Once upon a time, a barefoot man with a pan on his head set out to build a business in one of the most unpredictable and challenging sectors on Earth.

That's how Johnny Appleseed became more than just an American folk hero, he became one of America's most innovate agribusiness people-- pioneering a tree nursery business on the nation's frontier in order to meet a fast-growing demand for apple cider and vinegar.

Today, we're diving into Johnny Appleseed's story to understand:

• Why agricultural and food businesses are so unique
• How we went from intuitive management to formal agribusiness tools and strategies (and why it matters)
• And what all this means for the ag industry today, as the sector continues to be rocked by new tech like AI and robotics, an unpredictable policy landscape, and unprecedented supply chain disruptions

You'll walk away with an answer to the question, "Is food and ag really that different?" and deeper clarity on why strategies that work so well in other sectors fall flat in the agribusiness space.

Agriculture is unlike any other industry.

No other sector is so vital to human life, and so dependent on countless small businesses who contend daily with weather and natural variability, dozens of global markets, evolving technologies, and wild geopolitical uncertainty.

The businesses that operate in this unique and complex world are also unlike any other, and they didn’t get that way by accident.

Agribusiness leaders have solved some of the hardest managerial problems on Earth. To operate in this unconventional world, these leaders built one-of-a-kind tools that were influenced not just by economics and finance, but by industrial engineering, psychology, experimental economics, entrepreneurship, policy, and agricultural extension. Understanding how these tools were made, and how they shape the agribusiness world, is critical for those looking to stay relevant in the industry’s future.

That’s what we’re doing here. Each episode, we’ll tackle a conceptual breakthrough and the people who made it possible, and share stories about how these breakthroughs are still working, and evolving, today.

You’ll hear familiar stories through new lenses, and emerging stories that will challenge what you think you know about the people and businesses that make food and agriculture work. Plus, you’ll meet entrepreneurs and thinkers who discovered and transformed agribusiness over the last 50 years, getting a crash course in how agribusiness works, what to do when it doesn’t, and where it's going from here.

This is Agribusiness Blueprint. Season premiere coming Wednesday, April 8th, wherever you listen to podcasts.