WEBVTT 00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:14.039 Creeping across the pasture land. Got dirt on 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:18.719 the boots and a working hand. From the milk house 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:24.000 home to the auction call. These are the folks 00:00:24.000 --> 00:01:00.039 standing strong and tall. Yeah, this is... Welcome 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:03.119 back to the Bullvine Podcast. Today we are sharing 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:07.000 a story that, quite honestly, stopped us in our 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:09.840 tracks. We read a lot of profiles, we see a lot 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:11.920 of marketing campaigns, but every now and then 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.599 something just... It cuts through the noise. 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:16.819 Yeah. This is the kind of conversation that reminds 00:01:16.819 --> 00:01:19.359 you exactly why you got into dairy in the first 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.099 place. It's not about, you know, the milk price 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:24.480 today. It's not about the new regulations. It's 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:27.640 about the people, the grit behind the operation. 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:30.480 Exactly. And usually when we talk about success 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:32.680 stories on this show, we're talking about someone 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:34.879 who, you know, took over the family farm and 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:37.640 expanded it to 3 ,000 head. Or someone who developed 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:40.799 a grand champion cow. The usual metrics of success. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:44.189 Right. But today. We're looking at a different 00:01:44.189 --> 00:01:46.510 kind of success. We're talking about Hayley Witters. 00:01:46.670 --> 00:01:48.670 Which might sound like a bit of a left turn for 00:01:48.670 --> 00:01:50.150 some of our listeners. I mean, she's a country 00:01:50.150 --> 00:01:53.010 singer, a rising star, Grammy nominated. But 00:01:53.010 --> 00:01:54.629 the reason we're talking about her isn't because 00:01:54.629 --> 00:01:56.769 of the charts. It's because of where she was 00:01:56.769 --> 00:02:00.310 standing in the fall of 2025. And I think more 00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:03.310 importantly, what that moment represents for 00:02:03.310 --> 00:02:05.909 the industry at large. Let's paint the picture 00:02:05.909 --> 00:02:09.590 first. You've got a country music star. Usually 00:02:09.590 --> 00:02:11.909 you picture them on a glossy stage or maybe in 00:02:11.909 --> 00:02:14.050 a music video set that's been perfectly lit, 00:02:14.110 --> 00:02:17.069 sprayed down, you know, sanitized. Totally sterile. 00:02:17.150 --> 00:02:20.210 But you open up the footage from the Land O 'Lakes 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:23.009 bovine serenade campaign. And what do you see? 00:02:23.129 --> 00:02:26.110 You see Haley Witters standing in a working dairy 00:02:26.110 --> 00:02:28.889 parlor in Minnesota. And I don't mean a show 00:02:28.889 --> 00:02:31.949 barn. I don't mean some ag tourism setup. I mean 00:02:31.949 --> 00:02:35.129 a working parlor. Yes. There's mud. The floors 00:02:35.129 --> 00:02:37.650 are worn down from hooves. The fans are humming 00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:41.050 that low drone we all know. It's visceral. You 00:02:41.050 --> 00:02:43.389 can almost smell the silage and the iodine just 00:02:43.389 --> 00:02:45.270 looking at the clip. And she's there. Camera's 00:02:45.270 --> 00:02:47.750 rolling. Cal's listening. Yeah. But here is the 00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:49.669 hook. And this is the part that made me laugh 00:02:49.669 --> 00:02:51.530 out loud before it made me think really, really 00:02:51.530 --> 00:02:53.569 hard about how we grew up. Okay. She dropped 00:02:53.569 --> 00:02:56.629 this quote that just... perfectly captures the 00:02:56.629 --> 00:02:58.969 rural hierarchy we all lived in, but we rarely 00:02:58.969 --> 00:03:01.650 talk about. She said, I was so jealous of the 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:05.229 dairy princesses. Oh, wow. Yeah, I think every 00:03:05.229 --> 00:03:07.569 rural kid knows exactly what that means. It triggers 00:03:07.569 --> 00:03:10.150 a very specific memory. Right. She said, the 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:12.250 princesses told me you had to be a dairy princess 00:03:12.250 --> 00:03:14.129 to get your own bust made out of butter, and 00:03:14.129 --> 00:03:17.229 I was so jealous. But here's the kicker. She 00:03:17.229 --> 00:03:20.550 grew up in Shweville, Iowa. Her family farmed, 00:03:20.550 --> 00:03:23.719 but... They were corn and soybean farmers. So 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:26.500 no cows. So no cows. And in the unspoken caste 00:03:26.500 --> 00:03:29.979 system of the county fair, that matters. It matters 00:03:29.979 --> 00:03:32.979 huge. In her words, that wasn't in the cards 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:35.439 for me. Because she didn't milk. She couldn't 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:37.599 wear the sash. She couldn't get the butter sculpture. 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:40.039 That was the ultimate status symbol. And she 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:42.139 was on the outside looking in. It's funny, but 00:03:42.139 --> 00:03:44.400 it's also a really deep observation about rural 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.199 identity. We tend to lump all of agriculture 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:49.819 together under one big umbrella, right? Especially 00:03:49.819 --> 00:03:53.280 when we're talking to the public. But you have 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.759 the corn kids, the dairy kids, the livestock 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:58.580 kids. And there's that feeling of looking at 00:03:58.580 --> 00:04:01.300 the dairy princesses on the parade float. They 00:04:01.300 --> 00:04:05.180 represent the royalty of the county fair. They're 00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:07.419 the ambassadors. Exactly. They are the ones with 00:04:07.419 --> 00:04:09.340 a tangible product that people eat directly. 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:15.020 So fast forward 20 years. She didn't get the 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:17.560 sash. She didn't get the crown. But there she 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:21.199 is, standing in a real barn, partnering with 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.939 Land O 'Lakes, getting her moment. It's a full 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:25.480 circle story that I think is going to resonate 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:27.519 with anyone listening to this. Well, and why 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:29.899 should our listeners care? Because this isn't 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:32.000 a celebrity fluff piece. We aren't here to tell 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.720 you to go buy an album. We're here because this 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:36.279 is a story about a farm kid who left. She left 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:37.920 the farm. She struggled for 12 years. And we'll 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:40.100 get into that. That number is crucial. And she 00:04:40.100 --> 00:04:42.579 found success not by running away from where 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:45.100 she came from, but by embracing it. Completely. 00:04:45.139 --> 00:04:47.759 This is about exporting culture. Exporting culture. 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:50.540 I like that. And it tackles the hard questions 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:52.579 we face. We talk about succession planning all 00:04:52.579 --> 00:04:54.540 the time on the bullvine. We talk about the technical 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:57.980 side, you know, the trusts, the LLCs. The paperwork. 00:04:58.259 --> 00:05:01.480 The paperwork. But we rarely talk about the emotional 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:04.300 side of the kids who leave. What does legacy 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:06.639 look like when the next generation chooses a 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.779 different path? That's the million -dollar question. 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:11.980 If the kids don't take over the parlor, is the 00:05:11.980 --> 00:05:15.110 legacy dead? Or does it just change shape? Does 00:05:15.110 --> 00:05:19.910 it become something portable? Haley's story suggests 00:05:19.910 --> 00:05:22.110 it changes shape and can actually become bigger 00:05:22.110 --> 00:05:24.209 than the farm itself. So let's go back to the 00:05:24.209 --> 00:05:26.110 beginning to understand the raw materials she 00:05:26.110 --> 00:05:28.269 was working with. Let's go to Shoeiville, Iowa. 00:05:28.490 --> 00:05:31.089 Between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, that's serious 00:05:31.089 --> 00:05:33.769 farming ground, good soil. Haley calls herself 00:05:33.769 --> 00:05:37.470 a corn kid. Her origin story isn't the typical 00:05:37.470 --> 00:05:40.410 born in a big Victorian farmhouse narrative we 00:05:40.410 --> 00:05:42.670 sometimes hear. No. She was brought home from 00:05:42.670 --> 00:05:45.870 the hospital to a single wide baby blue trailer 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:48.829 parked smack in the middle of a cornfield. That's 00:05:48.829 --> 00:05:51.389 a vivid image. It immediately tells you this 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:53.589 wasn't a gentleman farmer situation. This was 00:05:53.589 --> 00:05:56.329 a startup. This was a grind from day one. It 00:05:56.329 --> 00:05:59.129 sits the tone, doesn't it? She told Country Town 00:05:59.129 --> 00:06:02.550 back in 2025, they brought me home from the hospital. 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:07.250 to a single wide baby blue trailer. This wasn't 00:06:07.250 --> 00:06:09.949 a wealthy sprawling estate. This was a young 00:06:09.949 --> 00:06:12.629 family figuring it out. And you look at the work 00:06:12.629 --> 00:06:14.949 ethic that was required just to get out of that 00:06:14.949 --> 00:06:17.209 trailer. Her dad wasn't just farming. He was 00:06:17.209 --> 00:06:20.009 working night shifts at the corn plant ADM. She 00:06:20.009 --> 00:06:22.069 said he was taking the shifts nobody else wanted. 00:06:22.209 --> 00:06:24.310 The stuff nobody wanted to do. That's what she 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:26.310 called it. And I want to pause on that because 00:06:26.310 --> 00:06:29.029 that resonates with so many dairy families. How 00:06:29.029 --> 00:06:31.149 many people listening right now have worked an 00:06:31.149 --> 00:06:34.029 off -farm job to keep the farm going? Or how 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:36.149 many have finished a shift at a plant and then 00:06:36.149 --> 00:06:38.870 come home to run the combine or milk the cows? 00:06:39.009 --> 00:06:42.069 It's the double shift. The grind. It's what pays 00:06:42.069 --> 00:06:43.810 for the health insurance so you can afford to 00:06:43.810 --> 00:06:46.649 farm. It is. It's showing up when nobody is watching. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.100 That's the backbone of the dairy industry, but 00:06:49.100 --> 00:06:52.019 it's the backbone of all ag. Her mom was raising 00:06:52.019 --> 00:06:54.680 the kids, stretching every dollar. Haley said, 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:57.620 and pardon the French, but she said, we didn't 00:06:57.620 --> 00:06:59.779 have a pot to piss in. But she always follows 00:06:59.779 --> 00:07:01.639 it up with how hard they work to put food on 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:04.540 the table. And she was surrounded by it. Her 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:07.300 grandpa had a sod farm. She talks about the boys 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:09.980 working in the field growing grass. Her Aunt 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:12.620 Cindy had pigs, chickens, turkeys. It's that 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:14.639 immersion. You don't just learn how to do chores. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.100 You absorb a mindset. You learn that the work 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:19.680 doesn't stop just because you're tired. And that's 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:21.920 the connection to the dairy reality. Whether 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:24.319 you're processing corn at 8 a .m. or milking 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:27.459 at 4 a .m., the discipline is identical. It's 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:30.819 about operational consistency. She had this specific 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:33.550 spot, though. She talks about going out to the 00:07:33.550 --> 00:07:35.790 cornfield behind the house to sit and think. 00:07:35.990 --> 00:07:38.490 She calls it her quiet place. Every farm kid 00:07:38.490 --> 00:07:41.670 has that spot. It is essential for mental health. 00:07:41.850 --> 00:07:44.110 Right. For her, it was the cornrows. What is 00:07:44.110 --> 00:07:46.930 it for the dairy kid? Usually it's behind the 00:07:46.930 --> 00:07:49.860 free stall barn. Or maybe leaning on a gate looking 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:52.519 out at a heifer pasture at dusk. It's that one 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:54.560 spot where the noise of the machinery fades out, 00:07:54.600 --> 00:07:56.899 where you can't hear the vacuum pump or the skid 00:07:56.899 --> 00:07:58.600 steer, and you just try to figure out who you 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:01.199 are. And for Haley, sitting in that cornfield, 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:04.040 she was dreaming about that recognition. She 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.540 wanted the validation. She saw the dairy princesses 00:08:06.540 --> 00:08:09.509 waving, and she wanted that feeling of... I matter 00:08:09.509 --> 00:08:12.790 to this place. It's the desire for rural recognition. 00:08:13.029 --> 00:08:15.069 We underestimate that. We think kids just want 00:08:15.069 --> 00:08:17.790 to be famous, like Hollywood famous. But sometimes 00:08:17.790 --> 00:08:20.509 they just want to be seen by their own community. 00:08:21.050 --> 00:08:23.750 They want the bust at the county fair. They want 00:08:23.750 --> 00:08:25.449 to be relevant to the people they grew up with. 00:08:25.610 --> 00:08:28.910 But then the catalyst happens. The moment that 00:08:28.910 --> 00:08:31.310 changes the trajectory. She's 15 years old. And 00:08:31.310 --> 00:08:33.350 she takes a trip. Her mom takes her to Nashville. 00:08:33.789 --> 00:08:35.169 Now, you got to keep in mind, she said she'd 00:08:35.169 --> 00:08:37.350 never even been to Chicago, and that's only three 00:08:37.350 --> 00:08:40.009 hours away. She was a rural kid through and through. 00:08:40.549 --> 00:08:42.730 Suddenly, she's in Nashville. Culture shock, 00:08:42.929 --> 00:08:46.549 I imagine, but also opportunity shock. Huge. 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:50.169 She sees songwriters everywhere, live music pouring 00:08:50.169 --> 00:08:53.649 out of doorways, and something just clicks. She 00:08:53.649 --> 00:08:56.269 realizes, oh, people do this for a living. This 00:08:56.269 --> 00:08:58.529 is a trade. It's the realization that there's 00:08:58.529 --> 00:09:00.629 a world beyond the county line, and that's... 00:09:01.330 --> 00:09:03.850 That's dangerous in a way. Dangerous. How so? 00:09:04.110 --> 00:09:06.590 For the parents. Because once the kid sees the 00:09:06.590 --> 00:09:09.470 world, the farm has to compete with it. The isolation 00:09:09.470 --> 00:09:13.090 is broken. That's such a good point. So she goes 00:09:13.090 --> 00:09:15.169 back to Shueyville. She sits down at that kitchen 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:18.740 table. And describe that table for me, because 00:09:18.740 --> 00:09:21.139 we all know what a farm kitchen table looks like. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.759 Oh, it's covered. It's the command center. You've 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:26.220 got seed guides. You've got the milk check envelopes, 00:09:26.220 --> 00:09:29.039 probably a few vet bills, maybe a parts catalog 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:31.799 for the tractor. And the school papers are mixed 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:33.759 in there somewhere. It's the physical manifestation 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:37.700 of the business stress. Exactly. And she sits 00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:40.100 at that table amidst all that evidence of the 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:42.379 family business. And she tells her parents she's 00:09:42.379 --> 00:09:44.539 moving to Nashville after high school. Wow. Just 00:09:44.539 --> 00:09:47.679 drocks it. And this is where we need to empathize 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.059 with the parents. She describes them as very 00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:53.399 blue collar. Her dad now owns an excavation business 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:56.980 and farms. Her mom runs a trucking company. They 00:09:56.980 --> 00:09:59.440 are practical people. They deal in dirt and heavy 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:01.899 loads. They were proud. They were terrified. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.919 Of course they were. Because the internal monologue 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:07.039 for a farm parent in that moment is, if they 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:11.179 go, what happens here? But also, is this real? 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:14.169 You know, you want to go sing songs. How does 00:10:14.169 --> 00:10:16.470 that pay the mortgage? It's the fear that the 00:10:16.470 --> 00:10:18.610 plan isn't realistic. It's a universal fear. 00:10:19.029 --> 00:10:21.970 And honestly, it's the silence that follows that 00:10:21.970 --> 00:10:24.169 announcement. The realization that the succession 00:10:24.169 --> 00:10:26.450 plan just walked out the door, or at least the 00:10:26.450 --> 00:10:28.350 realization that you can't protect them from 00:10:28.350 --> 00:10:31.090 the world anymore. But they let her go. And that's 00:10:31.090 --> 00:10:33.409 the credit to them. They raised her with that 00:10:33.409 --> 00:10:35.870 work ethic and they had to trust it would translate. 00:10:35.990 --> 00:10:37.929 They had to trust that the values they instilled 00:10:37.929 --> 00:10:40.769 in the cornfield would work in the city. So at 00:10:40.769 --> 00:10:45.090 17. She packs up. Yeah. And the community watches 00:10:45.090 --> 00:10:47.990 her go. And I love this detail from the article. 00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:50.330 The realization that the neighbors and the church 00:10:50.330 --> 00:10:52.570 folks, they don't stop caring just because the 00:10:52.570 --> 00:10:55.409 postal code changes. No. In a small town, you're 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:57.429 theirs forever. Whether you're in Nashville or 00:10:57.429 --> 00:10:59.710 New York or just the next county over, they're 00:10:59.710 --> 00:11:03.049 watching. And that pressure, it can be a weight, 00:11:03.149 --> 00:11:05.529 but it's also a net. So she gets to Nashville. 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:07.669 And there's this myth about Nashville, right? 00:11:07.950 --> 00:11:10.009 The 10 -year town. Right. You see, if you stick 00:11:10.009 --> 00:11:11.690 it out for 10 years, you'll make it. It's a grind. 00:11:11.929 --> 00:11:14.129 But for Haley, it wasn't 10 years. It was 12. 00:11:14.429 --> 00:11:18.750 12 years. Just sit with that for a second. That 00:11:18.750 --> 00:11:21.110 is a long time to hear no. That is a lifetime 00:11:21.110 --> 00:11:24.309 when you're in your 20s. That's your entire young 00:11:24.309 --> 00:11:27.629 adulthood spent pushing a rock uphill. She was 00:11:27.629 --> 00:11:30.389 working every job she could find. Nannying, front 00:11:30.389 --> 00:11:33.929 desk work, late shifts, just... Trying to keep 00:11:33.929 --> 00:11:35.870 the lights on so she could write songs that nobody 00:11:35.870 --> 00:11:38.429 was buying. And watching other people succeed, 00:11:38.610 --> 00:11:40.629 that's the hardest part. She talked about watching 00:11:40.629 --> 00:11:43.110 others get record deals, get the tour buses, 00:11:43.169 --> 00:11:47.070 while her phone was just silent. She was honest 00:11:47.070 --> 00:11:49.490 about the emotional toll. She said she was bitter. 00:11:49.610 --> 00:11:51.950 She was frustrated. She was tired. She said money 00:11:51.950 --> 00:11:54.289 was going out, nothing was coming in. Which brings 00:11:54.289 --> 00:11:57.059 us right back to dairy farming. How so? Think 00:11:57.059 --> 00:11:59.059 about the years where the milk price crashes 00:11:59.059 --> 00:12:02.480 or feed costs skyrocket because of a drought 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:05.240 in Argentina. You are working harder than ever. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.620 You are putting in 16 hour days and the balance 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:10.059 sheet is going backward. Money is going out. 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:12.379 Nothing is coming in. And the bank starts asking 00:12:12.379 --> 00:12:15.460 questions. The bank asks hard questions. Is this 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:18.720 viable? Why are we doing this? Haley was facing 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.860 those same questions. 12 years is a long time 00:12:21.860 --> 00:12:24.179 to hold on to a dream without a paycheck to validate 00:12:24.179 --> 00:12:26.710 it. So how did she survive? I mean, she didn't 00:12:26.710 --> 00:12:29.230 have a motivational poster on the wall. No. She 00:12:29.230 --> 00:12:31.289 survived because she treated songwriting like 00:12:31.289 --> 00:12:33.870 her dad treated the night shift at ADM. She just 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:36.450 kept showing up. Exactly. There was no hero moment. 00:12:36.730 --> 00:12:39.129 It wasn't about being inspired. It was about 00:12:39.129 --> 00:12:41.769 doing the next shift. In the dairy world, we 00:12:41.769 --> 00:12:44.710 say, you just have to milk the cows. You don't 00:12:44.710 --> 00:12:46.570 have to love it today. You just have to milk 00:12:46.570 --> 00:12:49.429 them. For her, she just had to write the next 00:12:49.429 --> 00:12:52.809 song. That is the definition of grit. And that 00:12:52.809 --> 00:12:55.389 leads us to the breakthrough. Because eventually, 00:12:55.649 --> 00:12:59.009 the dam broke. But it broke in a really interesting 00:12:59.009 --> 00:13:01.769 way. She didn't change herself to fit in. She 00:13:01.769 --> 00:13:03.649 actually stopped trying to hide the country. 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:06.570 She leaned into it. She embraced this nickname, 00:13:06.850 --> 00:13:09.769 Corn Queen. Which is fantastic. It is. And she 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:13.070 talks about the duality of it. Corn is this humble, 00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:16.990 simple crop. It's ubiquitous. But queen implies 00:13:16.990 --> 00:13:20.450 royalty. It's elevating the common thing to something 00:13:20.450 --> 00:13:23.210 regal. It's saying this background isn't a liability. 00:13:23.429 --> 00:13:25.370 It's my kingdom. And the album has reflected 00:13:25.370 --> 00:13:28.570 that. The Dream, Raised, and then Corn Queen. 00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:30.950 She started writing songs that were hyper -specific 00:13:30.950 --> 00:13:33.230 to her life. There's a song called High on the 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:35.610 Hog and Wagon, but there's one song that really 00:13:35.610 --> 00:13:38.370 got me. Casseroles. Oh, that title alone. It 00:13:38.370 --> 00:13:41.110 says so much. Casseroles. And the lyric is specifically 00:13:41.110 --> 00:13:43.870 about when the casseroles stop coming after a 00:13:43.870 --> 00:13:46.529 funeral. That is a deep rural truth. It is. We 00:13:46.529 --> 00:13:48.470 all know that first week, the kitchen counters 00:13:48.470 --> 00:13:51.090 are covered in Pyrex dishes. Lasagna, hot dish, 00:13:51.250 --> 00:13:53.570 tuna casserole. The community floods you with 00:13:53.570 --> 00:13:57.149 food. But then, two weeks later, everyone goes 00:13:57.149 --> 00:14:00.340 back to work. And the casseroles stop. And that's 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:02.539 when the grief really hits. To write a song about 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:05.120 that? That's not pop country. That isn't about 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:07.779 trucks and taillights. That's documenting rural 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:10.559 sociology. That is storytelling. And that authenticity 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:12.519 is what caught the eye of Land O 'Lakes. Which 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:16.220 brings us back to the barn, fall 2025. The bovine 00:14:16.220 --> 00:14:19.139 serenade. She partners with them. And again, 00:14:19.259 --> 00:14:22.460 this setting. A member -owned dairy in Minnesota. 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:25.019 And I want to emphasize this again. It wasn't 00:14:25.019 --> 00:14:27.840 a set. Haley described it. She said, no polished 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:30.970 set. No barn where no cow has ever actually lived. 00:14:31.210 --> 00:14:33.250 And you can tell the difference. Farmers can 00:14:33.250 --> 00:14:35.669 tell the difference instantly. If the concrete 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:38.230 looks too clean, if the cows are too clean, we 00:14:38.230 --> 00:14:41.649 know it's fake. This was real mud, real fans, 00:14:41.950 --> 00:14:44.929 real flies. And her reaction to the animals was 00:14:44.929 --> 00:14:47.269 the tell. There's a clip where she crouches down 00:14:47.269 --> 00:14:49.889 to greet the calves. Hi, look at you with your 00:14:49.889 --> 00:14:52.750 cute little pink nose. It wasn't acting. No, 00:14:52.809 --> 00:14:54.730 that's muscle memory. You don't crouch like that 00:14:54.730 --> 00:14:56.809 unless you've done it a thousand times. That 00:14:56.809 --> 00:14:59.110 was the corn kid finally getting her dairy moment. 00:14:59.350 --> 00:15:01.409 She was treating the barn like the main stage. 00:15:01.690 --> 00:15:03.750 And I think that's why this matters. It's not 00:15:03.750 --> 00:15:05.929 just about her success. It's about the ripple 00:15:05.929 --> 00:15:08.950 effect. It's about what her success says to the 00:15:08.950 --> 00:15:11.429 people back home. Well, she's using that platform 00:15:11.429 --> 00:15:14.049 to tell hard truths. We have to talk about the 00:15:14.049 --> 00:15:16.990 song Middle of America. This one features American 00:15:16.990 --> 00:15:19.759 Aquarium. And was inspired by a drive she took 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:21.980 through western Iowa. She saw signs on the side 00:15:21.980 --> 00:15:24.759 of the road. Stop the airport. Save the farms. 00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:27.759 And she realized what eminent domain actually 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:30.320 meant. It's the government taking farms for development. 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:32.879 And she said, that kind of blew my mind a little 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:35.460 bit. It's a heavy topic for a country song. It 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:37.639 is. But think about the dairy farmers listening 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:39.860 right now. How many are fighting a pipeline? 00:15:40.460 --> 00:15:44.639 Or a new highway expansion? Or just urban sprawl 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:46.639 where the subdivisions are creeping right up 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:48.379 to the manure pit. It's a stress that usually 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:50.919 gets ignored by the general public. It is. We 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.139 talk about milk prices, but we don't talk about 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:55.179 the existential threat of losing the land itself. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:57.960 The song gives language to that stress. It says, 00:15:58.059 --> 00:16:00.460 we see you. And that connects to this idea of 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:02.940 redefining legacy. Yeah. Because if the land 00:16:02.940 --> 00:16:06.600 gets taken or the kids leave, what is left? Haley 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:08.539 is proving that legacy doesn't always mean taking 00:16:08.539 --> 00:16:11.460 over the operation. She is carrying the values. 00:16:12.220 --> 00:16:14.980 hard work, community, resilience, into rooms 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:17.700 that farmers will never enter. She's in boardrooms. 00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:20.519 She's in recording studios in Los Angeles and 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:22.919 Nashville. And she's bringing Shoeiville, Iowa 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:25.899 with her. She is exporting the culture. And it's 00:16:25.899 --> 00:16:28.120 impacting the youth. The article mentioned that 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:31.240 4 -H and FFA leaders are using her videos to 00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:33.799 start conversations. Yeah, asking kids, if you 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:35.539 made a video about your farm, what would you 00:16:35.539 --> 00:16:38.720 show? It's validating their life. And look at 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.019 Missouri's 4 -H dairy cow camps. They had their 00:16:41.019 --> 00:16:45.960 largest camp. ever in 2025 70 kids 70 kids spending 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:48.960 days in real barns hearing from dairy families 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:51.360 seeing that these families are approachable that's 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:53.980 the ripple effect when you make rural life look 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:59.019 not glamorous but worthy worthy of a song worthy 00:16:59.019 --> 00:17:01.679 of a video it makes the kids want to stay or 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:04.079 at least stay connected i want to pivot to a 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:06.019 specific metaphor that came up in the source 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:08.140 material it's something we call the headlights 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:11.240 moment this is a powerful image the concept is 00:17:11.609 --> 00:17:13.569 The night the road filled with headlights. Now, 00:17:13.609 --> 00:17:15.529 sometimes an egg, that's a tragedy. That's a 00:17:15.529 --> 00:17:17.769 barn fire. We've all seen the photos where the 00:17:17.769 --> 00:17:20.450 sky is orange and the road is lined with stock 00:17:20.450 --> 00:17:22.690 trailers and neighbors coming to get the cows 00:17:22.690 --> 00:17:24.569 out. But the article makes a point that it's 00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:27.970 not always the dramatic fire. No. Usually it's 00:17:27.970 --> 00:17:30.349 the small rescues. It's the neighbors showing 00:17:30.349 --> 00:17:32.490 up with a tank spreader because they heard your 00:17:32.490 --> 00:17:35.420 pit is full and rain is coming. It's the church 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:38.440 folks leaving groceries on the porch because 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:40.819 they know money is tight, but they leave before 00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:42.420 you can answer the door so you don't have to 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:45.579 be embarrassed. It's the vet leaning on the tailgate. 00:17:45.700 --> 00:17:47.900 That image really stuck with me. The vet just 00:17:47.900 --> 00:17:53.359 asking, how are you? Not how's the cow, but how 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.559 are you? That is the safety net. And here's the 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:59.799 profound connection the article makes. That support 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:03.019 system is exactly what allows the kids to leave. 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:05.900 Wait. unpack that. How does the support system 00:18:05.900 --> 00:18:08.259 allow them to leave? Because you can't leave. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:10.380 You can't go to Nashville. You can't go to college. 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.380 If you're terrified, your parents are going to 00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:14.440 collapse without you. Right. You leave because 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:17.299 you know the community has their back. You know 00:18:17.299 --> 00:18:19.359 that if the cows get out, the neighbor will call. 00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:21.119 You know that if your dad gets sick, someone 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:23.380 will harvest the corn. So the community is the 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:26.240 anchor that lets the ship sail. Exactly. And 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:29.200 that's what Haley realized. The community watching 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:32.730 her on TV. They are the same people who sat in 00:18:32.730 --> 00:18:34.750 the bleachers at the high school gym. They're 00:18:34.750 --> 00:18:38.049 the same safety net. That's beautiful. It really 00:18:38.049 --> 00:18:41.089 changes how you view the leavers. They aren't 00:18:41.089 --> 00:18:43.849 abandoning the ship. They are trusting the crew. 00:18:44.069 --> 00:18:46.309 They are trusting the crew. And they are taking 00:18:46.309 --> 00:18:49.269 the flag with them. So we've talked about the 00:18:49.269 --> 00:18:51.950 emotion. We've talked about the journey. But 00:18:51.950 --> 00:18:54.990 this is the bullvine. We need to bring it back 00:18:54.990 --> 00:18:56.789 to the guy in the tractor right now. The rubber 00:18:56.789 --> 00:18:58.569 hits the road. All right, Jake, for the farmer 00:18:58.569 --> 00:19:00.450 listening to this while they're chopping silage 00:19:00.450 --> 00:19:03.250 or scraping the barn, what is the one thing they 00:19:03.250 --> 00:19:06.069 need to sit with? The insight is this. We don't 00:19:06.069 --> 00:19:08.970 need to produce a celebrity. You don't need your 00:19:08.970 --> 00:19:11.349 kid to be the next Haley Wooders. We need to 00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:13.569 notice the gifts at our own tables. What does 00:19:13.569 --> 00:19:16.210 that mean? It means looking at your kid or your 00:19:16.210 --> 00:19:18.410 employee or your neighbor and seeing their talent 00:19:18.410 --> 00:19:20.750 before they have to leave to find it, but also 00:19:20.750 --> 00:19:22.809 realizing that we need to make room for those 00:19:22.809 --> 00:19:25.289 gifts on the farm. But more practically, the 00:19:25.289 --> 00:19:28.059 source gave us three specific actions. And I 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:29.619 love these because they are small. You can do 00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:31.480 them this week. Okay, hit me. Action number one. 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:35.099 One youth night. What does that look like? Invite 00:19:35.099 --> 00:19:39.619 the local 4 -H 'er FFA chapter to the barn during 00:19:39.619 --> 00:19:43.299 chores. Not for a polished tour. For chores, 00:19:43.700 --> 00:19:46.559 let them see the reality. Let them see the sweat. 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:49.039 Let them see the technology. Just open the door. 00:19:49.099 --> 00:19:51.500 It breaks down that barrier. Okay, action number 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:53.920 two. One neighbor check -in. And this ties back 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:56.279 to the headlights. The subtle rescue. If you 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:58.559 see the lights on in the neighbor's barn and 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.220 it's 9 -0 -0 -0 p .m. and they should be done, 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.200 send a text. Just say, saw your lights, everything 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:07.019 okay? You don't have to drive over and be a hero. 00:20:07.059 --> 00:20:09.420 Just send the text. Just let them know they aren't 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:12.000 invisible. That text might be the only lifeline 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.460 they get that day. That's powerful. And action 00:20:14.460 --> 00:20:17.480 number three. One honest conversation. This one 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.779 is the hardest. It is. Talk to a vet or a banker 00:20:20.779 --> 00:20:23.920 or an extension agent about stress. About the 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:26.900 next 10 years. Not about the interest rate, but 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:28.839 about how you are feeling about the interest 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:31.259 rate. Opening up that valve just a little bit. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.960 Exactly. Because if we don't talk about it, it 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:36.670 eats us alive. And the article mentions resources, 00:20:36.910 --> 00:20:39.250 too. If the weight is too heavy, there is the 00:20:39.250 --> 00:20:42.069 Do More Agriculture Foundation. There is Farm 00:20:42.069 --> 00:20:44.750 Aid, 1 -800 -FARM -AID. Those numbers are there 00:20:44.750 --> 00:20:46.950 for a reason. Use them. Absolutely. You know, 00:20:46.970 --> 00:20:49.289 looking at Haley standing in that barn, crouching 00:20:49.289 --> 00:20:52.329 down with that calf, it really makes you think. 00:20:52.369 --> 00:20:54.869 We spend so much time worrying about the future 00:20:54.869 --> 00:20:56.990 of the industry. Who's going to milk the cows? 00:20:57.150 --> 00:21:00.069 Who's going to buy the milk? Valid worries. But 00:21:00.069 --> 00:21:02.269 maybe the future isn't just about the milk. Maybe 00:21:02.269 --> 00:21:04.549 it's about the stories we export. The culture 00:21:04.549 --> 00:21:06.769 we export. Right. Haley didn't get the dairy 00:21:06.769 --> 00:21:09.630 princess crown, but she put the dairy barn on 00:21:09.630 --> 00:21:12.769 a national stage in a way a princess never could. 00:21:12.950 --> 00:21:15.930 She did. She showed the world that a barn isn't 00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:18.710 just a milk factory. It's a home. It's a place 00:21:18.710 --> 00:21:21.529 where values are forged. And that's a legacy 00:21:21.529 --> 00:21:24.269 worth protecting. And it reminds us that even 00:21:24.269 --> 00:21:26.930 if the kids leave the zip code, they never really 00:21:26.930 --> 00:21:29.230 leave the farm. They just take the farm to new 00:21:29.230 --> 00:21:31.430 places. Well, that's another story from the Bullvine 00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:34.039 podcast. These are the people building the future 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:37.180 of dairy, sometimes in the parlor and sometimes 00:21:37.180 --> 00:21:39.640 on the stage. If you enjoyed this deep dive, 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:45.480 go to www .thebullvine .com. We have so many 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:48.140 more profiles of people shaping this industry. 00:21:48.299 --> 00:21:50.460 And next time. Well, let's just say we're staying 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:52.440 a little closer to the bulk tank for the next 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:54.599 profile. You won't want to miss it. Make sure 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:56.519 you subscribe so you don't miss that one. Thanks 00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:58.140 for listening, everyone. Stay safe out there.