Chip’s hometown of Oxford Junction is in east-central Iowa. His family farm was a typical diversified farm with corn, soybeans, oats, alfalfa, a commercial cattle herd, a farrow-to-finish hog operation and sheep. After graduating from Iowa State University, Chip joined Pro Farmer in January 1988 as a floor reporter for Futures World News. He spent 3 years in Chicago reporting from the floors of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Chip moved to Pro Farmer headquarters in April 1991, was named editor in 1997 and remained in that role for 17 years. In 2014 he started the P.M. hour of AgriTalk and became the host of both hours of AgriTalk in 2019.