Ep. 100 Celebrating 100 Conversations
In this episode we are celebrating 100 episode of AgCredit Said It! The hosts look back on the evolution of the podcast, some highlights from past episodes and how it’s impacted their lives. We also chat with AgCredit Board Chairman Dusty Sonnenberg and get his insights on the impact of the podcast. The episode ends with some special guest shout outs.
- Transcription
Speaker 1 (00:08):Welcome to AgCredit Said It, your go-to podcast for insights on farm finance and maximizing your return on investment. Join us as we talk to industry leaders, financial experts, and area farmers, bringing you skillful advice and strategies to grow your farm's financial future. AgCredit Said It, where Farm Finance goes beyond the balance sheet.
Kayla Laubacher (00:39):Welcome back to AgCredit Said It, where we take you beyond the balance sheet of Farm Finance. I'm your host, Kayla Laubacher, and today we are celebrating a huge milestone for AgCredit Said it. This is our 100th episode, and with me to celebrate today are two of our hosts, Libby Wixted and Phil Young. Welcome guys.
Libby Wixtead (00:57):Hey, Kayla,
Kayla Laubacher (00:58):Kayla. So you guys both have been on this journey with me of Ag Credit Sedit since day one when we started brainstorming and had the idea of launching this about five years ago. So can you believe we've made it to 100 episodes?
Phil Young (01:11):Yeah, pretty insane. Yeah, to think about it. Yeah.
Libby Wixtead (01:13):Yeah. It's so exciting to think that this has gone this far.
Kayla Laubacher (01:18):I know. I didn't really, I guess when we first started know how far it would go or how long it would go, but we've learned a lot along the way and made some changes to make it work out for us and here we are. But thinking back to that beginning, Libby, can you talk us through some of the reasons why we had originally decided to start this podcast?
Libby Wixtead (01:37):Yeah, there was a lot of excitement around some ideas of how to reach our young and beginning small farmers. And we have a mission as a Farm Credit Association to support Young Beginning and Small Farmers. And there was a group of us that saw an opportunity in our industry to reach these individuals and meet them where they are and also have a more on- demand type of educational opportunities where they didn't have to come to an in- person meeting because at that point, in- person meetings were really not well attended and the people that were attending it really weren't the ones that we wanted to hear our message. And so this was a way that we could reach those individuals and provide that connection to other prominent leaders in agriculture and they could share their expertise with our customers and listeners. And it's gone beyond our YBS members to all of our members at this point, I think.
(02:45):Phil, is there anything that I missed on that?
Phil Young (02:48):Yeah, I just had a passion for wanting to approach topics from a 101 level for young borrowers, not starting at a advanced level, really kind of just start from the beginning, whether it's taxes or entity structures or really anything and just say, "Hey, here's a topic when we're going to start from the very beginning and walk you through so you understand what this topic is, how to make better choices and how to grow your operations." So that was my heart for wherever you were at, we were going to start at the beginning and hopefully educate you along the way.
Kayla Laubacher (03:22):Yeah. And I think it's nice now just to have this huge library of these resources. So if you have a new member that's mentioned a specific topic, we probably have a podcast that covers it so you can refer people back to and have this audio library available to just keep using. We were just talking about how crazy it is looking at the download numbers, they're still growing. People are still going back and listening to old episodes and downloading episodes from the very beginning from four years ago, five years ago, which is just crazy to see that that's still happening. And to give everyone just a brief history of AgCredit Said it, we officially had launched this back in November 2021 with this idea and just a small committee. And if I remember correctly, I know you guys were on the committee and didn't maybe necessarily think you would be hosting, but I remember sitting in that room that day when we were like, "Okay, who's going to host this?
(04:10):" And kind of looked at you guys and you were the ones there and we're like, "Well, I guess you are being volunteered and here we are. You stuck with it with us this whole time." And I know I've given you some chances to step out if you didn't want to do it, but I think you guys have enjoyed it and it's been fun to have just this little team to kind of bounce ideas off of and go through. When we did first launch it, we used the help of an outside marketing company first for the first two years, really to help us get it off the ground, get things started, do the recording and audio. I really had no idea how to do audio editing or any of that good stuff, but after two years we did decide to ... We were confident enough to bring it in- house.
(04:49):We had learned enough. And so now we do produce the entire podcast, in- house at AgCredit. Everything you hear and see is done by our team here. And so I think that was a huge step and just very cool that we learned enough and could figure it out and were able to bring this whole project and now do it ourselves. So it is a big part of our marketing plan and team here to kind of host this podcast. So Phil, you've admitted this on the podcast before. You love to nerd out about numbers. So I'm going to let you share some of the stats of AgCredit Said It.
Phil Young (05:21):Yep. Big nerd. Happy to do that. Yeah. So like you said, we launched November 1st, 2021. We've been doing this for about five years. What's crazy is we've had about 23,000 downloads, all time downloads over all those episodes. We've had 87 different guests over those 100 episodes. So we've had some repeat people, but just a large vast array of people. We've actually won, shockingly, along the way, we've won some awards. And so we've won three different awards, one from the National Agricultural Marketing Association and two Aggie Awards that are given out through Ag First District. So it was pretty wild. One day we woke up and we said, "Hey, we have an award-winning podcast." And we could say that and it'd be true. So that was pretty fun.
Libby Wixtead (06:08):Yes, that was shocking that we were able to say that.
Kayla Laubacher (06:10):Three time award-winning podcast. Yeah, right. So cool. So for you guys each, what has it meant to you to be a part of the AgCredit Said It podcast team? What kind of have you gained from being a part of this journey? Whoever wants to go first.
Phil Young (06:29):Yeah, I'll go first. Yeah. It's been, like I said, we've interviewed 87 people. I would say just being able to meet and spend an hour, hour and a half with all of the guests we've had. And so obviously during my normal day, I wouldn't have probably had the chance to interact with such a diverse group of people. And so my natural curiosity just kind of took over and it's like I just loved asking them questions, being able to dive deep. And for me, just to be able to learn, even if it's a topic area, maybe I already knew something about, I just felt like I walked away with new things I learned, even if I knew something about it. And so that's just been fun.
Libby Wixtead (07:04):Yeah. I'm very grateful that our board and executive leadership team had recognized the opportunity that we saw and had supported the podcast over the last five years. I mean, it's been amazing and that support has been wonderful. And it's kind of like the same thing that Phil said. I have learned and gained experience alongside of our listeners. I know that out of every podcast that I have hosted, that I have learned something new, either about the host from on the air or off the air, or just gained some insight that I wouldn't have known in just my normal day-to-day networking. I love to network. I love to learn about people. And I think, Phil, you would agree with this that it's made us better account officers for our customers as well. I also believe that this podcast has been a catalyst for us at AgCredit to get those learning opportunities out to our YBS members.
(08:09):And it's just been a nice platform for us to have and just our little association here in Northwest Ohio who would've known what an opportunity that we would've had and really educate us account officers that have been the host and then also be able to share it with our team members.
Kayla Laubacher (08:30):Yeah, very true. And just you say little AgCredit here in Northwest Ohio. The impact we've had within the Ag First District with the podcast is also very cool. I've talked with several associations in the past five years, just they had so many questions like, "How did you start it? Where do you get the ideas? How do you get guests?" And so it's been cool to be kind of the leader in the district on that, getting to answer those questions and kind of being the expert on podcasts. And I do know at least two other associations have launched podcasts as a result of our podcast, just hearing how it's gone for us and seeing how we've done it and the success we've had. So it's kind of neat to be a leader in the district in that aspect. So do you guys have any favorite moments, favorite guests, or favorite episodes that you can think of over the past 100 episodes?
Phil Young (09:15):I was scanning through our list of all 100 episodes we did, and it was just the ones I feel like I love the most are ones that ... I mean, they're all practical, but ones that are super practical as far as like farm trucking, which I feel like you're not going to be able to search out like a podcast that talks about farm trucking real easy. And it's just like, man, that is super practical. It's a super big gray area that people deal with. And it's a big part of agriculture is trucking your own grain and what are the dos and don'ts there and how do you follow the law and make sure you don't get busted on something maybe you didn't even know you weren't supposed to do. So pep episodes like that, the biggest one I feel like we always get asked about is transition planning.
(09:55):I feel like that's usually the top three when I talk to people on, "Hey, what do you want to hear on our podcast?" You're like, "Man, we're trying to figure out transition planning." And I feel like we have touched on it probably numerous times because it's been one that people really hunger for and they're always trying to figure out entity structures, how to structure their farm, how to make the best tax decisions because of that. And just again, that goes along with transitions and future planning. So any of those were great, I thought.
Libby Wixtead (10:25):Yeah. I think one of my favorite moments was kind of what Kayla going off of being AgFirst, being so prominent in that and starting other podcasts for other associations was we were at a marketing event within our district and I had gotten on the mic to say something and I had somebody walk over to me and they're like, "You host AgCredit Said It." And I was like, "Oh my gosh." I was like, "Yes, I do. " And just having that recognition of the voice was just kind of shocking. But that was a favorite moment because I didn't realize just that other people were actually listening to our podcast. We do it every day. We love it. I know each of us have listened to it, but that was just neat to hear other people listening to our podcasts within the district. I think, like Phil said, all of our episodes have touched so many good topics that a lot of people have questions about and maybe they don't know what questions to ask or how they should ask it or just basic information, like he said, doing the 101.
(11:33):And some of mine I did with Ryan Conklin. Ryan Conklin and I have a great time and it's always entertaining when you get us over a podcast of you never know what's going to happen. There are so many things that you guys have no idea that happened in the background in some of those podcasts where we had to keep together to keep recording.
Kayla Laubacher (11:50):Some of my best editing work comes off of those podcasts, I think.
Libby Wixtead (11:55):Yes. And I think some of my more serious notes would have been Aaron Stoller's five attributes of a successful farmer. That was one of my favorites. Aaron is a mentor of mine. And so he just has really good things to provide to our customers, Zippy Duvall. That was just a great one just to be able to be in the same room and have that interview with him. And then any of the sharing your story, building a brand, I have a marketing heart, even though I'm an account officer, those I love listening and sharing those types of episodes. And Matt Rush and Stacie McCracken had done a wonderful job for that. And then it's kind of funny that Phil brought up the trucking because I was one of the hosts that hosted the State Highway Patrol. And I'll never forget, we have a highway out front of our Marion office.
(12:52):And after we got done officially on the air, Matt asked the one guy, he's like, "Okay, so how many trucks just went by that you got distracted and they had something wrong with their truck?" And he was just a really cool guy and he just was going on and on and on and just really showed how friendly state highway patrolmen are to agriculture and how they are really willing to help farmers understand where they need to be. So those are my favorite moments, I guess, and episodes, but mine are more moments and kind of the bloopers along the way. Kayla, I really wish you would get us a bloopers reel so we could go back and listen to us when we first started and-
Kayla Laubacher (13:38):I might need to do that. We'll go back and pull some old, old audio and find all the bloopers. But yeah, those ones with Ryan were always the funniest. One of my favorites I had on the list too was with the State Highway Patrol guys as well. They were so interesting to talk to and to listen to. One fun fact for me, I have been in on every single episode of ... I mean, I think there was maybe three I missed on maternity leave, but I've listened to every single episode multiple times. So it's cool for me to hear the guests we've heard or got to visit with and just see the growth in you guys too from the beginning because we threw you in front of some mics one day and we're like, "Here you go, be the host." And just to see how far you guys have come and gotten more comfortable and confident in your interviewing skills.
(14:18):And I'm glad it's been a positive experience for both of you. And I appreciate having you on this little committee so that we can keep this thing going. But do you guys have any other last thoughts you want to share before we head into our next portion of this episode?
Libby Wixtead (14:31):Phil, do you remember how intimidating it was when we got our official soundboard and microphones set in front of us? It was like, "This is legit. This is legit. We have to be serious."
Phil Young (14:45):There's power in the magic of editing. I'll say that. Yeah.
Kayla Laubacher (14:48):I will say too, I feel like early on we had bought some equipment based on the recommendations from the marketing company we worked with. And so when we would show up to do some interviews on site with people and we set up all this stuff, they would kind of be the same way like, "Oh wow, this is really fancy." And on the inside I was like, "I'm kind of winging this. I hope I'm recording okay." And we acted confident like we knew what we were doing, but we figured it all out and we really, it's always worked out. Our episodes have always come out well. We've figured out the audio. We've never really had any major issues, thankfully. We've never had to rerecord or do anything crazy, just got to have the confidence and it works out.
Libby Wixtead (15:22):I think that goes back to a lot of what our podcasts have been about. Just the recent one we did with Davey Neidhart and at least the ones that I've done with Melinda Witten is I don't think our listeners maybe understand how nervous and had some fear of, "Okay, you're really trusting me doing this. I don't know what I'm doing," type of thing. And it's really just dive in head first, dive all the way in and you'll figure it out along the way. I just truly believe that. And I feel like that's personally how I felt with this. And I think that's a lesson that we've gained from this challenge of we really didn't know what the heck we were doing in the beginning of this and look where we've come out and how far we've come.
Phil Young (16:13):Yeah. Don't lose the drive of learning and trying to get 1% better every day. And I was just going to suggest to anyone listen, now that we're a hundred deep, yeah, there's a lot of content there just to go back. And if you're a first time listener or only been with us for a season or two, there's some really good content stretching back all the way to 2021. So all still relevant for the most part.
Libby Wixtead (16:34):And if we've missed something, please email marketing and they will figure it out.
Kayla Laubacher (16:40):Yes. Let us know. If there's someone you want to hear from, a topic you want us to cover, we are always looking for suggestions. We want to definitely cover things that you guys want to hear about, but we have to definitely say thank you to all of our listeners too, because this podcast wouldn't get to where it is without them. I mean, we've always had some goals that we need to reach to be able to continue doing it. So having the listenership, people sharing episodes, that's what lets us keep going with this. So thank you to the listeners. We appreciate you. And be sure to share some episodes with friend. We can still keep growing. We still want to get our information out there. So if you listen to an episode you like, share it on your social media, send it to a friend and help us keep reaching as many people out in ag as we can.
(17:19):So next up, we had a chance to talk with AgCredit's board chairman, Dusty Sonnenberg about AgCredit Said It. So next up we are going to hear a short interview with him and his thoughts on this milestone for the podcast. And then we also will have some special messages from some past guests. So thank you again all for listening so far. And here's Dusty.
Kendra Heffelfinger (17:39):Hey, welcome back listeners. This is Kendra Heffelfinger and I'd like to welcome Dusty Sonnenberg back to the podcast. So welcome, Dusty.
Dusty Sonnenberg (17:46):Well, thanks, Kendra. Good to be here.
Kendra Heffelfinger (17:48):From your perspective as board chairman at AgCredit, how has Ag Credit Sett made a difference with the association?
Dusty Sonnenberg (17:54):I think first off, you well know that AgCredit is a relationship lender and the podcast, I think anytime you listen to a podcast, it really makes the listeners feel like they're there, like they're a part of the conversation with the host and the participants. And so as that sort of part of the conversation, I guess, the way podcast works, I think that plays into that whole relationship concept. I think podcasts do a great job, especially the lineup that you guys have put together leading to more member borrower interactions, if you creates more touchpoints with the association and our borrowers and does a great job as far as just information sharing and transferring that information. I think it just really fits well with what we're trying to accomplish.
Kendra Heffelfinger (18:41):Yeah. I mean, I think you brought up the relationship aspect of it. And with the podcast, obviously we can do education, we can engage our members, we can support them in what they're doing in their operations with information. And so it's just another piece that we can provide to our members here at Ag Credit. How do you see the podcast complimenting other things, other communication channels? You're in the radio industry, you're in the communication industry. How do you see that podcast really adding value from a communication standpoint?
Dusty Sonnenberg (19:11):I think it's just another tool in the toolbox. Everybody has a different way they prefer to be communicated with. Everybody has different preferences of how they get and ascertain their information. And so the more tools that we can use to try and transfer that information out to make those connections, the better. And a podcast is a great way to do it. It's a form that folks can connect with at their convenience when they want to. And whether they've got a few minutes or several minutes, they can get as much of that information as they choose to digest. So I think it's a very user-friendly way that is definitely what we see all across the industry right now.
Kendra Heffelfinger (19:49):Yeah. And you're a big part of that industry. You get to see it from both sides of the table, if you will, both as radio personality and then also as our board chairman. So how has your experience in broadcast media influenced your view of the podcast or other communication channels that AgCredit uses?
Dusty Sonnenberg (20:08):I think it just makes me more aware of the value of podcasts. And personally, I have several that I listen to that just download automatically every day. Some of them are more for social or enjoyment. Others are more technical in the agriculture industry. Some more dealing with marketing and business, some dealing with personal life type things or spiritual life type things. So I think there's just a whole wide array out there of everything in this realm we call podcast that has an opportunity to connect with people in a way that print media does not or visual things do not. So I just think that it's something I've probably not been as aware of until the last five or so years once I got more involved in the radio and podcasting industry and do it on a regular basis. But at that same time, in an effort to learn as much as I could and look around at what other folks were doing, I really discovered sort of this whole new world out there of information and opportunities.
(21:10):And so I think the fact that AgCredit has not only a presence there, but a very quality product I think speaks well.
Kendra Heffelfinger (21:19):And you mentioned opportunities. What opportunities do you see for our podcast to grow or evolve in the future?
Dusty Sonnenberg (21:27):The biggest thing I think that we aim for is to tell our story. We say in agriculture all the time, we need to do a better job telling our story, and that's just as true for AgCredit and the Association. We need to tell the story that we have of the borrower members that we've helped for decades, for generations, helping them find success on their farm. I think a podcast is a way we can not only tell that story, we can share new ideas, we can share experiences and opportunities that other folks have had. There's just a number of ways we can add value by sharing information and folks can collect that. I also think it just really fits in well with our mission. Our mission here at AgCredit is to create lifelong opportunities for our customers and our employees. This very well does that.
(22:10):And it aligns with our core values. We talk a lot about relationships, respect and integrity and service, accountability, teamwork, and even just the idea of having a goal for courage for our customers and employees success. And a podcast is a tool that can really just come in as a blanket and cover all those aspects. So I think it's something as we move forward, we're going to see more and more opportunities, not only to expand maybe the context of the information, but just a greater touch of people and members as more and more folks come into the podcast realm, if you will, and find us and learn more. I think back over the last several years, a hundred episodes, so congratulations on that. We hit the century mark. And there have been some outstanding podcasts. I can't say that I was necessarily the one that was on those interviews, but they were really good.
(23:02):Everything from when we just had the last one with interviewing one of our interns, going back to some that we did with our Rural Home Loans and what that process looks like, some of the different economic outlooks we've had, and even just some of the personal touch ones that we've had talking to our members and some of the success stories. So you can look back over those a hundred episodes or 99, I guess this is another 100, but looking back across those 99, and it's touched just about every aspect that falls within our mission and vision as an association. And I think that's what's going to lead to further success down the line.
Kendra Heffelfinger (23:39):Well, Dusty, always appreciate your perspective, especially here on the podcast and some of the information that you've provided. So I want to thank Dusty, our board chairman, for joining us on our hundredth episode. And for our listeners, also want to thank you for tuning in for over five seasons. And I have a special treat for all of you as we have a few special guests who'd like to share a message with each one of you.
Christy Seyfert (24:02):This is Christy Seyfert, president and CEO of the Farm Credit Council in Washington, DC. Congratulations to AgCredit on this important milestone of 100 episodes. We have no doubt that many more episodes are in your future.
Ty Higgins (24:20):Hi, this is Ty Higgins with Ohio Ag Net and Ohio's Country Journal. 100 episodes of AgCredit Said It. Congratulations to the gang at AgCredit, finally reaching the number of pushups I can do. Who am I kidding? You did that at episode five. Good job, guys.
Melinda Witten (24:36):Hi, this is Melinda Witten, president and CEO of the Ohio Agribusiness Association. Congratulations to the AgCredit Said It podcast for reaching your 100th episode. What an incredible milestone. Thank you for the great conversations and thank you for highlighting people and their stories that continue to move agriculture forward. Cheers and here's to the next 100.
Bruce Clevenger (25:00):Bruce Clevenger here, Ohio State University Farm Management. Congratulations AgCredit on reaching episode 100 of AgCredit Said It, from all of us at the OSU Farm Office team.
Heather Garner (25:13):Hey, this is Heather Garner with AgFirst Farm Credit Bank. I'm the senior marketing and communication strategist, helping our associations grow and always take the next level with their marketing efforts. Here to congratulate AgCredit on their 100th podcast episode of AgCredit Said It. Your voice, insights, and consistency haven't just informed listeners, They've inspired other associations to launch podcasts of their own. Here's to the impact you've made and here's to the next 100 episodes ahead of you guys. Congratulations.
Brian Ricker (25:47):Hi, this is Brian Ricker, CEO of AgCredit, and I wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank all of the listeners of AgCredit Said It. Without your support, the podcast wouldn't have the success it has, and we're grateful for your following. We're proud to have produced this podcast for 100 episodes, bring education, insights, and value to your farm operations. The connections we've been able to make through this platform are invaluable, and we look forward to continuing AgCredit Said It for years to come.
Speaker 1 (26:26):Thank you for listening to AgCredit Said It. Be sure to subscribe in your favorite podcast app or join us through our website at agcredit.net, so you'll never miss an episode.