ATR: Drinking and Corn Drop Like a Rock with @JimSmith87

About this episode

Ag Tribes Report episode with guest Jim Smith, a swine nutritionist/farmer from northeast Indiana and host of the Patio Pondering podcast, covering four headline stories under classic ATR structure. The lead story examines the disconnect between record global food prices (driven by vegetable oil and meat) and collapsing farm-gate crop prices (corn, wheat, rice at multi-year lows), with Jim sharing firsthand budgeting numbers showing his farm's actual cash corn price falling well below both his own and his banker's projections — a concrete signal of financial stress leading to an uptick in farm retirement auctions. The second story covers the EPA's relaxed diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) rules, easing engine shutdown/limp-mode penalties for farm equipment and trucks. The third covers the historic decline in US alcohol consumption (lowest since 1939 per Gallup) and its knock-on effect on barley, hop, and grape growers, with both hosts speculating on generational, cultural, and economic causes (THC substitution, reduced nightlife/socializing, disposable income). The fourth story covers the Potter Valley water crisis in California, where PG&E's dam decommissioning plan threatens water access for ranchers and farmers, illustrating tension between environmental restoration (salmon habitat) and agricultural sustainability. The episode closes with the recurring Bitcoin/farmland price comparison segment (Bitcoin near $118-123k, near all-time highs), a Peter Thiel paradox segment (Jim's contrarian defense of off-farm income as legitimate diversification), and a worthy-adversary segment (Jim naming ag-social-media pioneer Trent Loos, respected but disagreed with on government intervention).

“We saw corn prices go sub $4... it's just been hard... Growers face record low prices... yet farmers growing corn, beans and rice face record low prices.”

“When we did our budgets, we used four 50 for the price of corn. And my banker goes, man, you're high... cash price off the combine at ADM in New Haven today was like 3 85, 3 80.”

“I believe that it is worthwhile for me to have a discussion with Jerod. Maybe he knows something, I don't. But I firmly believe that this is a thing that if you don't take it seriously, it will run right past you and this will have generational impacts on you and your family.”

Key moments

• Story #1 — global food price index hits a two-year high while corn/wheat/rice prices sit at multi-year lows; Jim shares real budgeting numbers showing his farm's actual cash corn price undercutting even conservative banker projections.
• Discussion of an uptick in farm retirement auctions as older farmers exit under financial pressure, per Jim's banker contacts.
• Story #2 — EPA relaxes DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) shutdown/limp-mode rules for farm equipment and trucks, framed as regulatory relief.
• Story #3 — US alcohol consumption at its lowest since 1939 (Gallup); barley, hops, and wine grape growers face oversupply; hosts debate generational/cultural causes (THC, reduced socializing, disposable income, post-COVID nightlife decline).
• Story #4 — Potter Valley water crisis in California; PG&E's dam decommissioning plan cuts water access for ranchers ahead of salmon-habitat restoration, framed as a genuine "farmers as environmentalists" tension.