Episode Details

Nick Levendofsky has spent years watching Washington write farm bills that land badly in the field. As director of the Kansas Farmers Union, he's tracked input costs climbing, cattle herds shrinking, and processing power concentrating into fewer hands, and he's done sugarcoating what that means.

While Heidi is out this week, Joel sits down with Nick to work through where the farm bill actually stands, why the House version leaves too much on the table, and what trade wars cost rural markets long after the headlines move on.

In this episode:

• Why the House farm bill misses on crop insurance, antitrust, and beginning farmers
• The bipartisan math required to pass anything that actually sticks
• How packers and processors have shifted market power away from producers
• What tariffs and trade disruptions do to rural markets over the long run
• The structural problems no single bill can fix, and where the pressure points are

Resources & Links

Kansas Farmers Union

Connect with Nick Levendofsky on:

LinkedIn

The farm bill keeps falling short, and farmers can't afford to wait. Tune in, get informed, and find out what real reform actually looks like.

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

• (00:00) - Overview of today's focus on U.S. farm policy challenges
• (02:00) - Current status of the farm bill and legislative prospects
• (03:00) - Why the House version falls short for farmers’ needs
• (04:45) - Critical issues: antitrust, beginning farmers, and safety nets
• (05:50) - Land transfers, farm retirements, and generational shifts
• (12:00) - The impact of past reconciliation cuts and nutrition programs
• (14:00) - Farmer reliance on federal aid versus trade-based income
• (15:46) - Concentration in meatpacking and input industries
• (20:12) - The efficacy of checkoff programs amid trade conflicts
• (22:30) - Challenges with U.S. trade policies, tariffs, and international markets
• (26:20) - Long-term outlook for market recovery and trust rebuilding
• (33:27) - The political landscape and farmers’ support for current leadership
• (36:31) - Reflections on football coaching ties and regional pride