Off-Farm Income

How would you like to launch your career as a film maker in high school?  Well, that is what today's guest has done, and of course there is an FFA component to his journey that has propelled him to this place as well as to being a National Proficiency Finalist! Hayden Endicott graduated high school last spring, and he has launched directly into his chosen career as a film maker.  Since the age of...

Tip Of The Week Never give up - property can be recovered and crimes can be solved years later. Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2022/10/05/news/nm-supreme-court-ruling-resolves-legal-question-about-prosecuting-cattle-theft/173051.html https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/crime/report-horse-shot-killed-while-grazing-in-brown-county/ Across The Pond, Down Under And U...

The whole point of the Off-Farm Income Podcast is to provide you with business ideas that will help you to support your farming or ranching lifestyle through entrepreneurship.  Today's guest is already doing that, just at age 22.  There is a twist to Justin Miklaszewski's business.  The business he created, which is exploding by the way, guarantee's his farm will sell 100% of the livestock it prod...

On tomorrow's ag business episode I am featuring an absolute phenom of agricultural entrepreneurship who is building quite a retail business for the livestock that he raises on his farm.  For today's re-cap episode I am going to take you back to an interview I conducted with David Hancock who was doing the same thing when we first spoke, and he has continued to build an unbelievable business since...

In today's episode, I finally get to the other half of the story.  In my previous interviews with Case Edwards, who is an American Star Finalist this year, he has always given all the credit for his accomplishments to a classmate of his named Terrance Crayton.  When Case was a sophomore and Terrance was a junior, Terrance approached his FFA advisor and suggested that their chapter have a small eng...

This weekend we did an experiment selling coffee from our farm on a friend's coffee trailer.  I wouldn't say that we have a new business, but I was reminded how just trying something can lead to a waterfall of business ideas, and I will discuss this with you today. More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:    

Agriculture is a large umbrella, and below that umbrella there are divisions.  The fact that there are divisions does not mean that this is contentious, but it does mean that everyone in agriculture generally leans one of two ways and then gets more specialized from there.  I happen to lean towards animal agriculture, and that is fueled by my passion for cattle.  Today's guest leans towards crops,...

Tip Of The Week The "old and the new", community and technology, can win against rural crime. Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.wdam.com/2022/09/26/deputies-searching-stolen-tractor-jones-co/ https://wgno.com/news/louisiana/livestock-theft-in-lasalle-parish-leads-to-arrest-of-mississippi-man/ Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.farminglife.com/country-and-farming/rural-thieves-t...

On today's episode I get to catch up with one of the first guests I ever had on the show, Pake McNally.  Pake first appeared on the Off-Farm Income Podcast in 2015 to talk about blacksmithing and his aspirations for ranching.  Today he is back and we will be talking blacksmithing, why he joined the Army at age 30, starting a family, starting over in the blacksmith world and much, much more.  You a...

On today's re-cap episode we are going way back into the archives, all the way to episode #18.  I am going to replay an interview I did with Pake McNally over seven years ago when he had just taken over a blacksmith shop and was building that business with aspirations of having his own cattle herd.  On tomorrow's ag business episode I am having him back on the show to catch up, see what's changed...

Today's guest is the epitome of the reason that interviewing FFA students, and specifically, American Star Finalists is so rewarding.  The level of knowledge, skill and ability that these students have is always amazing.  What is even more amazing is the way in which the FFA can bring it out and help them achieve new heights of achievement.   This is definitely true for Cory Yarbrough who is an Am...

Thanks to friend of the show, Warren Clark, we have an interesting study about off-farm income to present you with today.  Also, I've got a farm update for you, and let's talk about the best example of prioritizing starting a farm I've ever covered on this show! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:        

When Terrance Crayton of the Wetumpka FFA Chapter started the small engines team as a student at the school, he just wanted to work with engines.  I doubt he knew what that was going to lead to.  When he did that, one of the people that he encouraged to join was a sophomore named Case Edwards, who happens to be today's guest.  Case took to working with engines like a duck takes to water, and it br...

Tip Of The Week Participate in your community, it will shield you from many of the effects of rural crime. Rural Crime In The U.S. https://kmph.com/news/local/stolen-hay-trailers-worth-roughly-37000-returned-to-owner-in-porterville https://www.ketk.com/community/1000-reward-for-info-on-10-hay-bales-stolen-in-crockett/ Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above From James Dixon - https://www.thescott...

The technology that is emerging in agriculture is really amazing, and it all points to a future with less rural crime and easier management.  It also brings people into agriculture that may have never believed they would wind up there.  Enter today's guest, David Philpot. You may remember in episode #988 that I interviewed David Smith of Ceres Tag about the rural crime prevention and detection cap...

Two weeks ago on our rural crime episode I read a report of a "mock sheep theft" that was conducted by the University Of New England in Australia involving Ceres Tag and Mapipedia.  On tomorrow's ag business interview I am interviewing the creator of Mapipedia and talking all about how it can help with livestock theft detection and recovery as well as biosecurity and management of grazing.  I thou...

In the 1980's the "Future Farmers Of America" changed their name to simply the "FFA" because they knew that they were helping to create opportunities for students, inside and outside of agriculture, that went beyond traditional farming.  What a move by this organization!  Looking at the results they are getting in 2022 with their top achieving students, you can see just how much further the influe...

On last week's Tuesday episode I started talking about how my original business, Idaho Gopher Control, has now had three sets of owners.  It got me thinking about the all of the unintended, positive ripple effects of starting my very first business.  It also made me realize how close I came to chickening out on starting my own business, and what would not have happened if I gave into fear.  On tod...

I am always thrilled when a previous guest returns to the show as an American Star Finalist.  It is a thrill to know that these students went on to carry their talents to that level.  That is the case with today's returning guest, Cotton Booker . Cotton first appeared on this show in episode #671.  Back then he had just become the National Junior Auctioneering Champion, and he was representing the...

Tip Of The Week Have you insured your assets and feed from theft and fire? Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/police-tractor-saddles-water-stolen-from-elderly-woman-leads-to-marijuana-raid/article_8964cdb6-3113-11ed-b93e-efe1579e9372.html https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/suspicious-fire-at-dulls-farm-prompts-investigation-boone-county-sheriff-says Acros...

On today's episode I get to interview a neighbor.  Well, at least a neighbor  compared to so many of my other guests.  Felecia Hillyard raises goats and flowers at her farm on Chicken Dinner Road in Caldwell, about 20 miles from my farm.  She has a very interesting business model with enterprises that compliment each other. To hear Felecia tell her story, the first time she laid eyes on goats, beh...

On today's episode we are revisiting a very early episode I did featuring Chris and Ramona Long.  They were raising rabbits and then creating "rabbit tea fertilizer" with the manure that was for sale.  I loved the concept that they had, and how they were using the waste as a value added product. This interview is a perfect tie in for tomorrow' ag business episode, and I am looking forward to bring...

The complexity and diversity of a large scale production agriculture farm is always mind blowing to me.  I can get stuck trying to understand just one aspect of a farm at that scale, let alone see how it all works together.  Fortunately for today's guest, Jacob Wuebker, he does not have that problem.  And, his mastery of the processes of his families farm and his ability to document all of it thro...

Today is a farm update episode everyone.  I've got a ton of reasons to be both excited and thankful this fall, and I will be detailing them in this episode: We have our irrigation shut off date I am already feeding hay (with a caveat) My newly planted cover crop is coming up very well! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

Our guest today has an amazing story of becoming involved in agriscience research, not limiting his research interests to one aspect of agriculture and of doing good in the community.  He also has an amazing story of legacy.  Ryan Hess is part of the Stephenville FFA Chapter, and as an American Star Finalist in Agriscience Research he not only is the third finalist from Texas in three years, but h...