Pioneer Mindset

Hosted by Garrett Ruskamp

Business Entrepreneurship EducationInterviews guests

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Episodes

144

Latest episode

Nov 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Welcome to Pioneer Mindset! A podcast for rural ag business owners who want to challenge their mindset and address the discomfort in their business and personal lives by finding clarity resulting in bold conviction. Your host, Garrett Ruskamp, is a 5th generation farmer, husband and father from rural Nebraska. In the last 10 years of farming, he has experienced many challenges that business owners face on a day to day basis that stem from disorganization and being financially unaware. He understands the weight of uncertainty that comes from operating in a state of mind triggered by these struggles. Join Garrett as he shares his journey of the struggles he's faced in agriculture as a farmer and family man. He will dive into honest conversations to tackle the mindsets surrounding these issues, that will ultimately help you gain control leading to a profitable and sustainable business. For more conviction through clarity, follow Garrett Ruskamp on Instagram (@garrettruskamp) or Facebook (Garrett Ruskamp).

Listen to episodes

60 recent

November 3, 2026Episode 14339 min

E143 | Are You Leaving Money in the Field? How To Capture a Few Extra Bucks

Episode Summary Drive through the countryside right now and you'll see a lot of clipped clean fields that are going to sit empty until planting. I started wondering if we're leaving money on the table by doing nothing with them for five or six months. That came from hearing the Barn Talk guys talk about grazing cornstalks. I think there's opportunity there, but there's a lot to think through before you jump in. So I walk through the numbers from three sides: the guy who owns the cows, the farmer taking them in and the landowner with the stalks. I also share where I got it wrong. I called trucking cows 485 miles expensive without ever comparing it to what it costs to feed them back home. A buddy pushed back and he was right. We also get into fence, water, chopping ice when it's seven degrees and what it means to sign up for livestock seven days a week. It's not black or white. But if you're wondering whether this fits your operation, run the real math, not the farmer math. Key takeaways from this week's episode: Expensive compared to what? Compare the number to the alternative $8,000 gross is not $8,000 profit Every yes to the cows is a no to something else You're managing people as much as cattle Landowners get something out of it too: nutrients back on the ground and less volunteer corn Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here! Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

October 27, 2026Episode 14258 min

E142 | Built in the Dirt: Resiliency, Mental Health and Doing Hard Things with John Sachse

Episode Summary John Sachse is back on the podcast this week! John is a fourth generation Kansas rancher, Army National Guard officer, resiliency coach and now a published author. His book, Built in the Dirt: The Resiliency Playbook, just released and it's written for the person whose head is barely above water trying to keep the lights on and still show up for their family. In this episode we get into the control paradox, why resiliency isn't about being tougher, the difference between the egg and the tennis ball, and two of the simplest tools John uses every single day to build a more resilient mindset: practicing gratitude and switching from "I have to" to "I get to." We also talk about staying physically active during the busy season, even when there's no time and what he's building at his Kansas ranch with two upcoming rucks this fall and winter. Life happens for you, not to you. That's the thread running through this whole conversation. In this week's episode with Coach John: Resiliency is not about being tougher. It's about learning to carry the right load and let go of what you were never meant to carry. The control paradox: release what you can't control, act on what you can, lead through what you can influence. Practice gratitude every morning with three to five specific things. Flip "I have to" to "I get to" and watch how it changes your whole outlook on the task in front of you. There are no failures, only data points and opportunities to learn. Any movement is good movement in the busy season. Keep the train from stopping completely. You don't have to find out what you're made of alone. Do the hard things together. Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with John: Check out his website here ! Follow John on Instagram Follow John on LinkedIn Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

October 20, 2026Episode 14130 min

E141 | Don't Let Harvest Win at the Expense of Everything Else

Episode Summary The farm will take every minute you have and every dollar you own. And harvest is where that phrase hits the hardest. I recorded this one on a Tuesday morning, right in the middle of harvest. We'd just started combining the night before after nearly three weeks of rain. And before I even sat down to record, I got the call about a flat tire on the trailer. That's harvest. It always comes first. This episode is as much a reminder for me as it is for you. Because if we're not careful, harvest wins at the expense of our body, our faith, our family and our business. We justify it every time, but at the end of the day we've got to ask ourselves, at what expense? I walk through how harvest affects each area of the Core 4, why our worth being tied to our productivity is one of the biggest drivers behind all of this and what we can actually do to be more intentional so we don't end up looking back on another harvest season wishing we had done it differently. Key takeaways from this week's episode: Harvest is both important and urgent, and that's what makes it so hard to step back from. Your worth is not tied to your productivity, even if it feels that way this time of year. As a business owner, you don't get paid to stay busy. You get paid to be effective. Think of family balance like a bank account. Make deposits before the season so the withdrawals don't put you in the red. Plan your week even when it feels like you don't have the time. Ten minutes on Monday saves you from forgetting the things that actually matter. Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

October 13, 2026Episode 14043 min

E140 | We Bought Farm Ground: Here's the Process Start to Finish

Episode Summary Have you ever bought a farm before? Until you've actually gone through the process, it's really hard to know what to expect. We just bought some farm ground here recently and going through it firsthand taught me a lot. Some of it I wish I had known sooner. Some of it I wish I had done differently years ago. And all of it is worth sharing before you find yourself in the middle of it trying to figure things out on the fly. In this episode, I walk through the full farm buying process from start to finish, including what financial information the bank actually needs and why, how the appraisal works and who should be ordering it, what the title company does and why it matters who you choose and what FSA programs are available and how to use them creatively to structure a deal that works for you. I also share one of my bigger takeaways from going through this: be willing to buy the less than perfect farm so you can one day be more equipped to buy the perfect one. And the best time to start preparing for this? Before the opportunity ever shows up. Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

October 6, 2026Episode 13935 min

E139 | Farm Weird and Figure It Out with Zach Smith The Stock Cropper: Part 2

Episode Summary We're back with Zach Smith for part two of this conversation. If you missed part one, go back and listen first. There's a lot of good context in there about Zach's background, how Stock Cropper started and what it's actually like to try something nobody in your area has ever done. This week we get into where Zach is today. The Stock Cropper system has evolved and he's been deep in developing the Cluster Cluck Drive, an autonomous solar-powered pen mover for backyard chickens and small livestock. We talk through the new intercropping arrangements he's running in 2026 with corn, beans and oats, including the Quintuple Bio Pass system that produced a 70 bushel advantage in trials over conventional 30 inch corn with the same seed and fertilizer. We talk about experimenting on a budget, why your neighbors' opinions shouldn't factor into your decisions and why the spirit of building your own solutions in agriculture has slowly been handed off to the guy in town selling out of a 2.5 gallon jug. Zach also shares what the Low Rangers are trying to do in Iowa with conservation advocacy, why 45Z is one of the biggest opportunities agriculture has seen in years and why more farmers adopting strip till and cover crops is actually an economic self-interest issue just as much as an environmental one. Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with Zach: Follow on X here Follow on Instagram here Follow on Facebook here Follow on TikTok here Follow on YouTube here Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

September 29, 2026Episode 13829 min

E138 | Farm Weird and Figure It Out with Zach Smith The Stock Cropper: Part 1

Episode Summary This week I'm bringing on a guy I've been wanting to get on ever since we crossed paths at a friend's field day. Zach Smith, known across the ag world as The Stock Cropper, is a fifth generation Iowa farmer who has spent the last decade doing things most people in his area thought were flat out crazy. If you've been thinking about trying something new, this one's for you. And if you're already in it and just keep getting knocked down, this one's really for you. In part one, we cover Zach's background from ag retail to taking over the family farm to stumbling into strip intercropping and eventually co-creating what became the Stock Cropper system. We talk about how the unconventional path has almost always led to the best outcomes in his life, how a conversation on Twitter in February 2020 led to the Cluster Cluck 5000 and why the number one return from the Stock Cropper experiment wasn't the yield records at Precision Planting. It was the people. Come back for part two that drops next week! In this week's episode with Zach: The unconventional path is usually where the best opportunities are hiding Going out into the world before coming back to the farm gave Zach a perspective and network he couldn't have built any other way Take chances relative to where you're at in life so you don't out-kick your coverage What other people are doing is not the only truth in the world Finding one other person willing to try something different can completely change your trajectory The closer you get to where you're supposed to go, the stronger the resistance gets Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with Zach: Follow on X here Follow on Instagram here Follow on Facebook here Follow on TikTok here Follow on YouTube here Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

September 22, 2026Episode 13730 min

E137 | When Expansion Makes Things Worse: Our Farm's Story

Episode Summary Is bigger better? Or does bigger just mean more risk? That question showed up on X a while back wrapped in a phrase that got a lot of pushback: the only way out of debt is to grow your way out of it. I've got thoughts on that. Strong ones. Because we lived it. In this episode I get honest about our own expansion story. Building the hoop building in 2016, doubling the cow herd, then adding a third group of cattle when we were already under financial pressure. We thought we could spread those fixed costs across more units and somehow come out ahead. We couldn't. And it actually sped up some of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. I'm not anti-growth. I want to be clear about that. But I am very much for being intentional about how you grow, when you grow and why. Because that farmer mindset of just add more, divide the costs over more units and everything pencils out. That's not a business plan. That's a feeling. This episode is about knowing the difference between direct and indirect costs, understanding where your operation actually stands before you take on something new and asking the hard questions before you sign anything. Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

September 15, 2026Episode 13617 min

E136 | The Power of Putting Yourself in the Right Rooms

Episode Summary Would your future self recommend the circles you're currently in or think you could do better? This episode came straight from a weekend in Kansas City at the Singular Agronomics dealer conference. Being in a room full of the right people who are genuinely curious, open-minded and willing to try new things was a good reminder of just how much the circles you're in shape who you become. Not just the five closest people to you, but the outer circles too. The rooms you put yourself in. The conversations you choose to have. I talk about the difference between being present in a room and actually showing up for the people in it. I share a quality I deeply admire in someone I got to spend time with, the ability to make you feel like the conversation you're having is the most important one in the room. And I challenge myself and you to be that person more often. This one is a little shorter, but there's a lot of take home value, especially if you tend to stick to yourself at events or if you've ever walked out of a networking opportunity wondering if it was worth your time. Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

September 8, 2026Episode 13542 min

E135 | Sell Buy Marketing and Taking Back Control: Part 2 with Doug Ferguson

Episode Summary I'm back with Doug Ferguson, Mr. Cattlemaster, for part two of this conversation. If you haven't heard part one yet, go back and listen. Doug shares his background, how sell-buy marketing works and more. This week we get into what actually keeps people from implementing sell-buy marketing after the school. We talk about the difference between being interested and being committed, and what it really takes to push through when motivation fades. Doug opens up about his sobriety journey and how quitting drinking created a quantum leap in his business, his relationships and his ability to focus. We swap some stories about the pens from hell that you never forget and why those hard years are actually the ones that made the most impression. Doug also shares some practical advice for anyone sitting on the fence about attending a sell-buy school: start tracking your costs right now, before anything else. Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with Doug: Follow on Facebook - Mr. Cattlemaster Follow on Youtube - Mrcattlemaster1 Learn more about Mr. Cattlemaster on his website here ! Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!

September 1, 2026Episode 13434 min

E134 | Sell Buy Marketing and Taking Back Control: Part 1 with Doug Ferguson

Episode Summary This week I'm Doug Ferguson, Mr. Cattlemaster, to the podcast! He is one of the most unique thinkers in the cattle industry and this conversation did not disappoint. Doug teaches sell-buy marketing, a strategy that flips the traditional buy-sell approach. Instead of buying cattle and hoping the market cooperates on the back end, you capture your profit on the buy and that one shift changes everything about how you operate, how you make decisions and how you handle the emotional rollercoaster of the cattle market. In part one of this two-part episode, we talk about how Doug got started, including the $7,000 he spent on 18 calves nobody wanted and how sell-buy marketing has allowed him to build a seven-figure cattle business over time. We also get into the double-binding messages the cattle industry sends itself, why knowing your numbers is the foundation of everything and what it actually looks like to stay disciplined in the sale barn when the auctioneer is doing their job and your hands are shaking. Part two drops next week. Don't miss it. In this week's episode with Doug Ferguson: Sell-buy marketing flips the script: you capture your profit on the buy, not the sell Revenue feeds the ego, profits feed the family: focus on what actually goes home Most cattle producers aren't tracking their true expenses and their guesses are way off Build a fudge factor into your cost calculations so unexpected problems don't become crises A hyper mind cannot control a hyper body, emotions cost you money in the sale barn Know your numbers, build your barn card, stick to it There's tuition to be paid in any business, the goal is to learn from it and keep going Resources & Links: To learn more about how I can help you achieve financial clarity and confidence through essential tools and systems, check out my free training here ! Connect with Doug: Follow on Facebook - Mr. Cattlemaster Follow on Youtube - Mrcattlemaster1 Learn more about Mr. Cattlemaster on his website here ! Connect with Garrett: Follow on Instagram - @garrettruskamp Follow on Facebook - Garrett Ruskamp Follow on TikTok - @garrettruskamp Learn more about Pioneer Farmer here ! Make sure to hit follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!