Welcome back to Beyond the Crops! Summer is in full swing, and for Jena and Mary Pat, it's been... dense. In this candid catch-up, they share the highs, lows, and hilarious chaos of a summer packed with family, travel, and unexpected health deep dives. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Catching up on a "dense but good" summer filled with intentional family time. ✅ Navigating grief and family togetherness, plus a hilarious "beef stick in the ear" funeral moment. ✅ The hilarious reality of toddl...
Aug 12, 2025•52 min
In this deeply personal and reflective episode, Jena and Mary Pat share a conversation sparked by recent life events that have them thinking about legacy, the passage of time, and the ever-present challenge of managing screen time in a hyper-connected world. After the loss of both of her grandmothers just eight days apart, Jena shares the poignant realization that it often takes a funeral to bring the whole family together, leading to a heartfelt discussion about being truly present with the one...
Aug 05, 2025•37 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Did you know a staggering 80% of farmers don't plan to fully retire, creating huge risks for the farm and family. In this crucial succession episode, we're tackling the tough questions about what happens when you can no longer work. Mary Pat and Jena are joined by ag economist Jessica Groff, to debunk financial myths and reveal the four essential estate documents every adult needs now to protect their legacy. 📌 What We Cover in ...
Jul 29, 2025•54 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, as they "think outside the box" with special guest and agronomist, Faith Pearson. In this eye-opening conversation, Faith Pierson (aka "The Crunchy Agronomist") challenges conventional wisdom and draws fascinating parallels between holistic human health and the health of our soil. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Holistic Soil Health vs. Traditional Agronomy ✅ Rethinking the Soi...
Jul 22, 2025•58 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! In this special episode, Mary Pat takes the host chair and brings on her husband, Josh, for a fun and lighthearted Q&A session. They pulled questions directly from listeners on Instagram, covering everything from this season's crop updates and farm dynamics to raising kids on the farm and keeping a marriage strong. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: If you want to be more involved in the farm operation, you have to voice it. S...
Jul 15, 2025•52 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, as they dive into a conversation that’s close to the heart of every farm family: prioritizing family time amidst the never-ending demands of the farm. With their different living situations—Jena on the farm and Mary Pat off—they offer unique perspectives on a universal challenge. They discuss the guilt, the blurred lines, and the intentional strategies they've developed to protect ...
Jul 08, 2025•40 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! In this powerful episode, hosts Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass are welcoming back a trusted expert in farm family dynamics, Elaine Froese. Elaine is a certified farm family coach, author, and speaker who specializes in helping families have the hard conversations necessary for a successful farm transition. This time, they're moving beyond initial communication and diving deep into the essential structures, mindsets, and actionabl...
Jul 01, 2025•57 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, for an intentional conversation about a topic every farmer knows intimately: the weather. But this isn't just another weather report. They're diving into how weather impacts not just our operations, but also our hearts and emotions, and how we can cultivate a mindset of resilience and faith through it all. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✨ Weather is an uncontrollable force in fa...
Jun 24, 2025•45 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! In this unique and enlightening episode, Jena is joined by a very special guest: her brother, Joe! Joe is a Navy veteran who served as a nuclear operator on an aircraft carrier and now works in civilian nuclear power. He's here to demystify nuclear energy, address common concerns, and explain why it's a crucial, safe, and reliable part of our energy future, especially for rural communities. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✨ Nuc...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 18 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, as they take a candid look back at their very different journeys into becoming farm wives. From big city dreams to growing up on a dairy farm, they share their unique perspectives, the lessons learned over nearly a decade (for Jena, a 10-year anniversary is just days away!), and heartfelt advice for anyone navigating the complexities of marrying into a farm family. 📌 What We Cover...
Jun 10, 2025•51 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, for a candid and inspiring conversation about making big, intentional changes to remove chaos and prioritize what truly matters. Jena drops some significant news about shifts on their farm and in their family life, leading to a heartfelt discussion about choosing your hard, trusting God's plan, and the courage to pivot. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Big Changes on the Ochsner...
Jun 03, 2025•37 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, as they officially kick off summer! With the kids now out of school, they dive into the joys and challenges of shifting family rhythms, managing kids at home, and finding ways to embrace the beautiful chaos of summer. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Summer Has Begun! ✅ The Four-Day School Week Debate ✅ Memorial Day Weekend Recap ✅ Summer Rhythms & Keeping Kids Engaged ✅ Min...
May 29, 2025•52 min
Planting season is over! - Or is it?!?! In this candid and relatable episode, Jena and MP are keeping it real about feeling a bit under the weather, the shift in seasonal rhythms, and some interesting health and parenting nuggets they've been exploring. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Planting Season Wrap-Up (Mostly!) ✅ Not Feeling Their Best ✅ Mary Pat's Dizzy Spell Journey ✅ Jena's Dive into Homeopathy ✅ Mouth Taping & Jaw Development ✅ Workout Consistency & Starting Small ✅ Summer...
May 20, 2025•42 min
This episode of Beyond the Crops is brought to you by Climate FieldView. Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, as they sit down with Tom Verseman, Digital Enablement Marketing Lead for Climate FieldView. They dive deep into the world of digital agriculture, how FieldView has evolved, and the practical ways it's helping farmers make better decisions. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ The FieldView Story ✅ How Jena &am...
May 13, 2025•59 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, as they celebrate a huge milestone – the 100th episode of the podcast! It's also (nearly) their two-year anniversary, and they're taking a trip down memory lane, reflecting on the journey, thanking their amazing listeners, and looking ahead. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: Celebrating 100 Episodes! Jena and Mary Pat can hardly believe they've reached this milestone and express th...
May 06, 2025•50 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, for a heartfelt chat recorded in a rare "sliver of time" just before Easter, as the planting season looms large. This episode blends reflections on faith, the renewal of spring, and the very real hustle (and occasional hilarious chaos) of life on the farm right now. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Reflecting on Easter: Connecting the themes of resurrection and renewal to the ho...
Apr 22, 2025•50 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where farm life meets real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, as they bring in a special guest – MP's husband Josh and brother in law, Ryan Sass. With planting season just around the corner, they're diving deep into the process, benefits, and challenges of treating their own soybean seed right on the farm. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Introducing Ryan and his agronomy-focused role on the family farm (his passion for plant science, heal...
Apr 15, 2025•45 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where we bridge the gap between farm life and real life! Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, as they gear up for the busy planting season. With spring break wrapping up and tractors potentially rolling soon, it's the perfect time to talk about mindset, self-care, and thriving through the chaos. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Catching up on life updates, including Jena finally getting power back after a storm. ✅ Shifting your mindset from just s...
Apr 08, 2025•35 min
Welcome back to Beyond the Crops, where we bridge the gap between farm life and real life. Join your hosts, Jena Ochsner and Mary Pat Sass, for a fun collaboration with the CropCast team from BW Fusion live from Commodity Classic 2025 in Denver, Colorado! 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ We start with the importance of relating holistic human health to soil health, introducing the concept of "crunchy" ag. ✅ Next, we dive into Sean's insights on holistic agronomy and BW Fusion's approach. ✅ Yo...
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 8 min
In this episode of Beyond the Crops , we're coming to you in survival mode....literally. Jena is recording in the dark on day 3 of a power outage from an intense midwest spring snowstorm. We cover what it looks like when the unexpected happens, what we would change to be more prepared in the future, and some miracles and trials on the farm. MP is catching us up on a risky Facebook Marketplace adventure and we both talk about pre-planting season prep - it's going to be here before we know it! 📌 ...
Mar 25, 2025•49 min
In this episode of Beyond the Crops, Mary Pat and Jena are live from the Commodity Classic, interviewing Kendall from Case IH, and talking about new technology and the evolution of precision technology, followed by Alex from Case IH to discuss Case IH’s Sense Apply technology. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅ Kendall's background and how she came to work at Case IH. ✅ How precision technology trends are going with connectivity. ✅ What are some challenges that precision tech has helped farmers...
Mar 18, 2025•48 min
In this episode of Beyond the Crops, Mary Pat and Jena give a recap of the Commodity Classic! Listen along and hear them talk about their experience and takeaways from the event. 📌 What We Cover in This Episode: ✅What each of the girls learned and what they’d like to do different next year. ✅All the interesting companies they visited and new information they learned. ✅How it is a great show to attend and well worth the investment to go to. 💡 Key Takeaways: ✨ You should attend the Commodity Cla...
Mar 11, 2025•39 min
In this episode of Beyond the Crops, Jena and Mary Pat dive back into the important topic of succession planning with succession expert Ashlee Westerhold. They discuss what to consider when planning for the future of the farm, whether passing it down to the next generation, skipping a generation, or connecting with interested individuals outside of the family. Join us as we learn more about practical tools for succession planning, valuable advice, and steps to take as you start thinking about th...
Mar 04, 2025•1 hr 5 min
In this episode of Beyond the Crops , we’re tackling something that every farmer, rancher, and family faces—uncertainty. With markets, policies, weather, and world events constantly shifting, it’s easy to feel like everything is out of control. But while we can’t change the outside forces, we can control our mindset, faith, family life, routines, and how we respond to challenges. Join us as we dive into practical ways to shift our focus, lean into faith, and take charge of the things that truly ...
Feb 25, 2025•45 min
We’re bringing our husbands back to the podcast for a no-holds-barred conversation about the highs, lows, and lessons of the 2024 farming season. From harvest takeaways to hard-earned wisdom, we’re diving into what worked, what didn’t, and what we’re changing for next year. We also reflect on the challenges and wins of raising livestock, share our personal and farm goals for 2025, and discuss the outlook for agriculture in the coming years. Plus, hear our thoughts on how potential policy changes...
Feb 19, 2025•57 min
We're BACK after a much-needed break, and we're ready to tell you all about it and what's been going on behind the scenes! On this episode of Beyond The Crops we're catching you up on ALL the things. recapping holiday stomach bugs, much needed vacations, and our exciting new business ventures, as well as what to expect this year on the podcast! Keep track of your family's farm journey through harvest and beyond. Get your own Grounded Journal today. Check out Jena's new business venture: Farm Wif...
Feb 11, 2025•50 min
In the midst of the holiday hustle, it’s easy to get swept up in the busyness and lose sight of what Christmas is truly about. In this episode, we’re pausing to refocus on the heart of the season—our Savior, Jesus Christ. Join us as we share our personal testimonies, dive into the messiness of our faith journeys, and reflect on how God has worked in our lives. Whether your story feels polished or a little untidy like ours, this heartfelt conversation is sure to inspire you to reconnect with the ...
Dec 10, 2024•40 min
Today on Beyond The Crops we are getting all the nitty gritty details of Jena's recent dental surgery and an update on her health journey. We cover everything from what led her down this path, to parasite cleanses, to cost, recovery, and more. Keep track of your family's farm journey through harvest and beyond. Get your own Grounded Journal today. We’d love to hear your feedback on this episode and our farm safety series on our Instagram page @beyondthecrops_. We’ve enjoyed connecting with so ma...
Dec 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Are you ready to transform your holiday season into a time of intention, connection, and joy? In this episode, we’re diving into meaningful gift-giving ideas that go beyond the material, focusing on thoughtful presents that foster connection, support small businesses, and bring joy to both the giver and the receiver. From unique local finds to heartfelt handmade creations, we’ll explore how to create a more purposeful holiday experience for your loved ones. Tune in for inspiration to make this s...
Nov 26, 2024•59 min
Harvest season is wrapping up, and we’re sitting down to share our reflections, wins, and lessons learned from the fields. And of course our favorite field meals of the season—think crockpot ribs, homemade rye bread Rubens, and Friday night steak traditions. Plus, we reflect on our recent farm safety series and the importance of keeping these critical conversations going to protect what matters most: our people. Join us for this casual, heartfelt harvest debrief as we celebrate the season’s hard...
Nov 19, 2024•46 min
