Ashlin Havumaki is just getting ready to start her sophomore year of high school and her third year of FFA.  As a lover of animals, Ashlin and her family keep all sorts of livestock and fowl on her grandparents farm just a few minutes from her home.  And when she was going into the 8th Grade, a friend of her father's, who was also an FFA advisor, suggested the FFA for Ashlin.

Ashlin has definitely found her perfect place.  Her fascination with animals fits very well within the FFA, and it allows her to turn that passion into an academic pursuit with her supervised agricultural experience.  It also opens many other doors such as public speaking and career development events.

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

North Dakota State University is located in Fargo, North Dakota and is part of the greater Fargo/Moorhead metro area.  NDSU is able to combine the opportunities that come with being a research based university with the feel of a small school that caters to students.  On today's episode, Professor Adam Marx joins me to discuss the diverse agriculture in North Dakota, life on campus at NDSU and why there are so many international agriculture students in Fargo.

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Tip Of The Week

Sometimes they haven’t been stolen

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.8newsnow.com/weird-news/ap-willy-the-texas-rodeo-goat-on-the-lam-for-weeks-has-been-found-safe/

https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/state-police-investigating-theft-of-large-equipment-from-sheds-in-lawrence-county/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/man-arrested-apparent-theft-horse-074324772.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKxOLudzTwD2h_Xn68QbBSIBw8n6C-6SOD4uosr5rYwmvsKerDGBL89-bWMZlmgontO7MC1n5ul2UJa1w38s_5qcgI2fBxoMJJY2S0UUot3NIK09UJ4ykRp5BjyEvkZ7YS_ElhAvrW647fN_QUb09yhD-vgUqnyRLbwMsgsNuOBn

https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/ni-farmer-records-thefts-of-silage-bales-on-video-camera/

https://www.mountainviewtoday.ca/beyond-local/cattle-theft-victim-says-the-system-is-broken-7350304

Africa

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2023-07-31-teenage-farm-attackers-arrested-after-crashing-stolen-car/

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2023/07/police-recover-stolen-goats-in-isiolo/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTQzMDM3OTIzODYyMjU5NzA2NjYyGmRkNWM4ZGM4NzI2MzIxY2U6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw2R3BkxHD9sBSrWCDQx6cV4&source=gmail&ust=1691195775057000&usg=AOvVaw2AD6nBIIaFfxjGBbUFcEqj

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.an17.com/crime/police_fire/31-year-old-from-springfield-arrested-in-atv-theft-case/article_f323e69e-2d91-11ee-ab86-7fc3c01adbad.html

https://www.wjhl.com/news/crime/wcso-2-indicted-in-farm-burglary-case/

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Michael "Mick" Hawkes has a storied military career followed by a storied corporate career in security from the U.K.  In the early days of his special forces work, he was part of the response to terrorism in Northern Ireland.  Part of his special forces duty included doing days worth of surveillance on farms, and then covertly entering the buildings of the farm to look for weapons and explosives.  During this surveillance he saw the weaknesses that farmers had when it came to security, and he later used that to his advantage.

Years later, after his corporate career, Mick has decided to try and help the people of the U.K. as well as people all over the world to increase their situational awareness and increase their personal safety.  This has led to the development of Hawkes And Co. and the training that he and his daughter are offering to everyone from elementary school children to corporate leaders.  Included in their target audience is farmers, which is how I found Mick.

On today's show we will talk about Mick's agricultural business, but we will also discuss how farmers can improve situational awareness and security on their farmsteads.

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On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am featuring an entrepreneur with a security awareness business that has a speciality in crime prevention on farms.  To tie in today's re-cap episode I am bringing back this interview with Dave Young, a co-founder of the Vistelar Security Group, that I did in 2020 about home invasions and self-defense on our farms.

Lauren Comes is a farmer and FFA student from Southwest Iowa.  She has just completed her first, full year of FFA and is preparing to launch into even more FFA activities as sophomore.  Lauren farms with her father and brothers on their multi-generational farm, primarily raising commercial cattle, but also growing some row crops.

In this interview Lauren and I spoke about the payoffs of farming.  As she talked about in the show, not every aspect of farming is pleasant or enjoyable, but they are necessary to keep the farm going.  And, eventually there is a payoff, and I don't mean money.  That payoff is different for all of us.  For Lauren it takes place in March when she gets to spend time with newborn calf and its mother in the barn.  For me, it is in mid-July at the end of a long day watching the sun go down and listening to the cattle graze.  Either way, there are those moments on the farm that make those unpleasant moments worth it.

Lauren is pouring all of her energy in the FFA and farming.  She doesn't know what she wants to study after high school yet, but she knows it will be in agriculture.  And certainly there is wisdom built into her father's choice to have the kids hand stack, heavy bails of hay in the hot, Iowa sun.  There will be a day in Lauren's future that test her, possibly even makes her wonder if pursuing her career goals are worth it, and then she will remember stacking those bales and her motivation will return.  It works the same for all of us who have ever done an unpleasant, physically taxing job.  It pushes us forward and helps us get to where we are supposed to end up.

You all know that I have been trying to solve a coyote problem for some time now.  Well, it still is not solved, and it has opened a pandora's box of how to do this and how to do that while not losing any more goats.  There has been one issue in particular that has plagued me, and that is how to pen up the goats at night in one particular pasture I'd like to graze them in.  Well, this weekend I got away for a couple of days and took some time to completely forget about the problems on the farm.  And poof!  Just like that I came up with a solution.  I'll talk about this method in today's episode.

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Lane Carter is going into his fourth year of the FFA, but just his sophomore year of high school in a couple of weeks.  He began his FFA journey in the 7th Grade with a vision of farming, full time after high school ever since.

Lane already has a great vision of what it is going to take.  He has already started a side business, doing custom bailing for customers in his area of Northeast Missouri.  He is trading labor on his families farm for the use of the equipment he needs to operate this business.  He also has identified other side hustles that he could pursue to create off-farm income when the time comes, such as selling seed.

Lane is not waiting around though.  He and his brother leased 50 acres and farmed it as partners last year.  This year they are leasing 80.  Lane's goal is to grow every year and to keep growing until all he has to do to survive is farm.  He will take the off-farm job if he needs to, but he is making all the right moves right now to avoid that, or at least to minimize that.

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

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

The College Of Southern Idaho is a community college located in Twin Falls, Idaho.  They have a fantastic reputation as an agricultural college going back to when my in-laws were farming fish in Buhl, Idaho and having interns from CSI work on their fish farm.  The Idaho State FFA Convention is held at CSI every year, and it sits in the heart of the rich agricultural Magic Valley of Southern Idaho.

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Tip Of The Week

Do you keep track of metal prices?

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.countryherald.com/news/local/towns/will-county/beecher/faa-seeks-publics-help-in-identifying-reckless-crop-dusters/

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article277796823.html

https://advertiser-tribune.com/news/472193/have-you-seen-this-tractor/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://aboutregional.com.au/police-search-for-alpacas-allegedly-stolen-from-michelago-property/430836/

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/?post_type=fp&p=6002605

https://www.farmersguardian.com/news/4121476/dog-caught

Africa

https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/new-suspected-goat-thief-loses-voice-in-court

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/business/article/2001478566/wamuchomba-urges-state-to-set-up-anti-coffee-theft-police-unit

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.btw21.com/post/sheriff-couple-charged-in-connection-with-stolen-tractor-and-bush-hog

https://www.wqow.com/news/crime/charges-settled-after-horses-found-dead-on-farm-2-accused-of-mistreatment-of-animals/article_f7981864-2d76-11ee-b295-af1b4157dd3c.html

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