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!

Sheldon McKinney is the Executive Director of the Kentucky FFA Foundation.  She is also the president of a group of foundation directors who have come together to collaborate on how to best support the FFA in their individual states.

On today's episode Sheldon is joining us to discuss how fundraising works, where the money goes and what it means to be a 501(c)3 organization and why that is necessary.  The business of fundraising at the national, state or local level is a big business.  As Sheldon says, money should never be an obstacle that stops an FFA student from taking advantage of the myriad opportunities available to them through the organization.  State FFA Foundations exist to connect chapters and students to donors who want to support youth, agriculture and agricultural education.

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am speaking with the executive director of the Kentucky FFA Foundation.  We are going to be speaking about supporting state FFA Foundations as well as a new group of FFA Foundation Directors that has been formed called LEADS.

Anytime I think of Kentucky FFA, I think of this interview with Kaitlyn Elliot.  I was so impressed by the old school manner in which she and her grandfather were growing, harvesting and processing sorghum.  And, she sent me some delicious syrup which we thoroughly enjoyed.  So, in honor of our Kentucky guest tomorrow, I am bringing this interview with Kaitlyn back.

Mylie Rexing is a district and chapter FFA officer and soon to be agriculture student at Purdue University.  She has been working her father's butcher shop for several years, throughout high school.  During that time an idea occurred to her to make ready to cook meals for people to purchase from the shop that would simplify meal prep for them at home.  Mylie's Meals To Go was born.

Mylie has come up with a number of iterations of ready to go meals during this time, and that took her all the way to being an Indiana State Finalist in Ag Sales.  During that time Mylie wanted to give back to her community, and she came up with a program of donating milk to families who needed with every sale of a ready to prepare meal.  Mylie stated that her family has always been one that gives back, and she had watched that example while growing up.  So, it felt like a natural fit for her to incorporate giving into her own business as well.

Olivia Black is a senior in high school, a second year FFA student and the Michigan Star Award Winner in Agribusiness.  In Olivia's school district the FFA Chapter is run by the Ionia County Career Center, and high school students are only eligible to attend there starting in the 11th Grade.  Olivia has grown up showing cattle and pigs and with a significant family history in the Dairy Industry, so she knew that she wanted to be in the FFA.  When she started her junior year, she enrolled in an agricultural course at the career center, making her eligible for the FFA, and she joined.

Two years prior to this is when Olivia's journey as an entrepreneur began however.  Olivia has a rare gift that only a small percentage of entrepreneurs have.  She was dissatisfied with a product that she was using on her show pigs, and rather than keep looking for something that worked better or settling for what she had, she decided to make her own.  Absolute Products was born at that moment, and she has been developing this business ever since then.

Now, at age 17, Olivia has stood out among all the other FFA students in Michigan, even though she has less than two years of records.  She is selling her product all over the Upper Midwest, and she plans on expanding even further.  In addition, she is finding that while her product was developed for use on pigs, it works well on both dairy and beef cattle.

Olivia loves the livestock exhibition world, but she realized that in the not too distant future she was going to age out eligibility to show livestock.  So, she has created a business that will keep her connected to this world and will help exhibitors everywhere solve some of their most frustrating issues.  Olivia is off to college soon to get a degree in Ag Business, and it is all directed at growing this business.

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am interviewing an entrepreneur with a goat milk soap business.  As you know, the goat milk soap business is one of my favorites to profile.  Well, tomorrow's guest discloses that her family got goats first, and then her pragmatic husband said that these goats need to pull their own weight if they are going to stay.  And that is what led to their goat milk soap business.

This reminded me of the interview I did with Sydney Gordon way back in 2016.  She loved goats and talked her father into getting some for their farm.  However, he said the same thing - "these goats need to pay for themselves".  And that is what led her goat milk soap business.  I thought this tied in perfectly with tomorrow's show, and I am happy to bring it back for you today.

On today's episode I get to do something that I love, and something new that is a lot of fun.  I will be profiling a great, Idaho FFA Student named Zane Nichols, and I will be promoting a summer kickoff festival in Cambridge, Idaho called Hells Canyon Days.  So, this episode will be a bit different than normal.

In the first half of the episode I am speaking with Zane, who will be working in the concession booth on behalf of the Cambridge FFA on Friday night of the festival at an event called "Bulls & Broncs".  I will also be speaking with the president of the Cambridge Commercial Club, Blake Loveland, and we will be talking all about the festival.

After I finish that part of the episode it is back to Zane to talk about beef cattle and working on a grain and hay operation as well as which sport he hopes to play at the next level.  Enjoy the episode!

Dori Stuever is a driven FFA student, a regional officer, a business owner and the feature of a newspaper article about her maple syrup business, County Line Kinds Pure Maple Syrup.  Concentrating on marketing through social media, Dori is selling maple syrup throughout the United States, and she is the 6th generation in her family to be in this business.

Dori is also partnered with two neighbors, either tapping their trees or using their sugar shack for refining her maple sap into maple syrup.  Being from the wide open, treeless spaces of Southwest Idaho, it is difficult for me to imagine, but Dori spends a lot of time in the woods of Michigan.  She is either locating trees to tap, tending to her current taps or make sure that her prospective trees are healthy.

Dori is primarily home schooled, but she signed up for agriculture classes when she was in the 7th grade so that she would be able to be a part of the FFA.  The FFA is another family tradition for her, going back to the days when her female relatives were not allowed to participate.  When Dori is not at Capac High School for her agriculture classes, she is at home tending to her taps and frequently doing school work out in the woods because that is where she spends her time.

Taylor Crouch is a sophomore in high school and her FFA chapter's reporter.  She is also a three sport athlete and a serial entrepreneur at the age of 15.  There is a lot to talk about from this interview with Taylor, but throughout all of the different sports, livestock shows, businesses and ways of connecting with people throughout the U.S. one theme stood out.  The more active you are in high school, the more opportunities that you will be exposed to.  In this way, students who are very involved really do have an advantage.

Based on Taylor's description of herself, I would call her an extrovert.  However, not everyone is an extrovert, and that is fine.  I think what is proven in this interview that is introverted students need to find a way to get outside of their comfort zone and become active.  The reason is that the activity will lead you to meet new people, be exposed to different circumstances and experience new things.  Somewhere inside of all of that activity there is something that will resonate with you, and will help to shape your future.

I consider myself an introvert, and I think my daughter is one also.  I don't think that a person needs to be as social as Taylor to be exposed to many opportunities.  But, and introverted person still needs to follow their interests and get involved in those interests.  The biggest challenge for them may be not allowing their natural introversion to keep them from pursuing those interests.  And, as Taylor points out in the interview, the FFA is an excellent place to learn to push those comfort zones and to start getting exposed to situations that will eventually spark and interest.

Agustin Luna is a sophomore at J.W. Nixon High School in Laredo, Texas, he is the chapter's reporter and he is responsible for cooking the pork ribs on the barbecue team.  That's right, the barbecue team.

Until an article popped up on my news feed the other day, I was unaware that there was such a think as a high school barbecue competition.  However, Agustin goes to school in Texas, so I shouldn't have been surprised.  Agustin and his team have qualified to be in the state championship in may, just a few days before this episode is aired.  The championship is held in Round Rock, at the baseball field that was built there to honor Nolan Ryan.  How can you get more Texas than barbecue and Nolan Ryan.

Agustin and each of his teammates are assigned an item to cook for the competition.  Each dish is scored individually by judges, the scores are compiled and a gross score is given to each team.  The top teams from each regional competition get to advance, and J.W. Nixon is one of those teams this year.  This is not an FFA competition, but at J.W. Nixon High School the team is from the FFA chapter.

Seth Ariens is the Indiana State FFA President.  Amazingly, he is also the Indiana State Star Farmer.  In a great FFA state like Indiana, either one of those accomplishments puts you among the elite to ever have worn the blue jacket in the Hoosier State, but to be selected to both of those coveted positions, on the same night no less, puts you in rare air indeed!

In today's episode Seth describes his pathway to becoming a state officer.  In describing this his says something that is a real key to the success that he is currently experiencing.  He never looked at any of the officer positions that he held as a stepping stone.  He went into all of them determined to serve as best as possible in that position, and the rest kind of took care of itself.

On the side of being the State Star Farmer, Seth has had some "happy accidents".  I wouldn't call it luck however.  We always say on this show that luck is preparation meets opportunity.  Well, Seth looked at some things that happened as accidents and turned them into opportunities.  For example, when his Australian Shepherd was unintentionally bred by another Australian Shepherd, Seth took advantage of the moment to sell the puppies and add this to his record book.  His SAE was diversified agriculture, and her was another opportunity to diversify.  It is this outlook on looking for opportunity that has helped to propel him to such great heights.

Brook Cutchin is the secretary of the Deane Bozeman FFA Chapter in Southport, Florida.  She is also just 16 years of age and slated to graduate high school one year early later this month.  She is heading to college next fall and has been accepted to a programed called "3 & 3", which means in her fourth year of her bachelor's degree she simultaneously begins graduate school, which for her will be studying the law to become an attorney and advocate for agriculture.

Brook first got introduced to the FFA her 9th grade year of high school when she took a required, introduction to agriculture class.  At that point she realized that she wanted to raise livestock, and she has been engaged in the FFA ever since.  She even raised and showed her own pig, showing and selling it at the Florida State Fair this past February.

The FFA has exposed Brook to many experiences that she never expected, and it played a major role in accelerating her time high school and graduating early.  One of the experiences that Brook had through the FFA, that drew my attention to her chapter, was facilitating a goat yoga class for people in her community.  She, along with other chapter members and supporters of her FFA chapter, put on a goat yoga class, for free.  Donations to help the chapter build a livestock barn were accepted, but there was no charge to attend.

I've always wondered what the appeal of goat yoga is.  Brook informed me that the point is to help people with anxiety about doing yoga in front of others, to let that go because everyone is watching the goats and not each other.  I certainly believe that is what happens.

Brycen Cole is in the 8th Grade and is a Junior FFA Member at Roby High School in Roby, Texas.  Ever since he discovered podcasts, he has wanted to be a guest on one.  So, when he heard that I was going to be interviewing one of the high school FFA members at Roby, he proactively asked his advisor to ask me if he could come on the show. I like proactivity.  I obliged.  

Brycen shows steers, plays three sports and is excited for the future.  He told me that he is not sure what he will do, but he is certain that he will either be a basketball coach or an FFA advisor in the future.  For now, he has his sights set on becoming an official FFA member next year and getting busy with everything that the FFA has to offer.  

I have an exciting announcement in today's farm update.  Hattie has been selected as her FFA Chapter's President.  This comes on the heels of her being selected as her FFA District's President.  So much of what she is accomplishing now has roots in the audience of this show supporting us and helping us grow, and we wanted to say thank you!

And, for students that are considering becoming a technician for a tractor manufacturer I have a story to share with you today.  Depending on why you have chosen this path, this announcement may make a difference as to whether or not you continue to pursue this.

Here is the link to the article: https://coloradosun.com/2023/04/25/right-to-repair-farm-equiptment-colorado/

Matthew Ruff is a farmer from Ohio, a first year student at The Ohio State University and part of a family of agriculturists and innovators.  Matthew's parents both grew up on farms and decided that they wanted to farm as well.  So, after their marriage in 1997, they started pursuing enterprises that could lead to having their own farm.  Ultimately, they purchased their own property and kept building it up.  Today, Matt farms over 4,000 acres along side his parents, brother and sister. 

What initially drew my attention to Matt was an article I read indicating that he had an "ear corn" enterprise.  However, the article did not describe the specifics of the operation.  During the interview I found out that he has taken over responsibility for growing 25-40 acres of ear corn with the intention of picking it, shucking it, bagging it and selling it on Amazon!  

During the interview Matthew explains that there is strong demand for ear corn, still on the husk, by people who want to feed it to wildlife like squirrels and deer.  He said that they have shipped bags of corn grown on their farm to every state in the lower 48!  What an amazing niche....

On tomorrow's ag business episode I am speaking with an agricultural entrepreneur who has taken "cleaning" to a whole new level.  I thought this interview with Sean Westergaard from 2016 about his gutter cleaning business was the perfect lead in.

Adam Johnson is the chapter president of the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.  He is also the 2022 Minnesota State Proficiency winner in the category of poultry production and a 2022 National Silver Award winner.

During his time in high school Adam has been raising meat chickens during the summer for his supervised agricultural experience.  He has been using the pastured poultry model and chicken tractor model taught by Joel Salatin, with a twist.  Adam and his family do all of the butchering of the birds, and they use a cylindrical chicken plucker to remove the feathers.  However, they found that there were still small feathers to be pulled and pin feathers to be burnt off of the birds, even after doing that.  That is a very time consuming process.

To remedy this extra time that is needed, Adam and his family started skinning the birds to circumvent the need for this process.  Of course, there will be customers who want the skin on the birds.  So, they have shifted their business model to finding customers who want the birds skinned.  This has worked, and now they have altered their operation so it serves everyone equally.

Lillie Cagle is the newly elected Tennessee FFA State Sentinel, and former East Tennessee Regional FFA President.  She is also the chapter president of the Bledsoe County FFA and a senior in high school.

Lillie has a very unique story of how she came to be involved in the FFA.  From the age of 12 -14 Lillie had some major responsibilities in her family, and even though her family raises cattle and she lives in an agricultural community she had not given any thought to the FFA or even knew what it stood for.  However, around the beginning of her freshman year of high school those family responsibilities came to an end, and she was left kind of wondering what to do with her newly discovered free time.  That is when the then president of the Bledsoe FFA Chapter invited her to an FFA meeting and told her that he thought it would be good for her.  Nothing has been the same since.

Lillie has started an agricultural education project called "Ag Across The Board" aimed at teaching elementary students across the State Of Tennessee about agriculture.  She has even run a summer camp to teach about agriculture and received upwards of $15,000 in donations to purchase a trailer and be a mobile agricultural education resource.  Lillie is making a huge difference in the world of agriculture, and after hearing this interview you will think so too!

Casey DeVries is the "Test Plot Chairman" for the Forreston FFA Chapter in Forreston, Illinois.  If that is a title you have never heard of before, it was also a new one for me.  Casey's family has been farming in the Forreston area since 1948 when his great grandfather purchased farmland there.  Today some of their land sits across the road from the high school.  So, during Casey's freshman year he suggested doing test plots of corn in that field to compare varieties and provide the agriculture department a way to do hands on learning.  The project stuck and is still doing four years later, and will continue after Casey leaves high school.

Casey and his family have a large farm and a large shop.  Working on machinery and engines in the shop is a significant part of keeping the farm going.  So, Casey has been doing something mechanical since around age 5.  When it came time for an SAE, he decided to challenge himself.  He purchased an old tractor, brought home and tore it all apart.  He restored the transmission, the rear end and even painted it himself.  And then he marketed it on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.  Within one week it was sold to a gentleman in Wisconsin!

Rylee Terveen is her FFA Chapter's President, a national Bronze Proficiency Award winner and a driven entrepreneur.  Growing up in a family of agricultural entrepreneurs, Rylee knows what direction she wants to take for her future career.  She will be graduating high school this year, and then it is off to South Dakota State University to study entrepreneurship.

There is a family business already established that Rylee can move into.  As a matter of fact, she plans on taking it over along with her sister and running their families hunting lodge.  However, it is a seasonal business, and, maybe more importantly, it is not of Rylee's making.  Rylee knows she wants to be self-employed, and she knows that she wants to create something of her own.  So, when college is done and when it is time to move into her career, she will be forming a business based on the knowledge she already has and the knowledge that she has yet to gain.

Kyleigh Lock is just a sophomore in high school, but has accomplished a lot in just a short period of time.  She is already her chapter's president and a district officer, and she has one several proficiency awards at the area and district levels.  She is completely devoted to the FFA and to agriculture and it shows.  When I asked her if she had any activities outside of the FFA, her answer was "yes, in the 4H", which made me chuckle.

Kyleigh is trying to build up her show string of heifers with superior genetics and phenotypes so that she can find success at larger and larger shows.  However, obtaining heifers is not a cheap thing to do, so she has gotten creative.  She has entered and succeeded at multiple different calf scrambles to obtain the show heifer she is ultimately looking for.

Kyleigh has already mapped out a pathway to becoming a veterinarian, and she already knows that she wants to open her own practice in the future.  Something about her work ethic tells me that she is going to make it happen!

Daniel Laurent is a sophomore at Caldwell County High School, but he might as well be an instructor already when it comes to the breeding and showing of pigs.  He is just in his second year of the FFA, officially, but all of his four older siblings were in the FFA and he has been talking and getting FFA experiences for the past 13 years since his eldest sister joined.

Daniel has a passion for animal agriculture, which has been apparent his entire life.  When he was 8 years old he did his own research and told his father that he thought they should change their entire pig breeding operation from Yorkshires to Duroc's.  He has his argument well thought out and documented, and eventually, this happened.

Today Daniel gets more excitement out of seeing a 10 year old kid win in the show ring with a Laurent pig than he does actually winning himself.  He loves the process of matching up the correct pigs phenotypically and genotypically and then seeing the success it brings.  All of this, and he still does not even have a driver's license!

On tomorrow's episode of the Off-Farm Income Podcast, we are featuring a gentleman who has spent his career running his own excavation business.  We will be highlighting what it took for him to move his business from Michigan to Texas.

This interview reminded me of another great guest who had come on the show back in 2018.  Back then, Jon McNees was an FFA student.  He had been working his father's excavation business for years, and he was progressively getting more and more responsibility.  What I loved about the interview with Jon, is that he did not just think it was his birthright to work in that company.  Even in high school he was doing whatever he could to add value to the company.  He was able to do this through his participation in the FFA and by learning as much as he could about soils.

Bringing back this interview with Jon is the perfect lead in, to tomorrow's ag business episode.

Austin Elam is a senior at Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School in Paxton, Illinois.  Prior to his sophomore year of high school Austin never envisioned himself as an FFA member, but because of Covid he was forced to choose one of two elective courses, introduction to agriculture or home economics.  He chose agriculture, and after being introduced to different discussions about livestock he was totally hooked and became very active in the FFA.  

Today Austin is preparing to graduate high school, and he has decided that he would like to return to the classroom in the future as an agriculture teacher.  He has found a program in Illinois that will allow him to attend a community college and take courses through the University Of Illinois leading to a bachelor's degree.  Through this method he will be able to obtain his degree without paying the high cost of tuition at Illinois.  Austin is a pragmatic thinker, and he plans to bring that back to the classroom for future agriculture students.  

Isaac Hopke is the current Wisconsin State FFA Secretary.  He is also the owner of American Landscaping in Spooner, Wisconsin and a student at the Univeristy Of Wisconsin, River Falls.  Isaac's family purchased their farm when he was just four years old, but he can still remember the transition.  From that point forward he developed a passion for the agricultural life and began showing animals in the 4H.

When 7th Grade arrived, Isaac was eligible to sign up for the FFA in his middle school.  At the same time his older brother was slated to go the National Convention but had to drop out, so Isaac took his place.  After seeing his first National Convention, Isaac was hooked! He has been totally devoted to serving in the FFA ever since.

Isaac continues to run American Landscaping, even as a full-time college student.  And, he is currently changing his business status from sole proprietor to LLC.  He has all of his options for a future career open right now with self-employment remaining at the top of the list.

Aidan Yoho is the 2022 State Star Farmer of Kansas FFA and the State Secretary.  He will hold both of those titles until July of 2023.  But back in July of 2022, Aidan was simply an FFA Member from Yates Center, Kansas who was attending his state convention and who had thrown his hat in the ring in these two categories.  As it turned out, state star farmer and the state officer team were both announced during the same session of the state convention.  So, within 20 minutes of Aidan's life he went from not holding either of these titles to holding both!

So, where did this all start for him.  It started with a passion for farming that still exists on Aidan's land today, his great-grandfather.  Aidan's great-grandfather started farming with his brother on leased ground over 50 years ago.  Today, Aidan farms with his father and his great-grandfather, but unfortunately his grandfather passed away in 2021.  Being able to work with and learn from this great-grandfather has taught Aidan many valuable lessons about being successful in agriculture.

One of those lessons is that there is money to be made doing things that nobody else wants to do.  Aidan listened to this advice, and that is how he got his start.  Both in cattle and forage production, he applied the same philosophy.  Aidan started out purchasing dairy cross calves that needed to be dehorned because they were cheap and not many people wanted them.  He also identified problem areas on the farm that nobody wanted to mess with and started growing hay on them.

Today that has developed into an operation that allows Aidan to farm the more desirable hay ground and to purchase better cattle that end up making him more money in the long run.  He has his sights set on returning to the family farm and running it when the time is right, but for now he is giving his full focus to making a run at being the American Star Farmer in a couple of years!

Makenzie McDaniel is a senior at Flowing Wells High School in Tucson, Arizona, and she is the "student advisor" member of her FFA Chapter's Officer Team.  Makenzie has her sights set on becoming an ag teacher and FFA Advisor herself, and this role on the officer team suits that pursuit perfectly.

In this role, Makenzie watches how her fellow chapter members are progressing, sees what they need help with and is there to answer questions.  When one of them is stumbling or has questions, she is there to assist, but without taking over, just by advising.  It takes a lot of maturity to know how to advise without completely taking over the show, an Makenzie is already there.

In addition to her role on the officer team, Makenzie raises a market steer and market goat for the county fair, and she keeps them at the school's facility.  This allows her and students who don't have land to raise animals and get that real world experience.  Makenzie has applied to attend the Univeristy of Arizona, right there in Tucson, to study ag education.  And, in about 5 years, I am hoping to be interviewing one of Makenzie's FFA students!

Wyatt Black is a sophomore in high school and is already mastering the art of adding value and finding profit.  Wyatt has grown up with and around agriculture on his families small farm near Casstown, Ohio.  As a member of the Miami East FFA Chapter, he needed to develop an SAE.  That was no problem because he and his father had already been finding, repairing and re-selling used equipment for years.  It was a natural fit, and Wyatt turned this into his project.  Wyatt tends to specialize in fixing up trailers if he can.  He says that he sees the highest demand for them, and they are generally the easiest to repair.

Allie Koss is the owner and creator of Happy's Horse Treats.  She is also a sophomore in high school and the FFA Chapter Sentinel at the Arizona Agribusiness & Equine Center of Paradise Valley, Arizona, which is a charter school specializing in agriculture.  All students at the AAEC are FFA members, but there are different levels of activity for each of them.

Allie has grown up in the city, and her parents are not experienced in agriculture.  However, at age 4 Allie said she wanted to take horseback riding lessons.  Being wise parents, they did not just let Allie jump right into full blown lessons.  For one year they took her to the Phoenix Zoo where she could get exposure to horses and some experience riding to gauge if her level of enthusiasm was genuine.  It turned out that it was, and Allie has been riding horses ever since.

One day, at the barn that she rides at, a veterinarian was floating the teeth of a horse and showed Allie how to do it.  From this point she was hooked and knew she wanted to be a veterinarian.  This led to conversations with older people at the barn and the discover of the AAEC.  Ultimately, this led her to the agricultural charter school and the FFA.  It also led to her experimenting with making horse treats, her friends telling her that she should start a business and eventually, the birth of Happy's Horse Treats.  Today, Allie sells horse treats from coast to coast and plans on growing her business through the end of high school, but possibly until she begins veterinary school in several years.

Sydney Bruchhaus is the Louisiana State FFA Secretary, the Louisiana State Star Farmer and a senior in high school.  To hear that an FFA student has achieved both state office and won a state star award is incredible enough, but to hear that they did this while still in high school is extremely rare or maybe never heard of.  However, that is not the last or maybe even the most amazing part of Sydney's story.  

Sydney spend the first two years of her FFA experience being quiet and shy.  She took leadership roles and was a chapter officer, but she preferred to be the person who got things done in the background.  However, at the beginning of her junior year of high school Sydney's FFA Advisor pushed her to participate in a public speaking contest.  Sydney was nervous, which pushed her to practice, and she wound up taking second place in the entire state.  

That second place price lit a fire in Sydney, and from that point on she was doing whatever public speaking that she could.  She developed her skills very rapidly and devoted all of her time to practicing.  Within 9 months of that first contest it was time for the Louisiana State FFA Convention, and she had decided to pursue becoming a state officer, even though she had only served as a chapter officer and not an area or district officer.  And then, she was selected at the same convention that she won star farmer.  

Sydney is living proof that it is never too late to do something great, and that you can accomplish things that other people think are impossible.  

Courtney Baker is a Pennsylvania State Proficiency Winner, a five sport athlete, a chapter officer and an FFA standout from Ulysses, Pennsylvania.  Courtney graduated from Northern Potter High School in May of 2022, got married and moved to Alaska, all in a period of a few months.  Now she is busy living on an Air Force base where her husband is serving and she is studying to become an elementary school teacher through Liberty University.  

Courtney is used to working on the family dairy, competing in one to two sports per semester, serving as an officer and becoming a state proficiency winner.  Now, she is pouring that energy and drive into her future career, her marriage and activities on base when there is only 3 hours of partial daylight outside during the Fairbanks, Alaska winter.  

When Courtney finishes college and student teaching she plans to enter the elementary classroom with the goal of motivating and inspiring students the way her teacher did for her.  She also wants to coach basketball.  I can tell from her work ethic that she will do both to great effect.  

Whitley Anderson is a District Officer in the Lonewolf FFA District in West Texas.  She is also the chapter Vice-President at Snyder High School and immediate past-chapter president.  She raises pigs and chickens and definitely has a passion for agriculture.  As strong as Whitley's love to agriculture is, her love for sharing it with other people is stronger.

Whitely is currently a junior in high school, and she has her sights set on becoming an agricultural lobbyist after she completes high school.  She wants to advocate for agriculture at the highest levels and be part of what keeps agriculture seen as the "backbone of America".  She is not waiting for that first lobbyist position to start advocating however.  Right now, in Snyder, Texas she is taking the opportunity to share agriculture with everyone.

Just one week before Whitley and I did this interview she facilitated the "Scurry Stars Livestock Show".  Snyder High School is in Scurry County.  Whitley had seen that some of her peers in other parts of Texas were parts of livestock shows for students with special needs, so she came back to Scurry County and proposed this to all the relevant decision makers.  Everyone decided to move forward, and the second livestock show for students with special needs was completed, this time including goats and pigs rather than just chickens.  Whitley said she was nervous, but everything went very well and she is excited to do it again next year and watch it grow!

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am featuring two gentlemen with a very unique hay baling business.  This made me think of the episode I did with Saydee Longhurst several years ago, and how she discovered a niche in how she was selling small bales.  On today's re-cap episode I want to bring back that interview as the perfect tie in for tomorrow's show.

Noah McMeeken is a sophomore at Slinger High School in Slinger, Wisconsin and he is a recent recipient of a $1,000 SAE grant.  Noah has interests in things that fly.  He and his brother have been raising and showing ducks and chickens for the past several years, Noah loves to fly in aircraft, he is a competitive alpine skier and flies down the mountain and he has developed a deep interest in drone technology.  So much so, that he was teaching me a thing or two about drones during the interview.  

Noah is just picking up speed in his FFA career, and he has a vision of a business involving him flying FPV Drones and taking aerial photographs for farmers for crop scouting as well a multitude of other reasons.  Noah is pursuing this with a lot of wisdom too.  In addition to being proactive and seeking (and winning) the grant money to fund the project, he has chosen to purchase a kit and assemble the drone himself.  Obviously, he could save himself time and headache by purchasing a fully assembled and ready to fly drone.  However, he knows he will eventually break something on the drone.  So, he looks at the assembly as preparation for that day.  This way he will know how to fix the drone, rather than having to purchase a whole new unit.  And this knowledge will come from the assembly.  

Mackenzie Serrano is a Montana State FFA Officer and the winner of the Montana Star in Agricultural Placement from 2022.  She has a great story of building FFA career in spite of circumstances that would conspire against her.  She started her cow herd in Wilsall, Montana, which happens to be 172 miles from her home in Musselshell, Montana.  She persevered through Covid, working a job at a "blood lab" to pay for more cattle.  At the end of her junior year her FFA Advisor moved to a different high school and the vacancy was not filled.  A recent college graduate was hired to fill the vacancy on a temporary basis, but he was not an ag teacher.  So, Mackenzie took it upon herself to assist with developing lesson plans and keeping the chapter going, even when the school district was considering pulling the plug.

It was the final challenge that inspired Mackenzie to throw her hat in the ring as a state officer.  She served as her chapter's president for three years of high school, and it was the challenge of continuing her FFA chapter's legacy against resistance that inspired her to become a state officer.  That happened last spring, and she is just getting ready to end her term.  What's next?  Mackenzie is going to pursue a national officer position.  First, she must be selected to represent the State Of Montana, and then it is on to sifting in Indianapolis next October.  She has a very unique story, and I think she has a great shot.

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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.

The University Of Idaho is located in Moscow, Idaho.  Matt Doumit is the Associate Dean Of Academic Programs and a professor in the College Of Agriculture And Life Sciences.  Kacie Hoffman is the Director Of Recruitment & Student Engagement in the College Of Agriculture And Life Science.  Both join us today to discuss the University Of Idaho CALS.

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

Andrew Snook is the owner of Snook's Lawncare & Landscaping in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania.  He is also the 2022 Pennsylvania State Star Award Winner in agribusiness.  This all started when Andrew was very young and wanted very badly to push a lawn mover.  Over time that developed to him requesting to go with his grandfather when he was out mowing other people's lawns.  Finally, when Andrew was 11 years old he asked for a push mower for his birthday and was gifted one.  This launched his entrepreneurial endeavor. 

Andrew has also been exposed to agriculture and farming on his uncle and cousin's farm nearby his whole life.  So, when he was first exposed to the FFA it felt like a natural fit for him and something that he wanted to pursue.  Little did he know how well his love for lawn mowing and landscaping would fit with the required supervised agricultural experience.  

Today, Andrew and his father co-own Snook's Lawncare & Landscaping, and they just converted it to an S-Corp.  Andrew now has 2-3 crews working for him, he has added snow removal to the list of things that they do, and he sees the sky as the limit on where he can take this business!

Abby VanPelt is the President of the Austin High School FFA Chapter in Austin, Minnesota.  She is a triplet, all of which are in the FFA, and she has an older brother who also was in the FFA.  Her family raises sheep on their farm in Southeast Minnesota, and she has developed her own flock.

I often say that luck is the result of being prepared when opportunity strikes.  I don't know that I would describe Abby being president of her chapter as luck, but the way that this came about illustrates the point.  During her sophomore year Abby decided to attempt to become an officer and spend the year observing and learning from her older colleagues.  She was put in the position of "at-large officer" and was content to be mentored and learn.

During this time the president of Abby's chapter moved away, and it caused a shift in the ranks.  The serving vice president was moved into the president position, and Abby was selected to fill the vacant vice president position.  Abby was in the position for this to happen because she was preparing.  She had placed herself into a position that made this possible because she was forward thinking and planning for a future goal.  It just happened a bit sooner than she was expecting.  This propelled Abby forward as an officer, and today she is serving as her chapter's president.

Amber Leabo is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Specialty Crop Production.  This comes from years of experimentation on her families farm with her father, trying corn, permanent crops and more, finally ending with lavender.  Amber has definitely found her niche growing, marketing and value adding to lavender.  She and her family have set the market in Florida with lavender, defying the expertise of officials from the Department of Agriculture who said that lavender couldn't be grown there.  

Today, Amber and her family make a myriad of value added lavender products at their home, and Amber sells them each weekend at different farmer's markets.  Amber first began with a variety of Lavender called "Phenomenal" but soon discovered that because of all the moisture in Florida the variety was suffering from root rot.  She went about trying to fix this problem mechanically by creating a specific potting soil mix that would drain moisture better.  Just as she got that to work she discovered the lavender variety, "Sensational" and found out that it was not susceptible to root rot in her climate.  

Amber knows everything about lavender, all the way to the name of the person who invented the varieties that she has used.  But this is no surprise when you find out that as a junior in high school she has already won a national proficiency.  And, she has taken extra classes so that she is actually graduating high school this May, one year early.  No wonder she won such a prestigious award!

Dallas Sills is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Swine Production.  Dallas farms in Northeast Georgia with his father, uncle, sister and cousins on a farm that was started in the 1950's by his grandparents.  About four years ago Dallas was starting his supervised agricultural experience and also looking for what he could do on the farm that would be unique to him.  He noticed that nobody in their area were raising and direct marketing pigs, so he decided to give it a shot.

Dallas ended up driving to Athens, Georgia and purchase seven pigs from the University Of Georgia Farm that he finished and direct marketed.  Much of the feed for the pigs was grown on his farm, and he imported soybean meal and mixed his own feed rations.  Soon after, Dallas decided to start having the pigs butchered and market cuts of meat rather than whole pigs.

As Dallas got this aspect of his business going, word of mouth started to spread, and his business expanded very quickly.  One of the interesting ways in which Dallas' business grew was through selling sausage in a local grocery store.  His name and telephone number was on the packaging, and pretty soon people who bought his sausage at the store were calling him and wanting to purchase multiple pounds of it directly from him.  At the same time that Dallas was making money selling sausage, he was marketing and growing his business.  It is a brilliant and symbiotic relationship.

Jackson Lohr is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Poultry Production and a former state officer for the Virginia State FFA.  Jackson has known that he wanted to be a state officer since the 6th Grade when a Virginia State Officer took the time to speak with him at the state convention.  Only one problem, Jackson considered himself to be introverted, so how would he get out of his comfort zone?  Ultimately, Jackson found that focusing on the priorities of the FFA allowed him to ignore his fears and get the job done.  And the payoff has been huge.

Not only did Jackson eventually become a state officer, but he also excelled in his supervised agriculture experience and won a National Proficiency Award.  Jackson has grown up on a chicken farm in Western Virginia, and he has been working in some capacity on the farm since he could walk.  He loves this lifestyle and this level of agricultural production.  He is currently completing a two year agricultural management program at Virginia Tech., and then he will be right back to the farm to carry on this legacy!

Connor Pence is a 2022 National Proficiency Award Winner in the category of Diversified Livestock Production.  In and of itself, this is a phenomenal accomplishment, but wait.....there's more.  Connor is also a 2021 National Proficiency Winner in the category of goat production.

Connor first appeared on the Off-Farm Income Podcast one year ago exactly when I given the opportunity to interview him about his Goat Production Proficiency Award.  As a goat raiser myself, I found myself learning a lot from Connor.  I titled that episode "How To Win A National Proficiency Award" because as we did the interview, it became apparent to me that the benefit of the interview with Connor exceeded goat production.  He was giving students a template of what to do if they wanted to reach these prestigious heights.

Now, Connor has done this twice.  Naturally, the title of this episode is "How To Win Two National Proficiency Awards".  Connor is breathing "rare air" with this accomplishment, and it is to our benefit to have him back on the show to share how he did this.

Jared Weigandt is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Landscape Management.  He and his twin brother, Jordan, are poised to one day take over the family business, Sidney Landscape Services and become the 4th Generation of their family to own this business.  They are also the 6th generation in their family to work in the landscape business, and what was apparent from this interview was that their deep family roots in this business are not taken for granted.

Jared is currently attending college at the University Of Northwestern Ohio and studying diesel technology.  Jared works a lot on equipment repair and maintenance in his families business and is expanding his skills through this program.  He is already applying what he has learned on the job.

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am speaking a marketing prodigy who has come into her own marketing Dorper Sheep as well as educational materials regarding how to farm and raise sheep.  This made me think of my interview with Jeremiah Geise who first appeared on the show in 2021 and talked about niche marketing for three different species of livestock.  So, I decided to bring this episode back for you to compliment tomorrow's show.

Lizzie Schafer is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Beef Placement.  Lizzie and her brother have been showing cattle nationally for their family farm for several years now, both from a competitive standpoint and in an effort to market their genetics.  Over the years, Lizzie has taken on more and more of the responsibility of the cattle side of their families farm, including become the herd manager and making many of the major decisions about their cattle business.

Lizzie was recruited by several colleges for livestock judging during high school.  Ultimately, she chose to being her college career at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kanas.  Lizzie told me that livestock judging is the #1 sport on that campus, and they take care of their livestock judging students very well.  She is studying agricultural communications and hopes to be standing outside of the show arena waiting to interview the winners and tell their stories at some point in the future.  

Carrie Rhoades is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Dairy Production.  Carrie grew up on a dairy farm in Ohio, and has been part of the FFA since her 8th Grade year.  During that time she has been trading labor with her family in exchange for feed, space, veterinary treatment and everything else that comes with raising a show string of dairy cattle.

Early on Carrie's parents let her know that she was welcome to pursue a college education wherever she wanted, but she was going to have to find a way to pay for it herself.  She decided that she did not want to go into debt to get her education, so she had to find a way to afford the costs.  Also, she decided that college was going to be her best opportunity to live somewhere else and have a different experience than what she had always known in Ohio.  It was not that she didn't like Ohio.  Actually, she knew that she was going to spend her life in Ohio, but she thought it would be good to have one different experience during her life, and the best opportunity would be during college.  However, this created the challenge of non-resident tuition.

Knowing this was coming, Carrie got busy during high school.  She took as many dual credit courses as she could, all for free. When she graduated she had 30 credits, or her entire freshman year, completed.  At the beginning of her senior year of high school she began looking for scholarships.  She did not allow herself to indulge in imposter syndrome.  She applied for everything, even the scholarships that she thought she might not be qualified for.....and she received several.

Mostly coming from her local community, Carrie set off to Oklahoma State University late in the summer of 2022 with one year of college already completed and scholarships that would pay for the next three semesters.  That left Carrie with only three semesters to pay for.  She is already on the hunt for more scholarships to get her the rest of the way, and she is going to live in school housing on the school farm for a very reasonable rate to take care of that expense.  It can be done everyone!

Ethan Meissner is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Agricultural Processing.  Since his 8th grade year Ethan has been working at a local meat locker near Marshfield, Wisconsin.  He started out doing carry outs, cleaning coolers and any other small jobs that needed to be done.  But over time the business and Ethan both evolved and changed.  Today, the locker specializes in making sausages and hot dogs, pretty much anything that is ground and then stuffed into a casing.  Ethan has become much more proficient and knowledgeable in running machinery and really the whole operation.  This ultimately led his boss to trust him enough to take a day off on the weekends and leave Ethan in charge.  

Today Ethan is studying agricultural engineering at the University Of Wisconsin at River Falls.  He actually started out at another university studying just mechanical engineering.  However, he missed agriculture and transferred so that Ag could be part of the emphasis of his major.  On the weekends and during breaks from school Ethan returns home and works at the meat locker.  For the summer he has his eye on some internships so that he can explore this career field even further.  

Trenton Jones is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Diversified Horticulture.  He is also a former chapter, regional and state officer in Missouri.  Trenton is currently in his junior year of college at Northwest Missouri State University where he is majoring in Agricultural Media, and he says that he finds himself leaning towards broadcast media at the moment.

Trenton's supervised agricultural experience and business began when he and a friend decided they would raise some plants and sell to friends and family.  Eventually, they went down divergent paths.  Trenton decided that he wanted to grow the business and get more serious about it, and the friend kind of faded out of it.  This led to Trenton taking a job in the industry so he could learn more about the business.  This eventually led to business opportunities for Trenton, filling opportunities that the business he was working for did not fill.  This led to Trenton's business, "Trent's Tropicals", which he closed down last January because of how busy he had become as a state officer.  However, Trenton says that "Trent's Tropicals" might make a comeback.  He is finishing college for now, but that idea is still within the realm of possibilities.  

Jay McClure is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Forage Production.  This is the result of Jay's efforts on his families farm taking over responsibility for hay production under several center pivots.  Jay is now a full-time farmer and has chosen this path as his career for the rest of his life.  

Jay is faced with a unique problem.  The family farm has been in the family for over 100 years, and during that time it has grown more and more reliant on irrigation.  Jay and his family pump water from the Ogallala Aquifer, which is running out of water.  Jay believes that the farm will not run out of water before his father retires, however he does believe that the aquifer will be exhausted before he is ready to retire.  So, in addition to the everyday challenges of production agriculture, Jay is faced with what to do when the time comes and how to continue an over 100 year tradition in face of losing a precious resource.  

Will Sherman is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Ag Processing.  He has been cutting meat at Mound City Butcher Block in LaCygne, Kansas since he was 14 years of age.  At age 18, just months after graduating high school he is already managing the shop.  Will takes a lot of satisfaction from cutting meat.  He sees it as a way to serve his community by preparing their meat for them, whether it be livestock or wild game.  

Will is still deciding whether or not college serves his purposes, but he is sure that butchering is part of his future.  He wants to eventually own his own shop, whether that means purchasing Mound City Butcher Block or starting from scratch.  If he does attend college, his education will be geared towards making him a better business manager and butcher in his chosen profession.  

Hattie Brechwald is a chapter sentinel at Kuna High School, has just started her own herd of goats, is a district winner in two welding methods and is my daughter.  Traditionally, Autumm, Hattie and I record a year end episode for New Years.  However, this year Autumm is sick and is in no shape to be a guest on the show, so it is just Hattie and I.  I have been waiting for Hattie to get far enough along in her FFA journey to be a guest on the show, so I can profile her FFA accomplishments for all of you.  About three months ago I realized that she had reached that point.  Since then, I have been looking for the right time.

Well, it turns out that this year's New Years Episode is exactly the right time.  I completely caught Hattie off guard with this.  She was working this afternoon and then went to visit her grandparents.  When she walked in the door, I told her that tonight was the night.  So, her interview is totally extemporaneous.  We literally recorded it about five minutes after she found that we would be featuring her.  I think she knocked it out of the park, and I am proud she did so well with no time to prepare and no advantages just because her dad is the host!

Ty Steffen is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Diversified Crop Production.  On his families property and on leased property in his hometown of Newark, Illinois he grows 4 acres of pumpkins, a 1/2 acre of broom corn and gourds as well as a large vegetable garden.  Using honor system stands Ty markets his broom corn, gourds and pumpkins as decorative produce every fall.  

There is an interesting twist to Ty's story.  During his 9th Grade year he noticed some city land adjacent to a park that was going unused.  Ty actually went to a board meeting for his village and requested to lease that ground to farm on.  That lease was approved, and he obtained two acres, right in town to grow his crops.  Ty is interested in continuing his business and remaining an entrepreneur after high school and college.  

Hanna Schmidt is a junior at Mullhall-Orlando High School and the secretary of her FFA Chapter.  She also has a business removing invasive cedar trees from the pastures and fields of the people in her community.  In today's episode Hanna explains that the research she has done has indicated that cedar trees rob a lot of soil moisture from the grasslands, and their removal can result in higher carrying capacities for the property owners that she serves.

Doland FFA

Avery Miles - Chapter President of the Doland FFA Chapter in Doland, South Dakota

Starting this year the Doland FFA Chapter decorated the town's park on Main Street for Christmas.  The emphasis is on lights, but there is also a beautifully lit up FFA logo at the front of the display tying the community, Christmas and the local chapter all together.  This project began with a $500 grant that was received from the South Dakota FFA Association, and it was quickly matched the Doland FFA Alumi Association.  This is Avery's final year at Doland High School, but she believes that this will be come a tradition and will continue to grow in size and scope.

Southern Guilford FFA

Hannah Barnes - Chapter President of the Southern Guilford FFA Chapter in Greensboro, North Carolina

For the past four years the Southern Guilford FFA Chapter has been conducting a toy drive, beginning in mid-November, to collect toys for children in their community that can be given to them as gifts on Christmas Day.  The effort is now split into a whole chapter drive and an additional drive involving the just the officer team.  The chapter is partnered with the U.S. Marine Corps through their Toys For Tots program, and all of the toys are handed over to them for distribution.

In this interview Hannah highlights one of her fellow chapter members that, in spite of the $5 spending limit, donated over $250 worth of toys to the event.  The generosity of this student and the entire chapter is very heart warming.

Raft River FFA

Jessi Knudsen - Vice President of the Raft River FFA Chapter in Malta, Idaho

What began with a canned food drive has now grown into a full blown gift giving extravaganza for the community in and around Malta, Idaho.  As the Raft River FFA Chapter has continued to give to their community during Christmas anonymous donors from the community have joined in, giving money to the cause so that more can be bought and the joy of the season can be spread to even more people.

Sleepy Eye FFA

Adam Johnson - Chapter President of the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota

The Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter participates in a backpack food program, and this year for Christmas they are putting together "Holiday Boxes" for folks needing some help in their community.  They are making "tie blankets" as a chapter and giving those away in addition some food, an ornament and personal care items.

Lumberton FFA

Kamryn McInnis - Chapter President of the Lumberton FFA Chapter in Lumberton, North Carolina

"Share The Warmth" Project - the chapter used the proceeds from their poinsettia sale to purchase coats for kids identified by social services in their county.  52 coats were purchased and donated to children in the area.

Ripley FFA

Riley Knotts - Chapter Vice-President Of The Ripley FFA Chapter in Ripley, West Virginia

Riley and his fellow chapters members are supporting the "Jackson County Hunting Heroes" program by butchering deer for the veterans who have gone out on the hunts and filled their tags.  The Ripley FFA Chapter has been participating in this program for quite some time, and their involvement continues to develop.  In this interview Riley talks about the veterans and holds in the high regard that they deserve.

Dresen Ferschweiler is a really incredible entrepreneur and has what I call "The Entrepreneur's Attribute.  She was first on the show in 2021 talking about how she recognized shortcomings in sheep halters and decided to do something about it, very early on in high school.  I have since met her, her family and her fellow chapter members at the National FFA Convention.  Dresen is the epitome of an entrepreneur, and she is a great compliment to the guest I have coming on the show tomorrow.  So, Dresen's episode was perfect for today's re-cap show.

Blake Moore is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Agricultural Mechanics and Repair.  Starting on his uncle's farm somewhere around 6th grade Blake quickly found his curiosity piqued when he was in the shop around the tractors, feed trucks and pickups.  Soon, he was working on engines and demonstrating aptitude.

6th Grade was also the very first year of his school's middle school FFA chapter.  Always seeing his father's blue jacket hanging in the closet, Blake knew he wanted one of those.  So, he signed up for the FFA and became very active, only to have his activity level wane just a bit going into his 8th and 9th grade years.  However, one of Blake's advisors saw what he was doing mechanically and how much talent he had there, and encouraged him to start filling out paperwork for a regional proficiency award.  One thing led to another, and Blake just kept winning!  This propelled him all the way to the big stage this year as a National Proficiency Finalist!

Halle Miller is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Small Animal Production & Care.  She is also a junior at the University Of Akron in Ohio studying marketing and sales.  Halle was previously a guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast in 2021 on episode #1063 as she was preparing to graduate high school.  At that point in time she was planning on becoming a nurse, but during that very spring her participation on the sales and marketing team through the FFA lit her fire for this industry, and she is pursuing this at college now.

Thanks to a strong work ethic and dual credit classes Halle is already classified as a junior in college, despite this just being her third semester since graduating.  During high school she was able to complete 46 college credits that she took with her to Akron.  Today she is still operating her dog breeding business, Borders Of Eby Eden with help from her entire family.  And of course, her overcoming a dog phobia that began at age 6 remains a large part of her story.

Arturo Madriz is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Agricultural Mechanics and Repair.  He is also a senior at Madera South High School in California, and has a big time job in his father's trucking company.  Just this year Arturo started going out on his own to repair damaged or broken down semis from the families business.  He has driven up to 3 hours to take care of a truck that was broke down on the side of the road.  

Madera sits right on California State Highway 99, which has more north/south truck traffic than any roadway, including interstates, in the United States.  It is narrow and busy with vehicles traveling at a high rate of speed.  Arturo had to replace two trailer tires on this roadway this summer.  This is dangerous and stressful work.  And, he doesn't just switch out wheels.  He breaks the bead off of the damaged tire and re-seats a new tire on to the existing wheel.  

To further help the family business, which his father started years ago after emigrating from Mexico, Arturo is planning on going to a diesel mechanic program after high school.  One of the biggest expenses the business has is paying for expert diesel mechanic work, and Arturo plans to learn what he needs so that they can reduce that expense.  

Willie Schoonover is a junior at Mulhall-Orlando High School in Orlando, Oklahoma and he is the treasurer in their FFA Chapter.  He is also the son of two veterinarians and moving quickly towards that same career pathway.  Willie and his younger brother raise goats, cattle, pigs and sheep on their Oklahoma farm, and this is giving them great experience for their futures, as Willie told me that his brother is also interested in veterinary work.

Willie currently has his sights set on Oklahoma State University in two years, after he graduates high school.  However, he has a dream of doing veterinary work with buffalo in Montana, outside of Yellowstone National Park.  Maybe he can be persuaded to seek his bachelor's degree in Bozeman and hang a blue Montana State University flag up as well.

Peyton Parks is a junior at Topsail High School in Hampstead, North Carolina.  She is also a third year member in the Topsail FFA Chapter and she has an eye for entrepreneurship.  Peyton has been riding and caring for horses for several years.  She has been pet sitting for neighbors for about three years now, including people with horses, and she finds herself very attracted to entrepreneurship.  

This has led Peyton to make efforts to grow her business through postings on neighborhood apps that she knows people in her community use.  She has found ways to make her self standout on those apps, and she is seeing results in calls for service.  In her free time Peyton has her business on her mind, and this has led her to explore many of the different pet sitting apps that already exist.  Peyton believes that she can build a better pet sitting app, and she outlines what she believes should be part of the app in this episode.

Levi Smuin is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Ag Mechanics Repair & Maintenance, and is also from my home state of Idaho!  Levi began his journey in the FFA during his sophomore year in high school.  About one year prior to that he had started working for Rounds Farms & Trucking in Rigby, Idaho.  This has led to a progression of responsibility on the farm and in the trucking business, and it was a natural fit for his placement SAE.

During our interview Levi talked about how important writing the narratives on his proficiency applications were.  When I asked him more about that he talked about the method he used, which was a peer review type method with his fellow FFA students.  He would write something, and then he would have his writing assessed by his classmates.  When they finished preparing the narrative his advisors would look it over and possibly make suggestions.  Then the process would start over again.  I really liked this approach, as you can see that every member in that chapter has a little part in Levi becoming a National Proficiency Finalist!

On tomorrow's show we are getting an education on grain marketing.  The first thing I thought of when considering a re-cap episode was this interview with Jake Fanning.  He was well ahead of his age when it came to hedging through the commodities market, and today I want to bring this back to you.

Lila Wantland is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist, a former chapter and area officer and a second time guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast.  Lisa first appeared on the show in episode #1393 in May of 2022, and little did either of us know at that point that she would become a National Proficiency Finalist this year.  On today's show Lila joins us from her dorm room at Oklahoma State University, where she is studying animal science.  I wanted to have her back on the show to congratulate her on the incredible accomplishment.

Will Harman is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Beef Production.  Will farms with his family in Northwest Indiana where they grow corn and soybeans as well as raise cattle.  The families cattle herd began with show animals for 4H, but as time went on and Will and his brother Ben were showing less, it turned into a direct marketing beef business.  

Will's older brother Ben was a guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast in 2018 in episode #518.  Today he is a senior in college, and Will is in his first semester of college.  Will is studying agricultural business with a minor in animal science at Purdue.  He is looking forward to a future of returning to the family farm, if that is possible.  He joked in the interview that if he does that he will have to learn to drive a semi and become a "super trucker".  Ben is also interested in becoming a butcher, and he is currently doing everything he can to get exposure to that profession.  

Justin Duenke is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Diversified Agriculture.  Growing up farming on a row crop operation, his family decided to add cattle to the farm when he was 9 years old.  During a bad drought and seeing very poor corn out in the field, Justin's father made the decision to chop the corn for silage rather than try to sell it, and to feed it to their cattle.  The only problem was that they did not have cattle, but they remedied that by purchase approximately 100 bred heifers.

Since that time they have stuck with the cattle, partially as a continuing hedge against a situation like this in the future and partially because Justin and his brother found their farming passion came from working with the livestock.  Today they raise horses and cattle, grow soybeans and corn and are now experimenting with forage sorghum and rye as cover crops.

Justin is currently a sophomore at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Missouri.  He is studying agricultural science but which eventually focus on nutrition.  Justin wants to have the knowledge that will allow him to bring nutritional expertise back to the farm and to develop rations and methods to better feed their cattle.

Annamarie Stone is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of diversified livestock production.  She is also a Missouri State Officer and three time guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast.  On today's episode Annamarie comes back on the show so I can property congratulate her on being a national proficiency finalist and being a state officer.  All of us here at the Off-Farm Income Podcast are very proud of what Annamarie has been doing.

Ross Cady was first a guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast in 2017 on Episode #027.  He is appearing on the show again on tomorrow's Ag Business Episode, seven years later.  He is now a college graduate and has just started his career as a territory sales manager for Pioneer in Southern Minnesota.  I could not be more excited for him or proud to feature him on the show again.  To give you an accurate before and after picture, we will replay his original episode today.

Evan Mogler is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Diversified Agricultural Production.  He is also a senior in high school and a fantastic mechanic with plans to develop a myriad of mechanical skills from service to software, exclusively on John Deere Tractors.  Currently Evan farms with his family on their 3rd generation farm in Inwood, Iowa.  Evan assists the family and 40-50 farm employees with their 4,800 sows and 100,000 annual market hogs, the 6,000 head of cattle they run through their feedlot and the row crop operation that fills the 2.5 million bushels of grain storage they have on the farm.

Evan's plan after high school is study for two years, to develop his expertise on John Deere Equipment, which is exclusively what is used on the family farm.  He then hopes to go to work for the John Deere Dealership his family does business with as a mechanic until the time is right for him to take over the mechanic role on the farm.

Morayah Cupp is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of  e Services.  She is also an Agricultural Education student at Oklahoma State University and the owner of Mo's Mobile Coops, an innovative chicken rental business outside of Imperial, Nebraska.  Morayah first appeared on the Off-Farm Income Podcast in 2020 on episode #815.  Today she is back to discuss her selection as a National Proficiency Finalist and the experience she just completed at the 95th National FFA Convention.

Cydney Stables is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Agricultural Sales Entrepreneurship.  She achieved this by starting a floral business her junior year of high school that she calls "Flowers By Cydney".  Cydney states that this was during the Covid Pandemic, and 80% of the reason she started this business was that she wanted to make people feel a bit better during very tough times.  

Cydney is currently a sophomore at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa where she plays guard on the basketball team and is also a scholarship athlete on the golf team.  Cydney played basketball all through high school, which led to her being recruited by Graceland Univeristy, but she did not start golfing until her senior year of high school.  However, she picked up the sport so fast that she made it to state that year and Graceland also asked her to play golf for them.  

Trentin Doss is the owner of Doss Repairs and a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Agricultural Mechanics Repair & Maintenance.  He is a senior at East Buchanan High School in Gower, Missouri.  Trentin will be heading to the National FFA Convention for the very first time this year to find out if he becomes the National Proficiency Winner.  Trentin has been repairing other people's engines since he was 11 years old, and over time he has progressed into larger equipment and more sophisticated repair techniques.  When Trentin finishes high school in 2023 he has his sights set on becoming an mechanical engineer and building large tractors for companies like John Deere or New Holland, etc.

Gracie Minyard is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of agricultural sales & entrepreneurship, the 2022 Georgia State Star in Agribusiness, a national delegate to the National FFA Convention and she is on the livestock judging team at Blinn College in Denham, Texas.  Gracie is also an entrepreneur and the owner of Gracie's Market, which she started the summer between her 8th and 9th Grade years.  Today, Gracie has two produce stands, has just started selling her own value added products and has visions of more locations and a larger business after she finishes her Agriculture Business degree in college.

We are back to the farm and the simplicity of the farm life, but for three days last week my world was a whirlwind!  A greater professional honor has never been bestowed upon me, and there are so many people to thank.  In today's episode I want to re-cap the experience for you.

Laura Wuebker is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Agricultural Communications, a former Ohio State FFA Officer, former farm news director, college student at Oklahoma State University and current farm broadcaster.  She began her broadcasting career during high school doing the farm report for a local radio station that hires high school students for agricultural segments.  This led to her discovering a passion for agricultural communications and ultimately a job with Ohio Ag Net creating pre-recorded segments.  It also led Laura to a double major of agricultural communications and agricultural business.

Megan Clark is a 2022 National Proficiency Finalist in Agricultural Communications.  She is also competing at the National Convention in extemporaneous speaking.  Her pursuit of a National Proficiency Award will be the final act in her illustrious career as part of the CAC Media Group in Iowa, and she is currently pursuing a degree in agricultural communications at Iowa State University.

Megan first appeared on the Off-Farm Income Podcast in 2021 at the recommendation of her advisor, and she was certainly a polished speaker then.  She has never slowed down and continues to advance her speaking and communications ability.

The whole family is headed to Indianapolis this week, and on Friday at 8am EST I will be part of the FFA National Convention Session and be receiving my Honorary American Degree.  I cannot tell you how much this means to me, but in today's episode I try.  I also have some thanks to give out on today's show!

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Kaitlyn Hart is a 2022 American Star Finalist in the category of Agribusiness.  She is also a senior at the University Of Georgia, an ambassador for the University Of Georgia College Of Agriculture and the owner of a flower business called Kait's Blossoms.  Kait has been part of the FFA since her sophomore year, and she will be graduating from college with a degree in Hospitality Management in May of 2023.

Cameron Pokorny is the 2022 Wisconsin State Star in Agribusiness, valedictorian of his class, a Presidential Scholar, A Coca Cola Scholar and is beginning his post-high school education at the University Of Wisconsin, Platteville as a sophomore in college because of all the dual credit courses he took in high school.  Cameron is also the owner of Cam's Coop, a poultry business producing eggs and meat that donates 95% of what it produces to charity.  In addition to business owner, Cameron was also his FFA Chapter's President and a seven year FFA student.

Cameron joins me on today's show for the second time since I first found out about his business and supervised agricultural experience in 2019.  A lot has changed since then, and he will catch us up on all of it today.

As an agricultural broadcasters I can't say that it is not intimidating to interview a student who has risen to the level of being a national proficiency finalist in ag communications, but that is just what I did in today's interview with Jordan Howell.  However, I found out something during the interview that compounded this original factor.

Jordan Howell is just completing her first semester at Iowa State University.  All throughout high school she had been working at a radio station and learning the ins and out of the radio business, including the market reports for agriculture.  She was able to compile this into a great supervised agricultural experience and record book, and ultimately this has culminated in her being selected as a national proficiency finalist this year!

With me being a self-trained, amateur agricultural broadcaster, that was intimidating enough.  However, I am also a self-trained, amateur meteorologist, and during our interview I found out that Jordan had chosen to go to college in Iowa because she is pursuing a degree in meteorology, and she though Iowa State Univeristy's program was exceptional.

I have looked into meteorology programs several time and decided that I did not have the mathematical aptitude to complete one.  However, that did not stop me from asking Jordan a lot of questions about meteorology and having a very interesting conversation about....you guessed it, the weather!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Ag Communications

HIGH SCHOOL: Howells-Dodge High School; Howells, Nebraska

MASCOT: Jaguars

FFA ADVISOR: Hannah Groth

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JORDAN HOWELL:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Howells-Dodge High School Website:

Jordan's FFA Advisor's Email Address: hgroth@hdcjags.org 

Howells-Dodge High School Telephone Number: 402-693-2207

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

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:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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 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:

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:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

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:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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 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:

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

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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 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:

Today's guest is the epitome of the reason that interviewing FFA students, and specifically, American Star Finalists is so rewarding.  The level of knowledge, skill and ability that these students have is always amazing.  What is even more amazing is the way in which the FFA can bring it out and help them achieve new heights of achievement.  

This is definitely true for Cory Yarbrough who is an American Star Finalist in the category of Ag Placement this year.  Cory has grown up on a farm in northeast Georgia, and he is an expert in the broiler chicken industry already!  At the age of 21 Cory has immense experience in working in his families four broiler houses, doing hatchery management at the University of Georgia and even consulting for chicken producers when he did an internship in the poultry industry.  Birds are definitely the backbone of what drives Cory in agriculture.  

In addition to all of his work with chickens, Cory raises cattle for his family and manages market hogs for his uncle.  There is no question why diversified livestock is the title of his placement SAE.  Cory will be graduating with a degree in poultry science this December, and then it is on to post-graduate studies to get his PhD in poultry science.  He will be focusing his career on solving problems for poultry producers, like his family, through research and education.  And, he will be the third generation of poultry science graduate from the University of Georgia in his family, and the third generation a post-graduate degree in poultry science in his family as well.  

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Diversified Livestock Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Madison County High School, Danielsville, Georgia

MASCOT: Red Raiders

FFA ADVISOR: Katherine Bell

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR CORY YARBROUGH:

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

Madison County High School's Telephone Number: 706-795-2197

Cory's FFA Advisors' Email Addresses: kbell@madison.k12.ga.us

Support FFA

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 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:

When Terrance Crayton of the Wetumpka FFA Chapter started the small engines team as a student at the school, he just wanted to work with engines.  I doubt he knew what that was going to lead to.  When he did that, one of the people that he encouraged to join was a sophomore named Case Edwards, who happens to be today's guest.  Case took to working with engines like a duck takes to water, and it broadened Case's FFA career and put him on an unbelievable trajectory that led him to become a chapter, district and state officer as well as a National Proficiency winner in 2021.

Today, Case is back on the show because now he has been nominated as an American Star Finalist in the category of Ag Placement that is a result of the work that he has done over the years in mechanics.  The jobs that Case held during this time are a direct result of him learning about small engines, and he gives a ton of credit to Terrance for that.  As Case stated during our first interview in 2021, if you had shown him a spark plug at the beginning of his sophomore year of high school, he wouldn't have known what to do with it.  Now look at him!

If that story were not enough, Terrance, wasn't just a coach.  He was also a fellow student and chapter member, and he was running his own small engine business.  He competed in the FFA as well, and unbelievably he is also nominated as an American Star Finalist this year, but in the category of Agribusiness.  I will do a separate interview with Terrance, but enough cannot be stated about the fact that Case and his classmate that inspired him to try mechanics are both nominated as American Star Finalists in the same year!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Agricultural Placement

HIGH SCHOOL: Wetumpka High School, Wetumpka, Alabama

MASCOT: Indians

FFA ADVISOR: William Norris

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR CASE EDWARDS:

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

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

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

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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 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:

In the 1980's the "Future Farmers Of America" changed their name to simply the "FFA" because they knew that they were helping to create opportunities for students, inside and outside of agriculture, that went beyond traditional farming.  What a move by this organization!  Looking at the results they are getting in 2022 with their top achieving students, you can see just how much further the influence of the FFA has been able to spread since making that move.

Today's guest, Marin Lonnee, is a perfect example of the results of this decision.  Marin was introduced to the FFA through a middle school agriculture class when she was in the 6th Grade.  That class exposed her, not only to the FFA, but to agriculture, research and her own, innate talents.  The spark that lit the fire with that first class has resulted in years of research by Marin.  

Marin's research has not always been solely focused on projects that fit within the parameters of the FFA, but most of the time it has been.  Regardless of where it fit, her research has always included a social component with a practical impact on people and the betterment of their lives.  

Today, Marin is an American Star Finalist in the category of Agriscience Research.  In speaking with her about what she has done, the reasons she has chosen her research project and her vision for their applications it is no mystery at all why she has been nominated for this prestigious award!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Agriscience Research

HIGH SCHOOL: Oconee County High School; Watkinsville, Georgia

MASCOT: Warriors

FFA ADVISOR: Chelsea Bengaud

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MARIN LONNEE:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Oconee County High School Website:

Marin's FFA Advisor's Email Address: cbegnaud@oconeeschools.org

Oconee County High School Telephone Number: 706.769.6655

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

I am always thrilled when a previous guest returns to the show as an American Star Finalist.  It is a thrill to know that these students went on to carry their talents to that level.  That is the case with today's returning guest, Cotton Booker.

Cotton first appeared on this show in episode #671.  Back then he had just become the National Junior Auctioneering Champion, and he was representing the FFA while doing that.  Cotton has his own auctioneering business and has continued to master his craft.  Obviously, his success has been recognized as he is now one of four finalists for the American Star Award in Agribusiness.

Cotton is now in his junior year of college at Oklahoma State University, and he is studying ag business as well as pre-law.  He hasn't quite decided to whether or not law school is in his future just yet, but he sees a lot of application for a law degree in his families business.  Already an expert in the business of auctioneering, Cotton has a reverence for his profession that we should all envy.  There is no doubt in my mind that is has been my privilege to interview him these two times and that on both occasions I have been speaking with the future leader of this industry.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Auctioneering

HIGH SCHOOL: Colfax High School; Colfax, Washington

MASCOT: Bulldogs

FFA ADVISOR: Michael Heitstuman

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR COTTON BOOKER:

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

Cotton's FFA Advisors' Email Addresses: MICHAEL.HEITSTUMAN@csd300.com

Colfax High School's Telephone Number: (509) 397-4368

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

The complexity and diversity of a large scale production agriculture farm is always mind blowing to me.  I can get stuck trying to understand just one aspect of a farm at that scale, let alone see how it all works together.  Fortunately for today's guest, Jacob Wuebker, he does not have that problem.  And, his mastery of the processes of his families farm and his ability to document all of it through his supervised agricultural experience has led him to be nominated as an American Star Finalist in Ag Placement this year.

Jacob starts his day at 6am, going straight to one of his families pig barns where they farrow out over 100,000 pigs each year.  For the next three to four hours he has various responsibilities in the barn before heading outside.  At that point it it time to grind grain, and he grinds a lot!  Feeding all the pigs on the farm demands a lot of grain, and this is not even counting the dairy steers they raise up from approximately 250 lbs to finished weight on their homegrown feed.

If there is time left after the grinding, Jacob can find himself pulling out over 2 miles of hose to spread manure on their crop fields, spreading straw in the cattle pens for bedding or working the ground in a tractor.  Jacob's future is in this farm, and that is what motivated him to take several dual credit classes during high school and have already graduated college in December of 2021!  It probably has not hurt that his mother is also his FFA Advisor and has been there to guide him through the dual credit process as well as his record book.

Jacob is doing what he loves, and it shows in how he is being recognized as an American Star Finalist!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Ag Placement

HIGH SCHOOL: Versailles High School; Versailles, Ohio

MASCOT: Tigers

FFA ADVISOR: Dena Wuebker

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JACOB WUEBKER:

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

Jacob's FFA Advisor's Email Address: dena.wuebker@vtigers.org

Versailles High School Telephone Number: 937-526-4773

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

Our guest today has an amazing story of becoming involved in agriscience research, not limiting his research interests to one aspect of agriculture and of doing good in the community.  He also has an amazing story of legacy.  Ryan Hess is part of the Stephenville FFA Chapter, and as an American Star Finalist in Agriscience Research he not only is the third finalist from Texas in three years, but he is the third finalist from Stephenville High School in three years!

As if his contributions and findings in research were not enough, Ryan has been very involved in both the FFA and his community.  He was pivotal in the town of Stephenville in getting funding for and installation of calisthenics equipment along their river trail.  Also, he has served in many officer roles over the years, including that of Texas State Officer.

Ryan is not studying Ag Communications at Texas Tech University, along with his preceding American Star Finalists from Stephenville High School.  He hopes to continue his research in the area of social interaction and find new and better ways to share the message of agriculture with the world.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Agriscience Research

HIGH SCHOOL: Stephenville High School; Stephenville, Texas

MASCOT: Honey Bees

FFA ADVISOR: Ryan Best

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR RYAN HESS:

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

Ryan's FFA Advisor's Email Address: ryan.best@sville.us

Stephenville High School's Telephone Number: (254) 968-4141

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

I have always enjoyed profiling guests who had their own meat rabbit business.  It is a very interesting niche business that seems to have so much upside.  However, I have never had a guest on the show who has a meat rabbit business that has propelled them to being a finalist for the award of American Star Farmer!  Well, that is exactly what Emily Makos has done, and it is my pleasure to introduce you to her today.

Emily has been raising rabbits since she was 8 years of age on her families "hobby farm" in Wisconsin.  After getting to know rabbits better and better over time, she decided to start selling rabbits for meat.  She actually broke into this business selling them into the restaurant business, and this eventually evolved into direct sales to individual customers.

Later, Emily pivoted again and started selling rabbits to people as a form of dog food.  There are aspects of rabbit meat that people really like, and she was able to serve this customer base.  What is so interesting about this aspect of her business is that she is vertically integrated, and she is able to take advantage of the entire rabbit.  Emily sells the fur, she dries the feet and ears for dog chews and she grinds the rest of the animal for a healthy dog food for discerning dog owners.  Since her consumer for this products are not human, she can do all of this herself without USDA oversight.

Emily is currently studying to become an occupational therapist in an accelerated program through Concordia University.  She sees rabbits staying as a part of her life, and hopes to use them as therapy animals in the future.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Rabbit Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Juda High School; Juda, Wisconsin

MASCOT: Panthers

FFA ADVISOR: Joseph Lynne

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR EMILY MAKOS:

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

Emily's FFA Advisor's Email Address: lyne@judaschool.com

Juda High School Telephone Number: (608) 934-5251

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

I am always amazed by the natural curiosity that students who are American Star Finalists for Agriscience Research have.  Today's interview illustrates exactly why that is.

Sydney Hefty has quite an FFA legacy already going in her family.  Her cousin, Leah Hefty, previous a guest on this show, was also an American Star Finalist in the category of Agriscience Research, and is now Sydney's FFA Advisor.  Sydney and Leah's grandfather was a career FFA Advisor, and he introduced Sydney to science and research when she was just five years old, but not because he saw this coming.  He wanted Sydney to get involved with public speaking as soon as possible, and the only avenue open to her at that age was the science fair.  Little did he know that he was tapping into a natural curiosity and aptitude for research that would carry forward all the way to today and the National FFA Convention.

Sydney has been researching ever since.  For example, she once looked at a wind turbine, wondered how it worked and then designed her own out of an empty cylinder of Quaker Oats.  She also saw the need for something different that would be able to kill pigweed because of its resistance to conventional herbicides, and she developed her own, organic herbicide with a 94% kill rate!

All of this has led Sydney now to Purdue University where she is studying agricultural economics, she is already teaching courses as a sophomore and she continues to chase her natural desire for research and problem solving!

Here is Sydney's Recipe for her natural herbicide

• 6oz of 20% concentration vinegar
• .o02oz of dish soap
• .5oz of orange oil

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Integrated Agriscience

HIGH SCHOOL: DeKalb High School; Waterloo, Indiana

MASCOT: Barons

FFA ADVISOR: Leah Hefty

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR SYDNEY HEFTY: 

Click on the picture below to be taken to the DeKalb High School Ag. Department's website:

Sydney's FFA Advisor's Email Address: mdice@dekalbcentral.net

DeKalb High School's Telephone Number: (260) 920-1012

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

"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:

On tomorrow's ag business episode we are interviewing an entrepreneur who is making a delicious, value added product for direct sale to customers.  His interview reminded me of the time I was able to spend with Forrest Durham back in 2015, and it make perfect sense to bring Forrest's episode back as our replay episode of the week.

The original Show Notes are below:

I continue to be blown away by the students that I get to meet doing interviews for this show.  Forrest Durham is no exception.  I think I am going to sell the gopher business and start a corn roasting business!  Forrest Durham has inspired me.  What an amazing business and learning process for this young man.

Forrest Durham is an FFA student at Larue County High School in Kentucky.  He traveled all the way to Texas with his father to purchase a corn roaster.  Then, he started roasting and selling corn at festivals and fairs throughout Kentucky.  His business has blown up.  Inspired by his father's fudge business, he has found a way to bring agriculture directly to people who want to taste the delicious foods that are grown on our farms.

I think you will be inspired by Forrest Durham as well!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Roasted Corn Sales at Fairs and Festivals

HIGH SCHOOL: Larue County High School, Hodgenville, Kentucky

MASCOT: Hawks

FFA ADVISOR: Mrs. Misty Bevins and Mr. Chris Thomas

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR FORREST DURHAM:

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

Forrest's FFA Advisors' Email Addresses: Misty.bivens@larue.kyschools.us & chris.thomas@larue.kyschools.us

Larue County High School's Telephone Number: 270-358-2210

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

"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:

It is always a great thrill for me when a student who I have previously interviewed on the show comes back on as an American Star Finalist!  That is happening in today's episode with Emma Victery.  Emma was first on the show in 2020 when she was the national proficiency winner in beef production placement.  She has continued her efforts, and now she is back as an American Star Finalist!

Emma's original show notes are below:

Having a business model on your farm that is sustainable is challenging.  Of course, if you are commodity-based there are so many factors that are outside of the control that you've got to get bigger and push harder.  If you are smaller you are almost forced into being niche so that you can increase the size of your profit margins.  And then of course, if you only offer one product you can get into really hot water if the price or demand for that product falls.

In a perfect world, we would all know what type of farm business we were going to be involved in, in the future, and we could plan out our skill sets accordingly.  Of course, there is no such thing as that perfect world.  However, the FFA offers a future farmer the best chance of coming as close to this perfect world as anything that I know.

This is illustrated very well by today's guest, Emma Victery.  Emma has grown up on her family's farm in Oklahoma.  She is hoping to take it over at some point in the future.  She and her father have been looking at different products they could sell, different markets they could be in, and different ways to grow the business so that it will last for Emma and for future generations.

Just recently they began marketing bulls as a compliment to their commercial herd.  Looking into the future, Emma sees the sale of embryos and using embryo transfers on their farm as a way to offer other products and to really speed up the rate at which they improve their genetics.  Right now, Emma is a senior in high school.  But that does not stop her from looking into the future and trying to figure out how she is going to make all of this happen.

Emma will start college at Oklahoma State University in the fall of 2021.  She is planning on double majoring in animal science and agricultural communications.  She wants to go to veterinary school, become a veterinarian, and specialize in reproduction so that she can use those skills for embryo transfers on their farm.  This would also give her a great form of off-farm income.  Right now she is taking over the marketing responsibilities on their farm, and she plans on using her studies in agricultural communications to strengthen her abilities in this part of the business.

All of her efforts have led Emma to be the 2020 National Proficiency Winner in Beef Production Placement.  She is looking at applying for several more proficiency awards going forward, and feels like her journey in the FFA has just begun.  She has also been accepted to the honors college at Oklahoma State already due to her academic performance.  Emma is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the cattle industry, and it is going to be fun to watch!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Beef Production Placement

HIGH SCHOOL: Chickasha High School; Chickasha, Oklahoma

MASCOT: Fighting Chicks

FFA ADVISOR: Emily Schmidt

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR EMMA VICTERY:

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

Emma's FFA Advisor's Email Address: Eschmidt@chickasha.k12.ok.us

Chickasha High School Telephone Number: 405-222-6500

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

It is that time of year again, and it is my pleasure to interview the American Star Finalists for this year's National FFA Convention.  What a great time of year, and what a fantastic guest to kick off this series of interviews with!

I am always fascinated with the way the mind of the finalists in agriscience research work, and with Danae Westra that is very true!  Not only has Danae been doing research on her families dairy since her freshman year of high school, but she has been doing research with immediate, practical applications in the family dairy business.  In addition to that, Danae has a big personality, and that has show through in the names that she has given each one of her projects:

• Freshman Year: "Calves R Us"
• Sophomore Year: "Milk R Us"
• Junior Year: "Protein 4 Life"
• Senior Year: "Milk It 4 All It's Worth"
• Freshman Year Of College: "Mastitis Mishaps"

In this interview with Danae you will hear a repeated theme - getting up at 6am to do research before school started.  Whether that was weighing calves, pulling blood samples or collecting urine, she was out there, everyday, getting it done before school even started.  This is what is so inspirational about FFA students, and this is why Danae has already been recognized as one of the top four agriscience researchers out of the 850,000+ FFA students in the nation!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Agriscience Research

HIGH SCHOOL: Central Valley Christian High School, Visalia, California

MASCOT: Cavaliers

FFA ADVISOR: Kelsey De Jong

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR DANAE WESTRA:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Central Valley Christian High School website:

Danae's FFA Advisor's Email Address: kdejong@cvc.org

Central Valley Christian High School Telephone Number: 559-734-9481

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA - FFA students can start small businesses 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% and the rest of the world.  FFA provides 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 food search 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:

Our guest today, Maria Sterling, started her supervised agricultural experience out with two business partners.  As she describes it, the three of them were partially joking about what to do for their SAE and the idea of them raising chickens for eggs came up.  They decided to go for it, and between the three of them they were able to obtain two, $1,000 SAE grants, to fund the project.  This was during their sophomore year, but by the end of their junior year, only Maria was still interested in the business.

I have definitely experienced the same thing in life.  Several people are interested in a project, but when the everyday challenges of the work set in, just one or two people are left standing.  In this case it was Maria, but looking back on how it developed, it kind of looks obvious now that she had the passion.  When Maria found herself being the sole owner of the business she branded it "Sunny Side Eggs" and started marketing through word of mouth, at her school and on social media.  And, she has found herself at times, not able to keep up with the demand for her eggs.

Maria just graduated this year, and she is off to the University Of North Carolina at Wilmington, right around the time that her episode is released.  She is still deciding what to study but had narrowed it down to either marine biology or environmental science.  She says that no matter where this ultimately takes her, you will find her raising chickens, either on a larger basis like now or in a back yard flock.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Egg Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Smyrna High School; Smyrna, Deleware

MASCOT: Eagles

FFA ADVISOR: Kellie Michaud

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MARIA STERLING:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Smyrna High School Ag. Department's website:

Maria's FFA Advisor's Email Address: Kellie.michaud@smyrna.k12.de.us

Smyrna High School's Telephone Number: (302) 653-8581

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

On tomorrow's ag business episode we are profiling a very interesting entrepreneur in the wine business.  It occurred to me that this would be a great opportunity to return to a very impressive FFA interview I did years ago with Mark Cavellero, who at that time was growing grapes for champagne that he was too young to drink!

The original show notes are below:

INTRODUCING MARK CAVALLERO!

Our guest today is a finalist for the star farmer award at the 2017 National FFA Convention.  Mark Cavallero is studying plant science at Reedley Jr. College in Reedley, California.  During high school he started farming grapes and almonds on his family's farm in Madera, California.

While Mark was farming he started trying a new variety of almonds that did not require him to bring in bees to pollinate.  He stated that move has saved him a lot of money in operating costs and it has worked out well.

Mark also grows Thompson Seedless Grapes, and the primary use of his grapes is for the production of champagne at a nearby winery.  He is looking forward to turning 21 in about 1 month and being able to taste what his grapes finally turn into.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Grape And Almond Farming

HIGH SCHOOL: Madera South High School; Madera, California

MASCOT: Stallions

FFA ADVISOR: Tim Deniz

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MARK CAVALLERO:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Madera South High School Ag. Department's website:

Mark's FFA Advisor's Email Address: timdeniz@maderausd.org

Madera South High School Telephone Number:  559-675-4450

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

"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:

Our guest today is from my home state.....well, that is if you are counting the very state that any of my ancestors ever lived in, in America, that is.  My ancestors founded two town towns in Connecticut in the 1600's, and whenever I am lucky enough to interview a guest from that great state, I have to brag about that for a moment.

Coming back to present day, Amelia Withington, just finished up her 11th grade year of school and will be starting back as a senior very, very soon.  During her time in the FFA she has been creating one of my favorite, value added products - goat milk soap.  This is such a great product and business for an FFA student who raises goats and is looking to make great money.

When you start looking into the benefits of goat milk soap, it almost sells itself.  And goats can be kept in a small area but still produce a large amount of milk, or in Amelia's case, raw materials!  Operating a business like this, Amelia is able to learn about agriculture production, value adding, marketing and sales.  It is a great way for a student to learn about business and industry!

Amelia's business is called "Just A Girl And Her Goats Soap And Stuff" and she is selling her products in farmers markets in her area.  She has also recently obtained an alpaca, and she plans on harvesting fleece from it for another value added produce, yarn!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Goat Milk Soap Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Lyman Memorial High School; Lebanon, Connecticut

MASCOT: Bulldogs

FFA ADVISOR: Brenda Wildes

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR AMELIA WITHINGTON:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Lyman Memorial High School Website:

Amelia's FFA Advisor's Email Address: Brenda.wildes@lebanonct.org

Lyman Memorial High School Telephone Number: 860-642-7567

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

My journey to hosting the Off-Farm Income Podcast all began with me becoming a business owner.  That original business was named Idaho Gopher Control, and i used compressed carbon monoxide to exterminate gophers for farmers.  Prior to purchasing the equipment and starting the business I did my research, and part of that research included asking some questions to a gentleman named Rod Zehr who lived about 50 miles away from me in Ontario, Oregon.  Rod used these machines and had a successful business, and he was kind enough to take the time to meet with me.

Today, I am honored to welcome Rod's son, Tanner Zehr, onto the show.  Tanner is a senior at Vale High School in Vale, Oregon and at age 18 he has a decade of gopher extermination under his belt already.  He has learned a ton about the machinery, the business and about hard work.  On today's episode I get the opportunity to reminisce about the gopher business and hear from a young man who has been inspired to entrepreneurship and is about to begin his journey!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Gopher Extermination

HIGH SCHOOL: Vale High School; Vale, Oregon

MASCOT: Vikings

FFA ADVISOR: Anna Chamberlain

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR TANNER ZEHR:

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

Tanner's FFA Advisor's Email Address: achamberlain@valesd.org

Vale High School Telephone Number: 541.473.3181

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

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:

When you are young, you have energy, and you might as well take advantage of it!  That is very true for today's guest, Lane Willard.  Lane is between his 9th and 10th Grade years right now, and he has one year of FFA under his belt.  And, he has been busy.  In addition to working on his families farm, he is playing sports, raising his own livestock, farming his own ground and participating in the FFA.

Lane and his family have been farming this ground for three generations now.  In the late summer is when Lane really feels the heat.  Right at the time that he is getting his pigs and heifers to the fair, football practice begins.  So, he has football practice in the heat, farm work after practice and animals to take care of at fair.  Luckily his coach, his family and his community support the FFA and everyone understands.