Forget the past, focus on the future? Is it all or one. Did I invent a metaphor. You will find all of this out and get a detailed farm update on today's episode. Also, what is the "DIY Death Trap"?

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

Rylee Terveen is her FFA Chapter's President, a national Bronze Proficiency Award winner and a driven entrepreneur. Growing up in a family of agricultural entrepreneurs, Rylee knows what direction she wants to take for her future career. She will be graduating high school this year, and then it is off to South Dakota State University to study entrepreneurship.

There is a family business already established that Rylee can move into. As a matter of fact, she plans on taking it over along with her sister and running their families hunting lodge. However, it is a seasonal business, and, maybe more importantly, it is not of Rylee's making. Rylee knows she wants to be self-employed, and she knows that she wants to create something of her own. So, when college is done and when it is time to move into her career, she will be forming a business based on the knowledge she already has and the knowledge that she has yet to gain.

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

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

On today's episode Dr. Doug Ullrich, a professor in and chair of the School of Agricultural Sciences at Sam Houston State University is joining me. Sam Houston State is located in Huntsville, Texas and as Dr. Ullrich describes it houses a very pragmatic, working class type of student seeking four year degrees in agriculture. A very interesting opportunity popped up during this interview, and that was working with exotic animal species from Africa, Asia and the Middle East as a result of an agreement that Sam Houston State University has with a "high fence game ranch" in the area. There are certainly unique opportunities at Sam Houston State, and this is another example of a pathway to the agricultural career that you are seeking.

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

Tip Of The Week

Money can disappear very fast

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/crime/article274240930.html

https://bluebonnetnews.com/2023/04/12/montgomery-county-sheriffs-office-seeking-tips-for-stolen-tractor-trailer-in-cleveland/

https://www.kait8.com/2023/04/12/stolen-fertilizer-truck-found-submerged-ditch/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.farmwatcher.co.uk/alerts/man-arrested-and-charged-after-£70k-machinery-theft-in-aberdeenshire?utm_campaign=171d27cd-18d0-44e6-82a9-21722119cf7d&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=2a9cfada-76bc-4efd-8b52-0c6a560c9d01

https://www.youngwitness.com.au/story/8155933/fears-for-20-two-week-old-stolen-ostrich-chicks/

https://www.kildarenow.com/news/home/1084978/kildare-gardai-investigating-after-horse-transporter-and-puppies-stolen.html

Africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65221387

https://chimpreports.com/dokolo-prison-escapee-killed-by-mob/

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-04-12-kinangop-farmers-angry-over-theft-of-livestock-farm-produce/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://houstonherald.com/2023/04/man-indicted-on-theft-of-timber-on-mark-twain-national-forest/

https://tscra.org/man-faces-felony-charges-in-robertson-county-cattle-theft-case/?fbclid=IwAR3WmRMOCk-9Cp9aM5Gk0QSV8Mey1-jzaqMGtegT9DHBhmSuXveqJNjAk4w&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

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

Mark & Marcia Ruff are production agriculture farmers in Ohio and the owners of at least three businesses that compliment their farm. Along with their three children and all of their, year round employees, they are farming 4,000 acres of wheat, soybeans and corn. This all started back in 1997 when they knew they wanted to farm, and took a leap of faith with Mark leaving his full-time, city job to focus just on farming. Back then they were leasing approximately 300 acres.

Today, Mark and Marcia have proven themselves very capable both in the world of farming and in small business So much so, that opportunities literally come knocking on their door. They have a container loading facility on their property now and run this business for farmers in their community, and, as Mark describes in the interview, he didn't know anything about container loading until some folks showed up as his door and proposed the idea.

In this day and age people will tell you that there is no way to get started farming without inheriting land or being independently wealthy when you begin. However, Mark and Marcia are living proof that this is not correct. Today's interview with each of them will inspire you and leave you with no excuses if you truly want to farm.

On tomorrow's ag business episode I am speaking a couple who started their farm from scratch in 1997 and have grown it to 4,000 acres. They say it can't be done, but tomorrow we are proving them wrong!

This episode with Matt Kellog, talking about different niches for farmers at all levels is the perfect tie in for tomorrow's show.

Kyleigh Lock is just a sophomore in high school, but has accomplished a lot in just a short period of time. She is already her chapter's president and a district officer, and she has one several proficiency awards at the area and district levels. She is completely devoted to the FFA and to agriculture and it shows. When I asked her if she had any activities outside of the FFA, her answer was "yes, in the 4H", which made me chuckle.

Kyleigh is trying to build up her show string of heifers with superior genetics and phenotypes so that she can find success at larger and larger shows. However, obtaining heifers is not a cheap thing to do, so she has gotten creative. She has entered and succeeded at multiple different calf scrambles to obtain the show heifer she is ultimately looking for.

Kyleigh has already mapped out a pathway to becoming a veterinarian, and she already knows that she wants to open her own practice in the future. Something about her work ethic tells me that she is going to make it happen!

Hi everyone, I get to do something on today's episode that you have given me the privilege of doing. I am reviewing a product that a manufacturer sent to me for free in exchange for me testing and reviewing it. The product is the "Chickcozy" automatic chicken coop door, and I am giving it five stars! This product has been in use on my farm for several weeks now, and I have been able to check it every night, in the middle of the night while I'm looking after our goats who are kidding. Every night it is closed, not one chicken has been locked out of the coop and no predators can get into the coop to kill our chickens. Then the next morning when I get up, the chickens are out in the run, hunting and pecking.

The "Chickcozy" has worked just as I had hoped it would, and it has taken one little thing, that sometimes seemed like a big thing, off of my daily workload. I no longer have to make two trips a day to the chicken coop to let out or lock up chickens. And, even if that is not a big deal for you, the "Chickcozy" will act as a failsafe for you on those rare occasions that you forget!

You all know that you are my priority, and I would not recommend a product to you if I had not used it and believed it was worth the money. I can say that both of those things are true in the case of the "chickcozy". You can find the "Chickcozy" at https://chickcozy.com/.

In addition to my produce recommendation on today's show, I'll be talking about equipment breaking down, equipment getting fixed and the never ending process of the kidding season! Happy Spring and Happy Easter everyone...

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

Hi everyone, I get to do something on today's episode that you have given me the privilege of doing. I am reviewing a product that a manufacturer sent to me for free in exchange for me testing and reviewing it. The product is the "Chickcozy" automatic chicken coop door, and I am giving it five stars! This product has been in use on my farm for several weeks now, and I have been able to check it every night, in the middle of the night while I'm looking after our goats who are kidding. Every night it is closed, not one chicken has been locked out of the coop and no predators can get into the coop to kill our chickens. Then the next morning when I get up, the chickens are out in the run, hunting and pecking.

The "Chickcozy" has worked just as I had hoped it would, and it has taken one little thing, that sometimes seemed like a big thing, off of my daily workload. I no longer have to make two trips a day to the chicken coop to let out or lock up chickens. And, even if that is not a big deal for you, the "Chickcozy" will act as a failsafe for you on those rare occasions that you forget!

You all know that you are my priority, and I would not recommend a product to you if I had not used it and believed it was worth the money. I can say that both of those things are true in the case of the "chickcozy". You can find the "Chickcozy" at https://chickcozy.com/.

In addition to my produce recommendation on today's show, I'll be talking about equipment breaking down, equipment getting fixed and the never ending process of the kidding season! Happy Spring and Happy Easter everyone...

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

Daniel Laurent is a sophomore at Caldwell County High School, but he might as well be an instructor already when it comes to the breeding and showing of pigs. He is just in his second year of the FFA, officially, but all of his four older siblings were in the FFA and he has been talking and getting FFA experiences for the past 13 years since his eldest sister joined.

Daniel has a passion for animal agriculture, which has been apparent his entire life. When he was 8 years old he did his own research and told his father that he thought they should change their entire pig breeding operation from Yorkshires to Duroc's. He has his argument well thought out and documented, and eventually, this happened.

Today Daniel gets more excitement out of seeing a 10 year old kid win in the show ring with a Laurent pig than he does actually winning himself. He loves the process of matching up the correct pigs phenotypically and genotypically and then seeing the success it brings. All of this, and he still does not even have a driver's license!