Episode 166: How We Can Do Better for Agriculture in 2026 | Food, Education & the Future

Introduction & Season Overview

Hi, and welcome back to the Homestead Education podcast. Before we jump in, I just want to remind you that season seven is focused on agricultural education at a human scale and what it really takes to build capable people in today’s world. If you’re looking for practical curriculum to bring that kind of education to your home, classroom, or co-op, can find all of it. You can find all of my Homestead Education books on my website.

They’re built for families and educators who want small-scale agriculture and real-world skills woven into everyday learning. They’re also available through Etsy and many state ESA and charter programs. And if your school or co-op needs invoicing, just reach out to us directly. 

Personal Update & Life Challenges

So it took me a little bit of time to come back and start actually recording season seven. And I really apologize to you guys.

It’s really hard to show up when life feels like it is literally falling down around you. We’ve had a lot of hardships this last couple of months and I’ve shared some of them online and some I just kind of, those are our hard, those are our burdens to carry.

But…

It kind of, don’t even know where to start with it. It just feels like it’s been like one issue after another. You know we were struggling all last year with our car situation. We had an engine blow up on our main vehicle. We were trying to make that work. And then after we fixed the engine, it was just like issue after issue. And so I finally broke down and I was like, we just have to buy a new car. I mean, we just don’t have an option anymore. This isn’t a…

Like a luxury, this is a necessity. And so, I mean, we’re we have four kids at home. We have two that are still around regularly. We have, you know, kids playing sports and that type of stuff. We need an eight seater SUV. It needs to be four wheel drive because we live in North Idaho and I didn’t want to get back into another vehicle that we were going to have issues with. So, I mean, still we bought one that was five and a half years old. It wasn’t like we bought, you know, fresh off the lot.

And you know, it’s been challenging to add a car payment to our already, you know, tight budget and over winter time, everything always gets a harder. And so, I mean, that would that’s just part of it. Like, it’s just it was exciting to have a nice vehicle again. I mean, it’s been a while.

A Season of Hardship

And then this last few months has just been like, bam, bam, bam, issue after issue after issue, including one of them being.

my mother-in-law passed away.

And that was fairly unexpected. She hadn’t been well, but I mean, we didn’t expect this. So, I mean, it’s just, it’s been a really rough few months and not even a week later, we were trying to deal with some pigs all day long. We’ve been having a lot of pig issues this winter. It was really weird winter and like the ground never froze and pigs just weren’t, I don’t know, they weren’t liking it for some reason.

I’m really worried about what our summer is going to bring in from the farming aspect.

But we worked with pigs all day and then my husband went down to pick up a ton of feed and on his way home with the ton of feed like on the trailer on the back of our excursion hits a deer and like all but totaled our car. I mean just the whole front end was just like gone. The radiator had literally exploded. I mean

So I take our our suburban the one that we like worked on all last year and like it’s running it’s it’s doing fine

The “You Can’t Make This Up” Moment

So I hop in that and I drive to town. It’s like, you know 30 miles He’s waiting for the tow truck we get the trailer hooked to the suburban and we start heading home and Literally like not even a mile down the road hit a skunk

So, I mean like of course the skunk didn’t do any damage but now our one vehicle and trailer that actually run and are moving down the road smell like skunk

So, you know, welcome to the world that we’ve been having lately. So if you’re wondering why I haven’t had time to record a podcast, I’ve just been, you know, like sitting back and watching my world fall apart around me. No, definitely I’ve not been sitting back and watching this.

I have been actually, you know, actively trying to fix it. And it just feels like one of those things where no matter how hard we’re working, the worse it gets.

Business vs Life Reality

You know, we’ve had a couple of people be like, is the business struggling? I want to make it really clear right now. The business is not struggling. It is actually it’s it’s thriving. It’s doing very well. But the hardships we have been facing are like outweighing what my salary from the business can keep up with and it’s just it’s a really exhausting process

Getting Back on the Road

So okay not enough about me but i figured i would give you a little bit of an update so that you guys knew why maybe i hadn’t hopped back on as quickly as i normally do after my little like winter break that i do every year

But I have started traveling for the year, which you guys know how much I love. It’s just, it’s so great connecting with everybody, being out on the road, seeing what people want. It gets my brain moving.

The Importance of Real Conversations

This last trip was to Iowa. So if you guys were there, it was awesome meeting you.

I ran a discussion group on children and chores. And that was really interesting to just kind of have moms come and be like, well, how do you motivate your kids?

One thing that always throws people off is that I say, I reward responsibility with more responsibility.

So like, if I can trust you to take the trash out every day, maybe I can trust you to feed the chickens. And that’s more fun because you get to go hang out with chickens.

Season 7 Vision

Which brings me into pretty much what I want our entire season seven to be, which is about agriculture, agricultural education, and how to get kids and adults to take more responsibility for themselves.

So this whole season, I am bringing on agriculturalists. I am guest speaking on a lot of other podcasts. I’m doing lives. I’m doing all sorts of stuff.

The Bigger Agricultural Shift

I’m going to just kind of start off the conversation with some things that I have seen agriculturally over the last year.

I had this whole line of seasoned ranch families asking how to move outside the commercial system.

How can we start making more for our family? How can we change our model?

The Economics of Agriculture

So the farmer makes a thousand and everybody else is making way more than that.

Where if the farmer held it back and sold it themselves, they’re bringing in a lot more cash.

Research & Policy Awareness

So I spent the last year researching a lot of topics, talking to people, going to DC, having conversations.

The conversation around food and ag is huge right now.

But the problem is people are talking about policies without understanding them.

Food Policy: Food Dyes

RFK came in and addressed food dyes.

They’re being phased out and replaced with natural dyes.

Food is going to look different.

Food Policy: Food Stamps

A large portion of food stamps was being used on soda and unhealthy items.

That is starting to change at the state level.

Food Policy: Whole Milk

Whole milk is returning to schools.

Natural fats and cholesterol are being recognized as essential again.

Regenerative Agriculture Programs

There is a regenerative agriculture pilot program.

Farmers can receive funding to transition practices, improve soil, and reduce inputs.

Grants & Opportunities

Grants can support infrastructure like biosecurity and education programs.

This benefits both farms and communities.

The Bigger Concern: Control

If all funding comes from government programs, there is potential for increased control over farms.

Glyphosate & Food System Reality

Glyphosate is controversial.

However, without it right now, our food system would collapse.

There needs to be a transition—not an overnight removal.

Food Security vs Ideals

Sometimes lines are gray.

You can be against something long-term but still recognize its role today.

AI & Misinformation

Watch your research.

AI-generated content is becoming harder to detect.

Agricultural Education Shift

We need to educate both adults and youth.

But lasting change comes from teaching the next generation.

Rebuilding Self-Sufficiency

We need more people willing to feed themselves.

That helps rebalance the entire system.

Final Thoughts & Mission

My goal is to change the conversation.

Reach more people.

Support schools.

Encourage families.

Closing

So with that, I am going to go ahead and wrap it up.

I hope you got something out of this episode. And if you did, that you’ll hit the follow button, leave a review, and help other families find this podcast.

Thank you everyone for being here today and I will be chatting with you next week.