Off-Farm Income

How about sub-contracting as a corporate pilot as your form of off-farm income? Seem impossible? I would have thought it was unrealistic until I interviewed today's guest, Andrew Ambrose. Andrew owns his own business, Fly Twins LLC, and he farms 750 acres in Southeast Missouri in addition to that. If that is not enough, he also owns his own excavating company. As Andrew put it, it would not be uncommon to see him flying a corporate customer across the country in the morning and driving a combine that evening. This is an interesting way to producing off-farm income. Tune to hear more about Andrew's story.

Today we bring you a show that we aired previously on this remarkable young man and his journey through FFA - Raising, Showing And Selling Pigs as his SAE - into achieving his dream of being a an agricultural pilot.

Benjamin Olander won a National Proficiency Award at the National FFA Convention in October of 2021, and I was lucky enough to be back stage and to interview him as what had just happened sank in for him. I knew as we conducted that interview that I'd like to have him on the show for a full interview, so we set it up and get to feature him today. Ben has grown up around agriculture. His parents moved to their 500 acre farm in Minnesota right around the time he was born, and he has been driving tractors since he was 5 years old. Joining the FFA was a natural transition for Ben, and he started participating as soon as he was eligible. In addition to the FFA, his responsibilities on the farm had been growing over the years, and his natural talents started to emerge. For example, early on, while still in middle school, Ben developed an affinity for finance. His parents helped him pursue this by getting him started in some beef projects, and a seed of talent had been planted. As Ben entered high school he was able to obtain a job working in a business that fabricated custom parts and equipment for agriculture. This led to Ben learning how to weld and run a CNC machine. Soon, Ben was fabricating parts all on his own and welding pieces of equipment together from those parts. He continued with this all through high school and kept documenting this as his supervised agricultural experience, leading to his national proficiency award. Ben is also an excellent communicator, and this led him to become the Minnesota State FFA President during his freshman year of college.

I believe that self-sufficiency or independence is one of the main reasons that we love the agricultural lifestyle. I was reminded of that this morning with something as simple and mundane as making my own candles. In today's episode I want to discuss this with you and why in the world I am making my own candles! Alex Wild's Youtube Channel About Bushcraft: More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Mackenzie Henning is a natural born seed breeder. You might not think such a person exists, but I am here to tell you that they do. Mackenzie grew up around agriculture and farming in typical, Upper Mid-West crop rotation of corn, wheat and soybeans. However, about five years ago her parents made a change and started growing seed corn. This led Mackenzie into a summer job de-tasseling corn stalks and it introduced her to the genetics of developing varieties of corn. In her sophomore year of high school Mackenzie took a biology class and started learning about genetics and the science of plant breeding and her purpose appeared before her. Since that time Mackenzie has been on a one-way road that is leading to a career in seed breeding. She has advanced higher and higher in the company that she began with all those year ago as just a summer job, and her responsibilities increased each summer as well. Now she is studying biotechnology and agricultural science at South Dakota State University, and she knows that she will be heading into graduate school after her bachelor's degree. She has her eyes fixed on being a seed breeder.

Tip Of The Week Reinforce the values of honesty. There is too much dishonesty in the world today, i.e. politicians, phone solicitors, emails, social media, etc. Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/jan/14/other-days/ (1st Story is from 100 years ago and interesting) https://thecrimereport.org/2022/01/13/southern-oregon-overwhelmed-by-illegal-pot-farms/ (Roseburg, Medford & Grants Pass) Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.northweststar.com.au/story/7581322/have-you-seen-this-108000-bull-hes-missing/ https://www.royalgazette.com/crime/news/article/20220112/police-investigation-series-of-thefts-from-farmers-fields/ (Bermuda (In The Pond!) - 955 miles due east of Savannah, Georgia) https://www.farminguk.com/news/18-year-old-man-arrested-after-series-of-farm-fires_59637.html Chalk One Up For The Good Guys https://www.alabamanews.net/2022/01/13/two-arrests-made-in-horse-theft-case-in-dallas-co/ https://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/two-arrested-for-stealing-over-7000-worth-of-produce-from-a-lamont-farm More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Our guest today is a 4th generation farmer, and he is trying to reclaim a farming operation that was lost in his family so that the operation can go into the 5th and 6th generations and beyond. Corey Strothman has an interesting story of growing up on his families farm and then his father having to stop farming independently and lease out their ground when Corey was ten years of age. For about 22 years Corey's father actually farmed the family ground for another farmer who was leasing it from them. Then, around the time that Corey was in his early 30's the opportunity arose for he and father to partner and start farming independently again. This was not as simple as it sounds. The land was there, but the equipment was not. So, a lot of outside income was going to be required to get things up and running and return the operation to the productivity that it once had. This required Corey to produce off-farm income. Today, Corey's wife works in town, he is a John Deere mechanic full-time, and he is an independent distributor of agricultural and automotive products for a company called Conklin Co. Conklin sells products that people in agriculture can use, and that Corey uses himself. This gives him the confidence to market these products and to stand behind them. Conklin also operates as a multi-level marketing firm in their business model. It has been this model that has allowed Corey to produce enough income to increase his percentage stake in the partnership with his father on the farm. And it is this model that Corey states has saved other people in the U.S. from losing their farms. In today's episode Corey will talk about the business model, how he got involved and we will even address some of the stigma associated with multi-level marketing. Contact Information For Corey: Telephone: (319) 931-6338 Facebook: LINK Instagram: LINK More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Tomorrow we are profiling an agricultural entrepreneur using multi-level marketing to leverage his knowledge of farming to create his off-farm income. I thought that my interview with Megan Dwyer from 2018 when we talked about all the different entrepreneurial endeavors she and her husband were involved in to support their farm would be a great tie in. The original show notes are below. SHOW NOTES KEY IDEAS: Our guest today is from a serious, farm family. Megan Dwyer and her husband, Todd, are determined to make it in farming. They both farm with their parents. Her with hers, his with his and vice-versa. They have their own farm as well and are striving to build a life in which farming is their primary occupation and it can be passed along to their children. To support their farming endeavors, Megan and Todd have started a number of farming related businesses. This brings in supplemental income from off the farm. It also gives them multiple streams of revenue so they do not become overly reliant on the farm in the case that commodity prices sink or input prices skyrocket. The services they provide through Ag Authority include: Providing 360YieldCenter SureFire Ag Systems Precision Planting product lines Wyffels Seed VR recs Tile repair and fabrication They serve Northwest Illinois and are building great reputations in the agricultural community. Megan is also a certified crop advisor, giving her the knowledge and credibility she needs to serve their clients well. ADVICE FROM MEGAN: TRUST YOUR TEAM: You need somebody to partner with that you can trust. STRENGTHS: Focus on your strengths. Too often we give our attention to our weaknesses and only bring them up to mediocre. Why not give attention to your strengths and make them even stronger. SMALL: Start small and grow slowly. It you go too fast or try to do it all at once, you increase risk the possibility of business failure. PERSONAL HABIT THAT MAKES MEGAN SUCCESSFUL: MENTAL REHEARSAL: Megan does something that is very useful for all of us, in or out of agriculture. Before talking to a customer she mentally rehearses how she will handle different situations if they come up. This is something that I used to do as a police officer, and I was impressed that this is something that Megan does in her business as well. BEST BUSINESS ADVICE EVER GIVEN TO MEGAN: BE THE EXPERT: "If you're not their #1, be their #2". This was a profound statement. You cannot win every time. When you don't, make sure you keep your position as #2 in the case that something ever changes with their #1. CONTACT INFORMATION AND LINKS: Ag Authority's Facebook Page: LINK Megan's Email: [email protected] More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Today's guest has experienced all aspect of the business cycle, and he did it all in high school! Ayden Gartenlaub was encouraged by his father to get involved in the agriculture program and FFA at Highland High School when he was a freshman. His father had grown up in agriculture and knew the benefits it would provide to Ayden. So, Ayden reluctantly joined, and the rest as they say is.....history. Like so many other students Ayden found out that he needed a supervised agricultural experience, looked around his home and found a project. For Ayden it was chickens. His dad and sister had purchased 15 layers for their back yard, and he thought that is where he could satisfy this requirement. Soon, Ayden found himself selling eggs and his interest in the project began to blossom. Tune in for the rest of the story.

Hi everyone. Today is a true farm update on what we are doing on our place in Kuna, Idaho; Hauling Livestock Outgrowing Our Trailer Getting Deposits From Customers Our Ongoing Fox Problem Learning To Weld More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

andon Bazemore was a National Proficiency Finalist in 2021. He worked his way through multiple steps of a process of applications, interviews, section wins, state wins and more interviews to finally reach the stage in Indianapolis. This is definitely a demonstration of hard work, dedication and participation in the FFA but, as Landon would tell you, it wasn't always this way. Landon has been part of the FFA since middle school. He was encouraged to join by the Ag teacher at his middle school as well as his father, and his step-brother was very involved in his FFA chapter and encouraged him as well. So, Landon joined and wore the jacket and kept his membership up. However, he did not attend many meetings and did not get involved much past what was minimally required of him. During this entire time Landon had been working with his father in his father's business. They install landscaping in new construction, and the nearest area to them with much residential development was Savannah, Georgia, two hours away. So, there were a lot of trips to the city to grade yards away from homes, trench in sprinklers, lay sod and plant bushes. During this time Landon did some work with his dad and some unsupervised. The combination of the two caused him to learn a lot about this business.

Tip Of The Week Reinforce your roadside fences with hotwire Rural Crime In The U.S. (BOL) https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/delaware-county/sheriff-searching-for-a-horse-thief-in-delaware-county/ https://www.gbtribune.com/news/local-news/cattle-theft-report-draws-attention-state-crime-unit/ https://www.redbluffdailynews.com/2022/01/06/theft-of-fence-posts-poses-safety-threat-in-tehama-county/ Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.chesterstandard.co.uk/news/19829021.patrols-step-thousands-saplings-stolen-lobslack-nursery/ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-59882358 Chalk One Up For The Good Guys https://news.yahoo.com/felon-caught-string-auto-thefts-231900461.html https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/crime/article256955192.html More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Some time during high school I was exposed to the concept of vertical integration. Even though I did not have any aspirations of running my own business at that time, I was able fascinated with the concept and admired the people who do this. That is still true today. My guest today, Cinde Moore, is just one of those people. She and her husband Mark started raising livestock and purchased their very first farm after they turned 50 years of age. However, they have a very farmer like philosophy which is that they will indulge their love of livestock and fascination with animals as long as every animal on the farm actually makes money for them. And, if you have been following me for any length of time, you know I like this because they are doing something that benefits them at least twice. In their search for the right livestock animal to do this with, they eventually came across Angora Goats and the unbelievable fiber that they produce. They started their herd of these goats with the intention of producing and selling yarn. Everything was going just as planned until they figured out that they did not enjoy the marketing and selling of what essentially was a commodity. They wanted more control in their pricing and freedom in the marketing. Convinced that the Angora Goats were the correct animal, it was back the drawing board of how they would market their fiber.

Today's show is a replay of a person who deserves our admiration. After the passing of her husband, she is not only running her farm alone, but is finding new and creative ways to diversify and offer quality, hand spun wool to her customers.

Molly McClure is a fierce competitor in the FFA, but she is also a fierce competitor in sports. At Hugoton High School she ran cross country, played point guard and ran track. For several year the National FFA Convention fell on the same weekend as the state cross country meets, so she never went. However, that was all supposed to change in 2020, right up until Covid canceled the National FFA Convention. Molly's disappointment did not need to last for long however. The convention was back in 2021, and so was she! Molly had submitted proficiency applications for her diversified livestock projects and aced her interviews. She ran her projects completely independently of her parents, and she credits that with helping her to do very well on her interviews. Since she had been making all of the decisions, the answers to the interview questions came very easy to her. Ultimately the judges at the National FFA selected Molly as one of four National Proficiency Finalists in the category of Diversified Livestock Production. Since she was now in college at Kansas State University and no longer running cross country, this meant that Molly was finally going to be able to go to the National Convention. However, it also meant that if the size and scope of this great convention was not a enough to overwhelm her, she was also going to be going up on the big stage in the big stadium in front of thousands of people as a national proficiency finalist almost immediately upon her arrival. Molly said that it was fast and mostly a blur, and she was happy that she made it across the stage without tripping.

Let's talk 2022 goals, how to change your perspective on your job and all about the positive impacts of the wind! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

I met Cassie Carter at the 2021 National FFA Convention. I was in a room interviewing National Proficiency Winners, and she had just won a national proficiency award in the category of Agricultural Services. Cassie had been working in her families taxidermy business, Trophy Taker Taxidermy, since she was about six years old, and this seemed like a perfect fit for her SAE. Well, that turned out to be correct as she had just come off stage with a very prestigious award. My wife, Autumm, was helping me that day and she was speaking with Cassie while they waited for me to be ready. I then did a brief interview with Cassie and asked her if she would like to schedule a time to do a full interview on the show. She said yes, we shook hands and she walked away. Then Autumm told me that Cassie had been telling her all about going to college at Emory in Georgia and that she was a pre-med student and how challenging it already was. Today was the day for Cassie and I to complete the full interview, and I dug a little deeper into her story and why she wants to be a doctor. She told me that she has actually decided to pursue being a trauma surgeon in Downtown Atlanta, and she is hoping to really make a difference this way.

Happy New Year everyone! And here is a to a great 2022! Below are some of the most notable moments of 2021 as well as our most downloaded episodes of 2021! Most Downloaded of 2021 Rural Crime 970 FFA 973 Friday Show 969 Tuesday Episode 966 Re-Cap Episode 1004 Notable 2021 Moments All of us having Covid Hattie's conduct team winning state Hattie's conduct team taking 5th in the nation Meeting so many students who have been on the show in Indianapolis Stopping in Kankakee, Illinois Purchasing neighbor's farm Seeing Hattie in her FFA jacket for the first time Adding Guardline Keynote in Montana MSU going to national championship Hattie getting her permit New record FFA auction One millionth download More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Tiffany and her husband, Matt, both grew up in a city environment, St. Louis, Missouri, and did not have exposure to rural living or agriculture. They were entrepreneurs, running an electrical contracting business for which Matt was the electrician, and they were busy! So busy in fact that work and hustle were all that they knew. A simpler life was calling to them however. They started out just like so many people in the U.S. They had a 3,000 square foot home, even though it was just the two of them. While they were still there in the city they downsized to a home that was under 1,000 square feet. This seemed like a radical move to friends and family, but really, for two adults it was very appropriate. This simple living had sparked something in both of them, and there was a mutual thought that someday they would move out somewhere rural, live much more simply and even forget what day of the week it was. Then, Tiffany was diagnosed with breast cancer. This opened up a whole new perspective. The thought that the opportunity to carry out your dreams may not be there tomorrow can be a strong motivator, and it was for Tiffany and Matt. So, they made this vision a reality in short order and Wilderland LLC Glamping Cabins was born!

Today's show is a replay of a special interview I did on how we view life and what you choose to do in situations that don't make you happy. Learn how to find purpose in your work and having faith in yourself.

For the past several years the issue of mental health in the agricultural community has become more and more mainstream with some of the stigma slipping away. About the time this really started to take hold Madisen Jolliff was noticing that this existed all on her own. At the same time she was just coming into the FFA and looking for a project for her SAE. Ultimately she chose to speak with farmers about these issues and try to help people open up. The results she received were very unexpected, even for Madisen. Madisen has friends who feel an immense sense of pressure and stress because they have or will inherit land that has been in the family for generations, and they don't want to be the link in the chain where it all ends. She also has friends that experience stress because they will not inherit land and they cannot find their pathway into farming and raising their own livestock. She finds herself experiencing both of these as she will one day inherit part of her families farm, but that will not be for a long time. So in the meantime she is trying to figure out how to get her own land to continue growing her herd of cattle.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. I've got a very chilly farm update for you in today's show. Also, a true story about a strange Christmas Eve that sounds like (and should be) a commercial for our sponsor, Guardline Security! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Fresh off of the high of the National FFA Convention I returned home to my studio and can you believe it, my very first interview with was with Tristan Wirkus, who had just one a National Proficiency Award! There is literally so much good going on at the National Convention that I just cannot keep up. My interview with Tristan has been on the calendar for weeks. What great luck for me that he won the national proficiency in Environmental Science & Natural Resources Management. Tristan has an absolute passion for the environment and the green spaces in his hometown of Stratford, Wisconsin. This, in combination with the fact that his mother is an FFA advisor led him into this incubator that we call the FFA. Since that initial participation in the 6th Grade Tristan's experience has grown and grown. This ultimately led him to coordinating with dozens of stakeholders in Stratford to get trees planted throughout the city and along their Heritage Trail, and this ultimately led to the city receiving the designation of "Tree City USA". If this were not enough, Tristan went to work testing water quality in a local pond so that changes could be made to make the pond conducive to a healthy fish population. Once this was done the local police department started a "Cops And Bobbers" program to teach kids how to fish there.

Merry Christmas everyone! I always love creating and recording our Christmas episode for your each year. However, this year is a little bit different. This year I have a guest on the show for Christmas who is a person who has done something very compassionate for people who are unbelievably less fortunate than anyone born here in the United States Of America. You may remember from our rural crime episode #1240 that the final story I covered was about a woman named Caroline Clarin in Fergus Falls, Minnesota who had been helping families to escape Afghanistan and come to the United States. She has initially been introduced to these families through her work as an agricultural advisor, through the USDA, in Afghanistan. And of course after being there, meeting these families and seeing the poverty, corruption and violence for herself she was compelled to help them leave. After covering that first story, I decided to reach out to Caroline and see if she would do an interview to discuss the amazing humanitarian work she had done and was still doing as part of our Christmas episode. It turned out that the original story I had read mis-represented what had actually happened a little bit. Today, she is on our show to discuss some of what she learned in Afghanistan, how she helped to get families out, what it was like when she learned the U.S. was pulling out of Afghanistan in August of 2021 and what she is still striving to do. I cannot imagine anything more Christmasy, regardless of your belief system, than what Caroline did between 2013 and 2021 in helping five families relocate to the U.S. from Afghanistan or what she is still striving to do. So, Merry Christmas everyone, and her is a heart warming story to help you appreciate just how good we have it in the U.S. More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

The Mackay High School FFA Chapter holds a "Christmas Bazaar" every year, right after the Thanksgiving break to bring the small and isolated community as well as people from the surrounding communities together. The bazaar features some food, some singing and Christmas spirit, but the real emphasis is on community support. This year 49 different small businesses were able to attend for $10 per table and sell their wares to the community. On average each vendor made over $1,000 at the bazaar. At the same time that the businesses were gaining exposure, selling products and meeting community members, people from the remote area had a place to get together with friends and neighbors and do their Christmas shopping all in one location. It is no wonder that this event has been going up and growing in success for up to 25 years now. Tune in for this fun interview on how this all comes together.

Since Christmas is almost here, I think this interview is appropriate! Learn how one FFA member is making a difference to children by purchasing them Christmas presents from money raised by the Wilcox County High School FFA Chapter of Rachelle, Georgia. Listening to this interview will surely get you into the holiday spirit.

Today's interview is special. I rarely get to interview a student, or any guest for that matter, face to face. However, I had accidentally scheduled an interview with Luke Jennings for when he would be at the National FFA Convention and I would be traveling to the convention. So, we decided to do the interview in person in Indianapolis. My studio for this interview happened to be the press box way above the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, so it was quite a different experience for me. Luke came up for the interview after walking across the big stage at the convention for the third time! He and his team had just been recognized for the performance in the parliamentary procedure competition. However, how I had first learned of Luke was due to his nomination for a national proficiency award. Learn more in today's episode.

Hi everyone, Merry Christmas and welcome to our Tuesday episode for the week of Christmas, 2021. In today's episode I'll be talking about some career validation from law enforcement, making a slight revision to our previous rural crime episode and getting pumped for Montana State University being in the national championship game for the first time since 1984! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

The unbelievable stories that I am privileged to cover on this show just never stop! Today I am talking with National Proficiency Finalist, Miles Lee. Miles has an incredible story on many, many levels. To begin, Miles grew up in the city but he and his family would vacation at his Great Uncle's farm in Alabama where they raised pigs and chickens. At an early age this inspired Miles, and a love for farming and agriculture was set in motion. However, there was more to it than just the livestock. Miles found himself fascinated with the soil and the life within the soil. He used to play soccer, and at slow moments in the game he would get scolded for digging in the dirt rather than focusing on the game! That is not what the soccer coach wanted, but this agricultural podcaster couldn't be more thrilled! As his love for the soil grew Miles noticed how often he smelled the bad odors coming from the landfill across the road from his house. He told me that he thought to himself, "there's got to be a better way". This led him to discover vermiculture and vermicomposting with help of a middle school science teacher. Miles explored composting food waste in this type of system, but soon it was time for high school.

Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.ktvq.com/news/montana-ag-network/montana-livestock-brand-re-record-deadline-dec-31 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4U_0V1nLC8 Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/people/eastbourne-police-say-dog-attacks-on-sheep-leave-scene-like-a-horror-story-3496680 https://bc.ctvnews.ca/2-arrested-after-attempted-theft-at-farm-on-flood-damaged-sumas-prairie-1.5710575 https://www.farmersjournal.ie/ford-tractor-stolen-in-kildare-668526 Chalk One Up For The Good Guys https://fremonttribune.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/fremont-man-found-guilty-in-connection-with-farm-burglary/article_dc500ea5-1195-5687-b3b7-225fcb04394c.html https://thatsfarming.com/farming-news/teens-arrested-tractor/ More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Today, Tom Boyer of the American Goat Federation, joins me to talk about the demand for goats, long term trends and the challenges of having supply meet demand for goat in the U.S. It is a great time to be a knowledgeable goat producer with the correct infrastructure in the U.S., but the allure of high prices can also be the catalyst to getting some people into goats before they are really ready. Tom and I will talk all about this and more in this episode.

In today's show, I feature a replay of an awesome interview with one FFA member who is making a goat business work. He is expanding and finding new ways to not only grow his goat herd, but also to grow his goat herd. Check out today's replay of episode 703.

One of the great things about hosting this podcast is that I get to speak with people in every stage of development in their agricultural journeys. Today, I am proud to speak with Shayla Russell. Shayla is just beginning her sophomore year of high school in a beautiful part of Montana, and she is just beginning the development of her own cattle herd. Tune in for more about Shayla in this episode.

I just wrapped up my annual "creative retreat" where I get to focus on nothing but growing, improving and sustaining the Off-Farm Income Podcast. This retreat traditionally happens in Ketchum, Idaho and this year there was no snow. So, I spent a lot of time walking into and out of town. These walks took me to parts of town that I do not normally travel in, including passing by the Post Office. At the Post Office I noticed a big banner that said "Join Us" in an attempt to recruit new employees at the postal service, and it dawned on me how much times have changed. For people starting their working careers in 2021-2022, jobs that used to be perceived as impossible to obtain are now ripe for the picking. What a crazy turn around in our country. More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Back in 2018 I interviewed a high school sophomore named Kaelyn Sumner who was just starting her first agricultural business with honey bees called "K's Bees". At the time she told me about her interest in insects, bees and doing research beyond her entrepreneurship SAE. Fast forward to today, and Kaelyn is a freshman in college at Kansas State University and has followed through on all of those statements that she made. Kaelyn is majoring in Agricultural Education with minors in entomology and food science. She has already lined up work in the food production industry for her summers, and she intends on bring knowledge about food science back to the high school ag classroom as an ag teacher in a few short years. In addition, she has competed in several research projects and seen a lot of success since we talked in 2018, including placing in two, national science contests. Kaelyn is a great example of good goal setting and following through on what your vision is. She has great advice for students in this episode!

As you know, I don't normally conduct interviews for our rural crime episode. However, every now and then an article about rural crime will pop into my inbox and compel me to do just that. This week I am featuring an interview with Dr. Diane Charlton, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at Montana State University in Bozeman. Dr. Charlton and two of her colleagues collaborated on a study looking at the impact of migrant labor during peak work seasons to see whether or not crime rates increased. Their results indicated that not only did crime rates not increase, they decreased when there was a large influx of migrant laborers and copious amounts of work to be done in agriculture. In today's episode we will discuss her research and findings.

Carol Herden is an incredible agricultural sculptor, and this has led her to a full-time career doing what she loves - sculpting farm animals. It is fascinating to me anytime I see an artist develop their craft into a career, and even more so when they do it creating art that resembles agriculture. However, in Carol's case, her journey might be even more fascinating than that. Tune in for her story.

Re purposing vintage and scrap items is a growing hobby for many people today. Not only is today's guest using old farm materials that might otherwise be burned or go to a landfill, she is creating unique artwork. This interview is a replay showcasing Monica's ag background and how that led her to creating artwork using farm scrap materials

Our guest today knows the meaning of a legacy, the meaning of hard work and the reward of seeing your hard work turn into revenue. Jill Uken is a 3rd generation FFA student whose grandfather's membership inspired her and her brothers to join. Jill also witnessed the sweet potato business that her older brother started when he was in the FFA, and she decided to carry it forward. Today, Jill is getting a lot of attention for her project, but it has not come without hard work from everybody in her family. Whether it was the planting of the 500 sweet potato plants, the weed control or the harvesting everyone found out what farming was like prior to the use of mechanized equipment. That is precisely because they don't have any! Illinois is not a place where you would expect to find sweet potato farmers, so there is no harvesting or planting equipment available to rent or borrow. Everything Jill and her family are doing, is done by hand! Learn more about Jill in today's show.

Well, out here in the West we are in a familiar pattern, a pattern of less than optimal forecasts that offer a bit of precipitation and then fall part as they get closer to us. Right now we are experiencing a "weird" La Niña and it is keeping everything dry and warm. For those of us out here in the West we are the complete opposite of all of you who farm with rainfall. We have to get all of our precipitation in the Winter, store it as snowpack, then store it in reservoirs as it runs off to be able to irrigate with it during the growing season. If we don't get that Winter snowpack, some really hard decisions will have to be made for all of us. I'm trying to stay optimistic, and certainly it is not time to ring the emergency bell yet, but I have seen this pattern before. This really started for us last winter. We started out really strong and had a good snowpack, but then the precipitation just shut off and we had one of our driest springs on record. I didn't like the lack of weather activity in the spring, but I thought we were going to be okay because of the snowpack. However, it turned out that the dry spring reduced our ability to store all of that spring runoff. With the soil being so dry from a lack of spring precipitation a lot of that runoff went into the soil and not into the reservoirs. So, we were forced to stop irrigating early this year. I spent this weekend up in the Ketchum and Sun Valley area of Idaho with my family. We traditionally go up to the Wood River Valley on this weekend to play in the snow and to elk hunt. I am used to seeing a foot of snow on the valley floor up there in early December. However, this year there is only snow on the tops of the very highest mountain peaks. All of the hills and mountains around Ketchum are completely bare, and the world famous Sun Valley Ski Resort is operating on a very limited capacity with man made snow. We can still catch up, but looking at this area that is normally buried in snow and seeing it bare starts to wear away at the optimism. Last Spring when I bought my hay for this year, I offered to commit to the farmer to buy just as much from him this year. However, he wouldn't do it. He just said, "we'll have to wait and see if we get any snow this winter". In my area we are already dealing with a shortage of hay because so many hay fields have been taken out of production due to development. If there is not enough water to get the maximum number of cuttings, that shortage is going to be even worse. That is going to drive prices up, and in the long run there will be some people who just can't get hay. I find myself trying to figure out how to mitigate what could be a crisis right now. I have an idea that I am pursuing that might allow me to keep quite a bit of the hay that I purchased this spring. With the warm temperatures we have been having and lack of snow, there are still some fields near by me with quite a bit of forage in them. It makes sense for me to see if I can lease them and graze them off while I still have the chance rather than feed the hay I have out in my stack yard. If that does not work, I am going to have to figure out how I am going to find hay for 2022. And, I will be forced to raise prices on my customers as well. So, this is farming. Admittedly, because we irrigate from snow melt and generally have nothing but fair weather during our growing season we don't seem to deal with crisis caused by weather as much as the rest of you in other parts of the country do. But, it does occasionally happen, and it looks like we will either have an incredible burst of precipitation in the beginning of 2022 to get us back to normal, or this will be one of those years for us. Let's hope for the precipitation for everyone in the West! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

Our guest today, Avery Winters, is her FFA Chapter's President, raises pigs for her supervised agricultural experience and has been a Texas State Proficiency Finalist as well as a District Proficiency Winner in swine production - and she lives in a subdivision. Across the nation we are seeing the enrollment in more and more high school FFA chapters coming from students who live in subdivisions. This is due to two things - first, the outstanding success of the FFA as a program and the subsequent success of FFA students, and the fact that over time communities change and develop leading to the loss of farms and construction of homes.

Tip Of The Week Pay extra attention to newly planted fruit trees? Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.alabamanews.net/2021/12/01/thieves-steal-farm-equipment-in-dallas-co/ https://wsbt.com/news/local/tractors-stolen-crashed-in-fulton-county https://www.enewscourier.com/news/local_news/sheriffs-office-searching-for-stolen-farm-equipment/article_9af7e374-5202-11ec-b5e6-0f26cb659512.html Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-17/205-citrus-trees-stolen-from-south-australian-orchard/100624628 https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/news/rural-crime/appeal-for-witnesses-in-suspected-arson-attack-on-farm-41102258.html Chalk One Up For The Good Guys https://roanoke.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/jury-cellphone-evidence-convict-man-in-montgomery-county-hemp-theft/article_8ef1fae8-52fb-11ec-b9ee-0b37f6205770.html https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-local-byo-212217.html More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

One of my favorite things about hosting this show is catching entrepreneurs and families at the beginning stages of their journeys and being able to see their vision with them. That is certainly true of my interview with Marrianne and Greg Russell, the owners of Rock Bridge Farmstead in Kentucky. Listen in for their whole story.

In today's interview I get to connect with a listener of the show and talk about how he and his wife are making their farm dream come true. I will be speaking with Justin Farrish from West Virginia. Justin has a really interesting farm story. This farm was started by his great-grandfather in the first half of the 20th Century. West Virginia is rocky, mountainous and filled with trees, so there was lots of work to do. Justin talks about his great-grandfather digging out stumps by hand to clear land for grazing. It is really amazing. Today Justin and his wife have been able to move their family to the farm and start putting it back into production. They had to start with remodeling the existing home and making it livable. After that it there is fencing and more clearing to do. They have done a lot of work already and have a lot ahead, but they want to carry this legacy forward and are prepared for this. In the interview we talk about all the challenges that come with a multi-generational farm, including the pressures of keeping it in the family line. We also discuss what Justin does for his off-farm income, and the culture of the area that he and his wife have moved their family into. Here are the show notes from Justin's first appearance on the show:

Sometimes when I conduct an interview I can find myself talking for hours if I am not careful. Usually this is because there are so many different aspects of the guest's story that I could investigate the time just seems to flow by. That was definitely possible in today's interview with National Proficiency Finalist and Minnesota State Officer, Nicole Koziolek. I did a decent job of adhering to my normal time constraints, but there is so much to Nicole's story that it was difficult to not spend 30 minutes on each aspect. To begin, Nicole comes from a farming family and farming legacy. And, she grew up with her two parents who were farming corn and soybeans in Minnesota. Nicole is an only child, so she would go to the farm with them, which is about 30 miles from their home, because she did not want to be left home alone. However, for many of those years Nicole would just ride along and visit. She did not necessarily show any desire to learn about the farming itself. Nicole really was not excited about being part of the FFA, but her parents both had been very involved and wanted that to happen. Eventually, Nicole's mom talked her into attending one, exploratory, meeting just to see what it was all about. Something special happened in that meeting. Nicole was hooked. So hooked, in fact, that she went out of her way to participate. Nicole went to high school at Northfield High School in Northfield, Minnesota. However, they did not have an FFA chapter. The nearest chapter as at Randolph High School about 15 miles away. So, Nicole drove every morning to Randolph and attended two ag classes so that she could participate in the Randolph FFA Chapter. She would then drive back to Northfield High School for the rest of her classes. When it was time for Nicole to start a supervised agricultural experience she was considering a placement SAE, working on her families farm. However, her dad convinced her to take a little risk and try farming for herself with an entrepreneurship SAE. She accepted the challenge but realized that all of those years in the cab of the tractor riding along could have been used to learn everything she now needed to know. So, she started "learning to farm" at a rapid pace. Five years after that initial meeting at the Randolph FFA Chapter, Nicole is now nominated for a national proficiency award. She had progressed from renting 20 acres from her parents to owning 13% of the operation. She is majoring in agricultural communications and marketing at the University Of Minnesota. And, she is a state officer for Minnesota FFA. It is a remarkable journey and the FFA was an incredible catalyst for this transformation and success story!

How many of you find yourselves sitting in your home in the evening after being on your farm all day, tired from physical labor and thinking "this is exactly the life I want"? I had that experience on Sunday night, and it came on the tail end of a lot of physical work. This was just further proof to me that work is not the enemy, the wrong job is the enemy. Sunday night was quite the opposite of the Sunday night's I used to experience. I used to get what I referred to as the "Sunday Night Blues". This was the depression and irritability that set in when I knew that once I went to bed, I would be waking up to go to a job that was the wrong fit. That does not happen to me any longer, but sitting in my living room, looking at my family, feeling physically tired, watching the dog lay in front of the fire and having a feeling of elation come over me is a whole other level. It is more than just the opposite of the "Sunday Night Blues", it is the next rung up the ladder. When I first started this journey, I was just trying to get rid of the "Sunday Night Blues". I never imagined it could reach this level. Here is what my weekend looked like, and what led me to feeling so good on Sunday evening. Friday - our kitchen sink had a catastrophic failure. Outside of chores, plumbing was on the schedule for me this day. Saturday - all day was spent cutting up downed trees in our creek area, splitting them and stacking the wood for heat. Outside of our daily chores this took up our entire day. However, when the day was done and every day since I have been able to look at those stacks of split wood and see the progress that we made. Sunday - after chores Autumm, Hattie and I got busy removing nose guards from our calves and separating them from their mothers. Then we started cleaning out a shed, purging things that we no longer need or use and storing some items in a storage shed on our new property. We have been "slow to grow" on our farm since we bought it in 2011. Instead of incurring debt for new outbuildings and storage to house our personal effects and the equipment we needed for our farm, we have dealt with the clutter of stuffing too many things into too little space. This has included doing things like tarping our lawn equipment over the winter to protect it from the weather. Our patience and frugality has paid off, and now we have expanded. With the expansion came additional out buildings and a pre-existing pad that allowed us to put a shop up at minimal expense. This has acted as a pressure release for the clutter and yesterday I was able to treat the gas in our lawn equipment, pull the batteries and put them to bed for the winter under a roof rather than a tarp. It might seem like a small thing to say out loud, but for me it was a big step in the correct direction. Just like nine years ago when started my very first business, I still have energy for days. I realized then and still realize today that your body does not magically need to rest and reboot at the end of an 8 hour work day. If you are doing something that you love, you can spend all your waking hours working and recharge on just your normal 7-8 hours of sleep. Yesterday, even after the sun had gone down I was still working. I had smaller, indoor projects that needed to get done and I was happy to do them. By the time I put on my sweat pants, sat down in front of the fire and watched a little football we had cleaned out fallen timber in our creek, split cords of wood, stacked split wood, finished weaning calves, purged clutter, put away equipment for the winter and repaired and replaced small equipment at our home. As I sat there and looked at my family and my home I realized that this was all I needed for happiness. I had not spent the weekend walking at a mall, entertaining Hattie at a theme park or taking in movie. All of that is fine every now and then, but it was the accomplishment of worthwhile activities at home that I was getting my fulfillment from. And it is this knowledge that gives me the peace and contentment that so many people cannot find. If you can love your work, you will always have this state of mind available to you. I hope that in some small way, we can help you get there by listening to this show!

Kendra Goplin is a freshman at South Dakota State University, studying ag education. She is also a national proficiency finalist, which is the realization of a lifelong goal. If you are just looking at the student who now will stand on the national stage and be recognized for her accomplishments, you will miss the story of the journey that brought her here. With no disrespect to her accomplishments, that journey is a fascinating part of this story. Listen in to get the details.

Tip Of The Week Consider cameras at your honor system produce stand Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/county/2021/11/25/roundup-fatality-near-punch-bowl-more-ventura-county-news/8760217002/ http://www.northescambia.com/2021/11/ecso-locates-suspects-caught-on-camera-stealing-from-local-farmer-corn-and-peanuts-recovered Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.southwestfarmer.co.uk/news/19741669.tree-surgery-kit-generators-taken-south-molton-farm/ https://www.liphookherald.com/article.cfm?id=141327&headline=Liss%20man%20caught%20red-handed%20by%20police%20drone%20after%20probe%20into%20horsebox%20thefts&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2021 https://www.countytimes.co.uk/news/19742096.appeal-25-sheep-stolen-powys-common-land/ Chalk One Up For The Good Guys https://www.policeprofessional.com/news/rural-crime-partnership-recognised-with-best-team-national-award/ https://www.wxow.com/news/minnesota-news/us-couple-helps-afghans-escape-build-life-in-rural-america/article_7ba3981f-f78c-5f36-90d9-a5bacb70f9b7.html More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

If there is an opposite of being artistic, then I am that person. Therefore, hosting the Off-Farm Income Podcast has allowed me to meet and interview many artistic people that I would otherwise never encounter. It is fascinating to me the way that an artistic person sees the world and is able to craft that vision into something beautiful and pleasing to their fans. On today's episode I am featuring once such artist who has taken his love of agriculture, his artistic ability and his skills in jewelry making and combined them all into a unique and exceptional line of agricultural jewelry. Talk about a value added product! Chris Chaney is the creator of "Agrijewelry", a line of jewelry that began with the creation of a piece that looks astonishingly like a cotton boll. This is was requested by a customer, and Chris went on a pilgrimage to make it happen. One thing led to another and today Chris offers jewelry that looks exactly like a multitude of crops from corn, to soybeans, to peanuts to almonds. And, he has expanded into livestock, wildlife and exotics as well.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I have a lot to be thankful for, and it starts with you! I hope you enjoy the episode.