Agribusiness Blueprint is a limited-series podcast about how the modern agribusiness system was built and why the business of agriculture is fundamentally different from every other industry. Hosted by Purdue University’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business, this series tells the stories of the people, ideas and decisions that shaped the modern food and agricultural system, from early entrepreneurs like Johnny Appleseed to the economists, researchers and business leaders who helped define agribusiness as a discipline. Agriculture operates under a unique set of pressures – biological production, weather, global markets, government policy and decentralized decision-making – which forced the industry to develop its own management tools and strategy. This podcast is the story of how that happened and why it matters today.
Publisher
Purdue University Center for Food and Agricultural Business
Uncertainty is the name of the game in ag today, and when it comes to strategy, traditional tools like SWOT analysis and strategic plans don't stand a chance. From rising farm debt and dicey trade policies to geopolitical breakdowns and the unpredictable arms race of AI, the risks facing farms and agribusinesses are multiplying faster than any one plan can anticipate. So where does that leave us? In today's season finale, hosts Sarah Mock and Trey Malone tie together lessons learn...
9 Sept 2026
When AgTech Works (and Why)
AgTech has a ketchup sandwich problem. In other words, there's a lot of technology and "innovation" being created, but increasingly, it's technology and innovation that no farmer or agribusiness really wants. It's a ketchup sandwich. How to avoid making— and buying— these agtech ketchup sandwiches (or doing "innovation theater") is what today's episode is all about. Join hosts Sarah Mock and Trey Malone, alongside guests Jay Akridge and Allan Gray, as we explore farmer adoption in...
19 Aug 2026
Financing the Farm: Opportunities and Costs
Lending to farmers has always been a difficult proposition. After all, banking and finance are all about managing risk, and agriculture is uniquely resistant to that effort. Today, our current ag finance tools are being tested in new ways, but even as new strategies and technologies emerge, the old question remains: how much risk can farm business — and their lenders — afford? To answer that question, hosts Sarah Mock and Trey Malone dig into the past and future of agricultural le...
29 Jul 2026
How to Sell Anything to Farmers
Ag sales have always been a hard sell — quite literally. After all, farmers are conservative spenders, and the people attracted to working in the industry, people who know farmers well (and maybe are farmers themselves), are not excited to be seen as pushy solicitors. That's why agribusinesses have struggled to recruit and train successful sales people for decades. The secret is, salespeople who do succeed rarely look like salespeople at all — they look like helpers and trusted ad...
8 Jul 2026
Should Agribusiness Make Talent or Buy It?
Agriculture's labor problem is chronic. But attention is focused on the hands in the field, even while another talent crisis looming, and new tech and tools (even AI) seem unlikely to solve it. Today, hosts Sarah Mock and Trey Malone join experts Jay Akridge, Aissa Good, and Brenna Ellison to dig into why agribusiness is chronically short on skilled talent, and lay out a practical framework that anyone from farmers to agribusiness executives can use to determine how best to close that g...
10 Jun 2026
Agriculture's Wicked Energy Problems
The Iran War is hitting American farmers from multiple directions — not just through higher fertilizer costs, but through the rising price of diesel and gasoline too. But this is far from agriculture's first energy crisis. In fact, during past crises we built tools and strategies for surviving the exact kinds of disruptions we're facing right now. Today, Sarah Mock and Trey Malone, along with special guest Otto Doering, look back at the 1970s propane crisis to find lessons for what to d...
20 May 2026
Watch Out for the Tail: Risk and Uncertainty in Agriculture
Risk has always been part of farming and agribusiness — but the way we understand and manage it has transformed dramatically over the past 60 years. Today, hosts Sarah Mock and Trey Malone trace that evolution, from the irrational exuberance of 1970s American agriculture through the devastating farm financial crisis of the 1980s, and into today's high-stakes landscape of trade wars, AI disruption, and geopolitical uncertainty. Along the way, they dig into practical strategies that farmers and...
29 Apr 2026
Lean Agriculture
What do a foot pedal trash can, Japanese automakers, and modern ag sales have in common? They were all invented (in a manner of speaking) by Lillian Gilbreth, an engineer, mother of twelve, and one of the most influential figures in modern management science. In this episode, host Sarah Mock and co-host Trey Malone trace Lillian's remarkable legacy from the factory floor all the way to the American farm. Alongside Scott Downey, Director of the Center for Food and Agricultural Busi...
8 Apr 2026
Johnny Appleseed, Agribusiness Man
Once upon a time, a barefoot man with a pan on his head set out to build a business in one of the most unpredictable and challenging sectors on Earth. That's how Johnny Appleseed became more than just an American folk hero, he became one of America's most innovate agribusiness people-- pioneering a tree nursery business on the nation's frontier in order to meet a fast-growing demand for apple cider and vinegar. Today, we're diving into Johnny Appleseed's story to understand: Why agricul...
1 Apr 2026
Agribusiness Blueprint | The Trailer
Agriculture is unlike any other industry. No other sector is so vital to human life, and so dependent on countless small businesses who contend daily with weather and natural variability, dozens of global markets, evolving technologies, and wild geopolitical uncertainty. The businesses that operate in this unique and complex world are also unlike any other, and they didn’t get that way by accident. Agribusiness leaders have solved some of the hardest managerial problems on Earth.&...
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