Off-Farm Income

Sage Whetnall has just graduated high school and completed her FFA career in Cardington, Ohio.  Now it is time for her get her education, and she knows where she is going to do that.......under the blue skies of Texas on the back of a horse!

Sage and her family are very involved in the horse business from showing to rescuing to selling to rehabilitating.  As a matter of fact, Sage already is a certified equine massage therapist and wants to start her own business massaging horses in the future.  However, that future has to wait.  It has to wait for Sage to go on an adventure and to learn the real ins and outs of working on horseback.  Where better to learn that, than a cattle ranch in Texas.

Texas Lore means a lot of things to a lot of people, but it is never without cattle.  It is either cattleman who became oilman, or oilman who bought cattle ranches.  Either way, cattle are always involved.  From Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving to Woodrow Call and Augustus McRae, cattle are part of the story.  Where else is there a ranch called "King" that started its very own breed of cattle?

Sage really believes in hands on knowledge and has a passion for horses, Western riding and Western work.  So, to get the experience and knowledge she needs to really understand how a performance or working horse is hurting and how to help it, she needs to see the work itself, up close and personal.  Her plan to get this education is to go to work, and to work in exactly that field.

It is more than an adventure, it is a great way to learn!

Direct download: Sage_Whetnall_Episode_1742_-_42623_3.03_PM.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Last week we worked all of our goats, and we had some volunteers helping us out who were there for no other reason than they love the idea of farming and want experience.  It got me to thinking about the very first farm that I ever worked on, the one that belonged to my step-grandfather.  That would have never happened on that farm, but I was happy to allow it on my own.  He had a "closed" farm, and mine is "open".  So, let's talk about the pros and cons of an "open" farm on today's show.

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

 

 

Direct download: OFI_1741_Tuesday_Episode_-_6523_6.23_PM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Reagan Winner is a top four finisher for Ohio State Star Farmer in 2023.  She is also a 5th year FFA student, chapter secretary and recent high school graduate.  And underneath all of the titles, awards and the blue jacket is a person with a fiercely independent spirit and a "can-do" attitude.  

Regan has been working on her own, on her families farm in Ohio, since she was 8 years old and started pulling the grain cart.  In the 8th Grade she joined the FFA and realized that she would need a project for her supervised agricultural experience.  So, she rented 12 acres from her father, exchanged her labor in the shop on the farm and at his trucking business, and began farming on her own.  It didn't take long for her to realize that a nearby neighbor had a field that wasn't being used, and that could be productive.  So, she approached him and rented his 34 acres.  

For several years now Reagan has been farming over 40 acres on her own, working in the farm shop and working in her father's trucking business.  She services the fleet including oil changes, greasing the trailer and chassis and inspecting the entire rig to make sure it is road worthy.  Now, Reagan will be taking all those skills and pursuing a degree in ag business and ultimately becoming a certified crop advisor with the goal of starting her own business as a seed consultant.  

Direct download: Reagan_Winner_Episode_1740_-_42123_1.57_PM.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

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.

Abilene Christian University is in Abilene, Texas, and in my opinion it is in the perfect location for Texas adventure and Texas agriculture.  I have been on campus myself and like the area very much.  ACU has had an agriculture program for some time, but with fluctuations in faculty go fluctuations in programs.  So, today they are highly specialized in animal science but have no agronomy.  ACU is a private, Christ based university, and on today's show Dr. Jim Carpenter joins me to talk all about it.  

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

 

Direct download: Abilene_Christian_Episode_1739_-_31023_8.26_PM.mp3
Category:Agricultural Colleges -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Tip Of The Week

When is being neighborly not enough?

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/06/04/thieves-steal-dump-calf-from-brookshires-dewberry-farm/

https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/56800/20230605/103-cattle-one-dog-dead-oklahoma-property-woman-arrested-surviving.htm

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://randfonteinherald.co.za/421458/mapogo-recover-sheep-stolen-in-dennydale-or-at-least-two-arrests-in-stock-theft-incident-in-dennydale/

https://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/news/23568394.police-warning-powys-dog-owners-sheep-suffer-bites/

Africa

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/eastern-cape-prison-officer-and-companion-killed-over-alleged-stock-theft-state-bakkie-torched-20230605

https://ke.opera.news/ke/en/society/789529e825b9be331ad9326e0195a4be

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://holtvilletribune.com/2023/06/04/sheriffs-deputies-arrest-alleged-thief-recover-stolen-tractor/

https://krocnews.com/two-men-charged-in-20k-rochester-area-storage-burglary/

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

 

 

 

Direct download: OFI_1738_Rural_Crime_-_6623_1.39_PM.mp3
Category:rural crime -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Natalie McFarland is a lifelong agriculturist turned agriculture entrepreneur.  Officially launching McFarland Productions in 2014, she began telling the story of agricultural companies to help them serve others.  Working primarily with business to business customers but frequently with business to consumer customers Natalie has grown her list of services from photography only all the way to being the marketing department for several of her clients.

Natalie and her team a great knack for capturing agriculture and the Western Lifestyle, and every single team member has an agricultural background.  On today's episode with Natalie I really tried to focus on what the keys to marketing to agricultural customers.  If/when you start your small, agricultural business you will be getting involved in marketing, like it or not.  What are some of the ways you can stand out to the customers that you want to serve?  Today, Natalie and I try to answer that question.

Direct download: Natalie_McFarland_Episode_1737_-_42723_3.01_PM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

On tomorrow's ag business episode I am speaking with a woman who discovered her niche in marketing to a specific agricultural audience.  She and her husband, like so many of us, are trying to carve out their spot in the world of agriculture and are facing the pressures of high land prices and encroaching urban areas.

I talk about this concept a lot on the show, and one of the premier themes I have dealt with over time has been that of existing in agriculture on the rural/urban interface.  I thought this was a great tie in with our guest tomorrow, and wanted to bring back a solo episode that I made about this phenomenon today.

Direct download: OFI_1736_Replay_Of_087_-_52423_3.22_PM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

The Vega FFA Chapter has amassed over $1.1 million in scholarships and prizes through Ag Mechanics competitions in the State of Texas over the past 20 years.  Jay Newton is the FFA Advisor and Emily Carlson is the Chapter President of the Vega FFA Chapter, and they join me on today's episode to discuss this incredible accomplishment and journey.

Starting in 2001, Jay Newton began to look at the FFA Experience a different way.  Clearly, livestock projects dominated what students did for SAE projects, but he saw holes in those projects and opportunities for skill development that were being missed.  So, he got the idea to try something radical.  So, the next time he took his chapter to Houston, after the livestock shows were over they stayed an extra day and watched the Ag Mechanics competitions.  Then, on the way back to Vega they discussed putting the chapter's efforts towards ag mechanics rather than livestock.

The students were on board, so Jay took the idea to the school board.  This was the tough sell, but he was ready with a partnership that he had formed that would allow any FFA student to have a livestock project if that was what they wanted to do.  Permission was granted, and the journey began.  20 years later, the small Vega FFA Chapter, has a story to tell and an example to share of achieving great success through Ag Mechanics.

 

Direct download: Vega_FFA_Episode_1735_-_41823_2.58_PM.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Obviously we've had some unexpected setbacks on our farm recently.  In today's episode I want to address those a bit more, how we handled the emotion of it and why a transition is being made.  Also, I'll give you my review of the Hells Canyon Days Festival in Cambridge, Idaho: Hint - It was awesome...

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

 

 

Direct download: OFI_1734_Tuesday_Episode_-_6523_6.08_PM.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Sydni Wilson has just finished her junior year of high school and has already become a freelance, agricultural writer.  She has a house full of house plants, and she raises meat chickens and does all the of butchering herself, with the help of her father.  Talking with Sydni in today's interview there was a recurring theme - when she finds and interest, she goes "all in".

A fascinating part of this interview with Sydni was her love of writing.  She has started many fiction, writing projects and written the first chapter of a novel.  Then she puts it away and revisits it weeks to months later.  In most of the cases she realizes that, that initial idea was not the one that is going to drive her to write a whole novel.  It is a process, and it is an interesting way to determine which idea will give you enough motivation to carry it all the way through to a completed book.

Sydni's hobby of writing led her to an opportunity to become a freelance writer for an agricultural newspaper, while still in high school.  Today she is using those writing skills to deliver agricultural information to people who need it.  Sydni is very happy with the discovery of a practical application for her love of writing.  She has done the same with plants, and says that her love of plants and horticulture may have actually eclipsed her love of writing!

Direct download: Sydni_Wilson_Episode_1733_-_41723_6.18_PM.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT