Our guest today is very good at keeping a secret! At almost the moment that we finished our interview, he ended the call and proposed to his girlfriend! And, I would not be including this in the show notes if she had not said yes. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Well, Landon Wenger is certainly laying the foundations for the rest of his life. At age 19 he has been named as a state winner in Ohio for agricultural sales entrepreneurship proficiency. This stemmed from him purchasing his own Christmas Tree farm when was just sixteen years of age! It is called "Wenger's Winter Greens" and he has been steadily planting trees every year so that he has trees to sell every year.

I have always been curious about how this business works with the slow return on investment. In today's episode Landon will help to break all of that down for us. He will also talk about his vegetable production business and his time in the FFA.

Today's episode is a "best of" episode. I interviewed FFA students from all over the U.S. last Christmas about the community service projects they were doing, and I wanted to bring it back to you this year.

Starting tomorrow and going through the 6th of January, I am running "best of" episodes. I can do 7 episodes per week, but I need a break! And I am taking one. I hope you enjoy the memories everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone...just a quick check in to say I appreciate you on this most special of holidays!

Christmas is a very special time of year, and it is really where the community service portion of the FFA can shine. On today's episode we are going to profile a chapter, Northwestern FFA from West Salem, Ohio, that shines very bright at this time of year by helping to provide much needed supplies for people all around the world.

Joining us today to represent Northwestern FFA is Kade Tegtmeier, the chapter president, and Kate Johnson, a assistant officer. Both of these students have a passion for agriculture that cannot be contained just by the FFA, so they both continue to be involved in the 4H as well. Led by their great FFA Advisors Kade and Kate, along with the rest of their chapter, get to provide service every Christmas while at the same time being reminded of how fortunate we all are here in the U.S.

Tip Of The Week

Don't lose money by saving electricity at Christmas

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://ruralradio.com/kneb-am/news/cheyenne-co-sheriffs-office-investigating-stolen-truck-and-firearm/

https://www.powelltribune.com/stories/former-officer-convicted-of-stealing-horse-lying-to-forest-service,110407

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.farmersjournal.ie/news/news/quads-worth-40-000-stolen-in-donegal-797290

https://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/crime/equipment-and-tools-stolen-in-late-night-burglary-of-aylesbury-farm-4445889

Africa

https://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/five-years-in-jail-for-limpopo-farm-manager-convicted-of-stealing-and-selling-cattle-evading-court-5039d8c1-8853-4880-958b-2cd68390deda

https://www.channelstv.com/2023/12/14/police-rescue-263-kidnap-victims-in-katsina-kill-12-suspected-terrorists-in-six-months/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://news.yahoo.com/isp-pursuit-suspect-found-under-045900054.html

https://marketrealist.com/how-did-this-farm-couple-steer-a-9-million-insurance-fraud/

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

Julia McCarthy is a farmer, rancher and freelance writer from Grangeville, Idaho. Several months back I read an article of hers in a publication about agriculture in my state called Ag Proud Idaho. The topic caught my eye and I liked the writing, so I invited Julia to be a guest on the show. Finally, we got the interview done.

Freelance writing is one of my favorite forms of off-farm income. It can be done anywhere, and it significantly predates podcasting. In today's episode Julia talks about her path to becoming a freelance writer, some of the hard lessons she has learned and some tips and tricks of the trade. If this is something you are considering for your off-farm income, in any topic area, this episode is a must for you!

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am profiling a freelance, agricultural writer. This is one of my favorite forms of off-farm income. For today's re-cap episode I went back to episode #1233 and an interview I did with Rachel Gabel of the "The Fence Post Magazine". In this interview we talked a lot about how freelance writers can get started and be successful, but we did it from the editor's perspective. I thought this was the perfect tie in for tomorrow's show where we will hear this from a writer's perspective.

Lillie Cagle is a 2023 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Agricultural Education. She is also a Tennessee State Officer and a previous guest on this show. Lillie just appeared on Off-Farm Income in April of 2023 after becoming a state officer. She had a phenomenal SAE and was doing a ton of good for agriculture. In just the span of 6 months from being on the show she found herself on the big stage in Indianapolis receiving an National Proficiency Award for her efforts. I wanted to have her back on the show to tell her congratulations and to hear all about it!

A quick farm update for all of you today, and a sure fire method for keeping any livestock or dogs from going under your fences.