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Economic Relief Plan, The Oscars and The Chocolate Industry
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We are really doing this!
Join us for the first ever episode of Magnetic Ag - Ears Edition, where we deep dive into the headlines facing the food & agriculture industry.
In this episode, Savannah and Braeden break down the USDA’s latest $30 billion economic and disaster relief plan. And could this be a turning point for ag policy? Not sure if we have the complete answer yet!
We also have some fun talking about:
- Record breaking numbers at Oklahoma Youth Expo
- The meal served at the Oscars
- Inflation in the chocolate industry
- John Deere's search for Chief Tractor Officer
Tune in for the latest ag news, honest takes, and a few laughs along the way!
About Magnetic Ag - Ears Edition
Your ag news just got an upgrade. Magnetic Ag - Ears Edition isn’t your grandpa’s farm report — it’s fast, unfiltered and actually fun. It’s your 10 minute a week update on what’s happening in the world of food and ag.
Braeden & Savannah break down the biggest headlines, industry buzz, pop culture and wild trends shaking up the industry. Whether you’re running the farm, grinding through college, or just here for the drama, we’ve got you.
If you don’t walk away with a sharper ag IQ, at least you’ll have killer small talk for your next industry happy hour.
Still want more ag news?
Subscribe to the newsletter for twice-weekly ag tea. 👉 Subscribe here
Visit our website 👉 magnetic-ag.com/
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Transcript
Introduction to Magnetic Ag Ears
00:00:00
Speaker
I'm Brayden. And I'm Savannah. Welcome to Magnetic Ag Ears Edition, where we bring you weekly ag news fast and unfiltered. Just how you like it. Savannah! What? I thought we were trying to be fun. Well, yes.
00:00:13
Speaker
But we're supposed to be telling them why they should tune into Magnetic Ag Ears Edition, not giving them wink-wink dad jokes. Oh, yes. Right. Okay. Each week, we are serving up the biggest ag headlines and industry trends you didn't know you needed.
00:00:26
Speaker
Forget your grandpa's farm reports. Well, maybe not all the way. But Magnetic Ag Ears Edition is here to shake things up with a deep dive into the latest headlines and honest reactions to crazy things happening in the world of food and ag.
00:00:38
Speaker
So tune in every Thursday for 10 minutes of Magnetic Ag Ears Edition. How did we do? think we ate that.
Hosts' Backgrounds and Stories
00:00:51
Speaker
Welcome to Magnetic Ag Ears Edition. I'm your host, Savannah Nichols. And I'm your other host, Brayden Kuhn. We are actually doing this, Brayden. Crazy. You know, it's taken a lot to learn how to talk in a microphone and not feel like I sound stupid, although I still feel like I sound stupid.
00:01:08
Speaker
um So give us some grace or don't. Make fun of us in the comments. We've got tough skin. um Give us the engagement. Yeah, they always say bad publicity is better than none. So I guess we'll see what happens. So cancel me? Hopefully we aren't that bad.
00:01:22
Speaker
I don't know. We'll see after today. Hopefully not. Brayden, tell us a little bit about yourself. So i grew up in a tiny little farming community in southwest Oklahoma. My family, i grew up around cow-calf operation, wheat, soybeans, and also raising show pigs.
00:01:37
Speaker
ah My dad's also an agriculture education instructor. um Coincidentally, I married an agricultural education instructor. My wife and I also have a two-month-old daughter, and we live in northern Oklahoma now.
00:01:49
Speaker
I went to Oklahoma State University and did dual degrees in ag communications and animal science, then decided I was going to be crazy and moved to Chicago and lived in downtown Chicago for a year in a tiny shoebox apartment while getting a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern Medill.
00:02:05
Speaker
Cats! Cats! And yeah, ah now I spend my days at home working for our Agriculture Future of America and now being a podcaster for Magnetic Ag. Very nice. I am Savannah Nichols. I grew up in central Nebraska on my family's cow-calf feedlot operation, and we also have row crops, so very Nebraska of us, I always like to say. Went to college, graduated from Kansas State University with my bachelor's degree. Boo.
00:02:31
Speaker
So go cats, you said graduated with my bachelor's in iCommunications, just started with Our Culture Future of America back in September and kind of taking on this role as a podcast host now.
00:02:45
Speaker
Super excited. this last year of my life has been super fun, crazy and exciting. Got married in December, currently live back in Nebraska, but also kind of looking at at relocating to Kansas. So keep you guys updated there what else brayden you got a fun fact tell it to us oh yes let's let's have a fun little icebreaker for the people so they get to know us so my fun fact this is a very interesting fun fact and we can talk about it more at some other point in our lives but it's probably not the best topic today i wrote my graduate thesis slash reported thesis project on theme park scented candles theme park scented candles i don't think i've ever heard of that
00:03:24
Speaker
Yeah, so essentially they the most famous one is probably they all sell ones that smell like the water from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney. To me, that doesn't sound like it would smell good.
00:03:35
Speaker
You know, each their own. But people like that? People like that. That will not be in my house, but to those that love it, good for them. Your turn. Fun fact does. um My fun fact, and I use this every time, so if anybody knows me, they've heard it.
00:03:49
Speaker
My fun fact is I got hit by a bus. Yeah. I will go on to say that the story is not as dramatic as it i make it out to be. I really just like to get people worked up about it.
00:04:01
Speaker
um I was in my car. The bus hit me, totaled my car, but everybody was fine. So sympathies to people that have had it worse, but it's just kind of a fun little play on words for me, I guess.
00:04:12
Speaker
The irony of the situation is Savannah is not my only friend, but that's their fun fact. Maybe I'm the problem. Maybe I'm the common denominator. Maybe it was your fault. We'll go with that. I mean... We'll go with that.
USDA Economic Disaster Relief Discussion
00:04:23
Speaker
Awesome. Okay, well, should we get into our big headline of the week, Brayden? Let's get into it Awesome. So a little preface. Each week, we are diving into headlines facing the United States food and ag industry, sharing our thoughts and opinions on its impact on you as a producer.
00:04:41
Speaker
We invite you to kind of engage in the conversation and share your thoughts with us, whether you agree or disagree in our podcast comments or follow us on social at Magnetic Ag. So, our headline for today.
00:04:53
Speaker
Caught off the press from Commodity Classic from the United States Department of Agriculture, Secretary Rollins delivers remarks at Commodity Classic announces next steps for economic disaster relief.
00:05:06
Speaker
little bit about the headline. The U.S. Secretary of Ag, Brooke Rollins, delivered remarks at Commodity Classic, where she announced the department's plan to distribute the economic and disaster aid caused by Congress late last year.
00:05:19
Speaker
I think this is really great to see this new administration when we're talking about the USDA. I know there's been a lot of controversy and things about what's happening right now with government and the jobs and the departments and things, but this feels like something really positive that they're really jumping on the ball on this kind of this. I mean, Congress has released these funds to help with this economic assistance and then as well as some funds for disaster relief separately that I think are really going to help U.S. producers that need it in those areas that have been really affected and It's just good to see that. And she even had a quote in there in the article slash press release that said, you know, we're not going to sit back and wait.
00:05:56
Speaker
Congress has given us this time limit. Congress has given us this money. We're going to use it and really help producers. Yeah, I think just for awareness, end of last year, Congress passed that $10 billion dollars will be used for economic assistance for farmers and ranchers. And then another $20 billion dollars will be used for disaster relief.
00:06:17
Speaker
Secretary Rollins really wants to get that out and really wants to get that to producers. and she kind of sounds like she's on it. Yeah, I would say so. Emmett said there in the article and what she said when she talked to everyone there at Commodity Classic that the specifically the $10 billion dollars in economic assistance passed by Congress, that they currently are kind of sitting on like a 90 days to start distributing that $10 billion.
00:06:42
Speaker
um So they're really hoping to honor before March 20th, which is coming up pretty quick. This month was at 16 days from recording um to start taking applications. And don't can be too worried about the applications either.
00:06:55
Speaker
They have, in most cases, they say they're going to have information already on file for you. So they're going to be able to send out pre-filled applications using from FSA using acreage report data.
00:07:07
Speaker
And that kind of gets you a jumpstart and they're gonna let you have the opportunity to fill in missing information, update information as you go and you can sign and return completed to your FSA service center. And it'll be pretty quick and easy to get at least that part of the process of getting this assistance.
00:07:23
Speaker
As producers, I know those applications can always seem big and daunting and kind of hard to fill out. So having that more rapid approach, um I think is really gonna help get that money into producers hands.
00:07:35
Speaker
And then specifically talking about the $20 billion in disaster relief. um So you're no longer going to be required to hand in your tax returns when applying for this disaster relief, which is pretty good there for some larger producers, I'm sure.
00:07:50
Speaker
Yeah, again, just she really is wanting to ramp up that process. She doesn't want to wait until the disaster, wait until years after the disaster has happened to release that money, like is kind of common in years past. She really wants, as soon as it happens, get that money so people can take action and really respond to the disasters in a if more efficient way.
00:08:12
Speaker
I must just take any general disaster that could happen. You know, that's an instant impact that it's having on your business, instant gains lost, um instant things that need to be fixed and worked with. And we know insurance, farm insurance is a pain in the butt as it is. That's a whole other topic that we do not have time to get into today.
00:08:30
Speaker
And waiting on insurance money can take forever. And then also if you're waiting on government assistance to, you know, boost yourself and help you out and that's taking forever. I mean, as long as it's been taken, you could lose your whole operation before you even have time to blink or even get cleaned up. It feels like, so it's really great that they're taking this step to really help producers.
00:08:51
Speaker
Fingers crossed for all those producers out there that things go well and we kind of can start to see an improvement. I guess I'll just end. one other quote that I pulled from the article that Secretary Rollins shared, and this isn't going to be word for word, but basically basically she just wanted to acknowledge that the ag economy, especially for road crop producers, is at the worst it's been in over 100 And her and Trump are very passionate about getting ah better course of action and more stability for those ag producers. So lots of promises there. Now, kind of the waiting game ah see what happens and see what's really what really comes down those pipelines.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah. So with that, it's time to have a little bit of fun.
Weekly Ag-Related Headlines
00:09:34
Speaker
um This is our next segment of the podcast. So we are going to call this our live reaction segment. We need a fun name. We should come up with a fun name for that.
00:09:44
Speaker
We do need a fun name for that. We'll maybe check in next week. Maybe we'll have one. So each week, Savannah and i are going to be on the watch for awesome headlines that we think are really interesting. but We're going to bring to the table, each of us, two headlines that caught our eye.
00:10:00
Speaker
The only rule is it has to have some ag connection or relevance. So essentially, i mean, it could be pop culture, food, ag, something completely wild, and whatever it is, but there is going to be some kind of or food relevance or connection.
00:10:14
Speaker
it'll be interesting for you. So I think I'm going to start. Savannah, how do you like... what do you think about rec your livestock girly y'all raise pigs we raise pigs um we're all about record breaking too so the oklahoma youth expo for those of you don't know has always of considered itself and called itself the world's largest junior livestock show well yesterday march 3rd i believe they released their record breaking entry numbers for the 2025 show some interesting so some really Scary big numbers here for market bearers, 10,781 bearers entered shown. That's lot of hogs. 10,500. That's lot pigs. that's just the bearers. The breeding gilts, 10,580. Market weather lambs, 2,766.
00:10:51
Speaker
that's a lot of pigs um and that's just the bara the breeding guiltts ten thousand five hundred and eighty market weather lambs two thousand seven hundred and sixty six But what's really interesting and what I really wanted to highlight was 350 ag mechanics projects. So something that's been really cool that I've seen in Oklahoma recently is a real push for ag mechanics um projects for FFA and 4-H students, but specifically at the county and district levels.
00:11:18
Speaker
um Those students are actually getting to like, like our county here in Noble County actually puts on an ag mechanics contest at our county show in the spring. And those students actually get to make the bonus sale and make some money off their projects.
00:11:30
Speaker
That is very cool. i We don't have that. I guess it's not very popular. i know we have it in like FFA and maybe even 4-H, but it's not a very popular event. So that's very exciting to hear because that's definitely a big need within the industry. But I also think just the rest of the numbers are very exciting and encouraging just to see those students and young ones. I mean, not that long ago, i was at an exhibit at OIE, but But I showed a lot of hogs and cattle. And so it's very exciting to see just those numbers continue to improve and students to keep showing in being involved in the industry.
00:12:07
Speaker
It's the best industry. I mean, i love all agriculture, but i'm a livestock I'm a livestock guy. I'm a livestock kid and through and through. Yes, me too. Okay. My little fun story for you, Brayden.
00:12:19
Speaker
The Oscars were last week. I know we talk a lot. We always love to look for the memes that come out of big awards show. Can you say Adam Sandler? Check out our social media if you have not already. and um Anyway, so I wanted to just, I was curious about what food at the Oscars.
00:12:40
Speaker
They have a good lineup of from some food. And so I just wanted to give a big shout out to farmers and ranchers who produce that food. i know it's kind of often overlooked, but... So many meals are served that night.
00:12:52
Speaker
Amongst the lineup was we had some smoked salmon, mini Wagyu cheeseburgers, spicy tuna tartare, chicken pot pie, mac and cheese, tater tots, beef wellingtons, and a whole bunch more. Those are just the ones that served out to me. But definitely just supporting our agriculture industries, beef industry, dairy industry with mac and cheese. I mean, just an incredible lineup and lots of farmers and ranchers to be supported that night. That is super awesome. I love that. It's also a really great variety. You know, I feel like sometimes when you have like, i mean, okay, it's the Oscars. It's a big thing.
00:13:27
Speaker
But I feel like usually when it's an event like that, sometimes it's like a really specific menu. This a really wide range of food, which I think is really awesome. um Also, I love spicy tuna. Not my thing. not your thing.
00:13:38
Speaker
Tuna is my favorite. I love tuna. Not canned tuna, though. Well, they had a really good lineup. I think I would definitely be stuffed after that meal. I would too. I wish I could go. That'd be fun.
00:13:50
Speaker
All right. Keeping on the food trend, found some fun headlines from this week from Wired from wired on their science area this when they post this February 22nd. So within the last couple of weeks.
00:14:03
Speaker
So it's why is chocolate so expensive right now? Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and other climate impacts are throttling cocoa production and driving up chocolate prices. What's most interesting about this that I couldn't believe was that just four West African countries are the foundations of the cocoa industry, worth more than $100 billion. It could be Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Canada.
00:14:31
Speaker
Yeah. And just kind of the typical, don't think we feel like climate impacts we see here in the United States as far as um row crop production, things like that, weather patterns, et cetera.
00:14:43
Speaker
Like we don't think about things like chocolate when we think about um food being and affected by things happening with climate and the environment. You just really interesting to me that One, that so much chocolate comes from just that one area and that it's actually lots of things are changing. So especially two reports that were published in February said that warming has pushed temperatures beyond what is considered the optimal range for cocoa growth in these countries, especially during harvest season.
00:15:12
Speaker
That's kind of scary because that's what's causing chocolate prices to rise. So that's why your chocolate on Valentine's Day was, besides the Valentine's Day spike, it was probably also expensive because it was harder to get. Wow. i learned a lot about chocolate from everything that you were just saying i Fun fact about me, i love dark chocolate.
00:15:29
Speaker
Big chocolate fan here. But that's kind of crazy and scary to think about. i mean, whole industry, all of food, all of ag is going to be unpicked is and impacted it by global warming. But I don't want to see my chocolate increase. It's already expensive enough. Yeah. This is this is a crazy statistic.
00:15:46
Speaker
So those that research, the reports that were released, um they found that between 2015 2014,
00:15:52
Speaker
climate change or climate or environment changes that they can track and prove you know have increased the number of days each of these countries experience temperature ranges above the ideal for cocoa growth by an average of two to four weeks annually that's crazy crazy numbers there insane so be on the lookout for your chocolate prices and know that boys and girls buckle up Alrighty, one last story for
John Deere's TikTok Triumph
00:16:20
Speaker
us today. this one's kind of old news, but I just saw it hit my inbox today, like a kind of updated story of it. And the numbers just kind of are really interesting to me as like from the marketing industry, but definitely has a big impact on our tractor users.
00:16:36
Speaker
So I'm sure everybody saw last year John Deere was making a big call out for chief tractor officer. who would basically manage their social medias and run their account as just to kind of make it fun and do something different.
00:16:52
Speaker
And they ended up with Rex Curtis through, i don't know, the thousands of TikTok applications that they had. But to kind of break down the numbers that they were giving. So when they started this search back, I don't know, about a year ago now, I would guess they had 73,000 followers TikTok.
00:17:10
Speaker
followers on tiktok pretty good but just wait as soon like through the application process and right after they selected their chief tractor officer they were up to 366 000 tiktok followers and with all of his efforts and the content that he has created which I kind of checked it out. Some of it's kind of funny, not gonna lie.
00:17:33
Speaker
They are now out to 591,000 followers. So just that like small jump in the year that they've had is crazy to me.
00:17:43
Speaker
i don't think that can kind of negate all of the other things that they have going on as a company, but just an interesting thing to look at on how they kind of use social media as a tool to reach more people and tell more about agriculture.
00:17:56
Speaker
i Yeah, that is absolutely insane. I mean, with only what, 3% or less of the population involved in farming, I think this is a really great way for not just John Deere, but on a larger scale is proof that as other ag companies or agriculture producers themselves, like if we really give good content and really share our stories correctly in the right ways, we can really reach a large audience. I mean, that number is mind boggling. And also though, playing with big toys and getting to post about it,
00:18:26
Speaker
Come on. Isn't that every farm kid's dream? Yes, totally. Okay, Brayden.
Episode Wrap-Up
00:18:33
Speaker
I think we made it through our first Magnetic Ag Ears Edition podcast.
00:18:40
Speaker
That's kind of painless. We should do it more often. We should. I mean, turns out we're doing it weekly. So. Yes. Every. We'll be back next Thursday with more ag headlines.
00:18:51
Speaker
Fast, fun, hopefully fun takes. And all things food and ag. Heck yeah. Boys and girls, we're signing off. Peace out. Follow us on social for cut content and more headlines.
00:19:05
Speaker
It's Magnetic Egg on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.