Bruce Dooyema, a veteran of the poultry industry with over 50 years of experience, shares his journey and insights in this podcast interview. Here are the key takeaways:
Early Life and Career:
- Started with chickens at age 12, helping his family farm grow from dairy to chickens.
- Graduated from high school and couldn't afford college, so joined the family chicken business.
- Witnessed the consolidation of the egg industry in the late 80s and early 90s.
Center Fresh and Versova:
- Founded Center Fresh with partners to reach the goal of 1 million birds.
- Joined Versova, a family of independent producers specializing in different areas.
- Currently manages flock planning for all Versova operations in Iowa (20-25 million birds).
Role and Responsibilities:
- Schedules flocks across various companies and sites, ensuring smooth logistics and timing.
- Deals with constant changes, including bird flu outbreaks, requiring adjustments and flexibility.
- Works with various teams (genetics companies, processing companies, trucking companies) to coordinate operations.
- Compares his role to an auctioneer or an orchestra conductor, ensuring everyone plays their part in harmony.
Challenges and Rewards:
- Bird flu outbreaks and tight schedules present constant challenges and require quick thinking.
- Working with a great team and contributing to feeding the world are the main rewards.
Advice for Newcomers:
- The chicken industry is never boring, offering daily challenges and learning opportunities.
- Be prepared for unexpected changes and flexibility in your daily plans.
Give back to your community and enjoy the satisfaction of helping others.
Additional Notes:
- Bruce emphasizes the importance of teamwork and collaboration in the poultry industry.
- He mentions several individuals who have made a significant impact on his journey.
- The interview ends with a lighthearted exchange about the unpredictability of working in the industry.
Overall, Bruce Dooyema's story is one of dedication, hard work, and a passion for the poultry industry. His insights and advice offer valuable guidance for anyone considering a career in this dynamic field.
Hosted by Brandon Mulnix - Director of Commercial Accounts - Prism Controls
The Poultry Leadership Podcast is only possible because of its sponsor, Prism Controls
Find out more about them at www.prismcontrols.com
Brandon Mulnix: Welcome to the poultry leadership podcast. Are you a person who likes to schedule your day schedule your month or even your next year? this episode is all about planning and our guest Bruce Doraemon for Sova. I had the opportunity to hear Bruce share his story at the North Central Poultry Association conference this past summer and wanted to Share him in his story with Welcome to the Show Bruce.
Bruce Dooyema: Yes. Thanks Brandon. Glad to be here.
Brandon Mulnix: Alright As we get started, can you introduce yourself to the poultry leadership podcast audience?
Bruce Dooyema: So yeah Brandon, my name is Bruce. Daima. I've been involved in the chicken industry for just about 50 years started when I was in. Seventh grade, I made the mistake of asking Mom and dad for 12 chickens. And Mom and Dad being overachievers gave me 24 instead. That summer
Bruce Dooyema: and I grew up as a dairy guy. So we were daring the first years of my life and then seventh grade got chickens. My dad had a midlife crisis when he was 55. So during the summer of it my eighth-grade year. That's when we built our first Chicken House of 60,000 birds back in 1978.
Brandon Mulnix: Wow.
Bruce Dooyema: And then the problem was my older brother Who's Four years older than I decided to buy From my dad, so we did Dairy and chickens. So
Bruce Dooyema: as I'm going to high school mom and dad always said you can go out for any sport you want.
Bruce Dooyema: In don't worry about the chores, So being we're milking and…
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: doing eggs chickens. I made sure I went out for every sport there was in pretty cool so that I didn't have to do chores.
Brandon Mulnix: It's not like my son.
Bruce Dooyema: And then yeah, so then when I graduated from high school, between the dairy and the chickens there was no time to really go to college and I just end up.
Bruce Dooyema: Working out on the farm between my brother Eric and my dad and myself, it took three of us to keep it going.
Brandon Mulnix: And at some point in there you got married, right?
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah, that was. About two years after I graduated got married. and that was in And then in 1986, we had a dairy barn fire. in That was a blessing in disguise. Really? the cool part about that is my dad
Bruce Dooyema: said hey we can rebuild the dairy and put in a parlor system and fancy gizmos and gadgets and my brother Eric and I said Dad nowhere we doing this. We're gonna build another chicken house because back then it seemed like you were doing about three-fourths of the labor in the dairy and getting about a fourth of the money. And you're doing about a fourth of the labor where the chickens and getting 3/4 of the money. so
Bruce Dooyema: so in 87 we built our second chicken house. of 80
Brandon Mulnix: so two chickens So 140,000 Birds.
Bruce Dooyema: Yep. That was pretty I don't know. I guess it was really the late 80s and the early 90s is when consolidation really started happening in an egg industry. I think.
00:05:00
Bruce Dooyema: and then as time went on in the early 90s.
Brandon Mulnix: but
Bruce Dooyema: When consolidation was happening. my uncle sold out of his land which
Bruce Dooyema: Was my grandpa's farm. It was 240 acres while I was growing up. Our family had 120 and my uncle had 120. So 92 my uncle decided to retire so we bought that other 120 so we had the 240 back.
Bruce Dooyema: We kind of said to ourselves if we want to stay in the chicken business. We got to be a million birds or get up to that million bird Mark and That's kind of how Center fresh was born. and…
Brandon Mulnix: okay.
Bruce Dooyema: when we bought the farm in 92 That's when we're always a contract producer. with Michael Foods and
Bruce Dooyema: Michael Foods wanted to get rid of all their producers So we ended up buying our contract from them and then being a producer for Michael Foods.
Brandon Mulnix: Okay.
Bruce Dooyema: That was when we became independent, that's when. I met Jim Rich who was the leader of Midwest uep. back then
Bruce Dooyema: when you're a contract producer about the only thing you care about is
Bruce Dooyema: The number of eggs that you can produce you don't really care about anything else because you're getting paid for the eggs you produce. and that's number one. So it's like I want the best chickens. There are. And you take care of them they pay as you know, the people that own the birds, it's like you don't have to buy the birds. So The only thing you got to cover is the cost of the building and the labor and the utilities, right? The producer are the owner pays.
Brandon Mulnix: Okay.
Bruce Dooyema: feed And pays for the eggs. So those are the two biggest costs you don't have to worry about. So he said hey you're independent. You need to start going to these polter shows and I never knew anything about these culture shows. You're The Midwest show in and ippe down in Atlanta, right? Yeah,…
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: so I started going to these shows and that's where we met Jim Dean and we got to be friends and
Bruce Dooyema: he kind of caught wind that. Hey, we wanted to be a million birds and he said let's start a partnership. let's partner up so that's how Center fresh got started and the cool thing about Center fresh and versova family is that
Bruce Dooyema: we were all small producers in the chicken industry at one time and we've come together as families as friends and started versova Center fresh and we're just all small producers. We all specialize in different areas of the business and it's been great and it's been a fun ride,
Brandon Mulnix: how big is Center fresh now?
Bruce Dooyema: so when you add up all the different companies that we have in Ohio and Iowa and Washington and, Oregon.
Bruce Dooyema: It comes up to…
Brandon Mulnix:
Bruce Dooyema: 30 to 35 million layers
Brandon Mulnix: wow that
Bruce Dooyema: Between all the different companies under the versova umbrella.
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah, that's a lot of birds a lot of farms, a lot of people. Have been blessed to meet a lot of those folks.
Bruce Dooyema: Yep.
Brandon Mulnix: Traveling throughout your different Farms.
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah, and the cool thing about. the versova family and our leadership and the people involved is we're a big company, but it's still. Feels a bit like a family farm. we all come from that family farm background and that Midwestern work ethic of a whatever it takes to get it done. We're willing to do it, right?
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah, that I the companies grown? what is your role there at that versova?
Bruce Dooyema: so my role has changed quite a bit from when I started, basically, I grew up managing chickens right and managing layer houses during that whole time.
00:10:00
Bruce Dooyema: What I knew in the chicken industry. I always said to myself. I never want to be a bullet Roar and everyone want to be a managing chickens is where it's at because I gotta go back to tell you a cool story about chickens and dairy, right? what,…
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: when your Dairy producer you're basically married to those cows they know you inside and out. They know your mannerisms and whatnot. And of course you got a Malcolm twice, at least that's what was back then now they've all come three times a day and sometimes those cows about four times a day. But when we switched over to the cool thing about the egg industry is you only got them outcome once because they only lay one egg so
Bruce Dooyema: if you, want to get out of there by noon. And take the afternoon off and do something else, you can do that. You can never do that when you're a dairy person. So that's one of the cool interesting things about chicken if you analyze to the dairy industry
Bruce Dooyema: But all those years. It's like no, I don't want to be a pulled that's a lot of hard work. and I just love being a manager of chickens, right? then in 2008 versova and Center fresh we decided to build our own bullet houses. And after Jim and JT did a lot of searching and trying different to hire different managers. They approached me and says. Hey Bruce, you got to be our bullet manager. And I said
Bruce Dooyema: Only if I can hire one of our guys that was a manager in the lair house and that was Jamie vanderhelm. And his background was Raising bullets back in his younger days. and so Jamie and I teamed up for a few years and it didn't take much to fall in love with doing pull-ups because what I learned there is you don't have to milk them at all. They don't lay any eggs. you just got to care for them and
Bruce Dooyema: vaccinated once in a while and make sure feed water and air.
Brandon Mulnix: Keep them alive for 16 weeks and add them off to the later guys.
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah move them out. So.
Brandon Mulnix: Jamie's a great guy Jamie's
Bruce Dooyema: and when I look back at everything that's happened, those steps from dairy to layers to raising pullets is it was God's timing in what he had next in my life of an opportunity opened up in Mozambique Africa. to use my talents there and we started an operation there called Center fresh Africa and Met these brothers Peter and Andrew Cunningham. And yeah, today, we got Mozambique fresh eggs and eggs for Africa operation of about 130,000 layers that we kind of give us some guidance and some management techniques to them and
Bruce Dooyema: bounce stuff off of each other's minds and try to guide them so that they can be successful as well.
Brandon Mulnix: And that's an incredible incredible that you get that. You've been part of that there in Africa. I've been on the ground in Africa a couple different times and I can't imagine what kind of needs they have there for eggs. It's a great protein and you don't see a lot of chickens running around due to the Natural presentation. In fact, it's hard to Keep them in a small area keep them alive. So that's great that you guys are working over there. What's the long-term plan over there?
Bruce Dooyema: We've kind of backed off a little bit of what we're doing out there. But the long-term is still Linda helping hand when they need it. I still take care of Their flock records. They send me they're rough dad and I put it into a program called basically aim where it puts out what we call a weekly decision maker so that It's a one-pager of what's happened in all the flocks, the records for the week what their production was what the mortality loss was, just key indicators of what's happening in that flock. and then through that I kind of give them my thoughts of hey might want to do this or you might want to do that of what I see in the numbers, right?
00:15:00
Bruce Dooyema: and the other so that's kind of the business side of what's happening in Mozambique, on the philanthropy side, we have a couple schools going. We got rapali International School. Which is about 225 students K through high school now, we added a high school a year ago. So we have high school students and then we have Ebenezer Training Center. which is designed for 17 to 25 year olds we're probably International is a tuition based School Ebenezer is we invite. a single young adults 17 to 25 To come to school and we train him for two years.
Bruce Dooyema: Basically, it's six hours of field time and about three hours of book time a day. And field time is they're learning how to crops and vegetables we have layer house there. We have a broiler house where they're learning to do chickens as well.
Bruce Dooyema: Through the years now, we got three ebenezers going. We got one of Mozambique one in Zimbabwe and one in Zambia. It's so two of them have a dairy operation tied to him as well.
Brandon Mulnix: Wow.
Bruce Dooyema: But when you go to Africa? for people in America, it's like stepping back in time 50 years, we're so used to our technology and whatnot in America. and when you go to Africa in those sub-Saharan countries, it's like deja vu it's like wow. it's incredible what they don't know and it's because they've been through Civil Wars and lost generations of knowledge. And it's kind of like starting over you got to teach him how to crop you got to teach them how to do vegetables in and stuff like that and it's very encouraging and from that, a bunch of churches have started. And yeah, it's great to see and great to be part of.
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah, that's interesting Bruce. It's when I think of Africa and I think of Being on the ground there and just you mentioned it's stepping back 50 years, but I've also seen where they can almost fast forward with technology and adapt it because they don't have the technical debt of copper wires other technology old old in a data computer system stuff like that where they can just for them to automate something today in their world. It's jumps in the head and they don't have to worry about they run it off generators or solar power or if they do have power, some of the areas over there, have pretty good infrastructure and so they're able to grow so That's pretty cool what you're doing there. And so what's an everyday here in the US look like when it comes to your role.
Bruce Dooyema: so yeah my role over the years has evolved where I basically do the Flock planning for All of our operations in Iowa, which is Anywhere from 20 to 25 million Birds where I'm scheduling them.
Bruce Dooyema: making sure the schedules Jive making sure the different companies across Iowa know and when birds are leaving. I'm in charge of the layers of that scheduling and
Bruce Dooyema: it seems like it constantly changes, it's like you think you got things set in stone and a week later or something blows up and something like bird flu happens and all of a sudden you got to change the schedule and
Bruce Dooyema: yeah, it's never boring.
Brandon Mulnix: so off there. So I isn't flock planning all I mean just fill the houses or is there to There's more information needed to do it.
Bruce Dooyema: it's
Bruce Dooyema: if you go back five years, it's like Flock planning was probably a lot easier than it is today because you call up the genetics companies and you only had to go a year out in advance of placing your orders for chicks that you need coming in, right and
00:20:00
Bruce Dooyema: nowadays these genetic companies want your orders three years in advance.
Bruce Dooyema: Here at versova, you look at our bullet houses. and one of the things that I try to do is in the center fresh Hawkeye operation we have nine pullet houses and on the central side we have
Bruce Dooyema: We have eight different sites.
Brandon Mulnix: thank you.
Bruce Dooyema: and you try to even that workflow out that happens in those pull out houses because the chicks come in they got to get vaccinated. A couple times during that cycle that they're in there for 16 weeks. and so you got Crews coming in there to do this and to do that.
Bruce Dooyema: And then, when the bullet flock leaves and moves into the lair house. You got a clean and disinfect that house in between each flock, so. You try to spread. those
Bruce Dooyema: complexes like a Centrum and Center fresh you try to even that over an 18 19 week time spent. so that you make the most efficient use of the people that you have hired because you don't want to have Center fresh we got nine pullet houses. You don't want all nine pull. It houses filling up in a two-week time frame because the workload would just be massive at certain times during that so you kind of on an 18 week rotation take for instance with the nine buildings. every two weeks you get a flock of chickens in right you get 300,000 day old chicks in that means every two weeks. You got a flock going out into a layer house.
Bruce Dooyema: all that timing trucks lining up. The layers going out of the chicken house the layers coming into the chicken house the bullets coming into the pullet house. leaving and all that Trucking that goes involved that's involved with that. It's a lot of teamwork and a lot of collaboration going on between a lot of people a lot of different things. you got the trucking company You got to spend 10 processing companies.
Bruce Dooyema: people on the ground the work Crews. Every time you move a flock of chickens, you got one crew loading the birds on one side and one crew unloading. The birds at the receiving in and in these crews are anywhere from 15 to 20 people. so line in that all up and making sure it goes smoothly is It is. Challenging at times but it's a lot of fun because you get to work with a lot of great people that we have in our company.
Bruce Dooyema: there's times where we're using four to five to six Crews a week Of you…
Brandon Mulnix:
Bruce Dooyema: and when I say four to five to six each crew is a 15 to 20 person crew.
Bruce Dooyema: so yeah.
Brandon Mulnix: But that's a lot of things that I would have had no clue. That you needed to line up.
Bruce Dooyema: That's the thing. I feel at times like I'm an Auctioneer on a telephone, Bartering between the genetics company and…
Brandon Mulnix: I
Bruce Dooyema: the spin tin companies and the timing of everything, it's like I need to make this work. no, I can't move this and…
Brandon Mulnix: thought a lot of people
Bruce Dooyema: can you move that it's kind of like an orchestra.
00:25:00
Brandon Mulnix: it always amazes me how many different and…
Bruce Dooyema: You gotta.
Brandon Mulnix: how many different companies and…
Bruce Dooyema: You gotta play everybody and…
Bruce Dooyema: and you all got to get along.
Brandon Mulnix: Work I guess roles responsibilities.
Bruce Dooyema: and you…
Brandon Mulnix: There are two. To get a flock from genetics all the way through full production and…
Bruce Dooyema: that's what's really fun in the layer industry is everybody understands everybody's role in everybody gets along and…
Brandon Mulnix: then even beyond the sales the processing side how they get to Market All The Branding.
Bruce Dooyema: we all know how each other works and…
Brandon Mulnix: I mean, it's quite a bit and…
Bruce Dooyema: we have a great time.
Brandon Mulnix: you're just talking about the first,…
Bruce Dooyema:
Brandon Mulnix: the planning the scheduling trying to coordinate it all because I'm sure when something, gets it's tight.
Bruce Dooyema: working in this business
Brandon Mulnix: The first thing they want to do is hey Bruce, can you move those birds back? It doesn't work in my schedule.
Bruce Dooyema: yeah, we've been hit, several times the versova family across our companies with bird flu and a year ago. We were hit on our Centrum site in north central Iowa, and now most recently here in Sioux County We were hit the day before Thanksgiving.
Brandon Mulnix: yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: And It's like My life just got interesting. When that happened, I think I did. For about 10 to 14 days straight. I made a different schedule every day.
Brandon Mulnix: So Bruce recently some of your Farms have been affected by hpai.
Bruce Dooyema: of Okay, when do we think we can have this up and running how fast can we refill it get it restocked and…
Brandon Mulnix: How does that affect you and…
Bruce Dooyema: stuff like that. So. You go through and…
Brandon Mulnix: your role
Bruce Dooyema: you start making a lot of changes and you start calling it you just eugenics. genetics company and hey, I need to change I need to adjust this number.
Bruce Dooyema: I need to move these chicks that are coming into this site instead of that site in. Yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: there's a lot of fun English around to make things work.
Bruce Dooyema: to make things fit
Bruce Dooyema: No, we have a great team and in our management structure, we all understand each other's roles and it's just a lot of fun. there's a lot of Harmony, it's kind of like a well-oiled machine. the way we work things out. Way we can make things happen.
Bruce Dooyema: man, there's multiple people that. it's really everybody you touch and feel and do business with and Jim and JT Dean Coke Anderson.
Brandon Mulnix: I mean, it's the long game for you.
Bruce Dooyema: Tim Edmonson from Highline.
Brandon Mulnix: I mean, you've got to get the recovery side of it. Because you're not necessarily out in the barns anymore taking care of the rest of the process.
Bruce Dooyema: Steve Welch from Hendrix, Brandon Gibson from this company called prison.
Brandon Mulnix: So you have a pretty good team for that.
Bruce Dooyema: There's Sean Ryan. I will say that. But Chad Gregory. Kevin Styles, I mean everybody in this industry is just awesome to work with and you learned so much off of everybody.
Bruce Dooyema: so this is what I've told my managers, I probably have a unique way of hiring managers back in the day is and Mark vanort are guy that's in charge of Iowa operations. he was in the hog industry before we hired him and…
Brandon Mulnix: That's what keeps me really involved in this industry. I've learned that everybody supports everybody.
Bruce Dooyema: he come, kind of dress kind of nice and had this whole resume and…
Brandon Mulnix: It's not a competition thing.
Brandon Mulnix: We all have to feed the world and…
Bruce Dooyema: He comes into my office.
Bruce Dooyema: You…
Brandon Mulnix: how are we going to do that and…
Bruce Dooyema: this is back. I don't know 2000 and…
Brandon Mulnix: that's working together. So a lot of those people you mentioned.
Bruce Dooyema: five or six or…
Brandon Mulnix: I've headed opportunity to spend some time with and…
Bruce Dooyema: something like that and gives me his resume and…
Brandon Mulnix: those are the type of people that keep me coming to work every day.
Bruce Dooyema: he says And I don't remember this…
Brandon Mulnix: You did mention Sean Ryan there and…
Bruce Dooyema: but Jesus you never even looked at my resume.
Brandon Mulnix: he's definitely one of those special people in the industry.
Bruce Dooyema: You said I follow me,…
Brandon Mulnix: What would you say to someone just getting started in the industry fresh out of college or…
Bruce Dooyema: and basically I went out and showed him around and What I all did and what his role would all be in?
Brandon Mulnix: high school? What would you say to that person?
Bruce Dooyema: and then At the end of three four hours of taking him around Center fresh. I said are you interested? yeah, and it says it's a job that if you accept.
Bruce Dooyema: You're probably spend your lifetime here because it's never boring. there's always something new every day. And that's what I said to a lot of I'm people that come into our line of work is the chicken industry is never boring and you'll probably be hooked for life.
Bruce Dooyema: Because it's not like a factory job where you're making the same widget eight hours straight. People always probably right up their daily plan, The night before what they're going to do the next Usually by eight or eight thirty in the morning. You can rip that up and throw it away because something has happened that changes your plan that you got to do something different that day. Of what you're expecting to do.
Bruce Dooyema: I go back to what Mom and Dad instilled in us boys growing up,
Bruce Dooyema: give back to your community because you're part of your community and it just builds the reputation of being a good company,…
Brandon Mulnix: Okay.
Bruce Dooyema: right if you reach out and give back and really there's nothing more rewarding than then giving back
Bruce Dooyema: You go to the old saying it's always better to give than to receive, right? You…
Brandon Mulnix: So true from the stories.
Bruce Dooyema: it's fun to give Christmas presents.
Brandon Mulnix: I hear Something's Gonna Break something.
Bruce Dooyema: It's way more fun to give Christmas presents and…
Brandon Mulnix: Someone's not gonna show up for work today.
Bruce Dooyema: to receive Christmas presents.
Brandon Mulnix: somebody is something's gonna happen. Something's gonna happen.
Bruce Dooyema: when?
Brandon Mulnix: so Bruce How has been involved in your local community benefited you and…
Bruce Dooyema: If you go back to when I was growing up, I'm the youngest of three boys, right? So my oldest brother Kim and…
Brandon Mulnix: your career?
Bruce Dooyema: I and my brother when they went to high school, the days. I was back in the 60s and 70s, right?
Bruce Dooyema: We went to a private school called Unity Christian high here in Orange City. back in those days.
Brandon Mulnix: Okay.
Bruce Dooyema: When you got your license, the students actually drove the buses.
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah, you shake your head at that but that was a lot of responsibility for a 16 year old kid, driving bus for two years.
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: And I always looked up to Kim and Eric, driving bus, but when I got to high school that went away they went to regular bus drivers…
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah, how do you get back to your community?
00:35:00
Bruce Dooyema: because Yeah, it's just not a good idea to have a 16 year old right on the bus for kids, right?
Bruce Dooyema: so I always had that passion of I want to drive bus. So when I got out of high school, I drove School Bus full time for 10 years and I've been a substitute bus driver now for the school systems here in Sioux Center. since high school
Bruce Dooyema: and then we used to have an office close to the ambulance garage on the North End of town and so I volunteered for that and…
Brandon Mulnix: Okay.
Bruce Dooyema: That was in So the past 12 years now I've been part of the ambulance Squad Squad.
Brandon Mulnix: Yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah.
Brandon Mulnix: No, not at all.
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah kids are a lot different these days than they were back then. You could.
Bruce Dooyema: but there's still great kids and our company goes out to the schools and versova we give back to our schools to the FFA clubs.
Brandon Mulnix: Wow.
Bruce Dooyema: In turn the FFA clubs invite us to come in and basically talk about the chicken industry to them, for …
Brandon Mulnix: Okay.
Bruce Dooyema: It's one day some days. It's too some of the schools. we spend the whole week there.
Bruce Dooyema: We recently got done with that of trying to educate. students You…
Brandon Mulnix: That I can relate to I spent 20 years riding a bus is…
Bruce Dooyema: what the egg industry is all about and that's a lot of fun. going and…
Brandon Mulnix: what I would call it being a paramedic so I get that job.
Bruce Dooyema: trying to Enlighten these kids of You…
Brandon Mulnix: Right doing the bus thing driving a bus you God bless you.
Bruce Dooyema: The layer industry is more than just being in a Chicken House gathering eggs,…
Brandon Mulnix: God bless you.
Bruce Dooyema: There's so much more involved with it and so many different talents and responsibilities that are required it's really a fascinating industry When you think about it?
Brandon Mulnix: Maybe
Bruce Dooyema: Yep.
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah, yeah, I've been part of Dort University here in Sioux Center.
Brandon Mulnix: You look at the opportunity is just in the vendor side with Engineers.
Bruce Dooyema: They started to protect program which is Designed for those college students.
Brandon Mulnix: I mean, s some of our customers are actually hiring Engineers to run all their robotics.
Bruce Dooyema: It's kind of like. these students that aren't book smart,…
Brandon Mulnix: Equipment in the production facilities or the controls and…
Bruce Dooyema: but just get them adaptable that …
Brandon Mulnix: the environmental controls and computers.
Bruce Dooyema: they can go into the manufacturing or…
Brandon Mulnix: I mean we all know that we're not getting away from those. And so it's yeah,…
Bruce Dooyema: farming or agricultural side of things,…
Brandon Mulnix: there's so many great opportunities Marketing sales.
Bruce Dooyema: learn a few skills,…
Bruce Dooyema: because just having being able to have that hands-on experience in a school situation is great,…
Brandon Mulnix: Leadership. I mean anything that you can …
Brandon Mulnix: there's an opportunity for all walks of life and all strength and skills coming out of high school and I'm glad you guys should work a lot with your FFA FFA is a big thing for members of our team some of them give back by going to our state competitions some of them get back by volunteering at the local fair during,…
Bruce Dooyema: because not all kids are destined to be college students, right, and It's great to see these FFA clubs, across,…
Brandon Mulnix: you…
Bruce Dooyema: Iowa. You…
Brandon Mulnix: the 4-H Fair stuff like that and it's just
Bruce Dooyema: spending time in high school
Brandon Mulnix: It gets them back to the roots and why they got into the industry.
Bruce Dooyema: When I'm 60 years old looks way more interesting than when I was.
Brandon Mulnix: So that's really cool.
Bruce Dooyema: 15 16 17 years old the things that they do in high school is it's calling. Wow. I wish I had this when I was in high school.
00:40:00
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: right
Bruce Dooyema: especially on holidays
Bruce Dooyema: Yeah.
Bruce Dooyema: Of bird flu is by far the hardest thing that ever gone through,…
Brandon Mulnix: yeah, I've been out a few less years than you are and…
Bruce Dooyema: when Center fresh was hit and…
Brandon Mulnix: there's the same thing when I look back at school and…
Bruce Dooyema: 2015 that you…
Brandon Mulnix: what opportunities students have and…
Bruce Dooyema: basically that was the first time since the late 80s in,…
Brandon Mulnix: and learning through other means so you can learn math and…
Bruce Dooyema: Pennsylvania. so when you think of the late 80s to 2015?
Brandon Mulnix: and the people skills just By going through those Career Tech programs skill trades.
Bruce Dooyema: …
Brandon Mulnix: I…
Bruce Dooyema: we never had bird flu…
Brandon Mulnix: I've your maintenance guys.
Bruce Dooyema: until 15.
Brandon Mulnix: I mean that's a skilled trade.
Bruce Dooyema: And so there's a lot of things that we had to learn and…
Brandon Mulnix: You got to be a walk around a farm and fix any thing at any hour of the day 365 days a year.
Bruce Dooyema: in comprehend, but you spend your whole life and…
Brandon Mulnix: things are going to break and it's Yes,…
Bruce Dooyema: you're never been through anything like that. it's just devastating.
Brandon