Have you ever felt like you don’t quite belong on your own farm, or wondered if what you do really matters? This week, Jena and Mary Pat answer listener questions about imposter syndrome, finding your role in a family farming operation, and giving yourself credit for the work that happens behind the scenes.

They also talk about the transition into marriage and farm life, especially when you’re joining your spouse’s family farm. From communication and changing expectations to building trust and giving yourself grace, they share what they’ve learned along the way—and why you don’t have to have it all figured out right away.

In this episode:

• Feeling like an imposter on your own farm
• Why not all valuable farm work shows up on a balance sheet
• Giving yourself credit for the work you do behind the scenes
• Navigating the first year of marriage and changes in family life
• Communicating with your spouse about your needs and expectations
• Building trust with your spouse’s family
• Giving yourself grace as your role changes
• Choosing to grow through life’s inevitable changes

New episodes every Tuesday!

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Harvest is not going the way Jena and Mary Pat hoped this year. With weeks of rain, delayed harvest, crop disease, and plenty of uncertainty, they’re learning firsthand that sometimes the things you work hardest for are completely outside your control.

They talk about the pressure to have a record year, dealing with tar spot, and the reminder that not every year will be a record year—and that’s okay. Jena also shares about some of the difficult things happening behind the scenes in her family’s life and how faith, prayer, community, and past trials are helping them navigate this season.

In this episode:

• A delayed and difficult harvest
• Excessive rain and crop disease
• Learning to hold things with an open hand
• Why not every year can be a record year
• Finding hope in hard seasons
• Prayer, faith, and leaning on your people
• Creating small, intentional spiritual habits
• Giving ourselves and others grace

New episodes every Tuesday!

🙌 Join the Conversation!
Tag us or send us a DM @beyondthecrops_. And don't forget to leave us a message on our new voicemail line!

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What does it look like to build a future on the family farm? This week, Jena and Mary Pat are joined by Hannah Borg, a sixth-generation Nebraska farmer who found her own path home through an unexpected opportunity: raising chickens for Costco.

Hannah shares how her family diversified their farm to create opportunities for the next generation, what it’s like raising 65,000 chickens, and how the chicken operation fits alongside their crops and cattle. They also talk about the importance of manure management and soil health, entrepreneurship, working with family, and the value of finding your own place within a family operation.

Plus, Hannah shares her passion for farm photography and documenting the everyday moments that become family history, along with a personal health journey that led her to explore tongue and lip ties, breathing, and sleep.

In this episode:

• Creating opportunities for the next generation on the family farm
• Hannah’s family’s diversified chicken, cattle, and crop operation
• Raising chickens for Costco
• The chicken supply chain from farm to processing
• Biosecurity and the challenges of avian influenza
• Using livestock manure and chicken litter to build soil health
• Entrepreneurship and the UNL Engler Entrepreneurship Program
• Finding your own path and purpose on the farm
• Working with parents and siblings
• Farm photography and “finding the magic in the mundane”
• Documenting family, farm, and agricultural history
• Hannah’s personal health and wellness journey
• The legacy of a multi-generation family farm

New episodes every Tuesday!

🙌 Join the Conversation!
Tag us or send us a DM @beyondthecrops_. And don't forget to leave us a message on our new voicemail line!

Leave us a Voice Message!
We love hearing from you and continuing the conversation off the podcast. Click here to leave us a voice note!