AOA Friday 4-3-2026

On the Good Friday edition of AOA, powered by Cenex, we start the show discussing the latest U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council's (USGBC's) 2025/2026 Corn Export Cargo Quality Report, with Mark Sevier, Manager of Global Strategies and Trade for the council. In Segment Two, we talk with USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce who helps us dispel some myths regarding the FBA payments, base acres and pass through entities for ARC/PLC payments. In Segment Three, we talk about the importance of soil testing and how data from SoilView shows that when fertility decisions are based on average yield instead of soil sampling, growers over-apply fertilizer 45% of the time and under-apply 45% of the time. Matt Struve, SoilView operations manager, joins us to discuss. Then we close the show and hear about author Ryan Dennis and his memoir, Barn Gothic: Three Generations and the Death of the Family Dairy Farm. It follows his family's experience in trying to keep a small dairy farming going, as well as explores the specific politics that have led to difficult conditions for dairy farms. You can find the book via Island Press here: https://islandpress.org/books/barn-gothic#desc