Off-Farm Income

How about sub-contracting as a corporate pilot as your form of off-farm income?  Seem impossible?  I would have thought it was unrealistic until I interviewed today's guest, Andrew Ambrose. Andrew owns his own business, Fly Twins LLC, and he farms 750 acres in Southeast Missouri in addition to that.  If that is not enough, he also owns his own excavating company.  As Andrew put it, it would not be...

Today we bring you a show that we aired previously on this remarkable young man and his journey through FFA -  Raising, Showing And Selling Pigs as his SAE - into achieving his dream of being a an agricultural pilot. 

Benjamin Olander won a National Proficiency Award at the National FFA Convention in October of 2021, and I was lucky enough to be back stage and to interview him as what had just happened sank in for him.  I knew as we conducted that interview that I'd like to have him on the show for a full interview, so we set it up and get to feature him today. Ben has grown up around agriculture.  His parents...

I believe that self-sufficiency or independence is one of the main reasons that we love the agricultural lifestyle.  I was reminded of that this morning with something as simple and mundane as making my own candles.  In today's episode I want to discuss this with you and why in the world I am making my own candles! Alex Wild's Youtube Channel About Bushcraft: More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm...

Mackenzie Henning is a natural born seed breeder.  You might not think such a person exists, but I am here to tell you that they do.  Mackenzie grew up around agriculture and farming in typical, Upper Mid-West crop rotation of corn, wheat and soybeans.  However, about five years ago her parents made a change and started growing seed corn.  This led Mackenzie into a summer job de-tasseling corn sta...

Tip Of The Week Reinforce the values of honesty.   There is too much dishonesty in the world today, i.e. politicians, phone solicitors, emails, social media, etc. Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/jan/14/other-days/   (1st Story is from 100 years ago and interesting) https://thecrimereport.org/2022/01/13/southern-oregon-overwhelmed-by-illegal-pot-farms/   (Roseburg,...

Our guest today is a 4th generation farmer, and he is trying to reclaim a farming operation that was lost in his family so that the operation can go into the 5th and 6th generations and beyond. Corey Strothman has an interesting story of growing up on his families farm and then his father having to stop farming independently and lease out their ground when Corey was ten years of age.  For about 22...

Tomorrow we are profiling an agricultural entrepreneur using multi-level marketing to leverage his knowledge of farming to create his off-farm income.  I thought that my interview with Megan Dwyer from 2018 when we talked about all the different entrepreneurial endeavors she and her husband were involved in to support their farm would be a great tie in.  The original show notes are below. SHOW NOT...

Today's guest has experienced all aspect of the business cycle, and he did it all in high school!  Ayden Gartenlaub was encouraged by his father to get involved in the agriculture program and FFA at Highland High School when he was a freshman.  His father had grown up in agriculture and knew the benefits it would provide to Ayden.  So, Ayden reluctantly joined, and the rest as they say is.....hist...

Hi everyone.  Today is a true farm update on what we are doing on our place in Kuna, Idaho; Hauling Livestock Outgrowing Our Trailer Getting Deposits From Customers Our Ongoing Fox Problem Learning To Weld   More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

andon Bazemore was a National Proficiency Finalist in 2021.  He worked his way through multiple steps of a process of applications, interviews, section wins, state wins and more interviews to finally reach the stage in Indianapolis.  This is definitely a demonstration of hard work, dedication and participation in the FFA but, as Landon would tell you, it wasn't always this way. Landon has been par...

Tip Of The Week Reinforce your roadside fences with hotwire Rural Crime In The U.S. (BOL) https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/delaware-county/sheriff-searching-for-a-horse-thief-in-delaware-county/ https://www.gbtribune.com/news/local-news/cattle-theft-report-draws-attention-state-crime-unit/ https://www.redbluffdailynews.com/2022/01/06/theft-of-fence-posts-poses-safety-threat-in-tehama-county/...

Some time during high school I was exposed to the concept of vertical integration.  Even though I did not have any aspirations of running my own business at that time, I was able fascinated with the concept and admired the people who do this.  That is still true today. My guest today, Cinde Moore, is just one of those people.  She and her husband Mark started raising livestock and purchased their...

Today's show is a replay of a person who deserves our admiration. After the passing of her husband, she is not only running her farm alone, but is finding new and creative ways to diversify and offer quality, hand spun wool to her customers.

Molly McClure is a fierce competitor in the FFA, but she is also a fierce competitor in sports.  At Hugoton High School she ran cross country, played point guard and ran track.  For several year the National FFA Convention fell on the same weekend as the state cross country meets, so she never went.  However, that was all supposed to change in 2020, right up until Covid canceled the National FFA C...

Let's talk 2022 goals, how to change your perspective on your job and all about the positive impacts of the wind! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

 I met Cassie Carter at the 2021 National FFA Convention.  I was in a room interviewing National Proficiency Winners, and she had just won a national proficiency award in the category of Agricultural Services.  Cassie had been working in her families taxidermy business, Trophy Taker Taxidermy , since she was about six years old, and this seemed like a perfect fit for her SAE.  Well, that turned ou...

Happy New Year everyone!  And here is a to a great 2022!  Below are some of the most notable moments of 2021 as well as our most downloaded episodes of 2021! Most Downloaded of 2021         Rural Crime 970     FFA 973     Friday Show 969     Tuesday Episode 966     Re-Cap Episode 1004     Notable 2021 Moments All of us having Covid Hattie's conduct team winning state Hattie's conduct team taking 5...

Tiffany and her husband, Matt, both grew up in a city environment, St. Louis, Missouri, and did not have exposure to rural living or agriculture.  They were entrepreneurs, running an electrical contracting business for which Matt was the electrician, and they were busy!  So busy in fact that work and hustle were all that they knew. A simpler life was calling to them however.  They started out just...

Today's show is a replay of a special interview I did on how we view life and what you choose to do in situations that don't make you happy. Learn how to find purpose in your work and having faith in yourself. 

For the past several years the issue of mental health in the agricultural community has become more and more mainstream with some of the stigma slipping away.  About the time this really started to take hold Madisen Jolliff was noticing that this existed all on her own.  At the same time she was just coming into the FFA and looking for a project for her SAE.  Ultimately she chose to speak with far...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.  I've got a very chilly farm update for you in today's show.  Also, a true story about a strange Christmas Eve that sounds like (and should be) a commercial for our sponsor, Guardline Security! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:  

Fresh off of the high of the National FFA Convention I returned home to my studio and can you believe it, my very first interview with was with Tristan Wirkus, who had just one a National Proficiency Award! There is literally so much good going on at the National Convention that I just cannot keep up.  My interview with Tristan has been on the calendar for weeks.  What great luck for me that he wo...

Merry Christmas everyone!  I always love creating and recording our Christmas episode for your each year.  However, this year is a little bit different.  This year I have a guest on the show for Christmas who is a person who has done something very compassionate for people who are unbelievably less fortunate than anyone born here in the United States Of America. You may remember from our rural cri...

The Mackay High School FFA Chapter holds a "Christmas Bazaar" every year, right after the Thanksgiving break to bring the small and isolated community as well as people from the surrounding communities together.  The bazaar features some food, some singing and Christmas spirit, but the real emphasis is on community support.  This year 49 different small businesses were able to attend for $10 per t...