WEBVTT 00:00:14.189 --> 00:00:20.969 Creeping over fields of green Remembering the 00:00:20.969 --> 00:00:27.269 faces The moments unseen The hands that built 00:00:27.269 --> 00:00:33.590 a dynasty The vision in their eyes Echoes in 00:00:33.590 --> 00:00:38.810 the auction bar Beneath an endless sky This is 00:00:38.810 --> 00:01:04.640 the bull buy Turn the bar Barn doors locked from 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.659 the inside. Sixty cows burning. The owner. He 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:10.780 never even got out of his Cadillac. Whoa, whoa, 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:13.040 hold on. Stop right there. I know. If you walked 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:14.959 up to me at the sale barn and started a story 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:18.040 like that, I'd tell you to take a hike. Seriously. 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:20.879 Right. That sounds like a ghost story. That's 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:22.379 something you tell the rookies to scare them 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:24.540 into checking the wiring at night. It can't be 00:01:24.540 --> 00:01:26.810 real. it does doesn't it i mean it has every 00:01:26.810 --> 00:01:29.310 element of a bad horror movie you have the cold 00:01:29.310 --> 00:01:31.310 night the blinking headlights on a lonely road 00:01:31.310 --> 00:01:34.310 the smell of smoke drifting over the snow but 00:01:34.310 --> 00:01:37.489 this isn't a ghost story and it's not just one 00:01:37.489 --> 00:01:40.530 bad night in ontario history what if i told you 00:01:40.530 --> 00:01:44.549 that this specific fire was just the first siren 00:01:44.549 --> 00:01:47.010 the first siren what does that even mean what 00:01:47.010 --> 00:01:49.829 if i told you it was the opening act of a playbook 00:01:49.829 --> 00:01:55.239 on fraud that spans uh 70 years. 70 years. You're 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:56.859 kidding me. You're telling me this goes back 00:01:56.859 --> 00:02:00.120 that far. We are looking at a timeline from 1920 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.719 right up to 1993. We're talking about a pattern 00:02:03.719 --> 00:02:05.920 that rips right through the heart of the Holstein 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:09.659 world. So this isn't just one guy. No. We are 00:02:09.659 --> 00:02:12.939 talking about barn fires, yes. But we are also 00:02:12.939 --> 00:02:18.379 talking about fake semen straws filled with dishwater. 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:20.520 Dishwater, come on. We're talking about tainted 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:22.879 meat entering the human food supply. And we are 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:25.879 talking about men insuring cows for a quarter 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:28.520 of a million dollars right before killing them. 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:31.020 OK, so you're saying this is organized. This 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:34.500 isn't just one bad apple having a mental breakdown 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:36.919 or a bad year. I'm saying it's a system. It's 00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:39.000 a playbook. And the scary part isn't just the 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.479 crimes themselves, even though they are horrific. 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:44.340 What's scarier than that? The scary part is who 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:46.819 was committing them. I mean, these weren't strangers 00:02:46.819 --> 00:02:49.919 in ski masks. They were the guys leaning on the 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:52.300 fence next to you at the county fair. They were 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:54.539 the buyers talking bloodlines in your kitchen. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:57.180 They were the vets treating your herd. They were 00:02:57.180 --> 00:02:59.319 the guys chasing the biggest banners in the entire 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:01.620 industry. Honestly, that hits different. Because 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:03.479 if you're driving a tractor right now or you're 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:06.400 standing in the parlor washing down, you operate 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.560 on a baseline of trust. It's fundamental. Of 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:10.860 course. You have to. You assume the guy you're 00:03:10.860 --> 00:03:13.159 doing business with shares your values. You assume 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:15.509 the handshake actually means something. Exactly. 00:03:15.629 --> 00:03:18.729 And that is why we are doing this deep dive today. 00:03:18.969 --> 00:03:20.889 This isn't just true crime for entertainment. 00:03:21.409 --> 00:03:24.409 We need to uncover the playbook these guys used. 00:03:24.550 --> 00:03:27.349 Okay. Because if it happened to the biggest names 00:03:27.349 --> 00:03:29.870 in the breed, and I mean the absolute titans 00:03:29.870 --> 00:03:33.189 of the industry, what is stopping it from happening 00:03:33.189 --> 00:03:35.710 in your county? What stops it from showing up 00:03:35.710 --> 00:03:38.349 in your driveway? All right. I'm listening. Yeah. 00:03:38.469 --> 00:03:40.289 But I've got to warn you, I'm going to be skeptical. 00:03:40.810 --> 00:03:43.050 I've seen a lot of things go wrong on farms, 00:03:43.110 --> 00:03:45.349 equipment failure, bad weather, you know, just 00:03:45.349 --> 00:03:48.370 plain bad luck. But locked from the inside is 00:03:48.370 --> 00:03:51.930 a heavy, heavy accusation. It is. So let's go 00:03:51.930 --> 00:03:53.449 back to that night. Let's set the scene properly. 00:03:53.710 --> 00:03:56.270 Act one, the first siren. Okay. It's February 00:03:56.270 --> 00:04:00.090 1981, Barrie, Ontario. Okay. February in Barrie. 00:04:00.810 --> 00:04:02.650 For those who don't know, that is the snow belt. 00:04:02.750 --> 00:04:05.449 That is bitter, bone -cracking gold. We're talking 00:04:05.449 --> 00:04:09.469 serious winter. Exactly. Imagine a Canadian winter 00:04:09.469 --> 00:04:12.990 morning where the air literally hurts your face. 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:15.710 It's dark. A neighbor is driving down the road, 00:04:15.770 --> 00:04:18.850 shivering in his truck, heater blasting, and 00:04:18.850 --> 00:04:22.209 he sees a Cadillac coming toward him. A Cadillac 00:04:22.209 --> 00:04:26.490 in 1981 in farm country. Oh, yeah, that's a statement 00:04:26.490 --> 00:04:28.089 vehicle. You notice that. It's a status symbol. 00:04:28.230 --> 00:04:30.810 And the neighbor starts flashing his high beams. 00:04:30.889 --> 00:04:33.470 Flash, flash, flash. He flags the car down. The 00:04:33.470 --> 00:04:36.310 window rolls down. The neighbor leans out into 00:04:36.310 --> 00:04:38.529 the freezing air and shouts to the driver, Look 00:04:38.529 --> 00:04:40.329 behind you. There's a fire over there. Looks 00:04:40.329 --> 00:04:43.329 like it might be your barn. Oh, man. That is 00:04:43.329 --> 00:04:45.550 a nightmare scenario. You see that glow on the 00:04:45.550 --> 00:04:48.069 horizon. Your stomach just drops through the 00:04:48.069 --> 00:04:50.410 floorboards. The driver of the Cadillac is Gordon 00:04:50.410 --> 00:04:52.980 Atkinson. And if you know dairy history, you 00:04:52.980 --> 00:04:54.939 know that name. Oh, yeah. Big name. He wasn't 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:57.000 just a farmer. He was a broker. One of the biggest 00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:59.639 cow buyers in the game. Big money, big cattle, 00:04:59.740 --> 00:05:03.259 big reputation. Right. So Atkinson turns the 00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:06.379 Cadillac around. He crests the rise. And according 00:05:06.379 --> 00:05:09.180 to the source material, the smell hit him before 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:11.480 the sight. Yeah. I can imagine. It's distinct. 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:14.649 It's not just wood smoke. Yeah. It's... Burning 00:05:14.649 --> 00:05:18.290 flesh, burning hair. It's awful. It's that sickening, 00:05:18.290 --> 00:05:22.470 sweet edge of a barn fire. The flames are already 00:05:22.470 --> 00:05:25.110 licking through the roof. The cattle are bawling. 00:05:25.250 --> 00:05:27.589 I can hear that sound just thinking about it. 00:05:27.670 --> 00:05:29.990 It's a sound you never, ever get out of your 00:05:29.990 --> 00:05:33.439 head. It's pure panic. The neighbors are already 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.040 there. They've pulled up in their trucks, jumping 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:38.699 out into the snow. They are standing helpless, 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:41.920 hands jammed in their pockets, just watching 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:43.480 it burn. Nothing you could do at that point. 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:45.759 Once it's through the roof, it's gone. And they 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:47.699 turn to Atkinson as he pulls up and they say, 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.660 we tried the doors. Locked from the inside. Locked 00:05:51.660 --> 00:05:53.839 from the inside. See, that's where the physics 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:56.740 don't add up. How so? Barn doors, they usually 00:05:56.740 --> 00:05:58.980 have a latch on the outside or a sliding bolt. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:01.579 You lock a door from the outside, keep... Thieves 00:06:01.579 --> 00:06:03.660 out. You lock a door from the inside to keep 00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:06.259 something in. Roar. Or to stop anyone from getting 00:06:06.259 --> 00:06:09.500 into hell. That's not right. It defies the logic 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:13.300 of a working farm. But here is the part that 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:17.399 chills me to the bone. Gordon Atkinson, the owner, 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:21.459 the cattleman, he didn't get out of the car. 00:06:21.980 --> 00:06:24.519 What do you mean he didn't get out? He sat in 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:26.160 the Cadillac. The neighbors are running around. 00:06:26.259 --> 00:06:28.379 The fire trucks are coming. The cows are screaming. 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:30.879 And he just sat there behind the wheel and watched 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.600 while 60 head of cattle burned to death. He didn't 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.079 even try. He didn't run to the door. He didn't 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:38.100 grab a shovel to throw snow. He didn't do anything. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:41.240 He sat and watched. I don't get that. My first 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:43.319 instinct would be to run in there, even if it 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:45.660 was hopeless. You try. You do something. And 00:06:45.660 --> 00:06:47.639 let's look at what was in that barn. It wasn't 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:50.040 just a random herd. This was a high -value holding 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:52.620 facility. Included in that fire were the sons 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:56.220 of a cow he had paid $66 ,000 for. Sixty -six 00:06:56.220 --> 00:07:00.819 grand. In 1981 dollars, that's what? A quarter 00:07:00.819 --> 00:07:03.480 of a million today? More. That's a huge investment. 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:06.079 Easily. But get this. The calves inside were 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:09.779 insured for $50 ,000 a piece. Whoa, hold on. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:14.819 Pause the tape. $50 ,000 on a calf. On baby bulls. 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:17.079 Animals that had barely hit the shavings. That 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:19.519 math doesn't work. Yeah. I'm sorry. I don't care 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.060 who the sire is. I don't care if it's the second 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:24.879 coming of Round Oak Rag Apple Elevation. You 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:27.800 don't put 50 grand insurance on a calf unless 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:32.519 you are planning for that calf to not be there 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:36.579 tomorrow. Go on. That is the reddest flag I have 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:39.120 ever seen. Why is that such a red flag? For the 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.339 listener who maybe isn't in the purebred game, 00:07:41.500 --> 00:07:43.899 explain the valuation there. Why is that number 00:07:43.899 --> 00:07:47.600 so insane? Okay, so a calf has potential. It's 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.540 all potential. But potential is a gamble. It 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:52.879 might get sick. It might have bad legs. It might 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.160 just not pan out. You insure for replacement 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:57.759 value. To replace a calf, even a really, really 00:07:57.759 --> 00:07:59.720 great one, takes a few thousand dollars, maybe 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:01.920 $10 if it's absolutely world -class and from 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:04.839 a famous family. Okay. $50 ,000. That's not insurance. 00:08:04.939 --> 00:08:07.240 That's a lottery ticket. You are betting against 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:09.759 the animal's life. It's an incentive for it to 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:12.379 die. So it's not a red flag. It's a siren. It's 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:14.339 a screaming siren with flashing lights. That's 00:08:14.339 --> 00:08:16.019 why we're calling this the first siren, because 00:08:16.019 --> 00:08:18.220 that fire wasn't an accident. It was an exit 00:08:18.220 --> 00:08:21.360 strategy. An exit strategy. God, that's dark. 00:08:21.500 --> 00:08:23.980 You're saying he cashed them out with fire. The 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:26.079 neighbors tried to help. They wanted to save 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.720 those animals. The lock stopped them. And that 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:30.839 is the perfect metaphor for what we're going 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:33.509 to talk about today. This isn't just about arson. 00:08:33.669 --> 00:08:36.350 It's about the weak spots in an industry built 00:08:36.350 --> 00:08:38.389 on hand stakes. We're going to look at three 00:08:38.389 --> 00:08:42.330 clusters of crime. Money, product, and power. 00:08:42.649 --> 00:08:44.950 Okay. I need to take a breath after that Cadillac 00:08:44.950 --> 00:08:46.809 story. But you're right. If the money doesn't 00:08:46.809 --> 00:08:49.009 make sense, nothing else matters. So where does 00:08:49.009 --> 00:08:50.929 this all start? You said this goes back to 1920. 00:08:51.610 --> 00:08:55.070 1920. Let's go to Act II, the pattern under the 00:08:55.070 --> 00:08:57.570 manure. We are going to start with Cluster 1, 00:08:57.789 --> 00:09:00.779 money and paper. and specifically the Saturday 00:09:00.779 --> 00:09:03.440 afternoon con. Saturday afternoon. I already 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:05.159 know where this is going. Every farmer knows 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:07.419 that feeling. Meet Leroy Austin. We are stepping 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:10.320 back into the roaring 20s. Austin is a tall, 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.139 polite man. He has a thick southern accent. He 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:15.419 carries himself like a real gentleman. Sounds 00:09:15.419 --> 00:09:17.759 charming. The kind of guy you invite in for iced 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.389 tea. The kind of guy you'd trust. He used aliases 00:09:21.389 --> 00:09:24.210 like they were disposable tissues. H .C. Helms, 00:09:24.250 --> 00:09:27.230 L .C. Lingle, L .H. Cox. But the name didn't 00:09:27.230 --> 00:09:29.149 matter. The method was always the same. He knew 00:09:29.149 --> 00:09:31.669 cattle cold. Okay, so he wasn't just some city 00:09:31.669 --> 00:09:34.250 slicker. Not at all. He would walk your pens, 00:09:34.509 --> 00:09:36.909 talk pedigrees, point out your best cows. He 00:09:36.909 --> 00:09:39.009 made you feel like he understood the value of 00:09:39.009 --> 00:09:41.429 your herd better than you did. That's a seduction. 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:44.039 I'm serious. Every farmer wants to be validated. 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:46.559 You work all day, usually alone or with your 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.220 family, and you want someone, an expert, to look 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:50.960 at your cows and say, wow, you've done a great 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:53.820 job here. These are special. Precisely. He preyed 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:55.419 on that pride. And he would make a fair deal, 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:57.860 maybe even a generous one. He wasn't low -balling 00:09:57.860 --> 00:10:01.139 people. But there was always a catch. The timing. 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:04.220 The timing. He always arrived late in the week, 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:07.960 specifically Saturday afternoons. Close to bank 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:10.649 closing time. Or back then, after the doors were 00:10:10.649 --> 00:10:12.629 already locked for the weekend. Bingo. He'd say, 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:15.250 my bank is out of state. I can't get cash right 00:10:15.250 --> 00:10:17.590 now, but I have this draft. If you just endorse 00:10:17.590 --> 00:10:20.570 this, we're good to go. He had telegrams from 00:10:20.570 --> 00:10:24.690 banks, fake passbooks. He had the paperwork to 00:10:24.690 --> 00:10:27.259 look solid. And it's Saturday. The banks are 00:10:27.259 --> 00:10:30.120 closed. You can't call to verify anything. But 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.139 you've got this great deal on the table. You've 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:34.639 been working all week. You're tired. And here 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:37.360 is this nice Southern gentleman offering you 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:40.100 good money. You want to close the deal. You want 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:42.879 to celebrate. That pressure to close, it's psychological. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.559 Austin knew that if he pushed you just enough, 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:47.679 you'd sign the endorsement just to get the deal 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:50.039 done before Sunday. Just to have it finished. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.659 And on Monday. On Monday, the paper bounces. 00:10:54.250 --> 00:10:56.929 It's worthless. And because the farmers endorsed 00:10:56.929 --> 00:10:59.309 the drafts to get their cash from the local bank, 00:10:59.450 --> 00:11:02.370 they had to make good on the checks. Ouch. So 00:11:02.370 --> 00:11:04.509 not only did they lose the cows because the cows 00:11:04.509 --> 00:11:06.509 are long gone by Monday, they owed the money 00:11:06.509 --> 00:11:09.529 to their own bank. In many cases, yes. They were 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:12.610 left holding the bag. Austin hit Michigan, Iowa, 00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:16.250 Illinois. He was a phantom. But eventually the 00:11:16.250 --> 00:11:19.230 law caught up. He went to the Iowa State Penitentiary 00:11:19.230 --> 00:11:22.529 for seven years. Good riddance. Seven years to 00:11:22.529 --> 00:11:24.559 think about it. But here is the best part of 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:28.179 the story. The Michigan dairyman he burned. They 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:31.779 didn't forget. Farmers have long memories. You 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:34.639 rip off a farmer, he remembers it until the day 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:37.720 he dies. His kids remember it. When Austin was 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:40.720 released from prison in Iowa, there was a welcome 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.860 committee waiting for him at the gate. You're 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:45.360 kidding. A group of Michigan dairymen with a 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:47.740 sheriff in tow. They didn't even let him enjoy 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:50.700 a breath of freedom. They arrested him the moment 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:52.879 he stepped foot outside and dragged him back 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.639 to Michigan to face charges there. That is fantastic. 00:11:55.980 --> 00:11:58.460 That is old school justice. I love that. It's 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:00.440 incredible. But, you know, listening to this, 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:03.360 the technology has changed, right? We don't use 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:06.480 bank drafts on Saturdays as much. But the feeling, 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:10.039 the setup, that's exactly the same today. How 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:12.460 so? How does the Saturday comm look in 2024? 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:15.779 It's the Friday afternoon wire transfer. It's 00:12:15.779 --> 00:12:17.340 a guy who calls you and says, I need to load 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:18.980 these cows tonight because the truck is already 00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:21.320 in the area. I've sent the wire. Here's a screenshot 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:23.960 on my phone. Oh, the screenshot. It's that same 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:26.320 pressure. Hurry up or you lose the sale. They're 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.759 manufacturing urgency. So the red flag isn't 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:31.320 the paper itself. It's the rush. It's always 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:34.009 the rush. If a buyer. I don't care how polite 00:12:34.009 --> 00:12:35.870 he is. I don't care if he drove a Mercedes or 00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:38.629 a muddy pickup. He's pushing you to bypass your 00:12:38.629 --> 00:12:41.529 normal safety checks because of timing? That's 00:12:41.529 --> 00:12:43.629 the ghost of Leroy Austin standing in your driveway. 00:12:43.809 --> 00:12:46.230 That is a great way to put it. Boring habits 00:12:46.230 --> 00:12:48.730 beat brilliant schemes. We'll come back to that. 00:12:48.990 --> 00:12:51.769 But let's stay in this cluster of money and paper 00:12:51.769 --> 00:12:55.070 because it gets worse. Let's talk about Dr. Morley 00:12:55.070 --> 00:12:58.429 Pettit. A doctor? A vet? A veterinary surgeon 00:12:58.429 --> 00:13:00.970 in the Southern Ontario Tobacco Belt. This is 00:13:00.970 --> 00:13:04.350 the 1930s. See, that's dangerous. A vet carries 00:13:04.350 --> 00:13:06.850 authority. You trust the vet with the life of 00:13:06.850 --> 00:13:08.730 your herd. When the vet pulls into the yard, 00:13:08.850 --> 00:13:12.029 you listen. He's got credibility baked in. Headed 00:13:12.029 --> 00:13:14.029 seemed respectable. He came from a good family. 00:13:14.149 --> 00:13:18.009 But he had quirks. Before the cattle fraud, he 00:13:18.009 --> 00:13:21.110 stole a tractor. He stole a tractor. Like joyriding. 00:13:21.190 --> 00:13:23.850 Brought it. didn't pay for it, hid it deep in 00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:26.009 the woods, and was in the middle of repainting 00:13:26.009 --> 00:13:28.250 it when they caught him. Okay, that's not a mastermind 00:13:28.250 --> 00:13:30.429 criminal. That's just petty theft. Yeah. And 00:13:30.429 --> 00:13:33.710 repainting it, that's desperate and kind of dumb. 00:13:33.889 --> 00:13:36.409 But he graduated from tractors. He started running 00:13:36.409 --> 00:13:40.309 a mail -order bull scam. Mail -order bulls. That 00:13:40.309 --> 00:13:42.129 sounds like something out of the old Sears catalog. 00:13:42.450 --> 00:13:45.210 How did that work? Back then, believe it or not, 00:13:45.269 --> 00:13:48.490 people shipped purebred bulls on approval. It 00:13:48.490 --> 00:13:50.909 was a simpler time, built on trust. A lot of 00:13:50.909 --> 00:13:54.200 trust. Pettit wrote letters, beautiful, articulate 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:56.419 letters, claiming to be a progressive farmer 00:13:56.419 --> 00:14:00.399 with a $3 ,000 herd improvement program. He made 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:02.659 himself sound like the ideal customer. I have 00:14:02.659 --> 00:14:05.100 tobacco land. I have kilns. I want to upgrade 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:07.799 my genetics. So breeders are thinking, this is 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:10.679 a great home for my bull. You want your genetics 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:12.620 to go somewhere they will be appreciated and 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:14.980 proven. You're building a legacy. Exactly. They 00:14:14.980 --> 00:14:18.049 put the bull on a train. But Pettit... He didn't 00:14:18.049 --> 00:14:20.070 have a farm improvement program. He didn't want 00:14:20.070 --> 00:14:22.269 the genetics. He had a butcher lined up. No! 00:14:22.710 --> 00:14:24.809 Don't tell me that. That's just wrong. Before 00:14:24.809 --> 00:14:27.470 the train even arrived, he had sold the bull 00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:30.269 to a slaughterhouse. The animal went from the 00:14:30.269 --> 00:14:32.570 railway car straight to the cooler under the 00:14:32.570 --> 00:14:35.669 cover of darkness. That is... That is sickening. 00:14:35.690 --> 00:14:37.570 These are purebred genetics. Yeah. These are 00:14:37.570 --> 00:14:40.070 animals people spent years breeding, planting 00:14:40.070 --> 00:14:42.269 the matings, raising the calf. Yeah. And he's 00:14:42.269 --> 00:14:44.090 just turning them into hamburgers for quick cash. 00:14:44.590 --> 00:14:47.309 For pennies on the dollar, he sold them at ridiculously 00:14:47.309 --> 00:14:50.049 low prices just to get his hands on the money. 00:14:50.309 --> 00:14:53.149 And when the breeders asked for payment, he ghosted 00:14:53.149 --> 00:14:56.889 them. Promissory notes, excuses, and then just 00:14:56.889 --> 00:14:59.929 silence. And he used his status as a vet to do 00:14:59.929 --> 00:15:02.649 it? He used his name. The judge actually noted 00:15:02.649 --> 00:15:05.090 this when he sentenced him. He said Pettit played 00:15:05.090 --> 00:15:07.370 on the fact that the Pettit name was good in 00:15:07.370 --> 00:15:09.750 Norfolk. He weaponized his family's reputation. 00:15:10.509 --> 00:15:12.269 That's the ultimate betrayal. You know, we talk 00:15:12.269 --> 00:15:14.470 about wire transfers and scams, but this hits 00:15:14.470 --> 00:15:17.049 on something deeper. We rely on reputation in 00:15:17.049 --> 00:15:19.610 this business. If I hear a name I know or a family 00:15:19.610 --> 00:15:21.889 I know, I lower my guard. I think, oh, he's a 00:15:21.889 --> 00:15:23.950 Pettit. He's good for it. And that's the vulnerability. 00:15:24.269 --> 00:15:26.250 Just because a family name is good doesn't mean 00:15:26.250 --> 00:15:28.929 the guy standing in front of you is honest. Pettit 00:15:28.929 --> 00:15:31.269 proved that a reputation is not collateral. You 00:15:31.269 --> 00:15:34.070 can't bank a reputation. So what's the fix there? 00:15:34.210 --> 00:15:36.429 Because you can't just distrust everyone. The 00:15:36.429 --> 00:15:39.669 industry would grind to a halt. The fix is sit 00:15:39.669 --> 00:15:42.889 tight. If the money isn't clear, the animal doesn't 00:15:42.889 --> 00:15:45.490 load. It doesn't matter if his last name is on 00:15:45.490 --> 00:15:47.549 the county courthouse or if he's the mayor of 00:15:47.549 --> 00:15:50.149 the town. Sit tight. We'll run this by the bank 00:15:50.149 --> 00:15:53.009 on Monday. That needs to be tattooed on every 00:15:53.009 --> 00:15:55.870 farmer's arm. Seriously. Okay, moving on to cluster 00:15:55.870 --> 00:15:59.129 two. We've done money. Now let's talk about product 00:15:59.129 --> 00:16:01.690 and brand. Tanks and tables. This is where we 00:16:01.690 --> 00:16:03.570 get into the biological stuff. The stuff that 00:16:03.570 --> 00:16:06.870 messes with the herd itself. This feels... more 00:16:06.870 --> 00:16:10.429 personal. The year is the early 1970s. AI artificial 00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:12.950 insemination is the backbone of the industry. 00:16:13.090 --> 00:16:17.070 And the Holy Grail is a bull named Telstar. Roy 00:16:17.070 --> 00:16:20.230 Brooke Telstar. Legend. Absolute legend. If you 00:16:20.230 --> 00:16:22.750 had Telstar in the tank, you had gold. He was 00:16:22.750 --> 00:16:24.769 the bull that everyone wanted a piece of. He 00:16:24.769 --> 00:16:27.610 changed the breed. Enter Jack Miller, a pharmacist 00:16:27.610 --> 00:16:30.299 turned semen distributor. Flashy guy. Drove a 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:32.799 Mercedes. A Mercedes in the 70s dairy world. 00:16:32.899 --> 00:16:34.860 Yeah, that stands out. Most guys are driving 00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:37.360 Fords or Sheddies with rest on the fenders. He 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:39.200 didn't break into the stud to steal semen. That 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.299 would be too simple. He groomed the staff. He 00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:43.539 worked on the inside. He befriended the lab manager, 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:45.919 John Purvis, and the truck driver, Albert Ball. 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.539 The inside job. Always the most dangerous because 00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:50.980 you gave them the keys to the kingdom. Picture 00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:54.460 this scene. It's night. Highway 6, the Presbyterian 00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.940 Church parking lot. I know that spot. It's dark. 00:16:57.080 --> 00:16:59.600 It's quiet. Middle of nowhere. Perfect place 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.460 for a shady deal. Two trucks pull up. The vapor 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:04.839 of liquid nitrogen is spilling out into the dark 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:06.900 as they transfer tanks from one truck to the 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:09.160 other. It looks like a drug deal, but they're 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:10.880 moving genetics. What were they moving? What 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:13.980 was the scam? They were taking discarded straws, 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:16.880 empty ones or straws from cheap, worthless bowls 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.019 and refilling them. Refilling them with what? 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:21.539 Dishwater. Come on, you can't be serious. I'm 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:25.119 dead serious. Also, raw milk or semen from the 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:28.650 wrong breed. In one documented case, a farmer 00:17:28.650 --> 00:17:31.630 bought Telstar straws, bred his prize Holstein, 00:17:31.869 --> 00:17:35.250 and got a black Angus calf. Oh, imagine the sinking 00:17:35.250 --> 00:17:37.549 feeling in your stomach when that calf drops. 00:17:37.809 --> 00:17:40.349 You wait nine months. You're expecting the next 00:17:40.349 --> 00:17:43.450 great Holstein, maybe a show winner, and out 00:17:43.450 --> 00:17:46.130 pops a black beef calf. It's not just the money. 00:17:46.250 --> 00:17:49.029 It's humiliating. But the dishwater. Think about 00:17:49.029 --> 00:17:50.829 the biological risk. That's what I'm thinking 00:17:50.829 --> 00:17:53.910 about. You were putting unknown, unsterilized 00:17:53.910 --> 00:17:57.250 fluids into a cow's uterus. The infection risk. 00:17:57.509 --> 00:18:00.630 The disease risk. You could introduce a venereal 00:18:00.630 --> 00:18:02.609 disease that wipes out your conception rates 00:18:02.609 --> 00:18:05.690 for years. It's not just fraud. It's biosecurity 00:18:05.690 --> 00:18:08.230 terrorism. You're violating the herd. And the 00:18:08.230 --> 00:18:10.690 money involved was huge. A doctor in Indiana 00:18:10.690 --> 00:18:14.329 bought 2 ,000 ampules for $3 each. The going 00:18:14.329 --> 00:18:18.000 rate at the time was $7. There it is again. The 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.599 deal that's too good to be true. Half -priced 00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:23.440 Telstar. That doesn't exist. If someone offers 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.380 you a Ferrari for the price of a Honda, you check 00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:26.960 the engine. You don't just hand over the cash. 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:29.299 They caught him because of a tiny detail. It's 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:31.859 almost forensic science style. The ink on the 00:18:31.859 --> 00:18:34.279 straws. The ink! The fake straws had the wrong 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:36.799 color of ink. The stud used a very specific ink 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:39.259 for that particular bowl. Miller's reprinted 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:41.200 straws had specks of the old ink underneath, 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:44.420 and the new ink didn't match. A tiny mistake. 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:48.240 CSI. Barnyard. That is incredible. But the damage 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:49.680 was done. It must have ruined the market for 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:51.940 a while, didn't it? It shook confidence completely. 00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:54.299 They had to destroy half a million dollars worth 00:18:54.299 --> 00:18:56.680 of genetic material because nobody knew what 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:58.660 was real and what was fake anymore. That's the 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:01.180 real cost. It's not just the guy who got scammed. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:04.259 It's the entire industry losing faith in the 00:19:04.259 --> 00:19:07.720 label. If you can't trust the straw and the tank, 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:10.240 you can't trust the breed. Speaking of trust 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.700 in a label, let's talk about the meat on your 00:19:12.700 --> 00:19:15.960 table. The Brantford tainted meat scandal of 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:18.940 1961. I've heard whispers of this one. This is 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:21.339 the dead stock racket, right? This is ugly stuff. 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:24.160 It's grim. Dead stock dealers, guys, licensed 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.599 to pick up dead animals for rendering or dog 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:29.039 food or diverting that meat. Diverting it where? 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:32.079 I'll say it. Into the human food chain. No, that's 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.519 just, that's the line you don't cross. A butcher 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.480 named Robert Hooten admitted to mixing dead stock 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:41.380 meat with downer cattle animals too sick or disabled 00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:44.140 to even stand up. He had a term for it. He called 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:46.680 it putting in a cheater. Putting in a cheater. 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:49.200 That is the most disgusting phrase for feeding 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.140 people rot. That's families eating dinner. That's 00:19:52.140 --> 00:19:55.319 kids eating burgers. It's unthinkable. And here 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:58.180 is the failure point. It wasn't just the butcher. 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:02.220 It was the inspector. Dr. Ormond Raymond, the 00:20:02.220 --> 00:20:04.589 head of the local health unit. The guy who is 00:20:04.589 --> 00:20:06.990 supposed to protect the public. He's the gatekeeper. 00:20:07.109 --> 00:20:09.930 The last line of defense. He was stamping baskets 00:20:09.930 --> 00:20:12.890 of meat he never even inspected. The testimony 00:20:12.890 --> 00:20:16.289 from the trial was chilling. The doc did not 00:20:16.289 --> 00:20:18.609 see the meat, just stamped the paper. He just 00:20:18.609 --> 00:20:21.690 stamped the paper. Bureaucracy over safety. A 00:20:21.690 --> 00:20:24.190 rubber stamp that could have killed people. Two 00:20:24.190 --> 00:20:26.509 Mounties had to go undercover as meat dealers 00:20:26.509 --> 00:20:29.569 to bust this ring. They found corruption that 00:20:29.569 --> 00:20:31.569 went right to the top of the local health unit. 00:20:31.849 --> 00:20:34.269 This is the nightmare scenario. You have the 00:20:34.269 --> 00:20:36.849 dead stock stamp and the approved stamp. And 00:20:36.849 --> 00:20:38.769 if the guy holding the stamp doesn't care or 00:20:38.769 --> 00:20:41.369 is on the take, the label means absolutely nothing. 00:20:41.670 --> 00:20:43.930 Miller's semen straws and the Brantford meat 00:20:43.930 --> 00:20:46.809 scandal teach us the exact same lesson, don't 00:20:46.809 --> 00:20:49.589 they? Yeah, they do. If you can't trace who collected 00:20:49.589 --> 00:20:52.309 it or who processed it, you can't trust it. A 00:20:52.309 --> 00:20:54.029 label is only as good as the chain of custody 00:20:54.029 --> 00:20:57.109 behind it. And today we have better systems. 00:20:57.250 --> 00:21:00.450 We have centralized slaughter. We have DNA testing 00:21:00.450 --> 00:21:03.230 on semen. But the vulnerability is the same. 00:21:03.390 --> 00:21:05.809 If you are buying cheap meat out of the back 00:21:05.809 --> 00:21:08.549 of a trunk or cheap semen from some guy you don't 00:21:08.549 --> 00:21:11.549 know, you're asking for trouble. You're rolling 00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:14.569 the dice. Absolutely. Now let's move to the darkest 00:21:14.569 --> 00:21:18.490 cluster. Cluster three, people and power. This 00:21:18.490 --> 00:21:21.109 is where we talk about insurance and fire. This 00:21:21.109 --> 00:21:22.970 is the heavy stuff. This is where people get 00:21:22.970 --> 00:21:25.789 hurt and worse. We have to talk about Duncan 00:21:25.789 --> 00:21:27.950 Spang. Duncan Spang. Now there is a character. 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:31.599 A legend in some circles. A morally gray character. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.200 Right. He had a brilliant eye for a cow. Everyone 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:36.619 agrees on that. And that's a real talent. Some 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:39.160 guys just have it. They can spot a champion in 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:41.519 a muddy pasture. They see the bone structure, 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:43.740 the rib, the potential. It's an art form. It's 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:46.359 a gift. Spang had that gift. But he also had 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:49.059 a criminal record for bad checks. He was a rogue. 00:21:49.380 --> 00:21:51.480 There's this incredible story. He was in court 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:54.700 for passing a bad check for $250. The judge finds 00:21:54.700 --> 00:21:57.000 him. And Spang looks up at the judge and says, 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:58.759 Would you take a check for that, Your Honor? 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:02.720 It's laughs. You have to admire the audacity. 00:22:02.819 --> 00:22:06.099 You really do. That is bold. It's funny, but 00:22:06.099 --> 00:22:09.359 it's also tragic. Spang's life ended brutally. 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:11.960 He was shot in the stomach during a break -in 00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:14.720 at his farmhouse. Oh, wow. I didn't know that. 00:22:14.900 --> 00:22:17.220 He drove himself to his brother's butcher shop 00:22:17.220 --> 00:22:20.859 with his intestines hanging out. Good Lord. That 00:22:20.859 --> 00:22:23.500 is tough. That's unimaginable. He died later. 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:26.630 But the point is... People mourned him, even 00:22:26.630 --> 00:22:28.789 the guys he ripped off, because he was a good 00:22:28.789 --> 00:22:31.029 cattleman. And that is the hardest thing to separate 00:22:31.029 --> 00:22:33.650 in this industry. We do it all the time. We confuse 00:22:33.650 --> 00:22:37.410 good cattleman with good business partner. Say 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:39.849 more about that. We think because a guy can pick 00:22:39.849 --> 00:22:41.930 a grand champion, he must be a decent human being. 00:22:42.250 --> 00:22:43.950 But those two things have nothing to do with 00:22:43.950 --> 00:22:45.410 each other. They are completely separate skills. 00:22:46.029 --> 00:22:48.069 Just because a guy can pick a cow doesn't mean 00:22:48.069 --> 00:22:49.589 you should take his check on a Friday afternoon. 00:22:49.890 --> 00:22:52.250 Exactly. And that brings us right back to Gordon 00:22:52.250 --> 00:22:55.069 Atkinson. The man in the Cadillac. The man who 00:22:55.069 --> 00:22:57.289 watched them burn. It wasn't just the one fire. 00:22:57.390 --> 00:23:00.890 He had a pattern. Heavily injured animals kept 00:23:00.890 --> 00:23:04.329 dying. A cow named Sealing Perseus Anna supposedly 00:23:04.329 --> 00:23:07.589 split herself. Another potential champion just 00:23:07.589 --> 00:23:09.529 found dead in the morning. And the insurance 00:23:09.529 --> 00:23:13.490 claims followed every single time. Like clockwork. 00:23:13.730 --> 00:23:16.569 The Crown alleged he was using succinylcholine. 00:23:16.950 --> 00:23:18.910 Succinylcholine. Okay, that's a muscle relaxant. 00:23:18.910 --> 00:23:20.809 It's used in surgery to keep a patient still. 00:23:21.369 --> 00:23:23.609 but in an overdose. It paralyzes the breathing 00:23:23.609 --> 00:23:26.170 muscles. The diaphragm just stops working. The 00:23:26.170 --> 00:23:28.529 cow suffocates, fully conscious, but she can't 00:23:28.529 --> 00:23:30.930 move a single muscle to breathe. That is terrifying. 00:23:31.230 --> 00:23:33.789 It's a horrible way to die. And the kicker, it 00:23:33.789 --> 00:23:36.170 leaves the body very, very quickly. It breaks 00:23:36.170 --> 00:23:38.069 down into natural compounds. It's incredibly 00:23:38.069 --> 00:23:40.549 hard to trace in an autopsy. That is cold -blooded. 00:23:40.630 --> 00:23:42.829 That is calculating. That's not a crime of passion. 00:23:43.009 --> 00:23:45.509 That's premeditated murder for money. But here 00:23:45.509 --> 00:23:48.369 is the hero of the story, Atkinson's son, John. 00:23:48.509 --> 00:23:51.279 His son was involved. Gordon asked John to sign 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.599 a fraudulent insurance form for one of the dead 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:57.180 cows to back up his story. John refused. He said 00:23:57.180 --> 00:24:00.160 no. Good for him. That takes guts when it's your 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:02.940 dad. When it's the patriarch of the family, the 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:05.500 pressure must have been immense. It took more 00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:08.130 than guts. According to testimony, Gordon allegedly 00:24:08.130 --> 00:24:10.289 threatened to poison his own grandchildren if 00:24:10.289 --> 00:24:12.890 his wife, John's mother, testified against him. 00:24:12.950 --> 00:24:15.390 He threatened the grandkids. That is the level 00:24:15.390 --> 00:24:17.349 of darkness we're dealing with here. This wasn't 00:24:17.349 --> 00:24:19.410 just about money anymore. It was about control. 00:24:19.730 --> 00:24:23.549 It was about a man who had lost his moral compass 00:24:23.549 --> 00:24:26.750 completely. That is horrifying. And it shows 00:24:26.750 --> 00:24:29.309 you how desperate these schemes become. It starts 00:24:29.309 --> 00:24:31.230 with a little padding on an insurance claim, 00:24:31.450 --> 00:24:34.170 maybe a little lie about a pedigree, and it ends 00:24:34.170 --> 00:24:36.089 with you threatening your own family. It's a 00:24:36.089 --> 00:24:38.869 spiral. It just goes down and down. And sadly, 00:24:38.950 --> 00:24:42.190 that desperation echoes in our final case, Wilkham 00:24:42.190 --> 00:24:45.730 and Wright, 1993. I remember this. This was a 00:24:45.730 --> 00:24:47.650 massive tragedy in the States. It was all over 00:24:47.650 --> 00:24:50.910 the magazines. Greg Wilkham was only 26, a young, 00:24:50.970 --> 00:24:53.589 ambitious showman. Jim Wright was his partner. 00:24:53.829 --> 00:24:57.009 And they had a cow. Fran Lou Valiant Splendor. 00:24:57.130 --> 00:25:01.930 Bought for $7 ,500. Insured for $250 ,000. Okay, 00:25:01.950 --> 00:25:04.329 stop. I'm just a farmer, but I know arithmetic. 00:25:05.230 --> 00:25:08.509 How do you get from $7 ,500 to a quarter of a 00:25:08.509 --> 00:25:12.069 million? That is a 3 ,000 % markup. How is that 00:25:12.069 --> 00:25:14.910 even possible? Pedigree. She had the paper. She 00:25:14.910 --> 00:25:16.990 wasn't a great individual cow, but she had the 00:25:16.990 --> 00:25:19.230 bloodlines. They insured the potential, not the 00:25:19.230 --> 00:25:21.839 actual cow in the stall. That is chasing the 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:23.539 banner. That is looking at a piece of paper and 00:25:23.539 --> 00:25:25.339 ignoring the animal in front of you. Yeah. That's 00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:27.920 gambling, not farming. And then she died. Along 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:30.720 with two other high -value cows. Three dead cows. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.380 Three different insurance companies. Spreading 00:25:33.380 --> 00:25:35.859 the risk so no single company spots the pattern. 00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:41.059 Smart. But suspicious as hell. Exactly. But an 00:25:41.059 --> 00:25:43.059 investigator named William Graham got a tip. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.779 The tail vein tip. Someone whispered the word, 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:50.880 again. The same weapon. The undetectable poison. 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:53.480 Graham called Wilcom. He said, Greg, I need full 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:55.400 financial disclosure and I want to ask you about 00:25:55.400 --> 00:25:57.559 the tail veins. He put the pressure on. And what 00:25:57.559 --> 00:26:00.059 did Wilcom do? He hung up the phone. Days later, 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:03.579 Greg Wilcom committed suicide. Strict name. 26 00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:06.839 years old. A kid. Yeah, just a kid. Jim Wright 00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:09.319 shot himself in a motel room shortly after. That 00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:13.920 is just a waste. A total waste of life. Over 00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:17.440 what? A ribbon. An insurance payout. It's insanity. 00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:20.180 It's the cost of chasing banners you can't afford. 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:22.920 It's the pressure to be the big man at the show, 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:25.920 to have the highest seller. And the red flag 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:29.079 there is the valuation. It's so simple. If you 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:31.740 can't stand in a room full of breeders and justify 00:26:31.740 --> 00:26:35.500 why that cow is worth $250 ,000, if you can't 00:26:35.500 --> 00:26:37.079 look your neighbor in the eye and explain the 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:39.619 math, then don't write the policy. Don't let 00:26:39.619 --> 00:26:42.259 reputation run ahead of reality. That's the lesson. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:44.759 It's tragic. Two families destroyed because they 00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:46.640 got caught in a spiral of lies they couldn't 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:50.039 escape. So Act 3, after the headlines, the dust 00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:52.420 settles on all these cases. What changed? Did 00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:54.039 anything change? Well, the industry had to wake 00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:56.500 up. It did. We couldn't keep operating like the 00:26:56.500 --> 00:26:58.400 Wild West. We had to put some guardrails in place. 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:00.400 So we got DNA testing, right? We got DNA testing. 00:27:00.539 --> 00:27:03.500 We got ink checks on semen straws. We got centralized 00:27:03.500 --> 00:27:05.839 meat inspection with government inspectors standing 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:07.880 right there at the rail, not in some office damping 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:10.240 papers. And the insurance company. Oh yeah, insurance 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:12.720 company's got a lot tougher. You see a big claim 00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:15.240 now? You better believe there is a full investigation. 00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:18.000 They don't just cut checks anymore. They send 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:19.980 out their own people. But I want to take this 00:27:19.980 --> 00:27:22.799 to the kitchen table. Because systems are great, 00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:26.680 but frauds evolve. The scams get smarter. Okay. 00:27:27.420 --> 00:27:29.779 I'm with you. It's late at night. You're at the 00:27:29.779 --> 00:27:31.920 farmhouse kitchen table. The milk check is sitting 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:35.000 there. I'm drinking my coffee. I'm tired. I probably 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:37.359 smell like iodine and silage. The milk check 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:41.559 jumps 15 % for no apparent reason. First reaction. 00:27:42.420 --> 00:27:46.000 Ooh, we can finally fix the roof. Maybe a new 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:50.400 truck. Right. That's the human reaction. But 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:53.079 what should you do? You have to ask why. Did 00:27:53.079 --> 00:27:55.380 my production go up? Did my components jump? 00:27:55.740 --> 00:27:58.660 Did I ship more cows this month? If nothing changed 00:27:58.660 --> 00:28:00.640 in the barn, but the money changed on the paper. 00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:03.920 Yeah. That's a problem. Exactly. Instead of celebrating, 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.579 you investigate. You pick up the phone. Because 00:28:06.579 --> 00:28:09.019 if it's an honest mistake, they will want the 00:28:09.019 --> 00:28:12.940 money back eventually. And if it's fraud. You 00:28:12.940 --> 00:28:15.000 don't want to be part of it. If someone is cooking 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:17.279 the books in your favor today, they'll cook them 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.480 against you tomorrow. Trust me on that. It's 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:21.559 about building a culture on your farm. A culture 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:24.660 where your hired man or your daughter feels safe 00:28:24.660 --> 00:28:26.380 coming to you and saying, Dad, this doesn't add 00:28:26.380 --> 00:28:29.619 up. That's the good farm. The good farm isn't 00:28:29.619 --> 00:28:31.519 the one with the highest classification scores. 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:34.299 It isn't the one with the fanciest sign at the 00:28:34.299 --> 00:28:36.500 end of the road. It's the one where people can 00:28:36.500 --> 00:28:39.539 ask hard questions. It's the one where truth 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:42.240 matters more than the banner. You said earlier 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:45.339 that the cons change wire transfers instead of 00:28:45.339 --> 00:28:47.920 Saturday checks, but the weakness they exploit 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.660 is always the same. It's always trust. It's always 00:28:50.660 --> 00:28:53.880 FOMO fear of missing out. And it's always capitalizing 00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:56.720 on our desire to just be nice. We want to be 00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:58.640 helpful. We want to endorse the draft for the 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:00.559 guy. We want to help him out so he can get on 00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:02.900 the road. But as John Atkinson showed us, you 00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:04.920 have to know where your line is before the pressure 00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:07.259 is on. You have to decide in advance what you 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:09.950 will and won't do. He drew the line. He lost 00:29:09.950 --> 00:29:13.329 the farm, but he kept his soul. In the end, that's 00:29:13.329 --> 00:29:14.890 the victory. All right, let's get practical. 00:29:15.410 --> 00:29:18.410 We promised actionable insights. We've scared 00:29:18.410 --> 00:29:20.710 everyone enough. Let's give them some tools to 00:29:20.710 --> 00:29:22.609 protect themselves. Let's do it. This is the 00:29:22.609 --> 00:29:24.849 most important part. A guy is driving home from 00:29:24.849 --> 00:29:26.730 the sale barn right now. He's listening to this. 00:29:26.849 --> 00:29:29.730 He's thinking about his own operation. What are 00:29:29.730 --> 00:29:32.509 the three things he needs to do so his farm never 00:29:32.509 --> 00:29:35.029 shows up in a deep dive like this one? Okay, 00:29:35.089 --> 00:29:37.309 here we go. Three things. Simple things. Number 00:29:37.309 --> 00:29:40.150 one. Something he can do this week. This week, 00:29:40.230 --> 00:29:44.589 the boring habit. Put two signatures on big checks. 00:29:44.970 --> 00:29:47.250 I don't care if it's inconvenient. I don't care 00:29:47.250 --> 00:29:48.769 if you have to drive to your partner's house 00:29:48.769 --> 00:29:52.049 or your wife's office. If a check is over a certain 00:29:52.049 --> 00:29:54.490 amount, you decide the number two people have 00:29:54.490 --> 00:29:56.890 to sign it. Period. And the Friday deal. And 00:29:56.890 --> 00:29:59.349 if a deal feels rushed on a Friday, wait until 00:29:59.349 --> 00:30:02.170 Monday. Boring habits beat brilliant schemes. 00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:05.619 I love that. It's true. The con artist relies 00:30:05.619 --> 00:30:09.299 on speed and chaos. You rely on process and patience. 00:30:09.859 --> 00:30:12.799 Slow it down. If the deal is real, it will still 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.059 be there on Monday morning. Okay, number two. 00:30:15.500 --> 00:30:17.960 Something for the next three to six months. Three 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:21.539 to six months. The audit. Take a hard look at 00:30:21.539 --> 00:30:24.440 your insurance values. Are they real or are they 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:27.099 vanity numbers? If you have a cow insured for 00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:30.279 $100 ,000, ask yourself honestly, if I had to 00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:33.160 sell her today at a public auction, Would I get 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:36.400 that? If the answer is no, adjust the policy. 00:30:36.660 --> 00:30:40.119 And if you have a string of bad luck. And if 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:42.500 you have multiple losses, fires, dead cows, whatever, 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:45.859 bring in an outside advisor like your vet or 00:30:45.859 --> 00:30:47.960 nutritionist before the adjuster gets there. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:51.240 Get a fresh, unbiased set of eyes on the situation. 00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:54.140 Don't let your reputation or your ego run ahead 00:30:54.140 --> 00:30:56.700 of reality. Exactly. Be honest with yourself 00:30:56.700 --> 00:30:58.640 about what your herd is actually worth on the 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:00.519 open market, not what you wish it was worth. 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.759 And number three, the long -term plan, one to 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:06.619 two years. One to two years. The culture shift. 00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:09.460 This is the big one. Normalize skepticism. Create 00:31:09.460 --> 00:31:11.619 a farm culture where verifying isn't an insult. 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:13.720 It's just good business. If I ask to see the 00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:15.480 registration paper or I ask to call the bank, 00:31:15.619 --> 00:31:17.339 it's not because I think you're a crook. It's 00:31:17.339 --> 00:31:19.460 because that's how we do business now. Separate 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:21.640 the good guy from the safe business partner. 00:31:21.980 --> 00:31:23.900 That's it. You can be my best friend. We can 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:26.039 drink beer together every Saturday night. But 00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:28.740 if we are trading cattle for real money, I'm 00:31:28.740 --> 00:31:31.279 checking the paperwork. That's how we stay friends. 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:34.319 It protects both of us. Powerful stuff. And simple 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:37.299 stuff. None of that is complicated. It has to 00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:39.940 be simple. Complexity is where the fraudsters 00:31:39.940 --> 00:31:43.400 hide. Simplicity and process are how you beat 00:31:43.400 --> 00:31:46.079 them. This has been a heavy one. Fire, suicide, 00:31:46.380 --> 00:31:48.920 betrayal. But I think the message is actually 00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:51.160 hopeful. We can lock the doors properly this 00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:53.839 time. We can. We just have to be willing to do 00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:57.039 the boring everyday work of being careful. Any 00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:59.299 final words for the listeners? This has been 00:31:59.299 --> 00:32:01.839 another Bullvine true crime special. If you don't 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:03.619 want your farm showing up in a story like this, 00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:05.859 start with the boring habits we talked about. 00:32:05.980 --> 00:32:08.599 Be safe out there. For more of the full story 00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:11.160 and the article behind this deep dive, head to 00:32:11.160 --> 00:32:13.640 thebullvine .com and look for Locked from the 00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:15.960 Inside. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts. 00:32:16.359 --> 00:32:18.200 We'll be back with more stories to keep your 00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:34.670 cows safe and your name clean. They never will 00:32:34.670 --> 00:32:40.150 die From the show ring Thunder to The quiet strength 00:32:40.150 --> 00:32:46.490 they knew Hear their stories now Coming right 00:32:46.490 --> 00:32:52.910 on through Oh, tell the tale Tell the tale The 00:32:52.910 --> 00:32:55.450 Beaumont Legends live