347. Farm Credit Mid-America's Natasha Cox on the speed of change + prioritizing smart bets for innovators and farmers alike

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Agbioscience

This weekly podcast dives into the agbioscience sector, where agriculture, life sciences innovation and cutting-edge technology converge. Agbioscience is an in-depth conversation with leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs across food, animal health. pl...

New data from USDA shares that net cash farm income decreased roughly 3.5% from 2023 into 2024 and we’re looking at inflation adjusted numbers. But here’s the piece of the silver lining that may be untold: that number – net cash farm income – is still above average when we look at the last 20 years from USDA data. This week, Natasha Cox, Senior Vice President of Farm Credit Mid-America, joins us to help make sense of the numbers, what it means to producers and to the broader agbioscience economy. We get into:   The macro perspective on the health of farm balance sheets across the Midwest  Big trends that she’s looking at from a financial health standpoint of farms and agribusinesses  Consolidation – from both the farmer and innovator perspective – as a factor in the economic system of agriculture in the US  New investments being made on farm or within agribusinesses to better connect to the end market of food is health  Natasha’s perspective as a farmer and how she prioritizes where to place her bets for her operations  The criticality of surrounding yourself with good partners, knowing your options when it comes to strategic planning and investments and asking the right questions for your operations or business  The innovation she’s most excited about in 2025