Hello everybody. We have a farm update episode today, and I am excited about the developments at our place. I hope you will join us to talk goats, a new market for goats, beef, word of mouth marketing and so much more!

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Carrie Rhoades is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Dairy Production. Carrie grew up on a dairy farm in Ohio, and has been part of the FFA since her 8th Grade year. During that time she has been trading labor with her family in exchange for feed, space, veterinary treatment and everything else that comes with raising a show string of dairy cattle.

Early on Carrie's parents let her know that she was welcome to pursue a college education wherever she wanted, but she was going to have to find a way to pay for it herself. She decided that she did not want to go into debt to get her education, so she had to find a way to afford the costs. Also, she decided that college was going to be her best opportunity to live somewhere else and have a different experience than what she had always known in Ohio. It was not that she didn't like Ohio. Actually, she knew that she was going to spend her life in Ohio, but she thought it would be good to have one different experience during her life, and the best opportunity would be during college. However, this created the challenge of non-resident tuition.

Knowing this was coming, Carrie got busy during high school. She took as many dual credit courses as she could, all for free. When she graduated she had 30 credits, or her entire freshman year, completed. At the beginning of her senior year of high school she began looking for scholarships. She did not allow herself to indulge in imposter syndrome. She applied for everything, even the scholarships that she thought she might not be qualified for.....and she received several.

Mostly coming from her local community, Carrie set off to Oklahoma State University late in the summer of 2022 with one year of college already completed and scholarships that would pay for the next three semesters. That left Carrie with only three semesters to pay for. She is already on the hunt for more scholarships to get her the rest of the way, and she is going to live in school housing on the school farm for a very reasonable rate to take care of that expense. It can be done everyone!

Tip Of The Week

Be skeptical of outrageous stories and do a little checking

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://original.newsbreak.com/@yanasa-tv-1592052/2888279621257-cattle-mysteriously-die-or-go-missing-stumping-investigators

https://ksltv.com/517786/owner-deputies-fear-7-young-horses-were-stolen-outside-of-elberta/

https://news.yahoo.com/sheriff-officials-conduct-livestock-road-194737726.html

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/opinion/contributors/2023/01/12/we-all-pay-for-grocery-theft.html

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/dudley/sedgley/2023/01/12/search-on-to-find-culprits-for-stolen-trailer/

https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/lincolnshire-police-appeal-for-information-on-farm-burglary/

https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/crime/nfu-warns-of-scammers-claiming-to-be-energy-company

Africa

http://www.times.co.sz/news/138392-theft-suspect-whipped-with-siswebhu-dies.html

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/police-arrest-six-for-limpopo-game-farm-robbery-confiscate-ammunition-guns-and-cash-20230112

https://www.citizen.co.za/witness/news/bishopstowe-farmer-shot/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/wisconsin-woman-accused-poisoning-vet-husband-with-euthanasia-drugs/2CLFM32TINDKXOIGVKF5PWTXRA/

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Oregon-OKs-killing-2-wolves-in-new-pack-after-17714419.php

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Darrell Anderson is a career, agricultural broadcaster. He left his families farm after high school for college, and during college discovered his interest in broadcasting. This led Darrell in several different directions. Today, after a career's worth of the radio business Darrell is working as an independent agricultural broadcaster. He hosts a syndicated, 90 second show, called Farm To Fork that is played on stations all around the country, five days per week.

In today's episode Darrell will retrace his journey to where he is at today. And, we we will talk about how a young person who wants to be an agricultural broadcaster can start their own, independent show in the way that Darrell has, today.

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am speaking with a gentleman who has a career's worth of experience in farm radio, radio in general and in creating a syndicated radio program. This took me all the way back to episode #36 for our re-cap episode when I profiled John Harrer who was beginning The Whoa Podcast, and we talked about building this type of broadcasting business.

Ethan Meissner is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Agricultural Processing. Since his 8th grade year Ethan has been working at a local meat locker near Marshfield, Wisconsin. He started out doing carry outs, cleaning coolers and any other small jobs that needed to be done. But over time the business and Ethan both evolved and changed. Today, the locker specializes in making sausages and hot dogs, pretty much anything that is ground and then stuffed into a casing. Ethan has become much more proficient and knowledgeable in running machinery and really the whole operation. This ultimately led his boss to trust him enough to take a day off on the weekends and leave Ethan in charge.

Today Ethan is studying agricultural engineering at the University Of Wisconsin at River Falls. He actually started out at another university studying just mechanical engineering. However, he missed agriculture and transferred so that Ag could be part of the emphasis of his major. On the weekends and during breaks from school Ethan returns home and works at the meat locker. For the summer he has his eye on some internships so that he can explore this career field even further.

On today's farm update show I want to inspire you on your journey in pursuit of your new lifestyle!

Trenton Jones is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Diversified Horticulture. He is also a former chapter, regional and state officer in Missouri. Trenton is currently in his junior year of college at Northwest Missouri State University where he is majoring in Agricultural Media, and he says that he finds himself leaning towards broadcast media at the moment.

Trenton's supervised agricultural experience and business began when he and a friend decided they would raise some plants and sell to friends and family. Eventually, they went down divergent paths. Trenton decided that he wanted to grow the business and get more serious about it, and the friend kind of faded out of it. This led to Trenton taking a job in the industry so he could learn more about the business. This eventually led to business opportunities for Trenton, filling opportunities that the business he was working for did not fill. This led to Trenton's business, "Trent's Tropicals", which he closed down last January because of how busy he had become as a state officer. However, Trenton says that "Trent's Tropicals" might make a comeback. He is finishing college for now, but that idea is still within the realm of possibilities.

Tip Of The Week

Brand your cattle, especially if they aren't close to home

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://www.drovers.com/news/industry/top-10-scandals-seen-cattle-industry-2022

https://www.thefencepost.com/news/cattle-missing-from-baca-county-colo/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://globalnews.ca/news/9385037/rural-robbery-redwater-new-years-day/

https://www.rsnonline.org.uk/countryside-riders-targeted-by-bike-thieves-amid-record-lows-in-police-detection-rates

https://www.southernstar.ie/news/pedigree-angus-bull-and-four-in-calf-cows-stolen-4254875

Africa

https://www.chronicle.co.zw/five-men-nabbed-for-stealing-35-cattle/

https://www.mmegi.bw/news/jwaneng-police-concerned-by-rising-stock-theft-cases/news

https://www.the-star.co.ke/counties/rift-valley/2023-01-02-two-sisters-killed-by-bandits-amid-prayers-for-peace/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.thegeorgiavirtue.com/georgia-crime/owner-of-farm-labor-company-sentenced-to-prison-for-leading-multi-state-conspiracy-involving-forced-labor-of-farm-workers/

https://www.kwch.com/2022/12/08/kansas-cowboys-help-recover-cattle-after-semi-overturns-highway-50/

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Farm Link is a program in Nebraska that strives to match up retiring farmers and ranchers with new and beginning farmers and ranchers that are looking for an operation to take over. The obstacles of entry into farming and ranching are very high, making it difficult for a newcomer to get started. At the same time there are retiring farmers and ranchers that want to see their land support another family the way that it did theirs, and they are willing to work with a young person to make this happen.

Allan Vyhnalek is an extension educator for the University Of Nebraska at Lincoln, and he started the Nebraska Farm Link Program in January of 2021. In today's episode we will discuss how it works, options for transition plans and some of the things he sees that are holding new and beginning farmers back from taking full advantage of this resource.

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