The Millennial Ag Podcast

Progressive. In this day and age, that word has many meanings, and leading up to a presidential election here in the United States, it’s even more loaded. But this week, we’re joined by a special guest from the dairy publishing world. Walt Cooley, Editor-in-Chief of the Progressive Dairy magazine gives us his own definition of progressive, how his magazine defines it, and how being open to new experiences is really the at the heart of the word. As the man whose job it is to make sure that dairy producers are up to speed and on the cutting edge of all things related to the industry, Walt shares how being confident enough in your past to embrace the future is the way forward for not just dairies, but ag operations of any size or shape as well as individuals to be successful as we move forward in these ever-increasing volatile times. Follow Progressive Dairy online: https://www.progressivedairy.com/ https://www.progressivedairy.com/multimedia https://twitter.com/PDmag https://www.facebook.com/progressivedairy https://www.youtube.com/user/pdwebmaster Follow Millennial Ag online: www.millennialag.com www.facebook.com/millennialag www.instagram.com/millennial_ag www.twitter.com/millennial_ag

What else is there to say besides YAY?! Listeners, we've made it to one year. One year of Millennial Ag, of no topic off limits, of questioning our own and others' perspectives, of not backing down from hard conversations. If you've been with us since the beginning, thank you. If you're just joining us now, welcome. We're so glad you're here. We reflect on where we started, how we've grown, and where we want to be. Most importantly, that includes you. What do you want to listen to in Year 2? Who do you want to hear from as guests? Where should we go? What topics should we cover? You know where to find us. We're ready! www.millennialag.com www.facebook.com/millennialag www.instagram.com/millennial_ag www.twitter.com/millennial_ag

This week’s conversation ranges far and wide, covering everything from agriculture’s diminishing representation in elected positions, particularly in executive branches, to how agriculture must remain engaged even in the face of what seem like David versus Goliath battles. We’re joined by one of rural Colorado’s finest, state Senator Jerry Sonnenberg (R-Sterling). As an agriculture producer himself, Senator Sonnenberg knows well the struggles the ag industry and rural populations face. His deep background and experience on Colorado’s Capitol Hill bring perspective to a lot of questions that Millennial Ag is constantly chewing on. We discuss how agriculture's inclination to give a little here, give a little there feels like we may soon be dying by death by a thousand cuts. We talk about the necessity of focusing on building relationships, rather than just stubbornly trying to continue to "educate people." We ask questions whose answers aren't readily apparent, but ask them anyway,and throw in a few laughs along the way. Join us for Episode 51 featuring an elected official with a real stake in production ag and a real desire to protect and promote our industry and America’s rural way of life. The Drovers article referenced in this episode can be found here: https://www.drovers.com/article/western-governor-odds-agriculture You can find Senator Sonnenberg by visiting www.electsonnenberg.com or on Twitter @jerrysonnenberg www.millennialag.com www.facebook.com/millennialag www.instagram.com/millennial_ag www.twitter.com/millennial_ag

This week, we’re joined by Justin Lewton, a Millennial dryland grain farmer in northeastern Colorado. Justin serves on an industry board, and we invited him to speak with us about the topic we introduced last week. In his volunteer capacity, he’s noticed too that agriculture, and especially production ag, seems to silence itself to the detriment of its profit, for fear of backlash from any number of corners – fellow producers, larger agribusiness companies, other industry organizations, and consumers. Justin enthusiastically joins us in searching for more meaningful conversations and not taking “well, that’s just how it is” for an answer. He’s as frustrated as we are in trying to talk about this in agriculture but brings up the good point that relationships are key to making progress. After we finished recording, Justin shared a great lesson he has heard his whole life, passed down from his dad, “we can go further, faster together than we can apart.” A perfect place to begin to answer these hard questions we keep finding. Tune in to this week’s episode for a very balanced and educated conversation with an up and coming agriculture leader in Colorado. www.millennialag.com www.facebook.com/millennialag www.instagram.com/millennial_ag www.twitter.com/millennial_ag

When the same old techniques aren’t working, do you keep doing what you’re doing (Einstein’s definition of insanity) or do you start considering the problem from different perspectives? Over many conversations the last several weeks, Valene and Katharine have been discussing how agriculture taking a neutral stance against outside pressures is having an adverse effect on the viability and sustainability of our industry. Ag is losing its voice at every turn and one of the biggest reasons why is because we are silencing ourselves for fear of retribution. As the next generation of agriculturists (us) begin to step to the forefront and into the spotlight of our industry in the form of boards, organizations, and leaders, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the silence of the previous generations that worked through problems in the back room, is no longer making the progress that our industry exceedingly demands, whether that’s comfortable or not. We are Millennial Ag, and we are standing for what we believe.

Ranch kid. TV host. Fancy lady cowgirl. Meet Courtenay DeHoff, the rockstar guest we had the privilege of hosting this week. Courtenay is the whirlwind force behind the #fancyladycowgirl movement taking ag social media by storm. Courtenay shares with us her origin story, and how she tried to ignore her rural roots but found her strength and unique voice in the world by finally embracing those same roots. We talk about heels and lipstick, what #fancyladycowgirl means to all women, no matter our background, and her adventures in big cities like New York and Los Angeles and connecting with way more people than she ever could have imagined because she said hey, I’m a cowgirl. Nice to meet you. As the conversation goes on, all of our rural roots start to show, and we step into conversations about hard truths we’re trying to share in agriculture, how we need to tackle tough topics, and the mutual respect gained from making friends with other people who are trying to get loud and say hard stuff in this industry we love so much. Courtenay shows a streak of pride and open-mindedness about both her rural and urban loves that is refreshing, real, and straight up fun to listen to. www.millennialag.com www.facebook.com/millennialag www.instagram.com/millennial_ag www.twitter.com/millennial_ag

This week, our guest found us. A high school friend of Katharine’s, Emily Miller took advantage of all the opportunities 4-H and FFA afforded her growing up, including showing animals. Over the last several years, her food and eating perspective has shifted dramatically. Please welcome Millenial Ag’s first vegan guest! You may be thinking that we’re going to get loud and argue over whose science is more correct…but we’re not. We’re here for open dialog and honest conversations. Emily does a stellar job of explaining how she came to be a vegan, and where she sees a lot of misunderstanding between vegans and animal activists and animal agriculture producers. She’s not shy about sharing her opinions, but has a well-rounded approach to viewing veganism and animal product consumption side-by-side. This conversation has been one of our most authentic yet – all three of us were hesitant about taking on an issue with the magnitude that veganism and animal activism has on our animal ag industry. With a lot of grace and respect on both sides, we are proud to bring you this episode that explores how veganism and animal ag can, if not align completely on all issues, at least hear where the other is coming from and agree to mutual respect. www.millennialag.com www.facebook.com/millennialag www.instagram.com/millennial_ag www.twitter.com/millennial_ag

Did you know methane is actually an odorless gas? Neither did we, until we sat down with this week's guest, Dr. Sara Place. An expert in cattle sustainability, Dr. Place discussed the Burger King ad that was released last week much to the chagrin of many in the agriculture industry. She highlights the tradeoff of being "cute" versus accurate in much of the marketing around food today, and really delves into how the ruminant animal works to provide humans with food from resources that would otherwise be unusable for us. This is a fun episode, with a lot of great takeaways and talking points. We tried not to get bogged down in the outrage that's surrounding the fast food chain's most recent ad. Dr. Place does an excellent job of helping us with that, and we hope you find this episode as enjoyable as we did. Dr. Sara Place Bio: Sara is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Elanco. Prior to Elanco, she was the senior director for sustainable beef production research at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and an assistant professor in sustainable beef cattle systems at Oklahoma State University. She received her PhD inAnimal Biology from the University of California, Davis, a BS in Animal Science from Cornell University, and an AAS in Agriculture Business from Morrisville State College. www.millennialag.com www.facebook.com/millennialag www.instagram.com/millennial_ag www.twitter.com/millennial_ag

This week, we continue the conversation we started in Episode 044 - Colorado Eggs Go Cage Free. We heard how this issue was approached from the perspective of egg producers, and this week, we wanted to discuss it through the lens of other sectors in animal agriculture. We talk about how activism is affecting animal agriculture and the way we do business, and more importantly, our concerns about specific production practices either being banned or mandated by law. This is a slippery slope that we find ourselves on, and we know this is just the beginning of conversations that we must start having in animal agriculture, and the actions we must demand of ourselves to protect our animals, our industry, and our livelihoods.

This week, we're talking about the most recent development in Colorado agriculture policy. On July 6, 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law a mandate that eggs produced in the state come from chickens housed in cage-free environments. At first blush, it's easy to see how this could cause an uproar in production animal agriculture. We're joined by guest David Collie, who is the Industry Relations Manager for the trade group Colorado Egg Producers. David gives us history and background on how the cage-free movement has developed over the last twelve years, what the process was to move this issue through the state legislature, and the implications of the law for egg producers. We talk about how consumer trends and desires have influenced this development, how the price of eggs will be affected for both consumers and what producers get paid, and how maybe it's time agriculture considered a little bit of compromise in the face of changing consumer behaviors and desires. Thanks for joining us this week on Millennial Ag! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and can also write to us at [email protected]