Underdog Ag

Co-founder of the Graze Master Group, Del Ficke, chews the fat with Kerry Hoffschneider.Rural needs to swap stories more and Del sure has some adventures and fun quips to share in this interview.To learn more about the Graze Master Group check out: www.grazemastergroup.com.-- To learn more about the Graze Master Group network visit www.grazemastergroup.com or call/text Kerry Hoffschneider at (402) 363-8963.  -- Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe. HOST: Kerry Hoffschneider GUEST: Del Ficke --CREDITS: Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

Vance McCoy - Lead Educator for Transitional Ag Consulting Powered by Graze Master and Kerry Hoffschneider - Executive Director of the Graze Master Group talk frankly about what's happening on the frontlines of agriculture, and how we can make a life, not just a living on the farm and ranch.These are serious times and the Graze Master Group, led by real farmers and ranchers and agriculturists with global and local ag business experience, has developed pathways to increase soil health, enhance water conservation, and more. -- To learn more about the Graze Master Group network visit www.grazemastergroup.com or call/text Kerry Hoffschneider at (402) 363-8963.  -- Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe. HOST: Kerry Hoffschneider GUESTS: Vance McCoy --CREDITS: Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

Back to Nature Farms, located in Fremont, Neb.Operated by Chad and Dawn Christianson, “At Back to Nature Farms, we believe that healthy soil creates healthy plants, which leads to thriving animals supplying nutrient-dense food for you, our thriving customer.”You may have heard the term “regenerative agriculture” and may not understand what it is. We didn't fully understand the principles behind it either. In learning more, we were taught about the interaction between the soil, plants, animals, and ultimately human health – YOUR health.Centuries ago, animal migration was what fertilized and kept the ecosystem in check. The pressure of the animals moving along the soil, foraging the plants, and their ruminants (excrement) all had a major impact on the soil and plants, while giving the animals the proper nutrition they needed to move across the lands. We learned that by not having animals in our row cropping operation, we were giving you, the consumer, a mediocre product. Knowing our responsibility as stewards of the land and providing the best quality food for you, this was eye-opening to learn. We soon started custom-grazing cows on our cover crops during the fall/winter season, and this new adventure began. Soon, we had the opportunity to expand Back to Nature Farms.Little did we know that caring for and raising livestock would be such a joyful and rewarding addition to the farm and family. After rotational grazing of cattle in the fall and winter months, you will find chickens and pigs grazing in the spring and summer months in the pasture. Doing this helps make the soil even more fertile while they are free to eat bugs, scratch at the earth, root, dig and do everything a pig and chicken is naturally inclined to do. We value using honest business practices to produce healthy, nutrient-dense proteins with transparency, so you know where and how your food is raised. These practices allow the animals to flourish without the use of added hormones or antibiotics and pass that goodness on to you the way nature intended.We have all attended many seminars and conferences to help us learn and understand this cycle.We can never learn enough to keep expanding our knowledge and passion for regenerative agriculture.--Follow their endeavors:WEBSITE: www.backtonaturefarms.orgEMAIL: [email protected]:  Chad - (402) 720-0593;  Dawn - (402) 720-0108INSTA: @back.to.nature.farmsTIKTOK:  back.to.nature.far www.cheerswithears.org@cheerswithears--Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.HOST: Kerry HoffschneiderGUESTS: Chad & Dawn Christianson--CREDITS:Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

Shane and Kristi Daniels and their family live on a ranch near Mullen, Neb.It's a ranch story that began with a pickup, stock trailer, two horses and a milk cow. Now the couple is managing hundreds of cattle and making sure their decisions keep the ranch in the family for generations to come.They are also part of the Graze Master Genetics® Certification Program and are looking forward to attending an event put on by Graze Master and Impact Solutions:"Partners in Profitability Vol. 1," November 12-13 in Ainsworth and Long Pine, Neb.Learn more about the event here: Graze Master Genetics® – Partners in Profitability Vol. 1 Wednesday to Thursday, November 12-13 in Long Pine & Ainsworth, Neb.You can also contact Kerry Hoffschneider - Executive Director of the Graze Master Group to learn about their mission and services. Call or text (402) 363-8963. --Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.HOST: Kerry HoffschneiderGUESTS: Shane DanielsKristi Daniels--CREDITS:Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

As Director of Operations at Landoption, Ben Paige leads execution across product, sales, customer success, and team operations.As the company’s Integrator, he aligns people, priorities, and performance to turn the Landoption vision into results. Prior to Landoption, Ben was charged with professionalizing supply operations and expanding the supply partner network at Arbor Day Carbon, supporting the organization’s growth in forest carbon.Earlier in his career, he led the development and rollout of a transformative CRM platform that enabled state agencies to increase participation and revenue from hunters and anglers – a pivotal contributor to the company’s successful exit.As a former U.S. Army Captain, Ben brings operational discipline and a mission-first – people always mindset to create a future with more wild places, more wild things, and more wild people – so his daughter can enjoy a day outside hunting and camping, just like him.--Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.HOST: Kerry HoffschneiderGUEST:  Ben Paige--CREDITS:Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

We want to help farmers and ranchers experience freedom and make farming fun again.Doing things the way traditional agronomists, lenders and insurance companies tell us we need to do it is not that much fun anymore. If you share this sentiment, give us a call. We have been there done that and thrown away the free hat,” Vance McCoy - Transitional Ag Consulting About Vance McCoy: In 1988, when Vance McCoy was 16, his father passed away, leaving Vance and his mom Maggie to manage the farm, “I was the only boy and had three sisters.  That was how it worked out from the beginning.  Everyone just knew I was going to be a farmer.  I had planned to leave and come back to the farm, but when dad passed away, that put me on the fast track.”When McCoy was growing up near Elsie, Neb., the family raised mostly corn and operated a cow/calf operation.  Today, he and his wife Ronda’s two grown sons, Tyler and Tanner, farm as separate managers of their own endeavors.  McCoy continues raising corn and soybeans, but has also found a passion for soil health and regenerative agriculture.  In addition to the farming business, McCoy also started Triple Creek Cover Crops, named for the three creeks that still cross the family farm.  His daughter, Meredith, helps with the cover crop business.    His sons returning to the farm around 2012, was one of the reasons McCoy began to seriously look at changing some things, “I had bought my farm when I was 30, and when I was 40 had the sons coming back to farm with me already.  We had to find a new way to make that work.  We had to look at the expenses in a different way as well as our risk.  That is when I really fast-forwarded into a new way of doing things.”  McCoy enjoys sharing his trials and triumphs on Facebook through videos and photos with posts outlining the real-world scenarios he is testing, “I try and be humble about it.  I was lucky because dad was always forward-thinking.  That’s another thing I tell people, ‘You have to respect your dad because he didn’t get to where he is at by being stupid.  Be patient, there are probably some things you need to learn from him too.’  But, I also remind some of those dads that if their fathers had not allowed them to make changes, where would they be today?”“Asking questions and getting answers will get us someplace,” he said.  “Don’t preach.  Ask questions.  It’s the best way to learn from somebody.”Contact Vance and the Transitional Ag Consulting team at: www.grazemastergroup.com. You can also call/text Kerry Hoffschneider to connect you with Vance and the team at 402-363-8963. --Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.HOST: Kerry HoffschneiderGUEST:  Vance McCoy--CREDITS:Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

Co-founders of the Graze Master Group, Del Ficke and Kerry Hoffschneider, take a few minutes to explain Graze Master offerings, including Transitional Ag Consulting and the Graze Master Genetics® Certification Program. At the Graze Master Group, we are Balancing Nature & Profitability.  It’s Agriculture – Done. Your. Way. Our Transitional Ag Consulting Services offer the following: We customize proven, profitable production strategies for your farm, ranch, and agribusiness by assessing what you are leaving on the table and leaving no stone unturned.Our expert and experienced ag input analysis ensures you are optimizing your current resources.  Our professional farm and ranch financial planning team can give you the peace of mind that your assets are secure, and a plan is in place for future generations.Effective communication is the foundation of a successful business, and we build this vital component into all aspects of our services.Contact us for a no-cost, no-obligation phone call to learn more.Graze Master Group founders:  - Del Ficke  (402) 499-0329, [email protected] Kerry Hoffschneider (402) 363-8963, [email protected] more at www.grazemastergroup.com --Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.HOST: Kerry HoffschneiderGUEST:  Del Ficke--CREDITS:Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings." ~ Masanobu FukuokaAs a grower of food and community in Cheney, Kan., Shelby Beyer embodies this quote in her many endeavors at Anchor Farm that she owns and operates with her husband Brad and their two children.Anchor Farm produces a wide variety of seasonal vegetables in outdoor gardens and high tunnels. Brad and Shelby also shepherd a flock of hair sheep. Their goal is to provide healthy meat and produce for their family and their local community.  Shelby has broad work experience across the agricultural setting.  She worked in the conventional beef cattle, research, soil amendment, organic produce, and regenerative dairy industries before starting Anchor Farm in 2019.  Prior to her pursuing her passion for agriculture, Shelby worked in health care for 20 years. This journey led her to a deeper understanding of the connections between healthy soil and ecosystems, and food and human health. More recently, Shelby has worked with multiple companies to conduct soil health research.  She provides consulting services for growers of all sizes, helping them to support and grow the diversity in their ecosystems and the health of their soils.Shelby's intent is to nourish her community and support farmers in their quest to grow diversity.  She has an intense drive for sharing the magic of food and the natural world with those around her, especially younger generations.Follow Shelby at https://www.facebook.com/share/1H3dku6nPZ/?mibextid=wwXIfr--Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.HOST: Kerry HoffschneiderGUESTS:  Shelby Beyer--CREDITS:Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

Del Ficke, co-founder of the Graze Master Group, and Larry Hafer - Graze Master Group leader, talk about the new Graze Master Genetics® Certification Program: www.grazemastergroup.com/graze-master-geneticsThe program is a complete systems approach to genetic improvement and profitability backed by 80 years of combined expertise in real world cattle solutions.It’s cow sense and common sense combined. The following are key points to the certification program:· We provide genetic recommendations that will make herds excel in the real world with practical traits suited for your farm and ranch.· We can help you fine-tune your genetic resources and turn them into market opportunities.· We use your quality genetics as a base for building a profitable herd that is best suited for your farm and ranch.· We also want to extend an invitation to be part of the Graze Master Group family and powerful ag solutions network.“The Graze Master Genetics Program is an opportunity for livestock producers to benefit from improving their genetics with a solutions approach, based on years of development that not only improves the animals that roam your farm or ranch, but also improves the soil beneath them while putting more profitability in those operations,” Hafer said. “This program is mostly about people,” Ficke said. “It’s about their potential first, and then how that potential can exponentially grow on their farms and ranches. The right cattle genetics is one piece of a much bigger story. The rest of the story, and most important, is about maximizing our journeys while we have time left on earth. Larry and my roads and all our group’s life stories led to this moment. Now we want to take the power of the Graze Master Group ag solutions network, and combine it with the power of the Graze Master Certification Program, and see that power unfold in dreams on the farm and ranch that begin to take shape in their vision for their future.”  Learn more about the Graze Master Genetics® Verification Program by calling or texting: Del Ficke - (402) 499-0329Larry Hafer - (402) 937-2585Everyone is invited to come out to the Graze Master Group field day, equipment show, and educational workshop in Denton, Neb. July 10-11, 2025 to learn more: www.grazemastergroup.com/events-2025--Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.HOST: Kerry HoffschneiderGUESTS:  Del Fike & Larry Hafer--CREDITS:Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme

According to Statista Research Department, statista.com, "The United States is home to the largest number of prisoners worldwide. More than 1.8 million people were incarcerated in the U.S. at the beginning of 2025."  In the U.S., incarceration extends beyond prisons and local jails to include other systems of confinement. The U.S. and state incarceration rates in this graph include people held by other parts of the justice system as well, so they might be slightly higher than the commonly reported incarceration rates that only include prisons and jails. The statistics are alarming, heartbreaking, and expensive. During this Underdog Ag Podcast, we meet Brandon Hinrichs, the visionary behind Aspire Impact Network. A network that, "empowers communities through life skills, programs, community corrections, and family support, while also offering web development, data solutions, and tech services."  Brandon wants to use his skills working as a probation officer and in the system in the past to help alleviate stress on the system and to ensure people don't repeat going to jail. His mission and vision saves our precious neighbors and saves taxpayer dollars. It's an amazing mission that needs more partners to succeed. Contact Brandon at (402) 759-2210 to become engaged with his cause and amazing pantheon of services.--Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.HOST: Kerry HoffschneiderGUEST:  Brandon Hinrichs --CREDITS:Mitchell Roush, ProducerBibi Luevano, Cover ArtPurple Planet Music, Theme