AgCulture Podcast

Across agriculture and food production, consolidation has replaced thousands of independent operations with fewer, much larger businesses. Maine’s lobster industry has largely resisted that trend—and not by accident.
In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul speaks with fourth-generation lobsterman Steve Train about the rules, traditions, and conservation practices that have kept lobstering centered around owner-operated boats and coastal communities.
Steve explains what a day on the water actually looks like, from leaving before daylight to hauling hundreds of traps and measuring every lobster individually. He also walks through the size limits, trap limits, license requirements, and V-notch system that protect breeding females and help preserve the resource for future generations.
The conversation explores why lobstermen cannot simply combine licenses and traps onto increasingly larger vessels, how controlled entry affects the next generation, and what could be lost if lobster licenses became transferable assets controlled by those with the most capital.
Steve also shares lessons from decades of industry leadership, including why effective regulation needs producer participation, why politics should come second to the resource, and why leaders need to know when it is time to step aside.
This is a fascinating look at an industry that has chosen long-term community strength over maximum efficiency—and what the rest of agriculture might learn from it.

MEET THE GUEST: Steve Train
After majoring in small business at Northeastern University in Boston, Steve Train returned to his home state of Maine to continue his family’s lobstering tradition.
Lobstering has been the profession of Steve’s brother Dan, his father Ed, and at least four generations of their family. After more than four decades of fishing, Steve still says he usually wakes before his alarm because he is excited to begin the day.
Steve was born in Portland and has spent most of his life in Portland and on Long Island, Maine. A full-time Long Island resident since 1991, he owns and operates the Hattie Rose, a 46-foot Jarvis Newman lobster boat, and fishes as many as 800 traps year-round.
His commercial fishing experience also includes shrimping, scalloping, sea urchining, groundfishing, operating a kelp farm, and spending one winter fishing for cod in Alaska aboard a longliner.
Steve currently serves as the Governor of Maine’s appointee to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. He previously served for 16 years on the board of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and has held positions on the Maine Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council, Maine Lobster Advisory Council, and Maine Fishermen’s Forum.
Steve also served for six years as a selectman for Long Island, including four years as chairman. He helped establish a nonprofit landholding organization that has acquired more than 100 acres for open space and public recreation, and he currently serves as its president.

ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast".This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.
Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels, and encounters with important figures around the world.
Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

Can a program create value for the dairy industry while leaving individual farmers questioning how their money and data are being used?
In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul Windemuller speaks with agricultural journalist and dairy market analyst Sherry Bunting about the debate surrounding dairy checkoff funding, sustainability reporting, and farmer representation.
Drawing on her reporting and work as a policy advisor for the American Dairy Coalition, Sherry shares concerns producers have raised about requests for detailed farm information: who controls it, how it will be used, and whether farmers receive value in return. Paul brings his own experience as a dairy farmer and his research into farmer-owned data cooperatives to the discussion.
Together, they explore the Wisconsin dairy farmers’ lawsuit, the relationship between industry sustainability programs and processor requirements, and the tension between creating consistent standards and giving farmers a meaningful voice. They also discuss the checkoff’s contributions to nutrition research, product innovation, and dairy promotion.
For dairy producers and anyone working with farm data, this conversation asks a practical question: how can the industry build trust, demonstrate value, and keep farmers involved in decisions that affect their businesses?

MEET THE GUEST
Sherry Bunting is an independent agricultural journalist and dairy and livestock market analyst with four decades of experience covering farms, markets, and policy. Based in southeast Pennsylvania, she writes weekly in Farmshine and serves as a policy advisor for the American Dairy Coalition.
Her background combines agricultural reporting with firsthand experience milking cows on local dairy farms and grading beef cattle for auction market reporting. She also served as managing editor of the former Livestock Reporter.
Sherry served six years on the All-American Dairy Foundation board and volunteered with the 97 Milk education movement supporting the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. Her community involvement includes eight years on the Eastern Lancaster County School Board.
She and her husband, Scott, live in East Earl, Pennsylvania, where they raised three children and now enjoy their seven grandchildren.

ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast".This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.
Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels, and encounters with important figures around the world.
Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

What does a disruption at a port or on a river have to do with the price a farmer receives?
In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul Windemuller speaks with Ken Eriksen, founder and Managing Member of Polaris Analytics and Consulting, about the transportation network connecting agriculture to markets around the world.
Drawing on his experience working on the waterfront, at USDA, and in commodity and transportation advisory roles, Ken explains how ports bring together trucks, trains, barges, ocean vessels, and the businesses that move agricultural products. He also explores how disruptions can increase freight costs, back up supplies, and put pressure on farmgate prices.
The conversation follows three perspectives: how the system works today, the risks on the horizon, and the investments needed for the decades ahead. Along the way, Paul and Ken discuss bulk and container shipping, water availability, the aging barge fleet, shipbuilding, automation, and the importance of preserving space for future port development.
For farmers and agricultural businesses, this is a look at what happens beyond the farm gate—and why reliable access to markets matters to the value of what they produce.

MEET THE GUEST
Ken Eriksen is the founder and Managing Member of Polaris Analytics and Consulting, where he advises clients on commodities, supply chains, logistics, and transportation. His work includes strategic planning, market analysis, consulting, and helping businesses understand the forces shaping their access to markets.
Before founding Polaris, Ken held senior leadership and advisory roles at S&P Global Commodity Insights and its predecessor companies. Earlier in his career, he worked for USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and Agricultural Marketing Service, and as an international longshoreman at the Port of Tacoma, Washington.
Ken holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agribusiness and agricultural economics from Washington State University. He regularly speaks on commodity markets, transportation, and infrastructure, and serves as an expert witness in transportation, logistics, and supply chain matters.
ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast".This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.
Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels, and encounters with important figures around the world.
Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

WHAT'S IT ABOUT
Why can the same technology create real value on one dairy farm and turn into a disappointing investment on another?
In this solo episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul Windemuller shares a framework for understanding what makes technology a good fit for a farm. Drawing on farm visits around the world and his own experience in Michigan, he explores how climate, natural resources, milk markets, labor, and management priorities shape investment decisions.
Paul also explains why robotic milking made sense at a particular turning point in his own business—and why it would not have made sense when he first started. Once adding more cows was no longer an option, the opportunity shifted toward creating more value per cow.
From identifying a farm’s biggest bottleneck to making sure someone actually acts on the data, this conversation looks beyond product demonstrations to the decisions that determine whether an investment pays off.
Whether you manage a dairy farm, advise producers, or build and sell agricultural technology, this episode offers a practical starting point: understand the farm before choosing the technology.

MEET THE HOST
Paul Windemuller is a Michigan dairy farmer, speaker, Nuffield Scholar, and host of the AgCulture Podcast. His work connects firsthand farming experience with conversations about technology, innovation, and the future of agriculture.
Through his own dairy operation and visits to farms around the world, Paul explores how different production systems and management decisions shape farm businesses. In this solo episode, he shares how those experiences inform his approach to evaluating technology and understanding where it can create value.

ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast".This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.
Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels, and encounters with important figures around the world.
Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

Most people picture cranberries floating in water—but that is only one brief part of a year-round farming operation.
In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Paul speaks with fifth-generation Wisconsin cranberry grower Amber Bristow about how cranberries are actually grown, harvested, protected, and marketed. Amber takes us inside her family’s 250-acre cranberry marsh, explaining the specialized equipment, water systems, pollination, winter flooding, and long-term planning required to produce the crop.
The conversation also explores the business behind the berries. Amber explains how her family markets its crop through Ocean Spray, how quality and payment are determined, and how growers manage cash flow without knowing their final price until months after harvest.
Amber also shares why she created Cranberry Chats, what agriculture can learn from specialty-crop growers, and whether those infamous cranberry spiders are real.
Whether you farm, work in agriculture, or have simply wondered how cranberries get from a Wisconsin marsh to your table, this episode offers a fascinating look inside one of agriculture’s most distinctive industries.
Follow Amber on Instagram: @cranberrychats
Check out her website: https://cranberrychats.com/

MEET THE GUEST
Amber Bristow is a fifth-generation cranberry grower raising the beginning of the sixth generation on her family’s farm in west-central Wisconsin.
Amber grew up working on the family’s cranberry marsh before leaving Wisconsin to study sports management and work in minor-league baseball. She eventually returned to join the family operation, where she now works alongside her husband, parents, cousin, and farm team.
Through her social media platform, Cranberry Chats, Amber gives people a behind-the-scenes look at cranberry farming, challenges common misconceptions, shares unique cranberry recipes, and helps consumers better understand the people and work behind the crop.
Amber is also involved with the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association’s communications efforts and the Wisconsin Cranberry Board, supporting industry education, promotion, and research.
ABOUT THE PODCAST
Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast".This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices.
Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels, and encounters with important figures around the world.
Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Subscribe at http://www.agculturepodcast.com and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.