Off-Farm Income

Our guest today, Tatia Veltkamp, and her husband had an interest - butterflies. This interest turned into a hobby. The hobby grew and eventually turned into a side-hustle. Once the side-hustle started Tatia could see other opportunities. Today, this has grown into a full-blown business called Wings Of Enchantment. Tatia and her husband started breeding butterflies after they gained some exposure to the need and the process. Over time they discovered the demand for these butterflies and saw several opportunities to turn this into a business. Today they own "Wings Of Enchantment" in New Mexico. They are spreading awareness about butterflies, habitats, and the plants that are needed to support the species. They have also recognized several ways to generate revenue from this and put them into practice: Classroom Presentations Butterly Releases Life Cycle Kits Displays The concept of butterfly releases was very interesting to me as I never even knew this existed. For special events, memorial services, dedications, you name it, people like to release butterflies. Wings Of Enchantment can provide the butterflies for you and even help you figure out how to make it work best. From a business standpoint, there is a lot to be gained from this episode. Tatia and her husband are surviving the transition of loving something enough that they did it for fun, to turn it into a business. They have been able to do this and not lose the love or passion they had for butterflies in the first place. That is always the real question when turning a hobby into a business - will you continue to love it or will the business rob you of that.

How many of us have racked our brains trying to figure out a business we could start that would set us on our path to independence? I know that I am in that group, and I spent years trying to come up with the idea that would work. This is why I love interviewing FFA students. Sometimes they make it look so simple that it is an excellent lesson for the rest of us. Elliot Scheaffer has a great business. He cuts up firewood, splits it, sorts onto 1/2 chord pallets, sells and delivers it. He has enough business that he has actually pulled down his Facebook ads because he doesn't want any more orders at this time. And, all of the firewood that he sells is obtained for free. Elliot's business is brilliant and simple all at the same time. As he drives around the countryside in his area of Iowa he sees people who have trees down on their property. He will contact them, offer to clean up the downed tree in exchange for the wood, and voila! he has a product to sell. Then Elliot cuts and splits the wood stacks it onto pallets and delivers it to his customers where he will stack it for them. While so many of us are driving around wondering what kind of business we could start, Elliot is driving around finding things to sell and starting. There is so much that we could learn from his example.

Today's guest, Tristan Miller, is the second FFA student who is a fifth-generation farmer to appear on the show in a row. Tristan currently works and lives on his family's farm north of Sacramento, California that has been part of his legacy since just after the Civil War. During that time, the farm has seen a lot of changes. For example, they used to raise cattle in addition to crops until drought made that unprofitable. Also, their farm and farms in their area used to be dominated by rice, but now almonds are taking over. Tristan takes all of this in stride and loves the farm work and responsibility he has on the home place. When I asked him what his day-to-day work looks like, his answer was simple and to the point - "whatever grandpa tells me to do!". Tristan has plans to return to the farm at some point, but he has some other interests that are enticing to him right now. He is heading off to college to study agricultural business next year. He also wants to get certified to drive large equipment so that he can operate large earthmovers for Cal Fire during wildfire season. If that weren't enough, he would like to start his own business cutting and bailing hay for farmers. Tristan is definitely motivated, and it is going to be exciting to see where he takes this journey.

We talk about it all the time on this show - how can you get to the life in which all you have to do is farm or ranch? What if you already had an enterprise that would allow you to quit that job in town and farm or ranch full-time, but you just didn't know it? On today's show, we will speak with Dallas Mount. Dallas has a history of advising and teaching folks in agriculture, and now he is the owner of Ranch Management Consultants and their key course, Ranching For Profit, in Wheatland, Wyoming. Dallas will be talking with us about how he and his people help to identify areas within people's ranching and farming enterprises that are going underutilized or are acting as a drag on their profits. He will talk about strategies for improving an operation, increasing productivity, and enhancing profits. He will also talk about the challenges to implementing those strategies when there are other stakeholders involved in the operation. Dallas accurately points out that formal, agricultural education really emphasizes production when it comes to teaching ag students. Therefore, there are a lot of ranchers out there with a large amount of knowledge and skill when it comes to production, but who still need to learn how to look at their enterprise from the perspective of a business person.

You may wonder why I have a video of the Oprah Winfrey Show with Jim Carrey at the top of a post about farming and entrepreneurship. The reason that I did this is that today's guest, Tyler Hendrickson, said something that really made me think about this story from Jim Carrey. If you watch the video clip you will see that Jim Carrey visualized himself as an actor long before he was successful. He then wrote a check to himself for $10 million for "acting services rendered". Ultimately what he visualized he was ultimately able to make happen. Tyler does not yet have a farm. However, he named his diesel tuning business "Hendrickson Farms LLC". Tyler knows what he wants to do, and he has visualized it. He wants to farm, and he has chosen entrepreneurship as the pathway to achieving that. So, even though he does not have the farm yet, he has the business.....Hendrickson Farms LLC. He knows that someday in the future he will be selling crops and livestock under that name, and he has chosen entrepreneurship to make that happen. ADVICE FROM TYLER: LISTEN: Listen to everyone intently for information that will make it easier for you to succeed as you move forward. RELATIONSHIPS: Find a way to continually be developing relationships with people as you grow. These people will help you succeed in your chosen business either by being mentors or customers. PERSONAL HABIT THAT MAKES TYLER SUCCESSFUL: DON'T QUIT: Tyler doesn't do this. He sees every job through to its completion, no matter what it takes to get it finished. BEST BUSINESS ADVICE EVER GIVEN TO TYLER: "If you shoot for the moon and fall short you will still be among the stars"...or something very close to that. Tyler's grandfather, through his words and example, showed Tyler that you need to set your goals high. That way even if you fall short you have still accomplished something significant.

Our guest today is a 5th generation farmer from Tennessee. Campbell Baker and his father are jointly raising cattle on land outside of Carthage, Tennessee, which has been in the family since the late 1800s. Where they are located is just about 50 miles to the east of Nashville. With all of the growth in and immigration to Tennessee and Nashville right now, Campbell sees many changes that he never expected. As more and more beautiful farms are turned into subdivisions, Campbell has realized that when he takes over this farming enterprise, he will face challenges unlike any faced by his ancestors in the past. The growth, loss of farms, and diminishing open spaces can certainly be considered negative. However, Campbell chooses to put a positive spin on things. Campbell and his father have recognized that the influx of people also means potential new markets and new customers for directly marketed beef. Therefore, they have been learning about new grazing techniques, new breeds of cattle, and how to market to folks in the city. They are prepping for the future and looking at how their farming operation can be sustainable through the future and possibly even more productive and profitable. Campbell definitely has a passion for what he is doing. He understands all the different forages available on their farm, grazing techniques, and why a smaller breed of cattle might serve them better. He also is preparing to go to college to learn about agricultural business and marketing to put himself into a position to grow this operation in the future.

Our guest today is a sophomore in high school, and she is already figuring out how to farm. Lily Noel is the owner of Hilltop Pumpkins, and she is well on her way to developing a successful pumpkin farming business. Growing up on her family's farm, Lily found an extra acre of ground where she could start growing pumpkins. Then she started figuring out how to market her crop. Then she started figuring out how to extend her sales and marketing season by adding in different varieties of pumpkins. Soon, she found herself selling pumpkins at three different locations in her county. What stood out to me about this interview with Lily was how she recognized that her pumpkins were not going to be the main priority on the family farm. This meant that she had to work around the other farming operations. They were not going to work around her. So, when Lily is doing things such as planning out locations to grown more pumpkins in the future, she has to cognizant of their proximity to other crops, and if those crops might need to be sprayed with chemicals during the growing season that could harm her pumpkins. It seems simple enough, "Just grow some pumpkins and sell them in the fall". But nothing is ever as simple as you think it will be. Lily is finding that out and doing an excellent job adapting to those complexities.

I have a lot of authors reach out to me, requesting that they be guests on the show. I almost never say yes, but today that is very different. Today, I am very excited to have Shannon Hayes on the show. Shannon has a great story of shifting mindsets, pursuing a rural and agricultural lifestyle, and making it work. And, she has written a fantastic book called Redefining Rich chronicling all of it and the lessons that she has learned along the way. The title of this book really stood out to me when I first saw the proposal. I talk about redefining retirement on the show all the time. It seemed to be such a natural corollary to redefine what it means to be rich as well. So much of Shannon has experienced and talks about in this book is exactly what I have gone through since the time that I chose lifestyle and fulfillment over dollars and cents. The journey that you want to take, to the lifestyle that you want to have is going to force you to change your mindset in multiple different ways. If you try to stay in the mindset of the full-time employee, ultra-consumption lifestyle while pursuing your dream, you will never make the sacrifices or adjust your priorities in a way that will lead to success. Shannon's book is an excellent template for how to change that mindset and find true happiness. I talk about how lucky those of us with rural values who want to live in rural areas are, all the time. However, this makes no difference if you can't look around you and see yourself as rich because of the way in which you get to live. Shannon's book will absolutely help you see it and make that change. We will start you off with this great interview.

Our guest today has a story that is very similar to mine in that he has a heart for service and this manifested itself first in the military, later in local law enforcement and finally in his very own service business, Leedy Farm and Property Services. Chuck Leedy moved away from his home in Dryden, Virginia a couple of times during his life. But ultimately, after having children, he decided he wanted to return home and farm. The challenge for him in doing that was what would he do to produce the income he would need for household expenses not covered by farm revenue. Chuck decided upon entrepreneurship, but his did not happen suddenly. He was working as a maintenance technician for McDonald's at four different restaurants and building his business on the side. As he continued to build his business he discovered that the reputation he had built for himself in the community from serving as a law enforcement officer was helping him to get business. This was only natural as people inherently trusted him to be on their property. Chuck went through the "crazy time" like so many entrepreneurs do when they are trying to transition from their full-time job to full-time self-employment. Finally, after working many hours per week between the business and the job he was able to break away and become a full-time entrepreneur. Once this happened he was able to focus more on his business and his farm. Now he is on a great trajectory to live the life for himself and his family that he has envisioned. ADVICE FROM CHUCK: COMMUNICATE: Chuck and I both learned through our careers in law enforcement that communication with customers is key. When he gets busy, something goes wrong or the farm demands his attention he can maintain positive relationships with customers through good communication. REPUTATION: Chuck has a great reputation in his community, and he does not take that lightly. That is something that needs to be protected. RELIABLE: Customers want somebody that they can depend on. You need to be reliable for them to truly trust that they can rely on you. PERSONAL HABIT THAT MAKES CHUCK SUCCESSFUL: ORGANIZED DRIVE: Chuck has a drive that helps him finish what needs to get done. And he compliments his time in the military for making him organized to get all the different things finished that he has on his schedule. BEST BUSINESS ADVICE EVER GIVEN TO CHUCK: This advice was given to Chuck by his grandfather: "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing it right the first time". CONTACT INFORMATION AND LINKS: Chuck's Email Address: [email protected]

Have you ever heard the saying that "you will know it when you see it?" If you were to ask me how I can tell who will make it as an entrepreneur, that is probably the answer that I would receive. Sometimes you know what you know. In the case of our guest today, Anna Collins, this is a young lady who will make it as an entrepreneur if she chooses to be one. How do I know this? It is all about looking at the actions that she has already taken and realizing that people who are not serious about an enterprise do not do what she has. Anna loves horses, and she is determined to have her own business teaching others to ride and training. That sentence is not unique to Anna. You could make the same statement about many people who love horses and want to turn it into a full-time living. However, you could find countless people who have given up on that dream because they didn't have a farm or facilities or because there was too much liability. None of this has stopped Anna. In high school, Anna is already teaching people to ride and training horses, and she is doing it on another family's farm and in their facilities. I could not interview them about why they allow Anna to do this, but I think it is highly likely that they saw the same drive and dedication in Anna that I did, and they wanted to help her achieve her dream. So, even though Anna did not have a proper facility, she did not allow that to stop her, and she is underway. Putting other people's children on horseback and teaching them to ride is filled with potential liability. This is the type of issue in which you would expect a parent to step in and slow a high school student down to keep them from getting themselves or the property owners into hot water in a business like this. However, as I interviewed Anna, she had the correct answer to everything regarding civil liability. She is knowledgeable about business structures, waivers, insurance, etc. It is the fact that she has done the research, learned all about the business, and made the arrangements to shield everyone from liability that shows show clearly how devoted she is. People who are just talking don't go to the headache of learning what an LLC is. They don't scour the internet, finding the correct liability waiver for their particular business, but Anna did.

Today we get to profile a very interesting family business from the Central Valley of California. Moreila Vieyra Santana lives on her families 20 acre horse property in Madera. They have a large barn for boarding horses, and they put on equestrian events that draw people in from all over the Valley. They are definitely helping to keep the horse culture of California alive. Moreila and her brother and sister work in the family business. On a daily basis, Moreila is cleaning out stalls, combing horses, and providing lessons. When it is time to host an event she is busy doing whatever needs to be done to make sure that the customer and all of the spectators and contestants are having a great time and are satisfied. In this manner, Moreila does not get to enjoy the event like everyone else, but she learns a lot about business. Moreila speaks fondly of her family's business as well as the leadership skills she is gaining in the FFA. It is obvious that she is not afraid to step up and lead. One of the things that she cites about her family's business is that she sees areas for improvement. From the perspective of a sophomore in high school, she sees other things and events that they could be providing that would be good for the community as well as the business. And, she is not afraid to approach this with her parents. This is one of the parts of interviewing FFA students that I enjoy so much. They are encouraged to try their ideas and voice their opinions about how things can be improved. In addition to preserving a rich culture in her part of California, Moreila is not shy about suggesting improvements, and this is going to serve her well going forward.

On today's rural crime episode, Matt talks to Captian Greg Whitehead with the Tennessee Ag Crime Investigation Unit about protecting farmers from being victims of rural crime. They discuss what kinds of crimes the unit investigates, how prolific is the theft of timber, and what can people do to protect themselves from this happening. Is there a black market for stolen timber or is there just no way for legitimate sellers to know any difference?

Farmers typically have a reputation for being strong, stoic, silent types who can handle anything that comes their way. While I believe this is 100% true, I have to ask if this stigma prevents farmers and ranchers from asking for help regarding mental health? In today's episode, Matt pulls himself out of bed while battling the coronavirus to talk to Dr. Tina Christine L. Chasek about the importance of mental health in agriculture. Dr. Christine L. Chasek is a Mental Health Counselor in Kearney, NE, with special training and skill in working with individuals, groups, and communities to improve mental health dysfunctions by discussing emotions and experiences, then prescribing custom holistic solutions. As a Mental Health Counselor, Christine L. Chasek, LMHP, LPC performs assessments and diagnostics, psychotherapy, treatment planning, and crisis management. Mental Health Counseling is flexible, consumer-driven therapy that combines psychotherapy with practical, problem resolution strategies.

To make money in the cattle industry, you need to be creative. Today's guest, Cody Voss, has found his creative niche. Along with his father, they have figured out how to buy bred cows that have missed calving season for one reason or another. They take the cattle home and sell them back about a month after they calve. The trick here is picking a cow that will act reasonably after having her calf. Cody and his dad have a circuit of about five auctions they go to looking for these cows. The auctioneers know them and know what they are looking for and can steer them in the right direction. They have figured out who the breeders are that are selling the cows at auction, and they know whose cows are good but just missed a heat cycle and are being sold because they are outside of the calving season. I really like this business model. In addition to all of this Cody raises sheep and goats. Plus he and his family custom raise hogs in Iowa. This has led Cody to many proficiency applications and Stars Over Iowa.

It is always amazing to me what a student in high school is capable of when they get fired up about agriculture. Our guest in today's episode is just beginning high school, and she already has so much going for her in addition to having her future well mapped out. Cameron Shelton is a freshman at Monache High School in Porterville, California. She has been involved in the 4H for six years and is just completing her first year of FFA. She has been showing goats for several years, and currently keeps a herd of 15 wethers at her home about 20 minutes away from Porterville. Cameron's sister preceded her in the FFA, and she is now living and working in Texas, still involved with goats. This has exposed both Cameron and her sister to opportunities in the goat business, and they have taken full advantage. Cameron and her sister are now co-owners in goats from sea to shining sea, including California, Texas, and Delaware! It is really amazing how deep into the industry Cameron has got herself before she has even finished her freshman year of high school. If that weren't enough, Cameron knows that she wants to be a veterinarian. As such, she has already identified the top three schools that she would like to attend to propel her into this career: Texas A&M, Tarleton State University, and Colorado State University. It is really exciting to see a student get this fired up about their future!

If you have been listening to the Off-Farm Income Podcast for long, you know the question I always asking young men and women who are paying rent to a relative to be able to farm some of their ground. I always want to know why the relative has them pay rent if they want them to succeed. And the answer is always some form of how that relative is passing down wisdom and teaching the student work ethic and how things work in the real world. Today's interview is a great example of this exact thing. Kidridge Griffin has been farming since he was twelve years old, and his father and his grandfather have always made him cover his own end. This has turned out very well for Kidridge as he has just graduated from high school but he is already leasing over 100 acres of farm ground and has built up a herd of 70+ mother cows. Kidridge has been given a lot of wisdom over the years, and it is obvious that he has listened. One of the ways that I could tell was by the fact that he is able to defer pleasure. He works full-time on his family's farm, but he doesn't receive any pay. Instead, he receives feed in the winter for his calves, and he receives the use of the family's farming equipment. This has allowed Kidridge to farm on his own and ever start doing paid farming jobs for other people in the community. Most 18-year-olds, me included, would want to be paid right now for our work so I could go spend the money on something. However, Kidridge is different. He is completely willing to forgo the cash to reinvest back in his farming enterprise because he has his eyes on something bigger in the future!

On today's show, we have a special Friday edition for you. Our guest is Elliot Prestwich, the producer of the Off-Farm Income Podcast. The stars definitely aligned to bring Elliot to his role on the show. Today we will introduce you to him, his role at Off-Farm Income, and talk about what is next to come! Elliot has an extensive background in audio production coming from the live entertainment and recording industry. He is an expert in brand management and marketing. Elliot is currently producing Off-Farm Income and the D&B Supply Show Podcasts. He even wrote his own bumper music for his special episode, lets us know what you think!

This was a very interesting interview. I did not get to any of my normal business questions because I was so fascinated by learning about how Joseph Carter catches, trains, and hunts with mink to get to them. One of our great listeners, Dave Lehman, recommended Joseph as a guest to me. What is ironic about this and also demonstrates the power of social media is that Joseph and I live relatively close to each other. However, Dave lives on the other side of the country. But he was very familiar with Joseph while I was not. What Joseph does with mink is awesome from a business standpoint. He can find and flush rats and muskrats. Based on my previous business of gopher extermination I am very curious to see if mink can hunt rock chucks (marmots). In the area of Idaho that I live in, if an effective solution for rock chucks could be found, that could be a very good business. ADVICE FROM JOSEPH: TIME: You had better devote the time needed to train your mink. If you don't you will assume, like so many before you, that they are untrainable. REST OF THE BUSINESS QUESTIONS: I will have to get to these on a follow-up interview with Joseph as I took way too much time discussing how mink hunt and hearing his story to get to them in this episode. CONTACT INFORMATION AND LINKS: YouTube Channel: LINK Facebook Page: LINK BOOKS:

Each and every one of us has an obstacle that we will have to overcome if we are going to find success and happiness. And, it is a natural tendency to believe that we are the only ones facing hardship when we are in the midst of going through something. But the truth is, if you had access to every person's personal information, that you would realize that life is hard for everyone, and everybody is overcoming something. Today's episode is a reminder of this and a beautiful example of what is possible when we are determined to now allow anything to stand in our way. Our guest, Halle Miller, has both a before and after picture to this story. Looking at this story today you are seeing the results of a lot of work and determination, and as most talented people do, Halle makes it look easy. Halle is a talented public speaker and entrepreneur, and she is excelling in both categories through her work with Ohio Ag Net and her own business breeding and selling Bordoole puppies. Her before pictures looks much different. As a young girl, she was extremely shy. She also had a traumatic incident involving a dog that took years of determination and therapy to overcome. However, Halle refuses to let anything stand in her way. So, over the years she has gone from shy and terrified of dogs to becoming a premier breeder of Bordooles and a reporter. It is these transitions that make interviewing FFA students so special, and I am pleased to share this story with you today.

If you have something you want to do or a job you want to take, and you want to make sure that you wind up in a place that suits you very well, how do you find the right fit? Let's take college as an example. Let's say that you want to find a college atmosphere that will offer you what you are looking for academically and also be a place that will help you to thrive. There are 5,300 colleges in the United States. How in the world do you figure out which one of these places will do that? Our guest today, Sydney Alsip, offers some good advice on this process. Sydney is just getting ready to graduate high school, and her dream is to travel and judge sheep shows. She knows that she wants to go to a college with an excellent livestock judging program, but she also wants the college to be a good fit for her personality type. Most colleges with the best livestock judging programs are two-year schools. However, the colleges you hear the most about are the higher profile, four-year universities. So, if they are getting all the press, how do you find that school that fits you and isn't getting any press? Sydney did this by putting herself around people who were having success in college judging livestock. This is an important lesson. She wanted to do this and to find the right place, so she gravitated to people who were doing what she wanted to do. By listening to their conversations, asking good questions, and following their example she identified the right college for her. What is so impressive about what Sydney did is that she found the right fit at the College of Northern Oklahoma, even though she is from Kentucky. Talk about a diamond in the rough! But, she did it, and this is possible for anyone else. If you know what you want to do but don't know how to start, put yourself in the company of those people who are doing what you want to do. The rest will take care of itself.

This show is all about helping you find a way to achieve the farming or ranching dream that you have. In today's episode, we are going to illustrate the single most important way to make this happen. Cody Bumgarner is an enterprising young man who is building up a significant bison herd and bison meat business right in my backyard called "Idaho Bison". Cody is raising his buffalo just about 40 miles away from my farm, near New Plymouth, Idaho. Getting into the bison business is not easy. Bison are expensive, and they take a long time for you to start generating revenue from them. In addition to that, they require special handling facilities because of their size and their wild nature. Plus, if you are looking for an operating loan you might not be able to get one because bankers don't like bison herds as collateral because they are too difficult to sell. Cody was exposed to the bison business by one of his friends, and when he saw how valuable the cuts of meat were he decided that he wanted in. His friend agreed to allow him to build his herd within his already existing herd and on the property that had the vital infrastructure in place already. All that was left for Cody to do was to start buying buffalo. Buffalo are expensive, and this expense could have killed the motivation of a lot of people. However, Cody's motivation is strong and his priority is developing a profitable farm business. So, he went to Alaska. That may sound funny, but for two years Cody went and worked underground on a drill rig in a gold mine in Alaska. This was as a high-paying job that he could get, and he took advantage of the opportunity to send money home and have it invested in his herd of buffalo. Today, Cody has developed a significant herd, partnered with two other producers, and started marketing bison meat. They are selling more and more all the time, and he is well on his way to achieving this goal. Cody is a great example of how to get started farming today. Networking, partnering with the right people, bringing value to those partnerships, prioritizing farming and hard work is what will get you there. Cody is what we call "proof of concept".

SHOW NOTES Are you looking for your niche in agriculture? Do you wish you could farm but not have to work outside during the cold and windy winters? Would you like to provide food directly to people but also for livestock? If so, today's episode is for you. On today's show, we discuss the emerging market of mealworms for human and animal consumption with Cheryl Powers of Jord Producers. Cheryl knew she wanted to return to agriculture, but she defined a set of parameters before deciding what she would do. Between defining how she wanted to farm and what she wanted her business to accomplish she discovered mealworm production. Now Cheryl is identifying new markets, producing brood worms, and has team members helping her to grow this business. If you are looking for your niche, this episode is for you! ADVICE FROM CHERYL: SKILLS: Look for team members that have skills that you lack. They need to compliment you in this way. HELP: Find help in your community in developing businesses. Then take full advantage. INTERVIEW: Interview potential customers as you are developing your idea. This will help you know whether or not it is viable, and how to pivot your business. BEST BUSINESS ADVICE CHERYL HAS RECEIVED: DELIVER: You better be able to deliver what you promise. Don't be just another company that makes big claims but cannot follow through. RESOURCES: The Lean LaunchPad by Steve Blank CONTACT INFORMATION AND LINKS: Facebook: LINK Email: LINK Telephone: 402-469-0038

SHOW NOTES: I had an interesting transition from community college to a four-year university in 1993. My first three semesters of college were spent in Modesto at Modesto Junior College studying animal science. During that time I was living at home, working full-time, and then working as much as I could at my step-father's farm in my free time. I was busy, but it was working. I had a 3.5 GPA, and I was on the Dean's List. I was performing at a high level. Then I transferred to Montana State University, didn't have a job, joined the club baseball team, and lived in the dorm. I had my first ever semester in which I did not achieve at least a 3.0, and my first ever semester achieving below a 2.0. I was almost immediately placed on academic probation. I continued to get poor grades for about a year. Then I hit pause on college, got residency in Montana, and started paying for college myself. Once I was back to more of a stressful lifestyle with harder classes, a heavier class load, full-time work, rent and tuition to pay, etc. I saw my grades creep back up. It became clear to me that I was left to create my own structure because of free time I was not nearly as familiar as if I were forced to create structure due to being busy. If I only had 90 minutes in a week to work on an assignment, I would concentrate intently on that assignment and do a better job. If I had copious amounts of free time, I would wonder where all the time went, and I would do poorly. For years I thought I was all alone, but today I interviewed Anna Webel. Anna is just finishing up her sophomore year in high school, but she has already discovered this about herself. She keeps herself incredibly busy playing sports in all three seasons, serving as an officer in the FFA chapter, raising cattle at home, and showing cattle at different shows around Illinois and beyond. She is achieving at a high level in all of these areas, and she credits the need to have structure to be able to participate in everything that interests her. Without it, she knows that she would have to give something up, and that drives her to maximize her performance in everything she does when she gets the opportunity to work on it.

A word that is probably overused in entrepreneurial circles these days is "pivot". However, like all overused words, it has a good meaning. If you are not familiar, when somebody talks about pivoting in business it means being flexible enough to change direction as circumstances dictate so that you can find business success. Our guest today did just that, and it has led her into a real opportunity for business success as she rounds out the latter half of her high school FFA experience. Kailea Tilton is currently a sophomore at Seneca High School in Louisville, Kentucky. During her freshman year of high school, when trying to come up with a supervised agricultural experience, she decided that she would get a rabbit and teach it how to do tricks as part of a livestock SAE. She tried everything she could think of, month after month, and she could never get the rabbit to do what she wanted. So, she had a decision to make - start completely over or rework what she had already begun. Kailea decided to pivot. She knew that she liked to bake, and she knew that she liked her rabbit and her other pets. She decided to explore baking treats for her pets and the pets of other people. She was sticking with a form of her original project, searching for success. At this point "Hershel's Bakery" was born, and she started creating treats and testing how well they were received on pets around her neighborhood. It wasn't long until she knew that she was onto something. At that point, Kailea leveraged her mom's Facebook profile and posted a flyer announcing her business and treats. In no time at all, she had over 100 orders and was well on her way. Kailea got started with the help of a $500 grant from the Kentucky FFA Foundation. This was pivotal in helping her to purchase ingredients. She is now looking ahead to applying for more SAE grants and growing her business even larger. She has determined that she likes working for herself and sees entrepreneurship as a part of her future.

Any of you who have been listening to this show for some time know how we find our guests for Friday episodes. Generally, we comb through Craigslist ads looking for somebody with an agricultural business, and then we reach out to them to see if they will be on the show. About two weeks ago my producer, Elliot, was doing this very thing when he came across an ad in Wyoming for grass hay, horse grazing, and horse boarding. He sent an email to the author of that ad asking him if he would like to be a guest on the show. The answer was yes, and it turned out that Elliot had opened up an oyster that contained a pearl. Elliot had reached Reid Lance Rosenthal. Not only was Reid the author of that Craigslist ad, but he is the author of many, many books, a rancher, a radio host, a real estate investor, and a broker as well as a public speaker. Reid is the author of the "Threads West" series of books including notable titles such as Maps Of Fate and Moccasin Track. So, what was going to be an interview about side businesses in agriculture turned into an interview about books, ranches, writing methods, and favorite writers. I had a great conversation with Reid, and I think you are going to really enjoy hearing this discussion. I know I enjoyed having it! Connect with Reid Lance Rosenthal www.threadswestseries.com www.landforloveandmoney.com www.facebook.com/threadswest www.facebook.com/romancingthewest

SHOW NOTES INTRODUCING ANNA LINK! As an entrepreneur, I really appreciate people who go out and seize opportunities. Actually, people who create their own opportunities are the ones that impress me most of all. Our guest today, Anna Link, did just that, and that is how she wound up being on this show. Anna reached out to me and another agricultural podcast host, Rob Sharkey, on Twitter and requested to be a podcast guest. I had her send me an email and let me know what she has been doing in the FFA, and it was a no-brainer. I booked her on the show right away. Creating her own opportunities seems to be a character trait of Anna's, as requesting to be a guest on this show is certainly not the only time that she has done this. Anna raises Hereford hogs, and she does so because they are so underrepresented in the show pig world. But she did not stop there. She started a Facebook group for people with Hereford hogs in Missouri. That group has grown and now has spread across state lines. Anna also took the initiative to be part of the 4H as well as the FFA, as her parents were not pushing her to go that direction, she lives in town and does not have a farm. Those efforts have led her in a good direction though, and she found herself serving as her chapter's president as well as her area's reporter. Enjoy this episode with this exciting young student.

INTRODUCING JAYLA WASHINGTON: It is always difficult to quantify what I love about interviewing FFA students the most. Each time I try I do come back to a common theme, and that is that the projects these students take on are all vision and almost no mitigation due to real-world realities. As adults when we start a project or business we have to do it within certain confines. We still need to make the mortgage payment, we don't want to lose our life savings that are in the 401K, we have to keep enough time in our schedule to be a good spouse or parent, etc., etc. These realities of adulthood can really scale back a project or even make it seem unworkable. With FFA students they just aren't subject to these things, and they can let their imaginations run wild. Normally, by the time I have found out about them and invited them to be on the show, these ideas have turned into something wonderful. That is definitely the case with today's guest, Jayla Washington. Jayla is in her third year of the FFA at Lowcountry Leadership Charter School in Hollywood, South Carolina. Prior to entering the FFA Jayla had been observing her grandfather's efforts to serve their community by growing vegetables and donating them to people in need in the surrounding community. Of course, one of the major aspects of the FFA is service, so when Jayla became a member this seemed like a natural fit for her. Thus began "Produce For All", which is Jayla's non-profit operation to provide organic, fresh, and healthy food into a local food desert in her area. This started out with her networking with food banks to get food into these areas, but it has grown. As of our interview, Jayla has been awarded a $1,000 SAE grant two years in a row. The first year from the CCOF in Santa Cruz, California, and Bob Evans Farms this year. Both of these grants have enabled her to expand her operation with equipment so she can produce even more organic produce to donate into her local food desert. Jayla definitely has a vision. She is a junior in high school right now, and one of the things she wants to do with this project before she graduates is turned it into a placement SAE for another FFA student. She is planning on going to college in Alabama to study horticulture, and she wants somebody to continue to run this non-profit while she is away. So at the same time that she is keeping organic produce flowing into an area where it is really needed she will be creating an SAE opportunity for another student. Brilliant! Jayla has discovered a career path that will help her to aid other people in need through being a horticultural therapist. This was the first time that I had ever heard of this profession, but she explained to me how it works. She is completely dedicated to service, and it is wonderful to see where is going to take this. Connect with Jayla's Local Farm on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaylas_local_farm/

INTRODUCING BETHANY KELLER: The tagline for the Off-Farm Income Podcast calls agriculture "the ultimate lifestyle business". I have made the argument for why this is true many, many times. One thing that we have never really done is delved deeply into why people are so attracted to this lifestyle. What is it that will make people work twice the hours for half the money just to be part of this group? One answer to that is community. It is the community that we are so fortunate to be part of in agriculture that pulls people in. People in agriculture have old-fashioned values, and one of those old values is helping each other out. I think what keeps that ever-present in agriculture and farming is the fact that any of us can find ourselves in a situation that we cannot get out of ourselves at any moment. The need to call on neighbors or even strangers is always there. Today's interview profiles exactly why we love this community so much. It all starts with Bethany Keller. Bethany is a senior at Newberry High School in Newberry, Florida. She has been in their FFA chapter since middle school. About a year ago Bethany lost her grandfather to cancer. About a month after that she began her 2021 fair project, which was a steer that she was going to show and then sell at her county fair in March of 2021. Like any fair project, there is a lot of work involved, but with a steer, I think there is more. You have to start sooner, your feed cost will be higher, your purchase cost will be higher, you have to halter break, you need bigger equipment to transport a steer - everything is magnified. To get motivated for a project of this scope a student needs to see a reward on the other end. Normally, that reward comes at the auction when you make money off of your steer. This was Bethany's motivation, and this was totally appropriate. But about halfway to the fair Bethany found out that one of her friends had been diagnosed with cancer, and he and his family were facing significant medical bills. Her friend's diagnosis changed everything for Bethany. She decided then and there to forgo what she was going to make from the steer and to donate all the proceeds to help him with the medical bills. He resisted, but she insisted and it was done. The fair arrived in March, and the night prior to the auction she was taken around the show ring, and a fair representative told her story and what she was doing. The following day at the auction, the auctioneer told the story again. Then the bidding for her steer began. By the time it was all said and done, Bethany's community had bid her steer up to over $16,000. She was able to provide a great donation to her friend and his family through her selflessness and the generosity of her community. That is a community and lifestyle worth making sacrifices to be part of!

SHOW NOTES Today's Friday episode is a little bit different than normal. There are two major points of value in this episode. First, is the lesson that when you take the step to reach out to others for help or advice you just never know where it will take you. Second, are some practical tips about how to start your own podcast for your own form of off-farm income. The way this all started is that a young lady named Ashley Elsbernd, who is currently a junior at South Winneshiek High School, reached out to Warren Clark of AgPR Media for advice about starting her own podcast to profile the projects and accomplishments of her fellow FFA members. Warren then referred her to me to see if I could help her. Instead of just trading some emails and answering some of her questions, I decided to have Ashley on the show and have her interview me. This forced her to think up questions that she wanted answers to, and it took her way out of her comfort zone. However, by the time it was all said and done, Ashley had completed her first-ever podcast interview, and she had the experience to take her deeper into her project. Oh, and she and any of you who are interested had information that could help you to develop your own podcast as your form of off-farm income. I hope this was both helpful and entertaining for all of you.

SHOW NOTES One of the mantras of this show is that if you want to farm and to farm successfully you need to be willing to relocate. This has everything to do with land prices and land quality. If you live in an area that has inflated land prices due to land buyers that are not ag-related, your chances of making it and farming full-time decrease because of this increased land payment. I have never had a great answer, only a good one, for how to go about finding the right place outside of your area. There are millions of farmable acres across the United States. How can a person truly go find just the right spot? Fortunately for me, I was connected to Steven Brockshus, the founder of Farm Finder, through the American Farm Bureau Federation. In today's episode, I get to speak with Steven all about this great business and website that he started that is designed to allow anyone to find the perfect piece of farm ground for their interests. This can be done by entering the exact parameters you are looking for, checking the soil types, viewing the sale prices of comparable farms, etc. And, in addition to all of this, I get to profile a wonderful success story of a previous FFA national officer who has taken his time in the FFA to the next level. ADVICE FROM STEVEN: PURPOSE: Know your purpose when you start a venture. It is important to know where you are trying to go in order for you to get there. LIVE: When looking at farm ground it is really important to know whether or not you want to live there. This really influences the decision process and how good of a farm you purchase. FINANCE: Have your financing in order and understand the numbers. Without this, the best farm in the world might still fail. CONTACT INFORMATION: Website: https://www.farmlandfinder.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarmlandFinder Twitter: https://twitter.com/FarmlandFinder Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/farmlandfinder/ Email: [email protected]

INTRODUCING JENNA SPANGLER: Obviously, the reason that I started interviewing FFA students was their involvement in entrepreneurship. The way that the FFA facilitates exposure and learning in entrepreneurship is second to none. And, as the title of this episode suggests it really is an entrepreneurship incubator. That is very apparent in our interview with today's guest, Jenna Spangler. Jenna is a very competitive person, and upon joining the FFA she found that this organization served her competitive spirit very well. Through a myriad of different contests and competitions, she found exactly what she was looking for. Then the day came that she wanted to go on a mission trip and needed to raise $150 to make this happen. Jenna decided that she would make ice cream and sell it to people for the fundraiser and actually pre-sold what she needed to raise. This motivation is what led Jenna to be exposed to business and entrepreneurship. She found herself really enjoying making and selling products to other people and wanting to explore this further. Well, she just happened to be in the FFA already. Of course, this organization not only promotes but rewards entrepreneurship, and she found just the backing and encouragement that she needed. This led her to seek out opportunities outside of the FFA to learn even more about entrepreneurship, and Jenna Lou's Homemade Ice Cream was born. Today Jenna is preparing to finish high school and go to college to study in pursuit of growing this business even more. She has reinvested her profits and upgraded her equipment, allowing her to produce even more ice cream in less time. Jenna has a vision, and she has figured out what she needs to do to make that vision a reality. It will be very exciting to see where this all goes. Visit Jenna Lou's Homemade Ice Cream online here: https://www.facebook.com/jennalous.icecream

INTRODUCING ANNA RIDENOUR: I'll start this post by saying happy birthday to today's guest, Anna Ridenour, as her episode release date is on her 18th birthday! And, that does not happen that often. Anna is the epitome of what can happen to a student when they get involved in the FFA. I have seen more than once that a student who joins the FFA has a passion develop, they develop skills to serve that passion, and they find themselves at a very advanced stage of life development by the time they graduate from high school. In Anna's case, I have a hard time believing that there was ever a time that she did not have all the passion and enthusiasm that she currently has for agriculture, but those things grow over time. Today, Anna is serving in multiple officer positions both at her chapter and regional levels, and she is pursuing a spot on the Minnesota State Officer Team. She and her sister have been developing a sheep and goat business since they were seven years old, and they see great success with this, selling livestock into over half of the states. Anna has her eye fixed on college next and veterinary school after that. She has recognized that as a goat producer herself, her Minnesota region does not have many veterinarians with significant knowledge about goats. Since this is her passion and wants to serve her community, she sees herself filling this void as a large animal vet. There are a lot of lessons to be learned in this great interview. One of the most important is how to find your passion. It would be effortless to listen to Anna and believe that she has always known exactly what she wants to do, but that is not the case. She is just so fired up about the FFA, farming, and life that she has tried many things since joining the FFA in sixth grade. This has not only resulted in success, but it has failed in some cases. Most importantly, Anna has been able to identify what she is not passionate about by trying things that were not the right fit. This is an important lesson. Sometimes we identify our passion not by figuring it out but by figuring out what is not our passion and looking at what options are left.

SHOW NOTES I know that the title of this episode might be a little bit misleading. I mean, does anyone really get a full night's sleep during calving season? However, we here at Off-Farm Income have uncovered an innovation that we would like to share with you. And, if the innovation works as advertised, and you grow to trust it, I believe you will get a lot of sleep during calving season. I want to give my disclaimer, the same way I always do when we profile a companies product or service. These folks are not sponsors of our show, they have not paid us any money and we are not seeking them as a sponsor. At the end of this interview, they did offer to send us some products to test, which we are going to do, but we reached out to them to profile this innovation because it sounds like it could be a game-changer for cattle farmers. Today I am interviewing Stephen Fagan. He is the head of operations and design for Moocall. Moocall is a company based in Dublin, Ireland that was founded by cattle farmers. They have developed a system for calving detection on cattle and another one for heat detection in cattle. In the interview, Stephen explains how both devices work as much as he can without giving away trade secrets. He also talks about the benefits and what you can do with these devices. This is a very exciting innovation in agricultural technology for knowing when a cow or heifer is about to calve when your cow has been serviced and whether or not she was settled. I am excited to bring this to you today! Connect with MooCall: Website: https://moocall.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moocall Instagram: www.instagram.com/moocallofficial Twitter: www.twitter.com/moocallofficial Email: [email protected]

Advice For The Beginning Cattle Farmer I have had two situations/conversations recently that have really made me want to ask everyone to hit the pause button for just a second before putting cattle on their places. And this has really made me think about this a little bit deeper. Let me first start by saying that as a person who loves agriculture, wants to see agricultural land preserved, likes the diversity of people farming, and really enjoys cattle - I am all for people discovering this great animal and engaging in this industry. However, cattle are not a species of livestock that you can just decide you want to raise and then begin. You really need to know what you are doing here, both for reasons of being humane and because of the impact on your financials. Small livestock like goats, sheep, and even pigs can be easy to start out with. But cattle are just too big for you to start off with if you have no experience and you don't have the correct equipment. The larger the animal, the less margin for error and less ability you will have to correct your mistakes. Once you get a cow to shut off the thinking part of her brain and start running away from you with that thousand-yard stare, you are in big trouble. My goal is for you to never hit that point. But if you ever do, I want you to be able to handle it. What I Have Been Seeing This is what I have been seeing recently that has caused me to make this episode. I have been seeing too many instances of folks with zero experience raising cattle but who have purchased a property putting some cows on it with no other planning. I've also seen these folks get themselves in a bit of a bind when it comes time to doctor the cows, catch the cattle or separate the cows from the bull. I think the mistake that so many people make is not seeing what is really going on around them. As folks drive through the countryside you see cattle grazing peacefully on pastures or out on the range, and it is a pastoral scene that you would like to replicate on your own place. But what you are not seeing is the time, experience, and planning that goes into achieving that scene. There are a lot of very experienced cowboys and cowgirls out there who have loved cattle their entire lives and have been working with cattle their entire lives. And if you get the chance to watch them work with cattle, they can make it look very easy. But it is not. This is one of those situations in which the person is so good at what they do, that they are making it look easy. If you have never worked with cattle before, this like watching Stephen Curry hit a 3 point shot or Tiger Woods sink a 40 foot put and saying "I can do that". They make it look easy because they are professionals. You are not. There is a lifetime of practice, desire, and intuition between the head of that putter and the hole that the ball eventually drops in. You, as the new cow farmer, have a long way to go. What Should You Do Make Friends With Neighbors Reinforce Your Fences Be Picky About The Cattle You Buy Get The Correct Equipment Get Some Education Learn About Flight Zones And Pressure Teach Yourself To Walk Away Get Some Experience Start Slow Spend Time With Your Cattle Learn About Electric Fence Know The Reasons That Cattle Will Push Fence Rotate Your Pastures You, Will, Get There I am excited for you, and you are going to get there. But let's not get in too big of a hurry. You can get started pretty quickly with smaller livestock like goats, sheep, and even pigs. But, if cattle are where you are headed, you need to really think about these things before you jump in. If you don't, you might end up losing a lot of money. Worse yet, you might wind up with a cow that needs help you cannot give it because you can't get it caught or can't control it.

INTRODUCING ISAIAH HOPKINS: I have a lot of favorite businesses that I profile on the Off-Farm Income Podcast, and the business we will profile today is quickly becoming my favorite for FFA students. I have talked many times over the years about how I think the development of a lawn care business in the FFA can lead a student to unbelievable entrepreneurial success. I have gone as far as to say that in the same way that the dry cleaning business was called the "future millionaire-maker" back in the 1980s and 1990s, I think the lawn care business takes its place as the "future millionaire-maker" of today. Well, over time I have come to learn that there is an even more basic first step to this business, but it is a very important one. That is the repair and maintenance of small engines. In today's episode, I am interviewing Isaiah Hopkins. Isaiah has a vision for a future of business endeavors. He is a junior in high school, and he is just getting started recognizing the possibilities by fixing up broken-down motorcycles and lawn equipment and then reselling them at a profit. This is a natural lead-in to the lawn care business because small engine repair and a mechanical aptitude are so important there. Also, the ability to find old equipment, sometimes for free, fix it up, and use it to make money with the best definition of "bootstrapping" I have ever heard! As Isaiah gets more experience with his business, record keeping, and insuring a profit he is expanding into lawn care. He sees this as the conduit that can help him make the money that will allow him to go into other entrepreneurial ventures like rental houses and storage units. I believe he has an excellent plan, and the only thing that can stop him will be if he changes his mind!