen, and register for Convergence Conference 2027 at convergence.ag. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

August 10, 202659 min

Independent Agronomist Jaeda Hoppe: Going Out on Your Own at 24

Every farmer has somebody they call. The story we tell about that is a farmer who doesn't know what he's doing, hiring someone else to think for him. Jaeda Hoppe thinks that story is wrong. She went independent at 24, after two of her clients tracked her down through her mother's hair salon and asked her to work for them privately. Four years later, she still has the same five clients she started with. This conversation is about what she actually gets paid for, once the theory runs out. What's Inside - What a producer is actually paying an independent agronomist for, once the theory runs out - Why she recommends every young agronomist start in ag retail, even though almost nobody treats it as an end goal - The built-in objectivity problem when a retailer's margin depends on which product they recommend - Why she's seen close to zero measurable results from the biological products she's evaluated - Compartmentalizing stress: the skill she says separates the farmers and agronomists who last from the ones who don't - Her weekly Sunday text subscription sharing field observations, and why she built it Connect with Jaeda Hoppe Hoppe Agronomy Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

August 7, 20261 hr 32 min

Cover Crops Western Canada: Does It Pay on Prairie Acres?

John Kempf, Melissa Werkema, and Kevin Elmy on Regenerative Economics GTF Productions Live Briefing, in partnership with Sask Soils | August 5, 2026 17,000 farmers registered for a national program teaching cover cropping, nitrogen management, and grazing. 10,000 are actively engaged. When surveyed, 89% said they had already implemented, expanded, or enhanced one of those practices. The holdup was never belief. It was cost, cash flow, and not knowing the ROI. This briefing puts three specialists on that exact question, with the economics front and center the whole way through. What's Inside - John Kempf's nitrogen protocol: ammonium and nitrate ratios, replacing 25% of your first 100 units of nitrogen with sulfur, and why foliar urea outperforms soil-applied nitrogen 4 to 1 - The trace minerals, boron, manganese, cobalt, and molybdenum, behind a claimed 25 to 30 percent yield bump - Why the form of a nutrient matters more than the amount on your soil test, and how sap analysis catches what a standard report misses - Cover cropping as functional plant groups, and the economics of building soil through custom grazing - Why ruminant manure, bison and cattle specifically, builds soil biology that cold-climate soils can't get any other way - What actually triggers a producer to change practices, and why it's rarely curiosity If you want more on tissue and sap testing, look for the Late Crop, Right Call and Tissue Testing episodes in the GTF Podcast back catalog. Resources Mentioned Advancing Eco Agriculture Cover Crops Canada -- Kevin Elmy's consulting practice, author of Not Just Dirt Sask Soils (Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association) Farmers for Climate Solutions, FARM program -- funding partner behind this briefing Rangeland Bison -- Dean Andrus Connect with John Kempf Advancing Eco Agriculture Connect with Melissa Werkema Future Analytics -- Red Deer, Alberta Connect with Kevin Elmy Cover Crops Canada Connect with Sask Soils sasksoils.ca -- annual conference February 10-11, 2027 in Regina (Sask Soils' 40th anniversary), cover crop workshops this fall Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

July 28, 20261 hr 0 min

Five Numbers Every Farm Should Know: Get Your Books in Order

A drought area of Saskatchewan just got two weeks of standing water. Harvest is coming and margins are tight either way, but the numbers still have to work. Most farm finance advice arrives as a binder nobody opens. This conversation is five numbers, in plain language, from a CPA who goes home to a working grain and lentil farm at night. Richelle Boyd, MNP's National Leader for Crop Services, and Dean Klippenstine, a senior partner in MNP's agriculture practice, walk through what good looks like on a real operation and what to check first when something feels off. What's Inside - Gross margin: whether the crop is producing enough room for the rest of the farm - Cost of production: finding your real break-even number per acre - Cash flow: why a profitable year on paper doesn't mean the account is ready - Debt servicing: manageable debt versus debt that leaves no room for a bad crop - Working capital: the cushion between what you can turn into cash and what's coming due Resources Mentioned MNP -- "The Numbers Every Farm Business Should Know" -- mnp.ca/en/insights/directory/the-numbers-every-farm-business-should-know MNP Agriculture practice -- mnp.ca/en/industries/agriculture Connect with Richelle Boyd MNP -- mnp.ca/en/personnel/richelle-boyd Connect with Dean Klippenstine MNP Agriculture -- mnp.ca/en/industries/agriculture Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

July 20, 202659 min

What AI Changed for Them: Four Operators, 30 Days In

Four operators in Western Canadian agriculture spent thirty days building with AI, then sat down to tell Dan Aberhart what actually changed. An independent agronomist carrying sixty-plus harvests of judgment, a six-thousand-acre farmer who calls himself a nine who never finishes anything, an entrepreneur scaling a plasma-activated-water nitrogen business, and a Saskatchewan farmland realtor running a team of thirteen all walked into the same AI cohort a month earlier. What they bring back: a satellite-imagery call that stopped an unnecessary reseed, a combine deal an AI advisor told them to walk away from, an agent built at four in the morning that caught financial red flags nobody assigned it to find, and a hard-conversation coach one of them didn't know he needed. Topics and Timestamps 0:00 -- Cold open: the AI cohort joke 2:51 -- Welcome to Growing the Future Productions Live 4:15 -- How this started: 60 days from signal to launch 7:08 -- Meet the panel: Robert, Joe, Chris, Tim 15:16 -- What business problem each of them was actually trying to solve 20:20 -- What the personal operating diagnostic revealed about each of them 30:00 -- Talking openly about AI skepticism and confidentiality 35:39 -- Robert: the gopher-field call satellite imagery corrected 40:34 -- Joe: the combine deal, the AI advisory board, and slowing down emotional decisions 42:51 -- Chris: building diagnostics and agents for the whole team 43:52 -- Tim: the AI tool built to help him have hard conversations 45:57 -- Tim: strategic blueprints and running land-value scenarios 48:24 -- Where each of them takes this next 55:06 -- Cohort 2 details: dates, seats, price, and the guarantee 56:02 -- The real vision: a course with a room, or a room with a course 57:53 -- Closing words from the panel 59:57 -- Sign-off Resources Mentioned GYFOS (Growing Your Future Operating System) Cohort 2 -- application at growingthefuture.ca Personal Operating Diagnostic (built from Kolbe, CliftonStrengths, and Enneagram assessments) AgriTrend -- the independent agronomy mentorship network Robert Woolf came up through Nitride Corp / Green Lightning -- plasma-activated water, a nitrogen source Pioneer Seed and Covers & Co. -- Joe Larre's seed businesses Hammond Realty -- Saskatchewan farmland brokerage Connect with the Panel Robert Woolf CCA -- Crop Innovations Inc., independent agronomy Joe Larre -- MJM Ranches, St. Walburg SK (Pioneer Seed, Covers & Co.) Chris Nykolaishen -- Nitride Corp Tim Hammond -- Hammond Realty Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

July 17, 202654 min

Late Crop Right Call Greg Patterson & Darren Fisher

Half of Saskatchewan is watching the canola fill pods. The other half is still sitting in water. 30% of the cropland in the province rated moisture surplus at the time of this conversation, and the ministry's own word is that flooding is the number one source of crop damage in Saskatchewan this year. Yellowing fields, drowned-out low spots, pulses going backwards. The decision framework for in-season nutrition changes when you're not sure which half of the province you're in. Greg Patterson has been doing tissue analysis at A&L Canada Laboratories for decades. Darren Fischer is a technical advisor with Crop-Aid Nutrition who was in the fields in real time during this conversation. This is what they said on July 13, 2026, with the season in exactly the condition it was in. What's Inside - Two seasons on the prairies at once: what each one means for your in-crop nutrition decisions right now - A farm-walk report from Darren Sander at Sander Farms near Sovereign, Saskatchewan -- his fungicide and foliar strategy mid-season - Why you should never apply a fungicide without pairing a foliar with it, and why that's even more true in a wet year - Potassium as the yield driver in both wet and dry conditions: for every pound of nitrogen the crop needs early, it needs three of potassium - How to read a tissue report: the fuel-gauge analogy, what dropping levels actually mean, and why a great crop should drive you crazy - The phloem connection: how potassium and boron work together to move photosynthates through the plant, and what happens when boron is low - The nitrate accumulation trap: when it looks like a nitrogen problem but it's actually a potassium and boron imbalance - Boron in Western Canada: why we're afraid of it, why that's costing yield, and what the research on microbial activity actually says - Foliar selection by condition and crop stage: which product when, and how to think about tank mixing with herbicides and fungicides - Handheld tissue testers vs. lab analysis: what the correlation data actually shows - The fastest way to get a tissue sample to the lab: paper bag, Purolator envelope, 24-hour turnaround - The economics: how to think about a $5-6 foliar pass when you're already sending the sprayer out for fungicide - Frost risk in a late year: why well-fertilized crops mature faster and reduce your window of exposure If you want more from Greg Patterson on soil biology and tissue analysis, the Engine of the Soil series is where he goes deep -- look for those episodes in the GTF Podcast back catalog. And if shallow rooting and soil health in a wet year is where your season is, that same series has the framework. Resources Mentioned A&L Canada Laboratories -- alcanada.com (plant monitoring program, tissue analysis, 24-hour turnaround) Crop-Aid Nutrition -- cropaidnutrition.com (foliar products, educational videos, crop tour program) Ag in Motion -- Crop-Aid Nutrition at Booth 381; A&L Canada Laboratories on site Connect with Greg Patterson A&L Canada Laboratories -- alcanada.com Call the lab and ask for Greg, Beth, Mike, or Chris -- they take questions and find answers A&L technical reps in the field are trained directly by Greg Connect with Darren Fischer Crop-Aid Nutrition -- cropaidnutrition.com 1-866 number and email on the website -- ask for Darren Fischer by name Crop-Aid Nutrition on YouTube -- educational videos on foliar timing and application Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca. Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

July 15, 20261 hr 5 min

State of Iron: Who Owns Your Tractor?

Cory Doctorow has spent 25 years at the Electronic Frontier Foundation watching the same story repeat across industries: a digital lock gets built in, a legal framework gets constructed around it, and the people who depend on the machine lose the right to fix it. He coined the word for how this happens. Enshittification is now in the Oxford English Dictionary. In agriculture, the mechanism is called parts pairing -- a chip that decides who is allowed to fix your equipment and what components can connect to it. The data your tractor generates is a second layer of the same argument. And the remote immobilization of stolen tractors in Ukraine is a third. Cory's position is that all three are the same issue, that the law enabling them passed in 2012 after 6,132 Canadians said no and 53 said yes, and that farmers are one of the most effective political forces in this country when they choose to use it. This is not Growing the Future's verdict on any equipment manufacturer. What's Inside - What enshittification means and why John Deere became Cory's clearest example of it outside tech platforms - Parts pairing: how a chip on your equipment determines who can fix it and what components can connect to it - How data generated by your tractor was being siphoned -- and why data ownership and right-to-repair are the same underlying issue - Honeybee, a Saskatchewan head-end manufacturer, cannot connect their products to Deere equipment because of digital locks, not any technical limitation - Canada's Bill C-11: the Copyright Modernization Act passed in 2012 after 6,132 Canadians opposed it and 53 supported it - Digital sovereignty: from Ukraine's remotely immobilized tractors to what happens if that switch gets turned toward Alberta - Why voting with your wallet does not work in a monopoly, and what the Grangers' fight with the railroads in 1890 has to do with where we are right now - A specific call to action: CCLA, Open Media, and the EFF -- and why farmers are one of the most effective political forces in this country when they choose to be Also discussed: Cory's new book "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI" -- Number 1 Canadian bestseller, New York Times list, and in the same week enshittification was added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Resources Mentioned The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI -- Cory Doctorow (Number 1 Canadian bestseller -- available at Indigo and McNally Robinson) Electronic Frontier Foundation -- eff.org Open Media -- openmedia.ca Canadian Civil Liberties Association -- ccla.org pluralistic.net -- Cory's daily newsletter Honeybee -- Canadian head-end manufacturer, Saskatchewan Agri GPS bridge -- referenced by audience member Jim Hale as an example of third-party ag tech workaround If you want to hear more from the GTF back catalog on what it costs when farm equipment goes down, start with: Matt Yanick's episode: Downtime: The ROI Killer . And if the data question from this conversation stays with you, Wade Barnes' Farmers Edge series looks at who owns what comes off your farm. Connect with Cory Doctorow pluralistic.net craphound.com Book: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI -- Indigo, McNally Robinson, and all major booksellers Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

July 9, 202645 min

Why Aren't You Doing It All?

In agriculture, being busy is practically a badge. Ask anybody how they're doing and you'll get some version of underwater. So how does a 25-year-old fifth-generation grain farmer from Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, who also writes federal grain policy, finishes a master's thesis, teaches university, and referees hockey across the country, have more room in her day than most people do? Kate Sauser has ADHD, a system she built around how her brain actually works, and a tattoo on her wrist that reads "everything in time." This is the episode where she explains it. Resources Mentioned Albert Einstein: "Time is relative, its only worth depends on what we do as it is passing" Billy Joel: "Vienna" -- "Slow down, you're doing fine. You can't be everything you want to be before your time." Google Calendar -- Kate's primary scheduling tool ChatGPT -- Kate uses it for daily task planning, meal planning, and workouts Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.