(slow music) - Hello, and welcome to this episode of "Farm Connections."

I'm your host, Dan Hoffman.

On today's episode, we have Breakfast on the Farm with farm hosts Jim and Connie Sathre.

We talk about upcoming events with Farm Bureau representatives Ruth Meirick and Marlin Fay.

And the University of Minnesota Extension provides us with a new "Best Practices" segment, all here today on "Farm Connections."

(slow bluegrass music) - [Announcer] Welcome to "Farm Connections," with your host, Dan Hoffman.

- [Announcer] "Farm Connections" is made possible in part by.

- [Announcer] Absolute Energy, a locally owned facility produces 125 million gallons of ethanol annually, proudly supporting local economies in Iowa and Minnesota.

Absolute Energy, adding value to the neighborhood.

- [Announcer] Minnesota Corn Growers Association, working to identify and promote opportunities for corn growers, enhance quality of life, and help others understand the value and importance of corn production to America's economy.

- [Announcer] EDP Renewables North America, owner operator of Prairie Star and Pioneer Prairie Wind Farms, Minnesota and Iowa.

EDPR Wind Farms and Solar Parks provide incomes to farmers and help power rural economies across the continent.

- Welcome to "Farm Connections."

Breakfast on the Farm at the Sathre farm, how much better can it get than that?

Jim, thanks for having us.

- Glad to have you here.

- Connie, thank you.

- Thank you for being here.

- Well, you're no stranger to Breakfast on the Farm.

You did this a few years ago also, right?

- [Jim] 2013, we did it.

- Why, it's a lot of work.

- We like the work, no, I retired, and we just had so much fun last time with the people coming out, strangers, and I know a lot of people, but there's all strangers.

They loved the animals, the kids, city folks.

They come from the cities, they come from all over, and so when you get these compliments from people, it just antagonizes you to do some more, I love it.

- I think you're developing a legacy because some of these people eight years ago were children, and now those children have children.

- Have children.

And they're back.

- [Dan] Yeah, it's awesome.

- And they said, "Yeah, I was here in '13."

I go, "Hmm, I remember you," but I don't, but yeah, they're having a blast, and today, to listen to the kids screaming and hollering as their parents take them off the tractor, they don't want to get off.

Or coming out of the bouncy house, they cried all the way to the car.

They didn't want to leave, so it's fun.

- Why is it important for people to see your farms and intermingle with ag producers?

- Well, like a lot of these people in the city, they don't realize how much work it is on a farm, or what it's like on a farm.

They just thought cows come from cows and pigs come from pigs, they don't know where they come from, and now they get a chance to see kind of how it is.

- Well, you've added a few things since the last time.

Can you just enumerate or talk about that?

- Well, we've got the meat goats with the hogs.

My tractors, I collect and fix up international tractors, and enjoy it, I tear them all apart and paint them, and it's fun to have people comment on how nice they look, and it's a lot of work, but I enjoy doing it.

- Very showy, they look great.

- And the whole of the place, between the wife and I, we keep it picked up and cleaned up, and we just like to impress people when we do it.

- Connie, you've raised how many children?

- We've got three kids, two boys and a girl.

- So you've been at this for a while, are they helping out?

- Well, they're all gone now, married, married, some married, and some are off on their own, working.

But no, we're empty-nesters, and home by ourselves.

And I retired from farming two years ago, but I'm still busy with tractors and goats.

But someday I'm gonna retire for real.

But I enjoy having people out.

- One of your children is actually taking over the farm?

- No, no, my nephews, I rented it to my nephews.

The two boys got jobs in towns, and they enjoy it.

Actually, I like it that way 'cause if the boys took over, then I'd have to be here working.

- So you did rent it to family.

- [Jim] Yes, my four nephews rented it.

- And so the family really continues on.

- Yeah, it's my sister's boys keep farming, and it's like they didn't even skip a beat, and I'm real happy with them, and so couldn't ask for nobody better.

- And the hogs?

- Hogs I turned over to my nephew, takes care of them.

I don't take care of anymore, and he takes care of them, and so that's a different family, so yeah, that's family, too.

- Now that you've slowed down just a little bit.

- [Jim] A little bit.

- Do you wonder how you ever did it before?

- Yes, yes, it's amazing, I look back.

You get done planting corn, oh, gotta go spray today, gotta do this, pick rocks.

I sit up here and look now, and how did you ever do all that work?

When we did it, we didn't think nothing of it, but now, you look back, and it's a lot of work.

- [Dan] It's a lot of work.

- I mean, all day long, every day, you got something to do, but now, you sit up here, and it was fun.

- Well, you had some great support help with Connie.

- Yes, and she worked in town and she helped pay the bills when the times got rough, and it's turned out real good.

- Do times get rough for farmers?

- Oh, in the '80s, it's got tough.

It got real tough in the '80s.

A lot of people didn't make it, or couldn't buy much stuff, and they got rough, and then markets turned around.

Even a couple of years ago, it was pretty tough for the farmers.

Now this last year and this year, it should help.

- Jim, when you say tough, you're probably talking about weather, crops, yield.

- Crop prices, yield's been pretty good, but the prices, it all...

I've always said, years ago, when I sold machinery, give farmers a lot of money 'cause they're kind of like a wife in the house that don't get to spend the money, they can only go so long.

So give a farmer a lot of money 'cause he'll buy a new pickup, he'll buy a new car, he'll buy a new tractor, he keeps the economy going.

Farmers, without the farmers buying stuff, there'd be a lot of jobs that wouldn't be jobs.

- Very true, farmers use a lot of resources.

- Oh, unreal, and it's getting worse, or better, the technology and stuff is way beyond the farmers' capability of fixing, so they gotta hire someone to fix it, computers, and it's getting high tech.

And you think back now, when I started, you just went out with a tractor and sprayed.

But now you gotta have computers and auto steer, which is nice, it's changed a lot.

- And you're giving a whole new generation some employment opportunities.

- Right, right, and they come in, and they're young and think nothing of it 'cause that's the way they started.

A lot of the older people that retire, "Oh, the paperwork was getting bad," and this and that, but the younger person comes in and don't think nothing of it 'cause that's the way it is.

- It's kind of like when my kids say, "Dad, do you remember the first time you saw colored TV?"

And I say, "Yes, I do."

(group laughs) - It's more fun now to listen to the kids get together and talk around the campfire about what Dad made them do and Mom made them do when they were younger, and I didn't do, well, "Yeah, you made us do this, you made us pick rocks and you made us show goats."

But it was fun, they're fun, it was a lot of fun.

- It's how they grew into individuals that are worthy of being in our neighborhoods and communities.

- Yes, I mean, you can't take the childhood memories away from them, they're with you forever.

- And you're making a lot of memories today, too.

Thank you so much for that.

- I really enjoy it.

- If, at the end of the day, you reflect on what went well today, what would it be?

- The people, the weather.

- [Connie] The community coming together.

- Community, and like I say, I know a lot of people, but there's a lot of people here I've never seen before, and they just come down to see the animals- - [Connie] And learn about the farm.

- The kids just really enjoy it.

I enjoy seeing people smile and having a good time.

- And to top that off, what's your hope for the future of the community?

And community, I mean surrounding areas and your farm.

What's your hope?

- Well, the livestock, I hope the livestock stays somewhat small, but the farmers are getting bigger and bigger, and it's the livestock and when I was a kid, bailing hay and stuff, but they don't do that much anymore.

But you remember those days.

And at least these kids coming down from the city will have some memory of a farm.

They've probably never been on a farm before.

- Do you think they'd better appreciate how much work goes into producing their food after being at your farm?

- [Jim] I think a lot of them will, yeah, a lot of them will.

- Well, it's a wonderful event.

- It's fun to see the kids' expressions on the animals when they look at them and pet them, and everybody asks, "What's your favorite," and everybody's got a different answer.

- What do you want each person to leave this farm knowing?

- Well, just knowing what it's like to live on a farm, and if you take care of it, you can show it off, and bring people down and have a good time.

- [Dan] It's a great farm.

- I just, we like to keep our farm looking nice, and our hobbies, and I guess we've done that.

- [Dan] Very much so.

- Well, it's fun.

- The highlight of today is?

- Well, visiting you with, Dan.

- You're a good sport.

(group laughs) - No, it was all the people here and all the animals.

I called a lot of friends, and they actually brought the animals over to me.

You remember last time, we had to go get the animals, and they're glad to bring them down, and it's just fun for the kids.

- And you have 4-Hers and FFAers here, correct?

- Yeah, all four different towns of 4-H, FFA's helping with serving, parking, and set up the animals, and 4-H kids.

- So you're giving them an opportunity to grown in leadership and communication skills, as well?

- Yep, they know they gotta be here and work today, and oh, it's been good for them.

- [Connie] It's fun for them.

- [Dan] Awesome.

- It's fun for them.

- Yeah, I notice Grandpa and Grandma up on the porch.

- Old Grandpa Bob, he likes to sit there, and if he can find someone sit by him and visit, (laughs) that'll take care of the next two hours.

No, they're happy to be here.

- They enjoy it.

- They enjoy it, they really enjoy it.

- Very much, two farm kids came together, and another farm family.

- Yep, it's been a pleasure.

- Awesome, thank you so much, Jim.

- Thank you for having us.

- [Dan] You're welcome.

- You bet.

- Thank you, Connie.

- Thank you.

(laughs) - Stay tuned for more on "Farm Connections."

(slow guitar music) - [Announcer] "Farm Connections Best Practices" brought to you by.

(slow guitar music continues) - Well, I'm Ryan Miller, a Crops Education Extension Educator with the University of Minnesota, and this is today's "Best Practices" segment.

Today in this segment, we're gonna talk a little bit about evaluating our herbicide or weed management program within our crops for the season, and the importance with this time of year, when we get into July, to get out there and really do some evaluation on how things worked and where we had some misses.

All right, so when we're evaluating our weed control, we want to look for weeds, and then this can kind of help us determine what might be going on.

So it could be something related to the weed management program we picked, or it could be some other external factor.

So maybe we had application error, where the sprayer wasn't functioning properly, maybe we ran out of spray or there was a tip plugged, some kind of factor outside of what we actually chose.

And so those are things we can tune into and correct for the seasons to come, but also not be misled into doing and majorly changing our program because of these kind of external factors.

But when we do start to see failures or escapes, misses, we might call them, it's important to identify what species we're seeing.

Sometimes there may be an issue developing, like herbicide resistance.

There could be a situation where we've been using the same program too much and we see a shift in weed species, so it could be a new weed for us.

There's also the opportunity where we may have introduced a species to our farm through an animal manure or maybe a cover crop seed, or some other input that we put on that led to a new weed problem, I'm thinking of palmer amaranth, in this case.

So that has happened in Minnesota, and certainly something to be tuned into.

Now, if you don't have the confidence to identify a weed species by yourself, it's important to rely on or send pictures to a trusted agronomic advisor, or maybe someone at the university, like myself.

I know frequently we get, later in the season, I'll start to get pictures, either via email or text message on, "Hey, I think I've got this weed," or, "what is this weed?"

And we can certainly help you identify what weed you might be seeing.

So that's the first step, is to figure out what species you're seeing.

The second step is to go out and to create some maps.

So keep track of where you're seeing the species, and it's just gonna be important because it can help you kind of key into that location as years tick past and crop seasons tick past, you can kind of focus on what might be happening in that area.

It also will allow you to sort of beef up or maybe change up your management strategy for that location.

So it can let you better target maybe a more robust herbicide plan, or maybe it's just some hand roguing of the fields.

So that's another important consideration when you're out doing these scouting.

Oftentimes you can pull up plants, rogue them out, and limit how much seed production they're gonna have, and how much they're gonna add back into that weed seed bank, which will pay you dividends into the future because you'll have less potential weed density going forward.

So important to do some of that, too.

Well, again, I'm Ryan Miller, Crops Extension Educator with the University of Minnesota, and that was today's best management practice.

Thanks for listening.

- With me today is Ruth Meirick from the Minnesota Farm Bureau, Ruth, welcome.

- Thanks, Dan, it's great to be here.

- Well, I understand you have some things to do with how this started many years ago.

- Well, I wasn't actually involved in the very first Breakfast on the Farm, but shortly thereof, our field rep left the organization, and I actually took over, and it was a great opportunity for me to see an event that connected consumers with farmers grow and grow and grow over the years.

- Well, while I know you live in Southern Minnesota, you have an office in St. Paul or near there, right?

- I do, so I'm the Foundation Director for the Minnesota Farm Bureau, and as a part of that, I also coordinate our promotion and education activities for the state of Minnesota for the Farm Bureau.

- Well, why is that important?

- Well, connecting to consumers, the people that eat our food and use the value added products that come from agriculture is really important, and it's an important story for farmers and ranchers to share.

We take a lot of time working with our farm families that are members of our organization to teach them how to promote and educate people about agriculture, and honestly, there is no better way than to connect with consumers and people within our communities that are no longer on the farms than a Breakfast on the Farm like the one here today in Mower County.

- Well, Ruth, that's a really great point, and I think people that read papers or magazines or something on the internet probably don't have that connection to farmers and need to get it, right?

- You're right, there's a lot of myths and misconceptions about agriculture, and one of the things that people really long for that we see is being able to actually have a conversation with a person who's actively engaged in agriculture.

We have lots of farmers here on this farm today.

We have farmers that are young, that are maybe involved through the 4-H or FFA program, and we have farmers that are what we would say well-seasoned people involved in agriculture.

And for consumers to have that opportunity to talk one on one and engage with them, whether it be an exhibit here on standing in line for the pancakes, to have that conversation with an actual farmer is important.

People don't realize that agriculture or farming isn't just the food we eat.

There's so much value added agriculture, things that come from the farm, such as latex paints, tires, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and we need to share that story, too.

Agriculture touches our life every single day in a variety of ways that people just don't understand or know.

- Why is that important for the consumer to understand that?

- It's important for the consumer to understand that because first of all, it's important for them to understand it so that we can keep agriculture alive.

We talk about policy issues that sometimes are not very good for farmers and ranchers, and when they really can understand why farmers are important, or maybe why regulations or policy can be detrimental to agriculture, that's only gonna impact them on the backside, right?

Higher prices in our grocery stores, maybe higher prices on some of the products that we use in our day-to-day life.

Farmers, the ones that I know, do things right, and they want to make sure that they take good care of their land, good care of their animals that are on their farm, and honestly, good care of the communities that they live in.

So it's important that they understand that so that when they are faced with a question that might be concerning about agriculture, they know the backstory, they know the truth, and sometimes even they can address that from a consumer side, not a farming side.

- Ruth, you've given so many good tips, but give us one last one on how farmers and consumers can actually connect.

- Well, the Minnesota Farm Bureau has 78 County Farm Bureaus across the state of Minnesota, and many of those County Farm Bureaus are having events exactly like this one here on the farm today, whether it be a Breakfast on the Farm or a Taste on the Farm or an Evening on a Farm, if there's one in your local area, participate in it, and I guarantee, you'll walk off that farm learning something.

There's other events, like Farm Fest that's coming up in August in Redwood Falls.

There's the Minnesota State Fair.

Please participate in the Fair, come to the Minnesota Farm Bureau building and learn all of the different things you can learn.

We're really focusing on a value added agriculture that farmers produce more than produce, and really telling a story of how agriculture touches our lives every single day.

At this very given moment, there's a Breakfast on the Farm happening in Homestead County, so they'll help draw a large crowd, too.

But when you can actually get on a farm and participate in activities like that are here today, it's fun, there's laughter, there's joy, there's children, there's all ages here.

This is the best thing that we can do, bringing people to where we make our life and our livelihood.

- And sustain it.

- And sustain, yes.

- Ruth, what's the website for the Farm Bureau?

- The Minnesota Farm Bureau, if you are interested in an activity or all of our calendar events, it's www.fbmn.org.

- Awesome, thank you so much.

- [Ruth] Thank you, Dan.

- Stay tuned for more on "Farm Connections."

It's Breakfast on the Farm, and with me today is somebody that did a lot with that, Marlin Fay, Marlin, welcome.

- Well, thank you, Dan, it's a pleasure to be here.

- And it's nice you could let us be here, and I understand if it wasn't for you and many people like you, we wouldn't have this event.

- Well, it takes a lot of work to put it together, but you saw the fruition of it today, and what an amazing event, a beautiful day, and it just does take a lot of work and a lot of planning, and it takes a very good host.

Places that you have it, and you see the building site and the farmstead here today and the work that they do.

It's amazing, and so it doesn't happen without the hosts, and we're sure thankful for them.

- Well, while you worked on it for months and days, this family's worked on this farm for decades, right?

- Well, it does, and you see that all throughout the communities, farms passed down from family to family.

And the passion that people have for doing what they do, and that's what makes it so cool, the stuff that you do, you see Jim's tractors out here and the passion he has for them, and just everything that they put into it.

They enjoy doing it and they want to share it with people, and it's just awesome.

- Well, you're very authentic, as well.

You're a farmer in the area, correct?

- I am, been on that farm for 44 years now, and you go through and do the things that you do because you love to do it, and you raise your kids there.

There's no better place to raise kids than out in the country on a farm.

They get responsibilities, and it's just so rewarding, and if you're lucky enough, then you have kids that can take over the farm when you're gone, and you get a chance to help them into it, and build on it, and that's what life is all about.

- Well, and thanks for introducing me to your kids.

I just met Zach and his wife and children, it's pretty neat, and a growing family.

- Well, it is, and we get there way too fast, (laughs) the whole way, but grandkids, and you begin to really start to find your place in life, and you mentor your kids and you get to mentor your grandkids.

And with events like this, you get to mentor young children.

We get a lot of help from the FFA, the 4-H, other commodity groups, and it's just so rewarding to see young people step up and do things.

And we talked about that a little bit, that's something that we're kind of missing on the organizational part of organizations, like our Board, it's hard to get young people involved.

They've got a lot going on, but you've gotta show them the rewards that they can gain and the benefits of it, and we've got a lot of leadership programs to help them along the way.

And so a lot of things that are rewarding for them and beneficial to them, but I know they're busy, but we were busy when we were young, too.

So it's just good to get them out here and get a feel for it and get them involved.

- Marlin, as we go through the circle and the journey of life, there's opportunities to share and there's opportunities to develop the next generation of leaders, how do you do that?

- Farm Bureau has a lot of really good organizational programs, from leadership programs to stuff that we work with young people on, we do a lot of work with Farm Bureau and FFA on stuff like discussion meets, where they can have access to doing these things for real, and it starts out low key, and then pretty soon they move up the levels and they gain confidence, and it's amazing to watch some of these kids grow when they're doing this.

And it's not for everybody, but they try it, and then if they get into a niche, it's really some valuable programs that can teach them the leadership skills that they need not only for farming and business, but in life.

So they've got some good tools, and it's just so fun to be a part of.

- Marlin, I can substantiate that.

The last time I saw a discussion meet, what went through my mind is, these young leaders are gonna move into other roles, and hopefully they take that diplomacy and civil discussion and use it in their new roles, and we sure could use that.

- Well, we talk about that a lot.

And it brings us back to today, why do we do events like this?

It's because we get people out and they're not afraid to talk to us, we're just normal people, we're farmers.

If you've got a question, ask us.

If we don't agree on something, that's okay, but let's talk about it and give you the information so you can make up your mind.

It's not about, you think that's the way it is and you're wrong, no, we can learn a lot from it, too.

We talked about that, we're set in our ways a little bit, but we need some information from the other side so we can gain some insight on their point of view and realize where they're coming from.

And we've gotta get back to just being able to have discussions, come to some sort of agreement, and make stuff happen because we both know that we've seen enough of gridlock and not having stuff happen.

We need to find a way to make things happen, and to make things good, and you only do that when you can have discussions.

And if you can't do that, then you're just lost.

- Thank you, well said.

What's your words of encouragement for moving forward in agriculture?

- Agriculture is so bright.

People think of agriculture as being in the hands-on, hands in the dirt, planting crops, raising livestock.

There are so many good opportunities in agriculture.

I see so many young people from high school come back and be agronomists.

Some of them come back and be veterinarians.

There's just a whole host of things that they can do besides be farming in the dirt, and it's just so rewarding to see people take advantage of that, the career opportunities are great.

They rank right up there with a lot of other job opportunities, and to me, that's the most rewarding thing, seeing the young people reach that stage to where now they're grasping onto it, and they're taking it and they're running, and that's just fun.

- And you do it so well.

- Well, it's easy when you got a lot of people helping you, and it's fun to do, so.

- Thank you, Marlin, appreciate it.

- Well, thank you, it's great to be here.

- Stay tuned for more on "Farm Connections."

Coming together as a community, sitting down with our neighbors and sharing stories is what keeps us going through the good times and the bad.

When we sit together and treat each other well, there's nothing we can't accomplish.

I'm Dan Hoffman, thanks for watching "Farm Connections."

(slow music)