WEBVTT 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:15.060 Breaking free from the chains of the past Where 00:00:15.060 --> 00:00:18.820 truth moves faster than a Holstein calf No law 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:21.660 waiting on some printed page We're charting new 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:25.300 ground in the digital age From genomic codes 00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:29.120 to robot facts We cut through the noise, no hold 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:32.460 them back not your daddy's dairy news tonight 00:00:32.460 --> 00:01:03.380 we're sparking Welcome back to the Bullvine Podcast, 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:05.540 where we cut through the dairy industry noise 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:07.700 to get you the insights that actually matter 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:10.359 for your operation. If you are looking for the 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:13.299 glossy, PR -approved version of dairy farming, 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:15.500 where the sun is always shining and the cows 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:19.159 never get sick, you are definitely in the wrong 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:21.200 place. Oh, for sure. We are here for the real 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:24.439 stuff. The dirt, the data, and the dollars. And 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:27.480 today we are diving deep into a feature piece 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:30.939 that honestly, it hits a little too close to 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:33.700 home for a lot of us. The title alone tells you 00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:36.159 exactly where we're going. The kitchen table 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:39.560 solution, turning dairy labor churn into community. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:41.900 It's a feature that tackles, I mean, it tackles 00:01:41.900 --> 00:01:43.760 the single biggest headache on the farm today. 00:01:43.819 --> 00:01:46.700 And no, for once, it is not the price of soybean 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:48.519 meal and it isn't the class three milk price. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.700 It's labor. But this isn't just another segment 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:53.920 complaining about health wanted signs. This is 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:56.200 about turning a crisis into a community solution 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.400 using four very specific farmer tested playbooks. 00:02:00.579 --> 00:02:02.900 Right. And I want to set the stage here properly 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:05.280 because we can talk stats all day and believe 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.639 me, we will. But we need to acknowledge the visceral 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:11.379 reality of this. Yeah. The feeling. The feeling. 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:14.259 We all know that specific feeling. It's 4 a .m. 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:16.539 Your phone buzzes on the nightstand. It's pitch 00:02:16.539 --> 00:02:20.280 black outside. The house is cold. And you get 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:23.840 that pit in your stomach because a text at four 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:26.180 in the morning is never good news. It's never, 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:29.879 Hey, milk prices just went up or the corn looks 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:32.280 great. Never. It's just, it's the sound of your 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:35.219 day imploding before it even starts. Your milker 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:38.080 can't make it sick or the new chair option. I 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.840 quit. And in that split second before you've 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:42.879 even put your feet on the floor, your whole day, 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:45.259 your whole week, just reshuffle. Oh, absolutely. 00:02:45.849 --> 00:02:47.310 You're thinking about the broken scraper chain 00:02:47.310 --> 00:02:49.189 you need to fix, the feed delivery that's coming 00:02:49.189 --> 00:02:51.909 at 8, the vet check at 10, and now you have to 00:02:51.909 --> 00:02:54.490 go milk for six hours. The stress just stacks. 00:02:54.830 --> 00:02:58.210 It's physical. That is the mission of this deep 00:02:58.210 --> 00:03:01.509 dive today. We want to prove that while that 00:03:01.509 --> 00:03:05.229 turnover, that dread, it feels normal because 00:03:05.229 --> 00:03:07.729 it seems like everyone is dealing with it. It 00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:10.490 means the system is fundamentally broken. Right. 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.860 It's normalized chaos. It is. But here is the 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.500 good news and really the core thesis from the 00:03:16.500 --> 00:03:18.520 source material we're analyzing today. Yeah. 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:21.979 Just because the system is broken doesn't mean 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:25.060 your farm has to be. And that's the hook. Because 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:27.780 usually when we talk about labor, it's just a 00:03:27.780 --> 00:03:30.479 gripe session at the coffee shop. Nobody wants 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:33.560 to work. Gen Z is lazy. Immigration is a mess. 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:36.080 And sure, there is truth in the frustration. 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:39.319 Of course. But this analysis looks at four specific 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:42.539 playbooks, real models that guys are using right 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:44.939 now to stop the bleeding. And the stakes are 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:47.099 massive. We talk about profitability leaks all 00:03:47.099 --> 00:03:49.780 the time, spilled feed, high somatic cell counts, 00:03:49.900 --> 00:03:52.819 poor reproduction. But labor turnover, that is 00:03:52.819 --> 00:03:55.060 a profitability leak that is likely worse than 00:03:55.060 --> 00:03:57.259 your budget even shows. It's not a leak. It's 00:03:57.259 --> 00:03:59.419 a gushing wound. It really is. And the personal 00:03:59.419 --> 00:04:01.219 stakes, I mean, you've lived this, not just money. 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:03.080 It's about whether you sleep at night. It's about 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:05.919 whether you can physically keep doing this without 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:08.560 blowing out a knee or your back. And honestly, 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:10.680 it's about the next generation. Yeah, that's 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:14.280 the big one. It is. If your kids see you miserable, 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:17.879 constantly putting out labor fires, struggling 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:21.420 to find people to do the basic work, do they 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:24.759 want the keys to the farm? I think we all know 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:26.899 the answer to that. Why would they sign up for 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:29.339 a life of constant crisis management? Exactly. 00:04:29.339 --> 00:04:31.300 They won't. They'll go get a job in town with 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:33.680 weekends off. We are going to tease a provocative 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.819 point right up front, too. The solutions we are 00:04:36.819 --> 00:04:39.439 discussing today, they are not government programs. 00:04:39.899 --> 00:04:42.699 There is no new policy coming down the pipe to 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:45.339 fix this for you. Nope. Nobody in a suit is coming 00:04:45.339 --> 00:04:47.259 to save you. If you're waiting for Washington 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:49.139 to fix the dairy labor crisis, you're going to 00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:51.699 lose the farm before the ink is dry on any legislation. 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:53.920 It's just not going to happen. And here's the 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.100 scary part for some listeners. Some of these 00:04:56.100 --> 00:04:59.079 solutions involve things farmers are notoriously 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:02.870 bad at. Like opening your books to your employees 00:05:02.870 --> 00:05:05.970 or admitting to your neighbors, your peers, your 00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:08.569 competitors, technically, that you are drowning 00:05:08.569 --> 00:05:10.569 and you don't know what to do. Yeah, that vulnerability 00:05:10.569 --> 00:05:13.370 piece is tough. It goes against the grain. We 00:05:13.370 --> 00:05:16.069 like to be independent. I can do it myself. But 00:05:16.069 --> 00:05:18.569 that independence might be exactly what's killing 00:05:18.569 --> 00:05:20.949 us on this issue. Okay, so let's get into the 00:05:20.949 --> 00:05:23.569 deep dive. Segment one, problem identification. 00:05:23.870 --> 00:05:26.519 We're calling this the bleed. Good and important. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:29.060 Let's look at the numbers from the source material. 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:31.879 According to the Farm Program Survey, the average 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:36.519 dairy employee turnover is 38 .8%. 38 .8%. Let's 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:38.699 just pause on that for a second. Now, for context, 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:42.959 the private sector average is roughly 47%. So 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.079 you might look at that and say, hey, dairy is 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:47.639 actually doing better than Burger King. But that 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:50.120 is a completely false equivalency. It's apples 00:05:50.120 --> 00:05:54.680 and oranges. 38 .8 % in dairy feels absolutely 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.399 devastating compared to 47 % in retail. Well, 00:05:57.459 --> 00:05:59.500 if a burger flipper quits, you can train a new 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:02.040 one in an afternoon. The protocols are simple. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:04.980 The risk is low. If they mess up, what happens? 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:07.000 Someone gets a burger with pickles when they 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:10.259 ask for no pickles. Big deal. Right. The consequences 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:13.079 are minimal. But if a milker quits or a feeder 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:15.980 quits, the consequences are biological. They're 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:20.959 immediate. Exactly. And that 38 .8%. It feels 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:23.579 almost optimistic for some guys I know. I was 00:06:23.579 --> 00:06:25.660 just thinking that. But think about the reality 00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:28.000 of that math. That means if you have a crew of 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.779 10, you are replacing four of them every single 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:33.300 year. Four out of 10. So you're constantly in 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:35.939 a state of training. Constantly. You never get 00:06:35.939 --> 00:06:38.839 to... expert level with your crew because you're 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:40.639 always onboarding the new guy. You're trying 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:41.980 to run a football team where the quarterback 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:44.839 changes every third game. You can't run complex 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:47.500 plays. You're just trying not to fumble the staff. 00:06:47.699 --> 00:06:49.560 And let's talk about the foundation of that workforce. 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:51.980 Where are these folks coming from? The source 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.899 material cites a National Milk Producers Federation 00:06:54.899 --> 00:06:57.639 survey that says immigrant workers account for 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:01.439 51 % of all dairy labor. Which anecdotally feels 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:03.500 low for a lot of regions. I mean, in some parts 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:05.480 of the country, it's way higher than that. I 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:08.759 would agree. But here is the kicker. Farms that 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:12.319 employ immigrant labor produce 79 % of the U 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:14.480 .S. milk supply. That is the stat that should 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:17.740 keep industry leaders up at night. 79 % of the 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:21.060 milk. Let that sink in. Basically, 8 out of every 00:07:21.060 --> 00:07:23.720 10 gallons of milk on a store shelf are there 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:27.560 because of this specific workforce. So we have 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.100 a system where the vast majority of our production 00:07:30.100 --> 00:07:33.600 is dependent on a workforce that... frankly, 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:36.620 lives in a state of constant legal and social 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:39.620 uncertainty. It's a fragile foundation. That's 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:42.199 the only way to describe it. If policy shakes, 00:07:42.339 --> 00:07:45.439 or if enforcement ramps up, or even if just the 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:47.899 fear level rises in a community. It's not theoretical. 00:07:48.220 --> 00:07:49.939 Not at all. It hits the bulk tank immediately. 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:52.740 It's not a political debate for us. It's whether 00:07:52.740 --> 00:07:55.100 the cows get milked tomorrow morning. The article 00:07:55.100 --> 00:07:57.360 tells the story of a farmer named Mark, and I 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.500 think Mark is a composite of a lot of farmers 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.439 we talk to. Yeah, Mark's story is the story of 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:05.379 a thousand farmers. He's in the milk house. It's 00:08:05.379 --> 00:08:08.779 early. Steam is rising off the cows. The compressor 00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:12.439 is humming that rhythmic chug, chug, chug. I 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:14.879 can picture it. And he gets a text from his neighbor, 00:08:15.060 --> 00:08:18.540 Dave. Mark has already stressed. He's got a scraper 00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:20.519 chain thumping in the background. He's got a 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:22.620 banker meeting at noon to discuss an operating 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:26.370 line renewal. And he realizes he has lost more 00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:28.790 people in the last year than in the previous 00:08:28.790 --> 00:08:32.750 decade combined. Wow. In one year. In the isolation. 00:08:33.409 --> 00:08:35.070 That's what jumped out at me from this story. 00:08:35.529 --> 00:08:38.190 Mark felt like he was the only one failing. He 00:08:38.190 --> 00:08:39.889 looked at his neighbor's farms from the road 00:08:39.889 --> 00:08:42.210 and thought, they have clean driveways. Their 00:08:42.210 --> 00:08:44.370 sheds are painted. They must have this figured 00:08:44.370 --> 00:08:46.690 out. I'm the one who can't keep guys. The classic 00:08:46.690 --> 00:08:49.169 farmer comparison game. Exactly. Until he admits 00:08:49.169 --> 00:08:51.470 he's out of ideas. Yeah. And that's when Dave 00:08:51.470 --> 00:08:54.210 steps in. Dave's text, heard you lost a couple 00:08:54.210 --> 00:08:57.090 good guys, coffee at the diner. That was the 00:08:57.090 --> 00:08:58.929 lifeline. Because until you admit you're out 00:08:58.929 --> 00:09:01.210 of ideas, you're just suffering in silence. Mark 00:09:01.210 --> 00:09:03.830 admitted he was drowning. That is a dangerous 00:09:03.830 --> 00:09:06.909 place to be as a business owner. But man, admitting 00:09:06.909 --> 00:09:09.149 it is the first step to actually fixing it. So 00:09:09.149 --> 00:09:11.509 that's the emotional landscape. But we promised 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:13.210 to cut through the noise and look at the hard 00:09:13.210 --> 00:09:15.870 data. Let's move to segment two, follow the money. 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:18.879 We need to talk about the hidden cost of this 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:21.419 churn. Yes. Because I think most farmers look 00:09:21.419 --> 00:09:23.679 at the cost of a help -wanted ad and think that's 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.200 the price of turnover. Oh, absolutely. We're 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:28.679 great at math when it comes to rations. We count 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:32.019 pennies on dry matter intake. We watch the teat 00:09:32.019 --> 00:09:36.340 dip usage like a hawk. But we are terrible at 00:09:36.340 --> 00:09:39.519 calculating the forensic accounting of a catastrophic 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:42.240 resignation. Well, let's try. Michigan State 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:44.179 University Extension estimates that turnover 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:47.960 costs are between 100 % and 150 % of the annual 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:50.360 salary of the position. Okay, hold on. Hold on. 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:51.879 I have to play the skeptic here because I know 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:54.320 the listeners are doing it right now. If I have 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.240 a milker making, say, $30 ,000 or $35 ,000 a 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:00.139 year, you're telling me it costs me $45 ,000 00:10:00.139 --> 00:10:02.419 to replace him. That's what the data suggests. 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:05.419 That sounds like consultant math. It really does. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:07.559 It sounds like numbers cooked up to sell me a 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:09.909 seminar. How do we actually get to that number 00:10:09.909 --> 00:10:12.429 in the real world? It sounds high. I get it. 00:10:12.450 --> 00:10:15.090 But let's break it down line by line. First, 00:10:15.289 --> 00:10:18.610 the easy stuff. Recruitment and hiring. You know, 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:20.570 putting out the ads, the time spent interviewing. 00:10:20.970 --> 00:10:23.870 That's $500 to $2 ,000 right off the top. Okay, 00:10:23.950 --> 00:10:27.090 fair. Advertising costs money. Background checks. 00:10:27.570 --> 00:10:30.490 But that's peanuts compared to $45 ,000. True. 00:10:30.690 --> 00:10:33.509 But add your time. How many hours do you spend 00:10:33.509 --> 00:10:35.549 on Facebook Marketplace answering messages from 00:10:35.549 --> 00:10:37.850 people who aren't serious? That's too many. How 00:10:37.850 --> 00:10:39.509 many interviews where the guy just doesn't show 00:10:39.509 --> 00:10:42.909 up? If you value your time at even a modest management 00:10:42.909 --> 00:10:45.950 rate, that adds up fast. But okay, let's move 00:10:45.950 --> 00:10:48.490 to the next tier. Training. The first 90 days. 00:10:48.929 --> 00:10:52.190 That's estimated at $3 ,000 to $6 ,000. Why so 00:10:52.190 --> 00:10:54.149 high? Where's that number coming from? It's because 00:10:54.149 --> 00:10:57.000 that new person is slower. They are less efficient. 00:10:57.240 --> 00:11:00.940 And crucially, the person training them, usually 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:04.000 your best employee, your herdsman or you, is 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.480 now working at half speed. Ah, I see. They're 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:08.919 supervising. So you are paying two wages for 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:11.840 one job output for weeks, maybe months. Okay, 00:11:11.899 --> 00:11:13.820 I'll buy that. You're burning payroll efficiency. 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:16.480 You've got two bodies doing one person's work, 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:19.100 essentially. But we're still not at 45 grand. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.259 Here is where the real money vanishes. This is 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:26.039 the invisible loss. Loss productivity. The estimate 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:30.700 is $5 ,000 to $12 ,000 per departure. And I think 00:11:30.700 --> 00:11:32.299 this is where we need to get into the biology 00:11:32.299 --> 00:11:34.639 of it. Okay, let's translate lost productivity 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:37.700 into barn language. Because productivity sounds 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:40.500 abstract, like something on a spreadsheet. Right. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.639 Let's make it real. Think about the milking routine. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:45.039 A new guy doesn't have the muscle memory. Maybe 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.720 he strips, he dips, and he wipes. But he lags 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:49.639 on the attachment. He's just a few seconds too 00:11:49.639 --> 00:11:52.860 slow. And he misses that critical 60 to 90 second 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:56.100 oxytocin window for peak milk letdown. Exactly. 00:11:56.139 --> 00:11:58.820 So now you have a cow milking out slow. She's 00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:00.679 leaving residual milk in the udder because the 00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:03.639 letdown wasn't peaked. Okay. And what happens 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:06.120 when you leave residual milk in the udder consistently, 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.730 milking after milking, for the two weeks? while 00:12:09.730 --> 00:12:12.169 the new guy learns. Your somatic cell count starts 00:12:12.169 --> 00:12:14.750 creeping up. And there it is. You trigger subclinical 00:12:14.750 --> 00:12:18.009 mastitis. You aren't just losing milk flow in 00:12:18.009 --> 00:12:20.549 that moment. You're actively damaging utter health 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:22.730 across the herd. And then the clinical cases 00:12:22.730 --> 00:12:25.720 start. So now you have a hot quarter. You're 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:27.460 treating the cow. You're dumping our milk. And 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:29.820 if you have to dump a whole tank because of antibiotic 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:32.940 residue, well, there's your thousands of dollars 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:36.279 right there in one shot. It's a cascade. Or take 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:40.120 the breeding pen. A new feeder or a new scraper 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.980 operator isn't tuned in to cow behavior yet. 00:12:43.100 --> 00:12:45.299 They're just focused on getting the task done. 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:48.200 So they miss a heat. They miss that cow in standing 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:50.039 heat because they're not looking for it. Right. 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:54.149 And a missed heat is 21 days open. At today's 00:12:54.149 --> 00:12:56.669 feed prices, carrying a cow for an extra three 00:12:56.669 --> 00:12:58.950 weeks with no production gain. I mean, you can 00:12:58.950 --> 00:13:00.990 do the math. That adds up fast. Or they miss 00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:03.169 a transition cow. The classic one. She's just 00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:05.190 a little off feed. Her ears are down. But the 00:13:05.190 --> 00:13:07.769 new guy, he thinks she's just resting. And two 00:13:07.769 --> 00:13:09.549 days later, what do you have? You have a DA. 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:13.029 A twisted stomach. So now you have a vet surgery 00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:16.750 bill. Or worse, a dead cow. Okay, so when you 00:13:16.750 --> 00:13:19.409 stack it up like that, the vet bills, the dumped 00:13:19.409 --> 00:13:22.830 milk, the extra days open, the potential for 00:13:22.830 --> 00:13:25.309 dead cows. Okay. You can hit 12 grand pretty 00:13:25.309 --> 00:13:28.169 fast. It's death by a thousand cuts. It is. It's 00:13:28.169 --> 00:13:31.009 not one big check you write for turnover. It's 00:13:31.009 --> 00:13:34.950 a hundred small losses that bleed you dry. So 00:13:34.950 --> 00:13:38.769 if we summarize, a conservative loss is $15 ,000 00:13:38.769 --> 00:13:42.470 to $25 ,000 for every experience departure. So 00:13:42.470 --> 00:13:44.610 if you have a 20 -person crew and you have 10 00:13:44.610 --> 00:13:47.610 % turnover, which is... really low for our industry, 00:13:47.950 --> 00:13:51.289 that's two people leaving. That is nearly $50 00:13:51.289 --> 00:13:54.669 ,000 of invisible loss just vanishing from your 00:13:54.669 --> 00:13:56.450 bottom line. And we sit around the kitchen table 00:13:56.450 --> 00:13:58.889 wondering why the margins feel so tight, even 00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:00.830 when the milk price is halfway decent. Right. 00:14:00.909 --> 00:14:03.070 It's bleeding out through the exit door. There 00:14:03.070 --> 00:14:05.269 was a quote in the source material from a Vermont 00:14:05.269 --> 00:14:07.169 farmer named Jennifer that really summed this 00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:10.629 all up for me. She said, if you can't afford 00:14:10.629 --> 00:14:12.750 to treat people right, you can't afford to be 00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:15.340 in business. That's a punch in the mouth. It 00:14:15.340 --> 00:14:18.139 sounds harsh, right? But she's right. If your 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:21.460 business model relies on burning through people 00:14:21.460 --> 00:14:23.980 and just eating that churn cost, you don't have 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:27.200 a resilient business. You're a grinder. So we 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:30.559 have established the problem is massive and the 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:34.480 cost is crippling. Now, let's get to the solution 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.080 side of things, the hopeful part. The source 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:40.870 material outlines four specific playbooks. These 00:14:40.870 --> 00:14:43.009 are real world models. Let's start with playbook 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:45.590 one, the Valley Network. This goes back to Mark 00:14:45.590 --> 00:14:48.450 and Dave, the diner meeting. Right. They met 00:14:48.450 --> 00:14:50.110 at the diner, realized they were both in the 00:14:50.110 --> 00:14:51.830 same sinking boat, and then they moved the conversation 00:14:51.830 --> 00:14:54.730 to the kitchen table. But they didn't just commiserate. 00:14:54.730 --> 00:14:56.429 They didn't just complain about the government. 00:14:57.100 --> 00:14:59.700 They pooled their resources. And this is the 00:14:59.700 --> 00:15:01.500 genius part, and I want to get into the mechanics 00:15:01.500 --> 00:15:04.360 of this, because pooling resources sounds vague 00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:06.480 and kind of corporate. Right. What does it actually 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:08.899 mean? They realized that navigating the immigration 00:15:08.899 --> 00:15:12.340 system is expensive, it's confusing, and it's 00:15:12.340 --> 00:15:15.779 scary. Dave had to contact an immigration attorney 00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:18.840 who knew cows and knew the law. That's a unicorn, 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:20.840 by the way. You don't find that every day. It 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:23.799 is. A huge advantage. And individually, maybe 00:15:23.799 --> 00:15:26.000 Mark couldn't afford to keep her on retainer. 00:15:26.019 --> 00:15:28.659 Maybe the hourly rate was just too scary to even 00:15:28.659 --> 00:15:31.539 consider. So they got a group together. Six, 00:15:31.700 --> 00:15:34.179 maybe ten neighboring farms. And they actually 00:15:34.179 --> 00:15:36.360 formalized it. They created a shared service 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:39.879 agreement, almost like a limited liability partnership 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:42.539 just for legal services. And they put the attorney 00:15:42.539 --> 00:15:45.200 on a monthly retainer. Let's say it's $2 ,000 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:49.720 a month split six ways. That's roughly $330 a 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:51.860 farm per month. That is the price of a few bags 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:56.059 of mineral. Exactly. For $330 a month, Mark now 00:15:56.059 --> 00:15:58.779 has access to a top -tier immigration specialist 00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:02.340 on speed dial. They held monthly Zoom calls or 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:04.799 kitchen table meetings with a laptop propped 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:06.559 up on the counter. And what were they doing on 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:07.980 these calls? They weren't just chatting about 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:10.500 the weather. No, they were doing the hard work. 00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:13.500 They were scrubbing their I -9s. They were auditing 00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:15.600 their own employee files before the government 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.799 did it for them. Proactive, not reactive. 100%. 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.440 They were asking the tough questions. What if 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:24.159 a case gets denied? What happens if the rules 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.899 change next month? They were building a legal 00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:29.419 fortress around their labor force. And the benefit 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:31.720 here wasn't just the legal advice, though that 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:34.360 was crucial. The article points out it was about 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:37.460 sharing the emotional load. Yes. There's a detail 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:39.740 in the source about a co -op rep sitting in on 00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:42.179 one of these meetings. And he had this light 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:45.940 bulb moment. He realized, you think this is policy? 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:49.519 Our members live this at kitchen tables. That's 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.860 a huge shift in perspective. It's not an abstract 00:16:51.860 --> 00:16:55.120 issue anymore. But the real win the payoff was 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.000 the story about the worker handing Mark an envelope 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:01.690 in the parlor. That moment. It changes everything, 00:17:01.870 --> 00:17:04.230 doesn't it? It does. Mark's standing there. One 00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:05.849 of his guys, who has been living in fear for 00:17:05.849 --> 00:17:08.069 years, fear of driving, fear of leaving the farm, 00:17:08.210 --> 00:17:10.289 hands him an envelope with his status approval, 00:17:10.529 --> 00:17:13.769 his green card. Wow. And he says, my daughter 00:17:13.769 --> 00:17:16.289 can grow up here now. That's stability. That 00:17:16.289 --> 00:17:18.450 man is not leaving for 50 cents more an hour 00:17:18.450 --> 00:17:20.750 down the road. He's planted. He's part of the 00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:23.490 community now. Exactly. You've created loyalty 00:17:23.490 --> 00:17:26.849 that money actually can't buy. You've created 00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:29.730 a future for his family on your farm. That's 00:17:29.730 --> 00:17:32.069 playbook one, the immigration support circle. 00:17:32.369 --> 00:17:34.789 Stop trying to navigate the legal system alone. 00:17:34.990 --> 00:17:37.869 It's too complex and it's too expensive. Okay, 00:17:37.890 --> 00:17:41.230 let's look at playbook two, technology plus people. 00:17:41.890 --> 00:17:45.069 This is the story of Tom and Sarah in Minnesota. 00:17:45.410 --> 00:17:47.230 This one is really interesting because usually 00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:49.630 when we talk about robots, we talk about replacing 00:17:49.630 --> 00:17:52.670 labor. Right. The narrative is always, I can't 00:17:52.670 --> 00:17:55.150 find milkers, so I'll buy Lili's or Delaval's 00:17:55.150 --> 00:17:57.730 and fire everyone. But Tom and Sarah did it differently. 00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:00.549 They didn't just buy robots to get rid of people. 00:18:00.730 --> 00:18:03.089 They used the transition to upskill their team. 00:18:03.529 --> 00:18:05.970 But the kitchen table twist here is who they 00:18:05.970 --> 00:18:07.970 invited to the planning meeting. Yeah, this is 00:18:07.970 --> 00:18:10.410 wild. They invited their vet, their nutritionist. 00:18:10.450 --> 00:18:12.869 And their pastor. To the machine shed to talk 00:18:12.869 --> 00:18:16.390 about buying milking robots. I love it because 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:18.690 the pastor asked the question that the robot 00:18:18.690 --> 00:18:21.319 salesman never will. The salesman talks about 00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:23.740 milk flow and tea detachment and all the free 00:18:23.740 --> 00:18:26.259 time you'll have. The pastor asked, who are you 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:28.420 going to call when something breaks at 2 a .m.? 00:18:28.420 --> 00:18:31.319 Because it will break. And if you two, Tom and 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:33.180 Sarah, are the only ones answering that phone, 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:35.380 you're still in prison. You just have a more 00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:39.400 expensive jail cell. That is profound. It's about 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:42.119 creating a sustainable lifestyle, not just a 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:46.299 more efficient milk harvest system. So how did 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:48.420 they handle the workforce transition? Because 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:50.839 taking a guy who has milked cows in a parlor 00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:53.099 for 10 years and putting him in front of a computer 00:18:53.099 --> 00:18:56.119 screen isn't easy. No, it's a huge culture shock, 00:18:56.259 --> 00:18:58.940 a huge learning curve. But they didn't fire the 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:01.900 crew. They identified the ones who had that stock 00:19:01.900 --> 00:19:03.819 sense. You know, the ones people just get cows. 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:06.319 Yeah. They had a milker. A woman who was tired 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:08.420 of the physical grind, her wrists were hurting, 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:10.359 her back was hurting. She learned to read the 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:12.700 robot data. And what specifically did she learn? 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:14.519 What does that look like? Well, she learned to 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:16.599 look at conductivity graphs. For those who don't 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:20.140 know, when salt levels in milk rise, conductivity 00:19:20.140 --> 00:19:23.079 goes up, which is a very early sign of mastitis. 00:19:23.259 --> 00:19:25.799 Okay. She learned to spot that little spike on 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:29.400 a graph a full 24 hours before the cow ever showed 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:32.220 clinical signs. Like chunks in the milk. So she's 00:19:32.220 --> 00:19:34.839 catching it before it's a real problem. The vet 00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:37.380 in the article said the robot gave numbers. She 00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:39.680 gave insight. That's the difference right there. 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:43.160 You turn a laborer into a herd manager. You turn 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:46.180 a physical job into an analytical one. And suddenly 00:19:46.180 --> 00:19:49.240 that job is a career. It's easier on the body. 00:19:49.299 --> 00:19:52.000 It engages the brain. And it pays better because 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.119 the value she's providing is so much higher. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:56.299 And the impact on the next generation because 00:19:56.299 --> 00:19:58.700 this ties directly into succession. Oh, it's 00:19:58.700 --> 00:20:01.480 huge. Tom and Sarah's daughter, she had told 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:03.579 them flat out, I'm not coming back to the farm. 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:06.319 I see you guys exhausted. I want no part of this 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:08.420 life. Which is a story we hear all the time. 00:20:08.539 --> 00:20:11.220 All the time. But after the transition, she started 00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:14.019 seeing the farm differently. It wasn't just physical 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:16.119 drudgery anymore. It was data. It was management. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:18.559 It was genetics. The article says she started 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:21.299 teaching 4 -H kids how to read melt flow graphs 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:24.559 from the robot software. She saw a place where 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:27.599 she could use her brain, not just her back. That's 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:29.900 how you save the family farm. You make it a place 00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:31.680 people actually want to work, including your 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:33.859 own kids. I'm into that. Okay, playbook three. 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:36.940 This one is going to start a fight. I can feel 00:20:36.940 --> 00:20:40.200 it. Oh, yeah. Higher retention wages. This is 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:42.789 the Jennifer model in Vermont. Yeah. Brace yourselves 00:20:42.789 --> 00:20:46.170 for this one. Jennifer, she's got a 150 -cow 00:20:46.170 --> 00:20:50.130 organic dairy, and she did the unthinkable. She 00:20:50.130 --> 00:20:52.609 opened the books to her employees. She showed 00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:54.630 them the financials, showed them exactly what 00:20:54.630 --> 00:20:57.190 turnover was costing the farm, that $25 ,000 00:20:57.190 --> 00:20:59.829 number we calculated earlier. And then she proposed 00:20:59.829 --> 00:21:02.950 a deal. She offered a high -wage package. We're 00:21:02.950 --> 00:21:06.450 tanking mid -20s per hour, plus housing, plus 00:21:06.450 --> 00:21:08.799 education support. I can hear the guys at the 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.019 coffee shop right now slamming their mugs down. 00:21:11.180 --> 00:21:14.759 Mid -20s an hour. I can't pay that. Milk is 18 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:17.319 bucks. I'm barely taking a draw myself. Of course. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:20.380 That's the gut reaction. But you have to look 00:21:20.380 --> 00:21:23.539 at the math. If you stop the churn, if you stop 00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:26.680 losing $25 ,000 every time someone quits, that 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:29.359 money is there. It's just being redirected. Exactly. 00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:32.930 Instead of burning it on... Turnover waste, the 00:21:32.930 --> 00:21:35.710 training, the lost milk, the vet bills, you are 00:21:35.710 --> 00:21:38.049 putting it directly into your employees' paychecks. 00:21:38.170 --> 00:21:40.869 It's a reinvestment in your team. I get the logic. 00:21:41.069 --> 00:21:43.390 But the cash flow crunch to get there before 00:21:43.390 --> 00:21:46.190 you see the savings, that's scary. It is. It's 00:21:46.190 --> 00:21:48.410 a leap of faith. You have to believe the retention 00:21:48.410 --> 00:21:50.549 will happen before you see the savings on the 00:21:50.549 --> 00:21:52.690 profit and loss statement. But the result speaks 00:21:52.690 --> 00:21:55.130 for itself. The loyalty she bought with that 00:21:55.130 --> 00:21:58.529 transparency and that wage was incredible. There's 00:21:58.529 --> 00:21:59.829 the story about the neighbor in the article. 00:22:00.029 --> 00:22:02.289 Yes. This is the proof in the pudding right here. 00:22:02.430 --> 00:22:05.170 So a neighbor down the road, small tie stall 00:22:05.170 --> 00:22:08.650 herd, gets in a real jam. There's a family emergency. 00:22:08.930 --> 00:22:11.569 Their labor quits. No one to milk the cows. What 00:22:11.569 --> 00:22:14.730 a nightmare scenario. The worst. Jennifer's crew 00:22:14.730 --> 00:22:16.809 hears about it. Jennifer doesn't even have to 00:22:16.809 --> 00:22:19.190 ask them. They organize a schedule among themselves. 00:22:19.569 --> 00:22:21.589 They just stepped up on their own. One of her 00:22:21.589 --> 00:22:24.170 guys goes over there after his shift is done 00:22:24.170 --> 00:22:26.609 on Jennifer's farm, milks the neighbor's cows. 00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:29.900 washes the pipeline, and then refuses to take 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:32.740 any money for it. Why? Why would he do that? 00:22:33.019 --> 00:22:36.180 Because they felt secure. They weren't scrambling 00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:38.640 for their own survival. They were paid well. 00:22:38.819 --> 00:22:41.059 They were treated like partners. So they had 00:22:41.059 --> 00:22:43.160 the mental and emotional capacity to help the 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:45.460 community. They weren't living paycheck to paycheck. 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:48.339 That's amazing. And then neighbors started pooling 00:22:48.339 --> 00:22:50.740 money to fix up an old farmhouse for shared worker 00:22:50.740 --> 00:22:52.960 housing. That's the kitchen table aspect again. 00:22:53.609 --> 00:22:55.829 Three different farms chipping in to fix a roof 00:22:55.829 --> 00:22:58.309 and replace some windows so that a worker family 00:22:58.309 --> 00:23:01.369 has a warm, safe place to live. It benefits everyone 00:23:01.369 --> 00:23:03.890 because now there is quality housing available 00:23:03.890 --> 00:23:06.490 in the area, making it more attractive for other 00:23:06.490 --> 00:23:08.869 workers. It creates an ecosystem where labor 00:23:08.869 --> 00:23:11.390 wants to stay, not just a job, but a community. 00:23:11.670 --> 00:23:14.009 Right. Okay, that brings us to the last one. 00:23:14.289 --> 00:23:17.849 Playbook 4. Refugee Partnership. This is the 00:23:17.849 --> 00:23:20.970 story of Jake and Emily in Wisconsin. This is 00:23:20.970 --> 00:23:23.049 a really cool one, but it requires a lot of patience. 00:23:23.230 --> 00:23:25.769 It's not a quick fix. So they hire a refugee 00:23:25.769 --> 00:23:28.410 through a local resettlement agency. He's from 00:23:28.410 --> 00:23:31.130 halfway around the world, maybe East Africa or 00:23:31.130 --> 00:23:34.390 Central America. But the key is he has livestock 00:23:34.390 --> 00:23:37.410 experience. He knows animals. But the challenge 00:23:37.410 --> 00:23:40.470 is obvious. Language barrier. Culture shock. 00:23:40.990 --> 00:23:43.529 Different milking styles, different ways of handling 00:23:43.529 --> 00:23:46.509 cattle. Right. The story talks about them using 00:23:46.509 --> 00:23:48.390 translation apps on their phones to communicate 00:23:48.390 --> 00:23:52.089 basic commands in the parlor. Cow, stop. Milk, 00:23:52.230 --> 00:23:54.470 it's awkward, it's slow. It's got to be frustrating 00:23:54.470 --> 00:23:56.029 for everyone involved. And the cows don't care 00:23:56.029 --> 00:23:58.250 about the app, though. No, the cows care about 00:23:58.250 --> 00:24:00.690 demeanor. And this guy knew cows. He had that 00:24:00.690 --> 00:24:02.869 quiet confidence around them. But the community 00:24:02.869 --> 00:24:05.890 fix here was the cultural night. You can't just 00:24:05.890 --> 00:24:07.990 have a stranger living in the bunkhouse and expect 00:24:07.990 --> 00:24:09.869 them to integrate. So tell us about the machine 00:24:09.869 --> 00:24:12.720 shed party. I love this image. They sweep out 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:14.839 the machine shed, move the planter, move the 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:17.579 skid loader. Emily makes a huge pot of chili 00:24:17.579 --> 00:24:20.220 and some apple crisp. The new family brings their 00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:23.779 traditional food, spicy stews, flatbreads, things 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:25.680 the neighbors have never seen before. And was 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:28.559 there venison sausage? It's Wisconsin. It's Wisconsin. 00:24:28.619 --> 00:24:30.579 If there isn't venison sausage, is it even a 00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:33.579 party? Of course, Pete from down the road brought 00:24:33.579 --> 00:24:36.339 the sausage. But think about the scene. You've 00:24:36.339 --> 00:24:39.299 got the local FFA kids setting up tables. You've 00:24:39.299 --> 00:24:41.559 got the mail carrier. You've got the grumpy uncle 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:43.900 who never leaves his farm. And they're all sitting 00:24:43.900 --> 00:24:46.519 there eating chili and looking at photos on this 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:49.579 guy's phone of his zebu cows back in his home 00:24:49.579 --> 00:24:52.779 country. It humanized the labor force. It wasn't 00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:55.380 the new worker or the immigrant. It was a father, 00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:58.380 a cattleman just like them. And it revitalized 00:24:58.380 --> 00:25:00.509 the community. It gave them a reason to gather 00:25:00.509 --> 00:25:03.089 that wasn't a funeral or a farm auction. It brought 00:25:03.089 --> 00:25:05.150 life back to the neighborhood. So those are the 00:25:05.150 --> 00:25:07.289 four playbooks. Immigration networks with legal 00:25:07.289 --> 00:25:10.730 teeth, tech plus, people with upskilling, high 00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:13.029 wages based on open books, and refugee partnerships 00:25:13.029 --> 00:25:16.069 built on community integration. And notice, none 00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:18.650 of them are easy. None of them are quick fixes. 00:25:18.809 --> 00:25:22.130 They all required effort, vulnerability, and 00:25:22.130 --> 00:25:25.650 connection. Let's move to segment four, the reality 00:25:25.650 --> 00:25:28.250 check. We need to hit some contrarian takes here. 00:25:28.349 --> 00:25:30.829 We've alluded to it, but let's be explicit. The 00:25:30.829 --> 00:25:33.970 suit fallacy. I'll say it again. Stop waiting 00:25:33.970 --> 00:25:36.089 for the farm bill. Stop waiting for immigration 00:25:36.089 --> 00:25:39.410 reform. I know we need it. The H -2A program 00:25:39.410 --> 00:25:42.250 is a mess for year round dairy. The system is 00:25:42.250 --> 00:25:45.009 broken. We all agree on that. But if you are 00:25:45.009 --> 00:25:47.630 waiting for a politician to fix your labor problem, 00:25:47.890 --> 00:25:51.150 you are going to go broke waiting. Absolutely. 00:25:51.410 --> 00:25:54.059 These farmers in the article, Mark. Jennifer, 00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:57.339 Tom Labor. They stopped waiting. They took control 00:25:57.339 --> 00:25:59.420 of what they could control, which was their own 00:25:59.420 --> 00:26:01.640 farm and their own neighborhood. And frankly, 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:04.319 relying on that independent farmer mindset is 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:06.920 a weakness here. It's a liability. Ooh, that's 00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:08.859 a tough one for a lot of people to swallow. We 00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:10.759 pride ourselves in independence. I can do it 00:26:10.759 --> 00:26:12.960 myself. I don't need help. But this article proves 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:15.720 that independence is a liability in a labor crisis. 00:26:15.980 --> 00:26:18.420 If you're trying to solve this alone, you will 00:26:18.420 --> 00:26:20.779 fail. You just don't have the resources. No. 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:23.579 You need the neighbor. You need the lawyer. You 00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:25.240 need the group. And it requires vulnerability. 00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:27.599 You have to be the one to pick up the phone and 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:30.119 say, I'm not sleeping. You have to admit, I'm 00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:32.420 scared about making payroll next month. And that 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:35.180 is terrifying for a farmer. We're supposed to 00:26:35.180 --> 00:26:38.000 be stoic. We're supposed to be tough. But look 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:40.039 at what happened when Mark admitted it to Dave. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.660 The cowl re -arrived. His community showed up 00:26:43.660 --> 00:26:45.980 for him. Let's talk about the cost myth again, 00:26:46.099 --> 00:26:48.599 because I know listeners are still hung up on 00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:51.950 Jennifer paying mid -20s an hour. It's the difference 00:26:51.950 --> 00:26:55.529 between cost and investment. We don't buy the 00:26:55.529 --> 00:26:57.990 cheapest feed corn if we know it has mycotoxins 00:26:57.990 --> 00:27:01.569 because we know it'll kill production. We don't 00:27:01.569 --> 00:27:04.069 buy the cheapest semen if the genetics are garbage. 00:27:04.470 --> 00:27:06.390 Why do we think we can buy the cheapest labor 00:27:06.390 --> 00:27:09.150 and get a premium result? Cheap labor is expensive. 00:27:09.390 --> 00:27:12.390 High turnover is expensive. If paying $5 more 00:27:12.390 --> 00:27:14.710 an hour keeps a guy for five years instead of 00:27:14.710 --> 00:27:16.730 five months, that is the cheapest money you will 00:27:16.730 --> 00:27:20.089 ever spend. It pays for itself by stopping that 00:27:20.089 --> 00:27:24.029 $25 ,000 churn cycle. It's mathematically sound, 00:27:24.109 --> 00:27:26.670 even if it feels scary on the front end. It's 00:27:26.670 --> 00:27:29.650 open book logic. And if you show the employees 00:27:29.650 --> 00:27:32.569 the math, they get it too. They understand that 00:27:32.569 --> 00:27:34.950 their efficiency pays their wage. You can build 00:27:34.950 --> 00:27:37.750 incentives. If we keep somatic cell count under 00:27:37.750 --> 00:27:41.150 150 ,000, that's a bonus for everyone. If we 00:27:41.150 --> 00:27:44.250 catch 95 % of heats, that's a bonus. It makes 00:27:44.250 --> 00:27:45.990 them partners in the success of the business. 00:27:46.170 --> 00:27:48.859 Exactly. Let's look at segment five, future implications. 00:27:49.319 --> 00:27:52.039 We touched on Tom and Sarah's daughter, but this 00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:54.519 is really about succession. This is the elephant 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:57.079 in the room for the entire industry. The average 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:59.180 age of the American dairy farmer keeps climbing. 00:27:59.339 --> 00:28:03.200 It's hovering near 60. If we don't fix this labor 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.559 and lifestyle equation, there's no one to take 00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:07.880 over. The farms will just disappear. The daughter 00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:10.279 in the story, she saw the shift. When the farm 00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:12.400 became about management, data, and community, 00:28:12.619 --> 00:28:15.079 rather than just endless, exhausting physical 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:18.460 toil, She became interested again. It's about 00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:21.779 creating a farm that is survivable. Not just 00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:24.579 financially survivable, but emotionally and physically 00:28:24.579 --> 00:28:28.200 survivable. If the farm destroys your parents, 00:28:28.380 --> 00:28:31.099 you don't want it. If the farm supports your 00:28:31.099 --> 00:28:33.440 parents and gives them a good life, you might 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:36.099 want in on that. And community resilience. The 00:28:36.099 --> 00:28:38.519 ripple effect, they meant. Yeah. The article 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:40.539 mentions that even if a farm, for whatever reason, 00:28:40.619 --> 00:28:43.440 eventually has to sell out, these networks matter. 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:46.339 When you have that kitchen table group, you aren't 00:28:46.339 --> 00:28:48.579 alone on sale day. Right. The neighbors show 00:28:48.579 --> 00:28:51.279 up. The church ladies bring lasagna. It's not 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:53.839 just a business liquidation. It's a community 00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:56.220 supporting one of its own through a tough transition. 00:28:56.460 --> 00:28:59.059 It changes the exit strategy from a tragedy to 00:28:59.059 --> 00:29:01.240 a transition. Exactly. It's about exiting with 00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:04.359 dignity. Okay. We've covered a lot. We've unpacked 00:29:04.359 --> 00:29:06.740 the data, the biological costs, the legal structures, 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:09.099 and the cultural shifts. Now let's get practical. 00:29:09.529 --> 00:29:11.309 A farmer is listening to this in the tractor 00:29:11.309 --> 00:29:13.630 or the truck. They're driving to the feed store. 00:29:14.250 --> 00:29:16.690 What are the actionable insights? What do they 00:29:16.690 --> 00:29:18.529 need to do? We've boiled this down to three things, 00:29:18.730 --> 00:29:21.650 immediate, medium -term, and long -term. Hit 00:29:21.650 --> 00:29:23.430 me with the immediate. What can they do this 00:29:23.430 --> 00:29:26.730 week? It's the coffee rule. Pick one neighbor, 00:29:26.869 --> 00:29:29.829 just one, not five, just one. Meet them at the 00:29:29.829 --> 00:29:32.809 diner or the shop or lean on the fence post and 00:29:32.809 --> 00:29:36.089 ask them honestly, what is one part of labor 00:29:36.089 --> 00:29:39.019 that is keeping you up at night? That's it. That's 00:29:39.019 --> 00:29:41.839 it. Stop pretending everything is fine. Break 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:44.700 the seal. Just start the conversation. You don't 00:29:44.700 --> 00:29:47.279 have to start an LLC today or hire a lawyer. 00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:49.599 Just drink the coffee and tell the truth for 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:52.220 10 minutes. I love that. It's a low barrier to 00:29:52.220 --> 00:29:55.099 entry, just coffee and truth. What about the 00:29:55.099 --> 00:29:57.460 medium term, say the next three to six months? 00:29:57.599 --> 00:29:59.700 The two -person stop sign. You need to decide 00:29:59.700 --> 00:30:02.059 right now as a management policy for your farm. 00:30:02.339 --> 00:30:04.779 If you lose more than two core employees in a 00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:07.480 single year, That is a stop sign. It's not a 00:30:07.480 --> 00:30:09.799 higher, faster sign. It's a full -on stop sign. 00:30:09.980 --> 00:30:11.480 So what do you do when you hit that stop sign? 00:30:11.619 --> 00:30:13.859 You stop. You call a meeting with an expert, 00:30:14.039 --> 00:30:16.859 your vet, an attorney, an extension agent, and 00:30:16.859 --> 00:30:19.839 a trusted neighbor, and you review why. You do 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:21.839 a postmortem. Was it the waiters? Was it the 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:24.059 housing? Was it the schedule? Was it a manager? 00:30:24.380 --> 00:30:26.680 You don't just put another warm body in the parlor. 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:29.220 You fix the leak before you turn the water back 00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:32.519 on. That requires a ton of discipline. To actually 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:34.980 stop when you are panicked and shorthanded is 00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:37.819 hard. It is. But panic hiring just leads to more 00:30:37.819 --> 00:30:40.160 panic firing six months later. You have to break 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:42.299 the cycle. And the long term. What's the plan 00:30:42.299 --> 00:30:45.079 for one to two years out? Build your kitchen 00:30:45.079 --> 00:30:47.900 table cabinet. You need to formalize this support 00:30:47.900 --> 00:30:49.880 network, whether it's an immigration network 00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:52.940 like Mark and Dave or a shared housing co -op 00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:55.299 like Jennifer's Community or a partnership with 00:30:55.299 --> 00:30:57.940 a refugee agency. Stop managing labor alone. 00:30:58.539 --> 00:31:01.059 Look for resources. Build the infrastructure 00:31:01.059 --> 00:31:03.480 so that when the next crisis hits and it will 00:31:03.480 --> 00:31:06.059 pause, the table is already set and the people 00:31:06.059 --> 00:31:08.640 are already there. A kitchen table cabinet. I 00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:10.640 like that phrase. It's your board of directors, 00:31:10.740 --> 00:31:13.180 but with better food and more empathy. And probably 00:31:13.180 --> 00:31:16.039 dirtier boots. Definitely dirtier boots. You 00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:18.079 know, as we wrap this up, I keep thinking about... 00:31:18.809 --> 00:31:21.589 That image of the machine shed party. The cultural 00:31:21.589 --> 00:31:24.609 night. Yeah. People eating chili, talking about 00:31:24.609 --> 00:31:27.690 cows, with that smell of diesel and silage in 00:31:27.690 --> 00:31:31.349 the air. That is what a secure labor force looks 00:31:31.349 --> 00:31:34.269 like. It doesn't look like a perfectly compliant 00:31:34.269 --> 00:31:37.170 spreadsheet from HR. It looks like a community. 00:31:37.529 --> 00:31:39.390 It looks like people showing up for each other. 00:31:39.609 --> 00:31:42.289 It won't fix milk prices. I can't promise you 00:31:42.289 --> 00:31:45.170 $25 milk, but it might mean the barn is still 00:31:45.170 --> 00:31:47.880 lit tonight. and it might mean you aren't standing 00:31:47.880 --> 00:31:50.599 in there alone. That's a powerful place to leave 00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:52.440 it. This isn't just about business. It's about 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:54.819 the life we are trying to build out here. Absolutely. 00:31:55.079 --> 00:31:57.299 This has been another Bullvine podcast from The 00:31:57.299 --> 00:31:59.839 Bullvine Podcast. We hope this sparked some ideas 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:02.019 for your own kitchen table. For more straight 00:32:02.019 --> 00:32:04.799 -talking industry analysis and maybe fewer sugar 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:09.000 -coated press releases, head on over to www .thebullvine 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:12.759 .com. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts. We're 00:32:12.759 --> 00:32:14.839 out with new episodes every day. Keep your boots 00:32:14.839 --> 00:32:16.940 clean and we'll catch on the next one. Take care, 00:32:16.980 --> 00:32:17.140 everyone.