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. SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Agricultural Communications, Bee Keeping & Pork Production HIGH SCHOOL: Moberly High School; Moberly, Missouri MASCOT: Spartans FFA ADVISOR: Mark Belcher CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ANNA LINK: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Moberly High School Ag. Department's website: Anna's FFA Advisor's Email Address: markbelcher@moberlyspartans.org Moberly High School's Telephone Number: 660.269.2600 FFA LINKS: National FFA Organization Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) Support FFA  Donate to FFA - FFA students can start small businesses through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward. REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA: Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% and the rest of the world.  FFA provides the needed education, training, and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food. Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth. Farmers, ranchers, and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the food search is as simple as going to the grocery store: “The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue   More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

Off-Farm Income

OFI 1052: Blazing Her Own Trail And Making It Happen | Replay with Anna Link | FFA SAE Edition | Moberly High School FFA

Subscribe To Our Weekly Email 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/ SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE:  Produce For All | Jayla's Local Farm HIGH SCHOOL:  Lowcountry Leadership Charter School, Hollywood, SC MASCOT:  Navigators FFA ADVISOR:  Katie Bell CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JAYLA WASHINGTON: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Lowcountry Leadership Charter School website: Jayla's FFA Advisors' Email Address: kbell@lowcountryleadership.org Lowcountry Leadership Charter School's Telephone Number:  (843) 889-5527 FFA LINKS: National FFA Organization Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) Support FFA  Donate to FFA - FFA students can start small businesses through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward. REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA: Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% and the rest of the world.

OFI 1051: Growing Produce For The Food Desert | FFA SAE Edition | Jayla Washington | Lowcountry Leadership Charter School

Hi everybody.  I want to talk to you about life today.  I heard from a good friend last night who I hadn’t talked to in a while.  All through our twenties he never quite had the coordination or ability to play sports that the rest of us did, and then in his 40’s he was diagnosed with a rare, degenerative disease that explained what had been going on all of that time.  And speaking with him last night, he told me that he was now having another issue, this time with his vision.  Soon he is going to be traveling to Salt Lake City to see a specialist to rule out a different syndrome.   As I get to my late 40’s, I have been thinking about my parents some more recently.  My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer when she was 53 and died when she was 58.  Ironically, this episode is coming out on her birthday.   My father was diagnosed with renal cancer when he was 62 and died when he was 67.  Both of them were heavy smokers, and both drank hard liquor nightly, for most of their lives.  I don’t smoke or drink more than the occasional beer, and I am hoping that is the difference maker that will allow me to outlive my parents average length of life of 62.5 years.   This has been on my mind over the past couple of years, and it has definitely been influencing life decisions.  As an example, I had a very good friend reach out to my wife and I recently and invite our family to join hers on a cruise in 2022.   As you all know, taking a vacation away from your farm is difficult enough, but this cruise leaves out of Miami and lasts for seven days.  In the lower 48 you cannot get further from Kuna, Idaho then Miami, Florida.  So, in and of itself this will be a difficult vacation for us to go on.   In addition to that, Autumm and I ruled out cruises as vacations years ago.  We went on one together in 2006 to the “Mexican Riviera”.  I really enjoyed it, she did not.  It was the second cruise that each of us had ever gone on, and we decided that we would look at other vacations options in our life.   However, in light of my thinking about life and the fact that we all have an “off button” that God can press at any time I went to Autumm and asked her to make an exception and go on this cruise.  The me of 5 years ago might have passed on this opportunity, thinking we will have time to spend with these friends at some other time in the future.  However, the me of today doesn’t take that for granted and realizes that getting to spend that much time visiting and catching up with close friends is a rare gift, and knew that this was an opportunity that might not come again.   Worse yet, it was the type of opportunity that I could see myself looking back on as an elderly or terminally ill person and wishing that I had done.  I made up my mind to not have this particular regret when I reached one of those two stages of life. Back to my friend who now has the issue with his vision, he has always eaten better than me, exercised more and stayed more trim.  Yet, he has had an abundance of health issues that have limited his ability to do the things that we used to love doing together, like playing sports and hiking.  I don’t live as hard of a lifestyle as my parents, but I definitely could eat better, exercise more regularly and cut out the diet sodas.  So, on one hand my decisions are being impacted by my parent’s early deaths and on the other I know how fortunate I am when I see what my friend has been going through and how it has limited his life.   I do quite a bit of my computer work at a coffee shop called the Latte’ Da in Kuna.  There is something about the hustle and bustle and background noise that helps me to focus better than if I were sitting in my quiet studio at my house.  So this morning I got all the irrigation set, did a bit of feeding and gave bottles to our four kids who are still on the bottle.  Then I fed the dogs and cats, took a shower and hopped on my motorcycle and rode into town.

OFI 1050: Don’t Put Off Today What You Will Regret Not Doing On Your Death Bed

Subscribe To Our Weekly Email 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 $14,000.  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! SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE:  Cattle Production HIGH SCHOOL: Newberry High School, Newberry, FL MASCOT:  Panthers FFA ADVISOR:  Amanda Burkett CONTACT INFORMATION FOR BETHANY KELLER: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Newberry High School website: Bethany's FFA Advisors' Email Address:  burkettal@gm.sbac.edu Newberry High School's Telephone Number:352-472-1101 FFA LINKS: National FFA Organization Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) Support FFA  Donate to FFA - FFA students can start small businesses through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward. REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA: Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% and the rest of the world.  FFA provides the needed education, training, and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.

OFI 1049: The Reason We Love Our Agricultural Community | FFA SAE Edition | Bethany Keller | Newberry High School FFA

Tip Of The Week If The Price Is Too Good To Be True, Do Some Investigation Before You Purchase Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.chattanoogan.com/2021/4/13/426607/Timber-Theft-Cases-Reported-Across-Tennessee.aspx https://www.kaplantoday.com/news/sheriff-warns-residents-recent-thefts-vermilion-parish https://www.bakersfield.com/news/catalytic-converter-theft-spreads-to-local-orchards/article_64965fca-994a-11eb-bcc6-c7e2cfce7cd7.html Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/crime/more-ebay-tractor-scam-victims-tell-us-their-stories Chalk One Up For The Good Guys https://www.newsdakota.com/2021/04/14/edgeley-man-sentenced-for-cattle-theft/ https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2021/04/two-men-charged-following-high-value-farm-thefts/

OFI 1048: Tractor Fraud On Ebay | Rural Crime Episode

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

OFI 1047: What Can Happen When You Reach Out To Others For Their Expertise

SHOW NOTES KEY IDEAS:  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: steven@farmlandfinder.com More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:    

OFI 1046: How To Find The Perfect Farm | American Farm Bureau Federations 2019 Rural Entrepreneur Of The Year | Replay with Steven Brockshus | Farmland Finder

Subscribe To Our Weekly Email 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   SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE:  Jenna Lou's Homemade Ice Cream HIGH SCHOOL: Bushnell-Prairie City High School, Bushnell, IL MASCOT:  Spartans FFA ADVISOR:  Alison McGrew CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JENNA SPANGLER: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Bushnell-Prairie City High School website: Jenna's FFA Advisors' Email Address:  mcgrewa@bpcschools.org  Bushnell-Prairie City High School's Telephone Number: ​309-772-2113 FFA LINKS: National FFA Organization Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) Support FFA  Donate to FFA - FFA students can start small businesses through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward. REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA: Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% and the rest of the world.  FFA provides the needed education, training, and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food. Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth. Farmers, ranchers, and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the food search is as simple as going to the grocery store: “The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue   More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

OFI 1045: The FFA As An Entrepreneurship Incubator | FFA SAE Edition | Jenna Spangler | Bushnell-Prairie City High School FFA

I had an interesting opportunity pop up this weekend regarding consulting in my old field of law enforcement.  It is not something that I am pursuing, but it is something that could be lucrative and really rewarding.  Even though I was not interested, I have a friend who would be, and she is extremely qualified. Today I spoke with her on the telephone about this, and I couldn't help but laugh at my commitment to my agricultural lifestyle.  As I was preparing three bottles of milk replacer for some bottle baby goats we have, I was talking with her about a possible six figure consulting gig that could take her all over the country and possibly the world.  I felt like that stereotypical actor in a movie who gave it all up and now feels jealous about his previous colleagues who are making it big. I will talk all about that and a bit of farm update on today's show. More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

OFI 1044: When You Really Know That Money Isn’t Everything

Subscribe To Our Weekly Email 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 that 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 are seeing 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 region of Minnesota does not have many veterinarians with significant knowledge about goats.  Since this is her passion and she 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 very easy 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 a lot of things since joining the FFA in sixth grade.  This has not only resulted in success, but it has resulted in failure 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. SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE:  Goat & Sheep Production HIGH SCHOOL: Triton High School, Dodge Center, MN MASCOT:  Cobras FFA ADVISOR: Robert Ickler CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ANNA RIDENOUR: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Triton High School website: Anna's FFA Advisors' Email Address:  rickler@triton.k12.mn.us Triton High School's Telephone Number: (507) 418-7530 FFA LINKS: National FFA Organization Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) Support FFA  Donate to FFA - FFA students can start small businesses through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward. REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA: Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% and the rest of the world.  FFA provides the needed education, training, and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food. Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth. Farmers, ranchers, and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the food search is as simple as going to the grocery store: “The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue  

OFI 1043: A Passion For Ag + A Community Need = A Drive For Veterinary School | FFA SAE Edition | Anna Ridenour | Triton High School FFA

Tip Of The Week Familiarize yourself with your local crime stoppers page. Rural Crime In The U.S. https://sanduskyregister.com/news/313827/reward-goes-up-for-farm-crime-info/ https://www.katc.com/news/vermilion-parish/sheriff-warning-residents-of-recent-atv-four-wheeler-thefts Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.graincentral.com/news/crime-is-rife-on-farms-yet-reporting-remains-stubbornly-low/ https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/farmer/19218230.police-operation-easter-targets-wild-bird-egg-thieves/ Chalk One Up For The Good Guys https://news.yahoo.com/ec-man-gets-probation-large-015000192.html https://rivercountry.newschannelnebraska.com/story/43632945/airboats-drones-help-stop-thieves-in-floodstricken-nemaha-county More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:    

OFI 1042: It Doesn’t Get Lower Than Stealing From Those Who Are Out Helping Their Neighbors

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: hello@moocall.com   More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:    

OFI 1041: Getting Sleep During Calving Season | Stephen Fagan | Moocall

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

OFI 1040: So You Want To Raise Cattle, Well Slow Down | Replay with Matt Brechwald

Subscribe To Our Weekly Email 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! SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE:  Dirtbike Refurbishing & Landscape Management HIGH SCHOOL: Tunstall High School, Dry Fork, Virginia MASCOT: Trojans FFA ADVISOR: Jessica Jones CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ISAIAH HOPKINS: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Tunstall High School website: Isaiah's FFA Advisors' Email Address: jessica.jones@pcs.k12.va.us Tunstall High School's Telephone Number: (434) 724-7111 FFA LINKS: National FFA Organization Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's) Support FFA  Donate to FFA - FFA students can start small businesses through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward. REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA: Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% and the rest of the world.  FFA provides the needed education, training, and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food. Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth. Farmers, ranchers, and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the food search is as simple as going to the grocery store: “The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue   More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

OFI 1039: Building Towards An Entrepreneurial Future, One Engine At A Time | FFA SAE Edition | Isaiah Hopkins | Tunstall High School FFA

Welcome to our Tuesday episode at the finale of March Madness everyone.  On today's show I am covering various topics: Trying out some new audio technology Easter, 2021 March Madness and the incredible Gonzaga/UCLA game on Saturday night Pulling goats in the middle of the night and bottle feeding. Pulling calves, thankfully during the day time. What a "city surrogate" is in my vernacular I hope you enjoy the show! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

OFI 1038: Up All Night, Work All Day

Find The Farming Life You Are Looking For Through Entrepreneurship