Ag Selling Out? Angus Takes Bezos $$, Iowa Corn Chooses Pipelines Over Members @taylorcmoyer

About this episode

Returning guest Taylor Moyer covers the American Angus Association's controversial $4.85M grant acceptance from the Bezos Earth Fund for methane research despite 93% member opposition (Moyer frames it as "letting the fox into the hen house," distrustful of the funder's stated climate mission even if the stated research goal — feed efficiency — is legitimate), Iowa Corn Growers' quietly-deleted celebratory post over the governor's veto of an anti-pipeline eminent domain bill (both hosts strongly oppose eminent domain on principle while noting the tension between member interests and organizational leadership), and Secretary Rollins' emotional statement about protecting farmland from solar installations (Moyer supports solar broadly but wants it prioritized on already-developed land — rooftops, parking lots — before cropland, while both hosts are wary of "national security" framing justifying federal land-use control). Moyer's Peter Thiel paradox argues now — despite record-high cattle prices — is actually the best time to get into cattle due to compounding effects of the fixed carrying-capacity/higher-revenue dynamic. His worthy adversary is Secretary Brooke Rollins, respected but criticized for repeating the "feed the world" efficiency narrative Moyer sees as ignoring the deeper problem of the 1.3 billion tons of food wasted annually.

“93% of people wanted the Angus Association to give the money back. The board... unanimously voted to accept the money.”

“Some of us are like, what farmers are they talking to when they pass this policy?... it felt just like a lot of hand wringing from the pass the money from the government to the organizations as a feel good thing.”

“Land prices have jumped $4,000 since your last [visit]... a 27% increase and while Bitcoin only jumped 11% during the same period.”

Key moments

• Angus Association methane-research funding controversy — Moyer details the data-privacy and mission-misalignment concerns, distinguishing his skepticism of the Bezos Earth Fund's climate agenda from a defensible research goal (feed efficiency).
• Iowa Corn Growers' quietly deleted celebratory post on the anti-pipeline veto — both hosts unite in opposing eminent domain on principle regardless of the ethanol/carbon-capture economic upside.
• Secretary Rollins' emotional solar-farmland statement — Moyer supports rooftop/parking-lot solar prioritization over cropland but rejects federal "national security" framing as government overreach into private land-use decisions.
• Bitcoin/land price report — Union County, NC land jumped from $15,000 to ~$19,000/acre (27% in months) versus Bitcoin's 11% gain in the same window; Moyer owns both assets and wishes he had more land currently.
• Moyer's Peter Thiel paradox — argues fixed cattle carrying capacity means record-high prices generate more revenue to compound during good markets, making now (not a downturn) the better time to scale into cattle, contra conventional wisdom.