Shaye Koester-Wanner is the owner and founder of Casual Cattle Conversations LLC, a podcast and host of Mastermind events for ranchers that was launched on August 15, 2019. Casual Cattle Conversations LLC serves cattle producers across the United States by providing an online learning community in the form of podcasts, newsletters, mastermind events, blogs, and social media.

Challenges and Solutions

What challenges in agriculture does Casual Cattle Conversations LLC aim to address, and how do you approach these challenges?

We empower ranchers to build more profitable operations by filtering through the noise and bringing them the ideas, stories, and research that are most relevant to them.

What are five “highs,” or successes that you’ve seen in the last year?

Increased RancherMind membership.

A podcast episode that reached almost 1,000 views within the first week.

Increased podcast ad sales.

Interviewing several dream guests.

Hiring an additional assistant.

What are five “lows,” or challenges faced during Casual Cattle Conversations LLC’s opening/ expansion phase?

Showing ranchers how to listen to podcasts. I overcame this by posting how-to videos and starting my newsletter.

Doing it all before I was able to hire someone else. I focused on the most important actions.

Podcast Growth. I interviewed top-notch guests to build interest.

Podcast Tech. I self-taught myself everything about podcasting other than a few editing techniques; YouTube helped me a lot.

Consistency. I started creating workflows to make my weeks more organized.

Community Engagement

Does Casual Cattle Conversations LLC engage with the local community? Are there local organizations or events you partner with or participate in?

I engage in the community as an individual, but I’d like to get into hosting events or MC’ing for other organization meetings.

As a participant in the Cultivate Conference, what unique perspectives or solutions does Casual Cattle Conversations LLC bring to the table?

I am a young farmer/rancher. I come to conferences with an open mind but lots of ideas and stories that I’ve heard over five years of podcasting.

How does Casual Cattle Conversations LLC utilize technologies like AI or ML?

I utilize AI to draft my podcast descriptions and a few social media posts.

In what ways does Casual Cattle Conversations LLC foster collaboration between technology developers and growers?

I connect my listeners to new technology and explain how it can be applied to their operations with an emphasis on ROI.

Looking at the future of agriculture technology, what emerging trends or innovations do you think will have the most significant impact on the industry over the next five years?

Ease of data collection in the cow-calf industry.