In this episode we cover why beef and dairy prices are climbing for reasons that go far beyond inflation, and what three decades of farm policy have cost rural America.
JR Burdick runs Nourishing Family Farm in north-central Missouri, milking dairy cows and raising hogs, and has sold direct-to-consumer since 2023 after leaving conventional commodity markets and USDA subsidy programs in 2022. This is his third appearance on the show.
Key topics
- Why beef and dairy prices reflect a 30-year supply crisis, not inflation
- How the 1994 Freedom to Farm Act shifted risk from government to farmers
- How Smithfield-style integrators used farmer equity to consolidate the hog industry
- The 2009 Dairy Depression and 2015 Holcomb fire's lasting effect on cattle herd confidence
- Why cheap fuel, money, and labor are gone — and what that means for small farms
- Direct-to-consumer dairy: correcting consumer misconceptions and building trust
- JR's shift to organic farming and leaving USDA subsidy programs
Timestamps
0:00 – Intro, reconnecting with JR
2:00 – Affordability crisis: inflation vs. supply
5:00 – 1994 Freedom to Farm Act and the shift to income-based policy
9:00 – Hog contracts and the Smithfield equity play
16:00 – Ethanol/biodiesel bankruptcies and the 2009 Dairy Depression
23:00 – BSE scare and the 2015 Holcomb fire's lasting impact on cattle herds
28:00 – Cheap fuel, cheap money, cheap labor — and why that era's over
33:00 – Selling direct to consumer: listening over convincing
37:00 – Consumer misconceptions: winter grass, family milk cows
45:00 – The dairy farm decline stat and JR's bullish case for small, local farms
58:00 – The lettuce recall, greenwashing, and knowing your farmer
62:00 – Leaving USDA payments, faith, and the calf-birth story that keeps it all grounded
Connect with JR Burdick / Nourishing Farms
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