Travis Paulson, a farmer from Wallace, South Dakota, joins David Wheeler to discuss the complexities of modern farming and the agricultural industry. With a background in construction management, Travis shifted to farming after taking over his family farm following his father's passing. He shares insights into the challenges farmers face today, including rising land prices and the impact of lost markets, particularly with China. The conversation also highlights the launch of his agronomic business, Yieldmax Agronomics, which focuses on precision agriculture and liquid fertility solutions. As they delve into the political landscape, Travis emphasizes the importance of supporting candidates like Brian Bengs, who he believes genuinely represent the interests of farmers and the agricultural community.

Takeaways:

• Travis Paulson shares his journey from construction management to taking over the family farm.
• The agricultural landscape in America is changing, with family farms facing increasing challenges.
• In South Dakota, farmers are struggling to compete with rising land prices and market fluctuations.
• Travis emphasizes the importance of integrity and honesty in politics, particularly in agriculture.
• He discusses the impact of foreign relations on the agriculture industry, especially regarding soybean exports.
• The precision agriculture business is evolving, and Travis and his son are at the forefront of this change.

Links referenced in this episode:

• yieldmaxagronomics.com
• bangsforsouthdakota.com
• voteroy.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Mankato State University
• South Dakota State University
• Precision Planting
• Mutiny Crop Performance
• Yieldmax Agronomics

Hey folks, David Wheeler here with MUCK YOU!. It's another episode of the Brian Bengs week and we have a guest from South Dakota today, Travis Paulson. How are you, Travis?

Doing well, thank you, David.

Good. Where are you located?

So I'm, my hometown is Wallace. Very small rural town. I'm about 20 miles northwest of Watertown, northeast part of the state.

Okay. Wow, you're almost in North Dakota.

A bit, A bit from there. An hour I could be there.

Yeah. All right. Well, yeah, people don't realize South Dakota is really a big state. From where Brian lives down. I think he's down in the south west corner.

Correct.

Hot springs. Yeah. Out in the Black Hill.

Yeah. So he's, he said he's six hours to Sioux Falls so that, you know, that's pretty big state.

It is, yeah.

So tell us a little bit about yourself and your connection to Brian and, and what you're doing there in South Dakota.

Sure. So I'm so my background actually my degree is in construction management.

I went to Mankato State University in, in the early 90s for, for construction management and, and received my degree there. And actually I that. So that was, that was my plan for life is to be in, in the management part of the construction industry.

So we moved back here with small child and family and began took over the farm.

And so my background kind of is twofold and when I did move back, I like I said, took over the farm and I also started a business designing and building custom homes as a project manager and as a general contractor. So did both of those for a number of years. So I have a background in both in home building and in agriculture.

So number of years after that it just got to be too difficult to run both businesses and to do both. It was with children, three kids and two careers. It was just a little much.

And I did get the opportunity to expand the farm and gain some acres and so I did that and let the building go it. So that's just in a nutshell, that's, that's kind of my background. So for the last 26 years I've. I've been farming the, the family farm here.

Wow, that's a lot of history and a lot of ups and downs and sideways. I'm sure for sure yeah, yeah, you know, I, folks, folks know. Listeners on MUCU know I'm a former Iowan. I'm not a farmer.

My dad used to work farms on summers when he was out of school up in Centerpoint, Iowa. And I grew up with farmers.

They're all wrestlers, but tough guys, but good natured folks for the most part and have deep respect for farmers and folks that make their living off the land. So tell us a little bit about your farm and I guess what do you produce and how big is it?

Yeah, so we mainly row crop farmers. So we, my, my son and I raise corn and soybeans and also hay. So that's, we don't have any, any livestock. So it's just, just the row crop.

And then in the last year here, my son and I, which we've been planning, I guess for the last couple of years and kind of building, we launched, Launch. Launched an agronomic business that, that kind of went, kind of went live here about January 1st of this year.

We, we kind of started full time doing that. So he graduated. My son graduated from South Dakota State University.

Jackrabbit's there with a degree in, in precision ag and a couple of minors, agronomy and ag business. And so like I said, we've kind of been planning to launch this when he, you know, upon his graduation. So he's been very active in the farm.

But so, so we're doing that as well here. Just kind of, kind of building, starting slow and building. But we're looking forward to, to really moving that forward.

So from an agronomic and an ag business standpoint, as well as the ag production side.

Cool. So how many acres are you working?

Oh, my goodness. Wow, that's. That's a pretty big farm. Well, it's not big compared to the corporate farms that are out.

Not anymore it's not.

I mean, it's the worst, as you know. That is tough, tough work.

Right? So tell us, tell me a little.

Bit more about your. We'll talk about Brian Bengs here in a minute, but I'm fascinated by your agronomics business. Tell me more about that.

And where can folks go learn more if they're interested?

Well, I appreciate that. So yeah, actually we're.

So for the last about eight years we got involved with precision planting, which is, which is a huge international company now that, that, that specializes in, in the precision side of, of agriculture planters and, and sprayers and, and all kinds of applicators and different precision electronic precision equipment. So we have, we started putting the precision stuff on our planter about eight years ago and we've continued to expand it.

And so both my son Ethan and I have, have had several years of experience dealing with, with the precision side. So we are the premier precision planting dealer in the area here. It's kind of an open area, so it fits well.

There's, we're kind of in a hole here where there isn't a precision planting dealer.

And so farmers that, that have precision products have to have to travel a ways or if they need service calls, they, they've got to have somebody come quite a ways to help them. So it's, it's a good fit for us. Ethan like I say, just received his degree in precision ag. So, but, so we are a precision planning dealer.

We sell and service and build planters and sell parts and service and, and then on the second half of our business we. Another thing that we've been active in a number of years is liquid fertility.

We've been kind of in, in conjunction with the precision planning, the application method.

So we, we I guess like to say that we, we sell the equipment, the best equipment to apply seed and fertility and then we sell the fertility to go along with it.

So we work mainly with a company in Kentucky called Mutiny Crop Performance and I guess a couple other very well respected agronomists that, that offer a line of, of kind of biological and micronutrients and I mean just all kinds of well renowned liquid fertility products.

So we like, like the idea, that kind of the environmental idea of putting, putting the fertility right in the ground, you know, right near the seed where it needs to be, rather than spreading it out all over the field. So, so that's kind of, I guess it's not much of a nutshell I kind of carried on there, but the precision planning and liquid fertility to go with it.

So that's, that's kind of what the agronomic business is about.

Well, it's, I think it's, I think it's fascinating and I think our listeners will be interested to learn more about this. Do you, do you guys have a website or anything?

Yeah, of course. Yep, we do. So it's, and it's the name of the company is Yieldmax Agronomics. And so it's just simply yieldmaxagronomics.com.

Okay, cool. Well, for anybody that's interested in learning a little bit more about progressive thinking in ag, check that out. These guys are on.

Sounds like you're on the leading edge of technology and some of the bio products within ag as well. So let's pivot, if you don't mind, to our friend, mutual friend, Brian Bengs. How do you know Brian?

Got to, got to know Brian a little bit and supported his campaign at that time.

And the more I got to know Brian, the more I realized we have a very similar way of thinking and similar concepts of how we think the government should run and how we as far as value system. The more we talk, the more I decide that we're really on the same page with a lot of those things.

Well, hopefully he's on the same page with a lot more South Dakotans this time. It sounds like he's doing pretty well. Tell me about, without.

I don't want to get too personal, but you say you've got similar values and tell me about what you see in Brian and, and the values that you see in him. We're trying to get folks to know Brian a little bit better and, and you seem to take in a shine to him when he was a candidate.

And so I think you've got some credibility on this. Where do you see and what do you see in Brian?

So the biggest thing, I don't know about the biggest thing, but one of the first things I guess that come to mind is, is, I mean we're, we both agree and I, and I think a lot of people agree that we're very uncomfortable with the direction that our country is going here as far as, as far as government goes. It just, it isn't the country that, that our founding fathers designed it to be, in my opinion. And it just, and I think the.

So that you know that that's the biggest thing. But there it just seems like the, the moral character of our country and of our government is going the wrong way.

And you know, that's one of the main areas that Brian and I agree on. And there's several pieces that go into that, but I just think it continues to get worse here.

And until we make some serious changes, that's not going to, it's not going to turn around and improve here. And I think, you know, we need honesty and integrity. Those are two things that we need in our, in our government and we're just, we're losing it.

And I think that the two party system is promoting those, the party politics that are doing that and both parties are responsible for it.

The party that's in power in Washington right now, I think is, is very responsible for it and is supporting, you know, the kind of behavior that, that Brian and I both, you know, are not okay with. So that's, I guess what comes to mind first.

Well, I, I think you're going to get a lot of heads nodding in agreement from our listeners here on mucu.

And let me just remind folks, we're talking to Travis Paulson who's in Wallace, South Dakota, a farmer and in the ag business and a friend of Brian Bang's during Brian Bang's week here on mucu. So you're, you're in ag, you're deep into ag, you're in ag country. Probably couldn't be in more, more of a farming area in this country.

What, what's on the minds of farmers, you know, without getting too deep into politics.

But you know, what, what are you hearing from your customers and from your fellow farmers there in South Dakota about, you know, a little bit more on, you know, where they think the country's headed and the problems that ag is facing right now?

Well, the, the most disappointing thing is and frustrating is it seems like we in this industry continue to, to work harder, but you know, we need to find a way to work smarter.

But the, the really disappointing aspect is that we work extremely hard year round and for a good chunk of the year, a lot of us are working seven days a week to produce a crop that's robust and safe. And at the end of the year, there are years that we don't make anything.

We actually lose money after, after working, working hard, diligently for an entire year. And there's so many ups and downs, but it's getting more and more difficult to make a living doing this.

And you know, this used to be, I, I remember conversations with my grandpa many years ago and he would talk about, you know, one story he told was, was he bought a piece of land once, I don't know, you Know when it was, if it was in the, the forties maybe or something. And his dad thought he was just crazy for what he, for what he paid for it.

And he, he said he, he planted flax to it that first year and he said he had a, a bumper flax crop and, and there was a good price for flax that year and he, he paid off the land after one year of farming it. And it, and it's just crazy to think that nowadays that, I mean, the price of land is such that you can't get a return on the investment anymore.

I mean, you can't make. It just, it doesn't pencil out. It's not going to pay for itself.

So it's become really disappointing, like I say, to work hard all year long and make very little if not losing money.

And what is in your area, what is an acre of cropland these days?

Well, there was a sale not too long ago, I guess, and a, a quarter of land, 160 acres of land sold for over $12,000 an acre.

Holy guacamole.

Yeah. And that, that was just a handful of miles from me here. So.

And I know, you know, down in your area or down in, you know, in the Iowa area, there's many sales for 15 to 20,000 and over $20,000 an acre. And that's, there's one way that, that's going to, that, that pencils out so.

Right. And what's that, what's driving that price?

I mean, there are, I'd like to say that they're just investors and, you know, very wealthy people that, that are buying it for hunting and those things. But it's, it's not, it's.

A lot of them are farmers and I think they're farmers that have old money that have paid for land and they're investing in the future of future generations, you know, their grandkids and their grandkids, kids, so that they have land to farm. But you know, the biggest thing is land is one of those things that we're never going to get any more of. So it's, you know, you can't make more land.

And so I think that's just to keep these farms going, they have to get bigger. And that's, you know, when we started this out and the number of acres and like I said, it's my size of farm is not very big anymore at all.

So you gotta keep getting bigger or you don't keep up.

Right, right. And I think one of the things, you know, you touched on the business of Farming.

You know, I don't know much about farming at all, but I know three things. Number one, it's darn hard work and you're up before the sun rises and many times coming home when the sun's coming down or dark already.

The second thing I don't think people realize is, you know, it's a very dangerous business too. It's not like, you know, you're out there with a hoe and a rake. I mean you're out there with some really heavy equipment.

Many times folks are raising livestock. That's not easy.

And thirdly, I don't think realize people really understand that you guys are small business, not small, sometimes big businesses, but you guys are businesses. You're not just guys out there, you know, milk and cows to have milk on the table. You know, these are big important businesses to this country.

And I think farmers many times are misunderstood. You know. What are your thoughts on those three areas?

It absolutely is.

I mean anybody that I remember years ago, you know, just explaining just to, to, to some friends of mine and you know, they were, I can't remember if it was planting or harvest. I think it was planting season and they were asking questions and they had no idea, you know, the, what goes into planting an acre of corn.

Both, I guess the, you know, from the precision side we had, we have, have a lot of technology going into it. But they had no idea. He said, you know, I, I just thought you, you stuck corn in the ground and then waited till fall and harvested it.

But the, I mean there is so much more that goes into it and, and it is absolutely a business. I spend plenty of time in the office, you know, as well.

So you have to, and if you're, if you're not watching your costs and, and knowing what your break even costs are and knowing when to, you know, when to sell the grain and when to buy the inputs. And there is a lot that goes into it.

So yeah, if you're not managing it like a business, it's, you're, you're, you're, you're probably not going to do well.

Yeah. And your, your son Ethan coming back into the family farm is an anomaly.

I mean a lot of kids obviously come off the farm and, and go to college or go to the cities. So good on him for coming back to help dad and mom with farm and, and investing his time and effort there.

He's probably coming in at a good time in that this technology's going to take off and the company that you've aligned yourself with is going to grow significantly, too. So, all right, let's pivot back to Brian Bengs again.

So let's say Brian gets elected, which I think he has the opportunity to, and it's, it's a tough road to hoe, but, you know, there is a path there if we can get this Democrat to stand down. What sort of things in the ag space or even broader than that are you looking at? Are you hoping Brian will tackle?

I think, you know, one of the things that is really dragging our economy of agriculture down right now is obviously foreign relations.

And we need congresspeople in Washington that understand that and that are answering or, you know, taking actions congressionally that actually benefit the people and not the people that are funding their campaigns.

And that's what's going on right now is we have far too many congressmen and like I said, on both sides of the aisle that are beholden to those that help them get elected. And that's where Brian stands apart. Brian has vowed to do what's best for the people. And he's not just saying that.

All the, all the Congress people say that I'm for the people and I will do the will of the people when I get there.

And they get there and they change their tone, because the bottom line is you get there as a Republican or Democrat, and you're not going to stay there unless you bow down to the party and toe the line and just shake your head yes when they tell you to shake your head yes. And that's where Brian stands apart.

And he is, you know, as, you know, he's running as an independent and he's not taking any money from, from large packs. And so when he gets there, he has no one to be holding to. And that's what we need more of.

But the, you know, we play a big part, we being the United States in feeding the world. And, you know, the. We really started to go downhill in the first Trump administration when the tariffs went on.

And China, and I have said it from day one that when China pulls out of our soybean market and other markets, they're not coming back. And that's exactly what they've done since then, is looked very hard and created other areas in the world to buy their soybeans from.

And we have nowhere near gotten that market back, and it's not coming back.

So, you know, it's, it's important that, you know, that we deal with the world in a better manner that's being dealt with now so that we have these markets to sell our Products to.

And what does that mean for a farmer when a market goes away? Explain. I don't want to get too in depth, but if you don't mind, what happens when the Chinese stop buying American soybeans?

Where do they go and what happens to the price of your beans?

Right, So I mean, the, well, they go to South America for one thing and they have, you know, China has, has put a lot of money into the infrastructure in, in South America to build that, to build them up and, and help them to produce more. There are a lot of acres in South America that, that are coming on online and every year to grow more soybeans.

And they're, they're clearing, you know, clearing new land and planting more soybeans. But what it means to us as American farmers is, I mean, it's somewhat simplified in saying that it's a supply demand thing.

And if the, and we're continuing, like I say, from the precision standpoint and an agronomical standpoint, our only way to make money and make more money is to produce more and more, you know, hopefully with less. But so the more we produce, we're increasing these yields all the time. We're producing more and losing markets like, like the Chinese.

There's only one way for that, for that price to go and that's, you know, that's, that's lower.

So I guess that's, you know, that's what it means from our standpoint is it's, we have to, we have to work hard to produce more, more, you know, a bigger return on investment. More, more bushels per acre. But when we're losing that market, it simply means less, less value to our products.

Right. And, and that means some farmers are not going to make it. Are you seeing foreclosures or failures yet?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

There's, there's, you know, the statistics are out there that farm bankruptcies are, are, are, are up every year over year here for the last number of years. And you know, it's, it's not the, I guess I don't want to take a jab here at large, you know, huge farms.

But it's not necessarily the large, you know, corporate type farms that are, that are going out of business.

It's the family farms, the ones that, you know, like mine that were started by my grandfather, you know, 100 and some years ago that moved here from Norway to, you know, to start a new life here. And he started, started farming in South Dakota here.

And that led to my grandpa and to my dad and to me and now, to my son, those are the farms, you know, that, that families have worked hard for. Those are the farms that, that are disappearing because they just can't compete.

And you know, back when I was in, you know, in Iowa, I'm out in North Carolina now, by the way. Travis.

Oh, okay.

But I grew up in central Iowa and I remember, you know, we had a couple farmer or a lot of farmers in the legislature, and I was a page in the legislature. And so I got kind of an inside view of that. Farmers were always considered in every policy we made, and it wasn't from a political standpoint.

Obviously. They wanted to stay on the good side of farmers because farmers are a large portion of the population in Iowa. At least back then they were.

But to me right now, is anybody listening to the farmers?

I don't, I guess I don't want to say nobody is, but very few are. Yeah, I mean, and I guess it, it kind of blows my mind how, how supportive farmers and the ag community has been of this current administration.

It's kind of blown my mind from day one. But they, you know, have not been supportive of the agricultural community all. And not just, you know, they talk a big talk.

But the bottom line is the policies they put forward are damaging to farmers. So it, but no, for the most part, I mean, they're not. No, nobody's listening.

We have, you know, some, some big organizations that are out there and they're supposed to be speaking on our behalf that, you know, most of us are members of the American Soybean association and the Corn Growers Association. Those guys are out there, you know, promoting our, our work.

But, but even, even, even they, there was an incident not too long ago where one of those organizations, you know, spoke up against a policy and that, that I thought needed to be spoken for. And it, it frustrated me as, as a lifetime member of that organization.

But even, even those organizations are, are being, I guess I don't necessarily want to say corrupted, but, you know, infiltrated with, with, with big money and getting influence from, from other areas. So no, I think you're spot on with, with the idea that, you know, the farmers viewpoints.

And nobody's really asking us or not nobody, but, you know, not nearly enough are they asking us what's going on and, and what can we do to help.

Well, that's a shame. And, and one way we can change that, folks, is supporting Travis and my friend Brian Bengs for United States Senate in South Dakota.

You can go to Bengs for South Dakota. That's B E N G S for South Dakota.com or vote ROI.com BB that's a landing page to make a donation to Brian's campaign.

As we all know, money makes the world go round, especially in a political campaign. And it's really cheap for Brian to get on the air. And South Dakota, there's essentially two markets, maybe three with Omaha.

But a small donation goes a long way for Brian in South Dakota. So, Travis, let's wrap up on a positive note.

Any good stories about Brian that you can remember or, I don't know if you've been out on the road with him or introduce him around your community or, you know, positive. Let's end on a positive note about Brian and his ability to connect with people regardless of whether they're in Sioux Falls or Aberdeen or Wallace.

Sure. You know, Brian is a, is a down.

I mean, I noticed that about him from, from the time I met him a number of years ago that he is, he is a down home guy. That's, that's not, you know, he's, he's not conceited. He's not, he doesn't think. He's, he's, you know, too good to talk to people.

Like, like a lot of the, the politicians do.

But yeah, I had a couple of, of meet and greets with Brian when he, when he ran the previous time and, and I, I supported him in, in locally in a couple of fourth of July parades, I think, and things. And you know, it's.

I know there's a lot of times when, you know, guys would, people would ask me, you know, like in, in the group, well, who's, who's Brian? And I think Brian jokes about it too, but he's the one that, that's ahead above everybody else. And so Brian, he's the tall guy over there. He's.

Brian's the tall guy.

So when you, whenever pointing, pointing out Brian to somebody, that's, that's how you point him out in the crowd is, you know, Brian's, Brian's the tall guy, but just a fantastic guy. And that's like I said, really down home.

And he, you know, whenever we sit down and not too long ago we, he was doing a petition signing in Watertown and I got together with him and a couple of his staff guys afterwards and we had some pizza and had a beer and just visited. And he's just, he's eager to learn.

I mean, he, you know, like a lot of the questions you asked this morning, he's asked many of those questions of me from an ag Standpoint, he wants to learn these different industries and like agriculture. And so he's just very easy to talk to.

Well, that's great to hear. And, and you cannot win South Dakota if you can't talk to farmers.

And, and the best part about farmers is their meter is on high and they don't put up with anything, any crap, that's for sure. So. Right. Yeah. They're the most engineer. You know, I, I said three things. There's a fourth.

You guys are the most ingenious people I've ever met too, you know. You know what, A tractor's not operate in the right way, you don't run to town, you just fix it your darn self. So.

Well, if you have the older stuff like, like we do, you can. But I know that's one of the areas that Brian stood up for.

I don't want to drag this out here, but you know, being able to work on your own equipment and so he stood up for farmers in, in that way that some of the brand new equipment, they've designed it so that only the dealer can work on it and.

Right.

I know that's an area that Brian has spoke up for and so. But yeah, on the older stuff, that is we, we engineer plenty of things that keep things going well.

Right. And. And if you're ever.

Anything's ever broken down, whether it's your lawnmower or your back door, the best person to get involved to fix it is a farmer. Trust me free. And they'll do it well. So, Travis, it's been a pleasure to talk to you.

I really appreciate you opening up a little bit on our mutual friend Brian Bengs and your business there in South Dakota. I hope, hope you guys are able to make a go of it. And it sounds like with your son, Ethan, I think was his name. Is that right?

Ethan. Correct.

Yep. Yeah. With Ethan there on the farm and, and your wife and other farm hands, I'm sure you guys are going to make a go of it.

Let's touch base again maybe later in the fall because I'd be interested to see where your head is on some of these farming issues and in South Dakota and elsewhere. But I really appreciate you taking some time to visit with us, Travis.

Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to, you know, to talk about Brian here and absolutely wish him the well and just encourage people to get to know Brian because he wants to get to know you.

Terrific. Yeah. And I would encourage folks again to go bright to Bings B E N G S for South Dakota dot com.

You can donate there [email protected] BB and we'll put all this in the show notes. And again, Travis Paulson, a farmer in Wallace, South Dakota, with us today on mucu. Have a great rest of your day, folks.