Meat Cutting and Butchery at CLC-Cutting knowledge, one slice at a time.

Listen to my conversation with CLC instructors Jesse Feirerbend and Tyler Ehrmantraut, course instructors with Central lakes College/Staples- Meat Cutting and Butchery courses.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Hey everybody, here we go. Another podcast. It is the Brad Williams Podcast. Wherever you get your podcast, uh this is uh Turn the Page, and uh over the past uh little better than a year, year and a half, uh these uh episodes have been coming to you wherever you get your podcast, whether it's Apple, whether it's Google, Spotify, we're on Audible, we're on iHeart, all over the place. We'll even backload it to uh Facebook uh as well. You can check it out at the Brad Williams Podcast on uh Facebook for those of you uh that uh would so kindly like to do. So today's episode is one that uh kind of came up rather quickly on me, but one that I was super interested uh to bring you. And uh we're gonna be visiting with uh two gentlemen, one of which uh I've come to know over the last number of years, and you all are gonna uh know as well, or a lot of you will, Tyler Erman Trout, uh owner of the barbecue smokehouse uh in uh Wadena and in Motley, and um also uh Jesse Fairbend. Did I get it? Got it. Okay, uh, and today uh we're a little bit off of that that path also because we are at Central Lakes College in Staples. And um I guess guys, I'm just gonna kind of get right into it. Uh, both of you uh heavily involved with the uh, I guess it's the I don't know of the official title, but meat cutter meat processing uh class that has become available over here in the last uh few years. And I know Tyler, you and I talked uh have talked off and on over the last couple years about uh this kind of coming to fruition over here, and uh it is uh front and center now and seems to be going quite well, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:57

Yes, it is, it's going very well.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Yeah, okay. And uh Jesse, I guess we'll talk with you a little bit too about uh you've been involved uh with this for a number of years, not since the the very beginning of it, but almost uh from what I understand, as we have a chance to visit. We went out to the uh meat processing pod here before we sat down to uh record some audio. But uh talk a little bit about you know, we talked about kind of the the lost uh not that it's lost, but just the need for it, I guess, you know, certainly in rural uh Minnesota. But talk about your involvement, uh how you got involved, and uh kind of bring us up to speed, if you will, on that side.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

For sure. So uh I've been going on, this will be the completion of the fourth year this year that I've been here. Um I was the first instructor here to teach um at Central Lakes College prior to that. Uh there really hadn't been a meat cutting school since Pipestone was a very well-known meat cutting school down in southern Minnesota. And uh as far as my knowledge goes, they ended in 06.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Um so there really hasn't been anywhere for somebody who wanted to get into the meat cutting industry to go and and get an education and and kind of streamline that um part of their part of their job. So um it all started, you know, here at Central Ace College back in 2020 when you know the grocery store shelves went kind of bare. Um it was both bipartisan actually in the state of Minnesota that we needed to come together and and fix this problem of meat processing capacity. And so um the Farmers Union and Central Ace College got together um and with some legislative dollars and things and and started putting together uh uh a new school for meat cutting and butchery. Um and that's kind of where we ended up to where we are right now, four years in and and uh going really strong. We've had really good enrollment numbers here the last year, and we kind of added some curriculum, and and uh everybody that's that's been involved in it has uh has been really successful and and uh uh great advocates within the industry.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

So it's uh it's sounds like uh it's going phenomenal. You guys are just finishing up uh semester now that uh entailed uh sausage making, is that correct? Yep. Okay, yeah. So does the criteria from semester to semester, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 4:27

So the first semester um is the meat cutting and butchery courses, and what that entails is is uh a student will come in here and we will teach them how to break down a whole carcass, whether it's a beef, a pig, a lamb. We go through poultry as well. Um, we bring those animals in and then we break them down into retail cuts. So breaking all the the whole animal into subprimals and primals and then and and into retail cuts um and then teach our students how to do that. Okay um we do take it from farm to fork, so we are working with some farm farmers in the industry or in the area uh to process their animals and bring those in and and uh letting our students learn on those. And it's it's been really great because it helps out the community a little bit, um, and then our students also get to learn. And so that's that course and the other course that I'm gonna talk about as well, both of those are 16-week courses. Okay, so they're not very long, right? Um, it's a lot that we have to get in in 16 weeks, but we so far we've been able to do it. And the great thing about it is that if you you know, for students who are looking for a different career path or looking for a different, you know, different job or job transfer, um, or whether they're a traditional student who has just graduated high school and and and want to get into meat cutting, or if there's a uh a college student who is graduating, or a high school student uh rather, that is not really quite sure what they want to do, right? And college is expensive nowadays, right? This course here is pretty inexpensive. Um, you're looking at I think $38,000 to $4,000 right in the right around in there. And we've been able to partner with a lot of um uh help within the area, so like Region 5 and US and MDA were able to uh pay tuition for a lot of our students this year. Nice. And so for someone who's really undecided about even where they want to go and end up in in a career that just graduated, I mean, for 16 weeks, uh and with that cost, and to learn what you're gonna learn is a great bridge, you know, to either get to where you're going or to or to end up where you are, right? Um, you know, some students that were culinary that came into this um that wanted to maybe get into a culinary field and stuff, they came in and and they really, really enjoyed it, and they're like, maybe I want to get on this side of it, right? Exactly. Um so there's a lot of lot of options there. So that's the first course. And like I said, that goes from farm to fork. Um we teach the soldering aspects all the way to the cutting and packaging down to the retail.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

The next course is our spring course, which is new this year, is our sausage curing and smoking and curing courses, is what it is. And in that course, it's again 16 weeks. Um, so super short, same cost. Um, like I said, definitely check out scholarships and in different area partners because there is a lot of opportunities out there for it for tuition help. Um in this course, what we do is we teach you pretty much everything about the bacon, right? So everybody loves bacon, we're gonna teach you how to make it. And then we're gonna teach you how to make beef sticks and summer sausage and polo sausage and hot dogs and everything that goes into some of the meat science and and and what those ingredients do to those different types of meat. Um, and then you're also gonna be able to create them and then and then try them, which the students they they really like that they get to eat just about every day in this class. Yeah, right. Yeah, uh, and some of it's really good, and some of it's some of it's not, obviously. Yeah, but at least keep that in mind. But at least they know what they what to do and what not to do, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:05

You can you can never have enough taste testers, right? Yeah, that's exactly right. Um that's amazing. I just uh Tyler, you know, I'm gonna jump over you for just a second here. Um talk about obviously you're in the industry pretty deep.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Um, and you've uh, you know, since I've known you, you've you've started out from uh you know, we'll call it small probably and expanded your business. Um and I think um you are certainly an example of if somebody you know wanted to look at making a career type of a career out of it, um, what what that can be. Um I think there's such a you know, we've lost kind of the traditional butchers, right? Yes over the years compared to I remember, you know, I grew up in the 70s, and you know, it was always a you always know who the local butcher was, yeah, you know, and it was an open door and a handshake, and you know, uh whatever. But talk a little bit about your involvement, how how this became attractive to you, and and how you got involved.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

Yeah, sure. Well, I got involved by uh it was last last semester, the the butchering part of it, and and um um one thing that got me connected with them, I guess, is when students come here they got to do what is it, 90 hours internship. So last semester they had a good number of students, 19 students actually, and to get that 90 hours in, they had to start earlier. So I was I took on, I think by the end of the last semester, I had probably five, four or five interns that had come over to my shop. And um, anyhow, the first one that came over, he was telling me what was going on and how many students were in here, and so on, and so forth. And I thought, well, I'll give Jess a call to see if he needs a hand or whatever. So I probably volunteered the first two weeks of it, and then they put out there that they possibly could use some uh an assistant. So I put my name in the hat and and uh fortunate enough to be able to come in and help, I guess. And um it's been it's been quite the experience in that, and and it's just it's fun to see the development of these students from start to start to finish, not I mean in the butchering side of it and then in the sausage side of it. I mean, it's it's quite the experience, and and just with you know, like you said, you know, I've been in the business and it's a lost thing, and you just talk to the students what what's out there and what can be out there, and um like even I get calls, I it's been a little bit now, but I was getting calls a couple times a week from stores that that are looking for assistance or or help or whatever from right all the way uh those are out in North Dakota, you know. And um, if these students, younger students, want to travel, they certainly can. You know, there's opportunity all over. So right, but um, but yeah, it's it's it was fun there. And then there again, we got into the new semester with the sausage and smoking and right, and uh that's something I you know one or two things about that side. So it's it's there again. I just love watching the development of the of the students from from uh start to finish on that.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

So right, and then uh you know, getting a tour of the pod here uh just a little bit ago. Uh state-of-the-art equipment out there, and uh obviously that element, like you know, in a lot of uh in industry across the board, um, has changed over the years. The technology changes, the um, you know, make more faster, better kind of thing, whatever you know. But uh it's gonna I would expect that I the it's uh fascinating to learn. You talk about uh Jesse, we talked a little bit about traditional and non-traditional uh students. Uh lean on that for a bit. I thought that was interesting as well, because um probably not just a class for for somebody that you know uh might be younger, just getting into life a little bit, but maybe there's somebody that you've kind of done your own uh, you know, if you've if you deer hunt or whatever, you kind of done your own thing and you know a little bit about it, but you find a passion to some of that, and you see a lot of folks doing their own, you know, their own meat shops and that kind of thing. But uh to the the knowledge there and and to expand that, or like you said, too, uh uh from grocery stores to you know like butcher shops or uh meat houses like yourself or all across the board, I I would suspect that uh you see a little bit of everybody in that field, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:14

We do too, just to back it up too, uh on Tyler's part, you know, he's been a huge advocate within this um um program and uh with especially within the last year taking on internships and and you know having a facility like his to facilitate that 90 hours of internship is is huge, right? Um and and really, you know, for a lot of meat shops that are struggling across the state of Minnesota with help, you know, one of the things that they can do is kind of take a an approach right out of Tyler's handbook is you know, if there's something going on meat related within your community, definitely go there and reach out and and and try and help out as much as you can if you're able to. Um the other thing would be too is you know, if we can take if if you if you find some students, some some kids or some uh some adults that you know are looking to get into the industry and you know that they would be really good to help you, but they just don't know the knowledge, you can send them our way and we'll be able to train them up in in 16 weeks, and you can you can those those places where their internship are those places that that they've talked to you at, no matter where it is in the state, we can send them back to you and they would be uh ready to go for you.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

And so there's a lot of that partnership, you know, like you said, meat blockers aren't aren't on every street corner anymore, they're not in every town. So um, in order to get some of that back, um, you know, it's not I I can't say it's not just the school's responsibility to go out there and and find these students to train, it's it's also kind of falls on the facilitators too, right? Or the people in the industry to go out there and and find the people and advocate for the people um that they would like to see within the industry and and try and push them into there, you know. Um, because I think everybody in the meat industry, and anybody who's been in it in a certain amount of time, um it has been grateful within the industry, meaning that the industry has done so much for them, right? And that they are willing to do anything to give back to the industry because of what it has done for them, right? And so to take that a little bit step further, well, could this industry be something as good as it was for you as for somebody else? Right? And you know, at the end of the day, you talk about bearing a legacy of what you did when you were here or you know, make it really a big impact on the community or the people that are around you, there's nothing better than than having connected with somebody, sent them in that direction, and then see them succeed just like you did, right? Because they're gonna remember you forever, even after you're gone. Absolutely, right? One million percent. Yep. So, in order to have that, and that you know, if you're a meat shop and you're struggling, I mean take take those opportunities and run with them and and have them come back, you know, and uh work with them. But yeah, so as far as back to your question with traditional and non-traditional students, we do have uh we're we do have probably about 50% traditional, meaning traditional students would be ones that are just graduating high school and then going on to a career within the college or going to college and then into a career. And then we also have 50% non-traditional, which non non-traditional students are gonna be ones that are of really any age, um, that that had you know graduated years ago, maybe have worked in a in a career for a long time and they want to switch. Or also some of them just want to know about meat cutting. Right. You know, maybe their dad or their uncle or their grandpa was a butcher or something like that, and they always were intrigued about it, right? And you know, community eds and community actions, you never see anything about sausage making or or meat cutting in those because there's it's really too much information to cover in a weekend or in a in a couple sessions, right? Right. But here, you know, like for 16 weeks and you come here in the evenings, we we go from three in the afternoon until seven. So um you can have a full-time job and still participate in this, and you can come here and uh and we'll teach you, you know, what what obviously what we know, and you know, we're learning too a little bit as we go too. So um we can teach you all the stuff that we collect from everybody else within the industry as well, too. So you know, as far as like a community action, it would be great to have something that was a little less uh amount of time that we could teach people, but unfortunately we can't, but still for the cost of it and what you learn and what you could potentially get back on on that knowledge is is is a pretty good investment. Oh, for sure. You know, we have one student right now that he was he's kind of been hymn and on about going into the USDA as an inspector, and wow, you know, he mentioned some of the stuff that we cover within this course, and and uh from what I understand is the guy he was talking to, which was a USDA inspector, really raised his eyebrow and said, Man, if it would be we're looking for guys like you. Wow, yeah, you know, the USDA is in really high demand of looking for for uh inspectors and and people to work within those fields, and that so it so now you take the industry and how much the in demand is in the industry, you know, like Tyler was saying, people reaching out from Dakotas. I had somebody reach out from the Bahamas before. Wow, um, and then now you get now you get inspections on top of that. I mean it's it's just a really high demand field.

SPEAKER_03 18:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

What would you say at least, and that that probably changes a little bit, but uh male versus female students?

SPEAKER_00 18:19

Uh we uh right now we are more male than female, but we do have a fair amount of females. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

Pretty much every course has had a female in it.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

A couple, okay, up to a couple, yep. Yeah, yep. Okay, yep. That's great because uh that's something that uh that's a craft that anybody can learn. I mean, honestly. There's actually some female ran butcher shops in Minnesota that are doing very, very well. Look out for the girls, yeah. Yes, right, right, that's all right. Um also, guys, um not everybody's doing this. This is you guys are one of the this program is one of the only programs, from what I'm understanding, uh correct me if I'm wrong, but in the entire state, at least rural, that people can jump onto.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Even more so outside of the state. Yeah, okay. Uh, you know, we were the first ones, uh, I believe, I mean, at least in the Midwest area, and I think actually all over the US, to really start up a hands-on training.

SPEAKER_03 19:28

That's the key right there, hands-on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

There has been some that have developed after we started that are um they're more like internships and kind of things like that, um, where it would be as the student goes out and learns from uh facilitator, and then the teacher just goes in and in and verifies that they're learning what they're learning, right? Versus this, our model here is a hundred percent hands-on, meaning that the students come here every day and uh and work with me and Tyler to to uh be a hundred percent hands-on.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Well, I'm reading uh the meat cutting and butchery program at Central Lakes College in Staples is one of the only hands-on meat cutting programs in the state, and you've expanded to that to probably the Midwest, but just like you guys say, and uh the opportunities in the industry are endless, right?

SPEAKER_03 20:24

I had a gentleman probably maybe at the most two months ago call me, which he got on the internet search of me cutting schools all the way from North Carolina. Okay, because we popped up first one. Wow, so that means a lot there. That I mean, we're at the top of the list for if you know if there is others out there, right? We're at the top of the list of searches. Okay, and and go to, I guess you could say.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

So that's yeah, that's awesome. And uh you're working, you know, the the whole full circle of it, like you said, you're working with some local farmers. Uh you talked a little bit uh because I think that it certainly was interesting that you pointed that out earlier, Jesse. But uh, you know, from somebody taking the order on, you can now concentrate on your craft, right? And and there is the side of it that you know uh you know the animal is sacrificing here as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Yeah, right. Yeah, and that's kind of the the biggest thing is we didn't, you know, we did have kind of the option on where we wanted to bring this course, right? So um we could just start ordering in meat and have our students practice on it and then throw it away at the end of the day, right? Um, but like you had mentioned, you know what, an animal at some point sacrificed their life for you to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

I and I and I'm sure a lot of people can agree uh that that's not fair. And so kind of what we the philosophy that we developed was um you know working with local farmers and the farmers really Realistically, they come up and they sell the meat. Um, they have the customers, they're the ones, you know, lining all that, all that stuff up. The only thing that we're facilitating is the cutting and patching of it. Um, so then the farmer, you know, we can go out and solder it, we bring it back and we cut it and package it, and then all the sales and all those things are already taken care of. So that meat does go back to somebody. It does um, you know, go to something useful and edible and helps out the community as well, too.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

We are going to expand a little bit. Hopefully, we're we're working on some different inspection ideas right now, too, and and hoping to be able to do a little bit of retail and and then also maybe some donations and things like that to help out, you know, you know, if we can help out people in need in some way, or you know, just doing some retail cuts and selling for a little bit lower price, too, we'd do that too. Um, and that's some other options that we're looking at as well. Um the other thing that we have going for us too, and in in we're not we're not stagnant as a program, right? So sometimes when you look at college programs, it's the same thing year after year. That's one thing about this program is it's not stagnant. We do have some students right now that participated in this um in the meat cutting and butchery three years ago, um, and then now they're coming back to further their education into smoking and clearing, right? Nice. So we're also getting some return students that are trying to, you know, keep up on what what we have been doing, you know, since we've added the sage of smoking and clearing. Next thing is gonna be kind of an entrepreneurship type thing and do some business courses and things like that. Um, the other great thing that we have that's gonna be a new in addition is the Minnesota Farmers Union is also opening up a solder plant not too far away from the college. Um, this will be a USDA inspected facility that our students through us will be able to work and train in it as well. Okay. Um so then they will get that that real instead of you know, we try not to base really too much off philosophy. You know, a lot of colleges have been philosophy. Um, and then all of a sudden you get out in the real world and you're like, okay, well, the philosophy I was taught is the same, same thing, but it's just a little bit different, and I don't I really don't know what direction to go. Um, I feel like me and Tyler have done a really good job in in combating that and showing you that this is this is real life, like this is what is going to happen, you know, and uh and doing things like that. So, and the you know, the uh having that farmers union stall facility in our back door is definitely gonna help us with that as well. Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

It sounds uh amazing. Um, I was just gonna ask you guys too quickly, as far as you know, the the funding for this kind of thing to keep this this going, uh, just to throw the information out there. Um if somebody is so inclined to to want to try to help program out, what what are the what's the process?

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Uh they can reach out to us. Um, you know, we're gonna be kind of off in the summer, but um, you know, the egg-centric uh area of central eggs college has also been a really big help to us. Um so you know definitely reach out to Central Lakes College, reach out to me or Tyler. Um reach out to US or MDA is a is a big one too, and say that you want you want to help out in some way. Um and then here we have Region 5, we're in Region 5, so that's nice, really been a big help too. So if you have any connections there, you can reach out to them as well.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Um, and then and then yeah, we'll we'll we'll get you set up in the right direction of where where you need to go through those avenues.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

And then uh for anybody listening in that might be thinking, you know what, because the the other part uh that you guys well know is you know the the traditional college per se might not be for every person out there, right? I mean, there is uh you know, I look at just like the what I remember is like the vocational schools or the tech schools, and and some of that. And obviously, we're in a location, a facility right now that leans to a lot of different things as far as heavy equipment and different things that are available, robotics and that kind of thing, available here. But this is obviously an added element, but this this might be something that I would think would really be highly attractive to a faction of people that are just trying to figure out their way, right? Yep, correct. So it's just uh and and then for those listening in, um hop on the website, I guess, or what's the best way to learn more a little bit about that side of it?

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Yeah, you can hop on the website and you can reach out to uh Central Ace College. Um there's there's uh different pages on there to there's a meat cutting page on there, and then there's also links in there that will bring us to either emails or phone numbers and things like that, and you can reach out to us that way.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

So we do have uh Facebook page now that we put together this a couple months ago. And uh whenever we remember, we take pictures of what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

And what is that Facebook page?

SPEAKER_03 26:58

Uh the CLC Meat Cutting Butchery.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Okay, yeah, okay, all right, uh awesome. And of course, I'm sure if anybody is sneaking through Wadina or Motley and wants more info, there's people in in those communities that can help.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

Yep, I'll help you out as much as I can. You bet I'll send you in the right direction, anyhow.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Um, Jesse, what's your story prior to any of this? Uh younger and that kind of thing. How long, how long has this been part of you?

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Uh I've been in the meat industry for uh 20 years, probably. Okay. Um where it really started for me, most of my family's in construction, um, which don't get me wrong, I love construction too. Um, but it really kind of shot home for me was uh when I was 14 years old, I was living down in a small town down by Rochester, and uh me and my buddies just needed some extra money. And so there was, like you said, right, meat markets were in every small town and they were on every corner. Well, there was a meat market in our town, and so me and my buddies, we went there and asked if we could work there at a really young age, right? I know things have changed a little bit now, you know, with you know, different band sauce and grinders and things, and you gotta be 18 and stuff now. But uh, you know, me and my buddies at 14 years old, we used to go in there, ride our bikes there, and we used to clean the facility every night after school.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

And that's kind of how we made money. And then on Saturdays, the head butcher would be there, and uh he would help let us participate in either slaughtering or cutting and packaging and different things, right? And so doing that for uh approximately about a year um before we moved back up to here in the Lakes area in Brainerd, um that's where it really shot home. And I I mean, really after that, I knew I knew I was hooked.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

And that I think that's generally a tendency within the meat industry is once somebody gets a little bit of a grasp of knowledge about what the meat industry is and what it entails and the camaraderie that's within it, right? Um, I think they they usually get hooked. And when you get hooked, you're you're in pretty deep. Right, exactly. Um, it's just one of the just one of those careers that are like that, you know. And you don't find that a lot in other careers. Um, you know, a lot of other careers are competitive with each other, or there isn't that kind of camaraderie that we see within the meat industry. It's definitely one of its own. Um, so then you know, every going through the rest of high school, I mean, every every career evaluation that I had, I it was either you know, lay blocks or cut cut meat, you know. And and uh so when I turned 18 I had an opportunity to uh to run a meat shop in in northeast Brainerd. Okay, and I ran that for nine years. And uh and then after that, I left there in 2011, 2012, and then uh I went to work for Costco and Baxter in in 2012, and I ran their meat department for 10 years. Okay. Um, and then I came here. And uh in kind of my fields throughout Costco and throughout running that that's that butcher shop in Northeast Brainerd had been on the farm slaughtering, USDA sausage, retail, um, you know, kind of kind of really dabbled in just about every aspect within the meat industry over the course of my 20 years. So it's kind of made me a little bit well-rounded, but you know, definitely when they say knowledge is powerful, it's it's kind of one of those things the more you know, the more you get involved, and the more you stay in it, too. So that is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Everybody's got a story, right? Um, and then also, too, I I just think about you know, I can still pinpoint some instructors I had in high school that in one way or another have impacted my life. And it doesn't matter what the you know what the course was. I do remember, and maybe you can lean to this a little bit because I don't know uh what it's like anymore, but uh I do remember in uh in FFA, our uh FFA teacher, uh we leaned heavy on obviously agriculture as a whole, but we started getting involved with uh meat judging and uh got a uh local butcher uh Southamotley down by Lincoln way back in the day that jumped on board, kind of similar to it. Just reminds me, you know, sitting here talking to both of you reminds me of that. And I remember you know, that was a relationship that has never left. You know, I remember that, and I would suspect uh similarly, those relationships you foster those relationships, and it's not just about that however many week semester. Yeah, uh your phone you're connected to these people, and uh it's uh it's all about relationships, I guess, but uh looking out for people and helping them out where you can, and yeah, I'm sure you both have uh people like that in your lives as well that that helped maybe kind of curb where you're at today.

SPEAKER_03 31:51

Oh yeah, well, yeah, that that's true too. And uh, but talking about that, and I was gonna mention earlier and I spaced it out, but uh we've had what do we have here? Four schools, three schools, four schools that were FFA. And um they had uh this is before ma'am down in St. Cloud. They had a new competition down there this year where the those schools could uh cut beef and cut pork. That was the two things they had to cut. So, anyhow, they came here not knowing anything, and um me and Jess worked with them for a night and sort of give them the go or you know, show them the ropes on what's what. And then there again, when we got down the mamp, we got to mentor them down there throughout the competition. And um, I feel after leaving their MAP, anyhow, I mean you we see those guys because we run into them down at uh FFA convention, and they you know walk up to us like you know they've known us for years, you know, just sort of get hi, how you doing type deal. Right, and then uh we worked with uh 4H. Yeah, they've come in and did some projects here, and we'll be doing that again this year, and doing it again.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

So teach them. Yep, yeah, it's really funny in that 4-H actually uh that was opened up statewide, and we had some 4-H students all the way from southern Minnesota making a three-hour truck up here just to to go through it with it was it was pretty eye-opening, really. Yes, um, but I think that's part of our Central Lake story too, you know, especially in the meat cutting end of it too, is you know, thanks to you and and helping us get our name out there a little bit more too.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

But I when I talked to Tyler, I thought, you know what? This is a conversation we need to get out and uh and anything. I mean, I've uh been involved in the community um forever. And uh um obviously watching uh what Tyler's been able to do, you know, not easy. No, and I'm sure there's days uh you know where you you scratch your head and go, well, we just uh go to bat again tomorrow and and that's what you do. You know, there's uh I guess I look at a lot of that stuff like uh, are we perfect? Not by any stretch, but do we try every day? Yep, you know, and that's kind of falls into to play here with this. But I just think it's uh you know, having known Tyler quite a bit and then talking about, you know, getting his involvement, at least getting involved with this program here at Central Lakes College. Getting to meet you has been awesome. And uh the knowledge that uh you both bring to this, and then helping, you know, at the end of the day, you're uh helping uh forge uh you know young people out there, and you can never get enough of that in this world, in my opinion. And this is uh definitely uh a super interesting uh conversation. Any anything before uh we close this thing out that I'm not touching on or that you do want to mention uh to the folks out there?

SPEAKER_03 35:08

Well, I I think I think we touched pretty much all the corners, I guess, but uh I just want to thank you again for doing this. And and um if anybody needs to get a hold of us or or whatever on the website is uh our information on there, mine and and uh and just otherwise get uh hold of the CLC here and they'll get you in the right direction too. Um I was gonna mention earlier too, if you want to come and tour the place and just see what it's about, right? We definitely can line something up on that too. So right.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

Well, and that when I pulled in here, I that you call it the the pod, I guess, out there where all of the processing where all of the hands-on goes on is is unbelievable. Yeah, I mean to have something like that, uh you know, for um especially in the area that we all call home here, God's country, and and to have that available uh is uh it's it's amazing and uh definitely uh uh something worth uh talking about. Um all right, guys. I appreciate it. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate it too. Thank you. Jesse Fairbend. Yep. Got her right twice. And obviously Tyler at the Barbecue Smokehouse. Um check it out. If you got any questions, uh hit these guys up or uh check out Central Lakes College uh online on their web and uh uh see what it's all about. A lot of great things happening and happy to be able to uh get this message out there uh as well. Uh it's the Brad Williams Podcast. It's turned the page. You'll be hearing a lot more about uh this and where you can find it here uh as well. We'll get it uh on uh on my Facebook page. It's gonna be on um everywhere out there as far as where you ever you can download podcasts, literally anywhere. And if you guys make sure you guys get a copy of it as well if you want to, I appreciate it guys. Thank you. Alright, that's gonna wrap it up. We're gonna bring you finding your podcast, Randall Podcast. Today is uh diving into the world of uh meat processing and buttering and uh everything uh uh concerned with uh that uh that industry, and it's been a lot of fun talking with you guys here. Appreciate y'all listening in. Stay tuned for the next month, and until then, take care, everybody.