Off-Farm Income

Kate Ziehm is the president and owner of Morning Ag Clips and has an incredible story of agricultural entrepreneurship.  There are many ways and motivations that form people into entrepreneurs, Kate's was lifestyle.  Many times people choose entrepreneurship for lifestyle purposes thinking it is going to bring them passive income and the famous "four hour workweek".  Kate's lifestyle was a bit dif...

On tomorrow's ag business episode we are speaking with a very enterprising agricultural entrepreneur from New York State.  The crux of her story is that through entrepreneurship and a set of skills that she already had, she found her place in agriculture.  Today, she is making major contributions to our industry and keeping us all informed. This made me think of my interview with Wil Crombie.  Wil...

Dallas Sills is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Swine Production.  Dallas farms in Northeast Georgia with his father, uncle, sister and cousins on a farm that was started in the 1950's by his grandparents.  About four years ago Dallas was starting his supervised agricultural experience and also looking for what he could do on the farm that would be unique to him.  He noticed...

Today is a farm update episode everyone.  We will cover: Changing my security plans about goat theft The tractor that ended horsepower The lost art of manure pick up How to irritate staff at the livestock auction Why you should never put scrapies tags in your goats early More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:    

Jackson Lohr is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Poultry Production and a former state officer for the Virginia State FFA.  Jackson has known that he wanted to be a state officer since the 6th Grade when a Virginia State Officer took the time to speak with him at the state convention.  Only one problem, Jackson considered himself to be introverted, so how would he get out of h...

Tip Of The Week Know what services are available to you, and then learn how to fill the gaps Rural Crime In The U.S. https://news.yahoo.com/livestock-rustling-no-bull-legislators-043200037.html https://www.kmvt.com/2023/01/26/reports-livestock-theft-area-how-you-can-work-protect-your-animals/ https://magicvalley.com/news/local/to-catch-a-goat-thief-another-theft-reported-near-buhl/article_698d9a38...

Andrew Swafford is a county commissioner in Bledsoe County, Tennessee and at the time of this writing he is 25 years old.  Andrew is also the owner of three chicken houses, a 749 acre plot of timber, a forestry business called Four Aims Forestry and a graduate student at the University Of Georgia.  He clearly is a high achiever, and this is something that we at the Off-Farm Income Podcast have kno...

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode a previous FFA guest comes back on the show.  It has been 8 years since Andrew Swafford was first a guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast, and I am amazed with what he is doing today! On our Re-Cap Episode I'm bringing back his very first interview from 2015 so you can see the before and he after picture.

Connor Pence is a 2022 National Proficiency Award Winner in the category of Diversified Livestock Production.  In and of itself, this is a phenomenal accomplishment, but wait.....there's more.  Connor is also a 2021 National Proficiency Winner in the category of goat production. Connor first appeared on the Off-Farm Income Podcast one year ago exactly when I given the opportunity to interview him...

Today is a farm update episode everyone.  We will cover: Beautiful night skies during calving/kidding season The lure of the predator The great relief of remembering that goats are just dumb The archeology of our local area of Idaho The worst roads in America More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:    

Jared Weigandt is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Landscape Management.  He and his twin brother, Jordan, are poised to one day take over the family business, Sidney Landscape Services and become the 4th Generation of their family to own this business.  They are also the 6th generation in their family to work in the landscape business, and what was apparent from this intervie...

Tip Of The Week If you have a pet sheep that you love, make sure to treat the "help" with respect Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.wyomingnews.com/today-tomorrow/article_0676edb8-9751-11ed-9355-2330ed569969.html https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/teen-charged-with-stealing-a-tractor-tried-to-sell-it-on-facebook-edgecombe-sheriff-says/ https://www.kltv.com/2023/01/19/2-livingston-men-convicte...

The Shepherdess At Harmony Farms is named Grace, and she has an unbelievable story.  Starting at the age of 11 she lived in the suburbs of Austin, Texas and was purchasing and re-marketing garage sale items online.  She developed an incredible talent for online marketing during her teen years to the point that she developed a 7 figure apparel company using the marketing skills she had developed.  ...

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am speaking a marketing prodigy who has come into her own marketing Dorper Sheep as well as educational materials regarding how to farm and raise sheep.  This made me think of my interview with Jeremiah Geise who first appeared on the show in 2021 and talked about niche marketing for three different species of livestock.  So, I decided to bring this episode back...

Lizzie Schafer is a 2022 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Beef Placement.  Lizzie and her brother have been showing cattle nationally for their family farm for several years now, both from a competitive standpoint and in an effort to market their genetics.  Over the years, Lizzie has taken on more and more of the responsibility of the cattle side of their families farm, including bec...

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! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:      

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 le...

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 Acro...

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...

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 makin...

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 supervi...

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/countr...

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...