agri-Culture

Send us Fan Mail It’s hot.  How hot?  Damn hot.  And we’re on the road again, so staying cool and calm can be a challenge sometimes.  But our favorite weapon in the war on bakewear is -  cotton  (Ha – get it?  Yes, we do amuse ourselves sometimes.)  Cotton is not only a clothing staple (Ha – we did it again!), but it is a certified spa moment to some of us.  There’s nothing like the feel of real c...

Send us Fan Mail To the best chicken ever! RIP Flipper Links: https://www.mypetchicken.com/ https://www.backyardchickens.com/ https://cartershay.com/   https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-health/health-problems/lash-eggs-salpingitis/#:~:text=Causes%201%20Lash%20eggs%20result%20from%20an%20infection,lash%20egg%2C%20and%20she%20may%20or%20may%20 https://the-chicken-chick.com/illustrated-glossary-of-essentia...

Send us Fan Mail A truly interesting couple on the Mas Vacas Tour 2021, Part 2 (or is it 3 now?) was James and Debbie Farr of Farr Cross Ranch.  They sat down with us (okay, so the people stood, but some of the cows were prone) in the hot, breezy, lush and green fields of Terrell, Texas… WAIT.  Lush green fields?  Texas?  We’re expected to believe THAT one?!?! Yep – and we have visuals to prove it...

Send us Fan Mail Everything is made up of an interesting combination of ingredients, whether it be flora, fauna or food.   Melissa Guerra, the Kitchen Wrangler and cultural foodie extraordinaire, can look at a delicious meal and not only see the food, she sees the history behind it.  The Culinary Institute of America graduate and James Beard Award finalist is a powerhouse personality with a keen b...

Send us Fan Mail Huge spiral springs, metal arms, long tendril-like wires, and bright yellow cogs with fingers were only a few of the things in the Pioneer Equipment booth at Horse Progress Days.  It may seem like we were under attack by the Mechanical Spiders from Mars, but Doug Scheetz, Marketing Director extraordinaire, walked us through the danger unscathed. Okay, so it was really just the int...

Send us Fan Mail There are some who think that the decline of modern culture (not a statement, people – just a theory argued by some) is due to the fact that sitting down at the table for dinner isn’t common anymore.  We sit on the sofa in front of the TV, ingesting something we’ve microwaved quickly, instead of sitting at the table with our family, eating something that took time to put together....

Send us Fan Mail Are we happy with more?  Not always (unless it’s more dirt, in which case there’s a direct translation for some of us dirt hoarders). Today we bring you an interview from one of our newly-favorite events.  Daniel Wengerd, General Coordinator for Horse Progress Days 2021, sits down and talks with us about the planning behind an undertaking like this, and how a team of “Plain People...

Send us Fan Mail Independence is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?  We usually associate that with being alone or apart, but it can also be something a little different, especially in the economic community.   This week we celebrate July 4th here in the U.S., the anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence, way back in 1776.  That little piece of paper means a lot to a great number of...

Send us Fan Mail Why am I here?  What day is it?  What planet are we on, anyway?  Those questions and more… Today’s podcast comes to you from a hotel room in Ashtabula, Ohio.  After a crazy month (or two or…) of travel, we’re asking those existential questions of the hotel room ceiling.  It’s hard to keep track of all of those things when the world is spinning faster and faster, it seems, and most...

Send us Fan Mail I’m from California, so that means that I surf every day, eat granola and salad all the time, am a dyed-in-the-wool leftist, and drive a hybrid, right?  Well, a few of those things might be true, but some are not.  And in the same way people think about the “laid-back state” residents as only one type, we all have preconceived ideas about a place and its residents. Texas has the s...

Send us Fan Mail We’re very happily back on the road again this summer -- and this week we’re also back on the banks of the Platte River, in Grand Island, Nebraska, where it’s 95-104 degrees outside.  We’re filming the American Boer Goat Association’s National Show, held at the Fonner Park fairgrounds, which, by the way, is the place where you can also find the annual Nebraska State Fair.  The ABG...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we’re reading the words of Charles Goodnight and W.J. Wilson, as excerpted from “The Trail Drivers of Texas,” by the University of Texas Press.  You may know these men better as Captain Call (played by Tommy Lee Jones) and Pea Eye (aka Timothy Scott).   Lonesome Dove meets “The Trail Drivers Bible,” in the hope that it inspires you to quest for more from The University of T...

Send us Fan Mail We spoke with Will Cradduck, manager of the Official State of Texas Longhorn herd at Fort Griffin, Texas.  We stood among herds of Longhorn Cattle in the midst of an old Texas cattle trail, straight out of Lonesome Dove.  We crossed the Pecos, and headed home.   To my father the cattle rancher and historian, and the recently departed Larry McMurtry – our best wishes that you are r...

Send us Fan Mail Mas Vacas!  More cows for us on our 2021 summer tour this year.  But beef this time, because it’s what’s for dinner (no offense to the wonderful Milking Devon peeps).   Since Sam Elliot’s voice and a bushy mustache, spurs and boots should now be in the forefront of your mind after that last sentence, it seems to be a great time to announce our trip to Texas.  We’re on a long-overd...

Send us Fan Mail Many countries use stamps as a way to tell people about their culture and their history, all in a little corner of a piece of paper.  It’s a great PR opportunity to have a publicly-visible thing that can be very personal to those that send, and those that receive, and maybe some others along the way.   Today, on May 17, 2021, it’s only fitting that Mount Vernon, Virginia (the home...

Send us Fan Mail The Backyard Green Films universe this week: Our San Diego Screening of The Holstein Dilemma documentary is here. The exciting new Heritage Breed Stamp Series at the USPS hits next Monday. We have a shot at something big.  Holy Cow. Links: https://www.netaonline.org/about-us https://www.netaonline.org/episode/holstein-dilemma https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 h...

Send us Fan Mail It’s that time again – Bishop Mule Days.  We’re going to bring you back to that wild adventure with an interview with Bill Garrett, of Garrett Jackstock.  He came all the way from Stillwell, Oklahoma to show off his gorgeous ass.  We would know, because we looked (ba-dum-dum)(And yes, we will take every cheap and easy shot we can on this one).   Mule days is a wild, colorful celeb...

Send us Fan Mail Every once in a while we meet someone who is unabashedly direct. Straightforward.  Sometimes even to the point of becoming – dare we say it – politically incorrect.  Not in a mean way, and completely without malicious intent; it’s just that they don’t pull their punches, and they tell you what they think.    It can be refreshing sometimes, can it not?  You can have some really sub...

Send us Fan Mail This week is the funeral of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.  He was a man that dutifully served in the less-glorious position of Queen Elizabeth II’s consort for over 70 years.  His funeral procession included his faithful team of Fell Ponies, pulling the carriage that used to zip along the royal estates under Prince Philip’s guidance. So it is truly ironic that we had our p...

Send us Fan Mail What to choose and what to keep The thought in Springtime fends off sleep With breed or farm or film or seed You must choose well or won’t succeed. Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culling Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Infrastructure.  Is it a “sexy” word for most people?  Definitely not.  But to some of us, the truly exciting part is that effort now can often translate to big gains in the future. Building something that will last long after you’re gone takes time, focus, thought, and usually quite a bit of money. You might think we’re talking about all that stuff with the massive stimulus spend...

Send us Fan Mail If I say, “The glories of Spain,” you may think of modern cathedrals, or historic armadas, or Inigo Montoya.  But no matter what you think of when Spain is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind might not be “livestock.”  If you live in North America, though, maybe you should put that one in the mental hopper, because when Ponce de Leon came over to Florida in 1521 looking...

Send us Fan Mail There are not many things that everyone (other than Big Bang’s Leonard) can get behind, but a visit to the Creamery is one of them.  For us, that was Face Rock Creamery in Bandon, Oregon.  Beautiful green pastures, cranberry bogs along the roadside, the fog drifting through the trees, the smell of the salt air off the ocean… And dairy products. Brad Sinko, Head Cheese Maker at Fac...

Send us Fan Mail We met up with Woody Babcock and Cora Wahl on our trip to the glorious coast of southern Oregon last week.  They took us on a tour of Woodrow Farms, their spanking clean and efficiently-run farm nestled within a stone’s throw of the Pacific Ocean.  Green pastures, bald eagles, East Friesians, herding dogs, vacuum pumps and a big refrigerator.  Sound incongruous?  Not so when you r...

Send us Fan Mail (to the tune of “Green Acres”) (Elara) Shepherd’s Lane is the place for me Lambing season is a thing to see Sheep spreading out so far and wide Keep San Diego just give me that countryside. (Rick) No – a living’s what we have to make Wool products are (all that we can take) We’ll bring beer and coffee across the line But please remember Martin says we’ll pay some fines. (Elara) Th...