Vets In Ag Podcast

AGD Consulting
  • 4.4 (12)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Monthly

We explore the stories and insights from the military veteran and supporter communities who are leading the way for vets in agribusiness, agtech, and agri-preneurship. We swap stories, talk ag, and show how grass-roots nature of the ag community can be a natural fit for the military veteran.

Episodes

  1. 4d ago

    #94 – Sunnyside Egg Co. – Patrick Samuels (US Army)

    That bright orange yolk you're paying a premium for? There's a good chance it's been manipulated. 🥚 Patrick Samuels went from West Point to Army Ranger School then to Special Forces — deploying to Iraq and Tajikistan - running partner force operations. He left the military because he felt he and his men didn't have the autonomy they needed to make a difference. According to Patrick, nobody wanted to actually win. So he went and built a company where the only limits are the ones he sets. Sunnyside Egg Co is doing what the rest of the pasture-raised egg industry claims to do — chickens actually outside, year-round, on pasture. No factory barns. No doors the chickens never walk through. No sales reps calling to help "craft the yolk color you want." Yes, the last part really happens. Patrick lays it out plainly in this episode: virtually every major pasture-raised egg brand on the shelf is artificially darkening yolks with additives — synthetic pigments, spices, etc — because they know customers associate a dark yolk with a chicken raised outdoors. And less than 15% of "pasture-raised" birds ever actually set foot outside. The standard says chickens need access to 108 square feet per bird. It doesn't say they have to use it. Inside the barn? The requirement is only 1.2 square feet per bird. Do that math. Patrick did. And then he built an alternative — starting with 300 chickens in western Kentucky and scaling to 25,000 birds in production across the country, headed for national retail. And here's where it gets interesting for veterans: the same skill that made him effective as a Green Beret — walking into a foreign community, building trust, recruiting a partner force — is exactly how he builds his farmer network today. His growers are mostly Amish and Mennonite families. He goes to the meeting. He earns the room. He signs the contracts. From Special Forces to egg company entrepreneur. One more episode that proves the skills transfer — just sometimes to places you wouldn't expect. 🌾 Enjoy! VetsInAg #veteransagriculture #eggproduction #pasture #pastureraised #eggs #growers #farmers #regenerative #Army #SF #GreenBeret #RangersLeadTheWay #Rangers #Retail #nutrientdensity #WestPoint

    #94 – Sunnyside Egg Co. – Patrick Samuels (US Army)

  2. Aug 3

    #93 – Compatible Lands Foundation – Coral Eginton

    She became an archeologist because of her love for exploration and discovery. She became a land conservationist because of the U.S. Army. And somewhere in between, she figured out that the land surrounding a military base might be just as important as what's inside the fence line. 🌱 Coral Eginton grew up in California as an only child before spending years chasing ancient mysteries — from shipwrecks off the coast of Spain to ruins buried in the jungles of the Yucatan. She has a master's in nautical archeology. She's excavated Dutch East India Company wrecks in Australia. In 2016, she walked onto Fort Irwin in the middle of the Mojave Desert — 65 miles from the nearest gas station — and fell in love with the military world. She spent years running the federal REPI program (Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration), which is a program design to keep military bases capable of doing their mission by protecting the land around them from incompatible development. Now she's the Executive Director of Compatible Lands Foundation, a land trust with a singular focus — military readiness and environmental conservation. Their tagline says it best: protecting the lands that protect America. In this episode, Coral breaks down conservation easements in a way that actually makes sense — what landowners gain, what's in it for the installation, and why protecting your ranch might also be one of the most pro-military things you can do. Plus: the encroachment problem nobody's talking about. How a city creeping toward a base can silently shrink its ability to train — and cost taxpayers billions. God's not making any more land. This one's worth your hour. 🎧 Enjoy! #VetsInAg #veteransagriculture #compatiblelands #militaryreadiness #landconservation #conservationeasement #soundoffreedom #foodsecurity #militaryinstallations #REPI #agland #landprotection

    #93 – Compatible Lands Foundation – Coral Eginton

  3. Jul 13

    #92 – Carnation Farms – Brian Pugh – US Marine Corps

    From Marine Corps logistician to champion of regenerative agriculture — Brian Pugh’s journey is one you don’t want to miss.🌱 In this conversation, Brian shares how family gardens, his time in Okinawa’s Blue Zone, and a growing concern for food as medicine led him to leave the service and dive headfirst into healing our food system from the soil up. He’s now leading the Service to Soil program at Carnation Farms, a SkillBridge initiative helping transitioning veterans gain hands-on experience in regenerative farming, crops, livestock, and building community in ag. If you’re a veteran curious about farming, interested in soil health, or just love stories of purpose-driven transitions — this one’s for you. Listen now to hear: Why regenerative ag is critical for national security & veteran transitions How one farm is creating real pathways for the next generation of veteran farmers Breadcrumbs that led Brian from logistics to leading Soil Stewards Enjoy! #carnationfarms #ServiceToSoil #VetsInAg #RegenerativeAgriculture #VeteranFarmers #SkillBridge #FoodAsMedicine #MilitaryToFarm #SoilHealth

    #92 – Carnation Farms – Brian Pugh – US Marine Corps

  4. Jul 7

    #91 – Land At Home Project – Barry Taylor & Emma Cashman

    Today's guests are Barry Taylor and Emma Cashman — the co-founders of the Land At Home Project, a nonprofit built on the simple but evidence-backed premise that veterans need a renewed sense of purpose and America needs new farmers and ranchers. Barry grew up on a small ranch in rural southeastern Arizona — the kind of place where summers meant fence work and cattle, the kind of work you couldn’t wait to leave until you were old enough to realize what it imparted in you. His career took him through emergency medicine, nursing, and eventually hospital administration before landing him in a civilian consulting role with Navy Medicine Western Region. Emma grew up in Toronto and a very early age, fell in love with horses. She spent much of her early childhood learning horsemanship before moving to Arizona when she was in college. While finishing her undergraduate degree in nursing, she met her husband who was an active duty airman in the Air Force. She went on to get her master's degree in public health before spending years working across flight medicine and public health at military bases in Italy and San Diego, then ultimately joining Barry at Nav Med West. There, the two of them started connecting the dots between military service and agriculture over coffee while both working as infection prevention and control nurses. What they landed on is something Emma articulates in a way I’ve never heard described before: "Agriculture is full of these imperatives — you must get up to feed the animals, there's just no way around that. Coming from a very structured life in the military, where there are lots of things that you must do, and then going to the free-for-all of civilian life can be very challenging. Having an occupation that's full of these imperatives is helpful — it gives structure in a non-rigid way." In this episode, I want you to listen for a few key themes: Emma's expert review of the peer-reviewed, evidence-based case for why agriculture and military service are a documented fit — not just intuition, but data; How Land At Home's three-part model of education, internship, and mentorship was built by studying what other programs were missing; and A conversation about the One Health framework — and why food security, veteran mental health, and rural community revitalization could actually be the same problem wearing three different hats. Enjoy!

    #91 – Land At Home Project – Barry Taylor & Emma Cashman

  5. Jun 25

    #90 – Numanac – Dan Kelly (US Marine Corps)

    Our guest today is Dan Kelly, a Marine Corps Cobra pilot, architect, entrepreneur, and the co-founder of Numanac, an ag tech company using artificial intelligence and voice-based data collection to help farmers make better decisions and spend less time head down inputting data. But this conversation goes much deeper than technology. As Dan puts it, “There is purpose in the process of building for those who otherwise would not be built for or invested in in a meaningful capacity." Dan shares how growing up around South Texas agriculture, losing a close friend at a young age, serving as a Marine officer, and studying architecture all shaped a personal mission that still drives him today: building for people who otherwise wouldn't be built for. From the cockpit of an attack helicopter to the challenges of food security, farm management, and agricultural innovation, Dan's story is ultimately about purpose, service, and the responsibility we have to create opportunities for others. Enjoy!

    #90 – Numanac – Dan Kelly (US Marine Corps)

  6. Jun 16

    #89 – Regenerative Grazing Open Air Lab (RGOAL) – Camp San Luis Obispo

    This was a really special episode for me. If you've followed past episodes, you'll remember Major Eric Czaja and his wife Angela, and the Regenerative Grazing Open Air Lab (R-GOAL) about Camp San Luis Obispo — a first-of-its-kind program letting transitioning veterans learn about regenerative agriculture through adaptive grazing aboard a military installation. Eric and Angela invited me out to Camp SLO for a two-day Ranching for Profit course hosted by Noble Research Institute, and while I was there, I got the chance to sit down with the R-GOAL interns themselves — in- person, for the first time in the show's history. This conversation includes Major Eric Czaja, plus six members of his team from across the services: Chelsey Chevez (Marine Corps, intelligence specialist), Jacob Isom (Army, 101st Airborne), Omar Huerta (Marine Corps, field artillery cannoneer), Matt Ammel (Army, Special Forces), Eric Morris (Air Force, aircraft mechanic), and Miles Hatch (Cal Poly student and the program's first non-veteran team member). As Eric Czaja put it, framing why this program exists at all, "160,000 service members leave the service every year. Where do you get involved in agriculture? We want to be that opportunity for veterans — which is why we're all here." In this episode, we talk about how the program is scaling from one base to three (Camp Roberts and Fort Hunter Liggett are next) and the leadership lessons each of these folks carries from their time in uniform, or their time in this program and before, into the day-to-day work at Camp SLO. I also get the chance to have a conversation with a group of veterans about a topic that still doesn’t get enough attention — an honest discussion about suicide, loss of purpose, and how so many of these folks have found that purpose again through this program. Again, this was a really special episode for me. Enjoy!

    #89 – Regenerative Grazing Open Air Lab (RGOAL) – Camp San Luis Obispo

  7. May 25

    #88 – DMR Drones – Wes Mathews (US Army)

    Today's guest is Wes Mathews — a Louisiana native, former Army cavalry scout, Iraq veteran, former CrossFit coach, and now a veteran at DMR Drones, a company that's quietly becoming one of the leading drone manufacturing companies in America. Wes grew up in central Louisiana, surrounded by a multi-generational military family — his grandfather served Korea, stepfather in the National Guard, younger brother served in Iraq with Wes and would later become a Blackhawk pilot, and the list goes on. According to Wes, joining the Army wasn't a decision so much as a foregone conclusion. What wasn't planned was everything that came after: the years of mental health struggles between combat deployments, the near-miss in his personal life that only family and friends pulled him back from, and eventually, the unlikely path that led him to DMR Drones — an American-owned company building ag and defense drones out of Lafayette, Louisiana. Wes said it best, "[DMR] is more interested in what my skill sets can do for them rather than changing me to fit the company's needs." In this episode, I want you to listen for a few key threads: first — what it actually looked like to come home from a National Guard deployment without the structure of a base to return to, and why this gap costs veterans more than most people realize; second — how Wes clawed his way back from these dark moments, and what made the ultimate the difference; and finally — how American-made ag drones are challenging the way sugarcane and row crops get treated, monitored, and managed, and why veterans are uniquely positioned to sit at that intersection of defense and agriculture. This one covers a ton of ground — combat, mental health, and flying precision ag. Enjoy!

    #88 – DMR Drones – Wes Mathews (US Army)

  8. Apr 1

    #87 – Ag View Solutions, Monier Seed, Ag View Pitch Podcast – Shay Foulk (US Army)

    Today's guest is Shay Foulk — an Iowa native, Army Ranger, and current National Guard officer who came home from the military not to slow down, but to build. What he built is three interlocking businesses: a 100-year-old family seed operation he married into, a family farm he's actively transitioning into his generation's hands, and a consulting firm that helps family farms across the country do the same thing he's doing — make hard decisions before it's too late. As Shay puts it, "It is so easy — so easy — to set yourself apart in a world where nobody wants to do the hard things, in a world where people don't want to show up on time, in a world where people lack the commitment. Veterans have a tremendous opportunity from the basic level of discipline and structure that you went through in your lives." In this episode, listen closely for a few key threads: first — how a Ranger Regiment deployment to Afghanistan taught Shay a leadership lesson he applies daily in agriculture; second — why he believes the family farm succession crisis is less a structural problem and more a people problem, driven by avoidance and a failure to have hard conversations; and finally, how he's spreading 150% of his time across a seed business, a farm, and a consulting practice — and why delegation is the only way out. This one is part combat story, part business school, and part straight talk on what it actually takes to build something that lasts in agriculture. Enjoy!

    #87 – Ag View Solutions, Monier Seed, Ag View Pitch Podcast – Shay Foulk (US Army)

  9. Mar 11

    #86 – DNA Acres – David and Nicki Yanak (US Air Force)

    Today's guests are David and Nicki Yanak from DNA Acres — two Air Force veterans who left the service with no farming background, a piece of land in rural Missouri, and absolutely no idea what they were getting into. David spent his career in security forces before a series of back surgeries brought his military path to an abrupt end. Nicki served in communications and later became a nurse. Neither of them grew up farming, nor had they planned to, but when a neighbor knocked on David's door and said "good — you have no bad habits I have to break," something clicked. What started with a backfield, a craftsman lawn mower, and a favor for a sick neighbor has grown into a direct-to-market operation raising cattle, chickens, and turkeys — built on non-GMO feed, regenerative grazing, and a stubborn commitment to doing things differently. As David puts it, "The farming community, regardless — big AG, regenerative, whatever — just seems to be a community that reminds me of the military. You need help, they show up. You got a question, you call, you ask, you get their perspective." In this episode, we talk about what it actually looks like to build a farm from scratch — the financial risk, the YouTube rabbit holes, and the patient, unglamorous work of improving land one season at a time. We also get into why David and Nicki made the leap to sell direct to their community, and why transparency in how their animals are raised is a reflection of the values they carried out of uniform. This is a real grassroots story. No shortcuts. No fancy equipment. Just two veterans figuring it out as they go — and finding purpose in the process. Enjoy!

    #86 – DNA Acres – David and Nicki Yanak (US Air Force)

  10. Jan 31

    #85 – Arizona State University & Carbon Cowboys – Peter Byck

    “Agriculture is an act of peace. Well-fed people really don’t feel like fighting, but unfed people will do anything to feed their family.” Peter Byck is a Professor of Practice at the Schools of Sustainability and Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, President of Carbon Cowboys, and documentary filmmaker. Peter’s work sits at the intersection of military readiness, national security, and regenerative agriculture. His journey involving the military and agriculture started with a simple question: why are we putting our military in harm’s way to protect resources we could be producing differently at home? That led him from documenting renewable energy at forward operating bases to his latest work: a four-part docu series called Roots So Deep You Can See the Devil Down There, which documents a multi-million-dollar research project comparing conventional and regenerative grazing. But Peter’s story doesn’t stop at the farm gate. In his newest film,  camp AMP, he follows US Army Major Eric Czaja and wife Angela, as they show how regenerative grazing inside a military installation can improve mission readiness while simultaneously creating pathways for veterans transitioning back to civilian life. In this conversation, we talk about how regenerative agriculture connects to military preparedness, why well-fed populations create more stable societies, and how scaling these practices across the military isn’t just good for farming – it’s good national security strategy. Enjoy!

    #85 – Arizona State University & Carbon Cowboys – Peter Byck
  • 10 Episodes

4.4
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

We explore the stories and insights from the military veteran and supporter communities who are leading the way for vets in agribusiness, agtech, and agri-preneurship. We swap stories, talk ag, and show how grass-roots nature of the ag community can be a natural fit for the military veteran.

Information

  • Creator
    AGD Consulting
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2021 AGD Consulting
  • Show Website
    Vets In Ag Podcast

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