News, Insights & Interviews Archive

The family farm required the same characteristic that helped Joshua Manske thrive on the golf course: patience. Agriculture was never really something Manske left behind. But it was something that patiently waited for him to return.

As renewable energy projects expand across rural America, many landowners are weighing the benefits of wind and solar leases against concerns from neighbors and local officials. For farmers looking for financial stability in a volatile agricultural economy, the conversation increasingly centers on how to find reasonable compromises that allow development while addressing community concerns. That balancing act is at the heart of the work being done by the Renewable Energy Farm

Listen and subscribe on Spotify | Apple Podcasts The farmland may be paid off and generating income. But looming capital gains taxes can make a straight sale financially painful. Or maybe an heir isn’t so sure that owning a farm is really what he wants to do in the years ahead. That is where a 721 exchange could be an option. “We're one of the few firms that have ever done it or tried it in the farmland space,” said Ethan Branscum, Director of Investments at Sower Farmland, w

When an 86-year-old farmer along the Route 81 corridor in central Pennsylvania was offered roughly $60,000 an acre for his land, the math was staggering. At 261 acres, the total approached $15 million.

Listen on Spotify | Apple Podcasts Farms are getting bigger, and there are fewer farms each year. Those changes have taken place over a number of years. But Dennis Reyman, Partner at Stalcup Agricultural Services in Storm Lake, Iowa, said one factor remains constant in a constantly changing agricultural industry: farmers are still doing most of the farm buying. “…as far as land ownership, the trends are kind of the same as they usually are,” Reyman told American Farmland Ow

For rural landowners, renewable energy remains one of the most talked-about — and misunderstood — developments shaping the countryside. Waylon Brown, Regional Policy Manager for Clean Grid, sees both the promise and the growing pains facing wind, solar, and battery storage across the Midwest.

No growth provides no future. Negative growth brings even more problems. But too much growth could bring issues, too. That is how Wyoming State Representative Jacob Wassenburger, R - Cheyenne, sees it.

Technology has consistently influenced farming, from the steel plow to GPS tractors. But as global pressures around food security, energy, and water intensify, the next wave of innovation may not just improve yields; it could redefine where and how food is grown.

The question of whether institutional investors are good for agriculture is not new. It has surfaced repeatedly over the last half-century, often during periods of economic stress or structural change in farming. These days with some farmers burdened by the higher cost of operating and borrowing combined with the lower return for commodities, they may question how they can keep going forward. 

Sharon Krause believes that the future of agriculture is close to home. “From an environmental perspective, the more food that we can grow closer to home, the more we reduce our costs between transportation and storage,” Krause told American Farmland Owner.

Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcast For many farm owners today, the question isn’t whether change is coming; it’s how to respond to it without jeopardizing everything they have built. Commodity markets remain volatile, input costs stay stubbornly high, and consolidation continues to squeeze margins. Virginia farmer, author, and outspoken agricultural thinker Joel Salatin offers a significantly different perspective for thinking about growth, resilience, and transition. Joel S

For much of the last decade, the national conversation about the U.S. economy has revolved around inflation, interest rates, and inequality. But according to veteran economist Ed “Dr. Ed” Yardeni, one of the most powerful forces shaping the current and future economy is far less discussed: America’s aging population. Yardeni -- noted national analyst on CNBC, Bloomberg Television, Fox Business, the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere -- is the President of Yardeni Research and

By any measure, the United States is standing on the edge of an unprecedented economic shift. Trillions of dollars are moving from one generation to the next, reshaping investment decisions, markets, and, potentially, the future of rural America. Ronald Diamond, Diamond Wealth Founder and Chairman, told American Farmland Owner from his office in Northbrook, Illinois, that he believes an historic wealth transfer is underway from the Baby Boomer generation, and it will impact a

A sweeping reorganization that brings a substantial reduction in personnel and shift in geographical footprint is underway at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one that could reshape the direction of the agency.

Marko Papic was not born in the United States. Papic was born in Serbia. He understands the contributions of immigrants to this country. And he understands the importance of an organized legal immigration process. He does not understand how the current federal immigration enforcement policy will lead to economic success. “On the immigration front, I just don’t really see any solution to the uncertainty,” Papic told American Farmland Owner from his office in Santa Monica, Cali

Fall brought the early warning about what is likely ahead for Joe Peiffer, a longtime farm bankruptcy attorney in Hiawatha, Iowa. More farmers than he can remember reached out for assistance in August and September, which signals that the typical busier time post-harvest could be even busier this year. “You have to spend time with them,” Peiffer told American Farmland Owner regarding his conversations with farm families in financial distress, “You have to give them time to pr

The UK farmland market continues to evolve under the pressure of changing tax rules, volatile agricultural economics, and shifting investor appetite. To understand who is buying land today—and why—American Farmland Owner spoke with Ed Blundy, a partner at Brown & Co.

Reducing immigrants in the United States will hurt U.S. agriculture short-term and the country overall longer-term geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan believes.

Listen on Spotify | Apple Podcasts Consumers could be critical on two fronts for American cattle ranchers, Bill Bullard believes: they can choose American beef over the imports, and they can insist that beef packaging includes on the label the country where the beef originated. Bullard is the CEO of R-CALF USA, cattle producers’ national lobbying association. He told American Farmland Owner from his office in Billings, Montana, that the Trump administration idea to increase

Listen and subscribe on SPOTIFY | APPLE When lifelong dairy enthusiast and former IT professional Brian Burgett  began researching milk digestion, it wasn’t for a new business venture. It was for his daughter. What began as a personal mission to help her navigate dairy sensitivities has evolved into a potentially industry-shifting proposal: a new certification seal for A2 milk products, called “NonBCM7 Certified.” BCM-7 – “beta-casomorphin-7, is a peptide derived from the di