Off-Farm Income

Welcome to the Farm Update show for this week.  Today, I am going to be speaking about a new testimonial for a product that was sent to me - Hen Gear's 54" laying box.  Hint: So far, I am very pleased.  I will also be discussing: The ever changing weather conditions on our farm. A car sliding into our fence A snow load related insurance claim at a rental house

Maverick Scheckel is just a sophomore in high school, but he is already the proprietor of two businesses and has developed a skill set that is going to serve him well for the rest of his life.  Mentored by his father and working his father's large equipment "buy/sell" business, Maverick learned a lot about repairing equipment.  This includes both working on engines and welding. Maverick has taken...

For Information Like Degrees Offered, Annual Costs, Etc., Please Click The Banner Below: The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the...

Tip Of The Week What is "broken windows policing"? Rural Crime In The U.S. https://vtdigger.org/2024/01/18/final-reading-vermont-lawmakers-try-again-to-rein-in-timber-theft/ https://www.kxii.com/2024/01/18/copper-stolen-choctaw-county-radio-tower-found-paris/ https://www.northcentralpa.com/news/crime/police-looking-for-stolen-tractor/article_de077596-b53b-11ee-a4e7-d3a713ccf172.html Across The Pon...

Lauren Schroeder is an amazing humanitarian, farmer and FFA student.  During Covid, when she was in the 8th Grade, she started volunteering in her community and made an observation.  She noticed that in the meals available to people there was no fresh produce.  The timing of this observation coincided with her beginning her FFA career and needing to develop a supervised agricultural experience. La...

Chase Krug was already doing amazing things when I first interviewed him in 2016.  Since then he has gone on to even more amazing accomplishments.  I was able to meet him in person in Indianapolis when he won the American Star Award for Agriscience Research.  And, I am happy to profile him again today on our re-cap episode.

Aidan Yaddof is a sophomore in high school, sentinel of his FFA chapter, a two time SAE grant recipient, and hunter and a pheasant producer.  Growing up in eastern Iowa on his families four acres, Aidan has always been around livestock and agriculture.  This engagement with livestock and farming led him to join the FFA in the 8th grade, and he found that he really enjoyed the organization.  This h...

We have been experiencing actual winter on the farm ever since we got back from our tropical vacation.  It is funny how things get more complicated with even a little snow and frigid temperatures.  Today, I will talk all about it. More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:      

Abby Kolousek is a 6th Generation Farmer on her families property in Eastern South Dakota.  When she was first getting started in the FFA a neighbor was getting out of goats and gave her family a Nigerian Dwarf Buck.  There was something about the personality of a goat that was intriguing to Abby, and she started building a herd of the same breed. At its peak, Abby had about 20 nannies.  However,...

For Information Like Degrees Offered, Annual Costs, Etc., Please Click The Banner Below: The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode is an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the...

Tip Of The Week Whose that knocking at my door? Rural Crime In The U.S. https://wtop.com/crime/2024/01/fairfax-co-police-on-hunt-for-rose-ruse-burglars/ https://www.ketk.com/news/crime-public-safety/tractor-front-loader-backhoe-attachment-reported-stolen-in-camp-county/ https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/2-horses-go-missing-in-smith-county/501-8fc4dfae-ea7f-4db7-92e8-2f9a1ec3ddcd Across The P...

An interesting dynamic of our world today is the news cycle.  We know about more of the most horrific events and suffering in the world than any of our predecessors.  However, it turns out that there are a lot of very bad stories out there, each of them compelling.  As such, we have the strange phenomena of hearing about something in another part of the world that causes us great consternation in...

On tomorrow's Friday episode I am featuring an episode with previous guest, Caroline Clarin.  Caroline first came on the show in 2021 during Christmas, and we discussed the situation with people in Afghanistan who had helped out the United States since the war began there in 2001.  The United States had just pulled out of Afghanistan, and many of them were now in danger because of the return of th...

Morelia Vieyra Santana is a 2023 National Proficiency Winner in the category of Equine Science.  She is also a previous guest on the Off-Farm Income Podcast, appearing when she was a sophomore in high school in 2021. When I first interviewed Morelia, I was taken with how bold she was in her role at her families horse boarding, training and events business in Madera, California.  Not only was she w...

Autumm, Hattie and I have just returned from 10 days on the Island of Roatan in Honduras.  That is why you have been hearing "best of" episodes for the past two weeks.  Hattie and I are now certified SCUBA divers, and I've got a lot to tell you in today's farm update!

James Titus is a 4th generation farmer on his families property in Valley Home, California.  James is also the oldest son of one of my oldest and dearest friends, who I grew up with in Valley Home. Beginning as a small village made up of German immigrants at the turn of the 20th's Century, Valley Home had two different names.  First, as a small railroad water stop it was referred to as "Clyde".  A...

For Information Like Degrees Offered, Annual Costs, Etc., Please Click The Banner Below: The Agricultural College Episode is designed to profile agricultural trade schools, junior colleges, colleges and universities around the U.S.  This episode i s an effort to replicate the conversation that prospective students, parents and ag teachers might have with agricultural schools at trade show like the...

Tip Of The Week Consider using an alarm system with video incorporated to get a faster response from law enforcement. Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.ky3.com/2021/08/13/thief-steals-tractor-john-deere-gator-skyline-school-district/ https://www.wtvq.com/2021/08/10/in-two-cases-boyle-authorities-need-info-on-theft-suspect-stolen-atv/ https://www.wdbj7.com/2021/08/09/search-pittsylvania-county-tr...

Today I get to profile another national star finalist.  Murdock Wynn will be up on the stage in Indianapolis just days after this interview is released.  How did he get there?  Working on his families farm on a sow to weaner operation. The numbers of pigs they are raising there is staggering.  With their sow numbers they are raising around 65,000 pigs per year and selling them.  Those are unbeliev...

How would you like to start your farming endeavor, come up with a business model and then find out that the demand for what you were producing was way bigger than you ever expected?  Well, that is exactly what happened to Steve Horton and his wife, Lyn. Steve's wife Lyn has always wanted to have a farm where they sold raw milk.  After about 20 years of waiting, she and Steve decided to put in a mo...

The "can do" spirit of the students that I get to interview for the Off-Farm Income Podcast is truly remarkable.  In today's episode I am fortunate to interview another one of those students who just blows away my pre-conceived notions of what high school students are capable of. Katie Nealen was just finishing up her junior year of high school when we recorded this episode.  She has a love for an...

Entrepreneurship is a very fun and rewarding journey.  But just like anything else there are highs and lows to this journey.  The problem with entrepreneurship is that some of the highs can be so high, that a low that would seem normal for an everyday employee might seem like the Marianas Trench to an entrepreneur.

Happy New Year's Everyone.  This is always a fun episode because we announce the results of our silly, agricultural survey, Autumm and Hattie come on the show and we give away prizes. This year's episode was recorded remotely in Texas!  We are in the midst of an epic trip exploring Texas history, the Southern Border and a watering point on the Goodnight/Loving Trail.  Enjoy the photos! Thank you a...

This week we have a special Rural Crime Episode for you.  I am speaking with Philip Clarke, the executive Editor of Farmer's Weekly.   Farmer's Weekly is a publication based in the United Kingdom. I have been reading so many stories about rural crime in the U.K. that I wanted to speak with somebody who understood the scope and specifics of the issues there better than me.  It seems that three out...

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...