The Business of Agriculture Podcast

American agriculture is not simply working through another commodity cycle. It may be confronting a structural shift in how global agricultural markets, trade, technology, energy, and food demand function.
Geopolitical analyst Jacob Shapiro joins Damian Mason to examine four forces that could reshape the future of U.S. agriculture: the erosion of unquestioned American global dominance, an energy transition that could ultimately reduce input costs, artificial intelligence that may narrow some advantages of scale, and global population decline that challenges the long-held assumption of continually expanding food demand.
The discussion explores why agricultural exports may no longer provide the growth strategy the industry has historically relied upon. Jacob explains how China increasingly views food production and agricultural supply chains through the lens of national security, why greater Chinese self-sufficiency could affect U.S. commodity demand, and what changing global demographics mean for farmers and agribusinesses built around expanding export markets.
Damian and Jacob also examine U.S. ethanol policy more than two decades after the Renewable Fuel Standard emerged, the implications of AI for large and small agricultural operations, and how cheaper energy could alter farm economics.
The outlook is disruptive, but it is not pessimistic. Jacob argues that American agriculture has substantial opportunities if producers, agribusiness leaders, and policymakers recognize that the economic assumptions of the past may not define agriculture's future.
The Business of Agriculture with Damian Mason is brought to you by:
Heads Up Plant Protectants
Tidal Grow Agriscience
Nano-Yield 
Good Agriculture
Also, make sure to check out my new show Uprooted, DamianMason.com, XtremeAg's The Cutting The Curve Podcast and The Granary. 
 
 
This content is protected. ©Damian Mason, all rights reserved.

Is America really experiencing a K-shaped economy, or has the economic divide become more complicated?
Kansas State University agricultural economist Dr. Brian Briggeman joins Damian Mason to explain why he believes the familiar K-shaped economy may have evolved into something closer to an "E-shaped economy," with three distinct tiers of consumer spending. With the top 10 percent of U.S. households accounting for roughly half of consumer expenditures, the growing separation between high-income consumers and everyone else has important implications for agriculture, food businesses, rural America, and the broader U.S. economy.
Briggeman explains why interest rates are a greater economic concern than the shape used to describe consumer behavior. He and Damian examine agricultural real estate, farm income pressures, federal debt, government support payments, and the financial resilience of farmland during previous economic downturns.
They also address a question increasingly important across agriculture: Could current economic conditions push rural America toward another farm financial crisis resembling the 1980s, or are today's circumstances fundamentally different?
For agribusiness leaders, farmers, lenders, and anyone tracking the U.S. agricultural economy, this discussion provides perspective on consumer spending, interest rates, farmland values, farm finances, and the economic forces shaping agriculture.
The Business of Agriculture with Damian Mason is brought to you by:
Heads Up Plant Protectants
Tidal Grow Agriscience
Nano-Yield 
Good Agriculture
Also, make sure to check out my new show Uprooted, DamianMason.com, XtremeAg's The Cutting The Curve Podcast and The Granary. 
 
 
This content is protected. ©Damian Mason, all rights reserved.

Americans consume nearly twice as much honey as they did 30 years ago, yet U.S. beekeepers are facing one of the most challenging periods in the industry's history. Why is demand growing while domestic producers continue to struggle?
Commercial beekeeper and American Beekeeping Federation Vice President Richard Coy joins Damian Mason to examine the economics behind the U.S. honey industry. They discuss declining domestic honey production, rising production costs, imported honey, honey adulteration, colony losses, pollination economics, and the policy changes many producers believe are needed to strengthen American beekeeping.
The Business of Agriculture with Damian Mason is brought to you by:
Heads Up Plant Protectants
Tidal Grow Agriscience
Nano-Yield 
Good Agriculture
Also, make sure to check out my new show Uprooted, DamianMason.com, XtremeAg's The Cutting The Curve Podcast and The Granary. 
 
 
This content is protected. ©Damian Mason, all rights reserved.

California produces approximately 80 percent of the world's almonds, making it the global leader in almond production. The industry supports more than 110,000 jobs and contributes roughly $6 billion in annual exports, but profitability has become increasingly difficult.
Oversupply, weak prices, international trade disputes, rising production expenses, water concerns, and California's regulatory environment have created significant challenges for almond growers. Yet moving production elsewhere is far from simple because almonds require a rare Mediterranean climate that exists in only a few regions worldwide.
Damian Mason sits down with Clarice Turner, President and CEO of the Almond Board of California, Alexi Rodriguez, CEO of the Almond Alliance, and Matt Woolf, specialty crop analyst with Terrain, to discuss what is happening in the almond business today and where the industry is headed.
Topics include:
California almond production
Almond prices and profitability
Global almond markets
Agricultural exports and trade
California regulations
Specialty crop economics
Water and production challenges
The future of California agriculture
If you are interested in agriculture, agribusiness, specialty crops, agricultural economics, or food production, this episode delivers expert insight into one of America's most valuable agricultural industries.
 
The Business of Agriculture with Damian Mason is brought to you by:
Heads Up Plant Protectants
Tidal Grow Agriscience
Nano-Yield 
Good Agriculture
Also, make sure to check out my new show Uprooted, DamianMason.com, XtremeAg's The Cutting The Curve Podcast and The Granary. 
 
 
This content is protected. ©Damian Mason, all rights reserved.

$2.6 billion. That's what U.S. cotton growers stand to lose this year according to USDA, the fifth straight year of red ink for the industry. The Great American Cotton Plan, announced in May 2026, aims to change the economics of American cotton. In short, we've lost acres, we've lost infrastructure, and the producers have lost money. Plains Cotton Growers CEO, Kody Bessent joins cotton farmers Todd Kimbrell and Matt Miles. Along with Damian, they discuss: cotton's current financial condition, how they see the new initiative impacting farmers, consumer apparel issues, and the promise of renewed cotton demand's effect on rural communities. A major component of the new cotton promotion ties to the fiber's natural-ness. American consumers discard more than 70 pounds of apparel each year, nearly three fourths of which is made from petroleum based material. Will all this bode as a positive for one of America's original cash crops?
The Business of Agriculture with Damian Mason is brought to you by:
Heads Up Plant Protectants
Tidal Grow Agriscience
Nano-Yield 
Good Agriculture
Also, make sure to check out my new show Uprooted, DamianMason.com, XtremeAg's The Cutting The Curve Podcast and The Granary. 
 
 
This content is protected. ©Damian Mason, all rights reserved.