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Terry Sible grew up on a farm outside Churubusco, Indiana, learning the same lessons many farm kids do: responsibility, patience, and the value of community.

At eighteen, Terry’s life took an unexpected turn. Just five years earlier he had lost his father in a farm accident in the same barn where Terry kept his 4-H livestock. But instead of letting those moments define him, he built a life centered on helping others.

Today Terry works with schools and families helping children with disabilities find success in the classroom. Terry may get around in a wheelchair, but it has never defined who he is. Instead, the patience, resilience, and sense of community he learned growing up on a farm in northwest Allen County continue to shape how he approaches life and the people he works with.

In this conversation we talk about growing up in 4-H and FFA, the farm community that rallied around him after his accident, raising kids, and the role patience and positivity still play in his life today.

Terry also answers the Patio Pondering Five Questions, sharing what agriculture taught him about resilience, community, and why farmers are always trying to do the right thing.

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Leadership in agriculture is often talked about as if it simply appears — the loudest voice in the room or the person willing to take charge.

But real leadership is something different. It can be cultivated, sharpened, and intentionally developed.

In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, I sit down with Jill Zimmerman, President of the Kansas Agricultural and Rural Leadership (KARL) Program, to talk about how leadership actually develops in agriculture and rural communities.

Jill shares how programs like KARL help cultivate leaders across agriculture, rural communities, healthcare, education, and policy — and why leadership today requires collaboration, service, and a willingness to step forward.

Along the way we explore:

• How leadership in agriculture is evolving
• Why raising your hand still matters in rural communities
• The power of networks and relationships in agriculture
• The importance of allowing “a pause in the noise” to sharpen our thinking
• How mentorship and encouragement shape future leaders

Plus Jill answers the Patio Pondering Five Questions, sharing lessons about passion for agriculture, leadership development, and the future of agricultural innovation.

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In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, Jim sits down with Brian McFarland, a longtime leader in the beef packing industry and a cattle producer with experience across multiple parts of the beef supply chain.

Jim and Brian first met years ago in graduate school at Kansas State, but their conversation quickly moves beyond old memories into the realities facing the beef industry today.

They discuss the shrinking U.S. cow herd, rising beef demand, and the economic challenges of rebuilding cattle numbers. Brian shares insights from his years inside packing plants at companies like Tyson, IBP, and JBS, explaining the major advances in food safety that have occurred over the past three decades.

Along the way the conversation wanders—as good agricultural conversations often do—into topics like cooking meat correctly, the rise of meat thermometers, raw milk debates, veterinary shortages, and even long-range rifles and bow hunting.

It’s a wide-ranging discussion that highlights how complex modern agriculture really is—and how much work happens behind the scenes to safely put food on the plate.

Topics include:

• Why the U.S. cow herd may take years to rebuild
• The economics of cattle vs. crop farming
• Beef-on-dairy genetics and how it changed the industry
• The hidden food-safety systems inside modern packing plants
• Why cooking meat properly matters more than people think
• Challenges facing veterinary medicine in agriculture
• Technology shaping agriculture’s future

Plus Brian answers the Patio Pondering Five Questions, sharing lessons about work ethic, innovation, and the future of agriculture.

Brian can be found on LinkedIn at:
linkedin.com/in/thebrianmcfarlane

His cold weather gear company can be found at:
https://shivershield.com/

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Over the past week something happened that made me stop and think about Patio Pondering.

At the Niman Ranch Annual Meeting, a young woman at a lunch table suddenly looked across the table and said, “Oh… you’re Patio Pondering.” The moment was unexpected, but it was not the only one. Throughout the week at the Midwest Animal Science Meetings and a Purdue alumni event, several people quietly shared that they had been reading or listening.

None of them had ever commented online.

But they were reading. They were listening.

That realization led to another reflection. This week Patio Pondering quietly passed its 18-month mark. In that time there have been more than 300 written reflections and 78 podcast episodes, reaching listeners and readers on every continent except Antarctica.

Somewhere along the way, without really planning it, Patio Pondering has developed a structure.

Like the old three-legged milk stools that sat in barns across the Midwest, it now stands on three legs:

• Writing
• Conversations
• Consulting

Together those three legs support a place to pause for a moment and think about agriculture.

This episode reflects on how Patio Pondering started, what it has become, and the simple goal behind it all:

Clear thinking for complex agriculture.

And apparently… the penguins are next.

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What does it take to turn a farm kid into a professor preparing the next generation of agricultural teachers?

In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, Jim sits down with longtime friend and FarmHouse brother Dr. Travis Park of North Carolina State University.

Travis shares the path that took him from Trafalgar, Indiana and the Indian Creek FFA chapter to a national career in agricultural education.

Along the way the conversation explores:

• what new ag teachers really face when they enter the classroom
• why electives like FFA and band matter more than we often admit
• how agriculture survived the brain drain of the 1980s farm crisis
• the importance of resilience in both farming and education
• and how agriculture must balance tradition with global realities

Travis also reflects on raising three daughters, keeping honeybees in a suburban neighborhood, and why agriculture still requires a deep amount of faith.

As always, the episode closes with Jim’s five signature questions — covering everything from Booker T. Washington to the humble milking machine.

It’s a thoughtful conversation about leadership, education, and the people who shape agriculture’s future.

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In this episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, Jim sits down with longtime friend and agricultural leader Jamee Krug Blahauvietz.

Jamee’s career path is anything but typical. Starting with a unique combination of journalism and animal science at Iowa State, she built a career that moved from agricultural advertising to leadership roles in major animal health companies including Elanco and Phibro.

The conversation begins with a simple question:
How would three people describe you?

Jamee’s answer — Hard Working. Determined. Strategic. — becomes the thread that runs through the entire discussion.

Jim and Jamee explore:

• The unexpected path from restaurant manager to ag marketing
• Lessons learned working inside both agency and corporate agriculture
• The strategy behind the well-known “Full Value” livestock campaigns
• Why legacy is one of the most powerful emotional drivers in agriculture
• How leadership in agriculture has evolved over the past 30 years
• The growing humanization of the agricultural workplace
• The balance between career ambition and family life

They also discuss how agriculture is adapting to new tools like AI, changing marketing channels, and new technology in livestock production.

The episode closes with the Patio Pondering tradition of five questions — touching on lessons from agriculture, innovation in livestock production, and one small change that could make a big difference for the future of the industry.

It’s a thoughtful conversation about leadership, legacy, and the people who make agriculture work.

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In this milestone episode of the Patio Pondering Podcast, Jim sits down with Ryan Moe of StoneX for a conversation that moves beyond farm roots and into the harder questions of discipline, risk, and decision-making.

At what point does being good at production stop being enough?

Ryan shares how his early experience in energy hedging and commodity markets reshaped his thinking: raising crops or livestock well does not automatically mean managing risk well.

Together, they unpack:

• Why most producers avoid structured risk management
• The emotional trap of waiting for higher prices
• The disconnect between hedge accounts and checking accounts
• Why portfolio management beats home-run marketing
• The illusion of small-scale commodity profitability
• How AI and algorithmic trading are already shaping markets
• And why personal discipline may be agriculture’s greatest competitive edge

This episode challenges romantic narratives about farming and replaces them with something sturdier: clear thinking for complex agriculture.

If you produce commodities, manage market risk, or wrestle with marketing decisions each season, this conversation will sharpen your perspective.

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Clint Gorden, a central Illinois farmer, joins the Patio Pondering Podcast to discuss what it means to be a skip-generation farmer—connected to farming through grandparents, but without a parent actively farming to provide day-to-day guidance. Clint shares how he built his path through farm work, the seed business, and the relationships and mentorship that helped him earn opportunities in agriculture.

Jim and Clint explore the realities of modern Midwest farming, including aging farmers, larger operations with “more zeros,” the increasing importance of strategy in farming decisions, and how technology and broader networks influence learning, efficiency, and risk management.

Topics covered:

• What “skip-generation farmer” means in today’s agriculture
• Getting started in farming without a prior generation in the cab
• Seed sales, cold-calling, and building credibility
• Aging farmers and generational transition
• Why farming has become more strategic as operations grow
• Community involvement: Farm Bureau, Corn Growers, Lions Club

Recording note: This conversation ends earlier than planned due to a technical interruption. Jim and Clint plan to reconnect and continue the discussion in a future episode.