May 11, 2023 • 40 mins
Michelle Miller (The Farm Babe) joins us to discuss the importance of continuing advocacy for farmers and how emerging technologies are radically changing the face of our heritage. She’ll weigh in on some of the most important innovations and looks ahead at what you can expect to sprout up next.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Hello, and welcome to the Top Con Talks Agriculture
podcast.
We bring you thought-provokingagriculture topics each episode,
and we address the issues thatare important to farmers,
growers, and agribusiness.
And we have a great episodetoday.
My name is Dan Hendricks and Iam your host.
I serve as the senior businessdevelopment manager for Topcon
(00:36):
Agriculture in North America.
And I get to work with anamazing team of talented
individuals who loveagriculture.
They enjoy technology, and theystrive to help farmers and
growers find solutions.
I was on the phone with a friendof mine two weeks ago, and he
was sitting in his tractor cabdoing spring tillage, and he
begrudgingly told me it was 32degrees with 30 mile an hour
(01:00):
winds, and there were snowflurries coming down.
But then he said this, he said,Dan, I still can't complain
about it.
I'm sitting here in a heatedJohn Deere cab and my
grandfather would've been outhere in an open cab tractor
face-to-face with all of theelements.
Now that's a great perspectivebecause we all know that
(01:21):
agriculture has changed, it'sprogressed, it's evolved, and
modern farming has allowedgrowers to be more efficient and
produce more yield with lessacres.
And that's what we're gonna talkabout and discuss today on the
podcast, the Evolution ofFarming.
On today's episode, we haveMichelle Miller, a k a, the farm
(01:42):
babe, as our guest, and we'reexcited to have her.
Some of you may be familiar withMichelle and have seen her on
Inside Edition that today's showor People Magazine.
Michelle is an internationallyrecognized keynote speaker,
writer, columnist, and onlineinfluencer, and overall a
champion for global agriculture.
(02:04):
She strives to help the massesunderstand the truth about
modern agriculture production,and she has been on stage among
leading industry experts as oneof the most well known voices in
agriculture.
Michelle, it's great to have youon the Topcon podcast today.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
It's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Oh, thank you for joining us.
So tell us a little bit moreabout your personal background.
What is your connection toagriculture?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, I kind of grew up around it as a, as a kid, you
know, I, my family weren'tfarmers, but my friends were
farm kids, and so throughoutmiddle school and high school I
was in four H and they got mereally interested.
Every day after school we wouldride horses and do chores, and I
always really loved the farmlife.
Um, and then I actually went tocollege in Los Angeles and I
lived in downtown Chicago formost of my twenties.
(02:53):
And, uh, then ended up back onthe farm.
And, you know, it's interestinghow you kind of take life's
twists and turns.
I, I guess I'm passionate abouttelling the truth of agriculture
because I realized people arevery far removed from where the
food comes from, and I learnedthat firsthand from being a, uh,
self-proclaimed cit forover a decade.
(03:13):
So
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah.
So we, we, we've talked on thispodcast before about kind of the
misinformation that's out therein the world and educating
people about the truth inagriculture.
So what was it that kind ofcaused you to want to do that
with your career?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, and you know, it's interesting cuz I never
really set out to do what I doas a career, which was
interesting.
You know, I was, uh, I had afashion, I went to college for
fashion in la you know, so likemy first job outta college was
like, I worked for Gucci onRodeo Drive, you know, I was
about as city girl as you couldgo very far removed.
(03:52):
And, um, I ended up dating afarmer, you know, and I, we
randomly met at a bar and, and Iended up moving to rural Iowa
when I was, uh, oh gosh, it wasback in 2014.
So, so, um, we met in 2012 andthen I started the Farm Babe in
2014 because as I migrated tothis small town of a thousand
people in Iowa and became afarmer with him, my, my now
(04:15):
ex-boyfriend, um, I justrealized that I was really
misinformed about a lot ofthings.
And so, yeah, so, you know, whenyou live in LA and Chicago and
stuff, it's like you fall victimto a lot of misinformation.
You know, I had a personaltrainer that was telling me that
I, I had to go gluten free and,you know, I, I watched movies
like Food Inc.
And Animal Rights Activistvideos, and so I was, I would
(04:36):
only eat organic and non GMO andgluten free and all these
things, and I just became reallymisinformed about the food
supply.
But, and this happens, right?
People, people in urban areashad before social media didn't
really get an opportunity tohave farmers at their fingertips
to learn from.
And when I started dating thisfarmer and he goes, yeah, GMOs
(04:57):
do a great thing, GMOs do greatthings.
And I just, I started learning,you know, like he was using
hormones and antibiotics and,you know, I learned the, the
facts and the safety behind ourfood and that it's not as scary
as activist groups or foodcompanies want you to believe.
And so I, I just saw this, Ijust saw this hole that, that
(05:18):
needed to be filled forinformation and advocacy and,
and social media was a greatplace for me to do that, where
you can reach millions of peoplewith a click of a button for
free, you know?
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah.
And, and it seems like you havedone a great job of kind of
crossing over from just talkingin the ag community to going to
more of the, the general publicor, or the general media.
So like, what's been the secretto helping you do that and here
getting that, those individualsto, to listen to you?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, well, I think I have a, a, um, a better
understanding of what it's liketo be in that urban population,
uh, because I lived it and I wasthat.
So I feel like I have a, an alittle, an interesting
background as far as liketapping into a more urban
audience.
You know, like I was on a gueston Dr.
Drew in the a Adam studio and,and it's like, I used to live in
(06:09):
LA and, you know, I used to dolike extra work and stuff like
that.
Like I was kind of involved inthe, in the Hollywood scene when
I lived out there.
And so it's almost just kindalike getting back to where I was
and, and more of an urbanpopulation, uh, is, is where a
lot of my friends live.
It's where I spent a majority ofmy adult life before I settled
(06:30):
down, you know, or before Imoved to the farm in 2014.
Um, you know, so it's, so you,you have these different changes
in your life that allow me tosay, Hey, I understand the
farmer side and I understandthe, the worried urban consumer
side because I've been on bothsides of the spectrum.
But I think when it comes topeople in agriculture, like
that's what we have to rememberis that just because somebody
(06:53):
believes a myth, it doesn't meanthat they're a lost cause or
they're stupid.
It's like we just have to havepatience and empathy and
remember and realize that justbecause they haven't gotten a
chance to talk to a farmerdoesn't mean that they're, you
know what I mean?
Like, we just, we, we have tohave these conversations with
people and, and put yourself intheir shoes that they just, they
wanna learn more a lot of times,you know, so.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Right.
So you encourage in the agindustry for people not to just
write off consumers or write offpeople that live in the city,
but to, to really beopen-minded.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
And a lot of what's helped me iscrossing over into different
social media groups.
So when I first started, uh, andI was pretty active on Facebook
and advocacy with conversations,I joined a lot of non-farm
groups, like sciencecommunities, a lot of people
that you can connect with onshared values like science, the
(07:50):
pro gmo crowd that maybe aren'tfarmers, but they understand
science and technology, so youcan connect with people on other
things, you know, just scienceand then becoming friends with
other people that run socialmedia platforms that you like
and you become friends with, butthey're not farmers, but you,
(08:12):
you like the same things, youappreciate the science
communication aspect of it, youknow?
Right.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
And, and then, so you started gaining popularity and
getting a following on socialmedia.
Then how did that lead tobecoming a writer in a public
speaker?
How, how did those opportunitiesopen up?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, it just happened organically.
It's just, I had some posts, uh,one post in particular, I only
had about a hundred followers atthe time.
I was brand new, but I had apost go really viral, and it
reached about 14 million people,and that's really kind of what
put me on the map.
And then from there, myfollowers were just like, we
love what you're saying, willyou come speak at our event?
(08:53):
And for me, I was just sharing alot of information from people
that I admired.
Like, uh, Rob Syke was one thatcomes to mind, Robert Syke and
his company and his TED Talks.
And I was just listening to TedTalks and experts, and I just
kept sharing and amplifyingtheir voices.
And because I was sharing andamplifying these other people
that I was learning from, likePam Ronald is another one that
comes to mind, temple Grandon,you know, some of these people,
(09:16):
um, that I admired.
And then in turn they said, Hey,you know, thank you for sharing.
We, we do you want, we wannashare your content too.
Like, we, we need to talk.
And then Cornell Alliance forScience, Cornell University came
out and they did some videoswith me.
And so I just kept gainingpopularity to the point where
people took notice of that.
I said, Hey, you're a goodwriter.
Do you wanna write for ourmagazine?
(09:36):
And I said, sure.
So now, so now I'm writing, nowI write for three different
publications.
I've been with Ag Daily nowsince day one, which was eight,
eight or nine years ago now.
Um, and just, just been immersedin, in all things farming now
for almost a decade of doingthis.
And it's, it's pretty awesome.
Yeah, getting to
Speaker 1 (09:53):
That's a cool ride
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And learn, and it's, it's been really amazing and
something I didn't see coming.
I just, I started a Facebookpage just out of the passion in
my heart of wanting to stopmisinformation.
Right.
And it just grew naturally fromthere.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well, we appreciate what you're doing and segue into
you, you mentioned AG Daily, uh,I saw your article that you
wrote for Ag Daily about theevolution in farming and just
Yeah.
The, the different ways that youtalked about the way farming was
and the way it is today.
So let's, let's start with justtechnology for a second.
(10:30):
Tell me a little bit about whattechnology has done in
agriculture and how it's
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Changed.
Oh my gosh, where do we evenstart, where do we even
start?
That's such an amazingly broadquestion, but, you know, it is,
it's, to your point, you know,where you talked about like the,
the climate controlledenvironments and tractor cabs
now, you know, and, and sprayertechnology and, and you know,
one thing I think is really neatand is one, one thing that's
(10:56):
been my most popular things tobust or like myth bust is kind
of like, you know, chemicalusage and people think, oh,
you're just out there sprayingthese chemicals, and you talk
about like GMOs and how we'vebeen able to eliminate or reduce
pesticide or chemical usage.
And you talk about those sprayernozzles and how you can control
that to be such a fine mist andso targeted to very specific
(11:18):
insect or very specific problem.
We don't, we no longer have tospray these broad spectrum
chemicals that harm all insectsor harm all, you know, but very
targeted problems.
And, and now we have sprayersthat the valves can
automatically shut off, youknow, the computers and the
sensors and that precisionagriculture that's allowed us to
cut down in chemicals, I thinkis amazing.
(11:40):
Um, you know, so that's oneaspect.
And then you think abouttechnology in terms of, uh,
animal care, animal welfare andcomfort.
You know, I just had aconversation with somebody the
other day.
They said, oh, these chickenbreasts nowadays, they're so
big, they've gotta be pumpedfull of something.
What are we doing to thesechickens?
And it's like, no, there's nosuch thing as added hormones in
chicken.
(12:00):
But what we have done is we'vefigured out how to improve
genetics and comfort and careand housing.
And so if, if, if, like, let'sthink about it.
If we were given a verycomfortable climate controlled
environment with an all you caneat buffet of our favorite foods
where we just sit around and eatall day, we're gonna gain weight
too, you know?
And so, you know, we've learnedhow to maximize chicken comfort
(12:23):
where they, we know exactly thatclimate and the ventilation and
their health and the technologywithin housing is, is really
amazing to maximize rate gainwhile, uh, eliminating or
reducing antibiotics.
Uh, no such thing as hormones inchicken anymore.
They haven't been used since the1950s.
And so we're just continuing toimprove more with less, more
(12:45):
with less and, you know,reducing inputs.
Um, there's so much.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
So where does the misinformation come from?
Because like you said, nowyou're, you're an advocate and
you're, you're, you're talkingscience and you're speaking to
people about what really isgoing on in they're misinformed.
How did they get misinformed?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Yeah, that's a great question.
And, it's really kind ofan answer of follow the money.
You know, if you look at the nonGMO project as a 19 billion a
year food label, but what'sinteresting is there's only 10
commercially available GMOs, uh,available to us and ca Canadian
growers.
So when you think about whatwe're growing GMOs are gonna be
(13:29):
commonly found in your junk foodtype stuff, right?
Like it's your sugar beets, yourcorn, soybeans, canola, it's
gonna be kind of in oils,candies, cakes, sugars, A lot of
sugary foods are, are likely tohave GMOs.
So when you see a non GMO stampon all these things that don't
even have a G M O counterpart,it's really only there to sell
you something.
And if you go on their website,there's really nothing, they
(13:53):
spread so much misinformation.
I feel like non G M O or organicis kind of like the new natural,
you know, we used to just putnatural on stuff.
Well, natural and non GMO is nowa 300 or organic is now a 350
billion business when youcombine these labels.
And so there's a lot of thingsto gain off of consumer fear
(14:15):
where fear sells.
So now you're saying, Hey, GMOsare really bad.
You better pay three times morefor organic or non gmo.
And so this is what's so funnyis a lot of times when I come
across people that say, youknow, not, I don't know
how else to put it other thanlike the woke crowd, right?
When you have like the wokecrowd that's like, don't be a
sheep, I'm woke.
And then it's like, okay, so youdon't trust the government,
(14:36):
right?
And they're like, no, of coursenot.
You don't trust big foodcorporations, right?
No, no, of course not.
Who do you think's getting richoff of these labels?
It's the same corporations andthe government that is charging
farmers to have this label thatis charging the consumers three
times more, and then they failto tell consumers, oh, by the
way, organic actually doesn'tmean pesticide free.
(14:58):
And it's like, don't get mewrong, I got nothing against
organic farmers.
Right?
If that's, if a farmer wants togrow that and fill that niche
and they can be more profitable,have at it.
But to tell consumers organic ismore pure because they don't use
PEs pesticides, that's a pointblank.
Lie organic sometimes uses morepesticides than non-organic.
Sometimes they use less,sometimes they use more.
(15:18):
So the food labels really havenothing to do with telling us
how our food is grown.
And by the way, none of our foodis natural.
So everything has been modified,whether that's organic, non gmo,
there's no such thing as naturalfood.
It's all modified in some sense.
So why are we picking ontransgenic and not triple, uh,
or wide cross or triple haploidor, you know, mutagenesis or all
(15:41):
these other plant breedingmethods.
It's all a matter of creatingthese profitable food labels for
the food corporations to createfear misinformation to sell more
products.
Now, that's one side.
The other side of that is thatyou've got the animal rights
activists.
So the, um, animal rightsactivist groups want people to
(16:01):
believe that animals are raisedin cruel, torturous conditions
to donate and go vegan.
So there's multi-facets, butyeah, it, it absolutely boils
down to follow the money behindfear in the food supply.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So because of that, then you feel like the average
consumer out there has just kindof bought into the marketing,
bought into the misinformation,and then slowly they just find
themselves misinformed orfearful of things that they
shouldn't be fearful of andmaybe not fearful of the things
that they should be fearful of,but they've, uh, kind of been
(16:37):
misguided.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
And and it depends on whatyou're googling too, right?
Like, it, it's like if yougoogle your medical symptoms,
you can convince yourself you'regonna die in the next 10
minutes.
, right?
You've gotta, you've gotta go tothe expert, like, you've gotta
just go to your doctor and havethe proper science.
You know, you gotta talk aboutthe proper science from proper
credentialed doctor.
(16:59):
And it's kind of like that with,with agriculture too.
If you Google what's a gmo, youcould come up with some serious,
you know, bull crap, uh, no punintended, because bull crap is
actually quite useful on thefarm
Speaker 1 (17:12):
.
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
It's a great,
Speaker 1 (17:15):
It's very helpful, very helpful.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
.
But, but yeah, it's kind oflike, you know, you Google
something and, and people onlyhear one side of the argument,
you know, they only hear whatthey're, what they hear in an
urban area where they don'tactually talk to farmers.
And if they do talk to farmers,a lot of times they're talking
to small hobby farmers at theirlocal farmers' market or
(17:37):
something.
We've gotta always go to thesource of our information.
If you wanna learn about largescale, so-called factory farms,
you've gotta track down and haveconversations and try to take
tours and, and it, and, and, um,educate yourself by talking to
those actual experts.
The poultry science departments,you know, the animal science
departments at universities thatare doing the research are more
(17:59):
than happy to share theirexpertise.
People just can't beintellectually lazy and keep an
open mind and try to, you know,really dig deep by talking to
the real experts.
It's kinda like when you, whenyou wanna learn about your car,
you go to your mechanic.
When you wanna learn about yourteeth, you go to your dentist.
So when you wanna learn aboutagriculture, you gotta talk to
(18:22):
those people in agriculture.
You can't just do a Googlesearch or talk to like a New
York City nutritionist or anactivist from la.
Like, you gotta talk to somebodythat's really getting the dirt
under their nails.
Yeah.
You
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Know what I mean?
So you find that consumers arejust not, a lot of their
information is not coming from areal source.
And so it's just kind of Exactly.
So tell me about your opendialogue with Burger King a
couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah, that was awesome.
So, um, burger King had put outthis horrible ad that just
talked about how cow farts weredestroying the planet, you know,
and this ad was so bad, it waslike little kids and gas masks,
and the polar ice caps weremelting.
And their solution was that weare going to feed lemon grass to
cattle.
And they're sitting here going,well, because we're doing this,
(19:08):
we can reduce methane emissionsand we're gonna change the world
.
And don't get me wrong, reducingmethane and, you know, um,
caring about sustainability inthe, the planet and the
environment, all noble causes.
But they, they made thislemongrass thing to be out to be
this, this holy grail of asolution.
(19:30):
But they only did one study thatproved that lemongrass could
reduce methane emissions.
And that was a study they did inMexico.
Now, the studies they weretrying to do in the US and the
eu, the results wereinconclusive.
They were not yet published, sothey really kind of jumped the
gun.
And so when they put out thisad, it went really viral.
Uh, it had, the ad had about 5million views on Twitter alone,
(19:53):
overnight, but then they alsohashtag boycott Burger King was
trending too.
So some of the researchers andscientists themselves were
pushing back and saying,actually, our, our research
isn't coming up with thatconclusion.
And ag economists were fightingback and saying, where are we
gonna source lemongrass and howmuch is that gonna cost?
And how much more like, is thisgonna cost a cattle producer to
(20:16):
use this as a feed source?
And where are we gonna sourcethis?
And so all these things happen.
Um, I was putting Burger King onblast a little bit with some
posts on social media that weregoing pretty viral, and I just
stopped and I thought about itfor a minute and I said, what if
I could have a conversation?
So I just a Google search and Ilooked up who is the global
chief marketing officer, aBurger King, and I just sent him
(20:37):
a tweet just explaining why wefound the ad so offensive.
And Burger King actually reachedout to me and we had a great
zoom call, Uhhuh.
Yeah, it was, it was prettyawesome.
And I said, look, like come onout.
I wanna show you what, whatfarmers are doing to be
sustainable and help theenvironment reduce methane.
Right.
And they took me up on it andthey came out with a camera
(20:58):
crew.
They put out a new ad, theyretracted the old one, the cows
making
Speaker 1 (21:02):
One.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
They pulled it, and I put together a couple day tour.
I got Iowa State involvedruminant nutritionist, Iowa Farm
.
I was on the farm in Iowa at thetime, and I said, ruminate
nutritionist, I got, um, took'emto a, a methane digester, dairy
farms, cattle feed lots.
Took'em to my, I mean, you nameit, I was like, I'm gonna pull
out all the stops so they canreally be immersed in all
(21:25):
things.
And they learned a ton, and they, um, and they listened and they
came to the table and theychanged their tune.
And, and that all started withthe power of a tweet, you know?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
That is incredible.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you still have social media arelationship with Burger King
now?
Yeah.
You do?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Fernando is his name and that'scool.
Yeah.
We, uh, yeah.
And he lives in Miami, and he'soriginally from Brazil.
And I learned throughout our fewdays together on that tour, you
know, that he had never reallybeen to a, a cattle farm before.
And so here you have somebodythat's living in, living in
Miami.
Wow.
Right.
That's heading up one of thelargest burger chains in the
(22:03):
world that doesn't know wherebeef comes from.
So this is a problem.
So this is why we have toadvocate, and this is why I tell
everybody, one of my topics thatI deliver in my keynote and
breakout sessions is the topicof advocacy and understanding
the power of our own voices,being able to amplify that,
communicate social media tips asto how we can better amplify and
(22:26):
move the messaging forwardwithin our industry so that
mm-hmm.
things like thisdon't happen again.
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
You know?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
That's an amazing story.
Very cool.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Thanks.
It was, it was really awesome.
I mean, I commend them forlistening and giving a craft,
you know?
Yes.
That's a lot of, we, we can'talways say that about every food
company.
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Chipotle,,
, and kudos to them for,
uh, actually reaching out andbeing willing to listen.
I mean, that's a really Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Thing for
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Sure.
Now, going back to your articleon Ag Daily, like one of the
things that you mentioned thathas, that has been a big change
is, is equipment.
So just speak to that for alittle bit.
How, how that has evolved andthe difference of the evolution
of equipment is making.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah, I mean, well, kind of like, I, I think I
touched on that a little bitago, but you know, it's like
we're able to just do so muchmore.
You know, the technology's soadvanced when you've got
planters that go faster, that domore rows that cover more
ground, you know, as we'relosing a lot of, you know, farms
are what farmers are, what 1.5%of the population of North
(23:31):
America.
And as that population hasshrunk, we lose three acres of
farmland every minute to urbandevelopment.
So we have to be able to havetechnology that's going to allow
us to do more with less, youknow, and, um, yeah, just really
kind of streamline that processand, and have, have everything
(23:52):
be comfortable that precisionagriculture where we can monitor
and test, uh, you know, thedifferent moisture content and,
you know, really be able to seein that computer screen exactly
what we're doing and, and howwe're going about it.
Maximize shelf life, uh, storagecapabilities, yield monitoring.
I mean, all of these things areall so important.
You know, we could, we couldwrite a novel on how far we've
(24:13):
come with tech.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yeah.
And, and
Speaker 2 (24:14):
The saint your grandpa's tractor.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Right.
And, and I was just gonna saysomething about that.
If you think about ourgrandfathers or our
great-grandfathers, I mean, justhow their mind would just be
blown to see Yeah.
Modern daily, yeah.
Agriculture and, uh, all thethings that are going on.
It's insane on equipment side.
So you touched on another pointin your article with irrigation
and, you know, water is a hugetopic.
(24:37):
I mean, it, it seems like, uh,so many places in the world
either have too much of it ornot enough of it.
Um, so just a little bit aboutwhat's changed and evolved with
how water is used.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah.
And I think one of my favoritetopics here is that drip tape
irrigation, where instead of,where we used to just broadcast
water or put it on, you know,the roots now with that drip
tape irrigation, you know, Ilive in Florida now.
I don't know if I mentionedthat, but what's been fun about
moving from the farm in Iowa tofarming in Florida is seeing the
(25:10):
fruits and vegetables and howyou've got this drip tape
irrigation underneath theplastic culture, which is
keeping that moisture and itreally maximize these water
inputs.
You also hear about how farmerscan monitor their water from
anywhere from their smartphones.
You've got soil monitors, you'vegot different, um, moisture
monitors.
You've got different things thatcan go on the ground or that can
(25:30):
keep all this for you.
So we're not, we're using justamount of, just the right amount
of water, you know, not more,not less.
And so I think just being ableto slowly drip in whatever water
we need to within that drip tapeirrigation line, I think is, is
amazing.
But yeah, I mean, all, all sortsof different equipments, and
that's just probably my favoriteexample.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
So what about pest control?
That was another thing.
You talked about insects.
How are we handling thatdifferent than what our
grandfathers would've handledit?
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yeah, and I, again, I think that kind of I touched on
earlier was just like, you know,having something that's more
targeted and specific not, and,you know, and not having to,
we've got, IM improvinggenetics, I guess you could say
too, whether that's plantgenetics, um, whether that's GMO
or non GMO or whatever, youknow, just to be able to say,
Hey, we've, we've changed thisplant to be more disease
(26:21):
resistant, to be more pestresistant, uh, to be more
drought tolerant.
Um, so I think plant geneticsare doing a lot in, in terms of
that to manage pests and alsothe research that's going on
with pest management as far asusing more biologicals.
You know, it's not just abouttechnology and chemistry as much
as it's about biology too, wherethis research is showing.
I tell you what, I was just at amacadamia farm in South Africa a
(26:47):
few weeks ago, actually.
This was pretty neat.
And one of the biggest problemsthey have there is with these
mods and these weevils that canactually drill into the mac, the
hard macadamia shell.
And what they're doing isthey're releasing a parasitic
wasp that will kill the larva ofthese pests.
Oh, wow.
And yeah.
(27:07):
Isn't that crazy?
That is.
And so it's like, yeah.
And so using biologicals now, Iwas at an apple orchard with
arctic apples out in Washingtonstate, uhhuh, and
they were talking about how theyhave these pheromone traps that
they can release a pheromonethat attracts the, the, um,
negative insects, but keeps thebeneficial.
(27:27):
And so through biologicals we'resaying, Hey, now we can also
plant this shrub or this herb,uh, or this herb here where
we're saying, Hey, we're gonnaattract this beneficial insect
to take care of the negativeones.
So, you know, we don't,chemistry's important, but I
think everybody would agree thatreducing chemical dependency and
(27:48):
working with biology and natureis always a good thing if we can
do it successfully.
So there's a lot of differentthings going on where, whether
it's chemistry to control aproblem or whether it's plant
genetics, or whether it'sbiology, there's a number of
different ways that we cantackle this problem.
And, and I think that that's onething we have to remember is
agriculturalists, that it's notalways a one size fits all
(28:09):
solution.
That there's a lot of differentways that we can control, uh,
control, um, problems.
Yeah.
But yeah, I mean, reducingchemicals, producing more with
less and, and protectingbiodiversity, I think is
something we can definitely allagree on.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Yes.
I think everyone wants that.
Everyone wants the, the same endgoal.
So, so we've talked about, yeah,all of this, all of this change
in farming practices and this,the evolution.
But talk to me a little bitabout farming families.
How have they changed?
How has the, the, theprototypical American family
(28:44):
farm that, you know, that, thatyou would see?
How is it, how is it differentthan what it was decades ago?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Well, and the other thing too that's interesting
about that is you could arguethat the farmer's family values
haven't really changed, but thesize has changed.
And that's one thing that Ialways like to drive home.
When people say, oh, these bigfactory farms, all they care
about is profits or whatever,you know, these myths that I
like to bust where it's like,just, but they're not really
(29:14):
like these cruel factories.
They're still families thatcare, but they've learned over
time how to better navigatetheir farms.
They've learned how to care foranimals better.
They've learned how to do morewith less.
And so now, um, you know, Italked to some one, one farm
family comes to mind, my friendWanda, that raises pigs in
(29:34):
Minnesota.
Mm-hmm.
, she talks about,you know, she's a grandma, she's
older, but she talks about howwhen they were raising pigs back
in the seventies or sixties orwhatnot, you know, these pigs
are just outside.
You know, animals are gettingeaten by predators.
They're, you know, they'regetting sick from, uh, the
different insects and heat and,you know, pigs can't sweat.
So the sunburn, the extreme coldtemperatures, you know, so just
(29:57):
because farmers today raiselivestock indoors sometimes, um,
again, it's, it's all done.
No farmer wants to invest, youknow, millions of dollars into
technology unless there's an ROIthere.
So if you're able to do this andcreate a more streamlined
process where we're able tobetter care for animals, uh, or
whatever it is in general on thefarm, that's still a farmer
(30:21):
being a steward of the land andbeing true to their family
legacy, it just looks a littlebit more tech savvy, you know?
Right.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Yeah.
It's just looks a littledifferent than it did.
So,
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Yeah.
And like nowadays too, sorry,nowadays too, it's like there's
so much more than just being afarmer.
Like you could think of howyour, your grandpa did it
mm-hmm.
where he's justoutside really physically
working hard at physical labor.
But now we've got so much moretech and different ways that
people can be involved on thefarm, whether they wanna do the,
the technology aspect of it.
(30:53):
Um, you know, social media isanother aspect of farming, you
know, and so, um, whether youwanna be more involved on the,
um, agronomic side or the bookside, the, you know, sales and
marketing side, there's a numberof ways that you can still be an
important part of the farm, butnot necessarily do all the hard
physical labor that ourgrandfathers did, you know?
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Right.
Yeah.
There, the, the agriculture hasjust grown and there's so many
more positions and, and jobs andways to be involved in it.
So from your perspective, I I,is there anything that stayed
the same in agriculture?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Like family values I think is still really important.
You know, I think when you thinkof these multiple generation
farms that are most of Americanfarms today, I would argue that
that would stay the same, iswanting to hold up that legacy
and make our families proud,raise our kids where, you know,
be, be that next generation.
I don't think that's changed.
(31:51):
I think our hearts in ruralAmerica are still pretty solid.
Values haven't changed.
Um, like work
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Ethic,
Speaker 2 (31:58):
You know, I think there's still, yeah.
Work ethic.
Mm-hmm.
, I think faith ismm-hmm.
is a big part ofthat.
Faith, family farming is usuallythe three are three favorite F
words.
Yeah.
.
Um, yeah, I'd, I'd say that, youknow, just kind of maintaining
that, that legacy and kind ofkeeping, holding onto that, that
(32:19):
barn type image and, um, just,just wanting to be the best
stewards that we can.
Yeah.
And
Speaker 1 (32:24):
I, I'm in a fortunate position that I get to see that
being able to travel for my jobat Topcon, I, I do quite a bit
of traveling and it's usually inrural areas.
And, uh, last week I was up inMichigan, central Michigan, and
you, you do see that, you know,you, you see yeah, just real
honest, hardworking people thatthere's a lot of crazy things
(32:44):
going on in the world when youwatch the news.
There's a lot of scary stuff,but you get into a small town,
pull up to a gas station and youfind that there's just a lot of
real, uh, real down to earthhardworking people that values
haven't changed much over, overthe last years.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah.
Michigan agriculture is prettycool.
Yeah, it is.
Yeah.
I've, I've, I've spent, I'vespent a lot of time in Michigan
and I, I just think it's so neatwhen you see like the asparagus
and the, the fruits andeverything and just how diverse
mm-hmm.
people when theythink of the Midwest, I think
they think, oh, Midwest, likeit's the corn belt and it's
like, and then you just get intoMichigan and it's just this like
(33:24):
pocket of like wonderland offruits and vegetables,.
That's pretty neat.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
So Michelle, talk to me about health technology has
transformed and evolved in theag industry.
Uh, what that means about thequality of life for growers.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I think as we're seeing moretechnology evolve, it's really
offered farmers a better qualityof life as well.
You know, maybe now instead ofdoing so much hands-on physical
labor, nonstop, you know, we'reable to rely a little bit more
on computers, um, improvegenetics where maybe those,
those, uh, crops can be storedfor longer periods of time and
(33:59):
have better quality where itdoesn't, doesn't rot overnight,
but we're learning how to betterstore different, uh, crops for,
um, humidity, climate control,uh, you know, all that type
thing.
And then also one thing thatreally comes to mind is like
dairy farming.
You know, when you think abouthow you used to be out there and
milking cows by hand, and nowwe've got robots that can do
(34:20):
everything for us.
So I've been to some dairieswhere these cows like don't ever
even see humans.
Like, can we even imagine that,right?
Yes.
Sometimes, you know, it used, itused to be so hands-on, and now
we've got these viewing roomsand computer monitoring.
We've got these like Fitbits ontheir neck and automatic manure
scrapers, automatic feeders,robots, uh, freestyle barns
where cows can just come and goand get up and get milked as
(34:42):
they please.
And so I think that's prettyneat.
There's even, there's even asensor that can send you a text
message when your cow is aboutto have a calf.
So like, maybe now, instead ofbeing outdoors and constantly,
constantly checking, you can getthat notification that says,
Hey, cow number 1, 9 2 7 isabout to have a calf.
(35:04):
And you know, when you need tobe there for that.
So there's all sorts of coolthings going on that allow
farmers to be a little bit morehands off, do more with less
and, and improve their qualityof life.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Yeah.
I, I guess it helps them to nothave to work.
Um, they still work long hours,but maybe not quite as physical
or not as much in the elements,or they're able to use their
time in more constructive waysthan in past integrations.
Yeah.
And definitely more for sure.
They're definitely more informednow of maybe, like you said,
what's going on around the farmthan what they used to be able
(35:38):
to be.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Totally.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Well, Michelle, I want you to participate in our,
uh, fast and furious farm factsnow, and uh, okay.
It's gonna help our listenersjust learn a little bit more
about you.
And what's gonna happen is I'mgonna ask you 12 questions and I
just need to give you, to giveme the first answer that pops in
your head.
There's no right or wronganswers, this is just you, your
opinions.
So we get to know a little bitmore about Michelle.
(36:04):
Okay.
Are you ready?
Okay.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
All right.
Uh oh.
.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
If you could own a farm anywhere in the world,
where would it be?
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Ooh, that's a good one.
Oh my gosh.
I saw this farm in Texas rightoutside of Galveston, that's
literally right on the beach.
Uhhuh.
It was insane.
Like, I need to know who thisfarmer is because you literally,
like the beach is right there.
There's a road and there's afarm.
And then right around the farmit's all these beautiful cattle
that literally are like oceanfront cows.
(36:33):
And then there's like thesepretty little beach houses just
like, just dotted around the,out of this ca cattle pasture.
I'm like, I want that house onthe beach where I can look at my
house.
.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
All right.
Name your favorite tractormanufacturer.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
That's a tough one.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
You don't have a favorite and that's fine if you
don't.
I
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Don't think I have a favorite.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Okay.
All right.
Uh, Carhartt or Wranglers?
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Carhartt.
Carhartt.
I don't know.
Carhartt for the tops AndWranglers for the bottom.
.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Wrangler jeans and Carhartt sweatshirt.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Okay.
What college sports team do youcheer for?
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Uh, I just hope both teams have fun.
Next.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Uh,
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I could give two craps about sports.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Ford Dodge or Chevy trucks?
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Chevy.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Chevy.
All right.
What manure smells the worst.
Cattle, hogs.
Chickens or turkeys?
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Chickens.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Do you prefer whole milk?
2% milk, skim milk, or lactosefree milk?
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, the fat free stuff.
Don't make fun of me.
I think it tastes better.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
We don't judge here.
All right.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
, you'd be
surprised How many people judge
me for that answer.
.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
All right, choose one.
Johnny Cash.
George Strait, Blake Shelton orLuke Combs?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Ooh, Blake.
Something.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
All right.
Who's your favorite character onYellowstone?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
I don't watch it.
.
I've tried.
I can't get into it.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Sure.
Again, I can't get into it.
We don't
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Judge Kevin Costner, I guess.
Kevin Costner.
I guess because like, I justlike it when people quote him
and they're like, how cute doesan animal have to be for it to
die for you,?
Or whatever that quote is, right?
Speaker 1 (38:16):
.
Okay.
Favorite coffee brewed at HomeGas station or Starbucks?
Speaker 2 (38:23):
I'm not really a big coffee person.
Gas station, coffee.
I guess when I'm in the mood forit, I pretty much only drink
coffee when it's like free inthe hotel lobby and it's like
convenient to grab on my wayout.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
.
Okay.
Who's the greatest stock Carttracer of all time?
Richard Petty.
Dale Earnhardt.
Jeff Gordon or Ricky?
Bobby.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Ricky.
Bobby.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
You like Ricky Bobby.
Hey guys.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Got two first names.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Awesome job.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
I'm not really sure what to do with my hands.
.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Well, Michelle, thank you so much.
That's a good movie.
We appreciate you joining us onthe podcast today.
We appreciate you being anadvocate, uh, for agriculture.
We appreciate your time and, uh,just thanks so much for joining
us today.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
You as well.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Okay.
You're very welcome to learnmore from Michelle.
Visit herwebsite@thefarmbabe.com.
You can also find her on socialmedia, including Facebook, which
is look up Farm Babe onFacebook.
She's also on Twitter, YouTube,TikTok and Instagram.
And you can search at the FarmBabe in those social media
(39:27):
platforms.
And I'd like to thank each ofour listeners today for tuning
in.
Topcon appreciates all of ourfriends in agriculture who work
so tirelessly to put food on ourtables.
If you have enjoyed thisepisode, please remember to
like, share, subscribe to TopconTalks Agriculture on Spotify,
apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, orwherever you get your podcasts.
(39:48):
Please tell your friends aboutus.
We'd love for you to followTopcon Agriculture on social
media.
Thanks again for joining ustoday.
See you next time.
Go out and make it a great day.
Hello, and welcome to the Top Con Talks Agriculture
podcast.
We bring you thought-provokingagriculture topics each episode,
and we address the issues thatare important to farmers,
growers, and agribusiness.
And we have a great episodetoday.
My name is Dan Hendricks and Iam your host.
I serve as the senior businessdevelopment manager for Topcon
(00:36):
Agriculture in North America.
And I get to work with anamazing team of talented
individuals who loveagriculture.
They enjoy technology, and theystrive to help farmers and
growers find solutions.
I was on the phone with a friendof mine two weeks ago, and he
was sitting in his tractor cabdoing spring tillage, and he
begrudgingly told me it was 32degrees with 30 mile an hour
(01:00):
winds, and there were snowflurries coming down.
But then he said this, he said,Dan, I still can't complain
about it.
I'm sitting here in a heatedJohn Deere cab and my
grandfather would've been outhere in an open cab tractor
face-to-face with all of theelements.
Now that's a great perspectivebecause we all know that
(01:21):
agriculture has changed, it'sprogressed, it's evolved, and
modern farming has allowedgrowers to be more efficient and
produce more yield with lessacres.
And that's what we're gonna talkabout and discuss today on the
podcast, the Evolution ofFarming.
On today's episode, we haveMichelle Miller, a k a, the farm
(01:42):
babe, as our guest, and we'reexcited to have her.
Some of you may be familiar withMichelle and have seen her on
Inside Edition that today's showor People Magazine.
Michelle is an internationallyrecognized keynote speaker,
writer, columnist, and onlineinfluencer, and overall a
champion for global agriculture.
(02:04):
She strives to help the massesunderstand the truth about
modern agriculture production,and she has been on stage among
leading industry experts as oneof the most well known voices in
agriculture.
Michelle, it's great to have youon the Topcon podcast today.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
It's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Oh, thank you for joining us.
So tell us a little bit moreabout your personal background.
What is your connection toagriculture?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, I kind of grew up around it as a, as a kid, you
know, I, my family weren'tfarmers, but my friends were
farm kids, and so throughoutmiddle school and high school I
was in four H and they got mereally interested.
Every day after school we wouldride horses and do chores, and I
always really loved the farmlife.
Um, and then I actually went tocollege in Los Angeles and I
lived in downtown Chicago formost of my twenties.
(02:53):
And, uh, then ended up back onthe farm.
And, you know, it's interestinghow you kind of take life's
twists and turns.
I, I guess I'm passionate abouttelling the truth of agriculture
because I realized people arevery far removed from where the
food comes from, and I learnedthat firsthand from being a, uh,
self-proclaimed cit for
(03:13):
So
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah.
So we, we, we've talked on thispodcast before about kind of the
misinformation that's out therein the world and educating
people about the truth inagriculture.
So what was it that kind ofcaused you to want to do that
with your career?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, and you know, it's interesting cuz I never
really set out to do what I doas a career, which was
interesting.
You know, I was, uh, I had afashion, I went to college for
fashion in la you know, so likemy first job outta college was
like, I worked for Gucci onRodeo Drive, you know, I was
about as city girl as you couldgo very far removed.
(03:52):
And, um, I ended up dating afarmer, you know, and I, we
randomly met at a bar and, and Iended up moving to rural Iowa
when I was, uh, oh gosh, it wasback in 2014.
So, so, um, we met in 2012 andthen I started the Farm Babe in
2014 because as I migrated tothis small town of a thousand
people in Iowa and became afarmer with him, my, my now
(04:15):
ex-boyfriend, um, I justrealized that I was really
misinformed about a lot ofthings.
And so, yeah, so, you know, whenyou live in LA and Chicago and
stuff, it's like you fall victimto a lot of misinformation.
You know, I had a personaltrainer that was telling me that
I, I had to go gluten free and,you know, I, I watched movies
like Food Inc.
And Animal Rights Activistvideos, and so I was, I would
(04:36):
only eat organic and non GMO andgluten free and all these
things, and I just became reallymisinformed about the food
supply.
But, and this happens, right?
People, people in urban areashad before social media didn't
really get an opportunity tohave farmers at their fingertips
to learn from.
And when I started dating thisfarmer and he goes, yeah, GMOs
(04:57):
do a great thing, GMOs do greatthings.
And I just, I started learning,you know, like he was using
hormones and antibiotics and,you know, I learned the, the
facts and the safety behind ourfood and that it's not as scary
as activist groups or foodcompanies want you to believe.
And so I, I just saw this, Ijust saw this hole that, that
(05:18):
needed to be filled forinformation and advocacy and,
and social media was a greatplace for me to do that, where
you can reach millions of peoplewith a click of a button for
free, you know?
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah.
And, and it seems like you havedone a great job of kind of
crossing over from just talkingin the ag community to going to
more of the, the general publicor, or the general media.
So like, what's been the secretto helping you do that and here
getting that, those individualsto, to listen to you?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, well, I think I have a, a, um, a better
understanding of what it's liketo be in that urban population,
uh, because I lived it and I wasthat.
So I feel like I have a, an alittle, an interesting
background as far as liketapping into a more urban
audience.
You know, like I was on a gueston Dr.
Drew in the a Adam studio and,and it's like, I used to live in
(06:09):
LA and, you know, I used to dolike extra work and stuff like
that.
Like I was kind of involved inthe, in the Hollywood scene when
I lived out there.
And so it's almost just kindalike getting back to where I was
and, and more of an urbanpopulation, uh, is, is where a
lot of my friends live.
It's where I spent a majority ofmy adult life before I settled
(06:30):
down, you know, or before Imoved to the farm in 2014.
Um, you know, so it's, so you,you have these different changes
in your life that allow me tosay, Hey, I understand the
farmer side and I understandthe, the worried urban consumer
side because I've been on bothsides of the spectrum.
But I think when it comes topeople in agriculture, like
that's what we have to rememberis that just because somebody
(06:53):
believes a myth, it doesn't meanthat they're a lost cause or
they're stupid.
It's like we just have to havepatience and empathy and
remember and realize that justbecause they haven't gotten a
chance to talk to a farmerdoesn't mean that they're, you
know what I mean?
Like, we just, we, we have tohave these conversations with
people and, and put yourself intheir shoes that they just, they
wanna learn more a lot of times,you know, so.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Right.
So you encourage in the agindustry for people not to just
write off consumers or write offpeople that live in the city,
but to, to really beopen-minded.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
And a lot of what's helped me iscrossing over into different
social media groups.
So when I first started, uh, andI was pretty active on Facebook
and advocacy with conversations,I joined a lot of non-farm
groups, like sciencecommunities, a lot of people
that you can connect with onshared values like science, the
(07:50):
pro gmo crowd that maybe aren'tfarmers, but they understand
science and technology, so youcan connect with people on other
things, you know, just scienceand then becoming friends with
other people that run socialmedia platforms that you like
and you become friends with, butthey're not farmers, but you,
(08:12):
you like the same things, youappreciate the science
communication aspect of it, youknow?
Right.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
And, and then, so you started gaining popularity and
getting a following on socialmedia.
Then how did that lead tobecoming a writer in a public
speaker?
How, how did those opportunitiesopen up?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, it just happened organically.
It's just, I had some posts, uh,one post in particular, I only
had about a hundred followers atthe time.
I was brand new, but I had apost go really viral, and it
reached about 14 million people,and that's really kind of what
put me on the map.
And then from there, myfollowers were just like, we
love what you're saying, willyou come speak at our event?
(08:53):
And for me, I was just sharing alot of information from people
that I admired.
Like, uh, Rob Syke was one thatcomes to mind, Robert Syke and
his company and his TED Talks.
And I was just listening to TedTalks and experts, and I just
kept sharing and amplifyingtheir voices.
And because I was sharing andamplifying these other people
that I was learning from, likePam Ronald is another one that
comes to mind, temple Grandon,you know, some of these people,
(09:16):
um, that I admired.
And then in turn they said, Hey,you know, thank you for sharing.
We, we do you want, we wannashare your content too.
Like, we, we need to talk.
And then Cornell Alliance forScience, Cornell University came
out and they did some videoswith me.
And so I just kept gainingpopularity to the point where
people took notice of that.
I said, Hey, you're a goodwriter.
Do you wanna write for ourmagazine?
(09:36):
And I said, sure.
So now, so now I'm writing, nowI write for three different
publications.
I've been with Ag Daily nowsince day one, which was eight,
eight or nine years ago now.
Um, and just, just been immersedin, in all things farming now
for almost a decade of doingthis.
And it's, it's pretty awesome.
Yeah, getting to
Speaker 1 (09:53):
That's a cool ride
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And learn, and it's, it's been really amazing and
something I didn't see coming.
I just, I started a Facebookpage just out of the passion in
my heart of wanting to stopmisinformation.
Right.
And it just grew naturally fromthere.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well, we appreciate what you're doing and segue into
you, you mentioned AG Daily, uh,I saw your article that you
wrote for Ag Daily about theevolution in farming and just
Yeah.
The, the different ways that youtalked about the way farming was
and the way it is today.
So let's, let's start with justtechnology for a second.
(10:30):
Tell me a little bit about whattechnology has done in
agriculture and how it's
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Changed.
Oh my gosh, where do we evenstart
start?
That's such an amazingly broadquestion, but, you know, it is,
it's, to your point, you know,where you talked about like the,
the climate controlledenvironments and tractor cabs
now, you know, and, and sprayertechnology and, and you know,
one thing I think is really neatand is one, one thing that's
(10:56):
been my most popular things tobust or like myth bust is kind
of like, you know, chemicalusage and people think, oh,
you're just out there sprayingthese chemicals, and you talk
about like GMOs and how we'vebeen able to eliminate or reduce
pesticide or chemical usage.
And you talk about those sprayernozzles and how you can control
that to be such a fine mist andso targeted to very specific
(11:18):
insect or very specific problem.
We don't, we no longer have tospray these broad spectrum
chemicals that harm all insectsor harm all, you know, but very
targeted problems.
And, and now we have sprayersthat the valves can
automatically shut off, youknow, the computers and the
sensors and that precisionagriculture that's allowed us to
cut down in chemicals, I thinkis amazing.
(11:40):
Um, you know, so that's oneaspect.
And then you think abouttechnology in terms of, uh,
animal care, animal welfare andcomfort.
You know, I just had aconversation with somebody the
other day.
They said, oh, these chickenbreasts nowadays, they're so
big, they've gotta be pumpedfull of something.
What are we doing to thesechickens?
And it's like, no, there's nosuch thing as added hormones in
chicken.
(12:00):
But what we have done is we'vefigured out how to improve
genetics and comfort and careand housing.
And so if, if, if, like, let'sthink about it.
If we were given a verycomfortable climate controlled
environment with an all you caneat buffet of our favorite foods
where we just sit around and eatall day, we're gonna gain weight
too
And so, you know, we've learnedhow to maximize chicken comfort
(12:23):
where they, we know exactly thatclimate and the ventilation and
their health and the technologywithin housing is, is really
amazing to maximize rate gainwhile, uh, eliminating or
reducing antibiotics.
Uh, no such thing as hormones inchicken anymore.
They haven't been used since the1950s.
And so we're just continuing toimprove more with less, more
(12:45):
with less and, you know,reducing inputs.
Um, there's so much.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
So where does the misinformation come from?
Because like you said, nowyou're, you're an advocate and
you're, you're, you're talkingscience and you're speaking to
people about what really isgoing on in they're misinformed.
How did they get misinformed?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Yeah, that's a great question.
And
You know, if you look at the nonGMO project as a 19 billion a
year food label, but what'sinteresting is there's only 10
commercially available GMOs, uh,available to us and ca Canadian
growers.
So when you think about whatwe're growing GMOs are gonna be
(13:29):
commonly found in your junk foodtype stuff, right?
Like it's your sugar beets, yourcorn, soybeans, canola, it's
gonna be kind of in oils,candies, cakes, sugars, A lot of
sugary foods are, are likely tohave GMOs.
So when you see a non GMO stampon all these things that don't
even have a G M O counterpart,it's really only there to sell
you something.
And if you go on their website,there's really nothing, they
(13:53):
spread so much misinformation.
I feel like non G M O or organicis kind of like the new natural,
you know, we used to just putnatural on stuff.
Well, natural and non GMO is nowa 300 or organic is now a 350
billion business when youcombine these labels.
And so there's a lot of thingsto gain off of consumer fear
(14:15):
where fear sells.
So now you're saying, Hey, GMOsare really bad.
You better pay three times morefor organic or non gmo.
And so this is what's so funnyis a lot of times when I come
across people that say, youknow,
how else to put it other thanlike the woke crowd, right?
When you have like the wokecrowd that's like, don't be a
sheep, I'm woke.
And then it's like, okay, so youdon't trust the government,
(14:36):
right?
And they're like, no, of coursenot.
You don't trust big foodcorporations, right?
No, no, of course not.
Who do you think's getting richoff of these labels?
It's the same corporations andthe government that is charging
farmers to have this label thatis charging the consumers three
times more, and then they failto tell consumers, oh, by the
way, organic actually doesn'tmean pesticide free.
(14:58):
And it's like, don't get mewrong, I got nothing against
organic farmers.
Right?
If that's, if a farmer wants togrow that and fill that niche
and they can be more profitable,have at it.
But to tell consumers organic ismore pure because they don't use
PEs pesticides, that's a pointblank.
Lie organic sometimes uses morepesticides than non-organic.
Sometimes they use less,sometimes they use more.
(15:18):
So the food labels really havenothing to do with telling us
how our food is grown.
And by the way, none of our foodis natural.
So everything has been modified,whether that's organic, non gmo,
there's no such thing as naturalfood.
It's all modified in some sense.
So why are we picking ontransgenic and not triple, uh,
or wide cross or triple haploidor, you know, mutagenesis or all
(15:41):
these other plant breedingmethods.
It's all a matter of creatingthese profitable food labels for
the food corporations to createfear misinformation to sell more
products.
Now, that's one side.
The other side of that is thatyou've got the animal rights
activists.
So the, um, animal rightsactivist groups want people to
(16:01):
believe that animals are raisedin cruel, torturous conditions
to donate and go vegan.
So there's multi-facets, butyeah, it, it absolutely boils
down to follow the money behindfear in the food supply.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So because of that, then you feel like the average
consumer out there has just kindof bought into the marketing,
bought into the misinformation,and then slowly they just find
themselves misinformed orfearful of things that they
shouldn't be fearful of andmaybe not fearful of the things
that they should be fearful of,but they've, uh, kind of been
(16:37):
misguided.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
And and it depends on whatyou're googling too, right?
Like, it, it's like if yougoogle your medical symptoms,
you can convince yourself you'regonna die in the next 10
minutes.
You've gotta, you've gotta go tothe expert, like, you've gotta
just go to your doctor and havethe proper science.
You know, you gotta talk aboutthe proper science from proper
credentialed doctor.
(16:59):
And it's kind of like that with,with agriculture too.
If you Google what's a gmo, youcould come up with some serious,
you know, bull crap, uh, no punintended, because bull crap is
actually quite useful on thefarm
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
It's a great,
Speaker 1 (17:15):
It's very helpful, very helpful.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
But, but yeah, it's kind oflike, you know, you Google
something and, and people onlyhear one side of the argument,
you know, they only hear whatthey're, what they hear in an
urban area where they don'tactually talk to farmers.
And if they do talk to farmers,a lot of times they're talking
to small hobby farmers at theirlocal farmers' market or
(17:37):
something.
We've gotta always go to thesource of our information.
If you wanna learn about largescale, so-called factory farms,
you've gotta track down and haveconversations and try to take
tours and, and it, and, and, um,educate yourself by talking to
those actual experts.
The poultry science departments,you know, the animal science
departments at universities thatare doing the research are more
(17:59):
than happy to share theirexpertise.
People just can't beintellectually lazy and keep an
open mind and try to, you know,really dig deep by talking to
the real experts.
It's kinda like when you, whenyou wanna learn about your car,
you go to your mechanic.
When you wanna learn about yourteeth, you go to your dentist.
So when you wanna learn aboutagriculture, you gotta talk to
(18:22):
those people in agriculture.
You can't just do a Googlesearch or talk to like a New
York City nutritionist or anactivist from la.
Like, you gotta talk to somebodythat's really getting the dirt
under their nails.
Yeah.
You
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Know what I mean?
So you find that consumers arejust not, a lot of their
information is not coming from areal source.
And so it's just kind of Exactly.
So tell me about your opendialogue with Burger King a
couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Yeah, that was awesome.
So, um, burger King had put outthis horrible ad that just
talked about how cow farts weredestroying the planet, you know,
and this ad was so bad, it waslike little kids and gas masks,
and the polar ice caps weremelting.
And their solution was that weare going to feed lemon grass to
cattle.
And they're sitting here going,well, because we're doing this,
(19:08):
we can reduce methane emissionsand we're gonna change the world
.
And don't get me wrong, reducingmethane and, you know, um,
caring about sustainability inthe, the planet and the
environment, all noble causes.
But they, they made thislemongrass thing to be out to be
this, this holy grail of asolution.
(19:30):
But they only did one study thatproved that lemongrass could
reduce methane emissions.
And that was a study they did inMexico.
Now, the studies they weretrying to do in the US and the
eu, the results wereinconclusive.
They were not yet published, sothey really kind of jumped the
gun.
And so when they put out thisad, it went really viral.
Uh, it had, the ad had about 5million views on Twitter alone,
(19:53):
overnight, but then they alsohashtag boycott Burger King was
trending too.
So some of the researchers andscientists themselves were
pushing back and saying,actually, our, our research
isn't coming up with thatconclusion.
And ag economists were fightingback and saying, where are we
gonna source lemongrass and howmuch is that gonna cost?
And how much more like, is thisgonna cost a cattle producer to
(20:16):
use this as a feed source?
And where are we gonna sourcethis?
And so all these things happen.
Um, I was putting Burger King onblast a little bit with some
posts on social media that weregoing pretty viral, and I just
stopped and I thought about itfor a minute and I said, what if
I could have a conversation?
So I just a Google search and Ilooked up who is the global
chief marketing officer, aBurger King, and I just sent him
(20:37):
a tweet just explaining why wefound the ad so offensive.
And Burger King actually reachedout to me and we had a great
zoom call, Uhhuh
Yeah, it was, it was prettyawesome.
And I said, look, like come onout.
I wanna show you what, whatfarmers are doing to be
sustainable and help theenvironment reduce methane.
Right.
And they took me up on it andthey came out with a camera
(20:58):
crew.
They put out a new ad, theyretracted the old one, the cows
making
Speaker 1 (21:02):
One.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
They pulled it, and I put together a couple day tour.
I got Iowa State involvedruminant nutritionist, Iowa Farm
.
I was on the farm in Iowa at thetime, and I said, ruminate
nutritionist, I got, um, took'emto a, a methane digester, dairy
farms, cattle feed lots.
Took'em to my, I mean, you nameit, I was like, I'm gonna pull
out all the stops so they canreally be immersed in all
(21:25):
things.
And they learned a ton, and they, um, and they listened and they
came to the table and theychanged their tune.
And, and that all started withthe power of a tweet, you know?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
That is incredible.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you still have social media arelationship with Burger King
now?
Yeah.
You do?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Fernando is his name and that'scool.
Yeah.
We, uh, yeah.
And he lives in Miami, and he'soriginally from Brazil.
And I learned throughout our fewdays together on that tour, you
know, that he had never reallybeen to a, a cattle farm before.
And so here you have somebodythat's living in, living in
Miami.
Wow.
Right.
That's heading up one of thelargest burger chains in the
(22:03):
world that doesn't know wherebeef comes from.
So this is a problem.
So this is why we have toadvocate, and this is why I tell
everybody, one of my topics thatI deliver in my keynote and
breakout sessions is the topicof advocacy and understanding
the power of our own voices,being able to amplify that,
communicate social media tips asto how we can better amplify and
(22:26):
move the messaging forwardwithin our industry so that
mm-hmm.
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
You know?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
That's an amazing story.
Very cool.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Thanks.
It was, it was really awesome.
I mean, I commend them forlistening and giving a craft,
you know?
Yes.
That's a lot of, we, we can'talways say that about every food
company.
Right.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Chipotle,
uh, actually reaching out andbeing willing to listen.
I mean, that's a really Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Thing for
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Sure.
Now, going back to your articleon Ag Daily, like one of the
things that you mentioned thathas, that has been a big change
is, is equipment.
So just speak to that for alittle bit.
How, how that has evolved andthe difference of the evolution
of equipment is making.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah, I mean, well, kind of like, I, I think I
touched on that a little bitago, but you know, it's like
we're able to just do so muchmore.
You know, the technology's soadvanced when you've got
planters that go faster, that domore rows that cover more
ground, you know, as we'relosing a lot of, you know, farms
are what farmers are, what 1.5%of the population of North
(23:31):
America.
And as that population hasshrunk, we lose three acres of
farmland every minute to urbandevelopment.
So we have to be able to havetechnology that's going to allow
us to do more with less, youknow, and, um, yeah, just really
kind of streamline that processand, and have, have everything
(23:52):
be comfortable that precisionagriculture where we can monitor
and test, uh, you know, thedifferent moisture content and,
you know, really be able to seein that computer screen exactly
what we're doing and, and howwe're going about it.
Maximize shelf life, uh, storagecapabilities, yield monitoring.
I mean, all of these things areall so important.
You know, we could, we couldwrite a novel on how far we've
(24:13):
come with tech.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yeah.
And, and
Speaker 2 (24:14):
The saint your grandpa's tractor
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Right.
And, and I was just gonna saysomething about that.
If you think about ourgrandfathers or our
great-grandfathers, I mean, justhow their mind would just be
blown to see Yeah.
Modern daily, yeah.
Agriculture and, uh, all thethings that are going on.
It's insane on equipment side.
So you touched on another pointin your article with irrigation
and, you know, water is a hugetopic.
(24:37):
I mean, it, it seems like, uh,so many places in the world
either have too much of it ornot enough of it.
Um, so just a little bit aboutwhat's changed and evolved with
how water is used.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah.
And I think one of my favoritetopics here is that drip tape
irrigation, where instead of,where we used to just broadcast
water or put it on, you know,the roots now with that drip
tape irrigation, you know, Ilive in Florida now.
I don't know if I mentionedthat, but what's been fun about
moving from the farm in Iowa tofarming in Florida is seeing the
(25:10):
fruits and vegetables and howyou've got this drip tape
irrigation underneath theplastic culture, which is
keeping that moisture and itreally maximize these water
inputs.
You also hear about how farmerscan monitor their water from
anywhere from their smartphones.
You've got soil monitors, you'vegot different, um, moisture
monitors.
You've got different things thatcan go on the ground or that can
(25:30):
keep all this for you.
So we're not, we're using justamount of, just the right amount
of water, you know, not more,not less.
And so I think just being ableto slowly drip in whatever water
we need to within that drip tapeirrigation line, I think is, is
amazing.
But yeah, I mean, all, all sortsof different equipments, and
that's just probably my favoriteexample.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
So what about pest control?
That was another thing.
You talked about insects.
How are we handling thatdifferent than what our
grandfathers would've handledit?
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yeah, and I, again, I think that kind of I touched on
earlier was just like, you know,having something that's more
targeted and specific not, and,you know, and not having to,
we've got, IM improvinggenetics, I guess you could say
too, whether that's plantgenetics, um, whether that's GMO
or non GMO or whatever, youknow, just to be able to say,
Hey, we've, we've changed thisplant to be more disease
(26:21):
resistant, to be more pestresistant, uh, to be more
drought tolerant.
Um, so I think plant geneticsare doing a lot in, in terms of
that to manage pests and alsothe research that's going on
with pest management as far asusing more biologicals.
You know, it's not just abouttechnology and chemistry as much
as it's about biology too, wherethis research is showing.
I tell you what, I was just at amacadamia farm in South Africa a
(26:47):
few weeks ago, actually.
This was pretty neat.
And one of the biggest problemsthey have there is with these
mods and these weevils that canactually drill into the mac, the
hard macadamia shell.
And what they're doing isthey're releasing a parasitic
wasp that will kill the larva ofthese pests.
Oh, wow.
And yeah.
(27:07):
Isn't that crazy?
That is.
And so it's like, yeah.
And so using biologicals now, Iwas at an apple orchard with
arctic apples out in Washingtonstate, uhhuh
they were talking about how theyhave these pheromone traps that
they can release a pheromonethat attracts the, the, um,
negative insects, but keeps thebeneficial.
(27:27):
And so through biologicals we'resaying, Hey, now we can also
plant this shrub or this herb,uh, or this herb here where
we're saying, Hey, we're gonnaattract this beneficial insect
to take care of the negativeones.
So, you know, we don't,chemistry's important, but I
think everybody would agree thatreducing chemical dependency and
(27:48):
working with biology and natureis always a good thing if we can
do it successfully.
So there's a lot of differentthings going on where, whether
it's chemistry to control aproblem or whether it's plant
genetics, or whether it'sbiology, there's a number of
different ways that we cantackle this problem.
And, and I think that that's onething we have to remember is
agriculturalists, that it's notalways a one size fits all
(28:09):
solution.
That there's a lot of differentways that we can control, uh,
control, um, problems.
Yeah.
But yeah, I mean, reducingchemicals, producing more with
less and, and protectingbiodiversity, I think is
something we can definitely allagree on.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Yes.
I think everyone wants that.
Everyone wants the, the same endgoal.
So, so we've talked about, yeah,all of this, all of this change
in farming practices and this,the evolution.
But talk to me a little bitabout farming families.
How have they changed?
How has the, the, theprototypical American family
(28:44):
farm that, you know, that, thatyou would see?
How is it, how is it differentthan what it was decades ago?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Well, and the other thing too that's interesting
about that is you could arguethat the farmer's family values
haven't really changed, but thesize has changed.
And that's one thing that Ialways like to drive home.
When people say, oh, these bigfactory farms, all they care
about is profits or whatever,you know, these myths that I
like to bust where it's like,just, but they're not really
(29:14):
like these cruel factories.
They're still families thatcare, but they've learned over
time how to better navigatetheir farms.
They've learned how to care foranimals better.
They've learned how to do morewith less.
And so now, um, you know, Italked to some one, one farm
family comes to mind, my friendWanda, that raises pigs in
(29:34):
Minnesota.
Mm-hmm.
older, but she talks about howwhen they were raising pigs back
in the seventies or sixties orwhatnot, you know, these pigs
are just outside.
You know, animals are gettingeaten by predators.
They're, you know, they'regetting sick from, uh, the
different insects and heat and,you know, pigs can't sweat.
So the sunburn, the extreme coldtemperatures, you know, so just
(29:57):
because farmers today raiselivestock indoors sometimes, um,
again, it's, it's all done.
No farmer wants to invest, youknow, millions of dollars into
technology unless there's an ROIthere.
So if you're able to do this andcreate a more streamlined
process where we're able tobetter care for animals, uh, or
whatever it is in general on thefarm, that's still a farmer
(30:21):
being a steward of the land andbeing true to their family
legacy, it just looks a littlebit more tech savvy, you know?
Right.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Yeah.
It's just looks a littledifferent than it did.
So,
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Yeah.
And like nowadays too, sorry,nowadays too, it's like there's
so much more than just being afarmer.
Like you could think of howyour, your grandpa did it
mm-hmm.
working hard at physical labor.
But now we've got so much moretech and different ways that
people can be involved on thefarm, whether they wanna do the,
the technology aspect of it.
(30:53):
Um, you know, social media isanother aspect of farming, you
know, and so, um, whether youwanna be more involved on the,
um, agronomic side or the bookside, the, you know, sales and
marketing side, there's a numberof ways that you can still be an
important part of the farm, butnot necessarily do all the hard
physical labor that ourgrandfathers did, you know?
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Right.
Yeah.
There, the, the agriculture hasjust grown and there's so many
more positions and, and jobs andways to be involved in it.
So from your perspective, I I,is there anything that stayed
the same in agriculture?
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Like family values I think is still really important.
You know, I think when you thinkof these multiple generation
farms that are most of Americanfarms today, I would argue that
that would stay the same, iswanting to hold up that legacy
and make our families proud,raise our kids where, you know,
be, be that next generation.
I don't think that's changed.
(31:51):
I think our hearts in ruralAmerica are still pretty solid.
Values haven't changed.
Um, like work
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Ethic,
Speaker 2 (31:58):
You know, I think there's still, yeah.
Work ethic.
Mm-hmm.
Faith, family farming is usuallythe three are three favorite F
words.
Yeah.
Um, yeah, I'd, I'd say that, youknow, just kind of maintaining
that, that legacy and kind ofkeeping, holding onto that, that
(32:19):
barn type image and, um, just,just wanting to be the best
stewards that we can.
Yeah.
And
Speaker 1 (32:24):
I, I'm in a fortunate position that I get to see that
being able to travel for my jobat Topcon, I, I do quite a bit
of traveling and it's usually inrural areas.
And, uh, last week I was up inMichigan, central Michigan, and
you, you do see that, you know,you, you see yeah, just real
honest, hardworking people thatthere's a lot of crazy things
(32:44):
going on in the world when youwatch the news.
There's a lot of scary stuff,but you get into a small town,
pull up to a gas station and youfind that there's just a lot of
real, uh, real down to earthhardworking people that values
haven't changed much over, overthe last years.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yeah.
Michigan agriculture is prettycool.
Yeah, it is.
Yeah.
I've, I've, I've spent, I'vespent a lot of time in Michigan
and I, I just think it's so neatwhen you see like the asparagus
and the, the fruits andeverything and just how diverse
mm-hmm.
they think, oh, Midwest, likeit's the corn belt and it's
like, and then you just get intoMichigan and it's just this like
(33:24):
pocket of like wonderland offruits and vegetables,
That's pretty neat.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
So Michelle, talk to me about health technology has
transformed and evolved in theag industry.
Uh, what that means about thequality of life for growers.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I think as we're seeing moretechnology evolve, it's really
offered farmers a better qualityof life as well.
You know, maybe now instead ofdoing so much hands-on physical
labor, nonstop, you know, we'reable to rely a little bit more
on computers, um, improvegenetics where maybe those,
those, uh, crops can be storedfor longer periods of time and
(33:59):
have better quality where itdoesn't, doesn't rot overnight,
but we're learning how to betterstore different, uh, crops for,
um, humidity, climate control,uh, you know, all that type
thing.
And then also one thing thatreally comes to mind is like
dairy farming.
You know, when you think abouthow you used to be out there and
milking cows by hand, and nowwe've got robots that can do
(34:20):
everything for us.
So I've been to some dairieswhere these cows like don't ever
even see humans.
Like, can we even imagine that,right?
Yes.
Sometimes, you know, it used, itused to be so hands-on, and now
we've got these viewing roomsand computer monitoring.
We've got these like Fitbits ontheir neck and automatic manure
scrapers, automatic feeders,robots, uh, freestyle barns
where cows can just come and goand get up and get milked as
(34:42):
they please.
And so I think that's prettyneat.
There's even, there's even asensor that can send you a text
message when your cow is aboutto have a calf.
So like, maybe now, instead ofbeing outdoors and constantly,
constantly checking, you can getthat notification that says,
Hey, cow number 1, 9 2 7 isabout to have a calf.
(35:04):
And you know, when you need tobe there for that.
So there's all sorts of coolthings going on that allow
farmers to be a little bit morehands off, do more with less
and, and improve their qualityof life.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Yeah.
I, I guess it helps them to nothave to work.
Um, they still work long hours,but maybe not quite as physical
or not as much in the elements,or they're able to use their
time in more constructive waysthan in past integrations.
Yeah.
And definitely more for sure.
They're definitely more informednow of maybe, like you said,
what's going on around the farmthan what they used to be able
(35:38):
to be.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Totally.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Well, Michelle, I want you to participate in our,
uh, fast and furious farm factsnow, and uh, okay.
It's gonna help our listenersjust learn a little bit more
about you.
And what's gonna happen is I'mgonna ask you 12 questions and I
just need to give you, to giveme the first answer that pops in
your head.
There's no right or wronganswers, this is just you, your
opinions.
So we get to know a little bitmore about Michelle.
(36:04):
Okay.
Are you ready?
Okay.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
All right.
Uh oh.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
If you could own a farm anywhere in the world,
where would it be?
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Ooh, that's a good one.
Oh my gosh.
I saw this farm in Texas rightoutside of Galveston, that's
literally right on the beach.
Uhhuh
It was insane.
Like, I need to know who thisfarmer is because you literally,
like the beach is right there.
There's a road and there's afarm.
And then right around the farmit's all these beautiful cattle
that literally are like oceanfront cows.
(36:33):
And then there's like thesepretty little beach houses just
like, just dotted around the,out of this ca cattle pasture.
I'm like, I want that house onthe beach where I can look at my
house.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
All right.
Name your favorite tractormanufacturer.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
That's a tough one.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
You don't have a favorite and that's fine if you
don't.
I
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Don't think I have a favorite.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Okay.
All right.
Uh, Carhartt or Wranglers?
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Carhartt.
Carhartt.
I don't know.
Carhartt for the tops AndWranglers for the bottom.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Wrangler jeans and Carhartt sweatshirt.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Okay.
What college sports team do youcheer for?
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Uh, I just hope both teams have fun.
Next
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Uh,
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I could give two craps about sports.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Ford Dodge or Chevy trucks?
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Chevy.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Chevy.
All right.
What manure smells the worst.
Cattle, hogs.
Chickens or turkeys?
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Chickens.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Do you prefer whole milk?
2% milk, skim milk, or lactosefree milk?
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, the fat free stuff.
Don't make fun of me.
I think it tastes better.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
We don't judge here.
All right.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
me for that answer.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
All right, choose one.
Johnny Cash.
George Strait, Blake Shelton orLuke Combs?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Ooh, Blake.
Something.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
All right.
Who's your favorite character onYellowstone?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
I don't watch it.
I've tried.
I can't get into it.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Sure.
Again, I can't get into it.
We don't
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Judge Kevin Costner, I guess.
Kevin Costner.
I guess because like, I justlike it when people quote him
and they're like, how cute doesan animal have to be for it to
die for you,
Or whatever that quote is, right?
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Okay.
Favorite coffee brewed at HomeGas station or Starbucks?
Speaker 2 (38:23):
I'm not really a big coffee person.
Gas station, coffee.
I guess when I'm in the mood forit, I pretty much only drink
coffee when it's like free inthe hotel lobby and it's like
convenient to grab on my wayout.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Okay.
Who's the greatest stock Carttracer of all time?
Richard Petty.
Dale Earnhardt.
Jeff Gordon or Ricky?
Bobby.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Ricky.
Bobby.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
You like Ricky Bobby.
Hey guys.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Got two first names.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Awesome job.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
I'm not really sure what to do with my hands.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
Well, Michelle, thank you so much.
That's a good movie.
We appreciate you joining us onthe podcast today.
We appreciate you being anadvocate, uh, for agriculture.
We appreciate your time and, uh,just thanks so much for joining
us today.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
You as well.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Okay.
You're very welcome to learnmore from Michelle.
Visit herwebsite@thefarmbabe.com.
You can also find her on socialmedia, including Facebook, which
is look up Farm Babe onFacebook.
She's also on Twitter, YouTube,TikTok and Instagram.
And you can search at the FarmBabe in those social media
(39:27):
platforms.
And I'd like to thank each ofour listeners today for tuning
in.
Topcon appreciates all of ourfriends in agriculture who work
so tirelessly to put food on ourtables.
If you have enjoyed thisepisode, please remember to
like, share, subscribe to TopconTalks Agriculture on Spotify,
apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, orwherever you get your podcasts.
(39:48):
Please tell your friends aboutus.
We'd love for you to followTopcon Agriculture on social
media.
Thanks again for joining ustoday.
See you next time.
Go out and make it a great day.
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