Data centers, solar arrays, carbon pipelines and transmission corridors are all bidding for the same ground you farm — and the offers arrive with long terms and short deadlines. This session maps the pressures reshaping what it means to own farmland: who's buying, what the leases lock in, where eminent domain still reaches, and how policy in Washington and the statehouses is shifting under landowners.

What happens when farmers approach familiar challenges with entirely new tools? From autonomous tractors and robotic weed control to virtual fencing, agricultural entrepreneurs are changing how work gets done on the farm. In three short talks followed by a moderated discussion, innovators share the problems they set out to solve, what they’ve learned in the field and where they see the next opportunity. Producers will hear what these technologies could mean for labor, costs and management—and what to ask before putting them to work on their own operations.

Freight costs don't show up as a line item on your P&L. They show up in your basis. With U.S. production costs running well above Brazil's, the efficiency of the system moving your grain to port is one of the last places American producers still hold an edge — and it's under pressure.

Join us to recognize outstanding producers in the agriculture industry. Find out more about Top Producer Awards here.

Dinner: 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Live Awards Banquet - 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Top Producer of the Year Award Sponsored by:  BASF and FENDT
Next Gen Award Sponsored by Pioneer and FENDT
Women in Ag Award presented by Pro Farmer

Sponsored by: Holganix

What if a seed could inherit the full genome of both parents instead of half? That's the bet behind Ohalo's boosted breeding, and the company says early potato results are dramatic. David Friedberg — founder of Climate Corporation, now Ohalo's CEO — on where next-generation genetics actually stands, which crops come first, and what it would mean for seed cost, variety access and yield potential.

Speaker: Chip Flory, Host, AgriTalk

These operators show each other their balance sheets. They also weigh in on each other's hardest decisions — buying out a sibling, firing a family member, walking away from rented acres. Ted Hamer and members of his peer group open up the mechanics: meeting cadence, confidentiality rules, what financial disclosure they actually require, how they vet a new member, and what they'd set up differently.

At $20 million, coordination might mean a good CPA and a shared calendar. At $200 million, it might mean staff. Most producers hear "family office" and picture Walton money, but the structures that quarterback your CPA, attorney, wealth adviser and insurance broker start earlier than that. Real configurations, real setup and operating costs, and the thresholds where each one starts to pencil.

Most panels show you what worked. This one includes what didn't. Producers who added relay crops, livestock, specialty contracts and direct-to-consumer sales talk through what each one returned, what it cost in capital and management attention, and which ones they've since shut down. Growth without buying ground — and an honest accounting of what it takes to run more than one business at a time.

Reading a 40-page lease. Writing a job description. Pulling three years of fertilizer invoices into one answer. The useful applications of AI on a farm are smaller and less glamorous than the headlines, and most are available today for the price of a subscription. Panelists share what they actually use, what it replaced, and where it still gets things wrong.

Protein is showing up everywhere, from snacks and beverages to grocery staples — and GLP-1 users are trading sweets and fried foods for protein, nuts and grains. Demand is the strongest in years, but labor and capital costs mean producers are running heavier animals rather than more head. This session asks whether the shift is lasting, and whether the premium reaches the farm gate or stops at the processor.

Transferring a 1,200-cow dairy, 2,500 acres, a custom operation and a gravel pit to the next generation isn't one decision — it's hundreds. The 2022 Top Producer of the Year, his wife and their children take the stage with the adviser who helped them: the structure they built, the conversations they had to have, and what they'd tell a family just starting.