Welcome back to Dinger From The Cab.

Three views again this time: the road ahead, the road behind, and a question for the passenger seat.

Out the Windshield

Big news out of Washington. USDA finalized its regenerative feedstock rule, which means practices like cover crops and reduced tillage can now earn real value through the 45Z clean fuel tax credit. Here's the part the headlines skip: that credit doesn't go to the farmer. It goes to the renewable fuels plant. Farmers will participate through the programs those plants build for the growers who haul to them, and those programs are still taking shape. Some plants will move fast, others slow, and geography will matter a lot.

Our take at Landoption is simple. Once your plant offers a program, we'll be all over it, helping folks get lined up to take advantage. Until then, we stay ready. In my opinion, the single best way to stay ready is to get your farm CI scored. Your carbon intensity score is the number these programs will be built on, and knowing it is a good thing no matter how 45Z shakes out where you farm. It's hard to play a hand you haven't looked at.

In the Rearview

Allen was Secretary of State of the state of Nebraska for 25 years. He was notorious for leaving off the "of the state of Nebraska" part as he traveled the world building what he called his, "people collection." No one I've ever known has a people collection quite like Allen. His office held artifacts from his times with presidents and queens, dignitaries and billionaires. His people collection was something he shared with me, along with the story of how he built it. That story stuck to my bones.

I met Allen at a Chamber of Commerce event in Lincoln. I was an early-twenties business owner, completely at a loss for how to start a meaningful relationship at a networking event with hundreds of other business owners who all seemed to know each other. Then this older gentleman, dressed sharply in a three-piece suit, sought me out and introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Allen Beermann, the State Fossil." He looked far too dignified to waste his time on the know-nothing young guy in the corner. But Allen made me feel like I was the only person in the room. And after hearing I was there to try to meet people in a business community where I knew almost no one, he couriered me around the room like a prized long-time friend.

Years later, standing in his office at the Nebraska Press Association, I stared bewildered at place settings he'd been gifted from meals he'd shared with several presidents, and I asked him, how in the world did you get to know all of these incredible people?

He told me about his time at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. He was there as an invited guest of Warren Buffett himself, at a reception held at Borsheim's, the Oracle of Omaha's fine jewelry store. The King of Thailand was the guest of honor, and he'd brought some of the royal jewelry collection to show the guests. While most of the room hobnobbed with dignitaries, Allen sought out a young Thai woman standing quietly alone in the background. Like he did with me, he befriended her and made her feel welcome in a place it didn't seem she belonged. The evening went on, pleasantries were exchanged, and Allen thought nothing of it.

Until the call came a few weeks later from a customs agent in California. Allen had received a package the agent described by saying, it looks official, maybe even royal. There was a duty to pay before it could be delivered, and the duty was not small. The package was indeed royal. It came from the King of Thailand, whose personal assistant Allen had befriended at the reception. Inside was a near priceless ring set with a diamond of every color on earth. I didn't even know diamonds came in different colors. They do.

The note from the assistant said the same things I'd felt years before at that Chamber meeting: thank you for making me feel welcome, for treating me with respect, and for making my trip memorable.

I don't have a gift like that to give Allen. So I tell his story, as both an aspiration and reminder to find ways to be the Allen in someone else's life.

The Passenger Seat

This month's question:

Who outside of your family lives the kind of life you'd like to have someday?

Have you told them?

See you down the road,

Eric