Off-Farm Income

Tip Of The Week Too good of a deal is exactly that… Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.tampafp.com/train-crashes-into-stolen-mosaic-zephyrhills/ https://www.sjgov.org/press-releases/press-release-detail/2023/10/23/sheriff-s-office-accepts-att-grant Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/cows-calves-meat-beheaded-black-market-b2435935.html https://www....

Molly Clark is a National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Ag Communications.  At the age of 16, encouraged by her mom and her aunt, she took a job at a local radio station reading commodity bids, overnight weather, a farm story and obituaries.  At the outset she was very nervous, and she says that you could tell by her voice that she did not want to be there. That was over two years ago ho...

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode I am featuring an FFA student up for a National Proficiency Award in Ag Communications.  She has accomplished this by being an ag broadcaster at a radio station in Ohio.  Well, it just so happens that she was trained and mentored by last year's National Proficiency Winner in Ag Communications, Laura Wuebker, who was a guest on this show almost exactly one year ago...

Aubrey Mahon is a National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Agricultural Mechanics Design and Fabrication.  She is also a college student at Northwestern Oklahoma State University studying Agricultural Business. Aubrey has been showing pigs for several years, and during this time an innovation in the show pig industry has been to tan pigs that already have black, blue or brown pigment in th...

Happy Halloween to all of you, if you celebrate this night of ghosts and goblins.  On today's farm update I touch on a Halloween memory as well as selling goats this weekend and the bad year of goat production that we have had.  Oh, and why I am sleep deprived! More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:        

Kynlee Bright is a 2023 National Proficiency Finalist in the category of Ag Communications, and she has a very interesting FFA origin story.  During her sophomore year of high school, she left her high school volleyball team, and the result was an open period that needed to be filled.  The only available class for her was an agriculture class.  Kynlee knew nothing about agriculture, had no aspirat...

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 Support your local sheriff's office Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/10/26/shootings-spotlight-alarming-jump-in-violence-against-minnesota-rural-officers https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/jim-wells-county/jim-wells-countys-rural-property-and-livestock-theft-prevention-program-helps-track-stolen-lost-property/503-e8734d7e-3bdd-4546-880a-4b0be1aef9b8 Acros...

Abigaile Wolfe is a current Senior at the Indiana Agriculture & Technology School. She is also the 2x current FFA President for the Indiana Ag & Tech chapter, as well as serving for the 2nd year as her local 4-H club President. She won the district and state level proficiencies as a Junior last year in Agricultural Services. Her entrepreneurship SAE is called The Barn Babysitter, and she started i...

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode we are featuring a high school senior who has developed a very active farm sitting business and has actually trade marked her business name.  I love the idea of a farm sitting business for a person who does not have their own farm or livestock yet, but who wants to work in this field.  But, when are you ready to take care of other people's livestock, and how do yo...

George Frees is an American Star Finalist in the category of Agriscience Research.  He is currently a junior at the University Of Missouri, and he has a long educational road ahead of him. George has had a passion for plants and for research since he was 5 years old when he asked his parents for an "elephant ear" plant for his birthday and began measuring its growth rates.  Over the past 16 years...

Back in March I did an episode about farmers being the scapegoats for water shortages in the Arid West, when municipalities were continuing to allow urban sprawl and new subdivision that required water that they did not have rights to.  In that episode I ended by asking the question of whether or not this should be topic of conversation at all, as I believed that this problem would eventually be s...

Jaxson Collier is an American Star Finalist in the category of Agricultural Placement.  He has been working on his families dairy farm in Snyder, Texas since he was 11 or 12 years old, and he is the third generation to do so. Jax is one for setting specific and long term goals.  When he was a freshman in high school he set his sights on being a 1st Vice-President at the area level in Texas.  Three...

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 To be really secure, gates need to be chained on both sides Rural Crime In The U.S. https://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/50603-madera-county-sheriff-s-office-partners-with-valley-crime-stoppers-to-crack-down-on-agricultural-theft-and-vandalism https://starherald.com/news/state-regional/crime-courts/rural-north-platte-man-pleads-guilty-to-felony-neglect-o...

Olivia Pflaumer is an Agriscience teacher, former American Star Finalist, former FFA member and three time guest of the Off-Farm Income Podcast.  On today's show she returns to give us an update on her career.  Olivia first appeared on the show in 2016 when she was a junior in high school.  Three years later she was back as an American Star Finalist in the category of Agriscience Research.  Today,...

On tomorrow's Ag Business Episode we are catching up with Olivia Pflaumer who is now an agriscience teacher in a STEM Program in Ohio.  This will be Olivia's third appearance on the show as she has been a high achiever for years now.  Olivia's first appearance was back in 2016, and as a nice tie in for tomorrow I decided to replay that interview today.  This will make for a great before and after...

Joseph Pulver is an American Star Finalist in the category of Agribusiness.  He and his brother are third generation working their families concrete business in the farming community of Randolph, Wisconsin.  As such, Joseph has been doing one aspect or another of the concrete business since he was 11 years old. By the time Joseph has a couple of years invested in the FFA, his advisor approached hi...

I had a list of farm update things to talk to you about today, but I didn't talk about almost any of that.  As so often happens when I start recording, my mind goes somewhere that is cathartic as it often does when speaking to this fantastic audience.  So, today there is a lot of reflection about how fortunate I am, the current events of today and a somber ending about those events.  I hope you wi...

Lainey Hutchison is an American Star Finalist in the category of agribusiness.  Growing up on a cattle ranch in Tennessee, horses have always been a part of Lainey's life.  That bloomed over the years to where she started competing in rodeo on horseback.  Eventually, a parent approached her and asked if she would be willing to provide riding lessons to their daughter.  She said yes, and an equestr...

We are 8 months into profiling agricultural colleges.  I believe that we are dispelling some myths and uncovering some opportunities for the student who wants to pursue a future in agriculture.  In today's I'll try to summarize what I have learned in the past 8 months.

Tip Of The Week What does it mean to believe all victims? Rural Crime In The U.S. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12619815/Washington-family-farm-theft-suspect-chicken-kids.html https://www.aginfo.net/report/57718/Sportsman-s-Spotlight/Stolen-Guard-dogs Across The Pond, Down Under And Up Above https://southburnett.com.au/news2/2023/10/11/hay-thats-our-truck/ https://www.bordertelegraph.co...

Today will our second installment talking about pricing and "is profit evil?"  I did that for a reason.  This is a question that has come up several times.  It came up for me in my business.  It has come up with guests that I have interviewed on the show.  And, it is has come up from people who are working in my industry who have since gone out of business. The fact that they went out of business...

Today we will be talking about pricing and "is profit evil?"  I did that for a reason.  This is a question that has come up several times.  It came up for me in my business.  It has come up with guests that I have interviewed on the show.  And, it is has come up from people who are working in my industry who have since gone out of business. The fact that they went out of business is a hint as to h...

Whitney Glazier is an American Star Finalist in the category of Agricultural Placement.  She knew she wanted to be an FFA member early in life, when her father was still teaching agriculture.  As she and her sister got older and became more involved in showing pigs, he dad ended his 20 year career as an ag teacher and started farming full time and helping Whitney and her sister get to different pi...