In this episode, I have the pleasure of sitting down with Jason Medows and discussing a very important topic, mental health in agriculture. Jason touched on why starting his podcast, Ag State of Mind, was important for improving his own mental health and how he balances his many roles to maintain his mental health. Jason also shares how his family’s core values help him manage his expectations on the farm and in life.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking with Terra Larsen about a topic that is near and dear to my heart, homesteading. Terra shared how and why she and her husband, Trevor, started homesteading. Terra talked about the expansion to their operation and introduced us to some of the stars on their farm, milk cows Helen and Ruth. Terra also opened up to some of her struggles with sharing her homesteading journey online as well as some of her good experiences such as meeting new people and forming new friendships.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking with Marli Scarborough about a topic I love, efficiency and productivity. First, Marli shared that with the passing of her mother, roles and responsibilities on the ranch had to adjust. Along with her dad and two younger brothers, they are figuring out what works for them in their operation. On the topic of efficiency and productivity, Marli and I both share methods that work for use. I love hearing how others operate day-to-day to see if there is anything I can use for myself or my farm.

In this episode, I wanted to share the importance of making sure you put a value on your time because like the saying, “time is money.” This might be a difficult perspective to view as a farmer or a business owner, but if you think of it as, “how much would I have to pay someone else to do this task?” then it is clearer to see the value of your time doing that task. Then you have to think about, “am I using my time in a way that is cost-effective to my operation?” All of these questions are important to keeping your farm or business on track as well as making sure your time is being spent doing things or investing in things that align with your goals and values.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking with Terryn Drieling about a topic I enjoy and find fascinating, enneagrams. Terryn briefly explains each type of enneagram's characteristics and their motivations. She then talks about how being self-aware and knowing your enneagram type can translate into other aspects and relationships of your life. While discussing enneagrams, Terryn helped me determine which type I am through a series of questions.

Terryn also shares the personal significance to the phrase “good movement draws good movement” and how it is part of her day-to-day life.

In this episode, I got the chance to chat with DL Lautenbach, a farmer from Washington. DL shares how he got started in the cattle industry as well as some of his practices and the challenges that come with them. In our conversation, DL divulges how he and his family changed from their consumer lifestyle to a more conservative spending lifestyle and the importance of that lifestyle shift for his family.

In this episode, I wanted to share with you a reminder to be more present. I find it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of the holiday season and focus too much on my to-do list tasks, that I sometimes forget to be present with my family. Spending time with family and making memories is so important, and after losing my grandma this year, you realize time with your family members is not infinite. So take the time to talk with and listen to the people you hold dear.

In this episode, I wanted to talk about my current season of life and it happens to be a waiting season.  For me, I’m not a big fan of waiting. I like to have a plan so this period of wait and see has not been easy. However, I’m coming around to accepting this is where me and my family are at in our farming journey, and I talk about some things I’m doing to help.

If you are also in a waiting season, I hope this episode can give you comfort and perseverance to keep going to get to the other side of the wait!  

“Nothing looks like you think it will in motherhood.”

In this episode, I wanted to talk about motherhood and what being a mother on a farm looks like for me. My motherhood journey was not what I had anticipated and I had a hard time accepting that I couldn’t be as active on the farm as I wanted to be or thought I would be. Once I accepted that in this season of motherhood, my roles on the farm are different but will change one day, I am able to enjoy where I am in this season and find tasks that utilize my strengths.

“Learn to be ok with where you are at in your life.”

Richelle Barrett, a cattle rancher from Montana, joins us this week to talk about navigating ranching with your family and some of the struggles that come with being a cattle rancher. Richelle also speaks on being in the evaluation phase of her ranching journey and how to be ok with where she is, even if it's not what she imagined life would look like.

Creating a pathway to farming

Tod Bunting joins us this week to share about the resources he and his team have developed to support veterans and introduce them to farming as a career. Tod is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education (SAVE) Farm, based in Manhattan, Kansas.

The SAVE Farm exists to provide therapy, as needed, and hands-on teaching to veterans and transitioning service members through experienced professionals. Tod believes that farming or ranching is a natural transition for veterans, because both paths provide a tangible purpose.

Hannah Borg, a 6th-generation farmer from Nebraska, joins us this week to talk about navigating farming with your family and how communication plays a large role in that. Borg is challenging her family to have those hard conversations so they can grow and become a better, more efficient system.

In addition to trying to find the balance in family and work, Hannah is navigating chicken farming. She’s learning to love her new identity as a chicken farmer, and she shared her story and advice for growing to learn something new.

Hannah is a young farmer, recently moving back home to the farm after graduating with an agricultural communications degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. When she’s not taking care of her 60,000 pullets, she can be found taking pictures and sharing her family’s farming story.

This week’s guest, John Sachse, is a Kansas-based mindset coach helping people to discover their full potential through fitness. Fitness is both mental and physical, and John talks us through how establishing a routine can help you make intentional choices for personal growth.

The first steps in creating a growth mindset for yourself are: establishing routines, visualizing goals, and reverse engineering your life. John is passionate about using routines and small goals to help you reach your overarching goal to reach your “why”.

In addition to working as a mindset coach, John is a husband, father, rancher, and Army National Guard officer.

Helping farm families communicate and resolve conflict

If there is one thing Elaine Froese is passionate about, it’s that conflict is not a bad thing. This week’s guest, Elaine Froese, is Canada’s Farm Whisperer. She spends her time coaching farm families through growth and transition, with an emphasis on understanding.

Elaine grew up as a farm kid, and fell in love with and married a seed farmer over 40 years ago. Together, she and her husband have had their fair share of growth and change on the farm. In this episode, she shared with us her knowledge on how to resolve and overcome challenges, not avoid them.

About our guest:

Elaine Froese, Canada's Farm Whisperer, is helping farm families in transition find harmony through understanding. Elaine farms a 5,000-acre seed farm in SW Manitoba Canada with her husband, son and daughter in-law, and 3 adorable grandchildren. She's on a mission to get clarity of expectations and certainty of timelines for better communication.

You can connect with Elaine on all social media @farmfamilycoach, or through her upcoming speaking events.

This is an important topic; one that can’t be summed up with simple numbers and data. Real people face mental health issues everyday. It’s important to remember that they’re people, with lives and families and friends.

In this episode, I wanted to talk about the reality that mental health issues are very prevalent in all facets of the agriculture industry. Specifically, farming is a very isolating career, which can magnify mental health issues.

If you, or someone you know, are facing mental health challenges of any kind, I encourage you to talk to someone. You are not alone.

Farming is a livelihood rooted in family, no matter where you are. From navigating the barriers to entry to dairy farming to celebrating the successes of a growing business, New Jersey dairy farmer, Sarah Lyness, shared her story on our second episode of the Farming on Purpose podcast.

While Sarah didn’t grow up in a dairy family, or even a farming family, she’s using those experiences to help educate those outside of the industry. It’s important for her to share with others the life lessons farming has taught her as well. Never forget to appreciate even the smallest things, like the sunset view over the dairy barn.

Sarah and her husband got their start by adding a dairy to his family’s existing farming operation. They now also operate a creamery, run by Dan’s mom. Together, they’re all tackling, and overcoming, the unique challenges dairy farming presents.

The beef industry is a complex and unknown process for most. On our first episode, guest Cassidy Johnston, breaks down the complexities of ranching beef cattle and how those ranchers are also environmental stewards.

At its core, ranching is a family task. Cassidy learned this first-hand as a first-generation rancher. She and her husband, and their three sons, now operate a cattle ranch in Colorado. Cassidy’s unique journey to ranching has given her the insight to communicate with the average consumer about how and where their food was produced.