Feedstuffs in Focus

Feedstuffs in Focus is a weekly look at the hot issues in the livestock, poultry, grain and feed industries. Join us as we talk with industry influencers, experts and leaders about trends and more. Feedstuffs in Focus is produced by the team at Feedstuffs.

Feedstuffs in Focus is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 332 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Feedstuffs in Focus, a business show with 332 episodes published.

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  Feedstuffs in Focus

  Supply chain collaboration to drive regenerative agriculture

  Aug 7, 202621 min

  Four organizations can sit in the same supply chain and still act like they live on different planets. We wanted to see what changes when they stop acting alone. Sarah Muirhead talks with Paul Scheetz, Director of Regenerative Agriculture at ADM, about a new collaboration with General Mills and Walmart designed to accelerate regenerative agriculture on 40,000 wheat acres across Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. We dig into why this cross-industry partnership matters for scaling regenerative farming, and why “local” is not a buzzword when you are dealing with soil types, weather swings, and field-by-field management. Paul explains how ADM works as the on-the-ground facilitator, what it means to move beyond simply buying grain, and how technical assistance partners like Practical Farmers of Iowa, American Farmland Trust, and Ducks Unlimited help farmers pressure-test practices in the real world. We also get practical about incentives, risk, and measurement. You will hear why financial payments are often necessary for long-term adoption, how data collection and verification are handled, and which practices this wheat program prioritizes: no-till, cover crops, and fertilizer efficiency, including nutrient stewardship and outcome-based nitrogen use efficiency. Along the way, we talk about what success looks like for farmers’ bottom lines, for resilient sourcing, and for a regenerative agriculture business case that can actually scale. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with someone in agriculture or food, and leave a review with your biggest question about regenerative agriculture so we can tackle it next.

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  Feedstuffs in Focus

  What's the real cost of the U.S.-Mexico border shutdown

  Jul 22, 202628 min

  A border closure can feel like a single policy switch, but the beef industry experiences it like a chain reaction. We sit down with Alvaro Bustillos, cattle rancher and founding partner of Vaquero Trading LLC, and president of the Chihuahua Cattlemen’s Association, to unpack what happens when the U.S.-Mexico feeder cattle trade stops moving, why the shutdown tied to New World Screwworm keeps returning, and how the economic shock spreads from ranches to feedlots to packing plants. If you care about cattle markets, beef supply, and real world biosecurity, this conversation gets specific fast. We hear how a cross border system built over generations works at ground level, then we dig into the protocol designed to manage risk: pre-inspection pens, multiple inspection points, quarantine handling, treatment applied ahead of arrival, and strict control of cattle movement. We also challenge a common misconception by tracing how New World Screwworm moved north from Panama and why containment depends less on rhetoric and more on verification, traceability, and enforceable procedures. From there, we follow the money and the capacity. The argument is made that blocking Mexican feeder cattle can cost the U.S. supply chain more than it costs Mexico, because of the level of value created in U.S. feedyards, the logistics, corn demand, and packing plants. We also explore the unintended outcome many people miss: when feeder cattle cannot cross, Mexican feeding and certified meat packing can ramp up, pushing more Mexican beef exports into the market and changing competitiveness over time. We end with a practical proposal: a regionalized, gradual reopening based on risk zones, disease accreditations, and tools like RFID cattle traceability, plus a call for U.S. and Mexican stakeholders to act like one North American industry. Subscribe, share this episode with someone in the cattle business, and leave a review so more producers and policy watchers can find the conversation.

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  Feedstuffs in Focus

  Setting the agenda for better swine health

  Jul 10, 20267 min

  Endemic disease already steals margins, but a foreign animal disease outbreak could rewrite the rules overnight. From the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, we sit down with Marisa Rotolo, Director of Swine Health for the National Pork Board, and pork producer Paul Ayers to explain why the industry is building a National Swine Health Strategy and why it starts with one simple idea: let producers define the real problems and the practical fixes. Our Ann Hess digs into what we keep hearing across the pork industry, from PRRS frustration to the ongoing impact of PEDv, and why “moving the needle” matters more than chasing quick wins. Marisa breaks down the strategy’s two core goals: prevent and prepare for foreign animal diseases while reducing the impact of endemic swine diseases that producers battle every day. Paul shares what the swine health advisory committee is doing to keep priorities grounded in what works on farms, with input from operations of different sizes and even the show pig segment. We also talk about what success actually looks like when goals are ambitious and long-term: sustained producer engagement, industry alignment, and progress you can measure. The conversation closes with the two-pronged plan to get there: targeted swine health research, plus education that turns findings into slat-level solutions, including a National Swine Health Strategy Research Summit to align the research community around shared priorities. If you care about swine biosecurity, disease prevention, and protecting the future of pork production, hit play, subscribe, share this with a producer or vet, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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  Feedstuffs in Focus

  Agribusiness under pressure

  Jun 11, 202614 min

  Margin pressure in agriculture is not a headline, it is a daily operating constraint. When diesel swings, fertilizer tightens, and geopolitics disrupts supply chains, agribusiness leaders have to make decisions fast, often without the ability to simply raise prices and move on. Host Sarah Muirhead sits down with Jim Clark of Granite Creek Capital Partners to map the biggest challenges to growth in agribusiness in 2026 and the real-world choices operators face when input costs surge. They dig into what has driven inflation across the last several years, from the pandemic and shifting tariff policies to conflicts that ripple through energy markets. Jim explains why products tied to petrochemicals, including fertilizer and crop protectants, can become both expensive and hard to source, and how fuel and freight can turn into a second profit-and-loss statement all by themselves. We also talk about the “pass-through” problem: many agriculture businesses are price takers, so protecting margins often means tough trade-offs between pricing, volume, and asset utilization. The conversation breaks down which sectors appear to be getting hit harder, why row crops have struggled more than livestock in recent years, and where biofuels exposure can help soften the blow. We also explore practical innovation, including efficiency gains that make NPK products or crop protection work harder at lower rates, and how precision agriculture tools like drones can make post-emergence application more feasible and targeted. If you want a clearer view of agribusiness risk management, commodity market realities, and the technologies shaping farm profitability, this one is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

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  Feedstuffs in Focus

  New World screwworm alert

  Jun 5, 202610 minS0

  <p>A parasite the US eliminated decades ago is back on the radar, and the clock starts the moment someone notices a “not quite right” wound. We sit down with Dr. Patrick Webb, Assistant Chief Veterinarian with the National Pork Board, to unpack what a confirmed New World screwworm case in southern Texas signals for pork producers and the wider livestock industry, and why early reporting beats waiting for certainty every time.<br/><br/>We walk through how a suspected case typically moves from farm observation to state notification, investigation, and lab confirmation, and what that process tells us about read...

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