1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,880 Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Within Range coaching podcast. I'm Ranger, a certified 2 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:14,520 holistic success coach. And in this podcast, I break down the journey entrepreneurs face 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:19,480 as they start their organizations, overcome roadblocks in their way, and create an impact 4 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:24,640 that lasts. We talk with entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and purpose driven community members 5 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:30,140 just like you. Together, we learn how to grow our impact and develop ourselves as the people 6 00:00:30,140 --> 00:00:37,040 behind the mission. My intention is to help more people help more people. And remember, 7 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,840 if you're curious about expanding your impact, growing a community, or defining your mission, 8 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:46,840 vision or values, we can chat off the record. You can find my info in the show notes or 9 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:52,680 at my website within range coaching.com. We're also looking to build our sponsor community 10 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:57,880 with organizations and individuals who align with our values of fearless innovation, social 11 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,960 responsibility and courageous candor. If you're interested in helping us highlight individuals 12 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:07,980 doing great work in the world and share these values, reach out to me directly at ranger 13 00:01:07,980 --> 00:01:13,160 at within range coaching.com. I know you're just as eager to get started as I am. So let's 14 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:19,560 jump right in. 15 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,940 Good morning, good afternoon and good evening everybody. And welcome back to another episode 16 00:01:23,940 --> 00:01:28,840 of the within range coaching podcast. Today, we're diving deep into the world of agriculture 17 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:34,400 with a very special guest, Charity Underwood Salisbury. Charity brings her wealth of knowledge 18 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,580 from the beef industry into our conversation, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs 19 00:01:38,580 --> 00:01:44,240 faced by first generation farmers and ranchers. We chat about the realities of modern farming, 20 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:50,400 the misconceptions about rural life and the importance of education and community involvement. 21 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,360 Whether you're a seasoned rancher or just curious about the agricultural world, this 22 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:59,200 episode is packed with insights you won't want to miss. So grab a cup of coffee, sit 23 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,160 back, kick up your feet and let's get started. 24 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:07,520 All right, everybody. Well, I'd like to welcome today's guest, Charity Salisbury. Charity, 25 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:08,520 how are you doing today? 26 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,840 I'm good. How are you? 27 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,000 I'm doing well. Thank you for taking the time to join us today. I'm excited for our discussion. 28 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:16,560 Yes, me too. 29 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:21,240 Yeah. Well, if you could just go ahead and give us a quick rundown of your background 30 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,640 and what your intention is for today for our listeners who may not know who you are. 31 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:31,700 Okay. My name is Charity Anne Salisbury. My husband and I are fourth and fifth generation 32 00:02:31,700 --> 00:02:38,880 ranch kids. We both have grown up on ranches in Texas and New Mexico. And we have a commercial 33 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:46,680 cow calf ranch in or operation in New Mexico right now. We also have a feedlot that's not 34 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:56,680 operating at the moment, but that's a goal. And I've been a public beef advocate for probably 35 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:03,120 without saying how old I am. It's been about 24 years that I've been promoting the beef 36 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:11,440 industry and the truth about how we do things for the public. I don't hand hold it on sugar 37 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:20,960 coat, but I do inform the public the best I can. So that's my spiel. 38 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:27,240 So a lifelong farm kid ranch and beef advocate. And you mentioned a little bit about the truth 39 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:32,200 of what the industry is, and I'm sure we'll get to that in just a moment. And specifically 40 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:37,760 for this episode, what would you say your intention is for our listeners today? 41 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:47,480 I would like the public to talk to us, go out and meet their local rancher, farmer, 42 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:52,080 the guys on the tractors. I promise they're not booger bears like they act. They're not 43 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:58,920 that bad. We're all pretty friendly as long as someone asks us how we do things. If someone 44 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:03,280 comes at us and says you're doing it wrong or you're doing this, then we immediately 45 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:11,240 shut down. So my intention is for to let the public know it's okay to ask us. Google doesn't 46 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:15,920 know everything about what we do. I promise you can reach the end of the internet and 47 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:23,260 never find exactly what we're doing out here. You might find versions of it, but you have 48 00:04:23,260 --> 00:04:24,960 to talk to us. 49 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:29,400 Exactly. And I think that that's really a big thing about a concept that I'm working 50 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,680 on right now as well, where if you want to know about something, you have to ask the 51 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:38,800 people that are actually out there doing the work, not necessarily the articles that are 52 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:44,000 written. It's probably a good starting point so that you maybe have some questions to ask, 53 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,240 but it's really about getting in there and asking the actual experts themselves, not 54 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,400 necessarily the first article that you see. 55 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:58,960 Yes, and that's one of my taglines when I make my educational posts is ask those of 56 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:05,920 us that have our hands in the dirt, not an apartment lease, because it's two different 57 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:06,920 things. 58 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:07,920 Exactly. 59 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:13,660 And same thing on legislation. Why would you trust someone that that's in a one to six 60 00:05:13,660 --> 00:05:21,400 month apartment lease about agg legislation? They don't really, there's no connect for 61 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,240 them and their credibility isn't all that great. 62 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:30,760 Yeah, exactly. There's a there was a sign that I was passing when I was walking through 63 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:37,320 Amarillo, and I misread it. It was a big billboard. And I think it said if you if you want to 64 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:42,720 know about the feed, ask the cows. I think that's something about what the thing said. 65 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:48,120 But I read it from far away as if you want to know about the field, ask the cows. 66 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:53,600 And it would work as both. Exactly. But the way that I kind of thought about when I thought 67 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,800 it said field, which I still kind of run with is like if you want to know about the landscape 68 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,080 of something, if you really want to really know the intricacies, the details, you know, 69 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,160 where are the holes? Where are the good areas? Like, what is it actually like? You need to 70 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:11,560 ask the people that are in there 24 hours a day that live, breathe, work, sleep the 71 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:13,120 stuff, right? 72 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:24,600 Yes. Yes. And that that's a hard thing for us to get across to the public is where even 73 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:29,600 though we have cows or someone has sheep or someone has a farm and they're they're doing 74 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:36,840 produce, vegetables, whatever, our bottom or number one goal is to take care of that 75 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:42,320 dirt. If we don't take care of that dirt, there's no grass. If there's no grass, there's 76 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:47,240 no cows, there's no sheep, there's no horses, nothing can can live there. Now, when I was 77 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,920 younger, we did have a horse that would live on cactus and rocks, but that's very few and 78 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:58,960 far between. They have to have grass. We're just glorified grass farmers is what we are. 79 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:04,680 And the weather dictates a lot of that. It depends on where you are in the country. There's 80 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:12,840 no cookie cutter. This is how you do it. That will apply in every single state. It's just 81 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:19,480 not. So when I talk to when I go to Texas cattle groups and I talk to them completely 82 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:26,640 different conversation, they don't have the water issues that we have in New Mexico. And 83 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:33,080 their cows are growing up on our beam raised on belly deep grass in some areas. We're here. 84 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:39,720 We're running 80. I think where we're at right now, it's one cow per 88 acres. And that's 85 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:46,640 because of the water. And we're regulated to that. We can't have more than that. We 86 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:52,920 cannot because we have the horse permits and we have the state leases and we are regulated 87 00:07:52,920 --> 00:08:00,320 on those to how many we can have. That means a scientist or a specialist comes out, looks 88 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:04,240 at the country, looks at the grass, looks at the dirt, looks at the water situation 89 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:10,760 and tells us how many we can run in this area. Texas doesn't have that. Now your extension 90 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:15,400 agents in Texas, they'll tell you, okay, they'll come out and they'll say, well, looking at 91 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:21,120 your grass and how it's been grazed and in the past, this is probably what you what you 92 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:29,680 can run here. That's a suggestion here. If we go over those numbers, we could possibly 93 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:35,720 lose our lease or our permits. But in Texas, because it's all private, you can't tell somebody 94 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:41,760 they can't overgraze. I mean, you can drive by it and see it and like, oh man, they really 95 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:46,520 need to get them cows off of there. There's nothing but dirt, but nothing can be done 96 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:55,520 about it. But here we are regulated to rotate. So my grandfather was sick good low in New 97 00:08:55,520 --> 00:09:03,680 Mexico is one of the world's top soil conservationists, environmental guru guys when it pertains 98 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:12,200 to range management and livestock. So he was an expert in the area. He followed Alan Sabri 99 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:21,120 and out and Aldo Gosh, can you say his name Aldo Leopold on their practices on grazing. 100 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:26,240 He didn't follow it to the letter that that's the thing that some new producers like, I 101 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,720 need to follow it to the letter. No, you don't have to you need to learn what your area will 102 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:39,340 sustain what you can personally manage and stick to that. Like I said, there's no cookie 103 00:09:39,340 --> 00:09:46,020 cutter way to do this. You follow the guidelines, you follow the regulations, you stay within 104 00:09:46,020 --> 00:09:51,040 those and you'll be fine. Exactly. Yeah. And it sounds like after time you figure out what 105 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:56,240 it really is. And again, it's it sounds like there's a lot of work in tandem that you have 106 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:00,240 to do with the state agencies or these researchers to figure things out because at the end of 107 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:05,400 the day, like their intention, it sounds like is sustainability. Yes, it sounds like there's 108 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:12,520 also that aspect of you guys also know exactly what's going on out there. Yes, yes. And sustainability 109 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:19,060 and regenerative. Those are new buzzwords that are getting floated around. But they're 110 00:10:19,060 --> 00:10:26,160 just new words for old practices. That doesn't mean we weren't doing it. It just means somebody 111 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:31,320 came up with a new word for it. And so when you're talking when you're talking to these 112 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:37,100 fourth and fifth generation people, they must have done some they must have been using those 113 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:43,280 practices common sense will tell you they were or else farming and renting would be 114 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:48,720 a nomadic lifestyle. We chew up a piece of ground and have to move on to the next one. 115 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:53,280 And it's not like that. If we've been on the same chunk of dirt for 100 years, that 116 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:59,800 means we're doing the regenerative and sustainable. Yeah, then you're doing something correct. 117 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:07,480 Yes, yes. And and we hear that a lot. Well, you know, I've got pictures and videos from 118 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:16,160 some. Oh, what are those groups called? They come out with the razors and the side by sides 119 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:23,040 and they go on these trips through the mountains. And man, they tear stuff up, go off road, 120 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:29,560 put in new make new roads. And they think it's no big deal. But because they say it's 121 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:39,680 public land. But in states where there are there is public land and a rancher has a permit 122 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:48,400 or a lease. That means that grass that's getting driven all over and wiped out. That's our 123 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:56,160 grass. It belongs to us. Someone has to fix that. And what the public doesn't understand 124 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:03,760 is, yes, the public owns that what the public actually owns is just the access to that means 125 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:10,200 they can go to it doesn't mean they can go driving off all over the grass or cutting 126 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:15,320 trees. The trees actually belong to Forest Service and the water and the grazing belong 127 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:21,480 to the rancher that owns that lease or permit. And so the roads, that's basically what the 128 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:29,400 public has access to is just the established roads. So the rest is up to us to take care 129 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:35,800 of it's not some government agency out here, fixing fences, fixing water lines and water 130 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:40,840 drinkers for the wildlife. That's us. There's no agent coming out here or they don't have 131 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:47,200 some maintenance crew that comes out and fixes all that. That's us. So we pay for these leases 132 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:53,720 and permits. Plus, we pay to maintain those properties. And I just took a picture this 133 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:58,200 morning. I know you saw it when you came in, the BLM was right in front of us. And then 134 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:03,480 there's us right there at a cattle guard. And just in the last week, you can tell the 135 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:09,640 difference between the BLM managed and our managed and our managed is green and looks 136 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:16,640 like a park. And right across the fence, it's all grown up dead grass, dead weeds, dead 137 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:24,360 trees. It just, it looks crappy. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna lie, it looks kind of crappy, 138 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:29,440 it looks tragic, but whatever. They don't have anybody that takes care of that stuff. 139 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:33,640 Yeah, no, that's interesting that I feel like a lot of people there, you know, they think 140 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:40,240 BLM land, they think, you know, free space to hang out or to do whatever or tear it up. 141 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:44,560 But it's managed by someone still. And I think that they would typically think that it would 142 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:48,040 be managed by the federal government or the state government. And that's what I thought 143 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:53,040 was kind of interesting as well, that it's the individual ranchers and the, I guess you 144 00:13:53,040 --> 00:14:03,400 guys act as the land stewards in that situation. Not so much. Yes. Okay, perfect. 145 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:07,720 Welcome to the mountaintop. Are you an entrepreneur or nonprofit leader ready to make a bigger 146 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:12,360 impact in the world, but aren't quite sure how to do it or even where to start? Then 147 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:18,120 join the Never Peak community on school, where bold movers, shakers and magic makers come 148 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:23,560 together to achieve their dreams and support others on the way to theirs. Our goal is to 149 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:29,680 help leaders change the world by first focusing on themselves by fostering community rooted 150 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:35,760 in support and learning. My goal is to help you be more effective in your organization, 151 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:40,600 achieve your biggest dreams and make time for what really matters in your life. 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That's S-K-O-O-L dot com forward slash never dash 160 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:34,480 peak or hit the link in the show notes to claim your spot on the mountain. Again, be 161 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:39,360 sure you get in now because I cannot wait to see you there and witness the peaks you'll 162 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:47,760 reach in just a few weeks. 163 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,040 And then if we can actually take a second to take a step back. You said that you've 164 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:56,960 been doing advocacy for about 24 years now. So you've been living and breathing and speaking 165 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:03,080 to this for so long. What got you into the actual advocacy side of things as opposed 166 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:08,920 to staying in the ranching side necessarily? Like how did that, how'd you start getting 167 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:10,600 to the public eye? 168 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:17,840 I noticed that there was a huge disconnect between, so we'll back up right now. Technically 169 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:26,600 we are three to four generations removed from the family farm now. So I remember my grandparents, 170 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:34,480 both sets and my great grandparents picked cotton in the South. They picked cotton and 171 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:40,000 they had horses and they had cows, all of them. They were, so I have those stories to 172 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:46,120 remember. But if you think about it, people in inner cities or really large urban areas, 173 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:53,560 let's say Detroit, kids my age, even at 50 something, they don't have those core memories 174 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:59,680 or stories from their grandparents about growing up that way because they didn't, they grew 175 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:07,920 up in cities. Now, could you put them out here and them get by? No, but we could make 176 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:15,600 it there. We would be miserable, but we could make it, we could manage. So being that far 177 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:24,200 removed from those stories and that knowledge base about where your food comes from, that 178 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:31,120 is a huge disconnect. And I still see it. I've started posting when I find comments where 179 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:37,880 people are completely just bashing farmers and ranchers, I'll post them. I screenshot 180 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:42,440 them and I post them and I'm like, this is what we're dealing with. This isn't just ignorance. 181 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:48,840 And by, let's back up, ignorance means uninformed or uneducated on a certain subject. It doesn't 182 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:59,960 mean stupid. That's a whole nother word, but they don't have that information to draw on. 183 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:04,040 They don't even have those memories. Their family didn't do anything like that. So they 184 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:11,580 don't have any concept of how food is made, where it comes from, who makes it. And even 185 00:18:11,580 --> 00:18:18,180 so far as, and I know everybody jokes about it, but there's a large portion of the population 186 00:18:18,180 --> 00:18:23,520 that thinks that chocolate milk comes from a brown cow. How the misinformation travels 187 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:31,760 so fast. And those are the kinds of things that get spread like wildfire across the internet 188 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:38,720 or a shearing sheep. You have to kill them to shear them. It's a haircut and trying to 189 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:45,000 get the general public to understand it's just a haircut, just like you take your dog 190 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:53,040 into the groomer. It's the same exact thing. The only difference is we can sell the wool, 191 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:58,280 whereas you can't really sell dog hair. I mean, I guess you could. 192 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,160 There's a buyer for everything for some weird reason probably. But no, I hear what you're 193 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:08,520 saying is that there are these things that, and of course I was in the ag industry, I'm 194 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:14,080 FFA alumni, all that kind of stuff. So it's like, you see those videos and it's like, 195 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:20,600 well, yeah, if you take it from that angle and you put in extra distress sounds of the 196 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:28,120 animals from other, you know what I mean? It's so easy to make these clickbaity negative 197 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:31,200 videos. Very staged. 198 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:43,080 Yes. And that's the other thing. We are constantly on guard. We have biosecurity measures at 199 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:49,480 most farms and ranches where we don't like cross contamination. Whether it's bull gets 200 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:55,080 on us from the neighbors, we have to go and immediately have them trick tested for people 201 00:19:55,080 --> 00:20:01,400 that don't know what trick is. That's basically an STD for bulls and it will spread like crazy. 202 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:07,880 So if someone's bull gets on us, we got to grab that sucker by any means necessary as 203 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:13,000 quickly as possible before he can contaminate our herd, get him hauled to the vet, get him 204 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:19,520 hauled. But we've already talked to the neighbor or whoever it came from out here with so much 205 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:28,160 public traffic. It's very hard to maintain your biosecurity and protect your herds. Even 206 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:33,080 our dogs, we don't want people coming through and their dogs are possibly carrying parvo 207 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:37,840 because then we got to deal with that with our dogs. And with the dogs we have now that 208 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:43,840 you saw, that's not a cheap loss if we lose one of those. That's a pretty big loss and 209 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:53,440 we need those dogs. So just trying to protect things from the public, from the public's 210 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:59,680 ignorance, from what they don't know. And I saw that I saw an article a gal wrote about 211 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:08,280 packers, packing houses. And she said, the public doesn't know what they don't know. 212 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:13,200 And they have no way of knowing what it is they don't know. Same thing with new producers. 213 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,480 They get into this industry and they're like, well, I don't understand why I'm not making 214 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:21,980 any money. Well, honey, you got five and you only sell a calf when your when mama needs 215 00:21:21,980 --> 00:21:29,880 her hair done. It's not gonna that doesn't not management. There's management and there's 216 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:35,440 owning. So when people when the public sees shows like Yellowstone, they just latch onto 217 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:44,680 that. That must be how it is. No, no parts. There are parts and and I do watch Yellowstone 218 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,560 so that I can make an educational post the next day. Say this is what they got right. 219 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:58,560 This is what they got horribly wrong. So trying to get the public to talk to us instead of 220 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:07,600 relying on Hollywood and anti ag propaganda. Sometimes it's very frustrating because you 221 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:13,960 want to say, really? You bought that but you're not you won't. But you call us a liar. It's 222 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:22,680 very hard when it comes to that kind of stuff. And historically, the ag industry has kept 223 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:30,800 their mouth shut too long. And now we're trying to play catch up. And the anti ag crowd has 224 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:36,560 been at this propaganda game for decades at this point. So now we're trying to go back 225 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,600 and say, Whoa, that wasn't right. That wasn't right. That wasn't right. Here. Here's the 226 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:48,240 here's the real truth. So when we were spouting the real truth right now, nobody believes us. 227 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:55,440 Because the other side has done such a great job of just what's the word? It's bombing 228 00:22:55,440 --> 00:23:01,560 of a certain information bombing, but it's incorrect information. It's not correct. It 229 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,840 has an agenda and the agenda is to get rid of agriculture. And if I can jump in there 230 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:10,640 with the the playing catch up with the the statement of like keeping your mouth your 231 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:16,120 guys's mouth closed for too long. Like what? Why do you think that is? Because I know I'm 232 00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:20,720 sure that there's been negative things said about farming an ag for for years and years 233 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:26,560 and years and years. But like, why is there such a now sudden a because it sounds like 234 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:32,440 you got into advocacy as like, you're you're working against this, the misinformation. 235 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:40,800 Yes. So I guess like, why wasn't why didn't all of it happen sooner? Or like, what? What 236 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:48,640 led to that? Like, was it just like an ignore until they stopped talking? Or what? You know, 237 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:56,160 I think it's just like that question when that that we know, we're not supposed to ask 238 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:03,000 when when someone says, Well, how many cows you got? What's in your bank account? That's 239 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:10,560 that's the equivalent. We're really private about what we have. And what we're not necessarily 240 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:15,240 what we're doing. But that's like asking somebody what's in their bank account or how much how 241 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:22,360 much land you got. We know amongst ourselves that that's a rude question to ask. But at 242 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:27,640 some point, we have to start explaining these things. And I'll tell you exactly what changed 243 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:36,800 the internet. And that and that's where the anti ag groups have established a unfortunately, 244 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:42,840 they've established a really good base. And they're allowed, even though they're the minority, 245 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:48,640 they're allowed. And they they are really great at this social media stuff. And I've 246 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:56,000 been trying to push agriculture to get into this social media since 2010, when I had my 247 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,240 radio show, and I was telling them, you're letting other people tell your story. Why 248 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:05,600 are you doing that? They're getting it wrong. If you don't like the way you're being portrayed 249 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:15,040 in social media or on TV, or wherever. Correct them. Show them how it's show them how it's 250 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:20,120 actually done. Tell them how it's actually done. Instead of letting someone else tell 251 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:26,280 their story and getting mad because they got it wrong. It's up to us to fix that. And a 252 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:32,800 lot of us. You met Chad, my husband, they don't talk. They don't want to talk. They 253 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,960 don't want to be around people. They don't they'd rather hang out with their cows and 254 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:41,920 they don't care what people think. And so now even in politics, they'll say things like, 255 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:48,720 well, I don't have time to vote. Well, you better start making time. The cows can wait. 256 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:53,920 They can wait long enough for you to get down there to the polling place and vote. So that's 257 00:25:53,920 --> 00:26:01,360 been our our biggest problem in agriculture is we are not good at embracing change and 258 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:06,200 technology unless it's, you know, a combine that's got all the bells and whistles. And 259 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:11,680 then we're like, oh, yeah, that's cool. And a lot of technical logical advances for equipment 260 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:21,680 and vehicles comes from agriculture. So we have to do a better job of speaking up and 261 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:27,120 correcting what's out there that's incorrect. Just like that sheep shearing thing. That's 262 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:32,880 the silliest thing I've ever seen. I can't even wrap my mind around people being mad 263 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:40,280 that a sheep gets a haircut. I just can't because that doesn't make any sense to me. 264 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:44,440 But if you if you explain it to them in a way, compare it to having their taking their 265 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:52,440 dog to the groomer, then they're like, oh, you don't have to kill. No, they won't grow 266 00:26:52,440 --> 00:27:00,120 more wool to sell if you kill them. So that, you know, we need to do a better job of straightening 267 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:05,640 things out like that. I've seen a video floating around where a dairy calf is having to be 268 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:14,800 pulled by chains. He got stuck. There. The comments were in the posts were, this is what 269 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:22,960 they do. They rip them out and kill them. No, honey. Yeah. It's just like a breach baby 270 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:29,080 for a human. You have to straighten it out and you have to pull them or else both die. 271 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:34,420 It's an animal basic animal husbandry thing. And we have to do that more than more than 272 00:27:34,420 --> 00:27:41,560 people would ever imagine. It just happens. And they need help. And we have to help them. 273 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:47,700 But those kind of videos get twisted and turned and turned into something that's just not 274 00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:57,720 even close to reality. So that's, that's been my goal is is to explain to the public. Elsie 275 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:02,840 on the board and milk. I actually got asked by someone in high that I went to high school 276 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:12,360 with. He said, Hey, my son is asking, how come Elsie has a girl name but she has horns? 277 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:19,840 And I had to explain, you know, horns aren't gender specific in cattle, like they are elk 278 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:27,340 or deer or whatever. They're not gender specific. So but I was glad he asked me somebody asked 279 00:28:27,340 --> 00:28:32,320 and then I'll have I've had several people I went to high school with asked me, Hey, 280 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:36,880 what about this or what about that? What about this organic label and this label? And, you 281 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:41,200 know, then I have to explain all that. And that's like going down a rabbit hole. Yeah, 282 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:46,120 no, it definitely sounds like there's a few was like the main things are just like, you 283 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:49,760 know, traditionally, like you were kind of saying, like farmers and ranchers, like they're 284 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:54,160 more quiet, more reserved, because they're so focused, there's so many things going on 285 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:58,800 on the farm that they need to deal with. I feel like it's very easy to get overwhelmed 286 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:03,840 and lost in that sea of well, I have to do this, this, this, this, this, this, and this, 287 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,480 I'm only one person, you know, so it sounds like it's kind of like, I'm so focused on 288 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:12,260 what's going on in front of me. And that's the immediate thing I can see. But there's 289 00:29:12,260 --> 00:29:19,080 other issues that are popping up adjacent to what's going on. Yes. And animal health 290 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:24,640 is always going to be our number one priority. So like the last couple of days, we've been 291 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:31,760 working on water lines. Again, if we don't have water, we don't have grass, if we don't 292 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:38,900 have water, we don't have cows at all. So water is way at the top is right up there 293 00:29:38,900 --> 00:29:44,200 at the top of the list, got to have water. And I know people think that farmers and ranchers 294 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:50,040 are a bunch of illiterate hillbillies out here. But I know a bunch of them that have 295 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:56,480 degrees in all sorts of things. And they decided, you know, that that life's not for me, I'm 296 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:05,960 going home. It's quiet, it's peaceful. And so if we were to match a rancher skill set 297 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:11,820 and try to hire them based on their skill set in the corporate sector, corporate couldn't 298 00:30:11,820 --> 00:30:19,480 afford them, their welders, their plumbers, their construction, their vets, veterinarians, 299 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:24,480 their nutritionists, their environmentalists, their conservationists, they run heavy equipment, 300 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:31,140 they work on heavy equipment. They do all of those things. And just wrapped up in this 301 00:30:31,140 --> 00:30:32,640 one tired body. 302 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:36,920 I mean, it sounds like it. So it sounds like there's, and I guess I kind of want to move 303 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:42,480 into when it comes to this advocacy, it sounds like the individual has a hard time doing 304 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:47,680 it themselves, or, you know, responding to comments or this or that or being an advocate 305 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,080 on their own. So it sounds like these advocacy groups, like the ones that you're involved 306 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:58,400 with, or you were involved with, are critical to supporting the mission of American agriculture. 307 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:06,240 Yes, I have noticed that some of them will not wait off in the trenches. I will, just 308 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:13,040 because I'm old and I'm spiteful that way. But if I see an awful comment, I'm like, wait 309 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:17,720 a minute, you don't get to say that you don't get to say that we're murdering animals out 310 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:25,140 here. And that's been, you know, some of the that's actually why I started being so vocal 311 00:31:25,140 --> 00:31:31,880 about it is because we're being accused of being rapists and murderers. And I'm like, 312 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:37,320 are you sure we're talking about cows and horses because this murder doesn't apply to 313 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:42,680 livestock. It applies to humans. That's the that's the only thing in the in the dictionary 314 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:48,400 that it applies to. But the whole thing about, well, you have to kill them to eat them. Well, 315 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:53,320 yeah, honey, have you tried to eat one live? That gets awkward in a hurry. I mean, that's 316 00:31:53,320 --> 00:32:01,040 an end well for anyone. They don't like to be chewed on alive. I mean, I wouldn't think 317 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:08,320 I haven't tried it, but I don't know. Not sure where that group gets their information 318 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:16,760 trying to bridge that gap when they're already so. Engrained in that in that truth that they've 319 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:23,040 decided that's the truth, that's it. And that's not the group that I try to speak to, because 320 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:28,280 they get a little I like to compare it to Alice in Wonderland. Because you have the 321 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:34,480 movable middle where you can talk to these people and you can educate them and you can 322 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:39,440 get them to understand, oh, yeah, that wasn't correct. What I was told this is how it's 323 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:48,380 actually done. And then you have the Mad Hatters, and they are set. You're not going to change 324 00:32:48,380 --> 00:32:58,520 their mind. They're bordering on lunacy sometimes, and wanting farmers and ranchers to die. And 325 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:04,640 they accuse us of trying to kill them. And my response to that is always well, dead people 326 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:14,240 don't eat. So yeah, that's what business model works where you kill your customers off. Oh, 327 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:19,600 oh, morticians. That's it. That's the one that yeah. What is it? The big thing is if 328 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:24,760 you want to make money in the world, get into weddings and death. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. 329 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:32,280 Yeah, no. And I always think that's so interesting is that people are very much even just going 330 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:36,040 to college or talking to different people that I've known. It's you know, the evil 331 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:45,520 farmer that this or that and it's like, why? One, where did that come from? And also, why 332 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:50,080 would they purposefully? Why would people purposefully do something to hurt other people 333 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:56,280 in such a large and organized fashion like that? When they're selling a product that 334 00:33:56,280 --> 00:34:04,000 needs you to be healthy, happy and alive? Like, I don't I've never understood that that 335 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:09,320 sentiment. And I don't know where that came from. I'm assuming it came from the vegan 336 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:15,880 bunch. But but when we're talking about vegans, we have to be very clear because someone may 337 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:22,080 say I'm a vegan. But what they actually are is they just don't eat meat. For whatever 338 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:29,280 reason. It's not that they're vegan, because if they were true vegan, a true vegan in 2024, 339 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:36,320 will have to live off grid under a rock, no power, no phone, no laptop, nothing. And they'll 340 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:41,480 be gatherers. They'll be eating fruits and nuts and berries off of what they can pick 341 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:49,200 up. That's a true vegan in 2024. Because every single product they put their hand on in any 342 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:58,400 given day has animal byproducts, whether they know it or not. It's in there. So that's a 343 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:03,920 lack of education on their part. And they don't want to acknowledge that. I mean, even 344 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:10,440 the sidewalks, their their the asphalt they drive on the components in their cell phones 345 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:14,960 or their laptops, the all the way down to the marshmallows they want to put in their 346 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:20,760 hot chocolate. It's all I was gonna say. I was gonna say about the marshmallows, like 347 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:25,740 even marshmallows have like it's it's crazy how I mean, that's something that we learned 348 00:35:25,740 --> 00:35:30,040 in our like our very first ad class that I took in high school was there's there's animal 349 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:36,040 products in pretty much every single thing that you use. Yeah, even medical products. 350 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:41,520 There's a beef byproduct that's used to treat preemie babies. I have three preemie babies. 351 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:46,240 I appreciate that. I appreciate that we have that. Also with Audrey B and burn, she has 352 00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:51,840 those skin grafts. And this time they were done with beef skin cells. So there are medical 353 00:35:51,840 --> 00:36:02,320 things that the world can't do without. And I know this new push to rewild everything. 354 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:08,160 It's not okay, they want to talk about sustainable and regenerative. That's not sustainable. It's 355 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:17,040 not. I mean, we even have to manage deer. You know, that's why we have hunting seasons. 356 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:20,860 And sometimes they'll have an open season, it's to control the disease and the deformities 357 00:36:20,860 --> 00:36:27,280 that come from inbreeding in certain groups of animals. But, you know, the all the way 358 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:32,760 down to the squeeze shoots that we use to work our cows in the other group, the other 359 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:40,240 side has been calling those rape racks. What on the world are you talking about? And it 360 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:45,560 gets so silly that you want to laugh. But then there are people that are that they're 361 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:49,560 held on, they've grabbed a hold of that and that is it. That's their truth. And they're 362 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:54,920 not you're not going to move them off of that. I don't know where those groups come from. 363 00:36:54,920 --> 00:37:00,440 I don't know who what schools they went to. Obviously, there wasn't agricultural FFA or 364 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:09,120 4-H. Maybe it was available and they just didn't want to do it. I don't know. I'm so 365 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:14,640 far in this that I don't know how the other side gets educated or where they get their 366 00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:19,760 information. So because I'm in here in it and my hands are in it and my family's in 367 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:25,320 it. And so it was just always common knowledge to us how these things are done. So I don't 368 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:32,160 know. I don't know. I don't know how that happens. I really don't. Because at some point, 369 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:38,520 an adult has cognitive reasoning skills. And they can kind of common sense their way through 370 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:46,400 some of these topics. Because some of them you would like, think that doesn't sound right. 371 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:51,640 Maybe I should ask. That's not happening. They're not asking. Then they're not even 372 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,600 saying you know, that doesn't sound right. It's like people kind of make up their own 373 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:59,840 minds and I mean, that's another thing is that echo chambers on the internet are such 374 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:06,440 a terrible thing. Because you know, people just get into this room. And if you get into 375 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:12,840 a room or a chat room, right, with 20 other people that agree with you, and that's all 376 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:17,440 you share, and that's all you see all day, you're not going to question it. You're not 377 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:21,360 going to ask questions. You're just going to take that as truth. But it's when you get 378 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:26,480 out of those chambers and again, ask the people that are in the field, what's actually going 379 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:32,080 on. I think that that is like the most valuable part of that. 380 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:40,720 Hey, everyone, just a quick message. You know that my mission with this podcast is to share 381 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:45,440 stories of influence and impact so that we can help more people help more people. But 382 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:51,120 to do that, I need your support. Please rate, review and share this podcast. If I could 383 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:55,680 ask for just one favor, it's to just leave a review. It takes about 10 seconds and a 384 00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:00,680 few clicks, but it means the world to me and could inspire someone else to make a difference. 385 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:07,520 Thank you so much. Now back to the show. 386 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:14,000 To scoot back to the advocacy groups and your clothing brand. With the advocacy groups, 387 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:23,080 what would you say is the biggest good that these groups do when you guys come together? 388 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:28,560 It sounds like there's sometimes, some people might be more reserved even in those groups, 389 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:32,880 not as so far into the trenches. What is the benefit of bringing all those different personality 390 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:37,680 types together for that common? 391 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:39,600 Dreading this question. I know, but. 392 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:48,040 I was dreading it. Best thing I can say for people is join a group. If you don't like 393 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:57,560 it, find another one. You don't, you're not bound to one group or another. If you don't 394 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:05,520 feel like there's a good fit there for you and your operation, get another one. Keep 395 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:12,720 joining until you find one where you feel like you fit in. And I can tell you, I don't 396 00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:20,160 fit in a lot because I'm pretty vocal and I want action. I do. I don't want this sitting 397 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:25,600 around and drinking coffee, having pie and gossiping about everybody's kids. I want to 398 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:31,160 go to an organization where we're going to do things and we're going to affect legislation. 399 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:37,640 And I'm a boat rocker. So I want that boat rocked. I don't want to leisurely cruise. 400 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:44,200 I want stuff done. So I have a little bit of trouble with groups. So right now I'm kind 401 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:50,720 of on a break from groups because I don't know, I don't know which ones are really proactive 402 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:59,720 and actually pushing for things the way they could be. I'm not saying they're not doing 403 00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:09,600 things. There are some that are, and I know they can get in a rut. They've been doing 404 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:18,320 things a certain way for so long. And that, and so membership in these groups, the same 405 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:24,360 is in the industry as a whole is dropping. And that's because we're aging out and we're 406 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:30,000 dying. We're not, we don't last forever. You can only beat your body up like this for so 407 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:37,840 long and farmers and renters don't retire. Most people don't know that we don't retire. 408 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:43,440 There's no retirement. There's no 401k. There's no health insurance. None of that. We don't 409 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:49,760 get any of that. So we work until we absolutely die until we drop. And people say, well, why 410 00:41:49,760 --> 00:42:00,480 do you do that? Cause you won't. Cause nobody else will. And so in 2020 we were a 1.87% 411 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:08,880 of the population and the population in the U S is 333 million plus in 2024 we are 0.67% 412 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:14,000 of the population. We've lost two thirds in the last four years. And when people say, 413 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:18,160 well, why do you bring politics in? I said, I didn't bring politics in it. Your food is 414 00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:25,080 100% tied up in politics, whether you like it or not. It just is. And it always has been. 415 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:29,440 And I know this is a pretty harsh thing to say, but, uh, control the food, control the 416 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:35,960 people. That's, that's, uh, something people need to really wrap their head around. Cause 417 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:44,240 for us to be less than 1% of the population, um, that's less than 5 million and we're feeding 418 00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:52,320 everybody and we're freaking tired. We're tired. We, most of us live below poverty level. 419 00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:57,440 Yes, we have land and we have equipment and we have cows, but all that stuff has to be 420 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:06,000 there to support those, that livestock to support that food. And so my biggest push 421 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:13,160 has been you see cows. I see hamburgers and steaks. You see a rich rancher. I see some 422 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:20,160 broke guy just trying to get by, uh, so that you have food on your table. And I don't think 423 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:28,720 the public is going to snap to how dire this situation is at this point until it turns 424 00:43:28,720 --> 00:43:38,200 into a toilet paper situation where, um, what you need to survive is gone and it's, it's 425 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:44,680 scarce and it's hard to come by. And at this rate, that's coming. And I saw what people 426 00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:49,240 did over toilet paper. So imagine what it's going to be like when there's no food. It's 427 00:43:49,240 --> 00:43:55,280 going to get pretty bad. Yeah, no, I mean, it definitely is a, like it's, it's, it's 428 00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:59,760 a very serious thing, right? Like this isn't just, this is like the bare bone necessity 429 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:06,080 basics of sustaining life and everything. And, um, to kind of touch on the group thing, 430 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:09,880 I also don't want to make it sound like every group is great and everything's magical and 431 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:15,600 wonderful. Right? Like there are issues even in the groups that are advocates or in a thousand. 432 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:20,160 I think that I was, I want to say I was trying to get across, but I think your reaction, 433 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:24,720 I think people can also tell, like I noticed that, that, I mean, I've been in groups where 434 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:27,880 I thought it was one thing and it ended up being another. And then I get frustrated by 435 00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:35,800 the inaction or the, um, I guess lack of action in areas that I can see are a bigger problem 436 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:39,960 or maybe I don't understand what's going on, you know? So I think that that, what you said 437 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:45,600 right there is get in, like at the end of the day, it's about getting involved. And 438 00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:50,840 if you see a problem work to be the solution, not just kind of sit on the back burner and 439 00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:56,660 wait for somebody else to, cause it sounds like, uh, what is it? The bystander effect 440 00:44:56,660 --> 00:45:00,480 is something that's been kind of prevalent as, Oh, well, I don't have time. Somebody 441 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:04,960 else will take care of it. Or, you know, somebody else will help or say something. I don't have 442 00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:11,280 to, but then nothing happens. That is agriculture in a nutshell right there when it comes to 443 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:19,160 legislation and, um, advocacy, it's always, well, so-and-so will do it. And a lot of these 444 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:25,480 groups, what happens is, I'm not going to name which one I know about, but there were 445 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:33,760 600 members in a given year, 10 to 15, we're doing all the promotions, we're doing all 446 00:45:33,760 --> 00:45:42,400 the posting, we're doing all the activities and events. And then you have a hierarchy, 447 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:48,240 you know, you have officers, you have local officers, and then you have state officers. 448 00:45:48,240 --> 00:45:54,920 And you just, as an officer, you get run ragged. You just get, you cannot please everybody. 449 00:45:54,920 --> 00:46:04,280 And then sometimes in some groups, you feel like you're dragging a cruise ship behind 450 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:09,960 you, and it's just you, and it's not moving. It's dead in the water. And you try and you 451 00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:17,760 try and you try and pull them along. And you just can't, they've done things a certain 452 00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:25,800 way for so long, they're not going to change until there is a major change in membership. 453 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:30,920 And that is coming because the members are getting older, just like the rest of us. They're 454 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:41,000 aging out and that's kind of a double situation there. It's a double-edged sword. You want 455 00:46:41,000 --> 00:46:50,360 to recruit new members, you want the younger crowd to come in and you try, but you have 456 00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:54,840 the old guard that doesn't want to change a thing. They don't want to hear anything 457 00:46:54,840 --> 00:47:01,200 that the new recruits have to say, even if they're right. But then on the other side 458 00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:06,320 of that sword, you have the new people that want to jump in and they're so enthusiastic 459 00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:12,840 and they want to do this and that and this and that and this and that. And they're wrong. 460 00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:19,960 Not wrong, but they don't have all the information that they need in order to accomplish what 461 00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:26,500 they want to accomplish. So that goes to first generation farmers and ranchers. They're so 462 00:47:26,500 --> 00:47:30,280 enthusiastic and they want to get in and they want to do it and they don't understand what 463 00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:37,320 happens when it goes south and they don't make it. And their first inclination is to 464 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:44,720 blame the generational families for that. They want to say that we ran them out. No, 465 00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:50,520 you didn't grow. You didn't try to grow. You were happy with your little five acres and 466 00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:59,360 your five cows and you thought you were going to get rich. That's a lack of education on 467 00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:06,340 their part. It used to be like before World War II, if you had 20 cows, you were in high 468 00:48:06,340 --> 00:48:13,200 cotton. You were doing pretty well. 20 cows will no longer pay for your funeral. It just 469 00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:20,940 doesn't. And so even having 100, that only supports one generation of a ranch family 470 00:48:20,940 --> 00:48:26,920 on that farmer ranch at a time. And I know that the public says, oh my God, you have 471 00:48:26,920 --> 00:48:36,320 cows, you're rolling. Oh, if you saw our feed bill, that's scary to know how little we get 472 00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:42,880 one paycheck a year. One, if things are managed correctly. Like I said, there are some operations 473 00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:47,280 where they're pulling cows in because they need tires on the truck. So they'll sell three 474 00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:55,080 or four calves, buy tires or whatever, go get mom's hair fixed. I don't know. But 100 475 00:48:55,080 --> 00:49:03,680 does not provide what the gross profit would be less than a administrative assistant in 476 00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:12,640 town would make. So we're trying to support an entire family and feed all those on secretary 477 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:24,320 pay. That's very hard. It's not as glamorous as people would like to think it is. And that's 478 00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:31,880 the thing that I think in groups, they need to be a little bit better about accepting 479 00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:40,560 new people, new recruits, and then the recruits, what they really need to do is simmer down 480 00:49:40,560 --> 00:49:46,320 on some of that. You're doing it wrong. You're old, you're doing it wrong because they're 481 00:49:46,320 --> 00:49:54,040 bad about that. They need to go in and with their ears open and their mouth shut and learn 482 00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:58,680 stick with it for a year. See what you pick up that you don't have to just jump right 483 00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:06,920 in and change everything in one year. If you're in your early twenties, get in a group. If 484 00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:12,720 you like that group, hang out for a while, move in the work on the different committee. 485 00:50:12,720 --> 00:50:19,240 See, that's what I thought. I think that when someone joins a cattle association or some 486 00:50:19,240 --> 00:50:24,280 kind of advocacy group, get on a committee. And I think that should be mandatory. As soon 487 00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:33,280 as you pay your membership, you can choose a committee to be on or you get put in a committee. 488 00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:37,800 And I think that every member should serve on a committee at least one year so that they 489 00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:44,240 learn how the organization works, what their goals are, that sort of thing. And it also 490 00:50:44,240 --> 00:50:51,280 teaches them the industry. So just like beef, owning cattle and managing cattle are two 491 00:50:51,280 --> 00:51:00,920 different things. And having five does not, it's not the same business as someone with 492 00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:07,880 a hundred. It's not even the same customers. And so when we hear that, what do they say? 493 00:51:07,880 --> 00:51:13,620 Oh, well, the larger family place, the larger businesses are running us out. No, we're still 494 00:51:13,620 --> 00:51:20,680 doing business the way we were. Nothing changed. You moved in. That's the only difference. 495 00:51:20,680 --> 00:51:25,960 And you could be a hundred or you could be 200. You could be 500 by the time you're our 496 00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:33,960 age. But you have to learn from somebody. There's a huge learning curve in agriculture, 497 00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:39,840 especially if you didn't grow up in it. And I know everybody in the world today, they 498 00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:45,160 want to move out. They want to move out of the cities and go homestead. I'm sure people 499 00:51:45,160 --> 00:51:53,680 have watched that Homestead Rescue Show. It's not exactly as simple as just going off grid 500 00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:58,960 in an RV or having a cabin and some chickens. It's a little harder than that. 501 00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:05,080 And if I can jump in there. It sounds like a lot of it really just boils down to listening 502 00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:13,320 intentionally. Join the groups, listen, learn. And at the same time, there's that aspect 503 00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:19,920 of don't try to jump in and change everything right away. But also don't get so set in your 504 00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:27,880 ways that you're blind to what's actually going on in the world. And it really just 505 00:52:27,880 --> 00:52:32,400 sounds like it boils down to find a group, see if you drive with it. If you don't find 506 00:52:32,400 --> 00:52:37,120 another one. But at the end of the day, no matter where you go, you are the one, you're 507 00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:45,280 the common denominator. You need to also be that present, curious, I guess, advocating 508 00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:50,720 passion itself that is willing to do the work. And I feel like you and I could sit down for 509 00:52:50,720 --> 00:52:56,400 a whole other hour long episode and talk about what is like the Pareto principle, you know, 510 00:52:56,400 --> 00:53:01,440 20% of the people in the organization do the work, the other 80% kind of just have opinions. 511 00:53:01,440 --> 00:53:08,960 I'm gonna go five and 95. Yeah. Yeah. The joke I've always had was it's always the people 512 00:53:08,960 --> 00:53:14,040 that do the least that say the most. It's like, okay, well, that's that's a good opinion. 513 00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:17,200 That's like, I didn't I didn't like I'm glad to I'm glad to know that there's something 514 00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:23,320 going on during that meeting. Why aren't you doing anything about it? But yeah, no, I feel 515 00:53:23,320 --> 00:53:28,240 like we could go a whole other hour on this. But it really just boils down to if you're 516 00:53:28,240 --> 00:53:34,800 curious, if you have questions, ask them, find actual people that are in the field doing 517 00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:42,120 the work and ask. And if you're in the field, be askable, like be willing to answer the 518 00:53:42,120 --> 00:53:47,480 questions, be willing to do this thing. I think it's very easy for us to find ways to 519 00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:54,560 like island date ourselves. Yeah, I'm gonna stay in my like, again, like the echo chambers, 520 00:53:54,560 --> 00:53:59,200 like that's that's human nature. We like to be with groups that we find that we drive 521 00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:06,920 with. Yeah. Yeah, no, I know that that. Oh, we're gonna say go ahead. And we do kind of 522 00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:13,920 self isolate. Just because when we do go to town, and we see what's going on in towns 523 00:54:13,920 --> 00:54:19,800 and big cities, we're like, What the heck are y'all doing? Real crazy. This is not. 524 00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:25,960 It just gets rid. We have a hard time understanding that lifestyle. But I'm sure they they have 525 00:54:25,960 --> 00:54:32,480 the same hard time understanding hours. They do that. They have no clue. So and we feel 526 00:54:32,480 --> 00:54:40,120 the same way about them. We don't understand how they function on a daily basis with with 527 00:54:40,120 --> 00:54:44,400 the things that go on in the world. And we just stay away from it. And that's that's 528 00:54:44,400 --> 00:54:51,120 our biggest problem is we tend to stay out of it. And stay away from things. But we have 529 00:54:51,120 --> 00:54:58,480 to start getting involved and showing up showing up. That's my big. That's another one of my 530 00:54:58,480 --> 00:55:05,360 biggies. Just show up. Just show up. Yeah, if somebody's got an anti ag rally, it's going 531 00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:09,400 to be miserable. If you go, it is you're going to be attacked, you're going to be called 532 00:55:09,400 --> 00:55:18,560 all kinds of names. But if we don't show up, that's acceptance. Silence is acceptance. 533 00:55:18,560 --> 00:55:23,960 And that's that we've we've done that for way too long, way too long. Well, charity, 534 00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:29,640 if people want to follow you on social media or learn more about you, where are you showing 535 00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:35,480 up in terms of your advocacy or where people can learn more about you or the industry as 536 00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:42,440 a whole? I'm online. I am on Facebook under my my personal page, Charity Underwood, Salisbury, 537 00:55:42,440 --> 00:55:48,600 or I did start my clothing brand and Home Goods brand brand because everything out there 538 00:55:48,600 --> 00:55:53,080 had dairy cows. And I love my dairy ladies. I do. I support the dairy industry, too, even 539 00:55:53,080 --> 00:55:59,040 though I'm in beef. I support the dairy industry. I support poultry. I support pork, all of 540 00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:06,200 it. So I think on Instagram, I'm under you spur clothing. And then on Facebook, it's 541 00:56:06,200 --> 00:56:13,520 either my personal page or my store page use the letter you spur. And so I try to, you 542 00:56:13,520 --> 00:56:18,600 know, educate on their like I said, I watch Yellowstone just so I can debunk a lot of 543 00:56:18,600 --> 00:56:23,680 it. And anytime I see something, I post it and I'm like, OK, see, here's where this went 544 00:56:23,680 --> 00:56:30,600 right. And here's where it went way off the rails. And it's mostly common sense that if 545 00:56:30,600 --> 00:56:35,000 you break it down real simple, just like that, the sheep get sheep getting a haircut. You 546 00:56:35,000 --> 00:56:40,600 break it down that simple for people, then they're like, oh, oh, well, nobody told me 547 00:56:40,600 --> 00:56:46,640 that. OK, well, we're telling you now. It's just a haircut. So it's just a haircut. Yeah, 548 00:56:46,640 --> 00:56:52,320 I think that's going to be my new bumper sticker. I'm going to have a sheep on it and say it's 549 00:56:52,320 --> 00:56:58,760 just a haircut. Perfect. Perfect. Well, when you have that linked up, let me know and I'll 550 00:56:58,760 --> 00:57:02,200 post it on the page. But all of your pages, all your everything will be down in the show 551 00:57:02,200 --> 00:57:07,760 notes below. Charity, I appreciate you taking the time to chit or chat for a little bit 552 00:57:07,760 --> 00:57:14,280 and share some of your knowledge and. Yeah, I'll bend anybody's ear. I don't care. Perfect. 553 00:57:14,280 --> 00:57:19,520 I love it. I don't have you on when I get mine going. I'll get my podcast going. We 554 00:57:19,520 --> 00:57:26,560 love to see it. That was a fantastic conversation with charity. We covered so much ground today 555 00:57:26,560 --> 00:57:30,880 from the importance of education for new farmers to the harsh realities of managing a modern 556 00:57:30,880 --> 00:57:35,640 ranch. We also touch on the misconceptions about rural life and the critical role of 557 00:57:35,640 --> 00:57:44,200 involvement of advocacy groups. Remember, if you're curious about the fields, ask the cows. 558 00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:48,720 Reach out to those that are boots on the ground doing the work, not just social media echo 559 00:57:48,720 --> 00:57:54,400 chambers or your aunt Phyllis, who never stepped ground on a farm in her life, because only 560 00:57:54,400 --> 00:57:58,960 then when you reach out to those that know what's truly going on, will you learn the 561 00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:08,040 reality of the situation. And as charity said, sometimes it's just as simple as showing up. 562 00:58:08,040 --> 00:58:12,480 Thank you all for taking the time to listen to today's episode. If you found it valuable, 563 00:58:12,480 --> 00:58:18,000 please share it with a friend or two or three. Every time you share the podcast, you can 564 00:58:18,000 --> 00:58:26,240 help us fulfill our mission of helping more people help more people. As always, have fun, 565 00:58:26,240 --> 00:58:48,600 stay safe and be yourself. I'll catch you all in the next one. Bye.