Weighing in on Scales: Larry Behrens uncovers the value of accurate measurement

Discover an unsung hero of the agriculture industry as Larry Behrens, a weighing industry veteran at BinTrac, peels back the layers on the essential role of scales, not just in your kitchen, but on a grander scale in poultry and swine production. Witness how Larry's deep roots in a leading pork production area shaped his vision, leading to a significant impact on the weighty matters of farming. Tune in to hear how his career, with a solid foundation at Avery Weigh-Tronix and now flourishing at Herdstar, has been pivotal in both business development and mentoring. Don't miss the exciting hint at Bintrac's plans for global expansion, starting with their participation at Euro Tier in Germany.

Step into the future of farming with us and explore how precise data from cutting-edge technologies like sensors and scales is revolutionizing feed measurement and inventory management. Larry and I dissect the industry's pressing need for accuracy, and how this drives decisions for nutritionists and vets, ensuring that every grain and feather weighs in on the path to advancement. From the promise of AI and robotics transforming dairy farming to the personal growth stories that define careers within this vast industry, this episode isn't just about the nuts and bolts of agriculture—it's about feeding the world and the profound satisfaction that comes from nurturing the fields and flocks alongside the industry's dedicated stewards.

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

Transcript

Brandon Mulnix: 0:27

Hello and welcome to the Poultry Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Brandon Mulnix, and today we have a great guest for you. This guest is from the scale industry and he's got a way on the topics of the value of scales in the poultry industry and some of the other industries as well. But I have Larry Behrens for you. He's from Bintrac and he's got quite a few years of experience in this industry. Larry, welcome to the show and please introduce yourself.

Larry Behrens: 0:56

Hi, Brandon. Hi, thanks for having me as a guest on the Poultry Podcast, and I applaud you for being the driving force behind it. I'll listen to a couple of episodes and I think it's a really great way to get some storytelling and information out to folks. So I appreciate that. Well, thank you, Larry, I appreciate that feedback.

Larry Behrens: 1:14

Yeah, my name is Larry Barrens. I was born and raised and I currently live in Fairmont, minnesota, which is a rural community located in the south-central part of the state, right on Interstate 90, about halfway between Sioux Falls, south Dakota and Rochester, minnesota, so hopefully people can visualize where that's at Just over there, this part of the country. We're blessed with an abundance of rich, fertile soil that's ideal for growing corn and soybeans. Martin County here is not only the top pork producing county in Minnesota, but it's also consistently ranking in the top 10 of all counties in the US, and it's even the self-proclaimed bacon capital of the US. If you drive through Fairmont Minnesota, there's statues of pigs all over the place in front of you, so it's as if it had been painted by a local artist.

Brandon Mulnix: 2:03

I'm going to have to put that on my family stop or a trip as we take my family out west, go across 90. We're going to definitely have to stop there and get our pictures taken in bacon capital, you bet.

Larry Behrens: 2:14

Have some bacon while you're here. So growing up I had several relatives involved in farming and always enjoyed helping out with their crop and livestock operations. Of course that included a good amount of walking beans and picking up rocks, bailing hay, doing chicken chores et cetera, some corn detastling. I know some of those activities date me a little bit. I didn't get into the spraying of the weeds in the fields, but I did plenty of walking the bean fields with a hoe or a machete. I've seen my share of cocklebers in the day. I also spent a lot of time helping my father who owned an independent repair shop. The majority of his customers were farmers, so the graduate seemed to have a tractor or some other farm vehicle waiting to be repaired.

Larry Behrens: 3:02

Once I got into my own career, I spent over 30 years with Weetronics every Weetronics now in a variety of roles. I was fortunate enough to work all over the world with great customers and distribution partners in that weighing industry. It took me to some really interesting places like Australia, south Africa, malaysia, china, dubai and many, many trips to the UK where our sister company was located. That's where I picked up my decades of experience in the weighing industry, when I would tell people what I did for a living. It doesn't seem really exciting, but weighing occurs everywhere. I got into some factories and some industrial parks that people just drive by and don't even ever think about what's going on inside those buildings. Oftentimes weighing is part of the process inside those factories.

Brandon Mulnix: 3:58

That's interesting. I never really thought. I guess I take that for granted. I thought weighing was more. We talk about it in normal people. It's about how much do you weigh on a scale. Weight means health and that's about it. Think about the value of scales.

Larry Behrens: 4:13

I think that's a common way that people think about scales your bathroom scales, your scales in the grocery store, that type of weighing but it's very broad. Thanks for watching coming up on a four year anniversary at Herdstar and really enjoyed being back in the agricultural industry, focusing on swine and poultry primarily, I guess. On a more personal note, my wife and I are also spending as much time as we can with our two wonderful granddaughters. Really enjoy that. So I guess, Brandon, that's me in a nutshell Wow.

Brandon Mulnix: 4:48

Well, I mean you're the perfect person to be on the show. Then to you know, talk everything I wanna ever learn about scales. So as future leaders come through and wanna understand where those numbers come from and why they're so important, and you're the right person to have on it Currently. You know you mentioned Herdstar. I know you guys' is Bintrac, you know, I guess. Tell me about your role there and also the history of Bintrac Herdstar. Okay.

Larry Behrens: 5:12

Well, I'd have to say my role at Bintrac depends on the day and pressing needs of the business. You can relate to that, I guess, the official title printed on my business cards and business development manager, but the other hats that I keep close by include salesman or account manager, trainer, marketing manager. So a lot of diversity and no two days are alike, and that's one thing that I really enjoy about the position as we continue to grow and hire some young talent. I also cherish the role of mentoring and I'm sure you'll agree, brandon, that there's a lot of knowledge and experience in the poultry industry that needs to be protected, I'll say, and made accessible for the next generation.

Brandon Mulnix: 5:54

Well, yet on the reason this podcast exists. So make sure that plug Larry.

Larry Behrens: 5:58

Yeah, I guess. Getting back to my primary role as business development manager, that covers a pretty wide range of activities, from looking for ways to strengthen our dealer network to expanding our business geographically to exploring new markets and applications for our solutions, and that includes interfaces with other equipment and software programs, such as the Prism Control Systems. We know there's good opportunities to increase our international sales, so I'm working on getting us lined up as an exhibitor at Euro Tier in Germany later this year. So it'll be a first time for us at an event like that.

Brandon Mulnix: 6:39

Well, with your world traveling experience, that shouldn't be too hard for you.

Larry Behrens: 6:44

No, it'll be a great trip and I think we'll be able to establish some new relationships and strengthen some existing ones with some of our customers that are on the international stage already. And also, even though IntraX skills are mostly known in the agricultural realm for weighing livestock feed and bulk storage bins on the farm scales, can easily be installed on a wide range of industrial applications as well, so I'm always looking to strengthen our customer base on the industrial side. For example, we have installed at many plastic facilities and micro breweries, and I don't think this will surprise you, brandon, but like co-workers tend to volunteer quickly to help out with any projects related to micro gruaries, I was going to volunteer to help out as well.

Brandon Mulnix: 7:34

I mean, there's got to be some controls needed. Very cool. Well, how long has Herdstar been around and what's kind of their story?

Larry Behrens: 7:40

Well, we got started in the early 2000s and really I guess I'll focus on BinTrac we recognize an opportunity to provide livestock growers with an accurate and reliable scale system so they could safely monitor their feed bin inventory levels on the farm. You know, at that time I would say scales in general for bin weighing had a bit of a black eye. Mechanical scales were already being viewed as outdated and obtrusive. Plus, they were relatively high maintenance and the users still had to keep manual handwritten records. So the digital scales back then had more appeal. But the ones that were available at that time were often plagued with reliability issues. They didn't perform well in the harsh outdoor environment. They were frequently damaged by thunderstorms or lightning that rolled through the area. Unfortunately that still holds true today for some scales on the market. But I'd say that's what led the experienced team of scale professionals at Herdstarp and that's really.

Larry Behrens: 8:40

We are a weighing technology company.

Larry Behrens: 8:44

I mean the founder and product manager in our engineering group.

Larry Behrens: 8:48

Everybody's got experience in the weighing industry so we understand what it takes to design a system that is fit for purpose and will hold up in the applications that it's going to be used in.

Larry Behrens: 9:00

We designed BinTrac from the ground up using high quality componentry and always keeping in mind the demands of the real world applications. So although the early BinTrack scales were going mainly to swine producers in the Midwest, it didn't take too long for the word to spread that our scales were really accurate and very reliable and performing well and no speed in it. So that led to a couple of large successful projects with commercial layers in Iowa and Ohio and I would say some other early adopters in the poultry industry included Fieldale and Golden Plum, and they helped spread the word. So it was uphill battle in the beginning to convince people that we had a better mousetrap, but once we got them installed in the field that they were able to prove themselves, and so that opened up the doors in the poultry sector and we began building up a network of equipment dealers and industry partners that specialize in poultry equipment and systems.

Brandon Mulnix: 9:59

Well, I know prison controls has been a distributor of your product quite some time and one of the feedback that we get from customers is if, as they're putting the system in, it doesn't require a crane to pick up the bin on to change out the load cell Because of the way you designed your product, with brackets that actually fit the bin well, and then you can go ahead and mount them to the outside and make the adjustments needed and raise them up, and it's really good for the user. And, plus the interaction, they interface well with our C3 controllers to provide accurate data to the farmer as to how much feed their birds are eating. All good stuff.

Larry Behrens: 10:40

Larry, yeah, that is. The patented part of our load cell system is that it attaches to the leg and then it's got an integrated jack bolt that is used to raise the leg up off the pad. So, as you said, you don't need to bring in lifting equipment and readjust feed lines, and all that Because you're not having to pick up the bin and set it back down on top of the load cell assembly. So, yeah, since the early 2000s, I'd say, we built a solid reputation and are recognized in the market as being a trusted supplier of accurate, reliable wings solutions, and that includes the major integrators, contract growers and independents. And, I'd say, more recently, our precision batching systems have really gained popularity in the broiler, breeder and pollock segment. Well, what does that?

Brandon Mulnix: 11:28

, what is a batching system?

Larry Behrens: 11:30

Well, the users are able to program in a set amount of feed that they want going into the house each day for the hens of the roosters, and we can do that very accurately and consistently. And then they've got electronic record keeping to go with it. And you know you know this as well as I do that feed is their largest input cost. I mean, you see a lot of different numbers 60, 70, maybe up to 80 percent, just depends on the operation, but it's definitely the largest input cost for live operations. So it only makes sense to really make every pound count Absolutely.

Brandon Mulnix: 12:04

If I was just getting into this industry and you had to explain to me how scales help farmers, what would your answer be?

Larry Behrens: 12:12

How scales help farmers. That's a pretty extensive list, brandon. Well, we've got time to talk about it. You know almost everything that we can touch or taste has been weighed at some point or in some cases multiple times, from the raw material stage to the finished good stage.

Larry Behrens: 12:31

Farmers rely on accurate scales to weigh seeds and fertilizers and herbicides and pesticides and crop and of course, livestock feed.

Larry Behrens: 12:41

So having accurate, reliable scale systems on a feed emendori bin or a smaller way bin to batch into the house really helps the poultry industry avoid costly out of feed event, gives them a real time look at feed usages and they can see fill event with electronic record keeping. Like I said, it enables precision batching for the hens and roosters. They can coordinate better with feed mill that. You can go on and on there about sustainability and all the opportunity with that and making sure the drivers are going to the right farm, to the right bin at the right time and able to unload the feed that's in their truck. So plus for helping farmers. Scales greatly improve farm safe by eliminating the dangerous and I don't think anybody would agree unwanted task of climbing ladder to take a peek inside the bin and take a guess at an inventory level. Nobody wants to do that, but yet there's still a good number of guys that that's part of their daily routine or regular routine.

Brandon Mulnix: 13:46

Now safety is a big thing for sure. That's a great return on investment If you can keep someone from going up and down the ladder every day and looking in the bin or pounding on the outside of the bin to see what that level is.

Larry Behrens: 13:57

And well, more and more integrators are even writing that right into their business practice. They won't allow that, and okay.

Brandon Mulnix: 14:03

Yeah, Okay. So how is technology advanced in scales in the past few years? I mean, I've seen a number of different radar and all kinds of different, different technologies. But you know you're the scale guy, so you tell me how technology has continued to advance.

Larry Behrens: 14:21

Well, I'd say one of the biggest advances in scales and I guess it's not just scales, it would be somewhat true for the other technologies that you briefly mentioned but all the connectivity and the various ways conveniently access the scale data, you know, contrast that with a mechanical scale. There was no record keeping, there was no interfacing. So, for example, our scales can communicate with leading house controls like prism and through a variety of interfaces. You know, we have serial ethernet, can bus, mod, bus, et cetera. So we're always looking for ways to make that data accessible and interfaceable with this disparate systems. Really, because we don't want to have people needing three different gateways on their farm, for example, and send the information up to the cloud. So, and we can also have our bin scales tied right into the feeding control system and or wires wirelessly connect to a gateway that sends the data up to the cloud where it can be remotely monitored and managed. So I think that that's probably the biggest advancement and skills is all of that connectivity, you know, and a guy being able to check feed bin levels on a smartphone. That's a whole lot safer and more efficient. Again, climbing ladders are knocking on the bin walls with the rubber mallet. Advancements would include just the fact that electronic components are available for scale development as we design product have advanced significantly so we're able to pack more functionality and memory and processing power into smaller packages.

Larry Behrens: 15:54

You hear and see a lot of mention out there about the topics of artificial intelligence and big data and sustainability and precision line stack farming. There's lots of buzzwords and there's certainly a lot of opportunity for operations to leverage technology, including skill technology, to improve their operations. But we keep looking at it that at the end of the day it depends on accurate, reliable data. Otherwise, you know data is coming from sensors or other sources that isn't consistently accurate. It just kind of piles up as unused digital dust.

Brandon Mulnix: 16:29

Oh, I've never heard it worded that way. Digital dust I like that yeah.

Larry Behrens: 16:33

So I think the future of well designed, modern skills is pretty secure. It continues to be the most accurate and reliable method of measurement and, as they say, it's hard to manage what you can't or don't measure.

Brandon Mulnix: 16:46

So I mentioned, like the radar, the sonar. I mean, are you seeing that because of the cloth of those sensors, versus, let's say, five, six bin legs, it's cheaper to buy one sensor measure that you know, measure the scale? I mean, what do you find? Why are people trying to advance the technology around feed measurement so far?

Larry Behrens: 17:07

Yeah, I think for those sensors that you're mentioning the big appeal is the ease of installation in the lower price point. But ours is a little more upfront capital investment. Those can be installed a little easier but then probably going to be looking at a monthly subscription to get the data off of each one of those. So at some point there's kind of a crossover on the payback, you know, because we're not charging a monthly fee for the data. But then you know so when you spread out the initial investment versus starting to pay monthly fees up front with the sensors, that's the big difference in terms of the pricing.

Larry Behrens: 17:48

Also, those are a volumetric system. So the challenge with those is to be able to determine with accuracy what the inventory inside the bin is when there's rat holing and bridging. And you know it's a filthy environment. So you have to try to keep the sensor clean so it can take an accurate reading or an accurate image of the contents inside the bin. But so you know when it's volumetric feed density, moisture content, feed type all those things have to be estimated or plugged in as parameters, whereas weight is weight. Whether there's bridging, rat hole and feed density, feed type doesn't matter.

Brandon Mulnix: 18:28

Weight is weight. So just speaking from someone that's not that's in the technology world. Do you find that those sensors, that sensor technology, was created because people didn't work happy with the scale options that were on the market, or just they didn't have scale, so they were just trying to figure out ways to measure it.

Larry Behrens: 18:46

I think they were. Just. The appeal is that it does give you some indication of your bid inventory. So is it better than climbing a ladder or being on a bin with a rubber mallet? Yes, it is. Can it help prevent an auto feed event? Yes, it can. So it really comes down to, you know, the accuracy of the data. How important is that? I know, when you start feeding the data into a lot of these dashboards and they try to do some predictive analytics or you know, look at a nutritionist wants to look at the data, or a vet wants to look at the data. They want accurate data. You know they don't want data that's. One day it's off 10%, the next day it might be 5%, the next day it might be right on, and then the next day it's 15% off. In the end it's going to average out to.

Brandon Mulnix: 19:31

You know, some are probably in the 95 to 90% accuracy range, whereas we're consistently 99% or better day in and day out, and I come from the layer world, where accuracy and data I mean they can't get enough data. I mean, if you could, there's so many more little points that you know makes the job that much easier for the veterinarian or the nutritionist or the feed guys and what added is. And good data in means good data out. Bad data in means garbage out, and it's unusual. And you mentioned the fact that it automatically is recorded.

Brandon Mulnix: 20:07

That means you're not relying on humans and pencils and pens and the fact that, hey, my producer says I need to feed the bird this much and I'm going to pencil this number in to make it more appealing to my bottom line than I am going to for the fact that you know it's accurate data, because that's what I've been, I've been judged by. So you had the human element to it. Yep, spot on. Wow, excellent. But well, is there anything else you want to share about scales that we missed? Before we move on to some other great topics, I don't think so, brandon.

Larry Behrens: 20:37

I again. We just stay focused on providing accurate, reliable data, and that means a well engineered system. All the components work well together and you know it's. It can be tempting to drive costs out and be more price competitive, but we're not willing to cross that threshold where, all of a sudden, we start to have a bunch of failures in the field and unhappy customers. So so far, the strategy has worked and that's how we're moving forward.

Brandon Mulnix: 21:07

Well, I'm going to put another plug in for BinTrac and the last number of years is you guys really came through during COVID. We had many times where but suppliers were not able to keep up with the demand of the product. When they were their own supply chains were were failing and you guys were right on. I mean you guys really, really, really helped. Your hit your lead times. You communicated well through those lead times, say, hey, we might, you know we might have these scales that we can't, that are a little longer lead time, but we'll get you them if we can. And you guys have always done that for us. And and seeing the number of returns and the number of um parts that fail, we're just, we just don't see that a lot with Ben Track products. So I commend you guys a lot. You're a good distributor, you're a good supplier of products for us and our customers and hopefully that relates well to the industry.

Larry Behrens: 21:52

Thank, you for that. Brandon, I can tell you that about a year ago myself and the president owner and pretty much everybody was all decks on hand out in the production area and I'm willing to satisfy customers and fill orders and, uh, you know, working hard with our, our own vendors and our own supply chain issues, and yeah, we just, you know, did what we could to maintain that customer satisfaction and keep things humming. So I'm glad it was appreciated to recognize we were getting tired of building A frames.

Brandon Mulnix: 22:26

I can imagine you were. If you're to speak to somebody, you walk. They're just getting started in the poultry industry. What advice would you have for them?

Larry Behrens: 22:34

Oh boy, I know it sounds cliche, but I think the poultry industry, especially just walking around IPP last week, gave me another reminder that it's wide open with a great variety of career paths. So I'd encourage young people to pursue their dreams and passions and I think there's a real opportunity to stand out from the crowd these days just by exhibiting some basic and fundamental, yet highly desirable character traits, such as honest, the integrity, reliability, punctuality. I know whatever the generation is called I've lost track of what the next one is but I mean those things still matter and employers are looking for those character trait and, regardless of the role that they you know, I would tell them to always be learning. Ask lots of questions, you know. Listen carefully to those with many years of knowledge and experience. There's no shortage of people like that in the poultry industry. Plenty of gray hair walking around the show, right, brandon, hey, wait wait a second.

Brandon Mulnix: 23:35

I think that was directed right at me.

Larry Behrens: 23:38

And then you know, just seek to understand why things are being done the way they are. Challenge the status quo if you spot opportunities for potential improvements. And I think too, if they get into the industry and maybe they find themselves in an environment where maybe not feeling trusted or appreciated or empowered, then probably not going to enjoy the job too much. So don't be afraid to move on. And if you can't see the situation improving, yeah, I think maybe a final bit of advice would be to just never underestimate your own capabilities and remember that when one door closes, another door opens.

Brandon Mulnix: 24:15

Yeah, I'm for sure that's great advice. You, I think you said it right. There's so many opportunities in if you were to take the industry and you break it apart. There's manufacturing, there's chemistry, there's animal welfare and veterinary services and that's at all kinds of different levels, everything from working directly with birds to helping support those people who work with birds. When it comes to the veterinarian, all the feed additives, you know genetic my goodness, the amount of research and time and energy that goes into genetics.

Brandon Mulnix: 24:47

And on the technology side, everywhere you look there's an opportunity to improve technology software, hardware, automation, ai, bi, machine learning, I mean you name it. The topic is endless. You know, in the industry vision system you just you can look at probably all aspects. I mean, I went to an automation show a while back and it affected automation across all kinds of industries and some of the areas. You know automotive, you know the technologies around there and how they come and relate to processing, production and the things that you and I just take for granted because it's a farmer, but they're automating things that you know.

Brandon Mulnix: 25:25

There's those opportunities to come on a farm and say, man, if this is a human task, could it be automated? And you start to see that in robotics, robots that milk cows. I mean, the cow walks up, it's, you know, given a treat and stands there and a milk machine attaches and milks the cow. It's gonna put my son out of a job eventually. Fall farms, adam. But yeah, there's so many great opportunities. But it's also great because you get to work with good people, salt of the earth, farmers, who realize that their job is that much important. They're not. That's so important because they're not making widgets that are, you know the next iPhone, which is gonna, you know, connect with the people through technology. They're feeding that person, yeah, but the product that they make is food. So that's really, really cool.

Larry Behrens: 26:08

Yeah, I think if you just look back at IPPE and you know we had hall A, hall B, hall C, from the feed mill side of the business to the processing side of the business with live operations in between. And man, if you walked around that whole show it'd be almost impossible to not find some area of interest for a young person getting into the field.

Brandon Mulnix: 26:31

So and almost every one of those companies was probably looking to hire the next generation of folks as well. That's right, and there's plenty of staffing companies out there that help feed the industry and for the workers, and I know we've got some future podcast episodes coming up with at least one recruiter and they're gonna share about how to connect with the industry and how to get a job. So stay tuned for that one. But what is something in your career journey that you've overcome?

Larry Behrens: 27:00

Oh, let's see. I guess I think back to my 30 years, 30 plus years at Avery Weightronix. There was a point several years ago when I was product manager of the Ag OEM division at Avery Weitronik. Things were going really well. Sales were on the rise, customer satisfaction was running high. I was really enjoying the position. I was working with all sorts of agricultural equipment manufacturers to add scales to rain card seed tenders, tmr mixers on the dairy side and grape harvesters and cotton balers and logging trailers. There's your diversity and weighing brand in right.

Larry Behrens: 27:37

But then one day my boss informed me that the industrial side of the business needed help. I was being moved product manager from floor scales and truck scales and rail scales and that was all sold through a network of independent scale distributors. So, even though it was still in the weighing business, it was a whole new set of product and services and markets and customers that I needed to quickly learn and understand to be successful. So I'd say, you know, the first thing that really helped me was just seeking mentorship from others outside the company that I knew had sort of been there and done that and what I found is that most people are willing to share their knowledge and experience if you just engage with them in a sincere manner and explain your situation. Another thing that really helped was to use an 80-20 approach. I don't know how many businesses use that, but it was a critical management tool at Eruitronics.

Larry Behrens: 28:30

So when I was looking at those industrial scale products and the customers and the markets, et cetera, try to make decisions around that 80-20 analysis, which just keeps you focused on the activities that offer the most value and yield the greatest benefit.

Larry Behrens: 28:45

So, for example, I concentrated on the 20% of the industrial dealers that were driving 80% of our heavy capacity revenue and I looked closely at the markets they were serving and I realized that it was waste, aggregate, food processing and grain salvage. I was able to that those markets were representing 80% of their business. So obviously that was the place to focus efforts with our product and our marketing and our messaging. So I think that just the mentoring, seeking that mentoring from others and using that 80-20 principle really helped me at that pivotal point in my career. I was disappointed to leave the ag OEM side, but on the industrial side really turned out to be a blessing too, because I got to meet a whole new set of people, a whole new set of challenges, and so it was good. I think it's easy to get tied up with all the little things that can arise throughout a day that's slowing you down or even preventing you from achieving the bigger, more strategic goals.

Brandon Mulnix: 29:43

It's in your journey as a professional. You could look at that day when you were asked to do that and just absolutely be paralyzed by change, so to speak. And in your case it sounds like and just learning through your story that you've really thrived through that and just taking that opportunity and said, rolled with the punches, so to speak, and said, well, if I'm gonna be a task to do this, I wanna do it the best that I can do it. And yeah, you're spot on when it comes to mentorship, and maybe one day I'll have to have you mentor me as we look at figuring out our own distribution models and those products going down the road, because that is scary for me. I don't know anybody who's done it, so now I do. So there we go. I really appreciate that. Well, is there any question that I didn't ask that you wish I would have that you wanna share with the audience? Oh, let's see.

Larry Behrens: 30:34

Well, after having dinner together during IPP last week, you could ask me what my favorite steakhouse is in Atlanta, but you made me almost keep me safe.

Brandon Mulnix: 30:45

I appreciate it and I appreciate you keeping that a secret, because I'm sorry, but if you looked around that room, we didn't have any competitions for reservations and that was probably one of the best places to eat. I mean, we ate there two nights in a row because we could get reservations pretty easily in that town. Oh, it was excellent. Yeah, man, that dinner was awesome. Just getting to know you and your team, being able to speak to your president and CEO, and listening to Mitch laugh at the end of the table when you could hear him across to everybody. Yeah, gotta love you, mitch. I know you're gonna listen to this, though Like, yeah, yeah, you see, I figured he was gonna be the one to be interviewed because he's got that voice. Yeah, like you've learned the answer, though Maybe a future episode as we move forward. How does someone reach out to you to learn more about scales and the benefits of your product?

Larry Behrens: 31:35

Well, I guess email and mobile phone are the best way to connect, and those contact details are contained in my LinkedIn profile so you can grab them there. Also, whatsapp seems to work well for communicating with some international folk. I'd have to admit that other social media outlets like Facebook, instagram aren't the best ways to connect, especially if it's worth related.

Brandon Mulnix: 31:59

Well, I'm glad you put that WhatsApp app out there. I mean, I just looked at our analytics and we're now in 14 different countries this podcast and that amazed me that it went so quickly overseas. I figured you know most likely not to make it out of my hometown, with my mom being my number one listener, but you know to be able to break it out and have 14 countries and multiple continents and be listening to this show and definitely appreciate you, larry, for being on the show and being willing to share your story Today. Guys, as Larry weighed in on the scale topic, take for granted the little things on your farm, the little things that when they don't provide you the data, just become big things when you're supposed to report out to the farm your boss, you know, hey, how are those birds performing, what's our feed conversion ratio? All of that is relied upon in scales and so today, as you, I hope you learn something.

Brandon Mulnix: 32:53

I know I always learn something when I talk to Larry. He just seems to be a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate you know him coming on and I just appreciate you as listeners on the show and please share this podcast with someone in your company that you wanna see continue to grow, that may not have a mentor. This is the place where they can learn about the industry and ask questions and email me to ask questions, and more and more questions are starting to come in from the listener group and I appreciate that. So, larry, thank you for your time and being on the show. Any final statement?

Larry Behrens: 33:28

No, thank you, Brandon. I really appreciate it. We look forward to the months and years ahead working with you, all right.

Brandon Mulnix: 33:35

Well, listeners again, share, like, subscribe. Put this on your social media Larry won't find it on Facebook or X, we know that, but please like, share this podcast. And this podcast would not be available without the sponsorship of Prism Controls. Prism Controls is the leader environmental controls in the layer market. They're also the leader in fire protection. So if you have any questions, go to prismcontrolscom. You can find out about their product. You can order BinTrack Scales there and one of our great commercial account managers would love to help you with any of the problems that you're trying to solve on your farm. And just because they said layer, it doesn't mean we don't provide also controls for broilers and other species, but we just have all of our experience 44 years of experience in the layer market and I'm not sure that could translate to your barn as well. Feel free to reach out to us and we just look forward to future episodes and have a great day MUSIC.