How Tariffs, Land Values and High Rates Are Shaping the World of Farming w/Jake Espenmiller
Barn Talk
This'll Do Farm
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2025
⏱️ 100 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome back to another episode of Barn Talk! In today’s episode, Sawyer and Tork dive deep into the world of agricultural finance with special guest Jake Espenmiller, the new President and CEO of Conterra Ag Capital. If you’ve ever wondered how tariffs, interest rates, and the shifting economic landscape are impacting America’s farms—or you just want to know what it really takes to thrive in ag finance—this episode is for you.
Jake shares his winding journey from small-town Iowa to becoming a leader in ag lending, including what it was like to step into a business during a time of growth, uncertainty, and industry change. The discussion covers everything from the current state of commodity markets and the reality behind headlines about tariffs, to how top farmers are managing costs, embracing technology, and running their operations like true businesses. Plus, the crew explores the future of rural America, with candid takes on housing, AI, the evolving job market, and lessons learned from nearly a century of farming wisdom.
Whether you’re a farmer, a lender, or just ag-curious, you’ll find honest advice, some laughs, and plenty of practical takeaways in this jam-packed conversation. Let’s get into it!
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00:00 Ag Finance and Tariffs Discussion
05:18 Gold's Influence and Stock Trends
14:21 Long-Term Resilience in Farmland Lending
16:52 Unexpected Agriculture Journey
22:43 Career Journey in Agriculture Lending
26:59 Community Bonds and Farm Legacy
31:49 Agricultural Commodity Shipping Tax Repeal
40:10 Fed's Dual Mandate and Market Rates
44:37 Rising Costs of Agricultural Loans
48:21 Revitalizing Small Town America
54:00 "Value of Face-to-Face Interaction"
01:00:22 Winning in Agriculture: Strategy and Adaptation
01:04:46 Self-Reliance in Farm Operations
01:09:42 "Legacy Farmer Coaching Impact"
01:17:43 Streamlining Financial Data Processing
01:22:23 AI Replacing Human Jobs
01:28:08 Hiring for Cultural Fit
01:33:29 Cigarettes as Unconventional Therapy
01:37:29 Unsustainable Farming Practices
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | All of the food we eat and much of the clothing we wear comes from plants and animals that are raised on farms. |
| 0:05.6 | Farms are different in type, in size, and even in name. |
| 0:40.1 | Welcome to Barn Talk. What happens at the barn stays in the barn, but not today. We're going to let it all out for you guys. Today is going to be a great episode. Got a great guest coming on on the show to talk about everything, finance, ag finance, just everything going on in that world because God knows we all need it. We need some advice. We need some guidance. And it's good to pick somebody's brain that knows something. |
| 0:45.6 | So before we get into it, though, you guys know the drill. Share the show with the people that |
| 0:49.7 | you know. The more that you guys do that, the more that this show grows. Another thing you can do |
| 0:53.7 | to support Barn Talk is leave a review on Spotify or Apple. We love hearing that you guys do that, the more that this show grows. Another thing you can do to support BarnTalk is leave a review on Spotify or Apple. |
| 0:57.2 | We love hearing what you guys have to say, and that gives our show a lot of credibility to get more guests on the show and make more episodes. |
| 1:04.7 | So thank you to all that leave reviews. |
| 1:07.9 | Last thing you can do to support Barn Talk and support our farm is you can support |
| 1:13.4 | our direct consumer meat business, Farmergrade. Farmagrade.com. You can always use code BarnTalk |
| 1:19.7 | to save 10% off your next order. We got some more pork sticks in stock, jalapeno cheddar, |
| 1:26.1 | and honey barbecue pork sticks. They sold out last time |
| 1:28.9 | really, really fast, and I personally think they're delicious. So go get a pack if you want them. |
| 1:35.9 | And I'm just excited to have a great episode today. |
| 1:39.7 | Hey, you know what? This is along the lines of a meat business i had lunch yesterday and uh i got this |
| 1:45.6 | this pasta dish and i had chicken in it and i asked them if they could put bacon on it and they did |
| 1:51.7 | and uh i said you know bacon makes it better and then i got to thinking you know what every |
| 2:00.0 | bacon is the perfect food because it's the only, it's the only food that nobody ever says. |
| 2:07.0 | You know what would make this bacon better? |
| 2:09.6 | Nothing. |
| 2:10.3 | True. |
| 2:10.6 | There's nothing. |
... |
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