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 --> 00:01:04.280 we're sparking Welcome back to the Bullvine Podcast, 00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:06.959 where we cut through dairy industry noise to 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.280 get you the insights that actually matter for 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:12.780 your operation. And today, we're diving deep 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:15.760 into a feature piece about the silent crisis 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.980 in our alleys. Farmer suicide. I know. It's a 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:22.120 heavy topic. And to be honest, when we first 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:24.659 put this on the editorial calendar, well, I saw 00:01:24.659 --> 00:01:26.900 you hesitate. I did. And I think a lot of our 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:28.799 listeners, when they see that title, their first 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:30.920 instinct is maybe to skip this one. They're thinking, 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:32.819 I don't have time for feelings right now. Yeah, 00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:35.719 exactly. I have cows to milk. I have a scraper 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:38.939 that just went down. And the milk prices. Well, 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:40.980 you know where the bulk price is. You nailed 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:42.739 it. That was exactly your first thought, wasn't 00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:45.000 it? It was. Usually we're here to argue about 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.099 genomic sires or, you know, we're tearing apart 00:01:48.099 --> 00:01:50.879 a USDA production report. We're debating whether 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:53.099 robots actually pay off in under five years. 00:01:53.219 --> 00:01:55.319 Right. That's the stuff I like. That's the stuff 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:57.120 that feels like farming. When people start talking 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.519 about mental wellness in agriculture, my eyes, 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:02.500 I'll admit, they usually glaze over a little 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:04.599 bit. Why do you think that is? What's that resistance? 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:07.930 Because. My mind immediately goes to the milk 00:02:07.930 --> 00:02:09.990 check. It goes to the feed bill. It goes to that 00:02:09.990 --> 00:02:11.590 fresh heifer that just slipped in the crossover 00:02:11.590 --> 00:02:12.949 and whether she's going to make it back into 00:02:12.949 --> 00:02:16.009 the herd. It feels like luxury property. Or something 00:02:16.009 --> 00:02:17.990 you can't afford to deal with. Yeah, or just 00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:19.550 something you shove down deep so you can get 00:02:19.550 --> 00:02:21.069 the work done. You put on the boots, you go. 00:02:21.229 --> 00:02:23.770 Yeah. But reading through this piece, this article, 00:02:23.870 --> 00:02:26.330 Silent Alleys, this isn't just about feeling 00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:29.969 sad. This is, well, it's about the fact that 00:02:29.969 --> 00:02:32.729 we are losing good operators. We are. We are 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:36.180 losing neighbors. And from my perspective, this 00:02:36.180 --> 00:02:38.500 isn't just about losing a friend, which is, of 00:02:38.500 --> 00:02:40.639 course, devastating. It's about the survival 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:43.520 of family legacy. That's exact. It's about genetics 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:47.240 programs that took 30, maybe 50 years to build 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:50.479 just vanishing in a single afternoon because 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:52.500 the person who held it all together isn't there 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:55.379 anymore. It's about the economic viability of 00:02:55.379 --> 00:02:58.539 our entire rural community. I mean, if the farmers 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:01.699 go, the feed mill goes, the vet goes, the town 00:03:01.699 --> 00:03:05.550 goes with them. Exactly. And to put a finer point 00:03:05.550 --> 00:03:07.590 on it from the data side, because, you know, 00:03:07.590 --> 00:03:09.750 that's where I live. The source material we're 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:12.789 looking at today shows a direct quantifiable 00:03:12.789 --> 00:03:15.629 correlation between farmer mental health and 00:03:15.629 --> 00:03:18.889 herd performance metrics. OK. This is the part 00:03:18.889 --> 00:03:20.310 that really grabbed me. And I think it's going 00:03:20.310 --> 00:03:22.830 to grab the listener who, like you, thinks they 00:03:22.830 --> 00:03:24.990 don't have time for this. The listener who just 00:03:24.990 --> 00:03:28.250 wants to talk about cows. Right. The source material 00:03:28.250 --> 00:03:31.610 suggests that ignoring your own headspace, your 00:03:31.610 --> 00:03:35.310 own stress level, is actually bad business strategy. 00:03:35.710 --> 00:03:38.909 It is measurably bad for your bottom line. And 00:03:38.909 --> 00:03:40.689 that's the bullvine angle we always promise, 00:03:40.810 --> 00:03:42.889 isn't it? The contrarian take. It has to be. 00:03:43.030 --> 00:03:44.990 Because the culture, everything we're taught, 00:03:45.189 --> 00:03:47.650 tells us to tough it out. The industry says, 00:03:47.830 --> 00:03:50.969 grin and bear it, rub some dirt on it, stop complaining 00:03:50.969 --> 00:03:54.080 because your grandfather had it way worse. But 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:55.800 what we're going to unpack today is this idea 00:03:55.800 --> 00:03:58.680 that your cows, they might actually know you're 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:01.000 in trouble before your own spouse does. That 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.960 is a bold statement. I mean, that sounds like 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:05.039 something out of a marketing brochure. It does. 00:04:05.219 --> 00:04:07.000 But we're going to back it up. We're going to 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:10.500 talk about some fascinating robotic milking data 00:04:10.500 --> 00:04:14.879 and how it can, in a way, predict suicide risk. 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:17.680 It sounds unbelievable, but the data is there. 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:21.009 It really is. So we are going to challenge that 00:04:21.009 --> 00:04:23.350 tough it out culture, not just because it's unhealthy 00:04:23.350 --> 00:04:26.189 for people, but because it is a direct operational 00:04:26.189 --> 00:04:28.889 liability. The risk factor. It's a risk factor, 00:04:28.930 --> 00:04:31.350 just like a broken gate on a pen or a slippery 00:04:31.350 --> 00:04:33.350 floor in the parlor. All right, let's get into 00:04:33.350 --> 00:04:36.370 it. Let's start with segment one, problem identification. 00:04:37.259 --> 00:04:39.779 The source article frames this so perfectly by 00:04:39.779 --> 00:04:42.220 contrasting two very different types of death 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:44.540 on the farm. They call it the silence versus 00:04:44.540 --> 00:04:46.459 the spectacle. Right. And they start with the 00:04:46.459 --> 00:04:49.939 story of Reed Hostetler. And this hit me hard 00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:52.300 reading it. This was just back in March of 2025 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:57.139 over in Ohio. A young guy, 31 years old, a dairyman. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:59.740 And it's the nightmare scenario we all dread 00:04:59.740 --> 00:05:02.100 every single time we start a PTO or walk near 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:04.290 a pit. Walk us through what happened there. It's 00:05:04.290 --> 00:05:06.389 March in Ohio, so you know exactly what that's 00:05:06.389 --> 00:05:09.029 like. It's wet, it's muddy, everything is slick 00:05:09.029 --> 00:05:11.850 with that spring thaw. He's climbing onto a tractor 00:05:11.850 --> 00:05:14.750 to agitate a manure pit. Okay. And the tractor 00:05:14.750 --> 00:05:17.810 tips. He goes in. God, it's horrifying, just 00:05:17.810 --> 00:05:20.550 the thought of it. It is. And the article details 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:23.269 how his brothers, I mean, they jumped in right 00:05:23.269 --> 00:05:25.850 after him trying to save him. They risked their 00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:28.149 own lives in that moment, breathing in that gas, 00:05:28.310 --> 00:05:31.939 fighting the suction. But the pit. It's a complete 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:34.300 tragedy. A complete tragedy. But what the article 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:37.779 highlights next is the response. And anyone listening 00:05:37.779 --> 00:05:40.339 to this who lives in a farm community, you know 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:42.060 exactly what this looks like. You've seen it. 00:05:42.139 --> 00:05:44.519 The cavalry arrives. Instantly, the community 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:47.620 descends. The article mentions they had to fix 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:50.240 up the long gravel driveway to the farm because 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:52.519 the frost was coming out of the ground. And they 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:54.779 knew hundreds, maybe thousands of cars were coming. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:56.949 They were preparing for the support. They put 00:05:56.949 --> 00:05:59.029 down stone so the mourners wouldn't sink in the 00:05:59.029 --> 00:06:01.449 mud. The barn was overflowing for the funeral. 00:06:01.709 --> 00:06:04.170 Everyone stood shoulder to shoulder. It was loud 00:06:04.170 --> 00:06:07.050 support. It was visible. We are here for you. 00:06:07.189 --> 00:06:11.069 He was a good man. He died doing what he loved. 00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:13.810 It's that classic rural rally, and we are so 00:06:13.810 --> 00:06:16.170 good at that. When there is a physical accident, 00:06:16.310 --> 00:06:19.430 a barn fire, tornado farmers are the best first 00:06:19.430 --> 00:06:22.089 responders in the world. We show up with casseroles 00:06:22.089 --> 00:06:24.329 and skid steers and checkbooks. We do. We're 00:06:24.329 --> 00:06:26.370 amazing at it. But then the article... pivots 00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:30.389 and it asks us to compare that huge loud public 00:06:30.389 --> 00:06:34.050 response to the whispered deaths yeah to the 00:06:34.050 --> 00:06:36.449 suicides and it's night and day it is a completely 00:06:36.449 --> 00:06:39.009 different world there are no fundraisers there 00:06:39.009 --> 00:06:41.110 are no we lost one of our own rallies in the 00:06:41.110 --> 00:06:43.769 town square yeah you get a short obituary in 00:06:43.769 --> 00:06:45.670 the paper maybe the cause of death is omitted 00:06:45.670 --> 00:06:48.470 entirely or it just says died suddenly at home 00:06:48.470 --> 00:06:51.769 and then it's just silent it's the empty chair 00:06:51.769 --> 00:06:53.670 at the kitchen table that nobody talks about 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:56.420 Ever. Yeah. And I think that contrast is so important 00:06:56.420 --> 00:06:59.459 because it shows how we as a community, we value 00:06:59.459 --> 00:07:01.500 these lives differently or at least how we process 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:04.620 the loss differently. How so? If you die in a 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:07.360 tractor rollover, you're a martyr to the industry. 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:10.180 It's tragic, but it's seen as, you know, part 00:07:10.180 --> 00:07:12.759 of the job. It's a risk we all accept. It's an 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:16.240 honorable death in a way. In a way, yeah. But 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.560 if you die by your own hand, you're a secret. 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:20.620 You're a shame. You're something to be whispered 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:23.279 about behind closed doors. And that secrecy, 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:26.680 that silence is masking a massive statistical 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:29.480 reality. Let's get into the core data here because 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:32.370 it's pretty shocking. Okay, lay it on me. Between 00:07:32.370 --> 00:07:36.149 2000 and 2018, rural suicide rates in the U .S. 00:07:36.149 --> 00:07:40.350 rose 48 percent. 48. 48 percent. Compare that 00:07:40.350 --> 00:07:43.410 to 34 percent in urban areas. So the curve is 00:07:43.410 --> 00:07:45.550 steeper out here where we all live and work. 00:07:45.709 --> 00:07:47.389 So it's already bad everywhere, but it's getting 00:07:47.389 --> 00:07:50.149 worse faster for us. Exactly. But then you zero 00:07:50.149 --> 00:07:52.730 in specifically on farmers. The source says farmers 00:07:52.730 --> 00:07:54.610 are about three and a half times more likely 00:07:54.610 --> 00:07:56.730 to die by suicide than the general population. 00:07:56.970 --> 00:08:01.740 3 .5 times. That is. That's not a rounding error. 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:03.779 That isn't just a slightly bad year for the industry. 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:06.959 That is a systemic failure. It's a crisis. The 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:09.259 specific rate they mentioned for male farmers, 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:14.480 ranchers and agricultural managers is 43 .2 deaths 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.139 per 100 ,000. And what's the average for like 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:19.800 a regular worker? Much, much lower. It's not 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:21.720 even in the same ballpark. We are in a category 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:24.439 of our own alongside some other very high stress 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:26.439 professions. You know, when you hear a stat like 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:30.040 43 deaths per 100 ,000, it sounds clinical. It 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:31.519 sounds like something from a government report. 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:33.679 It does. It's abstract. But when you live in 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:37.279 a county with maybe 500 active dairy families, 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:40.679 you do the math. That means everyone knows someone. 00:08:41.500 --> 00:08:44.100 Everyone. It's a different world out in the country. 00:08:44.179 --> 00:08:46.720 We have, you know, the isolation. We have... 00:08:47.019 --> 00:08:49.440 Ready access to lethal means. Firearms are the 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:51.759 dominant method, as the source points out. But 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:53.500 three and a half times the general population. 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:55.340 That's staggering. You know, if we had a calf 00:08:55.340 --> 00:08:57.240 mortality rate that was three and a half times 00:08:57.240 --> 00:08:59.360 the industry average, what would we do? We'd 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.200 panic. We would declare a state of emergency 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.399 on the farm. We would be calling every vet in 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:07.370 the state. We'd be tearing the barn apart, looking 00:09:07.370 --> 00:09:09.570 for the pathogen. We'd be changing the ventilation, 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:12.230 changing the milk replacer, firing the calf feeder. 00:09:12.389 --> 00:09:14.590 We would do something. We would treat it as an 00:09:14.590 --> 00:09:16.870 emergency. An absolute emergency. We would treat 00:09:16.870 --> 00:09:19.909 it as an operational crisis. But with this, with 00:09:19.909 --> 00:09:23.570 our own people, we treat it as, I don't know, 00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:27.049 a character flaw. Right. The way it is. Or we 00:09:27.049 --> 00:09:28.690 just don't talk about it. We just don't talk 00:09:28.690 --> 00:09:31.049 about it. Which brings us to the next point. 00:09:31.129 --> 00:09:32.309 And this is the one that I think is going to 00:09:32.309 --> 00:09:34.289 make some people listening a little uncomfortable. 00:09:34.909 --> 00:09:37.549 But we need to hear it. This is where the source 00:09:37.549 --> 00:09:40.389 article really digs in with that bullvine style 00:09:40.389 --> 00:09:44.029 of myth busting. Right. Segment two, the industry 00:09:44.029 --> 00:09:47.090 reality check. There is this myth out there, 00:09:47.149 --> 00:09:50.009 right? The everyone knows myth. The idea that 00:09:50.009 --> 00:09:51.870 if a farmer is struggling, you'll see it. Or 00:09:51.870 --> 00:09:55.110 that farm stress is this hidden internal thing 00:09:55.110 --> 00:09:56.889 that doesn't really affect the barn until it's 00:09:56.889 --> 00:10:00.580 way, way too late. Right. We think we can compartmentalize. 00:10:00.759 --> 00:10:03.240 We tell ourselves that lie every morning. I'm 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:05.460 stressed out. I'm not sleeping. The bank is calling 00:10:05.460 --> 00:10:08.039 every day. But I'm a professional. I don't let 00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:10.679 it affect the cows. But you can't. It's impossible. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.519 And we're here to bust that myth. We're using 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:17.120 a 2021 study on robotic milking herds to do it. 00:10:17.220 --> 00:10:19.019 Okay, lay this out for me because this part is 00:10:19.019 --> 00:10:22.580 fascinating. This is where theory meets the alleyway. 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:25.919 It really is. So researchers looked at a number 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:28.220 of farms that were using robotic milking systems. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.980 They had vets and hoof trimmers score cows for 00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:33.960 lameness and for under conditioning, you know, 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:36.259 body condition score. So hard. Physical data 00:10:36.259 --> 00:10:38.779 on the cows. Exactly. How the cows were walking, 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:40.759 how much flesh they were carrying, objective 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:44.379 data. Then they matched that herd data to mental 00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:46.279 health surveys that were filled out by the farmers 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:48.019 who were running those herds. And what did they 00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:51.240 find? They found a positive, statistically significant 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:54.120 association between farmer stress and severe 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:57.120 lameness prevalence. So simply put, the more 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:00.100 stressed out the farmer is, the more severely 00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:02.100 lame cows are standing around in the alleys. 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:04.860 Yes. And it wasn't just stress. They found that 00:11:04.860 --> 00:11:07.139 stress and depression were higher on farms where 00:11:07.139 --> 00:11:09.440 they were still feeding manually versus having 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.960 an automated TMR. Okay, that makes sense. More 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:14.159 labor. They also found it was higher where farmers 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:16.659 reported working alone most of the time. And 00:11:16.659 --> 00:11:18.840 this one is really interesting. It was also higher 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:22.399 on firms where the milk protein was lower. Lower 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.480 milk protein. OK, let's unpack this because I 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:28.340 can hear the skeptics right now saying, oh, so 00:11:28.340 --> 00:11:31.100 what? The robot is a psychiatrist now. The lily 00:11:31.100 --> 00:11:33.940 knows I'm sad. No, let's look at the operational 00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:36.100 impact. Why does this happen in the real world? 00:11:36.179 --> 00:11:39.340 I know why. I've lived it. Tell us what happens 00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:42.019 in the barn when the farmer is mentally cracking 00:11:42.019 --> 00:11:44.529 up. It's all about bandwidth. It's about mental 00:11:44.529 --> 00:11:47.450 capacity. When you are running on pure adrenaline 00:11:47.450 --> 00:11:49.669 and worry, when you are just trying to keep the 00:11:49.669 --> 00:11:52.169 lights on and make payroll, you stop doing the 00:11:52.169 --> 00:11:54.490 non -urgent stuff. The preventative maintenance. 00:11:54.789 --> 00:11:57.590 Exactly. You don't re -bed the stalls quite as 00:11:57.590 --> 00:11:59.289 often because you're rushing to fix a broken 00:11:59.289 --> 00:12:01.570 feed chain, or you're on the phone with the bank, 00:12:01.710 --> 00:12:03.409 or maybe you're just so bone tired you can't 00:12:03.409 --> 00:12:07.250 face it. And you miss things. You miss that slight 00:12:07.250 --> 00:12:09.870 head bob at the lockup. You know the one I'm 00:12:09.870 --> 00:12:12.230 talking about. The cow that's just starting to 00:12:12.230 --> 00:12:15.149 favor one foot. The very first sign. The very 00:12:15.149 --> 00:12:17.590 first sign. If you're sharp, if your head is 00:12:17.590 --> 00:12:19.929 in the game, you catch it. You pull her out, 00:12:19.950 --> 00:12:22.470 you wrap it. She's fine in three days. But if 00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:24.330 you're staring at your phone, just waiting for 00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:26.830 the lender to call you back, you walk right past 00:12:26.830 --> 00:12:29.830 her. You miss it. And three days later, she's 00:12:29.830 --> 00:12:32.269 three -legged lame and off 100 pounds of milk. 00:12:32.590 --> 00:12:35.350 It's a complete loss of focus on the details 00:12:35.350 --> 00:12:38.100 that matter. And foot baths. Oh, man, foot baths 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:40.080 are the first thing to go. Mixing up that solution, 00:12:40.340 --> 00:12:43.220 hauling those 50 -pound bags of copper sulfate. 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:47.240 It's heavy. It's messy. It's a chore. If you're 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:48.820 exhausted and depressed, you look at it, you 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:51.080 say, you know what? I'll get to it next week. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.679 And next week becomes next month. Exactly. And 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.279 suddenly you've got hairy heel warts or digital 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:58.340 dermatitis flaring up across the whole herd. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:00.759 And now you have a real fire to put out. And 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:02.960 what about the trim lists? Oh, the trim lists. 00:13:03.299 --> 00:13:05.820 If you're scared to spend a single dollar because 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:09.279 milk is at $16 and your feed bill is late, are 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.299 you calling the hoof trimmer for routine maintenance? 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:14.419 Probably not. No. Maybe you push that visit back 00:13:14.419 --> 00:13:16.860 three weeks to save a few bucks. Or you tell 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:18.799 yourself, oh, I'll just trim that one problem 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:21.320 cow myself. But you never get around to it because 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:23.340 you're working 16 hours a day all by yourself. 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:27.220 So the takeaway here is actually profound. Lameness 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:30.190 isn't just a stall design problem. It isn't just 00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:33.090 a nutrition problem or a genetic problem. It 00:13:33.090 --> 00:13:36.149 is a mental health KPI, a key performance indicator 00:13:36.149 --> 00:13:38.750 for the human element of the farm. That hits 00:13:38.750 --> 00:13:41.149 hard. If your lameness rate is up and your production 00:13:41.149 --> 00:13:44.149 is down, check your own head. Before you go and 00:13:44.149 --> 00:13:46.309 blame the premix, before you blame the quality 00:13:46.309 --> 00:13:48.750 of the sand in the stalls, look in the mirror. 00:13:48.870 --> 00:13:51.429 Are you functioning? Because if you aren't, the 00:13:51.429 --> 00:13:53.490 cows are the first ones to feel it. They are 00:13:53.490 --> 00:13:55.809 the canary in the coal mine. And that links back 00:13:55.809 --> 00:14:00.710 to the why now. mental health as a production 00:14:00.710 --> 00:14:03.210 metric. Maybe it gives permission for some of 00:14:03.210 --> 00:14:05.190 these tough it out guys to actually address it. 00:14:05.230 --> 00:14:07.509 You would never ignore a high somatic cell count. 00:14:07.649 --> 00:14:09.889 You shouldn't ignore this. But we also have to 00:14:09.889 --> 00:14:12.210 acknowledge why the stress is there in the first 00:14:12.210 --> 00:14:13.970 place. It's not just, you know, brain chemistry. 00:14:14.230 --> 00:14:17.029 It's the brutal economic environment we are operating 00:14:17.029 --> 00:14:19.590 in. Absolutely. Segment three, follow the money, 00:14:19.690 --> 00:14:22.490 the economic squeeze. This is where we get real. 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:25.750 The source brings up Wisconsin as the prime example, 00:14:26.009 --> 00:14:29.139 the poster child for this crisis. In the year 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:32.720 2000, Wisconsin had farm numbers in the mid -teens. 00:14:33.419 --> 00:14:36.039 Thousands of dairy farms. Right. Around 15 ,000, 00:14:36.059 --> 00:14:40.480 16 ,000. By 2024, the number is roughly 5 ,222. 00:14:40.659 --> 00:14:44.480 That's a 70 % loss. 70 % of the dairies in America's 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:48.659 dairy land. Gone. In less than 25 years. That 00:14:48.659 --> 00:14:51.019 is a hollowing out of an entire industry and 00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:52.980 a way of life. And it's not just numbers on a 00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:55.419 page. It's the get big or get out trap that everyone 00:14:55.419 --> 00:14:58.779 talks about. It is. The article mentions a farmer 00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:02.679 named Jerry Volanek and his story. Man, it's 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:06.059 so relatable. He started with 70 cows. He did 00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:08.059 everything the experts told him to do, everything 00:15:08.059 --> 00:15:10.379 you're supposed to do. He followed the playbook? 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:13.899 The exact playbook. Grew to 300 cows, started 00:15:13.899 --> 00:15:16.580 milking three times a day, farmed more land. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:19.080 But here's the kicker. He said he was doing it 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:21.480 with fewer people than he had when he was milking 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:25.309 70 cows. Exactly. And the result, he said he 00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:27.629 only broke even through great personal sacrifice. 00:15:28.049 --> 00:15:30.269 The happiness, he said, was just sucked out of 00:15:30.269 --> 00:15:31.850 him. He didn't want to be that guy, always stressed, 00:15:32.029 --> 00:15:34.590 always broke, always working. But the economics 00:15:34.590 --> 00:15:36.750 of the industry forced his hand. And looking 00:15:36.750 --> 00:15:39.350 at the 2020s economics specifically, the source 00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:42.509 highlights the sharp rise in Chapter 12 bankruptcies. 00:15:42.509 --> 00:15:44.850 We're seeing 50 percent year over year increases 00:15:44.850 --> 00:15:47.029 in some regions. It's the squeeze. It's coming 00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:49.090 from all sides. We've got these massive price 00:15:49.090 --> 00:15:52.210 shocks from trade disputes, Mexico, China, Canada. 00:15:52.370 --> 00:15:55.669 The milk price can swing 65 cents to $1 .75 per 00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:58.110 hundredweight just because of some tariff rumor 00:15:58.110 --> 00:16:00.330 on the news. And when your margin is already 00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:02.570 razor thin, that kind of volatility is deadly. 00:16:02.710 --> 00:16:05.409 It's impossible to budget for. And then you have 00:16:05.409 --> 00:16:09.129 the input costs. Feed, fuel, labor. The article 00:16:09.129 --> 00:16:11.570 says they're up 30 to 100 percent just between 00:16:11.570 --> 00:16:14.710 2021 and 2024. That's an incredible increase 00:16:14.710 --> 00:16:17.250 in just a few years. Let's do the real world 00:16:17.250 --> 00:16:19.570 math on labor for a minute. The source brings 00:16:19.570 --> 00:16:22.889 up the H -2A visa program. So many people in 00:16:22.889 --> 00:16:25.269 the city think that immigrant labor is cheap 00:16:25.269 --> 00:16:28.490 labor. It's not cheap. Not by a long shot. No. 00:16:28.769 --> 00:16:30.690 When you add in the housing you have to provide. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:33.139 the transportation, the visa fees, the mountain 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:35.679 of compliance paperwork, the effective cost to 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:38.399 the farm is somewhere between $30 and $35 an 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:42.080 hour. $35 an hour. Try making a margin on $16 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.340 milk when your labor is costing you that much. 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:46.860 And at the same time, the processor is taking 00:16:46.860 --> 00:16:48.679 more and more of the value. That's another key 00:16:48.679 --> 00:16:51.299 point the article makes, how the value is migrating 00:16:51.299 --> 00:16:53.440 from the producers to the processors through 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:55.500 things like make allowances and de -pooling and 00:16:55.500 --> 00:16:58.440 base excess programs. Right. So the farmer is 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.539 getting squeezed from the input side with higher 00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:02.659 costs and getting squeezed from the output side 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:04.759 with processors taking a bigger piece of the 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:08.500 pie. And the mental toll of that constant, unrelenting 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:12.099 pressure. You know, farmers are good at sprinting. 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:14.200 We can sprint through harvest. We can sprint 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.299 through a bad spring planting season. But you 00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:20.500 cannot sprint forever. And that is what the economics 00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:23.200 are demanding right now, a forever sprint. And 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.420 that is what is driving this stress. Which leads 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:28.099 us directly into who is actually breaking under 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:31.539 this pressure. Segment four, demographics, succession, 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:34.180 and what the article calls the hidden depression. 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:37.180 This part of the article was really surprising 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:40.099 to me. It's called the diagnostic paradox. The 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:42.900 data actually shows that farmers often have lower 00:17:42.900 --> 00:17:45.759 measured psychiatric morbidity, which is a clinical 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:48.140 way of saying diagnosed depression, than the 00:17:48.140 --> 00:17:50.019 general population. Wait, I don't get that. So 00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:51.799 we aren't depressed, but we're killing ourselves 00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:53.500 at three times the rate. How does that work? 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:56.599 Essentially, yes. And here's the paradox. It 00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:59.259 means farmers don't show up in the system. They 00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:01.400 aren't going to a therapist and getting a code 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:04.240 for major depressive disorder put in their medical 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.779 file. They just... Check out. So we're not getting 00:18:06.779 --> 00:18:09.539 counted. Exactly. The source cites an Australian 00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:12.359 study on this. It found that farming suicides 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:14.539 were less likely to have a documented mental 00:18:14.539 --> 00:18:18.700 health history, 36 % versus 46 % for non -farmers, 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:21.500 and they were less likely to have used any mental 00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:23.839 health services recently. So they don't say, 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:26.339 I have depression. They just say, I'm done. Or 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:28.960 they think, maybe the farm would be better off 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:31.319 without me and the life insurance policy. That 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:34.220 is a terrifyingly common thought. That distinction 00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:36.579 is crucial because it means the standard red 00:18:36.579 --> 00:18:39.019 flags that the medical community is trained to 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:42.059 look for, a prior diagnosis, a history of medication, 00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:44.019 they just aren't there for a lot of farmers. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.299 We fly completely under the radar until it's 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:49.140 too late. Completely. There's also a significant 00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:52.299 gender dynamic at play here. A study from 2022 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:55.519 found that female farmers were 3 .28 times more 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:58.220 likely to report suicidal ideation. So women 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:00.299 think about it more. They think about it more. 00:19:00.990 --> 00:19:03.730 But men die more often. Because of the means. 00:19:04.470 --> 00:19:07.150 Firearms are the dominant method. It's lethal 00:19:07.150 --> 00:19:10.349 and it's immediate. There's often no second chance. 00:19:10.630 --> 00:19:13.049 And then there's the age factor. A massive heartbreaking 00:19:13.049 --> 00:19:15.890 share of these suicides are farmers over the 00:19:15.890 --> 00:19:18.930 age of 65. Which brings us to the succession 00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:22.180 stress. Right. This. This hits home for a lot 00:19:22.180 --> 00:19:25.019 of guys I know. You're 65, maybe you're 70. You've 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:27.099 worked your entire life on that piece of ground. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:30.960 Your body's worn out. And you don't have a successor. 00:19:31.299 --> 00:19:33.240 Or maybe the kids want to take over. But you 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:35.619 look at the books and you know the farm can't 00:19:35.619 --> 00:19:38.319 possibly support two families. The source describes 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.900 it as the crushing weight of being the generation 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:44.579 that failed. That is the sentence that keeps 00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:47.640 me up at night. The generation that failed. Just 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:50.200 imagine, your grandfather built the barn, your 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:53.200 father expanded the herd, and you. You're the 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:54.819 one who has to call the auctioneer and sell the 00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:58.380 cows. The identity confusion, the guilt. It doesn't 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:00.819 clock out when you leave the barn. It follows 00:20:00.819 --> 00:20:03.619 you into the house. It follows you to bed. It 00:20:03.619 --> 00:20:05.279 stares at you from the ceiling at three in the 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:07.809 morning. It's so tragic because it conflates 00:20:07.809 --> 00:20:10.309 these massive market forces, which are completely 00:20:10.309 --> 00:20:12.829 out of your control, with a sense of personal 00:20:12.829 --> 00:20:16.609 failure. But when your entire identity is the 00:20:16.609 --> 00:20:20.509 farmer, losing the farm feels exactly like losing 00:20:20.509 --> 00:20:22.650 yourself. So we have this massive problem. We 00:20:22.650 --> 00:20:24.410 have the data showing how bad it is. We have 00:20:24.410 --> 00:20:26.529 the economic pressure. We have the demographic 00:20:26.529 --> 00:20:29.410 crisis. What in the world do we do about it? 00:20:29.529 --> 00:20:33.349 Segment five, case studies and solutions. Because 00:20:33.349 --> 00:20:35.869 the toolkit is, thankfully, starting to change. 00:20:36.009 --> 00:20:38.210 It is. But first, we have to be honest about 00:20:38.210 --> 00:20:40.890 the barriers. Why don't farmers just go to the 00:20:40.890 --> 00:20:43.210 doctor and say, I'm not doing well? Well, stigma 00:20:43.210 --> 00:20:46.009 is huge. The article says 40 % of Canadian farmers 00:20:46.009 --> 00:20:48.819 admitted they'd be uneasy seeking help. But it's 00:20:48.819 --> 00:20:50.579 also just practical. It's what I call the fishbowl 00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:52.339 effect. Explain that for the listeners who maybe 00:20:52.339 --> 00:20:55.299 aren't in a small town. Okay. If I drive my truck 00:20:55.299 --> 00:20:57.859 and everyone in a five -county radius knows my 00:20:57.859 --> 00:21:00.519 truck, it's the beat -up Ford with the specific 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:03.220 decal on the back window. And I park that truck 00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:04.880 in front of the mental health clinic in town. 00:21:05.059 --> 00:21:06.900 Someone's going to see it. Within 20 minutes, 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.539 the guy at the feed mill knows, the loan officer 00:21:09.539 --> 00:21:12.559 at the bank knows, the neighbors know, and the 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:15.480 rumor mill starts churning. Jake's losing it. 00:21:15.579 --> 00:21:17.960 Is the farm in trouble? Maybe we shouldn't extend 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:20.079 him any more credit this month. That is a legitimate 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.599 business fear. It's not just paranoia. It's real 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:26.299 risk. And then there's the trust issue. I'm sorry, 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:28.839 but I do not want to talk to a town doctor who 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:30.400 has never pulled a calf at 2 in the morning. 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:32.460 I don't want to have to explain to a therapist 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:35.839 why a milk check being two days late is a full 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:38.180 -blown crisis. They just don't get it. So what 00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:40.490 does work? The source highlight peer support 00:21:40.490 --> 00:21:43.309 as one of the most effective tools. And specifically, 00:21:43.549 --> 00:21:45.690 it tells the story of Randy Roker in Wisconsin. 00:21:46.589 --> 00:21:49.809 Randy is a hero, plain and simple. He built a 00:21:49.809 --> 00:21:53.049 brand new barn right before the 2008 crash. The 00:21:53.049 --> 00:21:54.890 timing couldn't have been worse. He was losing 00:21:54.890 --> 00:21:58.150 $30 ,000 a month. $30 ,000 a month? Yeah. He 00:21:58.150 --> 00:21:59.730 said he stopped eating, he stopped sleeping, 00:21:59.890 --> 00:22:02.529 he was suicidal, and he's very open about it 00:22:02.529 --> 00:22:05.130 now. He is. He's incredibly brave in sharing 00:22:05.130 --> 00:22:07.579 his story. But here's the key to what he's doing 00:22:07.579 --> 00:22:10.799 now. He leads the Farmer Angel Network. It's 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:12.660 a support group. And where do they hold their 00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:15.559 meetings? In churches. In churches. Two counties 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:17.839 over from where the members live. Why two counties 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:20.279 over? So nobody recognizes the trucks in the 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:23.160 parking lot. That is the genius of it. It's a 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:25.359 simple, practical solution to the fishbowl effect. 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:28.519 You can walk in there and be anonymous in a sense. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:31.079 You can be vulnerable without the local gossip 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:33.859 mill grinding you up and spitting you out. That 00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:37.140 is such a smart farmer -led adaptation. The source 00:22:37.140 --> 00:22:39.420 also mentions the Sentinels program in Quebec. 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:41.940 Yeah, which is basically training agronomists, 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.180 vets, and feed reps to spot the signs of distress, 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:47.480 the people who are already on the farm. And do 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:50.880 more ag in Canada. Their slogan is so simple 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.579 but so powerful. Talk it out, don't tough it 00:22:53.579 --> 00:22:56.230 out. There's specific programs now, too, which 00:22:56.230 --> 00:22:58.750 is new. The Farmer Wellness Initiative in Ontario 00:22:58.750 --> 00:23:02.650 has a 247 line staffed by people who understand 00:23:02.650 --> 00:23:05.529 agriculture. There are ag wellness vouchers in 00:23:05.529 --> 00:23:08.349 Utah that provide up to $2 ,000 for care. And 00:23:08.349 --> 00:23:10.589 the Farm Family Wellness Alliance in the U .S. 00:23:10.609 --> 00:23:13.230 is using a platform called TogetherAll, which 00:23:13.230 --> 00:23:15.890 is totally anonymous online peer support. But 00:23:15.890 --> 00:23:18.230 I think the most revolutionary concept in this 00:23:18.230 --> 00:23:21.390 whole article is the idea of first responders. 00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:24.039 Who aren't actually paramedics or firefighters. 00:23:24.299 --> 00:23:27.180 Right. It's the vets, the feed reps, the lenders, 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:29.940 the people who are in the barn every single week. 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:32.420 They see the operational indicators that we talked 00:23:32.420 --> 00:23:34.859 about earlier. They see the lame cows. Exactly. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:38.279 Your vet knows if you skip the last three herd 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:40.640 checks. Your nutritionist knows if you're just 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:43.160 staring at the bunk, totally zoned out while 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:44.900 they're trying to talk to you about protein levels. 00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:47.500 Your lender knows if you're being evasive about 00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:49.799 your financials. They see the cracks forming 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:52.869 before anyone else. The source suggests training 00:23:52.869 --> 00:23:55.089 these people in something called QPR question, 00:23:55.390 --> 00:23:59.029 persuade, refer, or in mental health first aid. 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:02.170 It just makes sense. If a feed rep sees that 00:24:02.170 --> 00:24:04.730 the feed inventory is stretched way too thin 00:24:04.730 --> 00:24:07.549 and the farmer is acting erratic and angry, that 00:24:07.549 --> 00:24:09.849 rep is in a much better position to say something 00:24:09.849 --> 00:24:12.329 than a doctor the farmer sees once a year for 00:24:12.329 --> 00:24:14.549 a checkup. But that requires the feed rep to 00:24:14.549 --> 00:24:17.150 know how to say something, what to say, and what 00:24:17.150 --> 00:24:21.240 not to say. Which brings us to segment six. contrarian 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:24.980 takes how to actually talk to a farmer who is 00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:28.259 struggling this is the hard part because we are 00:24:28.259 --> 00:24:32.380 as a group socially awkward people we generally 00:24:32.380 --> 00:24:35.279 like cows better than we like people the article 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.420 contrasts the cheer up approach versus what it 00:24:38.420 --> 00:24:40.980 calls radical directness please for the love 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:43.099 of god never tell a farmer who's in a deep hole 00:24:43.099 --> 00:24:45.640 that it's devastating It sounds like pity. It 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:47.500 sounds like you're writing their obituary while 00:24:47.500 --> 00:24:48.720 they're still standing there. It's the worst 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:50.359 thing you can say. So what should you say? What's 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:53.339 the alternative? Empathy, not sympathy. Something 00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:56.299 like, man, this is a tough spot. I know a couple 00:24:56.299 --> 00:24:57.920 of other farms going through this exact same 00:24:57.920 --> 00:24:59.819 thing right now. Let's talk through what happens 00:24:59.819 --> 00:25:02.500 next. It turns it from a feeling into a plan. 00:25:03.180 --> 00:25:05.559 We're good with plans. We can work with a plan. 00:25:05.720 --> 00:25:08.200 It externalizes the problem. It's not you are 00:25:08.200 --> 00:25:11.160 a failure. It's we have a problem to solve. Exactly. 00:25:11.339 --> 00:25:14.019 And then there's the hardest question. The one 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:16.579 everyone is terrified to ask. The suicide question. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:20.380 There is a pervasive myth that asking someone 00:25:20.380 --> 00:25:23.359 if they are suicidal will somehow put the idea 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:25.319 in their head. All the experts, all the research 00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:28.839 says that is absolutely 100 % false. If they're 00:25:28.839 --> 00:25:30.960 at that point, trust me, the idea is already 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.099 there. You're not introducing anything new. So 00:25:33.099 --> 00:25:35.079 the script the source provides is simple and 00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:37.059 direct. You look them in the eye and you ask, 00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:39.319 has it gotten bad enough that you've thought 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:42.160 about ending your life? Direct. No euphemisms 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:44.789 like, hurting yourself? Just ask the question. 00:25:44.950 --> 00:25:47.410 And if the answer is yes, what's the protocol? 00:25:47.609 --> 00:25:49.910 You stay. That's rule number one. You do not 00:25:49.910 --> 00:25:53.329 leave them alone. You call for help, 988 in the 00:25:53.329 --> 00:25:56.809 US, or that 1 -866 -FARMS -EAR -01 number in 00:25:56.809 --> 00:25:59.289 Canada. You remove access to lethal means if 00:25:59.289 --> 00:26:01.789 you can do it safely. But mostly, you just stay. 00:26:01.910 --> 00:26:03.769 You listen. You are a physical presence that 00:26:03.769 --> 00:26:05.509 says you're not alone in this. It's powerful 00:26:05.509 --> 00:26:08.190 stuff. Really powerful. It is. And I think... 00:26:08.889 --> 00:26:10.869 You know, I'll be honest, I was skeptical at 00:26:10.869 --> 00:26:12.369 the start of reading all this material. I thought, 00:26:12.390 --> 00:26:14.190 here we go, another fluffy piece about feelings. 00:26:14.789 --> 00:26:18.369 But that link to lameness in the herd, the economic 00:26:18.369 --> 00:26:21.609 reality of the forever sprint, that made it real 00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:24.650 for me. That grounded it. Same here. It grounds 00:26:24.650 --> 00:26:27.349 the mental health crisis in the physical, tangible 00:26:27.349 --> 00:26:30.049 reality of the farm. It's not abstract anymore. 00:26:30.329 --> 00:26:32.400 All right. We've covered a lot of ground here, 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:34.839 some of it pretty rough. But a farmer just finished 00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:36.660 milking. He's driving to the feed store, and 00:26:36.660 --> 00:26:39.380 his head is spinning with all this. What are 00:26:39.380 --> 00:26:41.740 the three things he or she absolutely needs to 00:26:41.740 --> 00:26:44.740 remember from today? Give me the actionable insights. 00:26:45.180 --> 00:26:47.319 All right, let's break it down. Immediate, medium, 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:50.940 and long -term. So, number one, immediate action. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:53.359 This is for this week. It's simple. Post the 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:55.740 numbers. Don't wait until you're in a crisis. 00:26:56.220 --> 00:26:58.619 Don't wait until an employee is struggling. Take 00:26:58.619 --> 00:27:01.349 a Sharpie right now. Write 988 if you're in the 00:27:01.349 --> 00:27:05.190 U .S. or 1 -866 -FARMS -WO -01 if you're in Canada 00:27:05.190 --> 00:27:08.130 on the parlor whiteboard. Put it on a magnet 00:27:08.130 --> 00:27:10.829 on the shop fridge. Post it in the staff break 00:27:10.829 --> 00:27:12.690 room. And tell your team what it is, right? Don't 00:27:12.690 --> 00:27:15.029 just put a number. Yes, absolutely. Normalize 00:27:15.029 --> 00:27:17.569 it. Say, hey, this is here. If you or anyone 00:27:17.569 --> 00:27:19.309 you know is having a tough time, it's confidential 00:27:19.309 --> 00:27:21.569 and it's for us. And here's a specific tactic 00:27:21.569 --> 00:27:24.009 I really like from the source. The rule of seven. 00:27:24.130 --> 00:27:26.410 The rule of seven? If your personal stress level 00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:29.019 is a 7 out of 10 or higher. And by that, I mean 00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:31.079 you are waking up in the morning already feeling 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:33.980 behind before your feet even hit the floor. Make 00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:37.700 one call. Just one. Test it for an hour. You 00:27:37.700 --> 00:27:39.880 aren't committing to a lifetime of therapy. You're 00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:41.619 just checking the pressure valve on the system. 00:27:41.779 --> 00:27:43.839 I like that. The rule of seven. It gives you 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:46.660 a tangible metric. It's not just a vague if you 00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:49.000 feel bad. What's the medium term? Number two, 00:27:49.099 --> 00:27:52.200 medium term strategy. This is for the next three 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:54.279 to six months. I'm calling it the mirror check. 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:56.880 The mirror check. Pull 12 months of your herd 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:00.240 data. Specifically, look at three things. Your 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.259 rate of severe lameness, your somatic cell count 00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:06.119 trends, and your fresh cow problems. Ketosis, 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:09.180 DAs, metritis. The mental health KPIs we talked 00:28:09.180 --> 00:28:12.359 about. Exactly. Lay that data out. If the cows 00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:14.700 look rough on paper, if lameness is creeping 00:28:14.700 --> 00:28:17.599 up, if SCC is bouncing around and you find yourself 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.880 snapping at the kids at home or kicking the tractor 00:28:19.880 --> 00:28:22.579 tires in frustration, treat that as a combined 00:28:22.579 --> 00:28:25.759 red flag. So do just treat the cows. Do not just 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:29.119 treat the cows. Treat the operator. Recognize 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:31.640 that it is a herd health A &D, a farmer health 00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:34.579 issue. They are linked. The herd is a mirror 00:28:34.579 --> 00:28:36.940 reflecting the well -being of the manager. That's 00:28:36.940 --> 00:28:39.460 a good one. If the cows are limping, ask yourself 00:28:39.460 --> 00:28:41.720 why you might be limping, metaphorically. Yeah. 00:28:41.900 --> 00:28:44.299 Okay. What's the long -term play? Number three, 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:47.019 long -term positioning. This is for the next 00:28:47.019 --> 00:28:49.920 one to two years. It's about legacy and training. 00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:53.380 Two parts here. First, training. Get one person 00:28:53.380 --> 00:28:56.140 on your operations certified in QPR or mental 00:28:56.140 --> 00:28:58.660 health first aid. Just one. Just one to start. 00:28:58.759 --> 00:29:00.480 Maybe it's your spouse. Maybe it's your most 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:02.839 trusted employee. Maybe it's you. Make it as 00:29:02.839 --> 00:29:05.339 normal as getting your CPR and first aid training. 00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:08.119 It's another tool in the farm safety kit. Just 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:09.880 part of the standard operating procedures for 00:29:09.880 --> 00:29:12.039 safety. I like it. Exactly. And the second part 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:16.259 is succession. Create a human column in your 00:29:16.259 --> 00:29:19.769 yearly business plan. A human call. Yes. We plan 00:29:19.769 --> 00:29:21.789 for corn yields. We plan for milk production. 00:29:21.950 --> 00:29:24.730 We plan for capital expenditures. We never plan 00:29:24.730 --> 00:29:27.009 for the people. So even if you don't have a successor 00:29:27.009 --> 00:29:30.329 lined up yet, sketch out a rough transition plan. 00:29:30.529 --> 00:29:32.230 What would it look like? What are the options? 00:29:32.309 --> 00:29:35.309 Just the act of writing it down can relieve some 00:29:35.309 --> 00:29:37.569 of that immense pressure of it all ends with 00:29:37.569 --> 00:29:40.670 me. That human column is vital. It's probably 00:29:40.670 --> 00:29:42.369 the most important column and the one we always 00:29:42.369 --> 00:29:44.700 leave blank. That's the list. Post the numbers 00:29:44.700 --> 00:29:47.059 this week, check the mirror of your herd data 00:29:47.059 --> 00:29:49.539 this season, and start training for the future 00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:52.460 of your people this year. Solid, actionable advice. 00:29:52.579 --> 00:29:55.579 And look, to the listeners out there, we know 00:29:55.579 --> 00:29:57.480 it's tough right now. We really do. The milk 00:29:57.480 --> 00:29:59.779 price is what it is. The input costs are brutal. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:02.960 But you are the most valuable asset on that farm. 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:05.279 Not the tractor, not the robot, not that high 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:08.160 genomic heifer you just bought. You. And if that 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:10.650 asset breaks down... Nothing else matters. Well 00:30:10.650 --> 00:30:12.829 said. This has been another Bullvine podcast 00:30:12.829 --> 00:30:15.490 from the Bullvine podcast. For more straight 00:30:15.490 --> 00:30:17.750 talking industry analysis and for the links to 00:30:17.750 --> 00:30:19.650 every single resource we mentioned today, especially 00:30:19.650 --> 00:30:23.069 those hotline numbers, head to www .thebullvine 00:30:23.069 --> 00:30:25.490 .com. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 00:30:25.910 --> 00:30:27.930 We're out with new episodes every day and upcoming 00:30:27.930 --> 00:30:30.730 topics will be a real pivot from this one. We're 00:30:30.730 --> 00:30:32.549 going to tease the truth about hyper rearing 00:30:32.549 --> 00:30:35.210 costs. So stay tuned for that. And please stay 00:30:35.210 --> 00:30:40.759 safe out there. Thank you.