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.
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.
Hello, and welcome to the Top Con Talks Agriculture podcast. We bring you thought-provoking agriculture topics each episode, and we address the issues that are important to farmers, growers, and agribusiness. And we have a great episode today. My name is Dan Hendricks and I am your host. I serve as the senior business development manager for Topcon Agriculture in North America. And I get to work with an amazing team of talented individuals who love agriculture. They enjoy technology, and they strive to help farmers and growers find solutions. I was on the phone with a friend of mine two weeks ago, and he was sitting in his tractor cab doing spring tillage, and he begrudgingly told me it was 32 degrees with 30 mile an hour winds, and there were snow flurries coming down. But then he said this, he said, Dan, I still can't complain about it. I'm sitting here in a heated John Deere cab and my grandfather would've been out here in an open cab tractor face-to-face with all of the elements. Now that's a great perspective because we all know that agriculture has changed, it's progressed, it's evolved, and modern farming has allowed growers to be more efficient and produce more yield with less acres. And that's what we're gonna talk about and discuss today on the podcast, the Evolution of Farming. On today's episode, we have Michelle Miller, a k a, the farm babe, as our guest, and we're excited to have her. Some of you may be familiar with Michelle and have seen her on Inside Edition that today's show or People Magazine. Michelle is an internationally recognized keynote speaker, writer, columnist, and online influencer, and overall a champion for global agriculture. She strives to help the masses understand the truth about modern agriculture production, and she has been on stage among leading industry experts as one of the most well known voices in agriculture. Michelle, it's great to have you on the Topcon podcast today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you for joining us. So tell us a little bit more about your personal background. What is your connection to agriculture?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I kind of grew up around it as a, as a kid, you know, I, my family weren't farmers, but my friends were farm kids, and so throughout middle school and high school I was in four H and they got me really interested. Every day after school we would ride horses and do chores, and I always really loved the farm life. Um, and then I actually went to college in Los Angeles and I lived in downtown Chicago for most of my twenties. And, uh, then ended up back on the farm. And, you know, it's interesting how you kind of take life's twists and turns. I, I guess I'm passionate about telling the truth of agriculture because I realized people are very far removed from where the food comes from, and I learned that firsthand from being a, uh, self-proclaimed cit for<laugh> over a decade. So<laugh>
Speaker 1:Yeah. So we, we, we've talked on this podcast before about kind of the misinformation that's out there in the world and educating people about the truth in agriculture. So what was it that kind of caused you to want to do that with your career?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, it's interesting cuz I never really set out to do what I do as a career, which was interesting. You know, I was, uh, I had a fashion, I went to college for fashion in la you know, so like my first job outta college was like, I worked for Gucci on Rodeo Drive, you know, I was about as city girl as you could go very far removed. And, um, I ended up dating a farmer, you know, and I, we randomly met at a bar and, and I ended up moving to rural Iowa when I was, uh, oh gosh, it was back in 2014. So, so, um, we met in 2012 and then I started the Farm Babe in 2014 because as I migrated to this small town of a thousand people in Iowa and became a farmer with him, my, my now ex-boyfriend, um, I just realized that I was really misinformed about a lot of things. And so, yeah, so, you know, when you live in LA and Chicago and stuff, it's like you fall victim to a lot of misinformation. You know, I had a personal trainer 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 Activist videos, and so I was, I would only eat organic and non GMO and gluten free and all these things, and I just became really misinformed about the food supply. But, and this happens, right? People, people in urban areas had before social media didn't really get an opportunity to have farmers at their fingertips to learn from. And when I started dating this farmer and he goes, yeah, GMOs do a great thing, GMOs do great things. 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 our food and that it's not as scary as activist groups or food companies want you to believe. And so I, I just saw this, I just saw this hole that, that needed to be filled for information and advocacy and, and social media was a great place for me to do that, where you can reach millions of people with a click of a button for free, you know? Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And, and it seems like you have done a great job of kind of crossing over from just talking in the ag community to going to more of the, the general public or, or the general media. So like, what's been the secret to helping you do that and here getting that, those individuals to, to listen to you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I think I have a, a, um, a better understanding of what it's like to be in that urban population, uh, because I lived it and I was that. So I feel like I have a, an a little, an interesting background as far as like tapping into a more urban audience. You know, like I was on a guest on Dr. Drew in the a Adam studio and, and it's like, I used to live in LA and, you know, I used to do like extra work and stuff like that. Like I was kind of involved in the, in the Hollywood scene when I lived out there. And so it's almost just kinda like getting back to where I was and, and more of an urban population, uh, is, is where a lot of my friends live. It's where I spent a majority of my adult life before I settled down, you know, or before I moved to the farm in 2014. Um, you know, so it's, so you, you have these different changes in your life that allow me to say, Hey, I understand the farmer side and I understand the, the worried urban consumer side because I've been on both sides of the spectrum. But I think when it comes to people in agriculture, like that's what we have to remember is that just because somebody believes a myth, it doesn't mean that they're a lost cause or they're stupid. It's like we just have to have patience and empathy and remember and realize that just because they haven't gotten a chance to talk to a farmer doesn't mean that they're, you know what I mean? Like, we just, we, we have to have these conversations with people and, and put yourself in their shoes that they just, they wanna learn more a lot of times, you know, so.
Speaker 1:Right. So you encourage in the ag industry for people not to just write off consumers or write off people that live in the city, but to, to really be open-minded.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And a lot of what's helped me is crossing over into different social media groups. So when I first started, uh, and I was pretty active on Facebook and advocacy with conversations, I joined a lot of non-farm groups, like science communities, a lot of people that you can connect with on shared values like science, the pro gmo crowd that maybe aren't farmers, but they understand science and technology, so you can connect with people on other things, you know, just science and then becoming friends with other people that run social media platforms that you like and you become friends with, but they're not farmers, but you, you like the same things, you appreciate the science communication aspect of it, you know? Right.
Speaker 1:And, and then, so you started gaining popularity and getting a following on social media. Then how did that lead to becoming a writer in a public speaker? How, how did those opportunities open up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it just happened organically. It's just, I had some posts, uh, one post in particular, I only had about a hundred followers at the time. I was brand new, but I had a post 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, my followers were just like, we love what you're saying, will you come speak at our event? And for me, I was just sharing a lot of information from people that I admired. Like, uh, Rob Syke was one that comes to mind, Robert Syke and his company and his TED Talks. And I was just listening to Ted Talks and experts, and I just kept sharing and amplifying their voices. And because I was sharing and amplifying these other people that I was learning from, like Pam Ronald is another one that comes to mind, temple Grandon, you know, some of these people, um, that I admired. And then in turn they said, Hey, you know, thank you for sharing. We, we do you want, we wanna share your content too. Like, we, we need to talk. And then Cornell Alliance for Science, Cornell University came out and they did some videos with me. And so I just kept gaining popularity to the point where people took notice of that. I said, Hey, you're a good writer. Do you wanna write for our magazine? And I said, sure. So now, so now I'm writing, now I write for three different publications. I've been with Ag Daily now since day one, which was eight, eight or nine years ago now. Um, and just, just been immersed in, in all things farming now for almost a decade of doing this. And it's, it's pretty awesome. Yeah, getting to
Speaker 1:That's a cool ride
Speaker 2:And learn, and it's, it's been really amazing and something I didn't see coming. I just, I started a Facebook page just out of the passion in my heart of wanting to stop misinformation. Right. And it just grew naturally from there. Yeah.
Speaker 1: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 the evolution in farming and just Yeah. The, the different ways that you talked about the way farming was and the way it is today. So let's, let's start with just technology for a second. Tell me a little bit about what technology has done in agriculture and how it's
Speaker 2:Changed. Oh my gosh, where do we even start<laugh>, where do we even start? That's such an amazingly broad question, but, you know, it is, it's, to your point, you know, where you talked about like the, the climate controlled environments and tractor cabs now, you know, and, and sprayer technology and, and you know, one thing I think is really neat and is one, one thing that's been my most popular things to bust or like myth bust is kind of like, you know, chemical usage and people think, oh, you're just out there spraying these chemicals, and you talk about like GMOs and how we've been able to eliminate or reduce pesticide or chemical usage. And you talk about those sprayer nozzles and how you can control that to be such a fine mist and so targeted to very specific insect or very specific problem. We don't, we no longer have to spray these broad spectrum chemicals that harm all insects or harm all, you know, but very targeted problems. And, and now we have sprayers that the valves can automatically shut off, you know, the computers and the sensors and that precision agriculture that's allowed us to cut down in chemicals, I think is amazing. Um, you know, so that's one aspect. And then you think about technology in terms of, uh, animal care, animal welfare and comfort. You know, I just had a conversation with somebody the other day. They said, oh, these chicken breasts nowadays, they're so big, they've gotta be pumped full of something. What are we doing to these chickens? And it's like, no, there's no such thing as added hormones in chicken. But what we have done is we've figured out how to improve genetics and comfort and care and housing. And so if, if, if, like, let's think about it. If we were given a very comfortable climate controlled environment with an all you can eat buffet of our favorite foods where we just sit around and eat all day, we're gonna gain weight too<laugh>, you know? And so, you know, we've learned how to maximize chicken comfort where they, we know exactly that climate and the ventilation and their health and the technology within housing is, is really amazing to maximize rate gain while, uh, eliminating or reducing antibiotics. Uh, no such thing as hormones in chicken anymore. They haven't been used since the 1950s. And so we're just continuing to improve more with less, more with less and, you know, reducing inputs. Um, there's so much.
Speaker 1:So where does the misinformation come from? Because like you said, now you're, you're an advocate and you're, you're, you're talking science and you're speaking to people about what really is going on in they're misinformed. How did they get misinformed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. And<laugh>, it's really kind of an answer of follow the money. You know, if you look at the non GMO project as a 19 billion a year food label, but what's interesting is there's only 10 commercially available GMOs, uh, available to us and ca Canadian growers. So when you think about what we're growing GMOs are gonna be commonly found in your junk food type stuff, right? Like it's your sugar beets, your corn, soybeans, canola, it's gonna be kind of in oils, candies, cakes, sugars, A lot of sugary foods are, are likely to have GMOs. So when you see a non GMO stamp on 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 spread so much misinformation. I feel like non G M O or organic is kind of like the new natural, you know, we used to just put natural on stuff. Well, natural and non GMO is now a 300 or organic is now a 350 billion business when you combine these labels. And so there's a lot of things to gain off of consumer fear where fear sells. So now you're saying, Hey, GMOs are really bad. You better pay three times more for organic or non gmo. And so this is what's so funny is a lot of times when I come across people that say, you know,<laugh> not, I don't know how else to put it other than like the woke crowd, right? When you have like the woke crowd that's like, don't be a sheep, I'm woke. And then it's like, okay, so you don't trust the government, right? And they're like, no, of course not. You don't trust big food corporations, right? No, no, of course not. Who do you think's getting rich off of these labels? It's the same corporations and the government that is charging farmers to have this label that is charging the consumers three times more, and then they fail to tell consumers, oh, by the way, organic actually doesn't mean pesticide free. And it's like, don't get me wrong, I got nothing against organic farmers. Right? If that's, if a farmer wants to grow that and fill that niche and they can be more profitable, have at it. But to tell consumers organic is more pure because they don't use PEs pesticides, that's a point blank. Lie organic sometimes uses more pesticides than non-organic. Sometimes they use less, sometimes they use more. So the food labels really have nothing to do with telling us how our food is grown. And by the way, none of our food is natural. So everything has been modified, whether that's organic, non gmo, there's no such thing as natural food. It's all modified in some sense. So why are we picking on transgenic and not triple, uh, or wide cross or triple haploid or, you know, mutagenesis or all these other plant breeding methods. It's all a matter of creating these profitable food labels for the food corporations to create fear misinformation to sell more products. Now, that's one side. The other side of that is that you've got the animal rights activists. So the, um, animal rights activist groups want people to believe that animals are raised in cruel, torturous conditions to donate and go vegan. So there's multi-facets, but yeah, it, it absolutely boils down to follow the money behind fear in the food supply.
Speaker 1:So because of that, then you feel like the average consumer out there has just kind of bought into the marketing, bought into the misinformation, and then slowly they just find themselves misinformed or fearful of things that they shouldn't be fearful of and maybe not fearful of the things that they should be fearful of, but they've, uh, kind of been misguided.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And and it depends on what you're googling too, right? Like, it, it's like if you google your medical symptoms, you can convince yourself you're gonna die in the next 10 minutes.<laugh>, right? You've gotta, you've gotta go to the expert, like, you've gotta just go to your doctor and have the proper science. You know, you gotta talk about the proper science from proper credentialed doctor. And it's kind of like that with, with agriculture too. If you Google what's a gmo, you could come up with some serious, you know, bull crap, uh, no pun intended, because bull crap is actually quite useful on the farm
Speaker 1:<laugh>. Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:It's a great,
Speaker 1:It's very helpful, very helpful.
Speaker 2:<laugh>. But, but yeah, it's kind of like, you know, you Google something and, and people only hear one side of the argument, you know, they only hear what they're, what they hear in an urban area where they don't actually talk to farmers. And if they do talk to farmers, a lot of times they're talking to small hobby farmers at their local farmers' market or something. We've gotta always go to the source of our information. If you wanna learn about large scale, so-called factory farms, you've gotta track down and have conversations 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 that are doing the research are more than happy to share their expertise. People just can't be intellectually 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, when you wanna learn about your car, you go to your mechanic. When you wanna learn about your teeth, you go to your dentist. So when you wanna learn about agriculture, you gotta talk to those people in agriculture. You can't just do a Google search or talk to like a New York City nutritionist or an activist from la. Like, you gotta talk to somebody that's really getting the dirt under their nails. Yeah. You
Speaker 1:Know what I mean? So you find that consumers are just not, a lot of their information is not coming from a real source. And so it's just kind of Exactly. So tell me about your open dialogue with Burger King a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was awesome. So, um, burger King had put out this horrible ad that just talked about how cow farts were destroying the planet, you know, and this ad was so bad, it was like little kids and gas masks, and the polar ice caps were melting. And their solution was that we are going to feed lemon grass to cattle. And they're sitting here going, well, because we're doing this, we can reduce methane emissions and we're gonna change the world. And don't get me wrong, reducing methane and, you know, um, caring about sustainability in the, the planet and the environment, all noble causes. But they, they made this lemongrass thing to be out to be this, this holy grail of a solution. But they only did one study that proved that lemongrass could reduce methane emissions. And that was a study they did in Mexico. Now, the studies they were trying to do in the US and the eu, the results were inconclusive. They were not yet published, so they really kind of jumped the gun. And so when they put out this ad, it went really viral. Uh, it had, the ad had about 5 million views on Twitter alone, overnight, but then they also hashtag boycott Burger King was trending too. So some of the researchers and scientists themselves were pushing back and saying, actually, our, our research isn't coming up with that conclusion. And ag economists were fighting back and saying, where are we gonna source lemongrass and how much is that gonna cost? And how much more like, is this gonna cost a cattle producer to use this as a feed source? And where are we gonna source this? And so all these things happen. Um, I was putting Burger King on blast a little bit with some posts on social media that were going pretty viral, and I just stopped and I thought about it for a minute and I said, what if I could have a conversation? So I just a Google search and I looked up who is the global chief marketing officer, a Burger King, and I just sent him a tweet just explaining why we found the ad so offensive. And Burger King actually reached out to me and we had a great zoom call, Uhhuh<affirmative>. Yeah, it was, it was pretty awesome. And I said, look, like come on out. I wanna show you what, what farmers are doing to be sustainable and help the environment reduce methane. Right. And they took me up on it and they came out with a camera crew. They put out a new ad, they retracted the old one, the cows making
Speaker 1:One. Wow.
Speaker 2:They pulled it, and I put together a couple day tour. I got Iowa State involved ruminant nutritionist, Iowa Farm. I was on the farm in Iowa at the time, and I said, ruminate nutritionist, I got, um, took'em to a, a methane digester, dairy farms, cattle feed lots. Took'em to my, I mean, you name it, I was like, I'm gonna pull out all the stops so they can really be immersed in all things. And they learned a ton, and they, um, and they listened and they came to the table and they changed their tune. And, and that all started with the power of a tweet, you know?
Speaker 1:That is incredible. Yeah. Yeah. Do you still have social media a relationship with Burger King now? Yeah. You do?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Fernando is his name and that's cool. Yeah. We, uh, yeah. And he lives in Miami, and he's originally from Brazil. And I learned throughout our few days together on that tour, you know, that he had never really been to a, a cattle farm before. And so here you have somebody that's living in, living in Miami. Wow. Right. That's heading up one of the largest burger chains in the world that doesn't know where beef comes from. So this is a problem. So this is why we have to advocate, and this is why I tell everybody, one of my topics that I deliver in my keynote and breakout sessions is the topic of advocacy and understanding the power of our own voices, being able to amplify that, communicate social media tips as to how we can better amplify and move the messaging forward within our industry so that mm-hmm.<affirmative> things like this don't happen again<laugh>. Right.
Speaker 1:You know? Yeah. Absolutely. That's an amazing story. Very cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Thanks. It was, it was really awesome. I mean, I commend them for listening and giving a craft, you know? Yes. That's a lot of, we, we can't always say that about every food company. Right.
Speaker 1:Chipotle,<laugh>,<laugh>, and kudos to them for, uh, actually reaching out and being willing to listen. I mean, that's a really Yeah.
Speaker 2:Thing for
Speaker 1:Sure. Now, going back to your article on Ag Daily, like one of the things that you mentioned that has, that has been a big change is, is equipment. So just speak to that for a little bit. How, how that has evolved and the difference of the evolution of equipment is making.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, well, kind of like, I, I think I touched on that a little bit ago, but you know, it's like we're able to just do so much more. You know, the technology's so advanced when you've got planters that go faster, that do more rows that cover more ground, you know, as we're losing a lot of, you know, farms are what farmers are, what 1.5% of the population of North America. And as that population has shrunk, we lose three acres of farmland every minute to urban development. So we have to be able to have technology that's going to allow us to do more with less, you know, and, um, yeah, just really kind of streamline that process and, and have, have everything be comfortable that precision agriculture where we can monitor and test, uh, you know, the different moisture content and, you know, really be able to see in that computer screen exactly what we're doing and, and how we're going about it. Maximize shelf life, uh, storage capabilities, yield monitoring. I mean, all of these things are all so important. You know, we could, we could write a novel on how far we've come with tech.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And, and
Speaker 2:The saint your grandpa's tractor<laugh>.
Speaker 1:Right. And, and I was just gonna say something about that. If you think about our grandfathers or our great-grandfathers, I mean, just how their mind would just be blown to see Yeah. Modern daily, yeah. Agriculture and, uh, all the things that are going on. It's insane on equipment side. So you touched on another point in your article with irrigation and, you know, water is a huge topic. I mean, it, it seems like, uh, so many places in the world either have too much of it or not enough of it. Um, so just a little bit about what's changed and evolved with how water is used.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And I think one of my favorite topics 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, I live in Florida now. I don't know if I mentioned that, but what's been fun about moving from the farm in Iowa to farming in Florida is seeing the fruits and vegetables and how you've got this drip tape irrigation underneath the plastic culture, which is keeping that moisture and it really maximize these water inputs. You also hear about how farmers can monitor their water from anywhere from their smartphones. You've got soil monitors, you've got different, um, moisture monitors. You've got different things that can go on the ground or that can keep all this for you. So we're not, we're using just amount of, just the right amount of water, you know, not more, not less. And so I think just being able to slowly drip in whatever water we need to within that drip tape irrigation line, I think is, is amazing. But yeah, I mean, all, all sorts of different equipments, and that's just probably my favorite example. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So what about pest control? That was another thing. You talked about insects. How are we handling that different than what our grandfathers would've handled it?
Speaker 2: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 improving genetics, I guess you could say too, whether that's plant genetics, um, whether that's GMO or non GMO or whatever, you know, just to be able to say, Hey, we've, we've changed this plant to be more disease resistant, to be more pest resistant, uh, to be more drought tolerant. Um, so I think plant genetics are doing a lot in, in terms of that to manage pests and also the research that's going on with pest management as far as using more biologicals. You know, it's not just about technology and chemistry as much as it's about biology too, where this research is showing. I tell you what, I was just at a macadamia farm in South Africa a few weeks ago, actually. This was pretty neat. And one of the biggest problems they have there is with these mods and these weevils that can actually drill into the mac, the hard macadamia shell. And what they're doing is they're releasing a parasitic wasp that will kill the larva of these pests. Oh, wow. And yeah. Isn't that crazy? That is. And so it's like, yeah. And so using biologicals now, I was at an apple orchard with arctic apples out in Washington state, uhhuh<affirmative>, and they were talking about how they have these pheromone traps that they can release a pheromone that attracts the, the, um, negative insects, but keeps the beneficial. And so through biologicals we're saying, Hey, now we can also plant this shrub or this herb, uh, or this herb here where we're saying, Hey, we're gonna attract this beneficial insect to take care of the negative ones. So, you know, we don't, chemistry's important, but I think everybody would agree that reducing chemical dependency and working with biology and nature is always a good thing if we can do it successfully. So there's a lot of different things going on where, whether it's chemistry to control a problem or whether it's plant genetics, or whether it's biology, there's a number of different ways that we can tackle this problem. And, and I think that that's one thing we have to remember is agriculturalists, that it's not always a one size fits all solution. That there's a lot of different ways that we can control, uh, control, um, problems. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, reducing chemicals, producing more with less and, and protecting biodiversity, I think is something we can definitely all agree on.
Speaker 1:Yes. I think everyone wants that. Everyone wants the, the same end goal. 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 bit about farming families. How have they changed? How has the, the, the prototypical American family farm that, you know, that, that you would see? How is it, how is it different than what it was decades ago? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, and the other thing too that's interesting about that is you could argue that the farmer's family values haven't really changed, but the size has changed. And that's one thing that I always like to drive home. When people say, oh, these big factory 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 like these cruel factories. They're still families that care, but they've learned over time how to better navigate their farms. They've learned how to care for animals better. They've learned how to do more with less. And so now, um, you know, I talked to some one, one farm family comes to mind, my friend Wanda, that raises pigs in Minnesota. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, she talks about, you know, she's a grandma, she's older, but she talks about how when they were raising pigs back in the seventies or sixties or whatnot, you know, these pigs are just outside. You know, animals are getting eaten by predators. They're, you know, they're getting sick from, uh, the different insects and heat and, you know, pigs can't sweat. So the sunburn, the extreme cold temperatures, you know, so just because farmers today raise livestock indoors sometimes, um, again, it's, it's all done. No farmer wants to invest, you know, millions of dollars into technology unless there's an ROI there. So if you're able to do this and create a more streamlined process where we're able to better care for animals, uh, or whatever it is in general on the farm, that's still a farmer being a steward of the land and being true to their family legacy, it just looks a little bit more tech savvy, you know? Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's just looks a little different than it did. So,
Speaker 2:Yeah. And like nowadays too, sorry, nowadays too, it's like there's so much more than just being a farmer. Like you could think of how your, your grandpa did it mm-hmm.<affirmative> where he's just outside really physically working hard at physical labor. But now we've got so much more tech and different ways that people can be involved on the farm, whether they wanna do the, the technology aspect of it. Um, you know, social media is another aspect of farming, you know, and so, um, whether you wanna be more involved on the, um, agronomic side or the book side, the, you know, sales and marketing side, there's a number of ways that you can still be an important part of the farm, but not necessarily do all the hard physical labor that our grandfathers did, you know?
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah. There, the, the agriculture has just grown and there's so many more positions and, and jobs and ways to be involved in it. So from your perspective, I I, is there anything that stayed the same in agriculture?
Speaker 2:Like family values I think is still really important. You know, I think when you think of these multiple generation farms that are most of American farms today, I would argue that that would stay the same, is wanting 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. I think our hearts in rural America are still pretty solid. Values haven't changed. Um, like work
Speaker 1:Ethic,
Speaker 2:You know, I think there's still, yeah. Work ethic. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, I think faith is mm-hmm.<affirmative> is a big part of that. Faith, family farming is usually the three are three favorite F words. Yeah.<laugh>. Um, yeah, I'd, I'd say that, you know, just kind of maintaining that, that legacy and kind of keeping, holding onto that, that barn type image and, um, just, just wanting to be the best stewards that we can. Yeah. And
Speaker 1:I, I'm in a fortunate position that I get to see that being able to travel for my job at Topcon, I, I do quite a bit of traveling and it's usually in rural areas. And, uh, last week I was up in Michigan, central Michigan, and you, you do see that, you know, you, you see yeah, just real honest, hardworking people that there's a lot of crazy things going on in the world when you watch the news. There's a lot of scary stuff, but you get into a small town, pull up to a gas station and you find that there's just a lot of real, uh, real down to earth hardworking people that values haven't changed much over, over the last years.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Michigan agriculture is pretty cool. Yeah, it is. Yeah. I've, I've, I've spent, I've spent a lot of time in Michigan and I, I just think it's so neat when you see like the asparagus and the, the fruits and everything and just how diverse mm-hmm.<affirmative> people when they think of the Midwest, I think they think, oh, Midwest, like it's the corn belt and it's like, and then you just get into Michigan and it's just this like pocket of like wonderland of fruits and vegetables,<laugh>. That's pretty neat.
Speaker 1:So Michelle, talk to me about health technology has transformed and evolved in the ag industry. Uh, what that means about the quality of life for growers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. So I think as we're seeing more technology evolve, it's really offered farmers a better quality of life as well. You know, maybe now instead of doing so much hands-on physical labor, nonstop, you know, we're able to rely a little bit more on computers, um, improve genetics where maybe those, those, uh, crops can be stored for longer periods of time and have better quality where it doesn't, doesn't rot overnight, but we're learning how to better store different, uh, crops for, um, humidity, climate control, uh, you know, all that type thing. And then also one thing that really comes to mind is like dairy farming. You know, when you think about how you used to be out there and milking cows by hand, and now we've got robots that can do everything for us. So I've been to some dairies where these cows like don't ever even see humans. Like, can we even imagine that, right? Yes. Sometimes, you know, it used, it used to be so hands-on, and now we've got these viewing rooms and computer monitoring. We've got these like Fitbits on their neck and automatic manure scrapers, automatic feeders, robots, uh, freestyle barns where cows can just come and go and get up and get milked as they please. And so I think that's pretty neat. There's even, there's even a sensor that can send you a text message when your cow is about to have a calf. So like, maybe now, instead of being outdoors and constantly, constantly checking, you can get that notification that says, Hey, cow number 1, 9 2 7 is about to have a calf. And you know, when you need to be there for that. So there's all sorts of cool things going on that allow farmers to be a little bit more hands off, do more with less and, and improve their quality of life.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I, I guess it helps them to not have 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 ways than in past integrations. Yeah. And definitely more for sure. They're definitely more informed now of maybe, like you said, what's going on around the farm than what they used to be able to be.
Speaker 2:Totally. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, Michelle, I want you to participate in our, uh, fast and furious farm facts now, and uh, okay. It's gonna help our listeners just learn a little bit more about you. And what's gonna happen is I'm gonna ask you 12 questions and I just need to give you, to give me the first answer that pops in your head. There's no right or wrong answers, this is just you, your opinions. So we get to know a little bit more about Michelle. Okay. Are you ready? Okay.
Speaker 2:All right. Uh oh.<laugh>.
Speaker 1:If you could own a farm anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Speaker 2:Ooh, that's a good one. Oh my gosh. I saw this farm in Texas right outside of Galveston, that's literally right on the beach. Uhhuh<affirmative>. It was insane. Like, I need to know who this farmer is because you literally, like the beach is right there. There's a road and there's a farm. And then right around the farm it's all these beautiful cattle that literally are like ocean front cows. And then there's like these pretty little beach houses just like, just dotted around the, out of this ca cattle pasture. I'm like, I want that house on the beach where I can look at my house.<laugh>.
Speaker 1:All right. Name your favorite tractor manufacturer.
Speaker 2:That's a tough one.
Speaker 1:You don't have a favorite and that's fine if you don't. I
Speaker 2:Don't think I have a favorite.
Speaker 1:Okay. All right. Uh, Carhartt or Wranglers?
Speaker 2:Carhartt. Carhartt. I don't know. Carhartt for the tops And Wranglers for the bottom.<laugh>.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Wrangler jeans and Carhartt sweatshirt.
Speaker 1:Okay. What college sports team do you cheer for?
Speaker 2:Uh, I just hope both teams have fun. Next<laugh>.
Speaker 1:Uh,
Speaker 2:I could give two craps about sports.<laugh>
Speaker 1:Ford Dodge or Chevy trucks?
Speaker 2:Chevy.
Speaker 1:Chevy. All right. What manure smells the worst. Cattle, hogs. Chickens or turkeys?
Speaker 2:Chickens.
Speaker 1:Do you prefer whole milk? 2% milk, skim milk, or lactose free milk?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the fat free stuff. Don't make fun of me. I think it tastes better.
Speaker 1:We don't judge here. All right.
Speaker 2:<laugh>, you'd be surprised How many people judge me for that answer.<laugh>.
Speaker 1:All right, choose one. Johnny Cash. George Strait, Blake Shelton or Luke Combs?
Speaker 2:Ooh, Blake. Something.
Speaker 1:All right. Who's your favorite character on Yellowstone?
Speaker 2:I don't watch it.<laugh>. I've tried. I can't get into it.
Speaker 1:Sure. Again, I can't get into it. We don't
Speaker 2:Judge Kevin Costner, I guess. Kevin Costner. I guess because like, I just like it when people quote him and they're like, how cute does an animal have to be for it to die for you,<laugh>? Or whatever that quote is, right?
Speaker 1:<laugh>. Okay. Favorite coffee brewed at Home Gas station or Starbucks?
Speaker 2:I'm not really a big coffee person. Gas station, coffee. I guess when I'm in the mood for it, I pretty much only drink coffee when it's like free in the hotel lobby and it's like convenient to grab on my way out. Okay.
Speaker 1:<laugh>. Okay. Who's the greatest stock Cartt racer of all time? Richard Petty. Dale Earnhardt. Jeff Gordon or Ricky? Bobby.
Speaker 2:Ricky. Bobby.
Speaker 1:You like Ricky Bobby. Hey guys.
Speaker 2:Got two first names.
Speaker 1:Awesome job.
Speaker 2:I'm not really sure what to do with my hands.<laugh>.
Speaker 1:Well, Michelle, thank you so much. That's a good movie. We appreciate you joining us on the podcast today. We appreciate you being an advocate, uh, for agriculture. We appreciate your time and, uh, just thanks so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2:You as well. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Okay. You're very welcome to learn more from Michelle. Visit her website@thefarmbabe.com. You can also find her on social media, including Facebook, which is look up Farm Babe on Facebook. She's also on Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. And you can search at the Farm Babe in those social media platforms. And I'd like to thank each of our listeners today for tuning in. Topcon appreciates all of our friends in agriculture who work so tirelessly to put food on our tables. If you have enjoyed this episode, please remember to like, share, subscribe to Topcon Talks Agriculture on Spotify, apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please tell your friends about us. We'd love for you to follow Topcon Agriculture on social media. Thanks again for joining us today. See you next time. Go out and make it a great day.