Just Say Hay
Welcome to the Just Say Hay: The Podcast! With new episodes every other Monday, we talk about the things that are important to small farmers. If you're wanting to market your farm, grow your farm, improve the soil health of your farm or ar just interested in agriculture... this is the place for you. We run a small cattle ranch as well as an 850 acre commercial forage farm, but for the past 20 years, my main gig has been as a marketing & business consultant to some of the most recognizable brands and largest companies in the world, but farming is my passion!
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Just Say Hay
Forage Farming, Travel Tales & Tech Innovations in Agriculture
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Enjoy this conversation with my friend Greg Zurlieni, affectionately known as Billy Bob, with Sydenstricker Nobbe Partners as we discuss the vibrant world of small farm communities and agricultural innovation. Greg, who serves as the president of the Illinois Forage and Grassland Council, shares his unique insights into the world of forage farming, revealing the quirks and challenges that come with it.
Agricultural Conversations
Speaker 1Welcome to Just Say hey . The podcast . Podcast where we talk about the things that matter in small farms . You know why ? Because we are a small farm . Today's kind of cool . I've got a friend of mine sitting here , billy Bob Zerlini . Greg's sitting here next to me . We've been , we've gotten to be friends over the past few years and and he's just , he has helped us out on our farm a lot , not only with you know , he's a heck of a lot smarter than I am , but he also works for the John Deere dealership that we deal with and he deals with all of their locations . So anyway , so let's have a good conversation , we'll get into it . Welcome to Just Say hey . The podcast where we talk about what matters to small farms , whether it's business , marketing , agronomy , equipment , livestock , health . If it matters to small farms , we'll probably talk about it here . So let's get into it , all right . So , greg , greg , I gotta ask . The first question that I'm sure everybody asks you is why billy bob ?
Speaker 2well , that's . Yeah , that is a very good question , john . Uh , comes up all the time . Uh , obviously , my real name is greg zerlini . I always tell everybody I'm a german , polack , and then I always , you know , second , uh , it's been probably back in like 94 , 96, . A movie by the name of Varsity Blues came out and two very good friends of mine , twin brothers .
Speaker 2I did a lot of livestock showing when I was a kid , growing up and that movie was kind of coming on and it was pretty popular and there was a character in there it was Billy Bob , and he had had hogs and at the time I was raising hogs there at home . So it just kind of stuck . And ever since then it's just yeah , I mean , it's , I'm a business card . Uh , you know , you'll call somebody and I'll introduce myself as , uh , greg zerlini , with my current position role at the outfit I work for , and I'm like no well , you ever heard of billy bob ? Oh , yeah , that's you . Okay , that goes back a long time ago . Like I said , um 94 , 96 , somewhere in there is what I got as something .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's yeah , I look at your business card and you probably have the longest name on a business card you ever see yeah , yeah , my last name , uh it's .
Speaker 2It's pretty common in this part of the world . And then , uh , it's kind of interesting as I traveled to other areas of the United States . You know , right here in Southern Illinois , you know my family's originally originated over around Aveston and Breeze and that German settlement in that area , and then my grandfather moved over here to Wayne County back in the early 70s I guess .
Speaker 2And then I was actually on the phone with a guy the other day , um out of North Carolina , on a project I was working on , and he said are you related to , uh , tim Zerlini ? And I said wow , I said you must know him because you can say his last name . And he said , yeah , he said I worked with him for several years when he was with Bayer . He worked for pharmaceutical back in the day . So yeah , there's some people that pronounce it and then there's people that I've known my whole life that still can't pronounce it . So yeah , you know it's one of those deals . I guess that kind of sticks with you . But yeah , billy Bob's just become the norm , you know .
Speaker 1Yeah , billy Bob's just become the norm . You know , yeah , I don't bother me . I talk to guys at the . You know , I go into our local , the local dealership here , and I'll say , yeah , billy Bob , and all of a sudden they refer to you as oh , it's Greg , it's great .
Speaker 2Great yeah , billy Bob .
Speaker 1Yeah , so I also sit on the Illinois Forge and Grassland Council .
Speaker 2You're the current president of the Illinois For grassland castle . Can you describe what they do ? So , uh , that , yeah , that's a good , good thing to bring up there too . So the illinois forage and grassland council is made up of uh 12 different people throughout the state , different quarters of the state as well . You know , john , you're involved with it as much as I am here in the southern end , and you know illinois is a very rare state . We're about 400 miles from one end of the other and we're about 160 from one side to the other , and we've got a lot of agriculture , we've got a lot of forage production in Illinois . Obviously , illinois is known for corn as well . One thing about the Forage and Grassland Council is that it brings together guys and points of view and ideas from every industry from the education side , from the industry side and , as you , and the producer side .
Speaker 1And I think that's the one of the interesting things about it is , you know that it's not only you know , it's not just guys who raise forage , it's not just guys who sell forage equipment , it's not just , you know , people in the industry , you know in the education side , it's all of it . And that , really , that really has a got to turn my phone off . My phone just rang .
Speaker 2Yeah , well , I've been on my way . We don't need to talk to those people , yeah , so you know .
Speaker 1But being on the producer side and getting to interface with the industry side and the education side and being able to ask questions Because you know , if you ask a forage grower up in northern Illinois , their advice just isn't going to work down here we have such a different climate from one end of the state to the other .
Speaker 2Absolutely , and that's a valid point that I've noticed in the last since I've been involved with this group is , you know , as we see difficulties here in southern Illinois with raising alfalfa and some different types of grass , and you know the guys up north , you know they don't even deal with this bug pressure that we deal with down here . You know I mean we're you know you and I as well . I mean we're scouting fields early on first part of March . You know we're looking for aphids , we're looking for weevils , we're you . You know I always tell everybody you know the worst three days that we ever get in the growing seasons , we get three days of south wind . Yeah , and when you get three days of south wind in southern illinois you can bet some money that there's going to be some army worms blow in somewhere and you don't have to tell me about that .
Speaker 1We dealt with it . I had , uh . I had people calling me from all over the southern part of the state . Guys from uh that were scouting fields for agri-liquid . Guys were scouting fields on their own . Their alfalfa growers , a little bit , a little bit east of here , call and say hey , we've got worms , you better go check . And you know it's amazing , if you're an alfalfa grower , how fast that happens yeah , there , there's no .
Speaker 2I mean when , um , you know , and some of the producers that I work with on the you know , such as yourself , on what I'd call the high end alfalfa producers , Um , you know , it's , it's money every time we make a trip across that field with a pesticide or fungicide . But in the end , you know , when we're shooting for what we consider to be the highest quality feed we can put up , it pays long-term . And I always say , you know , everybody's like oh , you got to look for three . And you know one guy that I deal with . He's like well , I talked to my agronomist and I said , well , you know , I mean , I just asked him when I said I mean , hayfields , is your agronomist go through besides yours ?
Speaker 2Well , probably nobody . Yeah , Okay , so he's scouting corn and beans . He's got that . You know , kind of on his deal . I said you know , I said I ain't saying I'm an agronomist or anything , but I said I can tell you what the weather's right and just by what I'm seeing . And you know , you just got to think about nature too . You know , like I said , uh , it's a , it's a highly managed crop these days , alfalfa it is .
Speaker 1You know , we learned . We learned the hard way we put that first year in . You know , we did a spring planting and luckily we didn't have the the aphid problem or the army worm problem , but we had a weed problem that we just , I mean it , it almost put us under . I mean , it was that bad . We planted what was it ? Almost 200 acres and did not harvest one bale from that , our first year in production . Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , and it's a it's . It's a challenging crop , you know . Going to refer back to the Forage and Grasslands Council , you know cause the guys that we deal with up North , you know the top part of the state , all the way down through the center part of the state . You know we they've got a whole different soil structure , you know , and a soil type and you know they've got topsoil up there and down here . If you find topsoil around here it's usually where somebody's fed hay 30 years ago We've got a little black spot , but most of the time it's pretty red , pretty clay . Yeah , you get south of 64 , interstate 64 , and it's just . I say that's a whole different zone in the world .
Speaker 1Yeah Well , not only you know temperature differences , moisture differences and then soil differences . I mean , it really is a completely different beast farming down here versus you know heck . I've got a friend up in central Illinois that has an indoor arena that I swear , with no sunlight could grow 250 bushels .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , one of the guys that's on the IFGC with us .
Speaker 2He's right there out of Champaign and you know I always kind of scratch my head when I leave his farm , kind of thinking man , I mean you just drive by here with a bag of seed corn in the back of your truck and it's guaranteed 280 an acre , and this guy's got 800 acres of alfalfa . You know , and I imagine his neighbors are looking at him a little bit like what's wrong with him . But you know , at the end of the day , forage production in the state of Illinois is key . I don't know where we rank at . We're probably about 20th overall in the nation as far as acres , you know , because we still have a really good dairy industry up in the northwest corner and then , as you know , like where you're at here in southern Illinois , I mean we've got a large equine that's a recreational sport and you know all those producers and I say this all the time as we're in every meeting and you know , trying to promote the forage industries , no matter what ruminant it is , it's got to have dry matter .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , you know we're exploring pelletization , we're exploring a lot of different opportunities . But you know , when you get into the business side of it and then you add the agronomic challenges we have a little bit further south here it's a little tough . But the agronomic challenges we face , with the soil differentials , the moisture changes , the temperature , we make up a lot of that because with the equine community down here we deal with several large stables . We also have over 400 miles of horse trails in the area . A lot of people are traveling in . But trucking , trucking just kills you . We sent , we donated two semi-loads of hay and have another couple ready to go out here , probably in December , when they sort of get it figured out over there . Um , you know , getting trucking done is it costs almost as much as the hay itself .
Speaker 2Yeah , the the freight business is , uh , it's a nightmare anymore . Just because you know when I'm in the freight business those guys are dealing with so much . Um , you know mandatory regulations on drivers time they can work and I'm not going to lie to you . I just talked to a truck driver this morning . I mean you could put a set 18 tires on it . Oh , good Lord , yeah , you're going to the bank to borrow money nowadays . You know , it ain't like we rolled in the tire shop 20 years ago and we got a flat fixed for five bucks and it's like hey , we got to have a work order in at least $125 minimum . And you know all that comes into consideration and just you know Well the electronic log books that you know .
Speaker 1I talked to a driver the other day and he was saying that you know he liked , he used to like to go into like places like Atlanta , roll , roll North of Atlanta , be there five o'clock in the afternoon , pull off , sleep for a few hours , jump up and run through downtown Atlanta at midnight , one o'clock in the morning , two o'clock in the morning and then get another couple hours of sleep . It was safer for everybody else on the road . It was safer for him , but because of the electronic log booking he can't do it , he's got to stop .
Speaker 1He's got to stop and that's his day . So he's got to stop . He's got to stop and that's his day .
Speaker 2So he's got to fight through and just sit in traffic , yeah . And then you know I don't know if you've been through Atlanta lately , but the last time I drove through there two years ago , you just plan on two hours top to bottom . I don't care which side you go to , if you want to take west side bypass or the east side sometimes just splitting it right down the middle is just
Traveling Across Different Climates
Speaker 2as good as any .
Speaker 1I used to live there and when I lived there I remember we had my wife and I lived up north of the city and when I started working for that one outfit down there I was . You know , it was about a 45 minute drive to work . By the time I moved on into another position with another company , that drive was over two hours . I mean Atlanta during the . You know , during that time period from the , you know , from the mid nineties through the early two thousands was growing at an exponential rate and traffic , the road system just couldn't keep up with the growth . Yeah , yeah , so it's always been horrible .
Speaker 1My worst was I would have to plan if I had an eight o'clock meeting , eight o'clock in the morning . If I had an 8 o'clock meeting , I would have to plan to be leaving my house by 5.30 . Oh , yeah , to have a safe , and it was . You want to know how far it was to my office ? Probably five , six miles . That was a little further . It was 23 miles , yeah , all , but about two miles was interstate and I had to plan . Two and a half hours . Oh , I don't doubt one bit . Yeah , it's horrible . You know people complain about tractors getting behind a tractor during planting or harvest season and you know what ? I'll take that any day . Yeah , I'll take that any day over sitting two and a half hours , oh yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , there ain't . Yeah , it's going to be like another 10 , 15 years from now . Oh yeah , you know , we think that our cell phones are outdated now and they're two days old , you know , I think I .
Speaker 1So when I was a kid , I was a big , uh big fan of louis lamore . Yeah , I read , I read all of it still , still to this day . If I get bored , I'll pick up a little louis lamore book and read it and I think about what it was like . You're not not all that long ago and that long ago in the real scheme of things . But here we go in 100 years . Go from being able to cover 20 miles in a day and that was a big day . I mean 12 , 14 miles was probably much closer to the average and here we go , we can cover . If you don't care about the police , you'd cover 100 miles an hour . Oh yeah , and on , get on an airplane and you're sitting , perfect , and you're having your heat , you know your seats heated and you're you know the air conditioning and yeah , yeah , yeah , it's .
Speaker 2It's definitely a the way things change . And even in my role now it's like last Friday . I mean I left , I flew out of Syracuse , new York , at five . We took off , we boarded at five o'clock . I mean , we were in there at 5.30 and stopped in Detroit . I was sitting in St Louis at nine o'clock on Friday morning . A lot of people probably hadn't even clocked in or went to work yet . You know . I mean it's just the way the world works . It's like , you know , you wake up in time zone on the East coast and next thing you know , it's five o'clock in the Midwest and I'm ready for bed . I've already got my 12 hours in here , you know .
Speaker 1I remember doing a business trip back in the oh , this had probably been the mid nineties early two thousands , and when I was out in San Diego or I'm sorry , I started in Los Angeles , went up to San Francisco , back to Los Angeles for another meeting , down to San Diego , from San Diego to Miami and then Miami up , did a few stops through the Midwest and all . And I remember it being so amazing to me that one night I'm sitting on the Pacific Ocean dipping my feet in the water in the Pacific Ocean . The next morning I'm sitting on the Atlanticlantic ocean dipping my head on the atlantic ocean yeah , I had to .
Speaker 2You know that was one thing in my old uh , my old role with another manufacturer was we , we've been , I've been blessed to travel a lot and one and one 24 hour period . I started in salt lake city , utah , at a sales training as a product product specialist . So I started there . I had to go to somewhere in minnesota that next morning . You know , flew that night and then I ended up , like down in orlando at the ncba convention . Within 24 hours I'd went , I was 100 degrees and temperature changed from salt lake city to minnesota and then like , like , it was like minus 20 that day when I got on the plane in Minnesota and then I ended up in Orlando and it's like 87 degrees .
Speaker 1So how do you pack for that ?
Speaker 2I mean really uh , you know , I got really , really good at packing clothes and I mean I've , I've been fortunate to travel a lot . Basically , I kind of started traveling really , really heavy when I was 18 , 19 , 20 years , probably about after I graduated high school , and uh , you know , there's times you you just don't pack . I mean you buy , you gotta buy clothes when you get there . Uh , at , I've gotten really good at folding jeans and making , making the best everything , but I was pretty big , you know , you just kind of got it .
Speaker 1I remember in another long shot in another lifetime . I lived on the beach and I I don't think I owned a pair of socks . I got this . I got this gig up in Chicago around Christmas time and I flew up there and I got off the plane and I'd I it had been a long time since I'd been in cold weather , yeah , and I got off the plane and I didn't have I wasn't wearing socks had you know , man , you just man , you just think , man , that was stupid .
Speaker 1But , you know so okay .
Finding Peace Amidst Modern Distractions
Speaker 1So while you're traveling , you're doing all this traveling . What do you do ? You listen to podcasts , you listen to music , you listen to .
Speaker 2Yeah , I don't . Well , I'm not going to lie to you , I listen to podcasts a lot . One thing that I don't know I think's kind of went by the wayside and I don't know I like to read . I mean , I'm an old school , I was born in 81 . I mean , I grew up , you know , reading the newspaper to find out the news and sorting through all that kind of stuff as a kid . I mean I can remember whenever I read market reports from the you know East always find it interesting to read , because I think to me , when I read articles either in magazines or newspapers or whatever , that's somebody else's artwork , you know . So whenever somebody writes an article about equipment , you know I want to know that guy's view about . You know , is the equipment too expensive ? Are we getting too technical ? You know X Y Z you about . You know , is the equipment too expensive ? Are we getting too technical ? You know xyz .
Speaker 2So , traveling , uh , when I get on an airplane , honestly , uh , first , first step uh is usually I try to go to sleep and everybody's like what ? I mean , I'll just , I'll just hunker down at three o'clock in the afternoon and I'll sleep . I don't know if it's the inertia from taking off , but I listen to a lot of podcasts , um , and I'll do some of them , the audiobooks , but I'm always , I'm always reading , I've always got a magazine with me of some sort and driving my pickup . You know , when I'm on the road in a pickup , I average right now probably 50 , some phone calls a day and , uh , that's that .
Speaker 2You know that's not a lot , but that's usually 50 different people you're talking to a day and anywhere from 30 to 50 text messages , yeah , mixed in with , you know , a reply to an email , and you know you're not supposed to text and drive , so I talk to text a lot , but so , yeah , uh , and just out seeing the countryside , you know , it's kind of like driving down here this morning . I mean watching the sun come up and , uh , you know , burn , the burn , the frost off the horizon , the deer were moving , and so I saw five bald eagles on the way down . Really , this morning , as we has , really it's a pretty morning . You know .
Speaker 1So I'll tell you I . I never get tired of that . I guess we're , you know , during these we I don't even know how old you- are how old are you ?
Speaker 2I was born in 81 , so I guess you do the math there .
Speaker 1I've got a few years on you .
Speaker 2I don't like to tell anybody , you know . I mean , everybody says well , you don't look that old .
Speaker 1I say well you know I'm back in . I'm yeah , they're studying their own family .
Speaker 2I always say you're just aged , you're seasoned , you're seasoned . Yeah , it's not the years . Yeah , that's right , that's right .
Speaker 1I remember as a kid , though , thinking that you know , man , there was so much publicity about the bald eagles were going extinct , yeah , and now we see them in the fields all the time up here , and I knew it , it never gets old . I remember there's a field we'll probably we'll go up and scout it and we'll map it today . But , um , I remember going through that field and seeing a bald eagle carrying a snake across the field and I still just I had to stop the tractor and just watch .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's a magnificent bird . Uh , you know , I couldn't think of a better bird to be .
Speaker 1I don't know . Benjamin Franklin wanted it to be the turkey . Yeah , I think that'd have been a horror .
Speaker 2You know when it . You know when them things are full . You know , come around February when they're full plumage I mean they're at a per year site , son coming up and them eating on a deer carcass or something . But yeah , the same way , john , you know , I grew up right there , uh , south of Fairfield , and I remember I remember I was probably 15 , 16 years old , uh , when my dad's friends come by and he's like man , you've been down there on the interstate , you know we're like what for ? And he's like man , there's an eagle's nest down there and you know that's a big deal . Yeah , I mean , like I said , we're right there , we're just skillet fork and a little wabash river come together . I mean yeah , I mean it was like hey , and I mean now it's nothing right ?
Speaker 1I mean , if I don't , I've seen five today , if I don't see three , two or three at least a week . It it's surprising , yeah . Yeah , I'm sort of like you . You know I . I grew up I love to read , love to read and as as I've , you know , aged , the mileage has gone up on me a little bit . I listen to audiobooks and podcasts a lot . I mean , I'm a huge audio , but I probably have a thousand titles in my audible account .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1I listened to so and so many different varieties , but it's you know . You get , you know , like a day in the swather . I get 12 hours in the swather and I turn my a lot of times . I'll turn my phone off and I just listen to a book all day and I'm good .
Speaker 2I'm good , I can do 120 , 160 acres in a day and just cruise . Yeah , my favorite thing to do is when I get in a piece of machinery and get running in a home . You know , I'm zoned in . I just , you know , I sit there and listen for the motor to rev up and , you know , am I going to load this thing down . Or , especially if I'm baling hay , I'm like , well , you know , can I get another half mile there ? You know what , get another half mile there . You know what , how , you know what can I do today ? And , like I said , I'd sometimes just get a day of peace and quiet , not having the phone ringing .
Speaker 1It's , it's , it's beautiful , oh , man , I'll tell you , you know , we used to act when I worked for a big company we used to call it the leash , you know , because you had your phone back even before then had pagers and yeah , you know it's . It's rare nowadays , it's rare in today's times , to be able to get that peace . You know , there's a lot of times we don't have to see people in in person because we do . I mean , how many times do you and I talk on the phone or send texts back and forth ? I may go a month or two months and not see you . Yeah , but we still stay in contact . But the downside of that is you know that that interruption of your time , I mean , I , I live my life now almost totally to find peace . I , I just , I don't like con , I don't mind conflict as much . It's the . I don't like drama . I don't deal with drama . Stupid conflict just drives me nuts . That's right .
Speaker 1That's right , you know we've got a real beef , let's sit down , talk and figure it out . But if you're if you're , you know , mad because your hairdresser messed up you , you know , I really don't care .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , I'm same way and that's . You know . I have to a lot of my friends from back here at home . You know they they don't , they don't work in the same role as I work in . You know one of my best friends from back home , I mean he's a . He's a heavy equipment operator . You know he's out there on a bulldozer taking his anger out on a pile of dirt right now and I'm over here getting a butt tune from a guy and it's somewhere because this thing didn't work like it's supposed to . And you know I I ended up , you know , blah , blah , blah , you know .
Speaker 2But at the end of the day I , you know , usually got him fixed over the phone and it's like you know why you park your . He said why you park your truck behind your house . I said I don't want people stout . I was there . I said just , I said my truck will be in the shed . I said locked up , my side-by-side will be kind of here . And he's like , well , I didn't know you was homeless , I didn't want you to know I was homeless .
Speaker 2So yeah , it's weird how things change over time and as you age and you know and everything that a lot of my friends have struggles with when , especially when I'm back home they're like well , why don't you come over tonight ? We're going to cook supper , we're going to do that . Let's go out to eat , you know . And I'm like , yeah , I've been on the road five days this week and I ate out every single meal . I just want to sit on the couch and eat something . I'll take a damn damn boiled hot dog , you know I'm good , you know . So , yeah , it's , it's crazy how things change , but I just like you said , with the age I don't
Cattle Management and Reproduction Strategies
Speaker 2mean nothing .
Speaker 1So how many head of cattle are you running these days ?
Speaker 2so yeah , over there in missouri , um , in brock meyer , um , we got around . Right now we're at about 420 mama cows . There'll 225 , 250 of them be registered Angus , right , and then you know , the balance of them cows would be . They would have started out as registered Angus but they're a female , that you know . I've got a lot of Baldies and we run a Brock . Brock's really really got his head geared towards the genetic side of it . It works out good . I , I think in our level of partnership is he ? He's always studying , studying and breeding and feeding , and I'm always kind of looking at other things like the land management , you know , and running cows here and I like to just get out and fix fence and be around the cow . So , yeah , we , oh , I'd say we're , we're four , four , 50 , pretty easy , and then we'll calve out . You know , here we just got done fall calving right there at the end of October . Uh , we had right at a hundred .
Speaker 1How long is your , how long is your window for calving ?
Speaker 2Uh , we're , we're pushing everything now , uh into a 60 day window just with . Uh , you know , it's just a time management deal . I know this year well , in a 10-day period there this fall that works out good for my work is I kind of schedule stuff around that . But out of those 100 , I think we had 86 of them hit the ground in a 10-day window , so there's 25 re-sip cows over on one pasture . Everything we kind of do it to where we can make it quick work and yeah , we've got a good facility .
Speaker 2Um , you know , calving the heifers , we will . We can have that about 20 , 25 heifers here and we've got a rigged up in a barn and I mean , basically , the protocol is , as soon as I see feet and if it's a heifer , we just go through so much temperature swings during the day and if I see feet I'm pulling it out .
Speaker 2Yeah , I ain't got time going to house , give her 15 minutes . Most of the time them heifers go to calving . I mean they'll wear down , they'll just get hot , you know , and then they'll just give up and the next thing you know you got a swelled head and a dead calf .
Speaker 1And we all know those don't pay the bills . Oh no , we , we , we talked we got a mutual friend , uh the beasleys . Yeah , uh , I was talking with dave the other and they , they , like you know they're , I think they do like a 60 or 65 day window . Uh , we're on a 90 day window . Um , just because we , you know natural cover and we let our bull out and he's got 90 days , so we put him in on july 4th , pull him out october 4th and yeah , you know yeah , and that cabin window works for commercial guys .
Speaker 2You know the way way we're set up over there is . You know we're we have a sale in the springs . The first friday night in april we have our annual sale and we'll sell several bulls and some females this year probably be over 100 head in it this year . And , um , you know we've got a pile of customers , just like yourself , that are traditional . You know kind of a uh , low , low management strategy how it works . The cow , the cows bring . You know we got a 90 day calving window but you know they'll come to us .
Speaker 2Matter of fact , one of our customers calls quite a bit and he's like , well , you know this and that . And I'm like , well , you know you need to watch . So-and-so's calls quite a bit and he's like , well , you know this and that . And I'm like , well , you know you need to watch . So-and-so's calves sell a day . And he's like , why is that ? And I'm like you're going to find out . And then he'll call me like man them , things were like $2,400 a head . And I'm like you know , I said he took , you know he took group of 30 big steers , 30 big heifers , and I said then he had you know the rest . You know kind of what we call the sword offs , and I said you know , when it comes to dollars and cents , I said that's what you're after . No , so getting them in a tighter windows and nothing . You know it's , it's just now do you ai ?
Speaker 2oh yeah , everything on the brock . He's got pretty , really strict on this ai protocol and and you and everything will go through the chute as a heifer . We'll put a seeder in and then he'll AI one time and then I've kind of been keeping some records myself . Usually if they stick AI that first time , they're going to have a pretty good reproduction history with us . If they stick AI that second time , you know kind of in that second window that they get and we catch them in heat , um I the success of them being highly you know , boom 60 days after they cab post calving coming in heat , starting to cycle again , usually gets stretched out to 90 and then I'll start to see those cows , um , you know what I'd call age out of that calving window . So , like right now , I think there's four left that are , there's one particularly , I don't think's brebit . There's three cows that are what I'd consider a late calver . They're going to calve after the first of november and you know they probably need to be sold as just a commercial to somebody .
Speaker 1I think it's interesting , the data , the data side of cattle making the helping make , it helps make those decisions . I mean back , you know , back 20 years ago , though the cattle guys be walking out ago . That one's not gonna be .
Speaker 2Yeah , we're gonna get rid of that one we're gonna get rid of that one .
Speaker 1You know now you look on a on . You know you look on your spreadsheet or whatever cat , whatever cattle application you use . Yeah , and you're . So you know what this one has . You know she's just about calved out . She's not producing , she's late . Every time she's going to go , she's going to go and you can make that decision based on a dollars and cents type of approach . Yeah , you know , and it's that's not just for the big guys . I mean the small cattle guys can can store that data and be able to call that up at any time yeah , yeah , absolutely .
Speaker 2That's a valid point and as I see the , you know the transition . You know we don't have many producers in the world I shouldn't say the world , but north america that that run between 20 and 100 cows . We got a lot , I mean in missouri , yeah , we our average cow herd size like 46 head for the state , but that don't include the guys in North Missouri that run 1,000 . You know , I've got customers in our AOR that run 1,000 , 1,200 mama cows . I mean we're a full-time ranch and you get to different areas , you know , such as this area here where you've got 1,215 cows running on 40 acres and you know , at the end of of the day it's still got to bring a little money and those people are still that . You know they're utilizing that data . You know , hey , I want a bull that you know it's going to convert some energy to . You know , three , three pounds of gain .
Speaker 2Um , you know , good friend of mine lives over here on the towards chester and pink newville and out at ducoin area . I mean he runs quite a few cows too and known him my whole life and you know we're always talking about conversion and one thing that I always say is you know , in missouri we we rely on grass , our cattle , we got a lot of grass , we got good grass in missouri . That's one thing I noticed when I moved over there in 16 was uh , man , just just , the grass is just phenomenal . And yeah , I'm doing some research and I always say to have good , you got to have a little rock . Well , there's some places we got a lot of rock that uh , cause we're right here on the foothills of Mississippi . But you know when , when corn is readily available , such as in Illinois and Iowa and Indiana , I mean that's a whole different level of protein and you can do about anything you want to with a buck of corn .
Speaker 1When protein and you can do about anything you want to with a buck of corn . When , when the corn ain't readily available , uh , you got to figure out how to make them things convert . So , yeah , and you know , the dollar comes with it , like now the corn prices are down so low a lot of guys are feeding corn because it's it . It's so cheap comparatively , yeah , you know , for energy gain when you look at it on a per ton , you know . So yeah , I know , on our end , we know we're looking back at for a while we were in the , you know , the direct to consumer beef and we did that for a few years . We're pretty successful at it . My dad passed away and so we sort of got out of it . But I think , with some of the new regulations that I think are on the horizon , I think it's going to open up a lot of opportunities for the small , for the small producers especially opportunities for the small , for the small producers especially .
Speaker 2Yeah , you're absolutely correct there , john , and I look at that long-term on down the road in the next five to six years . You know , one of the meetings I have with John Deere this year on some stuff is like I mean the producers are differentiating . I mean the guys that are running 25 cows and I'm not going to lie , I mean marketing has just went through the rough in the last 20 years . I mean people have learned how to market stuff . And I know people that are , for instance , a customer that buys some bread heifers off of me up in central Illinois . I mean his boy is like eighth grade and he's selling like 18 butcher beef a year and he's not even promoting it .
Speaker 2It's just from within . You know , kind of like school teachers and in word of mouth . And you know those guys finish cattle . They got a lot of corn . But like I said that , that small guy I mean the the sky's the limit on how big you want to be . And I mean I know one of my another good friend , uh , they got into the . You know they had their own label for beef back in 17 . You know 6 , 16 , 15 , 16 somewhere in there and you know , at that time you know people weren't uh buying based on food security . Uh , everybody buys now on food security . Yeah , I mean it's uh . Everybody says it's COVID , but it wasn't COVID . I mean it's just a transition in how people eat and how people purchase .
Speaker 1We did this back in 16 , 15 , 16 . And you know , at that point it was the high-end stuff , was what we sold a whole lot of . We were selling fillets , we were shipping them to California , we were shipping individual cuts all over the place . Now it's about you know , the marketing I see is about making sure that you build a relationship with your neighbors and that your local community because trucking , shipping , all of that comes into play . And then you put the biosecurity you want to have , food security , know where that cow came from . You want that type of a relationship . It's really opening the doors to the small producers , yeah .
Speaker 2You know , yes , and especially in rural America . You know , just like last week I said I was in New York and that niche market and you know , obviously I mean the world's getting bigger , we're getting more people to feed , we've got to have more groceries . You know , obviously I mean the world's getting bigger , we're getting more people to feed , we've got to have more groceries . And you know , those people are buying based off of what they feel . They feel that the purchasing point has no problem of price when it comes down to knowing they've got the quality .
Speaker 1Well , and I think you look at some other things like oh , one of the big retailers , I think it's's Walmart has their own feed lots now that they're feeding out Holstein steers and that when you go to the grocery store and you're buying , when you go to them and you're buying that , that $4 B , that $4 hamburger , it's it , it's an old Holstein that they fed out and I think it it . You know , on the consumer side I saw a guy the other day . I mean , I don't do the grocery shopping so I can't really say , but I think a dozen eggs is what , five , six bucks at the grocery store .
Speaker 2now , yeah , I don't know exactly , but yeah , they ain't cheap .
Speaker 1And somebody was complaining . My neighbor here has a bunch of chickens and he sells his eggs for $2 a dozen and people were complaining about the price .
Speaker 2I'm like you know what .
Speaker 1Go to the grocery store Instead , go buy this . These are nationally raised . You know where the eggs come from . They're not a commercial factory . Yeah , and I think the small producer and you know I talk a lot about the small producer because I think with my background in marketing , I like to help the small producer learn to market themselves a little better and I think this is a real opportunity , some real opportunities coming up . There's some scary things , you know that could happen too with the PMOs and the . You know the pesticide and the herbicide restrictions that may come . So I think those are , those are some things to watch
Enhancing Efficiency Through Technology
Speaker 1. So let's talk . You know , here's a question that I I talk a lot about technology cause I'm , I'm , I'm a dork , but you know , on the forage side , the whole reason you're down here today is we are making a major upgrade in our process . I was writing my own databases to track stuff , but John Deere has released their what's called BailDoc .
Speaker 2BailDoc , just you know , 23 model . Yeah , it really hit the ground running here in 24 .
Speaker 1Yeah , and so we're jumping on board with that . We switched out our balers and I've talked about the pain of that , and you guys talked me into the green one and so you know , and I've said this before , I did not buy the green one based on the technology . I didn't buy it based , I bought it on dealer service . I mean , most guys in today's market are completely buying on dealer service , absolutely .
Speaker 2You know , I mean people ask what truck I drive and it's I drive the truck that I can get serviced . I can't get the service , I'm not driving it . That's . That's a valid , very valid point . And yeah , it's uh . Yeah , just , you know , you can buy any color you want . We've got the internet now you can buy it wherever you want . You can buy in europe . Yeah , they don't come over here and work , they're gonna , that's right , keep going . And that's one thing in this business that I take a lot of pride in is keeping my guys going . And yeah , I get a little aggravated with saying my phone on 24-7 . Don't mean I got to answer , but you've always taken .
Speaker 1I mean , you guys have always taken care of me . I mean when I was , when I first came out here back this is long before , uh , sidenstriker and Obi , you know , before they bought the dealership . It was a different , different company , same same location , but I didn't get great service and I didn't buy deer for a long time . Yeah , um , and it was based on service .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Um , now that we've gotten into it and , and Sidenstriker and Obi , we've had a really good relationship with you . I won't say it's perfect . Oh , toby , we've had a really good relationship with you . I won't say it's perfect , oh , nothing's perfect . I've never had a relationship with a dealership on anything . That's perfect , yeah , but there has to be give and take and you know we made this switch and one of the things I am most excited about is the technology side . I mean , talk to me about you know how . You know , in compared to the rest of the country , I'm a small operator and compared to the rest of the country .
Speaker 1I'm a small operator , oh no , you're pretty good size . Well , I'm a pretty small operator when you talk about acreage and you talk about that stuff , but we're going to be able to use this . You know , use this bale dock and it's really going to help us .
Speaker 2Yeah , so that's one thing that in the past and forging hay business is it's always kind of took the backseat to a lot of people and I guess , probably from a young age , I always kind of knew that you was going to have to have hay and of course , like I said , any room that you know , whether it be a sheep or cow or horse or whatever , I mean they got to have dry matter to operate and you know if they don't have dry matter they ain't going to survive and so so deer , um , deer , really kind of charged into this deal , probably five , six years ago , and and you know , we seen , you know they seen that yield maps and stuff just similar to a corn farmer .
Speaker 2So now , um , like I said , with the technology and the stuff hitting the forage and you know hay and forage side , with the windrowers such as yourself , uh , just like I spoke earlier , you know we're starting , you know starting to put on more fertilizer . We're looking at variable rate fertilizer , we're looking at variable rate spraying . We're spraying for bugs , we're spraying for , you know , fungus and this and that . So , as a cost operation and everything costs money , but in the long run it actually saves you money if we've got this stuff documented and that's a tough pill for a lot of guys . Oh , it ain't going to save me money . You know , I've always just put up that field , made four bales of the acre . Well , did you weigh them ?
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly , I mean people ask , well , how much do those bales weigh ? And I can tell you , yeah , I can tell you . I mean , I can tell you our , our round bales are weighing a thousand . You know , on different fields with the densities there may be 1200 , our , our square bales . We're shooting for an 800 , 800 pound bale average in the field and I can make you know . Even in the database I wrote for our operation I would say , okay , these bales are averaging 800 . How many tons did we get ?
Speaker 1I think with this new system , not only do I not have to remember to put it in the database so I can make those decisions , but it goes there automatically . And then being able to make those decisions at the beginning of the year , looking at okay and well , and mid-year changes , but at the beginning of the year we're looking at , okay , this is what our plan is going in . We looked at what happened last year . Now we can make real decisions with real data , not just guesses and going forward . I mean I think for small operators that I think this is an important . You know this is an important step and as Deere gets into it , I mean I shouldn't say this , but you know , even the round baler cause . We don't . We don't track a lot of data with our round baler Cause .
Speaker 1For us in our operation , round bales are a secondary thought , absolutely . I mean , if a field gets foxtail in it or get something like that that our horse customers is not good for them , we round bale it . Yeah , you know if it gets , you know if it's , you know , but we don't track that . Yeah , you know it would be . You know that's one of the things we're going to be looking at . Coming down the you know , coming down the road is go ahead and tracking that data with the round bales because we still need the yield data for the field . Absolutely . We've just made a plan right now where we're going to start . Every field that we have is going to get soil sampled this year . Oh , yeah , so that we know have some better , like in the . In the past years we would only do certain fields where we saw trouble , and now we're every , every field . Yep , so that's .
Speaker 2That's a good point and we just brought that up because a lot of people , similar to hey , sample . They don't want to sample a bad bale . That's right . I always want to sample a good spot in the field because then they don't have to put as much lime on it . You know , and and and in your world we've got a lot of a lot of alfalfa . You know you got to that pH level is so critical anymore on this alfalfa . And I tell guys , you know the pH level is what , what rolls into the . You know the plant survival and the hardiness but that also affects . You know , the chemistry of how your chemical works when you do spray .
Speaker 1That's right . It also affects weed pressure .
Speaker 2Weed pressure . I works when you do spread , that's right . It also affects weed pressure . Weed pressure , I mean , the list goes on . But yeah , back . To go back to the . You know , what we're going to do today is we're going to map your fields and and then , like I said , we're going to enter all that into the john deer operations center . So then it , you basically can know how many passes . You know , if you've got a xyz window of opportunity that you need you , hey , I think we can put up 40 acres .
Speaker 2Or you know , I've got a guy that , uh , just , you know , this year he's like man , I never thought about it doing that away . And uh , you know , first cutting , he goes out and I'm sure you'll probably , you know , convert to this over time , but he goes and cuts all these headlands first and then he goes and bails all these headlands first , really all these headlands first , and then he goes and bails all these headlands first , really out of , out of about three different fields , huh , but he said you know about that . Yeah , see , so I'm saying you know thinking outside the box , but he goes in and you know , out of those headland passes , I know with your , with your windrow , or you know your 16 foot cut . You make four passes around that outside the field . Yeah , it's here , here , here , and you know usually what do we have ?
Speaker 2You know , in this area obviously we've got a lot of deer pressure on our , on our headland rows and the yield , the yield is usually a little bit weaker on that point of the field and his philosophy is he goes out and cuts them because he gets them out of the way . I mean , you run a big square baler , you know a large square baler and you dump a bale . I mean you don't have any control of where them things come off . That's the original nonstop balers , I tell everybody . And you don't have any control . Well , he goes out there . You know it's always like well , I want to do the end rows and we'll start here .
Speaker 2Well then , you know , if the weather's right and that's that's part of you know , what we're doing today is you can pull up three fields and say , well , I and I think I got a weather window to do this many acres , I need to go in here and do this , and then , yeah , boom , you can go back in there three days later and you can do , do the middle of the field , or you can do 12 acres out of this , 80 or whatever . So , yeah , technology isn't going away . I will say that , um , and we're charging on pretty hard in the , you know , foraging livestock side here with what I do in my role and , like I said , a lot of guys didn't ever think about it , but once they do , you know , they're like well , yeah , I can see where I can utilize this on several different things heroin , pasture um , I'll tell you , we , you know the technology we use and , like I said , we're not a big operation but we use a lot of technology .
Speaker 1I mean , I , I , I contract with a company called bam weather . You ever hear those guys ? Oh , yeah , man , they're awesome , they are absolutely awesome . You know , they're one of those guys I love the under , under-promise and over-deliver and when we , you know somebody , says , well , you pay X number of dollars a year for that , I was like you know what it's worth it ? First time we ever got them we
Strategic Decision Making in Agriculture
Speaker 1had .
Speaker 1You know , you look at your typical , you watch your TV weather and you have all of your apps . Well , those apps just pick a , they pick a weather model and that's your forecast for the day . Apps just pick a , they , they pick a weather model and that's your forecast for the day . Yeah , and you know , I got on phone or got on a text chat with these guys and said , hey , I'm seeing some something that's a little scary here , some pop-up showers heading up a little north of us , and and they were , they looked at and said you've got about three hours and I , as soon as I got off or got off the text with them , I'm calling everybody saying , okay , turn baler off , get everybody jumping a loader . We saved 250 bales , that's you know 20 , $25,000 that we got in a barn . That was completely , I mean , perfect . Hey , uh , that we would never have . You know , it had been rained on , yeah .
Speaker 2Well , I shouldn't say run , but it'd been a market . The marketability would have been decreased .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah . So you know the technology side of it , allowing us to not only make in-season decisions . Yeah , the more information we can get to be able to make decisions faster , earlier yeah Is better . You know more better .
Speaker 2Yeah , and I mean , that's the way agriculture is right now . We're just , you know , we aren't doing anything different than we did 25 , 30 years ago . We're just doing it better with the resources we have . And you know , just like you're saying , the data and technology , I mean , and weather , weather's the main thing , weather's the number one thing in agriculture right now and labor's the second .
Speaker 1Well , I'll tell you . I mean , I used to work in the television business and you know , work with a lot of meteorologists and I was like you know what , I don't know how the heck you have a job where you get it wrong more than 50% of the time and you still have a job . If I did that I'd be fired , yeah , over time and the . You know , like I said , we contract with that company , bam . They're , they're fantastic , they do us , they do a really good job for us . But you know , those decisions , anything you can use to make better decisions , I , you know my kids would ask me how ? You know , dad , how do you make decisions like this ? And you know , and I , the it's the same answer every time it's you take all the information you have , you ask the people who you think are a lot smarter than you in it , you take all the information you have and then you make a decision , you move forward . Sometimes you're going to win , sometimes you're going to lose , but you learn something either way , yeah yeah , that's it .
Speaker 2I like your , your input there , because that's kind of how me and brock operate over there . When we go to cut and hay it's like , well you know , we'll say , darn if you do , darn if you'm worried , well , it ain't going to get bailed if it's standing up .
Speaker 2That's right , and you know we run a pretty heavy fleet of equipment and we do a lot of hay ourselves for cattle operation and bedding and that's one thing that I can manage it once I get it cut . If I ain't got it cut and it just keeps getting rained on , we can get into a pinch where we've got a really bad situation and I've seen some bad situations unfold with producers that you know there's days that the baler don't need to be running at 5 o'clock , that's right . The moisture's coming up from the ground that baler really needs to be running at five o'clock , that's right . The moisture's coming up from the ground that baler really needs to be running at 10 . And you know that's one thing that brock and I will . We'll text back and forth and I'll be like , hey , man , I think we need to roll with it . And you know , let's get going at 9 , 30 this morning . There could be a shower coming in here this afternoon , we don't know .
Speaker 2Uh , xyz , and you know we , that's one thing you know , same as you and your operations . I mean you can't go . You've got how many acres ? 800 , something like that okay , you go out . You know , with your labor and your fleet of equipment . You can't go out and do the first cutting all in one week . No , it's gonna work , no , no , I mean you'd have the biggest mess you'd ever seen in your life we tried this past year we tried to do as an experiment .
Speaker 1I say it was an experiment I got . I got a little aggressive , yeah , and I mowed down 300 and because in southern illinois that were those weather conditions , we mow one day , it sits a day , sits another day and then we bail , bail , you know , rake and bail the fourth day . So when we saw those were the weather conditions coming , we we jumped in , I said , okay , I'm going to mow 100 acres a day , we're going to put 300 , 350 acres on the ground . And then what a mess . My guys were revolting , heck . I was about ready to quit , you know we couldn't . And we ran into the logistical problem of , you know , with , with the big squares , you have to get them off the field that day .
Speaker 2I mean , you just can't let them sit .
Speaker 1The risk is too , too much . And getting them , you know , getting them loaded on trailers , hauled to the barns , loaded in the barn , stacked , sorted , so that you know . You know , I try to mow everything on our operation . I try to mow every blade of grass on the farm because that's where I'm making the first judgment of who's the customer for this . Hey , is it high enough quality ? Does it look good , is it , you know , going to be retail ? And then you know going to be retail . And then you know you get into the raking and bailing and all of all of the , the further steps . But you know what a mistake . I mean three . We got it all bailed and it was a nightmare .
Speaker 2Yeah , managing that process is is is tough uh-huh , you know , yeah , it's a challenge , you know , and I feel the same way , you know , I'll be mowing hay one morning , you know , and I'll be like , well , you know what if I go put down another 15 acres , you know , and I'm like , ah , you know . Then the next thing , I know , we're sitting there seven days later and that 15 acres is just kind of like uh-oh , but you know , it's all got to get done , which we're not near . You know the alfalfa size that you are . We got a lot of grass , hay and we grow a lot of brome over there too , and but you still have a little logistic of knocking it down .
Speaker 2They still got to be mowed , raked , baled , hauled , stored yeah , and that's that's one thing that you know I like the way you said that there . I really admire that is . I do myself as I always think from the end to the beginning . You know , when I'm out there scouting fields and I'm like , man , this is a good field of of . You know , bro , hey , this you know we , we want to do this right . I want , I want this to be my weaned calf feeder . Yeah , this is is gonna be the feed , this is gonna be the hay that we feed .
Speaker 2You know wet cows . That are spring calvers . You know when they're , when they're heavy in cat . You know they got a 60 day old calf nursing their side and the nutrition I want to be feeding the best that they can get , and that makes a big difference too on our cutting window and that's kind of just kind of how we've got it all planned out logistically as well as and we start out with our top quality and work our way to the basement yeah , I mean that usually usually when we get down with the crp , we've got bedding you know .
Speaker 1So , yeah , we do the same thing . I mean , I'm looking at , you know , as you know , in the horse market , when you get alfalfa , that's too hot , you know , when you get over there in that , 189 rV , 190 plus , I mean there are some people that want that and there are some , definitely some needs for that , but most people , most horse owners , that's far too hot for them . I mean too high proteins , too high the , you know . So there you really want them to have 150 , 160 , you know , in that that middle , middle area , and so we have a large dairy goat . There's a lot of dairy goats in this area and this year , because of the way you know , we had the all the extra rain early in the season and the drought in the late season .
Speaker 1I didn't bail one bale that I thought was good enough quality for them . And I think you know one of the things that I've always liked when I've talked to you you give me the real deal and I'm able to make decisions because I trust the . The information you're giving me is you know you're not . You know it's not always a sales job . Oh yeah , I don't know , and you know I didn't .
Speaker 1I got a call from them the other couple of those dairies the other day and said , well , we haven't heard from you this year . Do you have hay for us ? And I said no , that's why I didn't call you . I don't think I had anything that I bailed . But I don't think I had enough of what I bailed that was high enough quality for you . So I'm not going to bother you with it . You know I I'm always trying , but they are . You know , for us that's a secondary or tertiary market . So you know , if I get something out there I'm bailing for the horse people . I want the horse people . We had Dr Travis Bees . I don't know . You know Travis .
Speaker 2I know the name down in this area .
Speaker 1Yeah , he's fantastic . His dad was fantastic and he's really come on . He's a great guy
Forage Importance in Animal Nutrition
Speaker 1. And we were talking about how . You were talking about how if it's a ruminant , it needs dry matter . Well , if it's a horse , you know a lot of people are going to pellets and from a nutrition standpoint that's fine , but when you look at the overall health of the animal , they still need hay in their gut . Oh yeah , especially if you're going to be active with them . Like we have a barn full of rope horses .
Speaker 1Yeah , and you know , when they start to run he described it as you know you've got to have that forage in their stomach . That's what stops the acid from splashing up on the sidewalls . You know where it's not lined for dealing with that acid . And so you know there's that balance because we're , you know we're looking at things like pelletization or cubing or something like that , but you have to have that forage because those horses are designed God designed them to eat forage and that's what stops the splashing of the acid . So when they go to run or you put them in strenuous activities that you will save your horses , you will save a ton in medical bills by buying high quality , yeah , you know . So that decision to you know , move in those other directions is one that's tough because we have to base it on . You know we're trying . We want to take the best care of our customers as we can . So do you move all that way or do you move partially that way ? What do you do ?
Speaker 2You know , yeah , it's a good question too and , like I said , I feel that there's a lot of education that could go on with a lot of things in this world . You know , one of them would be animal owners , you know .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think that's a place that . One of the reasons I accepted the role and was pleased to accept the role in the board of directors of the IFCC is , you know , that education portion . Yeah , you know , educate people about the forage and the , not only the , the , the land stewardship and the , you know the , the nutritional side , but also the other health reasons . Why forage production ? If you look at the pyramid of , you know and me , I'm sort of in the equine market but we feed a lot of cattle as well . But when you look at forage production and a pyramid of of producing beef or producing forage is sort of the bottom of the pyramid without that it doesn't work .
Speaker 2That's right .
Speaker 2That's right . Yeah , that's , that's a very valid point . You know we got to have grass and you know my , my experience working with I'll say this right now that you know we can try . But the , the people in the dairy business , I mean they are the experts of gas and forage . I mean , yeah , uh , you know my , my work in minnesota and wisconsin over the years and my past , and I've been fortunate enough to go across the pond over to holland and germany and spend some time over there and always say they farm by the inch and we farm by the acre over here in north america and they'll kind of tell you that , you know , when I worked for that company out of germany I mean they were , they don't grow alfalfa over there , you know . So their machinery was coming in here and we got a different expectation of what we want the crop to look like coming through the machine . But yeah , back to what I'd call the concrete .
Speaker 2The solid foundation we got to build off of is the forage and the forage production , because it's like you said with the horse business . I mean , I don't know how many people buy their kid a horse and then they're like man , this thing cost me money . I gotta buy hay , while they , you know , and I I got a really , really good friend he's a good friend of yours too up here at noble , I mean , and phil phil's top , I mean he's top notch . Hey , man , he's business man . Phil phil knows the business and him and his boy Scotty , been friends with them ever since they've got . Actually they bought my buddy's equipment and you know people send me Facebook messages . Hey , we know you're involved in the hay business .
Speaker 2You know in the equipment , where do we buy ? I'm looking for some hay , the equipment , where do we buy ? I'm looking for some hay . And you know , I'm like , well , I always want to say , well , when you go to the grocery store , do you buy the lettuce that's brown and shitty , that's right , or you buy the good looking green stuff up front . If you , if you want to buy just what I call , it's both lettuce , it's two different prices . Yeah , but well , you know that education , that the quality beyond of the price , and I know of two or three people , are like man , we can't believe the condition of our horses and I'm like , well , they go from eating 4% crude protein to eating nine .
Speaker 1That's right . I've got a friend of mine that he doesn't buy any bagged feed at all . He feeds a high-cotton . In fact he buys all of his hay for most of it , the vast majority of his hay from us . And then he fact he buys all of his hay for the most of it , the vast majority of his hay from us , and then he feeds . He's got a special . You know he puts his own diet together and every barn , every horse in his barn is just bloomed out and looks show ready and it's . You know nutrition that . You know that if you spend , say , you know , 12 cents a pound on hay and you're buying high quality stuff , and then you compare that to going out and buying the CRP , you know the CRP head that you can buy for five cents a pound . It's night and day difference . It's . You know it's the McDonald's french fry versus going to you know Peter Luger's in New York .
Speaker 2Absolutely yeah , and that's the same way that Brock and I , you know , like I said , we do quite a bit of wet feed , do a lot of wet rye , and you know that's usually our first good . We're mad at each other that first week because you know we've got everything in the world going on and I'll be out scouting on a friday and I'll say , man , we got flag leaf , looks like we got a window , and that that protein level and and that wet feed is so critical , um , yeah , to us , because the way we feed it , I mean I got to have protein for those cows , those pears , so I can always find dry matter .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2But I got to have , you know , my wet , my wet side , and you know , dry matter intake and balance the ration to make it as cheap and affordable for us as we can . That's right , as is a big deal . And , and you know , within five days that number can go from . You know , I've , I've , I've , put some up in the high tens , like a 10 , 10 , eight on the protein . And then , you know , the next time we got into we were back down to a four and what I'm here to tell you we can buy a straw for you know , uh , so , and then , and then we also have to look at , you know , the cost of the bail too . You know , as we , you know , put less , you know 50 product into a bail , you know we get down to 40 . We're putting more material in the bail . It's not going to ensile and make our feet as it is . It needs to be .
Speaker 2So , yeah , there's a lot of education out there . Uh , and just and just , you know , that's like I said , I , I find myself reading a lot . I like to educate myself off of what you know , what John does and what Phil does and what's what's . You know , uh , I'll , I'll pull in there , like last week , I'll talk to the Amish you know what I mean , I don't have no problem with it .
Speaker 1Well , billy Bob , we could talk for hours . Oh yeah , you . Well , billy Bob , we could talk for hours . Oh yeah , you know , I think , you know , I think the world of you and I really appreciate you taking the time to spend the morning with us . So anyway , with that said , I'll let you all go . You have a . Have a good day , good luck .
Speaker 2God bless .
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