The mom. The Farmer. The advocate; Driving policy change by making it personal.

Rural communities feed the nation — but do their voices reach the halls of power? In this episode of Rooted In Tomorrow, host Kim Olson dives into how Land O’Lakes, Inc. Government Relations empowers farmers to advocate for themselves, influence policy, and bridge the gap between the farm and the grocery store.

Joining the conversation are Gretchen Rockstad, a Minnesota farmer and member of the Policy & Resolutions Committee, and Amber Horn-Leiterman, a Land O’Lakes farmer-member from rural Wisconsin. Together, they share how cooperative leadership, grassroots advocacy, and storytelling help shape legislation that benefits consumers and strengthens rural economies across the Midwest and Great Plains.

Check out Rootedintomorrow.com for more stories of incredible farmers!

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Transcript

 You might have noticed our podcast name change from something Greater to Rooted in Tomorrow. Good news, you can still find us the same place you always do and you won't need to resubscribe. Be sure to search for Rooted in Tomorrow by Land O'Lakes on all your podcast apps.

Tomorrow. It's never a guarantee unless we take care of today. We are a cooperative, grounded in 100 years of forward thinking ever since our beginning in 1921. It's the pursuit of a reliable food supply, a sustainable future, and vibrant communities for all of us. Rooted in the promise of a brighter future.

This is rooted in Tomorrow, the podcast by Land O'Lakes, Inc. I'm your host, Kim Olson. Join us for stories of innovators, change makers, and the modern entrepreneurs who work the land

policy politics. It can be a tough environment. Dinner table conversations, well, we're not gonna get into those, but understanding civic engagement. Advocating on our members' behalf and personalizing the issues everyday people face on the farm and in their communities is just part of our work. It's a thoughtful approach to passing legislation, helping farmers tell their stories and sit with the people who represent them to help drive policy change.

It's essential to creating a sustainable food future. For consumers and farmers alike. On the pod today, we have Amber Horn Leiterman, a farmer member from rural Wisconsin. She took her first trip to Washington DC when she was in the eighth grade and continues to advocate for the industry in a number of ways.

Gretchen Rockstad also joins us. Gretchen's from Ada, Minnesota, and she's a member of the Land O'Lakes Policies and Resolutions Committee, and she's part of the AG Advisory Group for Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Fishbach. All right. Good morning ladies. I am so excited to have you on the, uh, podcast this morning.

Um. Let's, uh, let's take a step back first, and I, I'd like our, um, listeners to get a chance to get to know you a bit. Uh, Amber and I know each other have done some of these things well, and Gretchen and I are getting to know each other. Um, it'd be nice to just kind of paint a picture, uh, for our listeners.

So, um, let's, you know, let's, let's set the scene. Um. I'd like to know kind of what your farms or businesses are like, where you live, you know, where's your closest coffee shop? What's the most fun thing to do in your community? Let's, let's go deep. Um, Amber, let's start with you. Uh, you were in eighth grade when you first visited Washington, dc Um, how, how did that impact you?

Uh. You know, have you returned? Tell me all about it. So it's interesting. That's kind of an interesting story. Eighth grade, you know, you, you get the opportunity to travel with other classmates and a, and a and a teacher or two teachers. And it was actually my first time on an airplane. It was my first time.

Going on vacation or going somewhere off the farm, uh, without my parents, obviously the same farm I'm actually on right now. That's, um, horns dairy, um, that's been in our family since 1863. Yeah. Um, so it was, and tell me where it is. Oh, oh yeah, that's right. Hello. Um, so we're located about half hour south of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

I use that because, you know, green Bay Packers versus Minnesota Vikings, all that sort of stuff. Um, and we're about, so half hours, we're gonna start a war here. Amber, that's not a good way to start for your Minnesota Viking span here, I have two against one, two. Oh, that's great. Here we go Gretchen. We got her.

So, anyways.

Uh, or West actually of Lake Michigan. I always make fun of, or I always say I'm, uh, from the east coast of Wisconsin. I went to school, uh, college at UW River Falls, so, um, and I worked, I actually worked in Minneapolis St. Paul when I was in, when I was in college before I returned to the farm. Um, but yeah, so we're about, I'd say we're about half, but not long enough to become a Vikings fan.

No, that's. That's in the blood. I could cut. It's like green. Um, so, you know, that's, that's, that's kind of where we're located. We, we milk a few cows and, um, my part, I, our farm is a partnership between, um, my mom and my dad. And, uh, my brother and I actually, um, I'm the farmer and my husband's actually an electrician, so a little, little.

I have, I actually just got done with his invoicing, um, before we jumped on here. Um, he's an electrician and uh, we have four boys. Um, the oldest is 16 and the youngest is six, so they keep us, uh, pretty entertained, say the least. Ah, busy. Yeah. So, you know, in, in eighth grade when I first went to DC that was my first big trip, you know, off the farm, and my parents were always very supportive of, of trying new things.

And, um, I had to pay for it. I remember it was like 600 and some odd dollars to get on this plane, and you go out there, get on a coach bus, first time in a hotel room. Um, so that was kind of neat. And like the sight and scenes, I just, I just love it. And, um, and any opportunity I've ever had, um, back FFA, um, I've always, um.

I've always taken it to go to DC 'cause as I've seen more and more sites, I actually learned more about what the legislative process was and um, you know, coming back to the farm, I had the opportunity with Land O'Lakes to go out there and do some. Advocating, uh, for Land O'Lakes and for myself as a farmer.

And that kind of started the bug. And, um, I've been doing it ever since. Probably a little more on the local level right now, but always enjoy, um, going to see behind the scenes, um, uh, at, at the Capitol. Great. So the, the bug bitch early, so now, uh, is that three of your boys are older than, uh, when you, when you started, or two of them are older than, uh, than eighth grade now.

Oh my goodness. Uh, two, two of 'em are, and actually it's kind of interesting, before COVID hit, um, the two older boys in seventh and eighth grade, um, they were scheduled to go to dc. Um, but once, uh, COVID hit and kind of shut everything down, they've postponed the trip and, uh, they postponed last year as well.

So. They're actually heading to dc Both of them, they're, right now they're a sophomore and a freshman, so they'll be heading to DC in June, and I'm really hoping that bug bites them. So maybe, we'll, we'll finally go on a family vacation. Maybe we'll take them to DC and, um, see more sites and, and, and really get, get more involved in that.

So it could be exciting. It sounds like it's coming full circle. We we're gonna start him young at Land O'Lakes. Yep. Um, Gretchen, tell me about you other than, uh, other than being a Vikings fan, which is the key piece of information, um, tell me about, uh, your operation and, uh, and your activity in the community.

So there's a lot of similarities with Amber. I am a farm kid. I grew up, um, actually now my mom didn't, she wanted like six boys and Amber's got four. My mom would be jealous of you. My mom got four girls and my dad didn't always use us on the farm, except for in the fields, pulling some weeds. But, um, grew up and married a hometown boy who was a farmer.

So when we had the opportunity, when my dad retired, we started farming together. Um, and so I, I lived just a couple miles from where I grew up. Um, but we were out, lived in California and lived in the cities for a while and experienced quite a bit and had to chuckle here at Amber story about going to Washington.

'cause my husband and I were in Washington about in ninth, as we're ninth graders. We, uh, had to take a bus, 36 hours to DC and see the sites. Oh my goodness. So are you married? You married your high school, honey? Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah, I did too. I did too. Alright. Uh, I'll sneak in and say I did. I I did as well.

I did as well. Yes. Nice. Nice. I think we got a lot of years between, uh, the three of us. So tell me, Gretchen, is, um, what kind of farm are you on and, and how are you kind of plugged into your community? Sure. So we raise four crops. We have no livestock other than some nine backyard chickens, but we've got sugar beets.

Um, that's probably our biggest cash crop. Then we also grow wheat, soybeans, and corn as part of that rotation. I try to rotate crops every four years on most of our ground. And so, um, yeah, growing up in the community and moving back, um, wanted to definitely get involved. So, uh, my church and my school, right.

So, um, yeah, got the eight of Bo up West school and I've been on the board now I've been elected. This is, I'm beyond, well, four terms, I guess. And so I'm eventually, oh my goodness. Yeah, it's been a long haul and, um. But it's been fun to see the school grow. It's so common for rural schools to close the doors and go somewhere else.

Yeah. 'cause the population is shrinking in rural areas. Right. And, and that's not the case in our school. We've kept it open, we've grown it, we've grown the, we've grown the buildings, kept them updated, um, and gotten some kids from other schools. And we just came off a consolidation with a neighboring school where we brought all the kids to our campus after we had a building bond.

So that's been fun to see and, and just to see the programs grow and teaching is so much different and learning avenues and.

Um, when we go to conferences and we hear what's new and great and, and so we came back to aid and said, we wanna get. Get these devices into the hands of our kids. I would just like to say, I have to applaud you for that. I actually, my father is, um, the president of a brilliant school board here in our local community, and I think he's on his fifth or sixth term.

Uh, so, so I give you lots of props because that is not an easy job. You know, the, the way you're advocating there, I think. Really reflects on what you're doing, um, with Land O'Lakes. I, uh, Amber, can you talk just a little bit about how, um, your, uh, relationship is with Land O'Lakes? How, just for our listeners, how, um, we're connected?

So Land O'Lakes has been a connection in our family, um, back since Lake to Lake. Um, I think 1960 something. Our farm has been a part of the cooperative system, um, once it transitioned from Lake to Lake to Land O'Lakes, um, back in that day. And we actually are on our, I believe our third or fourth patron number, um, where we ship our milk to kill Wisconsin.

Um, and what's interesting about Land O'Lakes is all the opportunities that they have provided me, um, just in leadership. Um, 'cause you can go on the farm every day and being a part of everything and you have your animals, your employees, um, your machinery, all this sort of stuff. But Land O'Lakes, um, I don't know, they, they approached me about doing leadership training.

And, um, through that leadership training they've given me the opportunities, um, to not only meet other, um, member owners such as Gretchen and and others, but they've also allowed me to kind of find my voice and be an advocate of, um, not only my farm, but have a way or a means or the knowledge to advocate for myself and my family, including my farm.

Um, so that kind of started with like leader development, with leader development. Teams back in 2006 or seven. Um, we did some leader development, um, courses and then, um, they actually, uh, nominated to be on the National Dairy Board. Um, back in 2011. I can't believe it's in that many years. Um, my kids were much, I think my oldest, my oldest kid was like three, uh, when I started doing that.

And now he's 16. He is now, he's 16. Um. So now he is driving a car. Yeah. Yeah. Which I, I probably shouldn't put on here. You just got grounded from last night just because we have to follow rules better. But anyways, no one needs to know that. I guess now, Amber, we're not gonna, we're not gonna throw the kids under the bus.

Right? A little touchy subject lately, as you can tell. Um, but no, they gave me that, that that opportunity to really grow myself and my skills and my leadership skills and really, um, brought it first. Full circle. And once I got off that board, or I had termed out, I, I ended up being the chair, which completely surprised me.

Um, um, at the end when I was elected, um, as chair of the board. But since then, one of the things that it brought me to do is actually be part of more. More cooperatives. Um, right now I'm a board of directors for Country Visions Cooperative, which is, uh, egg Supply, um, and feed Cooperative here in northeast Wisconsin.

And it also, um, got me to be a, a board member for the Cooperative Board Network, the Cooperative Network, um, which makes sure that we're advocating for co-ops in Minnesota and, um, and Wisconsin on, on a, on a local level. And they have provided support the knowledge I needed because. Being a mom and being a farmer, there's no way I can keep on top of everything there is, there is no way.

I'm still mad about taking a car away. How am I gonna know what, um, the truth in labeling you? You know, you can't know everything. And Land O'Lakes really provided me, uh, information sources to make sure I'm staying on top of things. So I, I sound. Somewhat Intel. You know, I, I can, I can speak different things.

The last thing that I actually did with them was I had the opportunity to go to a listing session section or session, um, at a farm a few hours away from, um, with Secretary Vilsack. The Ag, the Secretary of Ag, um, and uh, I, uh, got up there and they gave me the, you know, sometimes it takes a lot of guts to open your mouth and actually speak in front of a lot of people, especially when there's press in their room.

And they've given me the training and the tools to put that all together. And, um, I was able, I was one of eight people that spoke to Secretary Vilsack, just, you know, wondering what. Programs and telling 'em how much we, we, we appreciated, um, different things that the FSA had been doing. Um, and changing rules for feed, for feed prices and, um, asking what's coming down the pipeline because, um, there's lots of different grant programs that they're working on to really help us on the farm side and being aware of what those are, and that's where Land O'Lakes comes in and making sure that I, I am aware of those.

I think your story is, is so good, just as an evolution of, uh, you know, you gained some momentum on, on advocacy and telling your story and, um, one thing leads to the next, leads to the next, um, Gretchen, how about you and, uh, and the Land O'Lakes connection, how has that evolution, um, happened in, in your case?

Land O'Lakes, the butter. Have you ever heard the phrase, everything's better with butter? Okay, so don't tell too many people. I'm, I'm a dietician, but I grew up with a father that said that over and over again, everything's better with butter. Yeah. As I was putting sugar on things and he says, whoa, slow down.

And, and I never talked back, but I could never figure out why a sugar farmer would say, don't use so much sugar. So it was. It's kind of interesting, but that Land O'Lakes butter, I loved baking with it. My mom, that's what she used who grew up using it. Um, I have a sweet tooth, so Baking's been a huge part of my life and it probably, um, and I bring it up 'cause I'm a dietician now, and so, and, and it's what I do off the farm and then I help with on the farm with marketing or grain and, and harvesting that crop.

But in my patients that I have for dieticians or that my dietetic patients, and then I have cardiac rehab patients, it's, we talk about things like butter and sugar and, and, um, and using those products in moderation and balance. Of course, balance on the other side of the equation with exercise. So yeah, my Land O'Lakes connection is pretty deep back when I was just as a consumer, a little kid, bacon, um, and it's grown.

We use, um, our local co-op, we buy our crop protection items from, from a land O'Lakes co-op and get dividends back. And, and that's a real big advantage. And then we were asked to go to Washington, DC to advocate for the United States, Mexico. Canadian agreement. Um, a few years back, a lot of the trade agreements between different countries were, were in the works.

They were being reworked to try to improve our situation. And so I was all on board for that because, um, the time we were invited, we were not trading our, our soybeans weren't going to China. It was closed down for a while because that whole agreement was trying to get reworked. And so I'm like, yeah, any way we can get our crop marketed because the prices, the commodity prices were in the tank.

Back in 2019. So that's when we, um, got invited Not that long ago. Right? No, I grain marketing's way more fun. I, as soon as I woke up, I checked the prices and it's just fun. Where back then it was just dismal. Nothing changed. There was no variability. It was all sad news. So going, being invited and, and trying to tell our story that yes, we need better commodity prices.

Um, so that was So tell me, tell me Gretchen, when you. Let's kind of ground our, our listeners a little bit. How, how do you do that? Are, are you just gonna walk up to any politician's door or, um, you know, just logistically, how does it work? Well, I don't know if I could have done it on my own. I mean, I would've wrote a letter, written a letter, but what Land O'Lakes did for us.

Is they brought us to Washington. They, they educated us about the topic and where the conversation in Washington is. And they, they were gonna use us then to go to the different, um, legislatures and they set up the schedule for us. And then they, they primed us. They, they polished our message. They asked us questions, and they asked us more questions so that we're like, oh.

And then they helped us realize that story and building on that story because. Our oldest son isn't farming with us because of commodity prices were so terrible. And it took him a few Land O'Lakes staff was kept asking, well, why, why? And I'm like, oh yeah, well this is, this is the reason. It's our, our crops are not getting marketed, um, very well and we need to have these trade agreements in place so that we can be profitable and actually pass on our farm to our, our kids.

And so we could see it. He, he had to go get a job off the farm 'cause we just couldn't afford to support two families. I imagine Amber, you've, you've got a generational farm as well. Is that, um, concern for you or, you know, can you speak to that as well? So, I, I really like the point Gretchen brought up about how Land O'Lakes really helped us.

I was talking about how, you know, they provided us information. I like how she said, polish your message or actually just putting a message together because I think a lot of people are. I don't wanna say scared, but they're nervous. They don't realize that your day-to-day life is very important to your legislator.

They wanna know what's going on. Like you said, like you had said, Gretchen, we talked about commodity prices and what it means for a good commodity price with these trade agreements. Just me talking about how we market our milk or how, what truth and labeling is, or how we want the FDA to make sure milk is, is milk and, and all this other sort of thing.

Polishing or, or, or actually making that message and making it like, this is why, um, I go to work every day. This is why I do what I do. And putting that in a concise message that people can understand is a way of advocating not only for yourself, because at the end of the day, land O'Lakes is providing you information and, and helping you put that message together.

But it's your message. It's how, how it pertains to you. How are you using those marketing tools? And why are using the marketing tools we're trying to bring the next generation, just like my parents are trying to bring the next generation, providing, making sure we have that income, making sure that you have the means to go talk to those people because you had talked about sending emails and letters and those are all legitimate ways to make sure you're, you're senator, your congressman, your assemblyman, your, you know, they know whether it's at the state or national level.

They do look at those. They do tally them phone calls. I'll never forget, I'll never forget Land O'Lakes had brought me out, um, to DC and I met Mr. Tom Ellos from California Great. A member owner out there, and he went right up. We were in the same region. We went to the congressman and he went right up, shook their hand, and they knew who he was.

Because he called and he had a great relationship with the people who represented him. And that's all, even if you can't make it to DC and do things like that, uh, land O'Lakes helps make your message and you can get that however way you want to, whether that's a letter or a phone call. Or an email, it still works.

Is it better in person? Oh yeah, yeah. Putting a face to that, putting a face to that message is much better. They remember you and you leave your card and your contact information and that's, you know, that's how they've, they've made that connection. So I'm hoping, and you know, it's kind of interesting, you know, obviously I'm a dairy farmer and so I love when you talked about butter, because I didn't realize how much we are the butter people.

Butter. Um, and I didn't, I didn't realize that is huge to anybody. You know, we're a very portion. We are a very small portion. Obviously we're less than 2% of the population. And so if we can use that butter connection because everyone, well, okay, I shouldn't say everyone. Most people cook. Most people can like you.

You work with patients, right, Gretchen? They, you know, they've seen Land O'Lakes in the store and like they know that's a connection in your kitchen or your grocery store, wherever. And if you can put a, a, a, a, a face behind that with a message to connect them, that's. That's golden. Um, that's a great, that's a great way of going forward.

You and Gretchen have both talked about why legislators care and, and they don't wanna hear from, um, Kim Olson corporate spokesperson. They wanna hear from Gretchen and Amber who are actually running farms. Um. But why would, and and maybe I'll start with you, Gretchen. Um, why would consumers care about this?

And consumers is sort of a, a catchall word, but, uh, you know, the, the people on, um, in the, the local coffee shop and the folks that are going to a, you know, a barbecue with my parents. Um, why should they care about the issues you're talking about? Well, there's a lot of reasons. Um, we have to grow our own food, right?

We need our, we need agri agricultural products, our food products grown in the United States. If they were grown all overseas or in China, we wouldn't be having our products. So just for that food security coming from a rural community, anything, any advocacy I can do. With legislatures is gonna help my whole rural community because we, the economic engine there, it's the farming.

We, if we make money, then we go spend it. We make investments in our, in our equipment line, in our supplies. And so that's an economic driver. We get our healthcare local, we get our dentist, and so. Um, um, I mean our, if we and if, and our schools are there, so we just, we're all working together to keep these rural communities alive.

We love that lifestyle and so when we, so, when we, um, can piggyback with, with Land O'Lakes and amplify our voices. When I was in Washington, there wasn't, it wasn't just me and my husband there had multiple teams. Many different people and it was so well organized. So many people heard that day from, from farmers and we, they heard the, you know, the true story, what our struggles are and how we need these markets open in order to stay viable and keep our agriculture products here on our home turf so that we're not relying on foreign, on foreign food.

Yeah. Makes, makes sense to me. How, how about you, Amber? Anything to add there for consumers? That, that's a, that's a broad reaching question. I, you know, that's a hard question. It's, it's, there's such an, it's, I, I know we've used, in the past we've talked about an information void or I, I prefer the information gap.

Information gap. There's just such a gap between people and their food. This goes for legislators as well. They're trying to please or make sure that their communities are taken care of, and it doesn't matter if that legislator is in a rural community or an urban community. Their, their constituents still need access to a safe.

Food supply and I think our voice gets And affordable. Yes. Yes. Affordable. And affordable. That's a good point. That's a very, that's where it's hard. Yes. When we as producers and you as milk and us as sugar and wheat and corn, we need to make money. We don't need to make. We don't need to be millionaires and things, but we need to be viable and then still have, um, cheap food for everybody that's safe.

And that's, you know, that's available and that's high quality and that's prepared with good practices. We, we are highly regulated by what crop protection items we put on. Whereas if we get our berries from Mexico, uh, we eat 'em. But yeah, there, there was. That wonder, I wonder what's on these berries and good, but when the homegrown ones Yeah, we can Exactly.

Exactly. Gretchen. And people just don't realize that it has to come from somewhere, unfortunately. And maybe that's part of our problem. That's maybe, you know, and maybe that's a, it doesn't just show up at the store or on the dinner table as my, my kids are like, Hey mom, what's, what's her dinner? I'm like, well start getting outta the refrigerator and chopping something up here.

Um, but. You know, as they're trying to provide that safe, affordable food supply and we wanna provide that, and they want it for their constituents, they need to know where it comes from. And that gets lost. I don't wanna say in translation, but I just think we're so busy. You know, especially during certain times of the year, you, you are just so busy and the last thing that you wanna do is make that phone call or go to DC or, you know, make it part of your plan.

But it has to be because you're, it. You know, there's no one else. Granted, Kim Kim from corporate could go out there and, and talk to them, but what makes a bigger impact? I try. I give it the old college Tri Amber. I do. No, but you know, and, and you know, and it's fortunate but unfortunate. I mean, you have to make the time to do these things.

Like Gretchen was saying, because you know what your place is in your community and what you provide your community, and until you can get every, everyone else, all that 98%, um, to really understand that it's, it's a, it's a hard boat to row, so to speak, and making sure that you're keeping your legislators up to date on what's.

Going on and why this is affecting you? I think that with the whole pandemic and things like that and our food supply and our food supply chain, I think there's a lot, well, I know there's a lot more interest going on and what's going on on the farm level because people are realizing what it takes to put that in grocery stores and make sure people are fed.

Um. Whether there was in school or food banks or things like that. Yep. Yeah. If you, if you all don't tell your story, um, someone's gonna tell your story. So I, you know, I would think it'd be much better coming from those that are living it. Um, now it, one thing that you, you mentioned, uh, Gretchen was, um, the.

The sustainability, um, for, for lack of a better word, I, I work with a lot of farmers and I know that, um, no one cares about the planet more is part of telling the story, um, making, uh, making it more clear what, uh, what growers are doing, um, to sustain the planet for, for their own kids and, and the next generation.

I, I don't know, Gretchen, is that, um, something you think about? Well, I certainly have in recent years it's 'cause we never, it was just what we did and it was, it was just part of, part of what we did. We never thought of it. But, but yes, we need to keep this land. We don't want it to blow. We don't want it to wash away.

And it's, it's been in the family for all these generations that the, the, the crops are getting bigger and bigger. I mean, the, the fertility is amazing and with the genetics of seeds, we can produce some really big crops with given the right, um, weather. And so yeah, we are so involved in trying to keep our soils healthy and to keep 'em where they are.

Um, but that wasn't something we thought about until, until more recently when they, we talk about sustainability, but that's built into farmers because we don't want, we're not in there to slash and burn and move on to another spot. We're, and I don't know anybody like that. We take care of our land. I, I think it also comes back to the fact that we've been doing it for so long that it's ingrained in us, and once we had to start explaining it, we kind of took offense to it.

We were like, what do you mean we've been doing that? Well, and it was difficult to put it to words. Yeah. And, and, and, and the proper words, you know, that made sense to other people because we were doing our industry speak, which we all do, every industry has it. You know, we're using those phrases that, that aren't understandable to other people, and that comes with.

Training and, and things like that. Making sure you can get your message out properly. But they, like you said, we've been doing this for generations and finally we're putting it into words and actions and getting the word out there that we have to drink the water, we have to eat the same food. We're part of the same system that you are.

Why would we do things to damage it? Um, it makes no sense, right? We're not gonna jeopardize the lives. Yeah. Yes. We're not gonna jeopardize anybody's lives because we live this and Yes. And our husbands and ourselves, we, we work with crop protection items. Mm-hmm. And so, so when that's a whole month of, of putting those up, those products on Yeah.

We're, we're careful and, and, and, and we follow the regulations so that our neighbors we're not hurting what's in the ditches or what's in the forest, or what's in the gardens that are adjacent to our crop fields. Very careful. If the wind isn't in the right direction, you don't spray. Yeah, we don't put on those items.

Um, so there's a lot of safeguards that are in place and there's more and more coming out with to make sure all our, all our things are safe. Well, and you're, I like you said, you. You're moms, right? And you're living in these, um, in these places. And, and no, no one wants a safe environment for their children more than a mother.

I, Amber, I I wanted to ask you as well. We started out, uh, and Gretchen talked a lot about the school board and, um, technology in a healthy community. I know we talk a lot about broadband access at, uh, land O'Lakes and, um. That leading to healthy communities and, and you've had a little bit of experience there.

Can you talk about that a bit? So, I, I think back when they started doing the American Broadband project, they had asked me, um, just a random, I think I was talking to a, just, um, a Land Lakes employee and I'm like, yeah, like we. We were getting internet from a satellite and we were supposed to be back in 2020.

We were supposed to be homeschooling these kids. I shouldn't say homeschooling. We were virtually schooling kids, and I could not have three kids on the computer at the same time. It, it wasn't, it wasn't feasible, um, for them because we didn't have the connections as we. Probably tell, I probably still don't have the enough connection, um, being out in the rural area.

And so that was one of the most important things is not only could they not have school or, or keep on top of that, but I couldn't run certain programs on my farm because if we lost connection based on what we, what we were using, um, I, I couldn't have access to, to records, vital records. Um. It wasn't like living in a city where you could just tap on your computer and ooh, there it's, I mean, it was back, it felt like the old dialup days when you were waiting for a OL or something to, you know, that that's what it was like.

And to explain and to explain that to teachers and to explain that to a school system. And they worked very hard, um, to make sure we had hotspots, we had hotspots given to us. Um, making sure that we were getting these kids talking to other kids because, you know, you can only have so much family time. Um, you, you, you need to interject a voice, um, of friends every once in a while.

But what was interesting with that was it was an experience I had and I didn't think it was a big deal. It's just, you know, it's life as we know it. And Land O'Lakes is like, no, Amber, this is a problem. You should not have to worry about this. This should be taken care of. You should have just as much access as everybody else.

And I wanna say, I actually had a phone conversation with a, a legislative aide for, um, Mr. Schumer out of New York, and I was on the phone with her for half hour, 45 minutes. Going through why this is so important and why we need it, not only for schooling and things like that, but to, to run our farms as well with, with all this technology and this great data keeping and all this data that we have.

Um. It's only good if you can use it, and if you don't have the connection, you can't, you can't use it. I think to, to kind of bring it, uh, bring it back to, um, the local, you know, that's a, that's a very local experience. And, um, you know, we're trying to make sure that the communities are strong. I, going back to the legislative, uh, experience and, and advocate, see experience a little bit.

Um, more on a local level. Um, Gretchen, I know you were asked to join Congresswoman Michelle Fish Box's Agricultural Advisory Committee. Can you talk just a little bit about that as, as we kind of hone in a little bit more on local advocacy? How's that experience been for you? Right. That was, to get that invitation was, was really neat.

I'm like, yeah, I'd love to do this. Michelle Fishbach was she, um, she beat Colin Peterson, who was the chair of the, of the egg committee. He's been a huge voice and, and for her to overcome, I mean, to win that election was huge. And hats off to Michelle. She's been, she's been educating herself about egg. It wasn't her strong soup, but she knows she comes from a district where farming is, is the business.

And so she's has a northern group and a southern group, and I got invited to the northern group and in one of the hottest days in summer, she brought us up to Crookston. There was many people around the table. I wanna say probably 30. Um, well, 20 to 30 people in industry. So we've got the Turkey producers, the cattlemen, the dairy, the soy, the corn, the egg finance people, the crystal, the sugar growers.

So multiple voices around that table and, and she said, okay, everybody, I wanna listen and hear everything you've got to say. So she posed two questions. So what are we doing right as a government and what can we do better? Each one of us got to answer that question around the table, and it was, and it was fun to hear because we fed off each other.

We have some of the same, some of the same concerns. Um, she brought the group back together, um, this winter. Knowing that the farm program is coming up. And so she's like, okay. And then what, what do we need to do? What do we need to focus on? And she also brought in on the big screen, um, her, her mentor from Pennsylvania, who was probably the ranking senior member on, on her side of the aisle from GT, is his name outta Pennsylvania.

And he was on the big screen and he listened to everything we said around that table. And what impressed me most at the end is that guy summarized everybody's points. Without notes. He, he could just talk and talk and talk and of course that's the, probably the strong characteristic of legislatures. But he listened and understood and synthesized it and told us back.

And so that was wonderful to have, you know, so our voices went, went pretty deep that day. Yeah, I, it's, it's amazing to get the opportunities, um, to tell the story ourselves and knowing that, um, many, many legislators are open. Um. The, you know, the ears are open and, and they wanna hear. I I have one question for you guys to end on, but before I do there, um, tips and tips and tricks, this can be kind of an intimidating thing.

Um, if listeners are thinking about advocacy, maybe, uh, each of you could give me your, um, two top tips, um, or advice. Uh. You wanna start advice for someone who's thinking about advocating? Um, the first one is don't, don't let it bog you down. There are so many resources, especially through Land O'Lakes, that can help you refine that message and get your message to the right person, especially obviously in your, in your districts or your, you know, your legislative, um, area.

That'd be the first is, is don't get bogged down in that because you are the message, you have the message, it is you. Um, you're just packaging it in a way that you can express it. Um, and the second is do not be afraid to reach out. Whether you are in person, email or phone, there are people you may, you probably will not talk to the absolute.

Representative Senator Assemblyman, you'll probably not talk to them, but you'll talk to someone who is an aide and that aide is going to get your message or whatever to that person. Don't think they will come. They will take notes while they're talking on the phone. They will forward that email. They will take notes while you're, you're meeting with them.

Don't, don't, don't let thing, don't let the idea boggy down or make you nervous, and don't worry about. About approaching them. They're, they're people just like you and I, and they're interested in knowing how you feel. You're a constituent at the end of the day, they work for you. Terrific. Gretchen, what about you?

Tips, advice. That passion, you know, it, it's, it's easy to talk about what you're passionate about, that that's not hard. Um, the Land O'Lakes brings, they, they, they'll polish that up and make it really easy and they'll set the schedule and, and get you to the places that would, that you would be most effective.

Where they're, where they've maybe got some relationships with some of the legislatures, um, they'll make it possible. And that, and those legislatures, um. I just want, I love to learn. And so it was really fun to learn about this whole process of advocacy and, and, and I, and it's reciprocated. They love to learn about us.

And so hearing it firsthand, um, is really interesting. Michelle Fishbach heard about the wolves in our meetings and how they were killing the baby calves. And she says, I didn't realize that was such a problem because what. In Washington, we get little wolf stuffed animals that to try to save the wolves.

And she says it's a, it's, you know, there's two sides to this story and there's gotta be a solution that will prevent farmers that are the cattlemen from losing their cattle, their little calves, versus getting rid of all the wolves. I mean, that's not a solution, but there's gotta be some compromises. And so telling that story.

Accurately and with passion so that, um, it can make a difference. Stories are complicated and, um, often more powerful when, uh, told by the people who are living 'em.

So with that, I'm gonna ask Amber and then I'll come to you, Gretchen. Just a final question. Um. Just simply, how do you see the future of agriculture? Amber, we're gonna start with you. The future of agriculture. Um, I believe that it is encouraging to see, um, what's coming up, um, whether it's, um, the technology that we're using, um, the next generation, uh, coming up.

It's encouraging. To engage with other people and really enhance that knowledge grabbing People want to learn where their food comes from, and I really think that the future of agriculture is going to be, um, enhancing that relationship, um, with those who eat it and hopefully our efforts. And our efforts of our co-op, the efforts of our producers and, um, farm, whether it's, you know, whether it's growing sugar or it's, it's, um, making cheese and, and beef.

Um, I really think those efforts are hopefully going to make sure that agricul the future of agriculture is bright and and sustainable. Fantastic. Thank you Amber. Um, Gretchen, how about bringing us home? Uh, how do you see the future of agriculture? Very, very bright. I've got, um, probably three of my four kids are all gonna be in egg careers and it's exciting to hear what they're learning.

Um, there's so much promise out there and it's looking back to when we started farming. This is, I think, our 31st crop. And as a kid how things have changed and progressed and yields have gotten better and the products are safer and, and the techniques are better. It's, it's just, I think it's so bright and, and with the advances in equipment and, uh, how much easier it is to drive a combine right now than it was, and how much more efficient and fuel efficient we can become.

There's, there's just so many avenues it's gonna get better. Well, I tell you, I think if, uh, if the future of agriculture is in the hands of, uh, Amber and Gretchen and their families, I think we can all be, uh. Quite confident it's gonna be bright. Thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate the conversation.

Thanks, Kim. Yeah, you're welcome, Kim. This is fun. A fun, not a fun.

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