Stubborn.farm and its Founder
Who is Andy "Caygeon" Junkin and what is Stubborn.farm?
Formerly known as Agriculture Strategy.
How are ya now?
My birth certificate says my name is Mark Andrew Junkin of Bobcaygeon, but since college everyone else (except my mother) calls me Caygeon. (pr. Ka-jun) You can, too.
Being a farmer was the center of who I was and 25 years ago I would have told you what I do for a living is bulls*it. However, I’ve gone through a lot of B.S. since then and am hellbent (some would say stubborn) to make sure that your family doesn’t go through the hell that mine did.
I am not Dr. Phil… I won’t make you hold hands and sing Kumbaya.
I focus on improving farm profit and subtly solve the soft issues that become hard problems in farming without all the drama.
I started doing what I am doing by simply helping my friends in Western Ontario, and found I had a God-given gift. This has been my fulltime occupation since 2010. Instead of milking cows, I’ve religiously gotten out of bed every morning at 4am and read 75 pages related to my niche before breakfast ever since. I don't believe we ever stop learning. I’ve written 6 books on my niche and became known as one the best farm mediators, saving farms in 22 states and five Canadian provinces. However, my life's goal has been to get rid of the need for a mediator altogether.
In 2017 I married a Midwestern farm girl, and we bought a farm together near Mt. Vernon, Iowa. We have four boys: Huck, Samuel Colt, Scout, and Stetson. My wife Bernadette is my everything. My mission has become OUR mission.
When I started off as a mediator, there was one common theme: the stubborn. Everyone would point fingers at each other and try to shift blame. Matthew 7:5 says: “Do not take the speck of dust out of your brother’s eye until you’ve taken the plank out of your own.” It doesn't matter if you're an atheist, these are wise words and the foundation of my approach. My program philosophy is to get farmers to look at farming with family as a challenge to become a better person. If you are stubborn at becoming a better person, instead of a stubborn S.O.B. to work with…everything flows!
I don’t sell life insurance or any financial products. I live to help stubborn farmers work better together! My niche expertise is hard to explain because we’ve PIONEERED a new approach to farm management and farm succession. Nobody does what we do. Heck, nobody is crazy enough to specialize in working with Stubborn Farmers, but “fixing stubborn” to turn it into your farm’s competitive edge is my life's calling!
My latest book was released in November of 2023. Stubborn is available for FREE as an audiobook and the hard copy is available for purchase at Amazon. It CONSISTENTLY has gotten a 5/5 star book review rating on Amazon and everyone shares it with their friends/family. Let me send you a link to the audiobook right now so you can listen to it while you work.