Episode 43 | Today, Katie Olthoff of the Meat Success Podcast interviews Purdue agricultural economics, professor Chad Fiechter about practical, responsible use of generative AI in agriculture and small businesses. Fiechter describes adoption ranging from “Google Plus” style queries to farmers building custom web apps, and emphasizes using AI as an iterative thought partner rather than an answer machine. They discuss risks of sharing sensitive data, the importance of reading platform terms, and how paid/organizational accounts can limit model training via privacy settings. To guard against hallucinations, Fiechter recommends requesting sources, verifying with multiple external references, and matching skepticism to the stakes. He encourages transparency about AI use, owning outputs as the author, using adversarial prompts and cross-checking with other models, and providing strong context/examples to improve results, especially for marketing and management tasks.

Connect with Chad here: https://ag.purdue.edu/commercialag/home/team/chad-fiechter/

• 01:17 Chad’s Journey from the farm to Purdue
• 03:19 How Farms Use AI Today
• 05:05 Building Custom AI Tools
• 10:44 Iterating Like a Pro
• 12:50 Data Privacy and Paid Plans
• 16:48 Hallucinations and Verification
• 23:18 Owning AI Output
• 29:14 Adversarial Prompts and Model Battles
• 37:21 AI as Small Business Coach
• 41:24 Give AI Better Context

And learn more about ChopLocal and ChopLocal University Below!

• https://choplocal.com/
• https://www.choplocaluniversity.com/

Episode 42 | Katie Olthoff hosts Stephen Ussary of Stewards Unlimited to discuss current USDA grant opportunities. They explain the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPEP) Phase 4, focused mainly on equipment (and limited renovations) for processors that slaughter beef, with eligibility for small/very small and some larger “intermediate” processors, required matches (25% equipment-only; 50% expansion), and an August 7 deadline; awards are limited and likely competitive, with scoring tied to goals like increased capacity, producer income (including toll processing), new markets, safety/training, and waste management, plus letters of support including from government officials. They also review LAMP programs due June 5—FMPP, LFPP, and RFSP—emphasizing partnerships, marketing impacts, and competitiveness, noting processors may be eligible but rarely funded recently. They mention other opportunities (state programs, Farm to School, SARE, Value Added Producer Grants) and Stewards Unlimited’s free grant alerts.

Join here: https://stewardsunlimited.com/

• 01:15 Grant Journey Lessons
• 02:19 MPEP Overview and Eligibility
• 04:45 Funding Tracks and Competitiveness
• 07:41 Scoring Rubric and Priorities
• 14:19 Reapplying and Inspection Rules
• 17:18 Match and Application Strategy
• 20:33 Future of MPEP and Farm Bill
• 21:38 LAMP Programs Overview
• 23:03 RFSP Partnerships Explained
• 30:52 Weigh Your Options
• 33:58 Should You Apply This Year
• 39:59 Other Grants and Alerts
• 42:00 Grant Deadlines

And learn more about ChopLocal and ChopLocal University Below!

• https://choplocal.com/
• https://www.choplocaluniversity.com/

Episode 41 | In the final spring-season CHOP Local University webinar, Katie explains how farmers market vendors can use an online store to increase sales through pre-orders for market pickup and year-round ordering, citing survey data showing only 9% of direct-to-consumer meat farmers have online stores but 71% of farms selling over $200,000 do, and that average sales are $140,000 with e-commerce vs. $81,000 without.

She outlines actions before, during, and after market season: optimize store usability (fast loading, easy product discovery, sell by package/weight ranges rather than exact weight, and answer common customer questions), create signage/QR codes, collect emails using lead magnets, and train customers to pre-order with incentives and scarcity. After season, she recommends frequent short emails with clear calls to action, scheduled pickup “meetups,” and holiday gift bundles, and describes Chop Local’s marketplace, vendor tools, shipping requirement, and support options.

Ready to elevate your brand and business? Make sure to sign up for the StoryBrand Workshop here at https://www.choplocaluniversity.com/storybrand

And learn more about ChopLocal and ChopLocal University Below!

• https://choplocal.com/
• https://www.choplocaluniversity.com/

00:29 What Is Chop Local

01:57 Meet Katie Olthoff

02:50 Survey Data Insights

04:23 Online Store Advantage

06:13 Candace Success Story

07:36 Three Phase Strategy

08:41 Optimize Store Basics

09:42 Sell By Package

12:19 Answer Customer Questions

13:16 Signs and QR Codes

15:02 Collect Emails at Market

16:55 Lead Magnet Explained

18:37 Coupon Funnel Q&A

21:18 QR Signup Best Practices

23:09 Push Preorders Online

24:07 Scarcity With Preorders

26:08 Email Cadence Made Simple

29:08 Calls To Action That Convert

31:00 Offseason Pickup Meetups

32:56 Holiday Gift Box Push

35:41 Quick Strategy Recap

38:34 Next Steps And Offers

44:01 Tools Q&A And Wrap