Bailey Little is the owner of Queen B Farm, a Keystone State FFA Degree recipient and a brand new high school graduate.  In her business Bailey is raising livestock, moving towards selling freezer beef and making products such as jewelry and tumblers for sale online as well as at rodeos and other craft shows.

Something really stood out in this interview with Bailey - she is not going to college.  She has a good business up and running right now, no debt and a clear idea of what she wants to do with her life.  At this point, except for a tweak here and there, she knows what she needs to know to continue to grow her business and have it be her sole form of income.

Bailey realizes that a time may come where she needs business acumen or some sort of craft methodology that she does not currently possess.  However, since she learned all the skills she needed to do what she is doing now through YouTube, she has all the confidence in the world that she can repeat that process if needed.  If that wont work, she is not opposed to taking a class or two.  But, she is opposed to devoting four years and a bunch of tuition to a degree that won't make one bit of difference in her business and will only hold her back for almost 1/2 a decade.

Purdue University is currently ranked as the #3 agricultural college in the U.S. and the #5 in the entire world!  And, did you know that Purdue University has had a freeze on tuition rates for twelve years?  Factoring in inflation, it is cheaper to go to college at Purdue right now than it was 12 years ago.

On today's show I am joined by Andrea Lutz, the Assistant Director for Undergraduate Recruitment as well as Courtney Rodkey, a recent graduate in Ag Economics who is just starting her agricultural career with Corteva.  There is a lot to get to in this interview as there are a lot of opportunities in agriculture at Purdue University.

Tip Of The Week

Would you consider penning up grazing livestock every night?

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.oneidadispatch.com/2023/06/02/oneida-police-begin-more-foot-patrols-as-part-of-rural-violent-crime-reduction-initiative/

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jun/03/former-pot-worker-jailed-in-seed-theft/

https://www.wcax.com/2023/06/01/police-search-person-responsible-atm-theft-truck-fire/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.politico.eu/article/farm-machinery-gps-theft-uk-rural-crime-ukraine-russia-war-sanctions/

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/drivers-caught-stolen-vehicles-drug-062852292.html

https://www.farmersjournal.ie/call-out-service-open-to-farmers-to-combat-farm-theft-768002

Africa

https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/27-farmers-groups-benefit-from-136-dairy-goats-in-marakwet/

https://dailynews.co.tz/tz-eyes-to-become-leading-meat-exporter/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.wjfw.com/news/purchaser-pleads-guilty-of-taking-trees-from-chequamegon-nicolet-forest/article_ac88c5f8-018e-11ee-abea-830fb5026fb7.html

https://www.mysuncoast.com/2023/05/31/man-convicted-sentenced-connection-with-theft-death-horse/

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Agriculture is unique in that it creates a passion and devotion in people unrivaled by any other careers that come to mind.  I often quip that only actors, artists and musicians will work a second job just so they can work the first, but farmers will do it too.  So many of them will work a full time job in the city just so they have the opportunity to farm.  That is what this show is all about.  

John Schomburg has this same devotion to farming, but he demonstrates it a little bit differently.  John builds scale models of farm equipment and farming scenes, and he photographs farm equipment to capture its legacy before it is no longer seen on farms.  And, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  

In today's interview John talks about how he got started building models of farming equipment, why he has file cabinets full of old farm equipment catalogs, why he takes photographs if farms and farm equipment all over Wisconsin and how this all came together for him to win the National Farm Toy Show in 2005, 2012 and 2015.  He even takes us on a tour of his studio and expresses his deepest feelings over the realization that his families farming legacy ends with him.  

On tomorrow's ag business episode I am profiling a gentleman who has an unbelievable passion for agriculture, but he is not a farmer.  However, he displays this passion through creating replica farm equipment and even replica farms.  So, for today's re-cap episode I thought this interview with Carol Herden, talking about how she got started sculpting farm animals, was a perfect tie in.

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!

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.

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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.  

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.  

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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/

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