Send us Fan Mail

PATIO PONDERING GEM

Some conversations are worth another listen.

For this Patio Pondering Gem, we’re going back to Episode 50 and my conversation with Oklahoma farmer and rancher Jerod McDaniel: Against the Grain — Bullshit, Big Ag, and the Power of Speaking Up.

Jerod has never been particularly interested in doing something simply because that’s the way everyone else does it. After taking responsibility for his family’s operation at 18, experience taught him to question assumptions, trace information back to its source, make his own mistakes, and be willing to change course when the evidence says he was wrong.

That philosophy takes this conversation well beyond farming.

We talk about raising cattle and crops in the Oklahoma Panhandle, low-population corn, agricultural economics, raising independent kids, learning from previous generations, the danger of following the herd, and why agriculture sometimes hurts itself by refusing to be completely honest about how food is produced.

Jerod’s lesson from agriculture is simple: Question everything—and do your own due diligence.

And when I ask what small change could make a huge difference for agriculture’s future, his answer may summarize the entire conversation:

Rip back the curtain.

This was one of the most-listened-to conversations in Patio Pondering history. The original episode was released as audio only, but the video remained in the archive.

For the first time, here is the original video conversation.

Jerod McDaniel — Against the Grain.

Clear Thinking for Complex Agriculture.

Be Safe Out There.

Send us Fan Mail

John Canary farms with his family in Johnson County, Indiana, where the edge of Indianapolis keeps moving closer. Houses, warehouses, and other development compete for the land around him. What does a farmer build when he cannot count on the acres being there?

John has found openings in sweet corn, pumpkins, straw, hay, livestock, and direct sales. He is also repairing old barns and weighing what to preserve against the changes the farm needs to survive. His family’s history matters to him, but he is candid about the burden that history can place on the next generation.

We talk about the roadside stand, competition for niche markets, and how he tells the farm’s story online without turning it into a performance. The conversation moves into the work his children do, the difficulty of stepping away from the farm, and the financial pressure behind many conversations about farmers’ mental health.

This is John’s first podcast interview. He does not arrive with a polished answer to where he fits in agriculture. He thinks it through with me: how to keep a family farm useful, honest, and possible as the world around it changes.

Be Safe Out There.

Send us Fan Mail

An article about beef’s long push for eating quality got me fired up about pork. I started with a sharp critique of the industry—then realized I was handing the work of change to everyone else.

In this bonus episode from The Patio, I look at what The Other White Meat accomplished, the lean pig we deliberately created, and the choices that could make pork worth seeking out for its own eating quality. I was part of that pursuit of leanness. Now I think we need to invest in marbling, color, and a better experience on the plate.

Change takes decades. We’d better get started.

Be Safe Out There.