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 --> 00:01:03.140 we're sparking Welcome back to the Bullvine Podcast, 00:01:03.340 --> 00:01:05.019 where we cut through the dairy industry noise 00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:06.840 to get you the insights that actually matter 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:10.739 for your operation. Hey, everyone. We are usually 00:01:10.739 --> 00:01:14.700 here arguing about genomic TPI lists, dissecting 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:17.420 market fluctuations, or maybe debating whether 00:01:17.420 --> 00:01:20.079 the latest parlor tech is actually worth the 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:24.230 ROI. But today... Today is a hard pivot. It is 00:01:24.230 --> 00:01:26.170 a pivot. And frankly, I had to sit with this 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:28.189 one for a minute. I bet. When we first looked 00:01:28.189 --> 00:01:30.069 at the editorial calendar and I saw the topic, 00:01:30.230 --> 00:01:32.730 the Farmer Angel Network, saving lives in the 00:01:32.730 --> 00:01:35.909 driveway, my gut reaction, and I think a lot 00:01:35.909 --> 00:01:38.549 of our listeners will feel this, was to push 00:01:38.549 --> 00:01:40.629 back a little. Sure. We're a technical show. 00:01:40.750 --> 00:01:43.569 We talk margins. We talk efficiency. This feels... 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:46.700 Well, it feels soft. I get that. It feels like 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:48.939 something for a breathless morning show, not 00:01:48.939 --> 00:01:51.680 for us. You know, why are we burning an hour 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.400 on feelings when milk futures are trending the 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:56.799 way they are? I completely expected that pushback. 00:01:56.900 --> 00:01:59.280 And honestly, if this were just about feelings 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:02.439 or, you know, holding hands, I'd agree with you. 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:04.579 We wouldn't run it. But let me ask you this. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.280 Look at your P &L sheet. Look at the labor line. 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:15.560 Look at the management protocols. Okay. 80 undiagnosed 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:19.379 was actively driving up your call rate and was 00:02:19.379 --> 00:02:21.800 the single biggest threat to the legacy transfer 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:24.840 of the farm to the next generation would you 00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:28.180 call that soft no i'd call that a biosecurity 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:31.960 crisis exactly and that is what we're looking 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:34.539 at we are diving deep into a feature piece on 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:36.990 the mental health crisis in dairy But we are 00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:39.009 doing it the bullvine way. Okay. We are not here 00:02:39.009 --> 00:02:40.770 for platitudes. We are not here for thoughts 00:02:40.770 --> 00:02:43.490 and prayers. We are looking at the hard data, 00:02:43.590 --> 00:02:46.530 the neuroscience of why stress destroys your 00:02:46.530 --> 00:02:49.669 management ability and the logistical solutions 00:02:49.669 --> 00:02:51.750 to keep the operator functioning. Fair enough. 00:02:51.789 --> 00:02:53.849 You framed it as an operational risk and that 00:02:53.849 --> 00:02:55.990 got my attention. It is. Because the stakes right 00:02:55.990 --> 00:02:59.349 now, they couldn't be higher. Oh. We need to 00:02:59.349 --> 00:03:01.110 set the contest before we even get into the specific 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:03.729 story. Why is this hitting so hard right now? 00:03:03.889 --> 00:03:06.159 It's the compression. Let's just look at the 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:08.120 numbers. We track the dairy curve here constantly. 00:03:08.379 --> 00:03:10.800 All the time. Wisconsin America's dairy land 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.900 went from roughly 15 ,500 dairy farms in the 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:20.800 year 2000. Right. To just 5 ,222 in 2024. Wow. 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:25.020 That is a staggering consolidation. It's a bloodbath. 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:27.699 Let's just call it what it is. That's 10 ,000 00:03:27.699 --> 00:03:31.159 herds gone. 10 ,000. That's 10 ,000 bulk tanks 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:34.400 that went dry. That's 10 ,000 driveways that 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.000 don't have a milk truck turning in anymore. And 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.599 the bovine's own projections map this out even 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.400 further. We could be looking at the U .S. heading 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:45.879 toward 15 ,000 total herds by 2035. Which is 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:48.199 coming up fast. And potentially under 10 ,000 00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:50.659 by 2050 if the current pressure holds. Think 00:03:50.659 --> 00:03:52.919 about the psychology of that for a second. Every 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.479 single one of those exits isn't just a business 00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:58.560 closing. It's usually a multi -generational failure 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.840 in the eyes of the person signing the papers. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.879 That's the part that gets lost. You feel like 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.259 you are fighting for the survival of your history. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:08.599 You are staring at a spreadsheet that says you 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:10.800 might be the one to lose grandpa's farm. That 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.860 pressure. It's a pressure cooker that breaks 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:17.000 pipes. And that pressure. creates a specific 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.660 kind of crisis. Yeah. I want to tease a statistic 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:21.360 right at the top here because it blew my mind 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:23.620 and it frames this whole conversation. Okay. 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:27.360 We have this idea that we know who is struggling, 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:29.879 right? That we can see it. We think we can. Yeah. 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:32.019 We think, oh, I haven't seen Bob at the coffee 00:04:32.019 --> 00:04:34.660 shop or the yard looks a little messy. We think 00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:38.139 we have a radar for this. But the data says our 00:04:38.139 --> 00:04:41.379 radar is broken. We are missing almost everyone. 00:04:42.149 --> 00:04:44.370 According to a massive study we're going to discuss, 00:04:44.629 --> 00:04:48.189 81 % of farmers and ranchers who died by suicide 00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:51.290 had never seen a doctor for mental health. 81. 00:04:51.689 --> 00:04:54.730 Not once. The system is missing nearly everyone. 00:04:54.870 --> 00:04:56.529 So that means the current go -to -the -clinic 00:04:56.529 --> 00:04:58.769 model is failing four out of five of us. It's 00:04:58.769 --> 00:05:00.350 just not catching the signal. It's not working. 00:05:00.449 --> 00:05:02.290 And here's the other hook, the operational angle 00:05:02.290 --> 00:05:05.750 we teased. Right. There is hard data now, specifically 00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:09.810 from a study on robotic milking herds, linking 00:05:09.810 --> 00:05:11.990 the farmer's mental state directly to the herd's 00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:15.970 physical health, specifically lameness. The research 00:05:15.970 --> 00:05:17.829 suggests the cows know you're struggling before 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:19.889 your family does. That gave me chills when I 00:05:19.889 --> 00:05:21.850 read it. You too. But we're going to unpack the 00:05:21.850 --> 00:05:24.209 biology of that later, why your brain literally 00:05:24.209 --> 00:05:26.529 stops seeing the lame cow when you're stressed. 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:29.699 But first, a quick disclaimer. We are going deep 00:05:29.699 --> 00:05:32.579 into suicide and depression. We are analyzing 00:05:32.579 --> 00:05:35.319 data. We are not giving medical advice. If you 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:37.319 or someone you know is in crisis right now, the 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:42.300 number is 988. 988. That's the Suicide and Crisis 00:05:42.300 --> 00:05:46.160 Lifeline or the Wisconsin Farmer Wellness Helpline 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:51.439 at 1 -888 -901 -2558. Just save those numbers. 00:05:51.779 --> 00:05:54.040 Okay, let's get into the deep dive. Segment one. 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:57.600 The problem identification. And to understand 00:05:57.600 --> 00:05:59.360 this, we can't just look at a chart. We have 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.720 to look at a life. We need to talk about Randy 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.139 Roketer. Randy is a name a lot of people in the 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:06.199 Midwest know by now. But for those who don't, 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:08.480 he's a third generation farmer from Loganville, 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:12.220 Wisconsin. And his story. Man, it sounds like 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:14.149 the story of a thousand guys I know. It starts 00:06:14.149 --> 00:06:15.709 with ambition. It really does. So let's set the 00:06:15.709 --> 00:06:18.790 scene. It's 2006. The economy is humming. Randy 00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:21.370 is rooted in 700 acres his grandfather established 00:06:21.370 --> 00:06:24.589 back in the 1930s. He goes to the University 00:06:24.589 --> 00:06:26.569 of Wisconsin farm and industry short course. 00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:29.730 So he's educated. He's motivated. And he comes 00:06:29.730 --> 00:06:32.410 home with a vision. He wants to modernize. Which 00:06:32.410 --> 00:06:34.449 is what we're all told to do, right? Get big 00:06:34.449 --> 00:06:37.709 or get out. The industry consultants, the lenders, 00:06:37.829 --> 00:06:40.509 everyone is singing the same tune. So he commits 00:06:40.509 --> 00:06:44.300 to a major extension. Roker's Rolling Acres. 00:06:44.339 --> 00:06:46.420 This wasn't just a remodel. This was a transformation. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.959 No. New freestall barn, new milking parlor, pushing 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.259 capacity to 300 cows. And think about the sensory 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:56.240 details of that moment. You know that feeling? 00:06:56.420 --> 00:06:58.819 The smell of fresh concrete? Oh, yeah. The way 00:06:58.819 --> 00:07:01.339 the stainless steel shines before the first milking. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.160 It's intoxicating. It feels like success. It 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:05.800 feels like you've made it. You're building the 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:08.439 future for your kids. And to do that, he takes 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:12.399 on roughly $3 million in new debt. And in 2006, 00:07:12.579 --> 00:07:14.800 that math probably looked okay. I mean, milk 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.860 was around $18 per hundredweight. Yeah, at $18 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:19.800 milk, you can service that debt, the cash flow 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:22.639 models work, the lender is happy, you feel good, 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:26.139 you're leveraged, sure, but it's good debt. But 00:07:26.139 --> 00:07:29.529 then 2009 hits. The crash, the 2008 financial 00:07:29.529 --> 00:07:32.550 crisis finally rolled into the milk check. Prices 00:07:32.550 --> 00:07:35.350 dropped from that comfortable $18 down to under 00:07:35.350 --> 00:07:38.430 $9 per hundredweight in some markets. I want 00:07:38.430 --> 00:07:40.529 everyone to just pause and do that math. You 00:07:40.529 --> 00:07:43.889 have $3 million in leverage. You built your business 00:07:43.889 --> 00:07:46.829 model on $18 milk, and suddenly you are getting 00:07:46.829 --> 00:07:49.970 $9. It's half. That isn't a tight month. That 00:07:49.970 --> 00:07:52.550 is a catastrophe. There is no margin. There is 00:07:52.550 --> 00:07:54.850 negative margin. The source material says the 00:07:54.850 --> 00:07:57.329 family was hemorrhaging and estimated $30 ,000 00:07:57.329 --> 00:08:02.509 every single month. $30 ,000 a month. Let's linger 00:08:02.509 --> 00:08:05.170 on that. Imagine sitting at the kitchen table 00:08:05.170 --> 00:08:07.250 on the first of the month. You open the milk 00:08:07.250 --> 00:08:09.490 check. You open the feed bill. You open the loan 00:08:09.490 --> 00:08:13.410 statement. And you are 30 grand short. And you 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:15.629 know that in 30 days, you're going to be 30 grand 00:08:15.629 --> 00:08:17.769 short again. That burns through equity fast. 00:08:18.129 --> 00:08:20.670 That burns through savings. That burns through 00:08:20.670 --> 00:08:23.279 hope. Randy said it plainly at a Farm Bureau 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.500 workshop later. He said, I was afraid of being 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:29.540 the one to lose my grandfather's farm, the one 00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:32.179 to lose this legacy for the children and for 00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:34.820 the future. And that is the nightmare. That is 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:37.100 the thing that wakes you up at 3 a .m. in a cold 00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:39.559 sweat. It's not just about money. It's about 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:43.700 identity. If you lose the farm, who are you? 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:46.500 And that financial pressure triggered a depression 00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:50.090 that consumed him for seven years. And this is 00:08:50.090 --> 00:08:52.110 the part that really struck me. He calls it the 00:08:52.110 --> 00:08:56.049 spiral. It's invisible. Nobody sees it except 00:08:56.049 --> 00:08:58.789 the cows and the farmer staring at the parlor 00:08:58.789 --> 00:09:01.429 wall at 4 a .m. That image of staring at the 00:09:01.429 --> 00:09:04.539 parlor wall. Man, that hits home for anyone who 00:09:04.539 --> 00:09:06.539 has milked cows during a downturn. You're just 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:08.580 going through the motions. Muscle memory takes 00:09:08.580 --> 00:09:11.000 over. Dip, strip, wipe, attach. Dip, strip, wipe, 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:13.679 attach. Right. But your mind, your mind is in 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:15.379 a dark room. You're running the numbers over 00:09:15.379 --> 00:09:17.720 and over, hoping they change, but they don't. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.759 And the isolation is the killer. You feel so 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:23.200 alone. You think you're the only one losing money. 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:25.360 You think everyone else is managing just fine, 00:09:25.419 --> 00:09:28.320 so you must be the failure. Now. Randy actually 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.200 did seek treatment. This is really important. 00:09:30.620 --> 00:09:32.860 He didn't just suffer in silence the whole time. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.200 She tried to get help. Which takes guts. It does. 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:37.299 But he talks about the failure of traditional 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:40.659 care. He saw providers, but he said none of them 00:09:40.659 --> 00:09:43.779 spoke dairy. This is a huge structural issue. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.539 You finally work up the courage to go to a therapist 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:49.299 in town. You sit on that couch and they say, 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:51.820 well, Randy. You seem incredibly stressed. Why 00:09:51.820 --> 00:09:54.399 don't you take two weeks off? Go somewhere warm. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:56.860 Decompress. Right. Just take a vacation. And 00:09:56.860 --> 00:09:58.639 you look at them like they have three heads. 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:02.019 Who is going to milk? Who is going to feed? Who 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:04.299 is going to scrape the alleys? I can't just lock 00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:07.620 the door at 5 p .m. No. If the provider doesn't 00:10:07.620 --> 00:10:09.840 understand that the farm is a living organism 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:14.490 that demands 247 -365 attention. The advice they 00:10:14.490 --> 00:10:17.210 give isn't just useless, it's alienating. It 00:10:17.210 --> 00:10:19.330 makes it worse. It makes you feel even more alone 00:10:19.330 --> 00:10:21.289 because even the helper doesn't get it. It just 00:10:21.289 --> 00:10:23.490 reinforces the idea that there is no way out. 00:10:23.690 --> 00:10:26.950 So he's in this spiral. The system is failing 00:10:26.950 --> 00:10:30.669 him. But the catalyst for change, the moment 00:10:30.669 --> 00:10:33.610 the dam broke, it wasn't a therapy session. No. 00:10:33.730 --> 00:10:36.070 It was a tragedy right next door. Yes. October 00:10:36.070 --> 00:10:41.049 8th, 2018. A neighbor, Leon Statz. Leon was 57, 00:10:41.429 --> 00:10:44.450 a fellow dairy farmer. By all accounts, a good 00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:47.549 operator. But he had battled depression for 20 00:10:47.549 --> 00:10:51.190 years, and on that day, he died by suicide. And 00:10:51.190 --> 00:10:52.950 Randy couldn't even go to the funeral. It hit 00:10:52.950 --> 00:10:55.309 too close to home. He was seeing his own possible 00:10:55.309 --> 00:10:59.190 future. Exactly. But shortly after that, Randy 00:10:59.190 --> 00:11:01.129 is in the parking lot of St. Peter's Lucerne 00:11:01.129 --> 00:11:03.970 Church in Loganville. And this is the moment. 00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:06.250 He breaks down in front of his friends. He told 00:11:06.250 --> 00:11:08.330 them, you guys just don't know what it's like 00:11:08.330 --> 00:11:10.509 dealing with this. And that is the breach in 00:11:10.509 --> 00:11:13.789 the tough guy culture. We are taught to be stoic. 00:11:13.830 --> 00:11:15.809 We are taught that complaining doesn't get the 00:11:15.809 --> 00:11:18.669 haybald. You don't cry in the parking lot. But 00:11:18.669 --> 00:11:21.409 he did. He did. And because he did, the silence 00:11:21.409 --> 00:11:24.450 broke. That breakdown led to a meeting. Just 00:11:24.450 --> 00:11:27.129 a meeting in the church basement. No real agenda. 00:11:27.289 --> 00:11:31.240 Just let's talk. 50 people showed up. 50. In 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:33.440 a small rural community where nobody talks about 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:35.740 feelings, Randy said a lot of tears were shed. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:39.120 Nobody had a plan. Nobody had a nonprofit charter. 00:11:39.419 --> 00:11:42.220 They just knew that Leon was gone, Randy was 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:44.580 hurting, and they couldn't keep doing this everything 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:47.259 is fine act anymore. That meeting in the church 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:50.480 basement was a watershed moment. But let me play 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:52.620 devil's advocate for a second. Go for it. It's 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:55.539 easy to look at Randy's story. The debt. the 00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:58.460 2009 crash and say, well, that's tragic, but 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:01.580 that's one guy who got over leveraged. Is Randy 00:12:01.580 --> 00:12:04.539 actually an outlier or is he just the only one 00:12:04.539 --> 00:12:06.960 loud enough for us to hear? I ask myself the 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.960 same thing. You want to believe it's an anomaly. 00:12:09.059 --> 00:12:10.960 You want to believe most guys are handling it. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.379 Right. But when we pulled the CDC data for the 00:12:13.379 --> 00:12:16.100 industry reality check, the numbers didn't just 00:12:16.100 --> 00:12:18.500 back Randy up. They suggested he's actually the 00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:21.179 lucky one. Oh, so? Because he survived to talk 00:12:21.179 --> 00:12:23.919 about it. The data indicates that for every Randy 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:26.539 speaking in a church, there are thousands of 00:12:26.539 --> 00:12:29.200 silent casualties. And this moves us into our 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.820 second segment, the industry reality check. Yeah. 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:33.820 Let's look at that Bjornestad study from 2022. 00:12:34.299 --> 00:12:37.059 They use CDC National Violent Death Reporting 00:12:37.059 --> 00:12:40.519 System data from 2003 to 2018. This is a massive 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:42.860 data set. It is. And this is where we get that 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:47.120 number we mentioned in the intro, 81%. Specifically, 00:12:47.340 --> 00:12:51.929 81 % of farmers and ranchers. who died by suicide 00:12:51.929 --> 00:12:54.190 had never received mental health treatment never 00:12:54.190 --> 00:12:56.730 compare that to the general population it's still 00:12:56.730 --> 00:12:59.370 low for them maybe 50 to 60 percent untreated 00:12:59.370 --> 00:13:03.690 but for farmers it's practically non -existent 00:13:03.690 --> 00:13:06.690 and there's a diagnostic paradox here that i 00:13:06.690 --> 00:13:09.009 want to unpack because it's confusing at first 00:13:09.009 --> 00:13:13.009 glance it is farmers are actually 20 less likely 00:13:13.009 --> 00:13:15.570 to have a diagnosed mental illness than the general 00:13:15.570 --> 00:13:19.240 population but they have a suicide rate that 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:22.220 is three and a half times higher, how do you 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:24.500 square those two numbers? It's simple. If you 00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:26.419 don't go to the doctor, you don't get diagnosed. 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:28.980 It's not that farmers are mentally healthier. 00:13:29.139 --> 00:13:30.679 It's not that we don't have depression. It's 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:33.200 that we are invisible to the health care system. 00:13:33.259 --> 00:13:35.440 It's all off the books until the coroner gets 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.580 involved. Why is that? Is it just stubbornness? 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:40.120 It's a mix. One, the clinic model doesn't work 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:42.179 for us. Like we said, who has time to drive an 00:13:42.179 --> 00:13:45.779 hour to the city? Two, the stigma. In a small 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:48.980 town, everyone knows your truck. If your Ford 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:51.799 F -250 with the farm logo on the side is parked 00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:53.879 outside the mental health clinic on Main Street, 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.279 by the time you get home, three neighbors know. 00:13:56.419 --> 00:13:58.980 That is a huge factor, the lack of anonymity. 00:13:58.980 --> 00:14:01.179 You can't just slip in and out. And three, and 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:04.399 this is the dark part, the means. The study showed 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:07.620 a massive lethality gap. What does that mean? 00:14:08.340 --> 00:14:12.460 74 .2 % of farmer suicides involve firearms. 00:14:12.820 --> 00:14:16.899 For non -farmers, it's about 50%. That. is a 00:14:16.899 --> 00:14:19.039 critical data point. And we have to talk about 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:20.919 that without getting political. It's just a fact 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:23.080 of the environment. Exactly. Most farms have 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:25.500 guns. It's a tool of the trade. You have them 00:14:25.500 --> 00:14:28.980 for pest control, for varmints, for humane euthanasia 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:31.379 of downed cows. They are accessible. They are 00:14:31.379 --> 00:14:33.820 in the truck or by the door. And when you combine 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:36.620 a moment of acute crisis, that breaking point 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:38.600 where the pain is unbearable, with immediate 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:41.200 access to a lethal firearm, there is no second 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:43.019 chance. There's no time for the impulse to pass. 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:45.159 No. You don't get to wake up in the ER and get 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.840 help. The analysis here is stark. If the farmers 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:51.340 aren't going to the clinic, that's the 81%. And 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:54.639 the means of death are highly lethal and immediately 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:57.799 available, relying on awareness or go -see -your 00:14:57.799 --> 00:15:00.559 -doctor campaigns, is basically useless. It's 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.379 a broken pipeline. It is. It's structurally flawed. 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:05.200 You can't wait for the farmer to come to the 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:06.960 clinic. You have to go to the driveway. Which 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:09.600 brings us to the operational impact. Yeah. Segment 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.289 three, follow the money. Because even if you 00:15:12.289 --> 00:15:14.809 are the stoic type who says, I don't have feelings, 00:15:14.950 --> 00:15:17.889 I just have work, this affects you. Right. If 00:15:17.889 --> 00:15:19.570 you don't care about your headspace, care about 00:15:19.570 --> 00:15:21.669 your milk check. Because they are connected. 00:15:21.950 --> 00:15:24.590 And not just in a vague, good vibes way. Not 00:15:24.590 --> 00:15:26.590 at all. This comes from the University of Guelph, 00:15:26.610 --> 00:15:30.679 a 20 and 21 study. They surveyed 28 Ontario dairy 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:33.779 farms, specifically ones with robotic milkers. 00:15:34.019 --> 00:15:37.059 Why robots? Because robots generate a ton of 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:39.340 objective data. They don't have opinions. They 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:42.899 measure milk speed, box visits, rumination, kickoffs. 00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:45.120 And what did they find? They found a statistically 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.779 significant association between the farmer's 00:15:47.779 --> 00:15:50.259 anxiety and depression scores and the prevalence 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:53.179 of severe lameness in the herd. Okay, connect 00:15:53.179 --> 00:15:56.000 the dots for us. How does a depressed farmer 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.559 equal a lame cow? It's the feedback loop. We 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:01.980 call it management drift. I want to drill into 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:04.179 the biology of that because I think a lot of 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:06.179 guys hear that and think it's just being lazy. 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:09.059 It's not. It's not. It's neurological. Explain 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:11.460 that. When a brain is under chronic cortisol 00:16:11.460 --> 00:16:13.960 exposure, which is exactly what financial stress 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:16.960 is, the prefrontal cortex actually shrinks. That's 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:20.580 the CEO of your brain. It handles planning, working 00:16:20.580 --> 00:16:23.460 memory, executive function. So the part of the 00:16:23.460 --> 00:16:25.600 brain responsible for spotting a subtle change 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.019 in gait or remembering to call the hoof tremor 00:16:28.019 --> 00:16:31.340 is physically compromised. Exactly. It's called 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:34.059 tunneling. You focus intensely on the immediate 00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:36.480 threat, the overdraft notice, the broken scraper, 00:16:36.539 --> 00:16:40.059 and your peripheral vision vanishes. You literally 00:16:40.059 --> 00:16:42.639 stop seeing the cow that's shifting her weight 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:44.740 in the stall. You're not choosing to ignore her. 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:48.220 No. Your brain is filtering her out to save energy 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:50.840 for the crisis. That's why the lameness data 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:53.460 is so damning. It's an objective record of your 00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:56.100 cognitive tunnel vision. And the cost of that 00:16:56.100 --> 00:16:58.779 is real. The source breaks it down. Lameness 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:03.240 costs anywhere from $76 to over $500 per case. 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:06.220 Per case. That's lost milk, reduced fertility, 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:08.960 treatment costs, and early culling. And that 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.299 creates a vicious cycle. The farmer is stressed, 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:14.980 so management slips due to tunneling. Management 00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:17.619 slips, so POWs get lame or somatic cell counts 00:17:17.619 --> 00:17:20.980 go up. That leads to financial loss. The financial 00:17:20.980 --> 00:17:23.539 loss creates more stress for the farmer and the 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:26.259 spiral just gets deeper. It's a feedback loop 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:28.799 from hell. It is. And the fascinating thing about 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:31.180 this study is the suggestion that the herd data 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:33.599 is an early warning system. Right. Rumination 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:36.059 sensors, milk meters, they can pick up drops 00:17:36.059 --> 00:17:38.299 three to five days before clinical signs of illness 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:40.400 in the cow. Yeah. But what this is suggesting 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.240 is that these metrics might be diagnosing the 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:46.130 manager. Think about it. If you see a herd -wide 00:17:46.130 --> 00:17:50.430 dip in rumination consistency or a spike in uneven 00:17:50.430 --> 00:17:54.430 milk -out times and there's no feed change, the 00:17:54.430 --> 00:17:57.829 cows aren't sick. The routine is sick. The person 00:17:57.829 --> 00:18:00.630 attaching the units is moving differently. They 00:18:00.630 --> 00:18:03.650 are erratic. The sensor is picking up the human's 00:18:03.650 --> 00:18:05.750 lack of rhythm. If you see the herd sliding, 00:18:06.190 --> 00:18:08.660 you need to ask how the manager is doing. That 00:18:08.660 --> 00:18:11.319 is a powerful reframing. It's not just I'm sad. 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:13.500 It's my management capability is compromised. 00:18:13.740 --> 00:18:16.759 Exactly. For the industry, for the vets and nutritionists 00:18:16.759 --> 00:18:18.680 listening, this is a tool. If the cows are off, 00:18:18.779 --> 00:18:20.539 look at the guy holding the pitchfork. Which 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:23.579 leads us perfectly to the solution. Segment four, 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:27.180 the Farmer Angel Network, or FAN. We know the 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:29.240 clinic model failed Randy. We know the tough 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:31.759 it out model failed Leon Statz. So what do they 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:33.849 build instead? They realized they had to bypass 00:18:33.849 --> 00:18:36.289 the clinic entirely. They built the driveway 00:18:36.289 --> 00:18:38.569 model. It didn't start as a nonprofit. It started 00:18:38.569 --> 00:18:40.410 as neighbors. And this is where Dorothy Harms 00:18:40.410 --> 00:18:42.910 comes in. She's the chairperson of FAN. And she 00:18:42.910 --> 00:18:44.950 developed what I'd call the Trojan horse strategy. 00:18:45.230 --> 00:18:47.750 I love this strategy. Tell us about it. You never, 00:18:47.769 --> 00:18:50.509 ever call a meeting a mental health seminar. 00:18:50.609 --> 00:18:53.210 If you put up a flyer at the feed mill that says 00:18:53.210 --> 00:18:56.630 depression support group Tuesday night, no farmers 00:18:56.630 --> 00:19:00.390 coming. Zero. Why? Because of pride? Pride, privacy, 00:19:00.670 --> 00:19:04.529 and the fear of being seen as weak. If you go 00:19:04.529 --> 00:19:06.869 to that meeting, you are admitting you can't 00:19:06.869 --> 00:19:08.869 hack it. So what do you call it? You call it 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:11.650 a farmer appreciation lunch. You call it a drive 00:19:11.650 --> 00:19:14.309 -in movie night. You set up a booth at the county 00:19:14.309 --> 00:19:17.369 fair with free cheese curds. You create an event 00:19:17.369 --> 00:19:19.890 where it is socially acceptable, even celebrated 00:19:19.890 --> 00:19:22.990 to attend. And then? Then you sneak the resources 00:19:22.990 --> 00:19:25.670 in. You put the pamphlets in the goodie bag so 00:19:25.670 --> 00:19:27.670 they can read them at home. You have a speaker. 00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:30.640 Maybe Randy, who starts by talking about milk 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:33.140 prices but pivots to stress. You let people take 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:35.059 the information privately. It's brilliant. You 00:19:35.059 --> 00:19:37.200 remove the barrier of entry. You normalize the 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:40.579 gathering first. Exactly. Randy noted that some 00:19:40.579 --> 00:19:42.880 farmers drive two or three hours to get to these 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.279 events. They will drive to a different county 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:47.259 just so they can walk into a room where nobody 00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:50.779 recognizes their truck. That speaks volumes about 00:19:50.779 --> 00:19:54.059 the need for anonymity. They need a place to 00:19:54.059 --> 00:19:56.759 go. but they can't risk the local gossip mill. 00:19:56.859 --> 00:19:58.460 And they need a place where they don't have to 00:19:58.460 --> 00:20:01.599 explain. If I tell a non -farmer, I lost a cow 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.440 to a DA today, they say, oh, I'm sorry. But if 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:07.140 I tell a farmer that, they know the smell. They 00:20:07.140 --> 00:20:09.539 know the financial hit. They know the frustration. 00:20:10.140 --> 00:20:13.220 At a FAN event, you don't have to translate your 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:15.339 pain. Everyone speaks the language. And this 00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:17.119 model is expanding. It's not just Loganville 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:20.000 anymore. No. Sadly, it often expands through 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.630 tragedy. The source mentions the Western Wisconsin 00:20:22.630 --> 00:20:24.950 expansion following the death of Brian Webster 00:20:24.950 --> 00:20:28.650 in 2023. His family, Jennifer and Kim, they used 00:20:28.650 --> 00:20:30.569 the memorial funds to start a sister chapter. 00:20:30.990 --> 00:20:33.630 It's a replicable model from church basements 00:20:33.630 --> 00:20:36.650 to NBC nightly news. It works because it's grassroots. 00:20:36.930 --> 00:20:39.210 It's not a government program. It's peer to peer. 00:20:39.390 --> 00:20:41.329 It's not a doctor talking down to you. It's a 00:20:41.329 --> 00:20:43.710 guy in muddy boots saying, yeah, I lost $30 ,000 00:20:43.710 --> 00:20:45.670 last month, too. It sucks. Here is how I'm getting 00:20:45.670 --> 00:20:48.150 through it. That credibility is worth more than 00:20:48.150 --> 00:20:50.789 any degree. Okay, so that's the community level. 00:20:51.109 --> 00:20:53.190 But let's get down to the individual interactions. 00:20:54.289 --> 00:20:57.490 Segment five, practical tools. We talked about 00:20:57.490 --> 00:20:59.950 the first responders. And again, on a farm, the 00:20:59.950 --> 00:21:02.430 first responder isn't the EMT. By the time the 00:21:02.430 --> 00:21:04.710 EMT is there, it's usually too late. The first 00:21:04.710 --> 00:21:07.230 responder is the milk hauler at 3 a .m. It's 00:21:07.230 --> 00:21:09.890 the milk hauler. It's the vet doing herd check. 00:21:10.069 --> 00:21:12.730 It's the nutritionist walking the bunkers. These 00:21:12.730 --> 00:21:14.569 are the people who see the farm when the lights 00:21:14.569 --> 00:21:16.970 are off. They see the reality. They know. They 00:21:16.970 --> 00:21:19.549 know when the tank isn't washed. They know when 00:21:19.549 --> 00:21:23.490 the feed bunk is empty. And Randy Roker is training 00:21:23.490 --> 00:21:26.470 these people. He is using a program called QPR. 00:21:26.710 --> 00:21:30.390 Question, persuade, refer. Right. This is an 00:21:30.390 --> 00:21:33.390 AgriSafe course. It's 90 minutes long, often 00:21:33.390 --> 00:21:36.410 free. And it gives you a script. Because that's 00:21:36.410 --> 00:21:38.430 the hardest part, right? You see a guy struggling. 00:21:38.569 --> 00:21:41.190 You see the unwashed tank. But what do you say? 00:21:41.309 --> 00:21:43.329 You're terrified of saying the wrong thing and 00:21:43.329 --> 00:21:45.109 making it worse. Let's walk through the three 00:21:45.109 --> 00:21:48.210 steps. Step one. Question. You have to ground 00:21:48.210 --> 00:21:50.170 it in observation. Don't just say, how are you? 00:21:50.230 --> 00:21:53.670 Because the answer will be, fine. You say, hey, 00:21:53.809 --> 00:21:56.329 I noticed the bunk isn't pushed up today. And 00:21:56.329 --> 00:21:58.150 you haven't been yourself the last few pickups. 00:21:58.650 --> 00:22:01.769 I have to ask you straight. Are you thinking 00:22:01.769 --> 00:22:06.480 about suicide? Whoa. That is direct. Are you 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.920 thinking about suicide? Can you really just ask 00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:11.579 that? You have to. And there is a huge myth we 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:14.500 need to bust here. People think if you ask that 00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:17.119 question, you are planting the idea in their 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.960 head. Like, oh, I wasn't thinking about it, but 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:21.019 now that you mention it. Yeah, that's the fear. 00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:23.720 The research says the opposite. Asking direct 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:26.140 questions does not increase the risk. In fact, 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:28.400 it often relieves the pressure. The person thinks, 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.119 finally, someone sees how much pain I'm in. I 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.480 don't have to hide it. Okay, so you ask. If they 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:37.900 say yes or if they hesitate. Step two, persuade. 00:22:38.299 --> 00:22:40.180 This isn't about arguing them out of depression. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.279 You aren't a therapist. You aren't going to fix 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:44.880 their finances in the driveway. The goal of persuasion 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.619 is simply to get an agreement to stay safe today. 00:22:47.859 --> 00:22:49.940 And there's a tip here from the source. Don't 00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:53.400 use guilt. Yeah, do not say, think of your kids 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:57.079 or you have so much to live for. When someone 00:22:57.079 --> 00:22:59.920 is in that dark of a hole, their logic is inverted. 00:23:00.339 --> 00:23:02.359 They often think their family would be better 00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:04.849 off without them. A financial burden. Exactly. 00:23:04.930 --> 00:23:07.130 They think they are a financial burden. So if 00:23:07.130 --> 00:23:09.130 you mention the kids, you might accidentally 00:23:09.130 --> 00:23:11.509 reinforce the guilt. So what do you say? You 00:23:11.509 --> 00:23:13.910 focus on the immediate. I want you to be here 00:23:13.910 --> 00:23:16.670 tomorrow. Let's make a call right now. Can you 00:23:16.670 --> 00:23:19.049 agree not to do anything until we talk to someone? 00:23:19.289 --> 00:23:22.210 Which leads to step three, refer. And this is 00:23:22.210 --> 00:23:24.950 crucial. Do not just hand them a card with a 00:23:24.950 --> 00:23:27.630 phone number and drive away. That's useless. 00:23:27.950 --> 00:23:30.349 The phone feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. 00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:33.269 You stay. You sit in the truck. You say, let's 00:23:33.269 --> 00:23:35.210 call the farmer wellness helpline right now. 00:23:35.289 --> 00:23:37.130 I'll sit here with you. Yeah. You bridge the 00:23:37.130 --> 00:23:39.309 gap. You become the connection to the professional 00:23:39.309 --> 00:23:41.589 help. You don't leave them alone if they're in 00:23:41.589 --> 00:23:43.730 immediate danger. The infrastructure for this 00:23:43.730 --> 00:23:47.549 is growing. The source says over 1 ,700 ag gatekeepers 00:23:47.549 --> 00:23:51.259 were trained as of mid -2022. It needs to be 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:54.319 standard. If you are a field rep for a co -op, 00:23:54.420 --> 00:23:56.660 this should be as mandatory as safety training 00:23:56.660 --> 00:23:59.119 for chemicals. You are entering a high -stress 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:01.539 environment every day. You need to know how to 00:24:01.539 --> 00:24:04.759 handle a crisis. This brings us to segment six, 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:09.059 contrarian takes and future implications. We 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:11.259 like to challenge the industry here on The Bullvine. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:14.680 We do. And frankly, the corporate response has 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:17.579 been mixed. I call it the wallpaper critique. 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:21.259 Go on. Look, a lot of co -ops and processors 00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:23.700 have started posting the hotline number. They 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:25.559 put it on the milk check stubs. They put it on 00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:27.500 the website footer. Right. That's fine. I'm not 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:29.420 saying they shouldn't do it, but it's wallpaper. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.160 It's an acknowledgement, not a solution. It covers 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:34.599 their liability. So does it actually help? Here's 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:36.960 the litmus test. If you are listening to this 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:39.099 and you sit on a co -op board, ask this question 00:24:39.099 --> 00:24:41.779 at your next meeting. If a member calls our headquarters 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:45.319 at 10 p .m. in crisis. What exactly happens? 00:24:45.539 --> 00:24:47.259 That is a scary question for a lot of wards. 00:24:47.339 --> 00:24:49.920 If the answer is it goes to voicemail or the 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:51.920 security guard has a list of numbers somewhere, 00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:54.759 then you don't have infrastructure. You have 00:24:54.759 --> 00:24:57.759 nothing. Real infrastructure means a specific 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:02.039 person is on call or there is a direct warm handoff 00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:04.299 to a professional service that understands farming. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:07.119 If you can't name the person who answers the 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:10.140 phone, you are just doing PR. That is the standard 00:25:10.140 --> 00:25:12.599 we need to hold them to. And looking at the future 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:15.119 with the consolidation we talked about, heading 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:18.019 toward 10 ,000 herds, this isn't going away. 00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:20.660 No. As we move toward that 10 ,000 herd number, 00:25:20.859 --> 00:25:23.339 the pressure on the survivors is going to ramp 00:25:23.339 --> 00:25:26.380 up. The margins are getting tighter. The labor 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:28.779 issues are getting harder. The stress load per 00:25:28.779 --> 00:25:32.019 manager is increasing. We are asking fewer people 00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:34.799 to produce more milk with less margin for error. 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:38.420 That is a recipe for burnout. But there's a hopeful 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:41.299 note here, a survivable message. Yeah, Randy 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:44.099 Romaker. He is the living proof. He was $3 million 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:46.920 in the hole. He was losing $30 ,000 a month. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:49.119 He was suicidal. He was staring at the wall. 00:25:49.420 --> 00:25:51.579 And he is still here. He is still farming. The 00:25:51.579 --> 00:25:54.539 worst case scenario, losing the farm is survivable. 00:25:54.829 --> 00:25:56.329 That's the thing we have to remember. Losing 00:25:56.329 --> 00:25:58.710 the land is tragic. It's heartbreaking. I'm not 00:25:58.710 --> 00:26:01.650 minimizing that. But it is survivable. Your life 00:26:01.650 --> 00:26:04.710 has value outside of that milk permit. Suicide 00:26:04.710 --> 00:26:07.529 is the only thing that is not survivable. Randy 00:26:07.529 --> 00:26:09.869 proved you can come back from the brink. Powerful 00:26:09.869 --> 00:26:12.450 perspective. Okay. We're at the point of the 00:26:12.450 --> 00:26:15.069 show where we translate this into action. A farmer 00:26:15.069 --> 00:26:16.990 just finished milking, or maybe a board member 00:26:16.990 --> 00:26:19.710 is driving to the feed store. What do they need 00:26:19.710 --> 00:26:22.289 to do now? All right, let's break it down. Immediate, 00:26:22.289 --> 00:26:24.470 medium, and long -term. Immediate, this week. 00:26:24.809 --> 00:26:27.589 First, the 7 out of 10 rule. This comes from 00:26:27.589 --> 00:26:30.829 FAN. If your stress level is at a 7 out of 10 00:26:30.829 --> 00:26:33.529 for two weeks straight, not just a bad day when 00:26:33.529 --> 00:26:36.930 a heifer kicked you, but a baseline of 7 for 00:26:36.930 --> 00:26:39.890 two weeks, that is your threshold. That is not 00:26:39.890 --> 00:26:42.349 a rough patch anymore. That is call for help 00:26:42.349 --> 00:26:45.170 territory. Recognize that line in the sand. And 00:26:45.170 --> 00:26:47.009 practically, what do you do? Post the numbers. 00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:50.500 988, the Wisconsin Farmer Wellness Helpline, 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:54.359 1 -888 -901 -2558. Do not just put them in the 00:26:54.359 --> 00:26:56.059 house office where the bills are. Put them in 00:26:56.059 --> 00:26:58.279 the barn. Put them in the parlor. Put them where 00:26:58.279 --> 00:27:00.880 you are at 4 a .m. when things get dark. Make 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:03.299 it visible. Okay, medium term, three to six months. 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:06.119 Get trained. I don't care if you are a manager, 00:27:06.339 --> 00:27:10.099 a milk hauler, or just a neighbor. Take the Agrisafe 00:27:10.099 --> 00:27:13.170 QPR course. It's 90 minutes online. It could 00:27:13.170 --> 00:27:15.309 save a life. You will learn the script so you 00:27:15.309 --> 00:27:17.309 don't freeze up when it matters. And if you want 00:27:17.309 --> 00:27:19.950 to bring the FN model to your area. Organize 00:27:19.950 --> 00:27:22.690 one coffee meeting. Don't overthink it. You don't 00:27:22.690 --> 00:27:24.769 need a nonprofit status. You don't need a budget. 00:27:25.089 --> 00:27:27.829 Just get one room, invite a few neighbors for 00:27:27.829 --> 00:27:29.869 coffee and donuts, and see who shows up. Just 00:27:29.869 --> 00:27:32.410 start. Break the ice. Farmer Appreciation Coffee. 00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:35.250 Just start the conversation. And long term. One 00:27:35.250 --> 00:27:37.809 to two years. This is for the board members and 00:27:37.809 --> 00:27:40.569 the industry leaders. Demand an audit of your 00:27:40.569 --> 00:27:43.190 field staff training. Make mental health infrastructure 00:27:43.190 --> 00:27:46.009 a budget line item, not just a PR line item. 00:27:46.150 --> 00:27:48.910 Does your field rep know what to do if not train 00:27:48.910 --> 00:27:51.009 them? And for the producers themselves. Monitor 00:27:51.009 --> 00:27:53.849 your herd metrics as a proxy for your own health. 00:27:54.150 --> 00:27:56.609 If you see that lameness drift, if you see that 00:27:56.609 --> 00:27:58.970 somatic cell count creep, catch the drift before 00:27:58.970 --> 00:28:01.609 the crash. Use the data to diagnose yourself. 00:28:01.930 --> 00:28:04.799 If the robot says the cows are weird, Check your 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:07.279 own pulse. This has been a heavy episode, but 00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:09.900 a necessary one. Absolutely. Look, the most important 00:28:09.900 --> 00:28:12.559 variable in your robotic milking system or your 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:16.059 parlor or your 3 ,000 cow dairy is still the 00:28:16.059 --> 00:28:19.059 human. It's you. If you break, the whole system 00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:21.200 breaks. So take care of the maintenance on the 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:23.730 operator. We will have the links to the Farmer 00:28:23.730 --> 00:28:26.549 Angel Network, the AgriSafe QPR training, and 00:28:26.549 --> 00:28:28.369 all the studies we mentioned, including that 00:28:28.369 --> 00:28:30.529 gill flameness study on our website. This has 00:28:30.529 --> 00:28:32.730 been another Bullvine podcast from the Bullvine 00:28:32.730 --> 00:28:35.109 podcast. Remember, checking on your neighbor 00:28:35.109 --> 00:28:37.430 costs nothing, but it means everything. Head 00:28:37.430 --> 00:28:40.630 to www .thebullvine .com for the dairy curve 00:28:40.630 --> 00:28:43.470 maps and more analysis. And please save those 00:28:43.470 --> 00:28:47.150 numbers 988. We'll see you next time. Stay safe 00:28:47.150 --> 00:28:47.430 out there.