What I Did This Winter (And Why I’m Already Looking Forward to Next Year)

Most people think winter is downtime for agriculture. Farmers are resting, the fields are quiet, and the industry takes a breath before planting season.

That’s not really how it works for us.

From January through March, I logged more miles, recorded more conversations, and shook more hands than I probably did in any three-month stretch last year. We called it the Farm4Profit Winter Ag Tour, though honestly it felt less like a tour and more like a sprint through every corner of agriculture that matters right now.

Here’s where we went and what stuck with me.

Spain with Maya Cornheads

The year started overseas. We traveled to Spain with Maya Cornheads, and if you’ve never had the chance to watch harvest operations in another country, I’d tell you to find a way to make it happen.

There’s something clarifying about seeing agriculture work differently than you’re used to. Different equipment setups, different field conditions, different approaches to efficiency. And yet the fundamental problems farmers are trying to solve aren’t that different from what a grower in Iowa or Illinois is dealing with. The conversations on that trip set the tone for everything that followed. We came back thinking harder about equipment design and what “efficient harvesting” actually looks like when you pressure-test it against different conditions.

The Custom Harvesters Convention

Back stateside, we served as the media host for the United States Custom Harvesters Annual Convention. That’s a role I don’t take lightly.

Custom harvesters don’t get talked about enough. These are operators who spend months on the road every year, moving through multiple states, working the windows that matter most to farmers who can’t afford to lose a crop. They run tight timelines, manage equipment around the clock, and operate on margins that require everything to go right.

The stories from the harvest trail are some of the best in agriculture. The people behind them are some of the hardest-working in the business.

New York Corn and Soybean Growers

Our crew recorded live at the New York Corn and Soybean Growers Annual Meeting. And before you ask, yes, New York has a real corn and soybean industry worth paying attention to.

Regional grower meetings like this one are where you hear the unfiltered version of what farmers are thinking. Not the polished trade show version. The real one: what’s frustrating them, what’s working, what they’re watching on the policy side, what they wish the rest of agriculture understood about their situation. We’re always glad we made the trip.

CattleCon in Nashville

First-ever visit to NCBA CattleCon, and it was a big one. The show hit a new attendance record with more than 9,400 cattle producers and industry stakeholders in Nashville.

We recorded 10 podcast interviews and were hosted by John Deere and Performance Livestock Analytics. John Deere’s booth took home Large Booth of the Year, which tells you something about the presence they brought to the show.

I’ll also say this: Nashville knows how to host. Good food, live music everywhere, and the kind of energy that makes a long week feel shorter. If you haven’t been to CattleCon, it’s worth the trip.

National Farm Machinery Show, 60th Year in Louisville

The 60th National Farm Machinery Show is the world’s largest indoor farm trade show, and it earns that title every year. Three hundred thousand attendees across 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space. There is no shortage of things to see.

We recorded 13 interviews and produced daily episodes directly from John Deere’s booth and Brandt Industries’ booth. The NFMS floor is a different kind of conversation. You’re surrounded by the latest machinery, engineers who built it, and farmers who want to know if it’ll actually work in their operation. Those three-way conversations tend to produce some of our best content.

We also made time for Michter’s and Green River distillery tours, because Louisville demands it. And the Championship Tractor Pull inside Freedom Hall is one of those experiences that doesn’t need explaining. You just have to be there.

Commodity Classic in San Antonio

Commodity Classic turned 30 this year, and San Antonio delivered. Over 12,000 attendees showed up, and the General Session drew the largest crowd in the event’s history.

We were part of the launch activities surrounding John Deere’s new High Horsepower 8R 540 tractor and the E98 tractor, two machines that represent where Deere is taking power and efficiency for large-scale crop production. Being in the room when that kind of equipment gets introduced to farmers for the first time is something I look forward to every time we work alongside a partner on a launch.

We also spent time with Corteva and AgXplore, where more than 60 high-yield contest winners got recognized in front of their peers. Those are the conversations I find myself thinking about longest. Farmers who ran the numbers, dialed in their management, and hit yields that make other growers stop and take notes. If you want to understand where crop production is heading, talk to the people already there.

The Numbers Across the Whole Tour

When I look back at everything we recorded across these events, the output is a little staggering, even to me.

More than 40 full Farm4Profit podcast episodes. More than 15 What’s Workin’ in Ag segments. More than 18 Short Impacts and debrief pieces. Four Beyond the Jacket interviews. Four Rush Hour Ag interviews.

That’s a lot of content. But it’s also a lot of conversations with farmers, innovators, and industry leaders who are actively working to make agriculture better. The content is the byproduct. The conversations are the point.

Looking Ahead

Commodity Classic announced its 2027 location: New Orleans, March 3–5. If this year’s San Antonio crowd was any indication, the Big Easy is going to be packed.

For our part, the momentum from this winter doesn’t slow down. The episodes are already rolling out, more events are on the calendar, and the ag industry hasn’t run out of things worth talking about.

If you came up to say hello at any of these stops, thank you. It’s always the best part of showing up.

We’ll see you at the next one.