Off-Farm Income

OFI 1516: Don’t Bring Milk To Your Farm Burglary

Donate to FFA - One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000. In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants. With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world. FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation. The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”.U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

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

Direct download: Jordan_Howell_Undetermined_Episode_-_92222_4.08_PM.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Sat, 15 October 2022

Tip Of The Week

Pay attention to the cases out on the fringe.

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.salon.com/2022/10/10/activists-saved-piglets-from-a-factory-farm-have-been-acquitted_partner/

https://www.goskagit.com/news/crime/farmers-killing-of-elk-sets-off-legal-dispute/article_3b2fd2b6-467c-11ed-95c7-bf5d9bb43acc.html

https://easttexasnews.com/polk-county-news-2/3070-stolen-tractor

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.steinbachonline.com/articles/rcmp-searching-for-suspects-following-theft-of-tools-in-zhoda

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/23037536.man-jailed-hastings-burglary-dna-found-milk-carton/

https://www.farminguk.com/news/north-wales-sheep-butchered-and-another-shot-with-crossbow_61286.html

Africa

https://informante.web.na/?p=327367

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/security/civil-security/farm-attacks-and-murders-raise-concerns-on-food-security-in-addition-to-personal-safety/

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/man-arrested-following-murder-of-young-farmer-during-robbery-on-limpopo-farm-20221010

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.wsfa.com/video/2022/10/05/alabama-farmers-donate-tons-hay-drought-stricken-texas/

http://www.westcentralsbest.com/todays_country_1057/news/arrest-made-in-livestock-theft/article_bf39bc84-496a-11ed-87fd-5b95c83407c7.html

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

Direct download: OFI_1516_Rural_Crime_Episode_-_101322_10.50_AM.mp3
Category:rural crime -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Fri, 14 October 2022

OFI 1515: The Unique Perspectives Of An Agricultural Entrepreneur Whose Business Is Blowing Up | Karoline Rose | KRose Company

Karoline Rose is the founder and CEO of Cattleman U, KRose Company, and The Rancher's Daughter. Her mission is to show ranchers - specifically ranch women - how valuable their creative side is on the ranch. She believes empowering women on the operation is the best way to ensure the operation continues on for the next generation, and that is what she and her team strive to do. Watching women strive for and achieve personal and professional growth on their ranch lights her up.

Karoline first appeared on the Off-Farm Income Podcast seven years ago as she was beginning this journey. Today we get caught up. It is amazing how far she has come in under ten years.

Direct download: Karoline_Rose_Episode_1515_-_10422_7.26_PM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Thu, 13 October 2022

OFI 1514: How To Live Where You Want And Work For Yourself | Karoline Rose | KRose Company | Re-Cap Episode

On tomorrow's ag business episode we are catching up with previous guest, Karoline Rose. I first had Karoline on the show in 2015, and she was doing amazing things then. However, her progress and everything that she is doing in the world of cattle marketing and cattle raising is really astonishing. The growth of her multiple enterprises is coming along at an astonishing rate. I am going to replay her original interview today so you can compare it to the new interview I did with her tomorrow.

Direct download: OFI_1514_Replay_Of_342_-_101322_8.41_AM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 8:51am MDT

Wed, 12 October 2022

OFI 1513: An Aptitude And Passion For Machining | FFA SAE Edition | Levi Marlatt | Rushville Consolidated High School FFA

Being a small farmer and constantly needing to fix things and problem solve for equipment that I need but that is not manufactured, I find myself really jealous of those people with great mechanical aptitude. Today's guest is not only one of those people, but he is also the 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Ag Mechanics Design & Fabrication.

Levi Marlatt has been working out in his dad's shop ever since he can remember, and at some point he realized just how much he enjoyed machining parts and equipment. He started doing this more and more out of his own curiosity and to help his father with his high performance diesel business. When Levi wasn't out helping to raise corn and soybeans on the families Indiana farm, he found himself solving problems and discovering a very mechanical aptitude.

About the time that Levi began in the FFA and realized that he needed an SAE, his father started referring his diesel customers to Levi to machine parts for them and to reverse engineer parts that failed and improve them. Levin took to this with zeal, and through word of mouth he has created a client list of customers in 8 different states.

Today, Levi is the owner of Marlatt Machine, and he is attending college to perfect his welding skills, learn to read blueprints and get an associates degree in machining. Everything that Levi is studying is immediately applicable in the shop and in his business, and he loves it. He has a long term goal to create lightweight chassis for pulling tractors and to sell them all over the nation. Something tells me that this will happen, and this won't be the last product that Levi creates and sells.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Marlatt Machining

HIGH SCHOOL: Rushville Consolidated High School, Rushville, Indiana

MASCOT: Lions

FFA ADVISOR: Blaire Orme

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR LEVI MARLATT:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Rushville Consolidated High School website:

Levi's FFA Advisors' Email Address: ormeb@rushville.k12.in.us

Rushville Consolidated High School's Telephone Number: 765-932-4051

FFA LINKS:

OFI 1512: Four Nights In Yellowstone And A Break From The Farm

Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world. FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation. The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
Farmers, ranchers, and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

"Because American farmers are able to provide for so many of us, they give more and more of us the freedom to pursue goals and livelihoods beyond growing the food we need to survive."

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack

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

Direct download: Levi_Marlatt_Episode_Undetermined_-_92822_5.50_PM.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Tue, 11 October 2022

This weekend was my annual father/daughter trip to Yellowstone National Park. Man are we lucky to live so close!

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

Direct download: OFI_1512_Tuesday_Episode_-_101022_8.04_PM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Mon, 10 October 2022

OFI 1511: Becoming A Film Maker In High School | FFA SAE Edition | Hayden Endicott | Riverton High School FFA

How would you like to launch your career as a film maker in high school? Well, that is what today's guest has done, and of course there is an FFA component to his journey that has propelled him to this place as well as to being a National Proficiency Finalist!

Hayden Endicott graduated high school last spring, and he has launched directly into his chosen career as a film maker. Since the age of 10 Hayden has been making films and learning to use a camera. Over that time he has developed great skill behind the lens, directing people and seeing ideas come to fruition. This has led to his company, "Criminal Productions".

Hayden's three older brother's preceded him in the FFA and inspired him to be a member. Since that time, he has made several films for the Riverton FFA chapter and even made small, fictional films outside of his SAE. You may remember Hayden's brother, Hunter Endicott, as a guest on our show in episode #397.

One of the things that I found so compelling about Hayden's journey and his maturity is the research that he did into college and film school. His research indicated that there was nothing he would learn in college that he could not learn on his own with the availability of resources on the internet today. So, he chose not to attend college, put the tuition money into his business and spend this time developing his business and creating content.

Hayden currently has a 40 minute, agricultural movie in production and he already has a commitment from one theater to show it. He is learning not only film making but also the business of selling films, and he is trying to create a project that is profitable so he can use that to show investors that his business is worth investing in.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Criminal Productions

HIGH SCHOOL: Riverton High School FFA; Riverton, Kansas

MASCOT: Rams

FFA ADVISOR: Jacob Larison

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR HAYDEN ENDICOTT:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Riverton High School website:

Hayden's FFA Advisors' Email Addresses: jlarison@usd404.org

Riverton High School's Telephone Number: 620-848-3386

FFA LINKS:

OFI 1510: The Wild West Bandits Made Their Getaways On Fast Horses Not Slow Tractors

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world. FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation. The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

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

Direct download: Hayden_Endicott_Undetermined_Episode_-_92122_5.00_PM.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Sat, 8 October 2022

Tip Of The Week

Never give up - property can be recovered and crimes can be solved years later.

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2022/10/05/news/nm-supreme-court-ruling-resolves-legal-question-about-prosecuting-cattle-theft/173051.html

https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/crime/report-horse-shot-killed-while-grazing-in-brown-county/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.humberside.police.uk/news/two-arrested-following-warrant-farm-haisthorpe

https://globalnews.ca/news/9175675/canola-theft-central-alberta-farm/

Africa

https://news.yahoo.com/tv-garden-experts-killed-fed-140404459.html

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2022-10-03-police-recover-firearms-ammunitions-in-turkana-as-war-on-bandits-intensify/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.ketk.com/news/local-news/sheriff-stolen-hay-baler-recovered-over-a-year-later/

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/oct/04/cody-easterday-who-perpetrated-244-million-ghost-c/

https://wvmetronews.com/2022/10/04/pennsylvania-brothers-charged-in-alleged-tractor-theft/

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

Direct download: OFI_1510_Rural_Crime_-_10522_4.46_PM.mp3
Category:rural crime -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Fri, 7 October 2022

OFI 1509: How To Support Your Farm With Your Own Retail Location | Justin Miklaszewski | Two Creek Farms

The whole point of the Off-Farm Income Podcast is to provide you with business ideas that will help you to support your farming or ranching lifestyle through entrepreneurship. Today's guest is already doing that, just at age 22. There is a twist to Justin Miklaszewski's business. The business he created, which is exploding by the way, guarantee's his farm will sell 100% of the livestock it produces at a premier price.

Justin started direct selling cuts of meat when he was about 15 years of age. This happened not because he was trying to start a business but because he was out of freezer space with two pigs he was feeding that he was unable to sell at the state fair. He put out an ad on Facebook to sell the meat and the response he got was huge. He saw something in that opportunity and explored it. He had desired to own his own business for years already at that point, and this seemed to be a good fit.

Over the next six years he built this business up to the point that he constantly had people coming to his home to pick up meat. It was sometime after that, that he realized he needed to find a retail location, and then, just like that, the perfect spot opened up on a highly trafficked highway. That location and the large number of farmer's markets that he was participating in propelled him into a very fast growing business.

Justin competes against himself, and part of what drives him is the ability to see just what he can accomplish. Considering that he is just 22 years of age, it is going to be exciting to see where he takes this!

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

Direct download: Justin_Miklaszewski_Episode_1509_-_10322_3.58_PM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Thu, 6 October 2022

OFI 1508: How To Build And Manage A Farm Selling Retail Cuts Of Meat | David Hancock | Hancock Family Farms | Re-Cap Episode

On tomorrow's ag business episode I am featuring an absolute phenom of agricultural entrepreneurship who is building quite a retail business for the livestock that he raises on his farm. For today's re-cap episode I am going to take you back to an interview I conducted with David Hancock who was doing the same thing when we first spoke, and he has continued to build an unbelievable business since then.

The original show notes are below:

SHOW NOTES

KEY IDEAS:

Do you dream of farming and being able to stay on your farm full time? Do you love to share agriculture and what you love about it with other people? Do you enjoy livestock and love to brag about the meat you produce on your own place?

If the answer to these questions is yes, then selling retail cuts of your own meat at a farmer's market or on your own place might just be the answer you are looking for.

Let's face it, my show is all about using entrepreneurship to support your farming endeavors. Even though this is what I do and what I teach, it does not mean that it is the ultimate goal. Ultimately, all of us would like to do nothing but farm. We would like to be that person who wakes up with the chickens, beds down the cows and only leaves the farm because we want to in between.

Our guest today, David Hancock, has a recipe for doing just that. No two farms or farmers are alike, and you may have more or less challenges than David has had to overcome. But one thing is for certain, he loves farming and needed to figure out a niche to achieve his dream of farming full time. He did that through selling individual cuts of meat.

David shares a wealth of information in this interview. It is practically a blue print for anyone who wants to find a way to farm full time.

CONTACT INFORMATION AND LINKS:

Facebook: LINK

Website: LINK

Telephone: 301-752-2353

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

Direct download: OFI_1508_Replay_Of_944_-_10322_5.25_PM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Wed, 5 October 2022

OFI 1507: Grandpa's Wisdom, A Nudge From A Teacher = An American Star Nomination | FFA SAE Edition | Terrance Crayton | Wetumpka High School FFA

In today's episode, I finally get to the other half of the story. In my previous interviews with Case Edwards, who is an American Star Finalist this year, he has always given all the credit for his accomplishments to a classmate of his named Terrance Crayton. When Case was a sophomore and Terrance was a junior, Terrance approached his FFA advisor and suggested that their chapter have a small engine team. His advisor said, "sounds good, you put it together, teach it and run it" and Terrance did. At Terrance's suggestion this is where Case got his first exposure to small engine repair, and it has now propelled him all the way to being an American Star Finalist in the category of placement.

In and of itself, that is an amazing story, but of course there is more. Terrance is also an American Star Finalist. That is right, both he and Case, will share the stage as American Star Finalists this year at the National FFA Convention. Terrance's category is agribusiness. Since he was in the 9th grade Terrance has been repairing people's equipment and small engines for them. At first he relied on his grandfather to drive him from place to place, but eventually he saved enough of his money to purchase his own pickup which he turned into a service truck for small engine repair.

Terrance's business grew and grew with the help of word of mouth advertising as well as Facebook Marketplace. Today he is studying Ag Education at Auburn University, and this time next year he should be employed as an FFA Advisor. Terrance gives credit to his grandfather's ability to teach mechanics to him for giving him the interest in small engines. He gives credit to a typo on a class schedule that put him in an "Ag" class rather than the "Art" class that he wanted. And he gives credit to his ag teacher who kept nudging him into FFA activities until he finally totally committed and his accomplishments in the FFA really took off.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Agribusiness

HIGH SCHOOL: Wetumpka High School, Wetumpka, Alabama

MASCOT: Indians

FFA ADVISOR: William Norris

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR TERRANCE CRAYTON:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Wetumpka High School website:

Terrance's FFA Advisors' Email Address: william.norris@elmoreco.com

Wetumpka High School's Telephone Number: 334-567-1178

FFA LINKS:

OFI 1506: Just Try Something And See What Possibilities Open Up

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world. FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation. The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
Farmers, ranchers, and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

"Because American farmers are able to provide for so many of us, they give more and more of us the freedom to pursue goals and livelihoods beyond growing the food we need to survive."

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack

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

Direct download: Terrance_Crayton_Episode_1507_-_92922_5.13_PM.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Tue, 4 October 2022

This weekend we did an experiment selling coffee from our farm on a friend's coffee trailer. I wouldn't say that we have a new business, but I was reminded how just trying something can lead to a waterfall of business ideas, and I will discuss this with you today.

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

Direct download: OFI_1506_Tuesday_Episode_-_10322_5.50_PM.mp3
Category:farming -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

Mon, 3 October 2022

OFI 1505: A Passion For Cotton And Challenging Farming Conditions | FFA SAE Edition | Peter Bliss | Golden Valley High School FFA

Agriculture is a large umbrella, and below that umbrella there are divisions. The fact that there are divisions does not mean that this is contentious, but it does mean that everyone in agriculture generally leans one of two ways and then gets more specialized from there. I happen to lean towards animal agriculture, and that is fueled by my passion for cattle. Today's guest leans towards crops, and he has a passion for cotton!

Peter Bliss has been farming for several years now. Starting out 30 acres of inherited ground, he has built his farming enterprise into hundreds of acres of owned and leased farm ground. He is growing cotton, wheat and almonds. Even though taking care of cotton is much more complicated than the almonds that he grows with less potential profit, that is where is passion lies.

It is so interesting to me to know that the way I feel about raising cattle and watching them graze in the field is the way that Peter feels about seeing cotton plants come up and eventually display their snowy white fiber. Really, after spending 30 minutes speaking with Peter about his farming endeavors, there is no question as to why he has been nominated as an American Star Farmer Finalist this year!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Cotton, Almond & Wheat Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Golden Valley High School, Merced, California

MASCOT: Cougars

FFA ADVISOR: Cody Jacobsen

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR PETER BLISS:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Golden Valley High School Website:

Peter's FFA Advisor's Email Address: cjacobsen@muhsd.org

Golden Valley High School Telephone Number: 209-325-2011

FFA LINKS