Strategy that doesn't hold up in a hallway conversation with a farmer doesn't hold up at all. Every recommendation starts with listening and ends with something that will actually impact farmers.
Helping ag thrive, one honest conversation at a time.
Breaktime Ag Strategies provides strategic counsel for the agriculture industry — built on real relationships, honest conversations, and a deep understanding of farmer perspective. The best ideas often start in the in-between moments — a hallway chat, a quick break, an evening beverage — and we help turn those moments into clear strategy and meaningful results.
Start a conversationGrowing up on a family farm, the most important conversations didn't happen in an office. They happened during break time — over a drink and a pack of nabs in the shop, leaning against a truck bed, in the pause between one job and the next. That's where trust was built, problems got solved, and the real decisions took shape.
Breaktime Ag Strategies is built on that same principle. After years working inside the agricultural checkoff ecosystem — engaging stakeholders, shaping strategy, and communicating directly with farmers — I started this firm to bring that same honesty and relationship-first approach to ag organizations who need a strategic partner, not another vendor.
I'm Katherine Drake Stowe. I grew up on a small tobacco farm in Eastern North Carolina, topping and suckering before I was tall enough to see over the row. That's where agriculture got into my blood, and it never really left. I'm still closely involved in that same family farm today, which means my perspective isn't theoretical — it's grounded in dirt, weather, and real challenges.
I hold a B.S. in Chemistry and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Crop Science, all from NC State University. Go Pack!
For the past decade, I've worked inside the agricultural checkoff system — sitting in more conference rooms than I can count, translating between scientists who talk in data and farmers who talk in weather, soil, and gut instinct. Somewhere in there, I fell hard for the challenge of taking complex research and noisy data and turning it into something stakeholders can actually use — not another report that sits on a shelf, but real meaning they can act on.
That mix — farm roots, a science background, and a decade spent with the soy checkoff — means I show up to every project as both an insider and a translator. I want the people I work with to feel like they're talking to someone who's actually stood in their shoes. That's the whole point of Breaktime: candid conversations, a willingness to think differently, and a clear path to action.
Messaging and content that sounds like a real person talked to a real farmer — positioning, campaigns, and materials built from actual stakeholder conversations, not assumptions about what the industry "should" say. Available too for speaking engagements that challenge existing thinking and open up new ways forward for agriculture.
Helping ag organizations make sense of the numbers — interpreting field trial results, checkoff-funded research, and industry data, then translating statistical findings into decisions farmers and stakeholders can act on.
Designing and running the conversations that matter — listening sessions, farmer advisory input, and cross-industry coordination that surface what people really think before a strategy gets built.
Helping ag organizations figure out what they're actually trying to do and how to get there, grounded in the same break-time honesty rather than corporate boilerplate.
Strategy that doesn't hold up in a hallway conversation with a farmer doesn't hold up at all. Every recommendation starts with listening and ends with something that will actually impact farmers.