The technology that is emerging in agriculture is really amazing, and it all points to a future with less rural crime and easier management.  It also brings people into agriculture that may have never believed they would wind up there.  Enter today's guest, David Philpot.

You may remember in episode #988 that I interviewed David Smith of Ceres Tag about the rural crime prevention and detection capabilities of this smart ear tag.  As David has been growing his company, he has been speaking to groups about investing with him.  Both David and, well, David, are from Australia, and this is what brought them together.  David Philpot belongs to an investor's group, and during one of their meetings David Smith came to speak with them about investing in Ceres Tag.

Not only did David Philpot become an investor, but he realized that a website called Mapipedia, which had been a hobby of his for some time, would be highly useful when paired with Ceres Tag.  So, the two David's began working together and have just completed a mock sheep theft in Australia in which Ceres Tag, coupled with Mapipedia, was able to detect the theft and help law enforcement track down and recover the stolen sheep.

On today's episode David Philpot will explain all of the possible uses of Mapipedia in the livestock industry, including better management, bio-security and theft prevention.

Noah Richards is 11 days away from graduating high school and pursing the life he loves, farming.  Noah's parents purchased their own land and had their own dairy infrastructure built after they were married.  They have been dairy farming ever since, and this is how Noah and his sister grew up.  Noah has his sights set on this life as well.

After high school graduation he will head to Hawkeye Community College for two years to study agricultural business with the hopes of returning to the farm.  During that two year period, he and his parents will have to assess how this is financially possible.  Is there a way that having Noah on the farm as a full-time employee will increase revenue enough to pay his salary?  This is a problem that many farms and ranches must solve when a child wants to come back.

There are no employees on Noah's family dairy.  His sister is now an FFA Advisor, so it is just Noah and his parents taking care of things.  Therefore, there is not an employee position that could be eliminated to make room for Noah.  Expansion?  A new enterprise?  A service business?  What are the options to make this happen?

Today is another farm update episode, and I will be covering:

• Starting Irrigation
• Bottle Feeding
• Lack Of Sleep
• Grazing
• Hattie Getting Ready To Graduate

Wyatt DeAth is his chapter's president as was a district reporter, district star winner and state proficiency winner.  All this before he reached his senior year of high school.  This young man can talk farming, and I had a great time talking about it with him in his episode.

Wyatt has grown up on his families farm in Eastern Illinois.  He started out driving the grain cart on the farm at a very young age, and when he was home full-time during Covid his dad graduated him to the tractor and the planter.  That was just the beginning.  Soon, he was farming for other operations in the area and using their equipment.  Today, he is leasing 30 acres of his own and growing and selling alfalfa hay.

As of right now, farming is what Wyatt is looking forward to in the future.  However, he knows that he is going to get off of the farm for some time first to experience something different, and he realizes that there is a chance that something else might pique his interest.

As things stand right now, he will either head to college for a two year degree or hit the road with a harvesting crew when he finishes up in high school.  Either way, and no matter what, he is going to be an asset to agriculture for decades to come.

For Information Like Degrees Offered, Annual Costs, Etc., Please Click The Banner Below:

[caption id="attachment_422192" align="alignleft" width="112"] Jolene Hammock: Outreach & Engagement Coordinator[/caption]

The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers

[caption id="attachment_422194" align="alignright" width="140"] Grant Dutton: Student Ambassador[/caption]

might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the National FFA Convention.

Today we profile an agricultural college located in a very interesting area of agriculture and American History.  The University of Arkansas at Monticello is right on the crossroads of two different types of agricultural practices as well as two different types of forestry production.  This enables the College Of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources to offer a very wide suite of agricultural experiences and career opportunities to its students.

More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Tip Of The Week

Practice self-sufficiency

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.wbrc.com/2024/04/18/conference-rural-violence-university-alabama-wrapping-up-thursday/

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/04/18/rural-texas-towns-report-cyberattacks-that-caused-one-water-system-to-overflow/

https://abc7.com/stolen-goats-livestock-ontario-inland-empire-farm/14683692/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.bordermail.com.au/story/8586543/wodonga-man-charged-over-false-hay-baler-theft-report-to-police/

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/farming/2024/04/19/shropshire-farming-talk-rural-crime-wreaking-havoc-in-community/

Africa

https://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/farm-residents-severely-assaulted-in-limpopo-during-robbery-incident-where-money-and-their-property-was-stolen-18621e3b-6ced-4041-81bf-d78be0d35a7b

https://www.2oceansvibe.com/2024/04/17/large-scale-maize-theft-is-on-the-rise-in-the-free-state/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/piedmont-triad/lexington-man-accused-of-stealing-cow-warrants-say/

https://www.wbrz.com/news/west-feliciana-parish-man-arrested-for-theft-of-over-1500-worth-of-livestock/

Rick Savoia is the Product Manager for BuyTwoWayRadios.com and the host of The Two Way Radio Show.

A few weeks back I did a Tuesday episode about GMRS Radio, why I was using it and my limited knowledge.  Well today, we get to hear from an actual expert, and hopefully correct any mistakes I made in the Tuesday Episode.

There is so much information here that I broke this interview into two episodes.  So, today Rick joins me for part 1 of this 2 part series, and we will talk about GMRS and how you can use it for your farming operation as well as for dealing with rural and agricultural crime.

A few weeks ago my tip of the week was to use a forensic marking technology, such as Smart Water, to identify your property and to prevent the thefts in the first place.  However, this wasn't actually my tip.  This was a recommendation that a constable in the U.K. had made when he was interviewed about preventing sheep thefts in that country.

As I looked into what this technology was, I became very intrigued.  Going down this rabbit hole ultimately led me to Randy Butschillinger, who is our expert guest on today's show.  As you will find out in today's interview, this technology is actually very old and trusted, and it is being used in more places than you might think already.  The applications for this seem endless, and the crime prevention possibilities make me very optimistic!

Abby Neft is the President of a brand new FFA chapter located in Kelliher, Minnesota.  Just 57 miles from the Canadian border, her family has been farming in this very cold area of Minnesota since the 1980's.

Abby loves the cattle industry, and she has been building her own herd since she was six years old when her father gave her, her first show heifer.  Since then, she has been retaining her show heifers, having calves and trying to develop genetics that will allow her to produce top notch cattle.  She uses artificial insemination and embryo transfer to do this.

With just one year of high school left, Abby's goal is to raise cattle for a living.  If she can do it on the family farm, that is her preference.  However, her sights are set on this happening, either way.

Today is another farm update episode, and I will be covering:

• The Farmer's Tax Guide
• Kidding Update
• Very Good Farm Help
• Night Checks
• The Creek Filling Up

More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald: