Episode 304: From the 1980’s Farm Crisis to Autonomous Tractors, The Making of an Ag Journalist

Since the start of Dan Miller’s career in ag journalism, the pace and scale of news has only increased. His first gig in the biz, as the very first writer for the old Iowa Farmer Today paper, introduced him to current and future Presidents, to farmers from across the country, and sent him on reporting missions around the world, including to the former Soviet Union.For just a little while long, we know Dan as the Senior Machinery Editor at DTN Progressive Farmer, but as he heads off into retirement, he joins us for one last conversation about his career as an ag journalist, what he’s noticed in more than four decades of watching the ag industry change, and what he thinks might lie ahead.Today, we’ll reminisce about Dan’s early career, how he learned to cover agriculture after starting out in small town journalism covering courts and crime, and hear what it was like to be there to witness history being made first hand.He’ll then look forward to what he sees as the future of farm machinery and the future of agriculture more generally, and shares the best advice he’s learned about farm reporting, and why he thinks this work will remain relevant into the uncertain future.