ATR: Corteva's 'Snitch Line' Sparks Farmer Fury, Chinese Bioterror Plot? Game Wardens Trespassing?

About this episode

Kenny Bergmann (S&H Farm Supply EVP, FCS Financial board chairman) discusses Corteva's threatening letter to farmers with an anonymous "snitch line" targeting generic 2,4-D herbicide use on Enlist crops — both hosts draw a direct parallel to Monsanto's biotech-compliance enforcement backlash from the early 2000s, viewing it as a serious trust/reputation risk regardless of Corteva's legitimate IP-protection rationale. They cover two Chinese nationals charged with smuggling the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum through Detroit airport (Bergmann is agnostic on intent — "50/50 chance either way" — but praises customs' detection capability as reassuring amid broader border-security anxiety), and Alabama landowners suing game wardens over warrantless open-fields-doctrine property searches (Bergmann raises the concept of unchecked independent wildlife commissions and Vance introduces the "curtilage" legal concept from Chris Bennett's reporting). Bergmann's Peter Thiel paradox is an optimistic, against-consensus claim that young people can still successfully start a farm from nothing given enough determination — illustrated with his own origin story (a $5,000 first-time farm loan, newborn son, brutal first winter). His worthy adversary framing is unusual: rather than naming an individual, he identifies "lack of appreciation for what we have in America" as his real target of disagreement.

“We have a long memory out here on the farm and so we want to do business with people we trust and they trust us... how do they get paid for that is the challenge.”

“The wildlife code that they develop goes unnoticed or unchecked by the public... if a game warden were to come to your home and search... you might be in trouble.”

“This has prompted several of my friends to really push back how much area they mow... that actually makes them feel like, hey, I need to be able to push the government from being able to look right into my yard.”

Key moments

• Corteva's anonymous snitch-line letter — both hosts draw a direct historical parallel to Monsanto's early-2000s biotech-compliance enforcement, which Vance argues cost Monsanto its reputation and possibly contributed to the company's eventual sale 15 years later.
• Chinese nationals smuggling Fusarium graminearum through Detroit airport — Bergmann is agnostic on intent but praises US customs' detection capability, citing a Warren Buffett quote ("absence of stupidity is of far greater value than the presence of genius").
• Alabama game warden warrantless-search lawsuit — Bergmann raises concern about unchecked independent wildlife commissions with no legislative oversight; Vance introduces the "curtilage" legal boundary concept from Chris Bennett's reporting.
• Bitcoin/land price report — Polk County, MO land at ~$6,000/acre vs Bitcoin at $101,000; Bergmann admits he "just knows enough to be dangerous" about Bitcoin and prefers gold, though open to learning.
• Bergmann's Peter Thiel paradox — argues young people can still viably start farming from scratch today, illustrated with his own origin story of a $5,000 loan and a brutal first winter checking cattle at 2am.