For the third year in a row I ran to the Southwest Desert to find the sun and feel some warmth during the middle of winter.  This is becoming a tradition that I don't think I will ever give up.  I'll talk all about it on today's Farm Update Episode!

Kailee Adkins is her chapter's FFA President, a national finalist in agriscience and show goat producer from Chillicothe, Ohio.  She has had an interesting journey to where she is at today.

When she was about 9 years old, she and her family moved to the farm on which they currently reside.  Kailee described her father has wanting she and her young sister to grow up with the responsibility of raising and showing livestock in the manner which he did.  The animal of choice for this was goats.

For several years Kailee showed goats unenthusiastically, but it was part of her responsibility on the farm so she devoted herself to it.  Meanwhile, she had growing interests in plants and soils that were coming from the environment that she was living in.  So, when high school arrived she signed up for a class about plants and soils that interested her, and this led her into the FFA.

Kailee is the first ever FFA member in her family, and she said that it really brought her out of her shell.  She started off high school shy and quiet, and the FFA gave her the time outside of her comfort zone to overcome this.  Then, one day when was about 15, something clicked and she became passionate about showing goats.  After all of those years, something finally clicked in.  Today she is growing a herd for both quality and quantity and developing a business.  This spring, she and her family, will hold their first ever "bid board sale" at the county fairground to sell their goats to other exhibitors in the area.

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

The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the National FFA Convention.

When it comes to ROI or return on investment, Tennessee Tech probably has the best of any university that I have interviewed for this episode.  They are certainly in the top 5, and that includes for non-resident students.  On today's episode we are profiling this university that sits about halfway between Nashville and Knoxville in upper Tennessee and offers a wide array of agricultural options for the future Ag professional.

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Andrew Szalach is a really amazing FFA student.  He has been very involved in the FFA since 6th grade, even before he could officially join in the 7th.  So much so that he served as his chapter's vice president during his freshman year and has served as his chapter's president the past two, subsequent years.

There is no doubt that when Andrew finds something he is passionate about that he goes "all in".  He has demonstrated this in the FFA for the past 5 years, and his supervised agricultural experience is another glaring example.

Andrew has a passion for Massey Ferguson tractors, specifically those from the 1970's.  So, in 2021 he found one in Northern Pennsylvania that was for sale, a 1974 Model 14.  He and his father drove down from New York and purchased it, and he got to work on it once they got home.  He says that today he is 80% of the way done with the restoration and hopes to have it complete for shows this summer.

In pursuit of this project Andrew applied for and received a $1,000 SAE grant.  He also sent out letters asking for donations for his project and received multiple, totally about another $1,000.  Just when I thought I knew everything about his SAE he told me that he was obtaining and selling both parts and manuals for 1970's Massey Ferguson tractors.  At restoration lots if he finds one that cannot be restored, he will pull parts off of them and sell them online.  In addition, he will locate hard to find repair manuals online and then offer them for sale online, printing and binding them only when they are requested.  He does this all for little to no profit, just to keep people interested in 1970's Massey Ferguson tractors!

Spring is coming everyone, and it always makes me think about the spring of 2012.  Back then I had never started a business, but I had identified one that I wanted to start.  The first business I started was gopher extermination, and it was a seasonal business.  All winter and spring I had been getting cold feet and chickening out until one night at about 3am I sat straight up in bed and realized that if I did not get started I would have to wait a whole year more to begin because I would miss the season.

If you have been doing the same thing, the time is now!  Don't wait until May like I did.  Take a step forward and begin.  On today's show I want to go back to an interview about one such business.  If you are thinking about staring a farm photography or video business, growing season is coming!  Get started, and let this interview I did with Doug Armknecht back in 2015 be your inspiration!

Stephen Lemon is the host of the Chef Lemonhead Youtube Channel, an FFA student and the chair of his chapter's recruitment committee.  With almost 4,000 subscribers on Youtube, including me, Stephen is inspiring people to cook all sorts of creative dishes.

Stephen has had a fascination with cooking since he was about five years old, and when he first started asking if he could cook for the family.  In the beginning, nobody was too sure what the food he was making was going to taste like.  So, when he cooked he cooked just for himself and not for the rest of the family.  However, it didn't take long for things to start smelling pretty good in the kitchen and enticing the rest of the family.  Pretty soon, he was the main chef in the house.

In combination with wanting to cook, Stephen had always wanted to have his own Youtube channel.  So, during the long, boring days of Covid he decided that he would make one.  The, just a couple of years later, he joined the FFA and needed a supervised agricultural experience.  Viola!, the cooking channel fit perfectly, and it became his SAE!

Nancy Rivas is a senior at Sanger High School and is very active in her FFA program.  She did not grow up on a farm or ranch and really had no exposure to agriculture as a child.  However, when it came time to start high school in 2020 she was aware of an "easy" class called "floral design" and she signed up for it.

Nancy's start to high school was not as auspicious as other students may have experienced.  She began in 2020, so she actually started high school at home, behind a computer screen.  So, when she "attended" her floral class she was kind of tuned in, but not all the time.  Of course, floral design is a very kinesthetic type of class, but taking it online offered none of that.  Then Nancy noticed that she was being asked to recite things such as the FFA Creed, and she did not know how that related to floral.

Finally, in her sophomore year she got to attend class in person and work with floral arrangements with her own two hands.  Something clicked for her when she did that, and she found herself working right through her lunch and not even noticing.  This led her to explore other opportunities such as showing dairy cattle.  And, she also joined the goat team and purchased a goat that she was able to keep at the school farm.  This has now led her to develop her own goat herd, which she keeps at a friend's farm these days.

Nancy will be heading to college next year, and she has her sights set on becoming an agriculture teacher.  She says that she wants to have the impact on students that her ag teachers had on her.  That is a great goal!

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

The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the National FFA Convention.

Northwest Missouri State University is located in the middle of an agribusiness triangle made up of Omaha, Kansas City and Des Moines.  60% of the agriculture students here grew up on farms, 30% are from rural communities but not farms and 10% come from more urban areas with an interest in agriculture.  To facilitate this pragmatic education they offer a 448 acre learning farm with an agricultural learning center located there and more value added and direct to market facilities developing as we speak.

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On today's episode I am catching up with Zac Fralix from Southern Tennessee.  Zac was originally on the show in 2015 when he and his, now wife, were going gangbusters raising around 500 goats, teaching people to fit goats, showing goats and fitting on contract all around the country.  Sometime after that, with an urge to stay closer to home, Zach started a landscaping and lawn care business.  He ran that business for 5 years and sold it to take a job with his county.

Today, Zac is married with three kids, and he has been promoted to the assistant director role of their solid waste department.  He is in a stage of life in which his kids and family are taking priority.  The farming has ramped down, and the fitting and showing is only for friends and family.  However, when the day comes, Zac has already proved that he knows how to run a business and he has overcome the fear of doing so.  So, if he decides that is the life he wants at some time in the future, he will be ready to go!

Spring is coming everyone, and it always makes me think about the spring of 2012.  Back then I had never started a business, but I had identified one that I wanted to start.  The first business I started was gopher extermination, and it was a seasonal business.  All winter and spring I had been getting cold feet and chickening out until one night at about 3am I sat straight up in bed and realized that if I did not get started I would have to wait a whole year more to begin because I would miss the season.

If you have been doing the same thing, the time is now!  Don't wait until May like I did.  Take a step forward and begin.  On today's show I want to go back to an interview about one such business.  If you are thinking about staring a custom fitting service, show season is coming!  Get started, and let this interview I did with Zach Fralix back in 2015 be your inspiration!

Zach Gingras is his FFA Chapter's treasurer, a first year FFA student and the owner of a growing herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats with some outstanding genetics.  

Back in 2020, when Zach was bored to tears staying home during Covid, he was scrolling through the internet and found a video about goats.  This sparked an interest in him, and he decided to pursue it.  First things first though, he had to convince his mom to allow him to raise goats on the 1 acre that they called home.  With some stipulations she said yes, and Zach purchased his first three Nigerian Dwarf goats.

This has led to many things.  Today, Zach is searching the entire country for Nigerian Dwarves with the best genetics and confirmation.  He has a goal of raising a herd that produces a goat that will place in the top ten in the entire United States.  He just purchased a buckling all the way from Michigan in pursuit of this goal.  

During this time he was also recruited into the FFA officer team.  He had signed up for an agriculture class because of his interests, and his advisor convinced him to participate as an officer so he could go and experience the National Convention (only officers from Missisquoi attend).  He followed the advice and went.  Obviously more people than me are seeing Zach's potential in agriculture!

Several years ago I did a series of episodes about the health benefits of entrepreneurship.  I was looking at those today and decided that I would record another episode about this very topic.  I think being an entrepreneur or small business owner is healthier for you than fighting the rat race to get to a career that is the wrong fit for you.  The main reason I believe this is how much stress is piling up on you that you cannot even detect when you are in that rat race situation.  Stick with me in this episode as I contrast the two very different parts of my life.

Adam Keir is his FFA chapter's Chaplain,  a musician,  a junior in high school and he is the winner of Pennsylvania's most improved award for the 1941 Farmall tractor that he restored.

There is something really special about Adam's story.  The farm that he lives on was started by his great grandfather, whom he was never able to meet.  However, the original tractor that was purchased for the farm was still there, waiting to be restored.  At the same time, Adam had enrolled in an agricultural mechanics course at his high school, and his instructor was looking for a student with a tractor that needed to be restored.  

Adam had this interest already, and his tractor was selected for this project.  This is what led Adam to join the FFA and enter in the competition that found his tractor to be the most improved.  Adam already has another tractor that he wants to restore that is on the families farm.  This one is a Ford 5,000.  However, this time he is on his own as the high school is restoring a different piece of equipment this year.  I believe that Adam is up to the challenge!

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

The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the National FFA Convention.

Hawkeye Community College is located right in the heart of production agriculture as well as being in the same city as John Deere's Manufacturing Plant.  Agribusiness is obviously relevant every direction you look at this 2 Year college.  However, in addition to large scale, agribusiness Hawkeye teaches entrepreneurship with real world examples of smaller, direct to consumer ag businesses so that an ag student can tailor their education to fit their vision.

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Tip Of The Week

Livestock hoarding is a mental illness, that livestock producers need to be on the lookout for.

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://myvalleynews.com/blog/2024/02/01/sheriffs-rural-crime-team-assists-in-anza/

https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/crime-courts/record-low-crime-black-hawk-county-2023/article_2a920050-c05b-11ee-bfb7-5300a0cf9ae5.html

https://www.exploreclarion.com/2024/02/01/local-man-accused-of-ordering-timber-company-to-cut-down-over-70-trees-on-neighbors-property/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/crime/2024/01/31/thieves-target-farm-in-rural-south-shropshire-stealing-quad-bike-say-police-as-they-launch-appeal/

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/gardai-investigating-theft-of-cattle-in-co-monaghan/

Africa

https://www.rnews.co.za/photos-owner-of-these-cattle-wanted/

https://thewhistler.ng/police-recover-cows-donkey-from-cattle-rustlers-in-sokoto/

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2024-01-31-night-milking-suspect-arrested/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/local_news/farmers-found-guilty-in-bird-poisoning-incident/article_c9af9ecc-becb-11ee-9e17-97ec2cacaf7d.html

https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/crime/woman-charged-with-more-than-150-counts-of-animal-cruelty/article_9153326a-c09b-11ee-8c5a-af15fa48ed1b.html

Reagan Long is the Chapter President of the Shield's Valley FFA Chapter and owns his own lawn care company, and yes, his first employee was his own father.  Way back in the 7th Grade one of Reagan's neighbors asked him if he would be willing to mow their lawn for money.  Neither of them knew it at the time, but this was the launch of a great lawn care business.

Reagan took that job and things started to grow.  By the 9th grade, Reagan had a client list of 6 lawns to mow, and he was ready to start branching out and taking jobs that were beyond walking distance from his house.  So, he did what anyone would naturally do, he asked his dad for a ride.  However, in either Reagan or his father's wisdom, his dad was brought on as an employee so Reagan could learn the realities of a business decision like this.  It worked out, and things have only advanced from there.

Today Reagan has three full-time employees during the summers, his own truck and a myriad of equipment he uses in the business.  All of this has come from reinvesting profits.  He will graduate from high school this summer and his going away to college in the fall.  However, he plans to continue running the business during college and mowing lawns during the summers.

If you listened to my Tuesday episode this week, then you know that one of the most important mentors I have in this entrepreneurial journey, Dan Miller, died in January after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December of 2023.  Dan is a great man who has inspired countless people to change their lives and life styles, including me.  In continuing tribute I wanted to replay this interview I did with Dan back in 2016 to give you another chance to be inspired by his words and outlook on life.

Mercedes Jones is her chapter's historian and her district's sentinel, and she is only in her sophomore year of high school!  She is also the recipient of a $1,000 SAE grant for a flower business that she has been launch with her family on their farm in South Dakota.

Mercedes is in a unique position with both of her parents being full-time farmers.  This is the life that she has known since she was four years old and her family moved to the multi-generational farm and both of her parents left their city jobs to devote all of their time here.  Mercedes is learning that maintaining this lifestyle with revenue that is produced exclusively from the farm is a challenge, and it takes innovation and hard work to meet that challenge.  As a result, she and her family are in the development process of adding flowers as a crop on their farm, and developing their "direct to consumer" business model.  She has already become an expert in varieties of flowers as well as planting and preservation methods, and there is no doubt why she was awarded the grant.

If you have listened to the Off-Farm Income Podcast for some time, then you have likely heard me speak of Dan Miller on more than one occasion.  Since 2009, Dan has been a mentor, inspiration and "permission giver" to me.  It was around 2009 that I decided that I wanted to change my life, and I started dreaming of entrepreneurship.  It was also then that I discovered Dan and started consuming his content.

Since that time I met Dan in person and became friends with him in 2015.  I talked all about this in episode #67.  In 2017 I had Dan on my show for the very first time on epsiode #330.  And, in 2022 I was a guest of Dan's as a featured entrepreneur for his private Eagles Community, which I recaptured on episode #1362.

Dan was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer on December 7th, 2023.  And he passed on January 23rd.  In today's episode I want to pay tribute to this man who has meant so much to me, and who helped to unlocked the door to the life I was dreaming about.

Katie Dauch is her FFA Chapter's President, a junior in high school, a gardener, a food preserver and a very benevolent high school student.  Starting way back in elementary school, Katie and her mom started growing a raised bed garden at their home in Upstate New York for their own food production and food security.  They used canning methods to preserve food for themselves, and between what they grew and what they purchased they put away food for the winter.

This is what led Katie to take her first agriculture class and ultimately to become involved in the FFA.  She and her mom are still growing vegetables in their raised beds and canning them.  It was the involvement in the FFA that led to Katie's SAE.  Seeing that the school was producing more vegetables in it's community garden than was being consumed, Katie decided to preserve those vegetables in the same manner that she did at home.  However, once they were preserved she donated them to food banks around her community.  There are three food banks that are happy to accept the preserved vegetables and soups that Katie and her mom make, and her community is the better for having her!

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

The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the National FFA Convention.

Have you ever heard of "Laradise"?  Well, I had not either.  That is how the folks living and going to college in Laramie, Wyoming describe where they live.  This is the location of the only university in the state of Wyoming, The University Of Wyoming.  Being the only university in a geographically large state with a very low population opens up an immensely diverse set of opportunities for students.  Agriculture, wildlife and topography is very diverse throughout the state from Yellowstone National Park on the western edge to Mid-West style farming on the east, and much in between.

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Tip Of The Week

Fact check whenever you can, especially before taking a stand

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/can-mississippi-strip-felons-including-tree-thieves-of-voting-rights-federal-judges-hear-the-case/27XRCH5UNRG7HJR6SGYTIYJG4Q/

https://www.lancasterfarming.com/farming-news/news/minnesota-dairy-accused-of-3m-wage-theft-after-failing-to-pay-workers/article_0f216731-b7fa-5f4c-9813-3f9f3b9dbe6e.html

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/gilbert/its-heartbreaking-az-horse-rescue-says-its-work-is-set-back-a-year-after-theft

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-68091251

https://www.northants.police.uk/news/northants/news/news/2024/january/two-dogs-seized-after-livestock-killed-in-braybrooke/

https://www.theleader.com.au/story/8494442/mudgee-robbery-crackdown-as-strike-force-uji-arrest-two-suspects/

Africa

https://capitalradio.co.ug/news/2024-01-25-stolen-cows-given-a-ride-in-land-cruiser/

https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34GQ62J

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/25/amish-horse-buggy-stolen-walmart

https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/crime/second-teen-arrested-after-14-lambs-mown-down-in-field?utm_source=homelatestnews

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Dr. Alan Harrelson is a history professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.  In his dissertation he focused on Agrarian Society in the Antebellum South.  He also has a successful Youtube channel, website and podcast in which he discusses these ideas as a corollary to one of his passions, tobacco pipes and the accompanying lifestyle.

I discovered Dr. Harrelson some months back through his Youtube channel and have enjoyed his ideas on what it means to be an agrarian as well as the history of agriculture looked at from this perspective.  I also find myself aligned with him when it comes to personal choices of how to live life, why we bought agricultural land and the rewards that come from such choices.  I am thrilled that he is joining me on today's episode.

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode, I am profiling a gentleman that I connected with through the hobby of pipe smoking.  That got me thinking about if I had ever profiled anyone on the show who grew tobacco, and I was so pleased to be reminded of this great interview with Lorrie Barron that I did two years ago.  In addition to so much more, they grow speciality tobacco on their farm in Southern Virginia, and I am thrilled to play their episode again.

Mya Ibarra is a junior in high school and the historian of her FFA Chapter.  She is also an amazing human.  Coming from a non-agricultural background, she was enticed into an FFA meeting by pizza when she was in the 7th Grade.  Since then, she has become very involved and things have taken off for her.  She also plays three sports, including basketball, and she had never shot a basketball prior to going out for the team during her sophomore year!  If that is not enough, she has aspirations of becoming a physician, and science and math are her strongest subjects!

When it came time to develop an SAE, Mya gave it some serious thought.  She looked around and thought about the teachers she had throughout her school life so far and realized how much work they put in, even at home.  Mya believes that teachers are under appreciated, so she decided to start a subscription flower service to bring smiles to their faces.

Mya began purchasing flowers from a farm about 45 minutes away and selling monthly subscription services to teachers and staff at her school at a very low cost.  She doesn't have any profit motive.  She simply wants to brighten the day of these great women and men.  So, she charges only $5/month, just enough to cover her costs and allow her to continue providing flowers to these folks!

Welcome to the Farm Update show for this week.  Today, I am going to be speaking about a new testimonial for a product that was sent to me - Hen Gear's 54" laying box.  Hint: So far, I am very pleased.  I will also be discussing:

• The ever changing weather conditions on our farm.
• A car sliding into our fence
• A snow load related insurance claim at a rental house

Maverick Scheckel is just a sophomore in high school, but he is already the proprietor of two businesses and has developed a skill set that is going to serve him well for the rest of his life.  Mentored by his father and working his father's large equipment "buy/sell" business, Maverick learned a lot about repairing equipment.  This includes both working on engines and welding.

Maverick has taken what he has learned both from the business side and the skill sets to form two impressive businesses.  First is "Scheckel Buy/Sell" which is similar to his father's buy/sell business.  Rather than focusing on large equipment, Maverick focuses on small equipment like pickups, atv's and motorcycles.  He purchases them in poor condition at bargain prices, fixes them up and then flips them.

Maverick has been welding since he was in the 6th grade, and he now can use all methods.  This has led him to start "Scheckel Welding".  He does repairs for his father's business, friends and farmers in his area.  And, he is just launching a project to start fabricating gates and selling them around Bellevue as there are none available anywhere close.

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

The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This

episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the National FFA Convention.

[caption id="attachment_421490" align="alignright" width="125"] Ashlyn Cook-Huggins: Student Ambassador[/caption]

Seward County Community College is an agricultural program that is on the rise.  Will Milashoski and his wife, Rachael, were both just hired last year to teach and start rebuilding the agriculture program there.  Already the enrollment has increased from 6 agriculture students to 25.  In addition, they are rebuilding the livestock judging team and bringing in students to participate, such as Ashlyn Cook-Huggins, who joins Will on today's episode.  With very reasonable tuition and an easy path to having non-resident tuition waived, this could be the exact spot for you to being your pursuit of an agricultural career.

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Tip Of The Week

What is “broken windows policing”?

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://vtdigger.org/2024/01/18/final-reading-vermont-lawmakers-try-again-to-rein-in-timber-theft/

https://www.kxii.com/2024/01/18/copper-stolen-choctaw-county-radio-tower-found-paris/

https://www.northcentralpa.com/news/crime/police-looking-for-stolen-tractor/article_de077596-b53b-11ee-a4e7-d3a713ccf172.html

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.farmersguide.co.uk/rural/rural-crime/nfu-calls-for-action-after-defra-fly-tipping-figures-published/

https://au.news.yahoo.com/bramley-fourteen-lambs-mown-down-121418765.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEAx_WzHJ5HMgDIMuAqzdE3en5oSyJJLp-EY2fMH--dRfOwGmdKZfL_NAhWcgxQeEmZHUoN3NTdw6mqlECcpUAyAbL5LX61Bd6mbOKxlAxkKiecJSPRRV-bumvseVXdn28gGHtiyLt6npUnGKmCt77Bat1Q1Ak1sAONaomdHBCy2

Africa

https://www.citizen.digital/wananchi-reporting/laikipia-alarm-over-rising-cases-of-livestock-theft-as-100-cows-150-goats-stolen-n335016

https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/crime/unrelenting-crime-wave-hits-ugunja-sub-county-residents-cry-out-for-help/

https://www.guwahatiplus.com/assam/mob-lynching-kills-alleged-cattle-thief-in-morigaon

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/district-attorney-investigators-find-stolen-tractor/article_a9612d66-b679-11ee-9b1f-4718f22b5b7b.html

https://www.wafb.com/2024/01/18/3-arrested-after-multiple-atvs-stolen-baker/

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Lauren Schroeder is an amazing humanitarian, farmer and FFA student.  During Covid, when she was in the 8th Grade, she started volunteering in her community and made an observation.  She noticed that in the meals available to people there was no fresh produce.  The timing of this observation coincided with her beginning her FFA career and needing to develop a supervised agricultural experience.

Lauren decided to plant a garden and donate 100% of the production to those in need.  A very benevolent SAE was born.  Starting her 9th grade year, she planted 1/2 acre with a variety of vegetables, ultimately donating them to multiple different organizations around her community.  During the summer between her sophomore and junior year she increased her production to 1 acre and donated over 7,000 lbs of vegetables.  She has two summers left while she is in high school FFA and wants to increase production this year to 1.5 acres and finally 2 acres with a total of 20,000 lbs of vegetables.  It is an unbelievable story and goal, but she has proven that she can do it, and there is no doubt that she will!

Chase Krug was already doing amazing things when I first interviewed him in 2016.  Since then he has gone on to even more amazing accomplishments.  I was able to meet him in person in Indianapolis when he won the American Star Award for Agriscience Research.  And, I am happy to profile him again today on our re-cap episode.

Aidan Yaddof is a sophomore in high school, sentinel of his FFA chapter, a two time SAE grant recipient, and hunter and a pheasant producer.  Growing up in eastern Iowa on his families four acres, Aidan has always been around livestock and agriculture.  This engagement with livestock and farming led him to join the FFA in the 8th grade, and he found that he really enjoyed the organization.  This has led Aidan to become very active in his chapter with aspirations of serving at the district and state level as well.

Aidan has also been hunting all of his life, and over time he has noticed smaller numbers of pheasants in his area.  He researched this and confirmed that counts of pheasants had been steadily declining.  This knowledge, in combination with his introduction to the FFA and the need for an SAE, led him to pheasant production.  Aidan started a pheasant production business with two goals.  First, is to make revenue by selling pheasants, mostly roosters.  Second, to help grow the pheasant population in the area by releasing birds into the wild, mostly hens.  

Aidan has been doing this for two years now, and twice he has been awarded an SAE grant to help him grow and improve his business.  He has long term aspirations for both the business and what he can achieve with it in the FFA.  Aidan is currently in the process of applying for a state proficiency award, and he hopes that this will one day lead to a national proficiency award in Indianapolis.  

We have been experiencing actual winter on the farm ever since we got back from our tropical vacation.  It is funny how things get more complicated with even a little snow and frigid temperatures.  Today, I will talk all about it.

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Abby Kolousek is a 6th Generation Farmer on her families property in Eastern South Dakota.  When she was first getting started in the FFA a neighbor was getting out of goats and gave her family a Nigerian Dwarf Buck.  There was something about the personality of a goat that was intriguing to Abby, and she started building a herd of the same breed.

At its peak, Abby had about 20 nannies.  However, she is scaling down a little bit with the knowledge that she will be graduating high school this year and leaving for college.  So, she is cutting the herd back in preparation to transition the project to her younger sister.

Abby sells the Nigerian Dwarf kids as pets to other families in the area.  In doing so, she had to develop marketing skills in order to be able to get them all sold.  This sparked an interest in Abby that has led to her choice of major.  Abby is planning on getting a degree in marketing and looking for a career position that will allow her to work remotely.  This will enable her to return home after college and start developing a goat herd again.

If you would be interested in seeing more of what Abby has done or purchasing a goat from her, you can find more information on the Kolousek Farms Website.

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

The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the National FFA Convention.

Laramie County Community College, "L - Triple C", is the only college in the capital city of Cheyanne, Wyoming.  Being in close proximity to the University of Wyoming, the Colorado Rocky Mountain Front, Denver and being the home of Cheyenne Frontier Days, LCCC offers some very unique opportunities at the community college level.  From working with horses to collegiate livestock showing to internships in rodeo this is a fantastic place to get your start in agriculture, especially if Western Sports, Western Heritage or Western Lifestyle is what you are after.

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Tip Of The Week

Whose that knocking at my door?

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://wtop.com/crime/2024/01/fairfax-co-police-on-hunt-for-rose-ruse-burglars/

https://www.ketk.com/news/crime-public-safety/tractor-front-loader-backhoe-attachment-reported-stolen-in-camp-county/

https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/2-horses-go-missing-in-smith-county/501-8fc4dfae-ea7f-4db7-92e8-2f9a1ec3ddcd

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.southwestfarmer.co.uk/news/24016466.men-found-farm-machinery-stolen-somerset-sentenced/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-67951638

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/news-campaigns/news/2024/jan/rural-domestic-abuse-–-speaking-up-can-save-lives

Africa

https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/crime/perjury-false-kidnapping-cases-11-january-2024/

https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-news/south-africa/alert-farmers-and-workers-reduce-incidence-of-stock-theft/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/jersey-county-compact-track-loader-theft-leads-18600487.php

https://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/52970-kern-county-sheriff-s-office-rural-crime-unit-arrest-three-suspects-in-attempted-copper-wire-theft

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An interesting dynamic of our world today is the news cycle.  We know about more of the most horrific events and suffering in the world than any of our predecessors.  However, it turns out that there are a lot of very bad stories out there, each of them compelling.  As such, we have the strange phenomena of hearing about something in another part of the world that causes us great consternation in the short term, but is then replaced by another horrific event that causes us to slowly withdraw concern or even forget about the first event.  And the cycle repeats itself.

Just because we experience this phenomena, does not mean that any of the problems we initially heard about have been fixed or even improved.  It just means that they are not being talked about on a large scale any longer.  But somewhere, there are people still dealing with the issue that still need help.

In 2021, the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan after being omnipresent in that country for two decades.  This created a vacuum that the Taliban quickly filled, and it put the people who worked with the U.S. in our efforts in peril.  This was a great crisis and huge news story at the time, and it compelled me to interview Caroline Clarin, a woman who I had read about that was helping families from Afghanistan that she had come to know when she was doing agricultural work there between 2009 and 2011.

On today's show we are following up with Caroline.  She is still very involved in this work, and her efforts have now evolved into a 501(c)(3) called the Friends And Allies Project where she and her team are working to support five families who made it out of Afghanistan but are stuck in Pakistan trying to get Visas that will allow them to come to the U.S.

On tomorrow's Friday episode I am featuring an episode with previous guest, Caroline Clarin.  Caroline first came on the show in 2021 during Christmas, and we discussed the situation with people in Afghanistan who had helped out the United States since the war began there in 2001.  The United States had just pulled out of Afghanistan, and many of them were now in danger because of the return of the Taliban.  On tomorrow's show, Caroline is coming back on to give us an update on that situation, so today I'll play her first episode again to give you an idea of the before and after picture.

Morelia Vieyra Santana is a 2023 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Equine Science.  She is also a previous guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast, appearing when she was a sophomore in high school in 2021.

When I first interviewed Morelia, I was taken with how bold she was in her role at her families horse boarding, training and events business in Madera, California.  Not only was she working steadily in the business, but she was taking ownership of more than her assigned role and suggesting changes that she believed would improve their operation.

Knowing what I knew from our first meeting, it should have been no surprise to learn that she was a proficiency winner.  It should have also been no surprise to learn that she no longer considered her role just as a member of her family and her families business.  Today, she sees her role as representing her Mexican Heritage and that style of horsemanship as an ambassador to the greater agriculture community in the Central Valley of California.

Morelia is attending Fresno State University and studying agriculture business.  She plans on using what she learns in college to improve the business side of her families business.  At the same time, she wants to spread Mexican Horse Dancing to an even wider group of people and audience.  She sees it as her role to make this part of her heritage more pervasive and known to a much larger audience than it currently enjoys.

Autumm, Hattie and I have just returned from 10 days on the Island of Roatan in Honduras.  That is why you have been hearing "best of" episodes for the past two weeks.  Hattie and I are now certified SCUBA divers, and I've got a lot to tell you in today's farm update!

James Titus is a 4th generation farmer on his families property in Valley Home, California.  James is also the oldest son of one of my oldest and dearest friends, who I grew up with in Valley Home.

Beginning as a small village made up of German immigrants at the turn of the 20th's Century, Valley Home had two different names.  First, as a small railroad water stop it was referred to as "Clyde".  After the Germans came it was referred to as "Thalheim", German for home in the valley.  During World War I, out of respect for their American countryman, the residents changed the name to its English translation - Valley Home.

Among these first residents were the Benedix family, from whom James is descended.  I knew James' Great Grandfather, Rich, when I was just a boy.  Back then, the primary crop grown in Valley Home was rice.  Rich farmed rice and he was assisted by James' grandfather Fred, who I knew very well.

Today, James is "farming" on a much smaller scale than his grandfather and great grandfather.  However, the Benedix legacy of agriculture in Valley Home is being kept alive by James and his family with the goat herd they keep at the home site that his Great Grandfather Rich once owned, was sold out of the family and then purchased back by James' parents.  There are thousands of stories and legacies like this, all over the U.S.  James' story is just one, but it is one that is still taking place in a small town that is specially tied to the Off-Farm Income Podcast.

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

The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode i

s 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.

Auburn University seems to have endless opportunities for both agriculture and natural resources students.  In today's episode I speak with the largest cast of guests I have ever had appear on one interview.  Between the five of them there is fantastic information about this historic university, and I hope it is of great use to you.

• Madisen Cope - Student Recruitment Administrator
• Brooke Martin - Student Recruitment Administrator
• Lexi Garret - Student Ambassador
• Abbie Star - Student Ambassador
• Jose Wolan - Student Ambassador

Tip Of The Week

Consider using an alarm system with video incorporated to get a faster response from law enforcement.

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.ky3.com/2021/08/13/thief-steals-tractor-john-deere-gator-skyline-school-district/

https://www.wtvq.com/2021/08/10/in-two-cases-boyle-authorities-need-info-on-theft-suspect-stolen-atv/

https://www.wdbj7.com/2021/08/09/search-pittsylvania-county-tractor-thief/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/people/earls-barton-family-business-welcomes-robocop-style-crime-fighting-automated-guard-3342497

https://uknip.co.uk/breaking/news-269821/rural-crime-investigators-are-appealing-for-information-after-two-sheep-were-killed-in-a-field-near-sittingbourne/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.wrdw.com/2021/08/09/ga-deputies-shoot-man-chase-after-rural-mail-carrier-killed/

https://www.farminguk.com/news/man-who-stole-87k-worth-of-sheep-handed-prison-sentence_58730.html

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Today I get to profile another national star finalist.  Murdock Wynn will be up on the stage in Indianapolis just days after this interview is released.  How did he get there?  Working on his families farm on a sow to weaner operation.

The numbers of pigs they are raising there is staggering.  With their sow numbers they are raising around 65,000 pigs per year and selling them.  Those are unbelievable numbers.  Something a very casual pig farmer like myself cannot even imagine.

Making this number even more unbelievable is the amount of artificial insemenation that takes place to keep the sows bred and producing pigs.  It is really phenomenal.

If this were not enough, Murdock and his family also raise commercial cattle on their land.  Murdock has dove right in, and is also studying agricultural business at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Southern Georgia.

How would you like to start your farming endeavor, come up with a business model and then find out that the demand for what you were producing was way bigger than you ever expected?  Well, that is exactly what happened to Steve Horton and his wife, Lyn.

Steve's wife Lyn has always wanted to have a farm where they sold raw milk.  After about 20 years of waiting, she and Steve decided to put in a modern, milking barn on their small farm north of Dallas, Texas. They went through the entire process of getting certified and inspected, and they reached a point in which they were legally able to sell raw milk.

Soon, they had a big customer base wanting to purchase raw milk from both their goats and cattle.  Then they started getting requests for other products, so they began selling grass fed meat that they purchased from other farms in their area.  They also started making and selling cheese, yogurt and other products.

Steve and Lyn live in a rapidly expanding rural interface to the north of Dallas, and in this area people are passionate about purchasing food raised the way they want it raised.  Steve states that in this segment of agriculture there is room for a lot of farmers.  Instead of competing with each other, farmers can work in collaboration with each other for the betterment of everyone.

The "can do" spirit of the students that I get to interview for the Off-Farm Income Podcast is truly remarkable.  In today's episode I am fortunate to interview another one of those students who just blows away my pre-conceived notions of what high school students are capable of.

Katie Nealen was just finishing up her junior year of high school when we recorded this episode.  She has a love for animals and she obviously has a talent for working with them.  Katie had already been awarded a state proficiency award from the State of Pennsylvania for animal care as a result of her work with animals.

Katie trains and sells border collies as herding dogs for working goats, sheep and cattle.  Her business is called Kat Slash Farm.  She also captures and trains raptors for hunting and raises goats and dairy cattle. She has her sights set on veterinary school once she is done with high school, and her love of working with animals makes this an obvious choice.

Entrepreneurship is a very fun and rewarding journey.  But just like anything else there are highs and lows to this journey.  The problem with entrepreneurship is that some of the highs can be so high, that a low that would seem normal for an everyday employee might seem like the Marianas Trench to an entrepreneur.

Happy New Year's Everyone.  This is always a fun episode because we announce the results of our silly,
agricultural survey, Autumm and Hattie come on the show and we give away prizes.

This year's episode was recorded remotely in Texas!  We are in the midst of an epic trip exploring Texas history, the Southern Border and a watering point on the Goodnight/Loving Trail.  Enjoy the photos!

Thank you all for another great year!  We could not do this without you, and we will be forever grateful.