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Every business has a “70%” — the single biggest cost or effort that quietly drives success or failure. In pig production, that 70% is feed. It’s not flashy, it’s not exciting, but it makes or breaks profitability.

In this solo episode, Jim Smith shares why focusing on the fundamentals often delivers bigger results than chasing the newest, shiniest ideas. Drawing on decades of swine nutrition experience and a recent cost analysis, he shows how small improvements in the largest expense category — whether it’s feed in agriculture or something else in your own business — can lead to major gains.

From feed budgets and efficiency to broader lessons about avoiding distractions, Jim asks the question: What’s your 70%, and are you giving it the attention it deserves?

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For our 50th episode, we’re not pulling any punches.

Jim sits down with Jerod McDaniel, a farmer, cattleman, and unapologetic contrarian from Texhoma, Oklahoma, who’s made a name for himself by doing what most in agriculture won’t: calling out the broken systems, the lazy thinking, and the comfortable lies.

Jerod took over his family’s operation at 18 and has spent the last three decades doing things differently because the mainstream often gets it wrong. From planting low-pop corn in the dust-blown Oklahoma Panhandle to challenging the way we manage herds (and people), Jerod brings real-world wisdom and the kind of honesty that makes people squirm and think.

In this episode:

• Why he thinks most ag narratives are theater and how to spot the lies
• How learning by failure built his bullshit radar
• What cattle management taught him about human behavior during COVID
• The problem with breeding for docility livestock and in society
• How he raises kids who can think, act, and challenge the status quo

This isn’t just a conversation. It’s a wake-up call wrapped in cowboy grit.

If you’re tired of corporate-sanitized ag talk, this is the one you’ve been waiting for.

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In this solo episode of Patio Pondering, Jim reflects on a moment at the Indiana State Fair that left him unsettled when he witnessed something wrong and didn’t speak up. What started as an uncomfortable memory became a deeper reckoning with silence, regret, and the choices we make in real time.

This isn’t just a story about livestock or county fairs. It’s about leadership, responsibility, and the moments we carry with us long after they’ve passed. Jim shares how this experience made him reflect on times in work, home, and community where silence felt safer but left a scar.

If you’ve ever looked back and wished you’d spoken up, this one’s for you.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Why we stay silent when we know something’s wrong
• The internal battle between comfort and conviction
• How leadership often starts in everyday, unscripted moments
• What it means to carry regret—and how to be ready next time

Tune in for an honest, unpolished look at one of the hardest things to admit: the times we didn’t speak and wish we had.