Kaylea Taylor first appeared on the show during her sophomore year of high school in episode #681. She was just beginning her journey of putting on camps to teach 4H and FFA students better skills in exhibiting their goats. Over time this became known as "Stepping Up Show Goat Camp" and her reputation has spread.

Today I am proud to have Kaylea back on the show as a national proficiency finalist.

As you all know I was invited to give a keynote speech at the Montana FFA Foundation's Ag Expo at Montana State University which took place two weeks ago. After the keynote, Trent Petersen, the president of the Red Lodge FFA Chapter from Red Lodge, Montana joined me on stage for his and my first ever, live podcast recording. It was a blast, and I am featuring it for you here today.

Trent is a very impressive young man with a dream of running his own cow/calf herd. He is already building that herd, finding land anywhere he can in his area to put a few head of cattle, get his calves, retain his heifers and sell his steers. He has a vision of returning to the classroom in the future as an FFA Advisor, and this is his chosen method of creating his off-farm income to support this cattle operation that he has envisioned.

Every now and then in an interview there is so much information to cover that I find myself exceeding the normal length of an episode. That was definitely the case in my interview with Jeremiah Geise.

I first learned about Jeremiah because he was a national proficiency finalist in the category of diversified livestock. As they say, that was only the "tip of the iceberg". Jeremiah is doing a lot more than raising multiple species of livestock, i.e. pigs, sheep and goat. He is also using artificial insemination to breed as much as he can, and he has discovered multiple niche markets. He also had set up contracts and direct marketing on all three species. So, when he has an animal born on his farm, he already knows who the buyer is and that the buyer exists! This is next level agricultural marketing!

Tip Of The Week

There are multiple crime prevention tips in this article that I think are worth taking a look at:

https://www.djournal.com/monroe/news/property-owners-can-do-their-part-to-help-deter-theft/article_4307a11b-e9d4-52de-b952-2dbe75b84d87.html

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://salinapost.com/posts/dfe029e0-98d1-485b-9471-5283c0a5890f

https://www.wdam.com/2021/11/18/multiple-cows-shot-2-killed-simpson-county-cattle-farm/

https://www.blythewoodonline.com/2021/11/sheriff-seeks-leads-in-theft-of-tractor/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/crime/eagle-eyed-rural-volunteers-help-thwart-suspected-poachers-in-northumberland-3463955

https://www.producer.com/livestock/police-warn-producers-about-livestock-theft/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://www.katc.com/news/lafayette-parish/lafayette-men-arrested-for-alleged-horse-thefts

https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/local-news/first-forever-horse-theft-defendant-pleads-guilty/

Writing, whether it be as a fiction author, a novelist or a freelancer is one of my favorite methods of off-farm income creation that I cover. Maybe it is because when I first started this show I interviewed an author and it gave so much credibility to the concept that I was pursuing, or maybe it is because I admire people who can write for a living, but I am a fan.

On today's show Rachel Gabel joins us to talk writing, raising cattle and raising goats. Rachel lives and ranches in Northeast Colorado, and she has been in that general vicinity all of her life. Growing up there and ranching there has given her special credibility with the people who read her words, and it has allowed her to write about some topics that only a few people would be accepted discussing. She primarily writes for The Fence Post Magazine, and she has been doing so since she was a young teenager.

Jerry Apps is one of my favorite, all time, agricultural authors. Tomorrow we are featuring an agricultural author whom I have just met that creates her families off-farm income through writing. I thought this would be a great time to replay my second interview with Jerry. I especially enjoy reading and listening to him around the Thanksgiving Holiday as his stories evoke those warm, family memories.

Below are the original show notes from episode #668.

Brandon Jakobi is a National Proficiency Finalist this year for his custom round bale business in Wisconsin. He had several things come together at once that were the catalyst for him to achieve at this very high level.

Brandon joined the FFA in the 7th Grade. It was something that he always knew that he wanted to do, and he made it happen at his first opportunity. Brandon's father had been in the FFA and was part of the FFA Alumni Chapter in their area, so he knew the ropes. Knowing that Brandon would need a good SAE, he suggested that Brandon purchase his round baler and start his own business baling hay and cornstalks, etc. for people in their community. Brandon's dad also knew that Brandon had been inspired by another student from their area who had won a National Proficiency Award. Brandon told me that the community really celebrated this accomplishment and that made him want to do the same thing.

Knowing that a national proficiency award was the goal, Brandon and his father thought this business could be the perfect fit to help him achieve this. Brandon Jakobi's Round Baling was born. Since that time Brandon has continued to build his client base by using such marketing methods as hanging fliers in stores and pulling his round baler through parades. Today his business supports him financially, and when he is not baling hay he is working on his families farm or a neighboring dairy. Brandon is still living in the surreal knowing that he is this close to accomplishing his goal and realizing just how far he has come.

I just returned from an incredible three days in Montana, the genesis of which was the greatest professional honor bestowed upon me in my life - presenting my very first keynote address at the college that I received my agriculture degree from to an audience of FFA students. On Thursday I presented a keynote and did my first ever podcast interview in front of a live audience at Montana State University. You all know how much I love my former university and the small city that adopted me for three years. In today's episode I get to tell you all about it!

Our guest today has a really amazing story of growth and development. To preface this, Case Edwards is one of four national proficiency finalists in the category of Ag Mechanics Repair And Maintenance. But to hear him tell his story, when he was a sophomore in high school if you had shown him a spark plug, he would not have known what it was.

Case's story really starts with joining the FFA, but it takes a big turn during his sophomore year when his friend Terrence started small engine team in their chapter. He talked Case into being part of it, and soon Case discovered an aptitude that he did not know that he had. This led to the idea of fixing up old lawn mowers and flipping them, and things just kept snowballing

Tip Of The Week

Listen to what I have been saying about catalytic convertors…

Rural Crime In The U.S.

https://naturalresourcereport.com/2021/11/farmers-hit-hard-by-catalytic-converter-thefts/

https://www.wcbi.com/noxubee-county-deputies-need-help-finding-a-wanted-person/

Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above

https://krugersdorpnews.co.za/471236/man-arrested-for-transporting-25-stolen-goats-worth-r80k/

Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

https://coosavalleynews.com/2021/11/rome-man-found-with-crime-tools-while-hiding-under-car/

https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/local-news/lynchburg-central-virginia-news/police-charge-28-year-old-man-in-connection-with-catalytic-converters-theft/

https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/news_article?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGZWJpenByZC5wb2xpY2UubnN3Lmdvdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGOTg0NDUuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D