This week is a shorter episode, with just the two of us sharing some thoughts. Unless you've been living under a rock on Pluto, chances are you've seen at least some of the Olympics these last couple weeks. We've been impressed by the athletic accomplishments of the women competitors, but more than that, we've been completely blown away by the trails they're blazing in mental health, competing as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, ensuring spaces for privacy with their little ones, and most of all, supporting each other despite cultural differences and competition outcomes. What women are doing in Paris for and with other women is nothing short of astounding. Cultural, racial, competitive differences are shoved to the side, not to be considered, in favor of women cheering each other on, smiling, hugging, clapping each other on the back as each wins and loses with grace. We compare this revolution of support and boundless positivity to our day to day lives in the agriculture industry. We talk about what we hope agriculture will adopt in behavior and attitudes as the Olympic torch flickers out and we resume business as usual. Focusing on the good and forging new paths for women and humanity as a whole is our hope for ourselves, and this industry we love. 

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Love, Katharine and Val

We're delighted to welcome back Val's brother Cole, who joins us this week to discuss ag markets as they currently stand. It's been awhile since we've done a market update, and a lot has changed since then. Cole gives us a great overview of where the beef and dairy markets are at, as well as corn and soybeans. These tend to be the big players and the ones with the most movement most often. We also discuss how former President Trump's proposed extreme tariff policies could potentially harm American agriculture, and get a few minutes discussing what world markets are doing too. This is a really good and informative episode, right on time to get a view of how things are, and how the upcoming US presidential election could get things a little riled up. Tune in!

As always, like, subscribe, share and review!

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Love, Katharine and Val

This week, we're delighted to welcome Idaho's Lieutenant Governor, Scott Bedke. A farmer and rancher in the southwest corner of Idaho, and with his water source encompassing the three corners of Idaho, Utah, and Nevada, Lt. Governor Bedke is the water nerd we've been waiting for. We've briefly covered water issues in the western US before, but with those issues hitting closer and closer to home for us, we wanted a little closer look. Idaho has been making water news lately as senior and junior water rights have come into contention with previously-set guidelines. The lieutenant governor gives us a broad overview of the issue, and then dives into the solutions and options in place to try and get to an ending that ultimately benefits everyone. While the water issue itself is fascinating, what we really loved about this episode is Bedke's determination to find an amicable, workable, long-lasting solution for all stakeholders involved. It's not often you hear someone with such a clear-eyed view of both sides, and takes into account everyone's perspectives. It's even less often that you hear someone so positive and determined about a good outcome. This conversation is an excellent addition to our lineup, following on the heels of our Episode 150, Whiskey's for Drinkin' Water's for Fightin' from spring 2023. Tune in!

As always, like, subscribe, share and review!

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Love, Katharine and Val

This week, we're joined by one of Valene's newfound compatriots from her YCC experience. Carlos Ochoa is a first generation rancher on the southern border of Texas. Always an outdoors kid, Carlos knew from a young age that he wanted to have a hands-on, outdoor kind of career. In college, he pursued a degree in agriculture management, and from there, he became involved in all types of ag-related activity. Discovering his love of the cattle industry, he made his way into a management position on a ranch southwest of San Antonio. 

He shares with us his path to where he is now, from learning the business from the ground up, from fence fixing to now managing the team he is now in charge of.  Stressing that his experiences have been very humbling, he gives advice on where to start as a first generation agriculturist, critical experiences to have, mentors to learn from, and day to day challenges of ranching on the border of the United States and Texas.

This is our first deep dive into an episode with a first generation agriculturist, and you don't want to miss it. 

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Love, Katharine and Val

This week, it's just Katharine and Valene, talking all about Val's experiences at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Young Cattlemen's Convention. YCC is an exclusive event, with just one young person selected from each state to partipate in the yearly 8-day experience. While Val is too modest to say so, it comes as no surpise that she was Idaho's pick to represent their beef industry this year. 

Back recording together in the actual same geographic location for the first time in what seems like forever, Katharine and Val have a great time recounting her adventure, from the first stop in Denver to tour NCBA's headquarters (like a NASA launch room, according to Val) to tasting beef innovations and getting to know the CEO of the Australian Beef Association. Val and her comrades flew across the country, hopping from Colorado to Iowa to Washington, DC. Tune in to hear how Val benefited from this experience personally, and how events like YCC are cultivating agriculture's leaders of tomorrow.

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Love, Katharine and Val

This week, we're excited to welcome back Katharine's brother-in-law, Dan Lotspeich. (Dan first joined us in our January 2023 ag labor series. Take a listen if you missed it!) Dan is one-third of the dynamic trio (the other two being Katharine's mother- and father-in-law) spearheading a major effort to bring fresh and local food to Northeastern Nevada. Dan describes the Lotspeich Family Farm operation to us, some of the regulatory challenges they've been battling, and their constant search for innovative practices and events to try and boost their growth and exposure. More poignantly, Dan also talks about the tough year they've been facing, including the latest blow of a mid-June frost that wiped out nearly $25,000 of product. The exhaustion is clear in Dan's voice as he shares what happened and what that could mean for the farm the rest of the season and upcoming years. However, like most every other agriculturist out there, he rallies almost immediately and shares with us the pivots he, Dale and Leslie, and their employees started considering as they surveyed the damage the next day. 

This episode is another close look at a unique farm, and the challenges and triumphs shared by agriculturists the world over. Tune in and turn up!

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Love, Katharine and Val

This week, we dive into a discussion that's been a hot topic for the last several years. Joined by Jessica Langley, we talk about carbon credits and carbon markets and the opportunities they present for agriculture. We both have experience in helping get dairy digester projects off the ground in anticipation of those dairies being able to take advantage of carbon credits, but haven't known much about what happens after the manure hits the digester. Jessica has deep experience in what might be called the early days of creating accountability on the part of carbon credit buyers and economic feasibility on the part of carbon credit producers. We start the conversation with Jessica giving an overview of how credits can be produced by agriculture operators. We then move into some of the finer details about how credits are being assessed, accounted for, and that producers are indeed receiving promised funds for credit practices being implemented. We also have interesting discussions about the disconnect between the people making the credit guidelines and agriculture producers. As often happens in our industry, the nuances of day to day agriculture production is far different from what someone with no experience may think is the case. We ask each other a lot of questions around those challenges, and Jessica has a positive message to share at the end. Tune in!

As always, like, subscribe, share and review!

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Love, Katharine and Val

We're back this week with the hottest topic in dairy and animal ag right now - H5N1 Avian Influenza. If you haven't heard yet, you might be wondering why avian flu and dairy cows are appearing in the same sentence. Late last year and into early this year, dairy cows in Texas were presenting with strange symptoms. State and federal authorities started investigating, and a strain of bird flu was found to have jumped species into dairy cows. 

Lots of questions have rapidly arisen from this development. Joining us this week is Idaho state veterinarian Dr. Scott Leibsle. Dr. Leibsle gives us a very in depth episode detailing what is known and not known about this latest challenge arising in the dairy industry. This is a thorough overview sharing the known facts about these cases, and what is yet to be determined. Dr. Leibsle talks about potential causes, potential vectors, and what may be next for dairy farmers now dealing with this issue. Tune in, turn up, and take a listen. 

As always, like, subscribe, share and review!

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Make sure to spell Millennial correctly ;)*

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Love, Katharine and Val

"Everybody has a little froot-loopedness". In our first few moments of recording with this week's guest, we burst out laughing. We've been having heavy and deep conversations during our mental health series this year. We finish this series with more in depth discussions with our guest, but he brings a much-needed note of levity to conclude this month's content. 

Lowell Cerise is a farmer in Idaho, who has struggled with many mental health challenges and is here to tell us how it is, no holds barred, and to be able to laugh along the way. Lowell describes in regular terms how it can feel to deal with anxiety and depression, along with real daily tools he uses to manage those struggles. He doesn't hold back from sharing things he's tried, from meditation to alternative treatments (think magic mushrooms). This is an entertaining and very informative episode, with a guest who you'd feel so comfortable sitting down with, shooting the breeze, and talking about all things life. Tune in to our final mental health episode for 2024, and take hope and humor from it. 

*** If you or someone you know needs help with mental health challenges or substance abuse, please reach out. Here are some resources to consider:

Lifeline Chat and Text is a service of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline connecting individuals with crisis counselors for emotional support and other services via web chat or texting 988.

The American Psychological Association has many great resources for whatever distress you may be experiencing. Visit apa.org to find resources including:

Crisis Text Line Text HOME to 741741

Narcotics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous Gamblers Anonymous Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline (800) 662-4357

and many other excellent resources for all kinds of support and difficult experiences.

Some agriculture-focused resources are:

https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/mental-health 

https://www.nmpf.org/resources/mental-health-and-wellness/

https://www.dairyherd.com/news/business/free-help-available-those-farmers-struggling-mental-health

https://www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/programs-resources/stress-wellness-resources/

https://www.fb.org/initiative/farm-state-of-mind

Please, please reach out for help if you are hurting. You are loved, you are worthy, you are needed, you are wanted. You don’t have to do this alone.

With love and hope, Katharine and Valene

As always, like, subscribe, share and review!

www.millennialag.com

[email protected]

Instagram: @millennialag

Facebook: Millennial Ag

Twitter: @millennialag

Make sure to spell Millennial correctly ;)*

Don't forget to review us! It really does help our ratings, and we really appreciate your feedback.

Love, Katharine and Val

In the fourth episode of our May Mental Health Month series, we're joined by Sam Banta, a young, passionate farmer in Northeastern Nevada. Sam has experienced many struggles throughout her life that have made it crucial for her to develop real tools to manage her mental wellness. 

Listening to Sam is a real-world view into how someone manages her mental wellbeing every day. Sam doesn't spout platitudes or a "just bootstrap yourself better" message. She shares things that make it difficult for her to stay balanced, and tactics and tools on how she manages those challenges. She also talks about activities she does daily to make sure she's taking care of herself in the first place, and places and people she's turned to in her times of need. It's so encouraging to listen to how Sam has embraced not only what she struggles with, but spreading her knowledge and experience so that others might find help and healing too. 

Sam farms alongside Katharine's inlaws at Lotspeich Family Farm in Deeth, Nevada. LFF provides Northeastern Nevada with the freshest, most delicious vegetables and herbs and beautiful fresh flowers you could ever hope to find in the high desert. Visit their website at https://www.lotspeichfamilyfarm.com/ and find them on Facebook and Instagram.

*** If you or someone you know needs help with mental health challenges or substance abuse, please reach out. Here are some resources to consider:

Lifeline Chat and Text is a service of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline connecting individuals with crisis counselors for emotional support and other services via web chat or texting 988.

The American Psychological Association has many great resources for whatever distress you may be experiencing. Visit apa.org to find resources including:

Crisis Text Line Text HOME to 741741

Narcotics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous Gamblers Anonymous Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline (800) 662-4357

and many other excellent resources for all kinds of support and difficult experiences.

Some agriculture-focused resources are:

https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/mental-health 

https://www.nmpf.org/resources/mental-health-and-wellness/

https://www.dairyherd.com/news/business/free-help-available-those-farmers-struggling-mental-health

https://www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/programs-resources/stress-wellness-resources/

https://www.fb.org/initiative/farm-state-of-mind

Please, please reach out for help if you are hurting. You are loved, you are worthy, you are needed, you are wanted. You don’t have to do this alone.

With love and hope, Katharine and Valene

As always, like, subscribe, share and review!

www.millennialag.com

[email protected]

Instagram: @millennialag

Facebook: Millennial Ag

Twitter: @millennialag

Make sure to spell Millennial correctly ;)*

Don't forget to review us! It really does help our ratings, and we really appreciate your feedback.

Love, Katharine and Val