Andy and Hannah Dorn--Living the Nebraska Dream

He's the Global Director for Beef Technology at Merck Animal Health.  She owns her own ag photography business, serving farm and ranch families and agribusiness brands throughout the country.   Together they own and operate Dorn Cattle in Kearney County, Nebraska with a summer ranch near Thedford, Nebraska.  In this episode we visit with Andy and Hannah Dorn, a young couple living the dream and having an impact locally and globally from the heart of Nebraska.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Nebraska. It's not just a place, but a way of life. It's 93 counties that are home to innovative individuals, caring community, and a spirit that runs deeper than its purple story. It's a story that's going to be told. Welcome to 93, the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 0:25

Welcome to 93, the podcast, where we talk about Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry agriculture, and the people who make it happen. I'm Mark Falson, your host for today's episode, brought to you by Nebraska's law firm, Rumble Plotke. Today's episode is a celebration of what Nebraska has to offer. We're sitting down with a young couple who might just be the living embodiment of what it means to be able to thrive in rural Nebraska and still have an impact locally and globally. He's the global director for beef technology for Merck, bringing innovation to agriculture on a worldwide scale. She has launched her own business from the ground up, turning her passion into purpose. And when the workday ends, they team up to run their livestock operation right here in Nebraska. Joining us today is Andy and Hannah Dorn. Andy, Hannah, welcome to 93 the podcast. Thanks. Thanks. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Thanks for having us. All right.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Andy, let's start with you. Give our listeners your background.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

You bet. So uh grew up South Central Nebraska, uh, Minden. What county? Kearney County, Nebraska.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

What's the license plate prefix?

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Well, the funny thing is we don't have a license plate prefix on our vehicles. Right, beef state beef state.

SPEAKER_03 1:37

But if 52. Okay. You bet. So 52 county. So uh continue.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Um graduated high school from Wilcox Hildreth High School, actually. Uh still in 52 County, but some in uh I guess Hildreth in Franklin County. Um grew up on a livestock operation. My father was uh also worked for Decatur County Feed Yard in his later years. That's really where I grew up. Uh as a feed yard in northwest Kansas, and he was a procurement manager for for Decatur, so I got a lot of background into feedlot and and procuring cattle and with him traveled to ranches all across the United States.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Hannah, how about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

I am from Ashland, which is Six County. I went to high school in Gretna because my mom was a teacher there. I was a town kid through and through, did not grow up in agriculture really at all. Um, I mean, we're all connected once you start digging into the family trees, but um ended up going to school for something that I could do outside and not be stuck in an office all day. So I got an agronomy degree, and now our lives are fully engrossed in agriculture. Couldn't imagine a life without cows.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

Yeah, both of you are deep in Nebraska agriculture. So what keeps you busy on an average day uh back home?

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Well, from my side, um, I work for Merck Animal Health as well as then we have we have cows, we have uh cow calf operation, and we've just recently in the last couple years gotten into developing heifers and uh selling those as bred heifers. And so calving at home, uh feeding cattle, and then in the wintertime, you know, we go, we raise show cattle, so a lot of a lot of cattle shows on the weekends.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

So Hannah, uh what role do you play?

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Uh whatever Andy tells me to do. I'm an unpaid employee, so uh, you know, whatever, whatever the day calls.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

There's nothing stronger than a volunteer mark. So, Hannah, not having grown up in that, have you have you acclimated?

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Yes, absolutely. Uh, we live in out rural Kearney County, 52 County. Um, I grew up in town my whole life and I cannot imagine living in a neighborhood ever again. I cannot imagine a life where I look out the kitchen window and don't see a cow. Um, yeah, I couldn't imagine a better way to live.

SPEAKER_03 3:53

So you have a side business, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:55

It's actually my full-time business.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

Well, it's your full-time business. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Uh I'm a photographer. I'm an agricultural photographer. So farm and ranch families um and then agricultural brands are my clients. Um, and so everything is lifestyle-based, not a lot of posing, not a lot of uh, you know, fancy outfits, you know, special locations, nothing like that. It's all just real life on the farm.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

So, how did you get into that?

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Oh man. Uh actually, I got into lifestyle photography. My dad passed away when I was 19. And so from there, you know, once you have a major life situation like that, you just kind of re-assess what's important. And for me, what was really important was having photos because that was really all we had left of my dad. Um, and so I became a lifestyle photographer, really didn't know what that would look like, um, and then just kind of niched down to serving only folks in agriculture. And it's just bloomed and grown ever since. Um, I started in 2018, took it uh full time in 2023, and now we're what, two years in and going well.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

So, if folks want to see some of your work and learn more about your business, where do they go?

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Instagram is the best place. My Instagram handle is Hannah Gable Dorn. I couldn't give up the maiden name, so it's still in there. It's hard to spell.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

Spell Gable.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

G-A-E-B-E-L.

SPEAKER_03 5:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

There will probably not be a quiz at the end.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

And a website?

SPEAKER_00 5:20

HannahDorn.com.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

Okay. So Andy, I you you're you're kind of a big deal with Merck. Tell our listeners what you do for Merck and uh all the many countries that's taken you to.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Yeah, I don't know about uh big deal, but um I uh I am in charge of our beef technology portfolio for Merck Animal Health. Uh it started um, you know, so brands like uh that people recognize at Senshub, Senshub CowCalf, uh, Sensub Feedlot. Uh we have a virtual fencing company now, Vince, uh, that is part of our portfolio. And then anything, you know, with electronic IDs and and identification tags uh that go into those those portfolios. It's really it's a long journey that that comes full circle. I I mentioned Decatur County Feed Yard uh where my father worked. And they were the one of the first feed yards that utilized electronic ID for individual management of of cattle. And so I spent you know a lot of time with with the IDs and like even in the early 90s um uh when they were first doing that, that's when they first did it. But I never thought about the the company who made those. And then uh as I continued my education, I went to Southeast Community College and I got an internship.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

Which campus?

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Uh Beatrice. Okay. And I got an internship because that was part of the program. I think if I remember right, the internship was uh I finally got it on the very last day that I could. Um Mike Terrell was my my advisor and and pushed me for this, but it and it was great. I got an internship with All Flex. That was a company. And um we All Flex made electronic ID tags, and that's who made all those tags that uh we'd put in over the years and utilized at that feed yard. So it was pretty pretty crazy, I guess, full circle moment that you know now I work for that company. But um, I joke around that I never got uh I got that internship. They gave me a company credit card and a and a pickup. They gave me an Izuzu I290. You know what that is? It's a little uh four speed.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

Yeah, that's uh you're pulling up to a farmer ranch with that. You're not that's not a lot of cred. Sorry, dude.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

That's right. They gave me that and a uh and a list of a hundred feed yards to go to that summer and see uh checking our stamping machines. We have stamp machines for for uh identification tags at feed yards, and I just hit the road. And um I I came back when my internship was over and I was like, here's here's the list. And uh I'd been to almost all of them. I don't remember how many miles I put on that summer, but a lot. I think there was nine, eight states in that that summer, and so just kind of took it and and learned on on my own.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

So how old were you when this happened? 20. So you got 20, you got a credit card, you got an Azuzu pickup. You're law, you're living life right there, right? Driving nine states.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Yeah, it was awesome. Yeah, yeah. And so then um I just never left, right? They uh they allowed me to continue to to work part-time and and uh it kept going, and then it kept going into uh other roles within the company. Uh so from sales and marketing to product development. Uh right here in Lincoln, for example, the tissue sampling units that we have. Um, you know, we worked really, really uh closely with uh GeneSeq at the time, Abe Owen. And uh I remember his little lab, it was probably about the same size as this room. And we would take samples in and and test them.

SPEAKER_03 8:44

Link's still here, right? Now north North Lincoln, Neogen, right? Neogen is Neogen bot. It's a little tiny building out there, and they're a huge company.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Yeah, Neogen's actually now it's huge. Yeah. Neogen's uh building in their lab space is is really big and it's really impressive. I encourage anybody that's interested to go go check it out, obviously talk to them, but it's it's really cool. Don't just show up. Yeah, don't just show up, but it's really cool uh to see that right here in Lincoln, Nebraska.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

So how many countries has this job and it's you know the the other iterations of this job that you've had, how many countries is it taking you to?

SPEAKER_02 9:16

Yeah, I think I I think I'm at uh 15.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

I think so, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Hannah, do you get to go?

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Uh I've been on a couple.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Okay. Favorite trip, work trip?

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Australia and New Zealand for sure.

unknown 9:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

I'd love to go back.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

So my wife's a school teacher. Um her trips are usually to some uh you know Carney or something like that. So I'm still hoping for the day.

unknown 9:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

Still hoping for the day if she takes me to a fancy conference somewhere. I don't think that's gonna happen. Yeah. So, Andy, what's your favorite country you've gone to for work?

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Oh wow. I think I would say the you know, the most beautiful and and probably aggrich one is New Zealand. Uh it, you know, it's just the the people there are really good. It's a lot like right here in Nebraska. Um, and it's beautiful. Uh, the the green, the green grass and the rolling hills and the mountains and all the sheep and and and cattle. Uh Hannah, one of Hannah's first really cool pictures uh that I recognized that she had some talent was in New Zealand. She took a picture of uh of some Charlet cows lined up kind of over a hillside, and it's I mean, it's really, really cool. And I was like, oh wow, like you do have you've got some talent here, you can do it.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

That was the moment he realized I knew what I was doing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

Were you married by then, or did the the that's when the light bulb went off to say, I gotta marry that woman, right? She can take good photos. I think we were engaged. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Yeah. Yeah. So New Zealand, um, most interesting, you know, probably uh countries like Israel. I've been to Israel uh four times.

SPEAKER_03 10:40

Do they have livestock there?

SPEAKER_02 10:42

They do, yeah. Um, but we have an RD center there. Okay. And um, so that that Israel's a very um unique country, uh, very, as we know, history-rich and um very, very intelligent people there uh that that I interact with daily still, and and that's that's a cool part. And I like Israel's history and and their culture.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

So you're doing this job all from central Nebraska and traveling from there?

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Yeah, that's right. So um I've I've made maintained residence right in Kearney County, Nebraska, uh, doing you know, these several positions uh within All Flex and and Merck, and it's been it it's kind of one of the cool things, you know. You don't you don't get to see that every every day that that you can travel the travel the globe and have a have a global job uh all while building you know building out uh technology tools. I think that's one of the you know benefits of of places like Merck and and why we'll be successful is is they recognize those things. You know, we have to be close to our customers and um and understand what the customer needs are to create that value in technologies. And so I think that's one of the huge benefits that we have is we have people like me uh and others that are that are close to our customer and understand it. And that's how we'll continue to accrue that value.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

So when you travel for work, what airport do you usually fly out of?

SPEAKER_02 12:01

Uh if I'm flying international, I fly to Omaha. Yeah. Um it's just uh I I really love to fly out of Grand Island, um, but it's it's more about getting home. Right. Uh if you miss a flight or if you're you're delayed on an international. There's not like 10 flights to GI every day. Right. You can always you can get into you can get into Omaha usually.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

So So when someone, let's assume uh person that does not have much of a background in egg or no background in egg, and they're driving down Interstate 80 and they see a feedlot, perhaps they can even see uh you know an ear tag or a special tag in their ear. Uh tell our listeners about your technology and what it can do. Let's start first with the feedlot cattle. What what type of data are you able to grab from that?

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Yeah, so like an EID tag, or we can we'll start with the EID standpoint. And we'll start really simple. We'll start with a visual tag. So uh, you know, a yellow, a yellow tag that has a visual number on it, and that that serves a purpose to the to the operation that that that's the identifier of that animal. And then the the EID or the electronic identification tag, uh that that one is is able to be read with an electronic reader uh to then output a 15-digit unique number uh to that animal. And I like to say, you know, associate it like a social security number to that animal, and that's that unique identifier to that animal. That gives a level of efficiency uh to the operation where you know instead of having to hand write down a visual number, you know, you can have your reader and and read that. And in some cases now, you know, we can read it right to your phone from that reader, you know, just Bluetooth connection or scale head or whatever other piece of of hardware they're using. So the the next the next level of technology is what would what would be referred to as active monitoring, things like our brands that are SenseHub. Um that is more uh health monitoring, ester monitoring. So for SenseHub CowCalf, for example, uh you would you would utilize this ear tag or a collar device that that takes in animal data, so activity, things like activity, rumination, eating time, and then puts it into our proprietary algorithm to output um outliers. So like a uh estrus event, for example, would be a point in time of high activity and low rumination, and that's your peak estrus event.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

So let's assume I'm practicing law. I pretend to do so on occasion and have a small cow calf herd and I'm using SenseHub, cow calf, and I don't have time to go down and check on when they're in heat to artificially inseminate them. How does your technology help me to stay in my office and practice law until I need to zip down there and breed the cow?

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Aaron Powell It would help uh it helps people like us, and so it would help people like you very much though, right? Because it gives you a a level of um flexibility that you don't have to be there to heat check them all the time. Uh you can rely on a system like that to give you an alert on your phone uh via via the app or or text message to say animal XYZ is in heat, and here's your breeding window that you should breed that animal in. And so it really gives you uh an external view.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

So uh the use of EID ear tags, what is the level of adoption in the United States compared to other countries, New Zealand and Australia? And and if there is a difference, why do you think that is?

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Yeah, so it varies by uh varies by species type. So for instance, in the dairy business in the U.S., uh you've got a very, very high adoption. You know, I would I don't know the numbers for sure, but it's it's plus ninety percent um of a penetration utilizing somebody's utilizing EID. And they're using that for an efficiency mechanism in their parlors, uh in their animal health uh management systems. In the beef space, if you look at the feed yards, you know it's it's much lower uh just because of of uh the way that we manage animals by group today. And I think you go in you go in a it's a cyclical cycle where you go in group management and or some more individual. Um and then in CowCAF it's lower as well. Uh but just because of the nature of our business. And if you look at the US versus uh I'll take uh uh Australia, New Zealand approach, like you said, there's regulatory factors that drive that as well. You know, so in in New Zealand uh regulation, you you have to have uh an electronic ID to to move those animals. It's mandated by the government for disease traceability. The same goes for Canada, uh where where everything has to have an EID when when they leave the farm.

SPEAKER_03 16:32

Aaron Ross Powell So here in the U.S. we've been a little perhaps hesitant to mandate that. Why do you think why do you think farmers and ranchers are hesitant to have the government tell them they must use EID?

SPEAKER_02 16:42

Aaron Powell I think that it's um it's more of a a question of value in a in the U.S. system. I think that if if the if the technology that that we're adopting creates that value for the farm, I think we'll we'll adopt it. You see that over and over again in in precision agriculture, whether it's uh farming or or livestock, in the most part you're they're not seeing that value because you have to add something else. And none of us want to be told what to do. Right. And we don't want the government telling us what to do. But in some cases it could be extremely helpful if and when there's a disease outbreak. Uh being able to to circle, draw that line of these animals within this this sector, you know, aren't able to go unless they have this electronic piece to be able to do it more efficiently, to be able to tr trace those more efficiently. I think those are our you know some of our impediments of it's a lot of traditionalism. Um I th the EID tags, you know, there's there's always theories out there about the government tracking this or that. In all reality, uh an electronic ID tag is uh an E ID tag is is uh it's just a number. It's just an electronic number. It's uh it's not pat it's not it's passive technology. There's no battery in that tag. You have to have something else to read that tag to power it. And um so there's not GPS in there or anything like that. You have to have uh another device circling to that.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

You mentioned some other technologies that Merc is working on and that's in your portfolio. Uh well, one was the electronic or virtual fencing. What's that?

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Yeah, so Vince is a virtual fencing company uh that that allows that allows producers to to put a collar on animals. And um it it's it gives animals the uh audible and electronic stimulus to be able to put them in a virtual fence, like a virtual electric fence. And you also are able to see where those animals are, where what they've been eating. A lot of land management pieces around that are probably the most intriguing things to me. Uh not only being able to graze effectively with it, but then being able to retrospectively look and see did these animals eat in this area and why not? Right. So let's let's take a 600-acre, a section pasture in the sand hills and and look at how how those animals pattern was eating. Well, if they didn't eat in this section, was that because that grass isn't as good? Was that because that grass is washy? Was there just weeds there? And how do how can we make the land better to improve that? I think there's a lot of level of efficiency there that is that is driven. But the tangible thing is being able to move those animals, being able to rotate them properly, being able to set that virtual fence in a in an area that you want to, right, from a web application, and uh and making those animals uh stay there and eat that until until they need to be moved.

SPEAKER_03 19:37

So rotational grazing, but you can do it virtually.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

For sure. Yep.

unknown 19:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Let's go to your homestead. Uh the two of you have uh a farm. Do you live in town or on a farm?

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Live on a farm. Yep, just uh a couple miles north and east of Minden.

SPEAKER_03 19:51

Okay. So if uh assume I I've never been there, which I haven't, or our listeners are describe for our listeners what's your Farmstead and farm looks like. What type of animals are we going to see? What type of equipment?

SPEAKER_02 20:03

You bet. You're going to see uh uh very low-level equipment. Um, but uh we we do have a skid steer now that we use almost every day. I don't know how we lived without it. Uh but it's about it's a 25-acre roughly patch just northwest of or northeast of Minden. Um there's grass, there's a little crook running through that's that's dry unless it's in the summer and very dry right now, um, that's that's primarily grass, and then um a lot of separate pins, you know, where we have um we have show cattle, so we have sales, we we wean, we try and do the best for those cattle when we wean. Right now it looks pretty bare, but uh we'll plant we'll plant grass in those pins so that when we're weaning they have something. There's a lot of probably I would say 10 to 15 head pins on the uh the west side of the property, and then and then the cows uh where we calve and stuff, those are more open areas uh to have more room and bigger.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

Hannah, what's your favorite part about the farm?

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Oh, the animals, of course. Andy didn't mention any of the livestock.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

Of course, we have calves and exactly.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Uh my contributions are the dog and the cat. Uh, and then we also have a donkey. Um she kind of helps get uh some stubborn calves ready, but she actually is really pulling her weight this year. Um, she has been a really good guard animal for our calves. Uh we've got a lot of coyotes around, and Andy has like heard her shooing the coyotes away in the middle of the night. Um, there was one calf kind of off on its own, and the donkey went out and got it and brought it back in with the herd. So she's uh a pain in the butt more often than not, but sometimes she uh she pulls her weight.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

Do you use that donkey to help halter break calves? Okay, so explain that for our listeners how that works.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

So the primary use of the donkey or why we have it, and uh we we actually got we've had several donkeys over the years, but this this latest one, Ginny, is her name, and she we we inherited her from uh John Schrader. Uh John's the manager at Dar Feed Yard and a good friend, and and they were done with her, and so we inherited her. Uh the the primary reason is breaking the calves, and so we'll put a we'll put a collar on her and then we'll tie that calf up to her so that uh that the calf learns to follow and lead with the donkey. And those donkeys are so you know strong and and pack animals and stubborn and stubborn. You know, she she pulls those calves around uh all day sometimes, and you know, by the end of like two cycles, sometimes one, being on a donkey for for a day or you know, 48 hours, that calf's ready to go. It's it's it's okay, I'll follow you.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

So it's better than pulling them from behind a tractor, not that they would ever track it. Yes, yeah, yeah, not the track.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Not safer, yeah. Or the four-wheeler.

SPEAKER_03 22:47

Yeah, I maybe have seen that as well. So uh your show cattle business, is it are you looking for market animals? Are you selling market animals, or do you have some some purebred breeding stock that you sell?

SPEAKER_02 22:58

A little mix of both. Um, you know, we we like I said earlier, we try and we've shifted a little bit of our focus on creating these more replacement heifers uh to sell as bred bred females in the fall, and we have a we have a production sale, it's online, uh, but in the in December every year. And you know, the first year I think we sold like 15, maybe 15, 18. Give or take. And uh last year we sold about 25. Um this year we'll probably uh we hope to sell about 40, and we have a great partner um that helps us do that, and uh which you know, Scott Heinrich. Yeah. So um uh we'll we're focusing a little bit more on those females and and those could be more registered, uh, some still crossbreds, just fitting our market, market type. And we're still buying quite a few of those as well. So we go out and and try and find those herds who've bought genetics from us in the past and and buy back some of those heifers to to develop. Uh but then on the market side, uh that's also you know probably a uh I'll say now a 40% split. Um and trying to raise those steers or market heifers uh that are that are very competitive uh from county fairs all the way to to state fair to national shows and and can could be successful for the kids.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

What do you do in the community? Do you have uh some community activities that you're involved in?

SPEAKER_02 24:21

Uh a little bit, not not directly in Minden. We're so busy. Um speak for yourself. I'm on the teammates board. I I'm I'm busy, I'm gone. Um, but Hannah does a lot more than me.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Yeah, I've I've been on the local teammates board in Minden for four or five years, something like that. Um I've been a teammate since I was a freshman in college. Um, I've had a mentor every single year since then. Um, so that's really important me important to me to keep up and keep a relationship with a kid in the community. Um that's probably the biggest one.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

I served a long stint on the uh Nebraska Cattlemen board. I was an allied member or allied industry chair uh for Nebraska Cattlemen. I think I think the stint was supposed to be three years, uh, but it turned into five. And uh that was great. That was a really good experience and met a lot of people and was able to be involved uh at a pretty deep level of you know, more policy things and and just how the inner workings of Nebraska Cattlemen work, and so that was a really good experience, and then served um on our on the Allied Industry Council at NCBA as well.

SPEAKER_03 25:22

So for someone who let's assume someone is not a member of the Nebraska cattlemen, but involved in the cattle industry, what are the benefits of becoming a member?

SPEAKER_02 25:30

I think I think you you've already said it community, right? And having uh having the a bigger voice, right? So you so I think of it as you know that grassroots uh coming together and having having a bigger voice uh together as one instead of just you or me talking on on social media or or anywhere. You know, you're you're able to to go with your some counterparts that that know who know what you do and and have those discussions and then come to to one bigger voice, let's say at the at the capital that we're looking at, right, and and developing policy or or you know really anything that that serves our our livestock community better. I think that's the biggest thing is having a bigger voice.

SPEAKER_03 26:13

So you have a global job, but you live in uh in or by Mendon, Nebraska. You're raising cattle, got your own side business raising cattle. Hannah, you've got your full-time business doing uh photography in the ag sector. Are you guys living is this a dream life for you guys?

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Yeah, it really is. I mean, it's uh sometimes uh more times than not we look at each other and we're like, what what what are we doing? Like it this is this is so busy, but it's it really is a dream life. Like it's it's awesome for me.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

It would be a little bit easier if we had a few more hours in the day, but otherwise, yes, I I can't imagine what we do.

SPEAKER_03 26:52

How how how is uh the internet or broadband access for you and to what extent has that improved and uh sort of given you gr even greater opportunities?

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Yeah, we uh uh from my from my standpoint, we were uh uh very early adopters of Starlink. Uh so we had uh a local Wi-Fi company there at the house. I bought I bought that house in 2013, that that property in 2013 in Minden, and and I had rough time with with internet access uh for just intermittent, right? But we were early adopters, I think one of the first 300 in Nebraska that that Starlink said. We um and we've adopted that and never looked back. So rural connectivity, broadband, things like that, it's really not a struggle for me anymore. Um even we have a property in the sand hills north of Thedford, and up there, you know, I've looked and we we can have Starlink there and have and have high speed, high access internet, and that's just that's pretty crazy uh to think about in that this 10-year span, how how that's been developed. And I think that's only going to continue.

SPEAKER_03 27:57

So, what do you do up at your Thedford property?

SPEAKER_02 27:59

Uh it's primarily summer grazing for us. Um, we were we were able to to have an opportunity, if you will, to buy that uh four years ago now in 2021. It was extremely dry in 2021 when we bought it.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Shaping up to be the same this year. Send some rain.

SPEAKER_02 28:17

We didn't uh we didn't close until July that year. And when we got there and we took cows, we were like, oh wow, what'd we do? Right. It was so dry. Uh then the last couple years have been just absolutely great. This year, like Hannah just said, it's it's uh it's very dry again. We need some rain, but primarily summer grazing, um, and and that's what we do there. There's uh there's a house there and a building site. Uh, we've got an absolutely wonderful tenant uh that uh that helps us a lot, that that watches the cows as well uh when she needs to, and uh lives in that house there and actually works for the university too. She's uh extension. And so that's been a really blessing uh for us to have her in that property. But that property was something that that is a dream.

SPEAKER_03 29:02

So Hannah, uh having grown up, you grew up in eastern Nebraska. Let's describe the drive to Tedford and the ranch property up there near Thedford, what that looks like for someone who's never been to the Sand Hills.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

Oh man. Well, I can't describe the drive because as Andy will attest to, I'm usually sleeping. I'm a pretty good passenger princess. But once we get there, oh my gosh, it's incredible. It's surreal. And I usually have to like pinch myself or look at India and be like, I can't believe this is real life. I can't believe we get to be here. But just beautiful rolling hills, blue sky as far as I can see. Um it's uh unlike any ecosystem I've ever seen anywhere else in the world, um, but just miles and miles and miles of rolling hills. Um, you can go miles without seeing another house. Um, there are more power lines and cell phone towers. Uh when we first went up there, we we kind of chuckled that it would be a place to get off the grid. Nobody'd be able to find us, our phones won't work. And ironically, ironically enough, there's a cell tower in the property next to us. So we get immaculate cell phone service there, which is nice when you get in a pinch. Um but otherwise, yeah, just wide open space is truly uh such a beautiful place.

SPEAKER_03 30:16

So two things I love about the sand hills, and there are many, but two of my favorites are have you been up there at night when the stars are out?

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

Describe that.

SPEAKER_00 30:25

So many stars, especially if you're uh in a more urban, populated part of Nebraska or anywhere else. Um we can still see some stars here, but we we could can see so many more. I mean, more stars than you could ever imagine. Um and then kind of another thing is the interesting climate. The the climate there is so different, and it's about a couple hours away from where we reside and where we live. Um and it's always baffling to us how different the weather is. The humidity is different, the temperatures are different, the nights are much colder, um, and it's just a lot different environment.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

Have you been there to observe a thunderstorm rolling in? Yes. Describe that for our listeners.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Unfortunately, we'd like to witness a few more. Uh, but it is pretty amazing to just, you know, you typical Midwest fashion fashion, you watch from the top of the hill, right, and see these clouds roll in. Uh, and then there's usually a moment of like, oh, maybe we should get out of here. Uh and then just, yeah, watching it coming and watching the rain hit the hit the sand. It's literally, they're called sand hills because it is literally sand. Uh, we joke that that's our sandy beach that we spend our summers at is uh our pasture in sand hills. Um but yeah, just watching the the clouds roll in and then just as quickly they're gone. They just roll right by.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

So what's the next uh uh step for your family businesses, your photography business, your cattle business? Where do you want to see it be at in 10 years?

SPEAKER_02 31:53

Yeah, so you know, the I think any cattleman's dream is is uh you know having a a whole bunch of cows out on a green pasture with with baldy or black cows and and having a commercial operation. But for us, I think it's continuing to grow that and can can continuing to grow that cow herd um and make sure that our genetics are you know in line with with our goals and what we want to do. And really for us, part of our our cattle business is is really helping kids and uh helping kids through show cattle, and that's one of the really cool things that we've been able to experience and probably continues us to do is um seeing some of these kids, you know, now grown up and back in in jobs in agriculture in in Nebraska. You know, for for example, like uh we mentioned Scott, like his daughter Jacqueline. We we told Jacqueline her first show heifer, right? And now she's you know in uh working for seaboard foods. Right. And so to me, those types of things are really, really cool. Um and there's multiple families that that do that. And so continuing to do that um and and helping them have success and learn learn life skills through their projects, that's really important to us.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

I think it's worth noting most of the families you've worked with through cattle, this the kids are still working in agriculture, and most of them are in Nebraska. And I think that's a really, really cool thing and really a testament to what these 4-H and FFA programs do for kids.

SPEAKER_03 33:21

Yeah, how do we keep folks in Nebraska? I mean, you you you were a successor, you you were a testament to saying I can have a really cool global job, I can travel the world, but I can still live in central Nebraska and do these other things. Hannah, you can live out there, you can have a farm, you can have a side business as well, or full-time business. It's you're plenty busy with it. Uh, how do we convince people that you can do all this?

SPEAKER_02 33:41

Yeah, I think I think Hannah and I actually talked a lot about that before this. I think it's it's showing them, right? Saying that, hey, this is really hard. Um and sometimes the the travel to Omaha in the middle of the night and just like you experience, it's not fun, but but it drives you and you can do this. If you want to do this, uh you can do it. And there's awesome opportunities in Nebraska. Um, you know, it's a very it's just an awesome community uh all around the state. I don't go anywhere else in the world and and find this type of you know environment. And I think that's a testament to tell people that that they can. And we spent the night in Omaha last night, and if if they if they want to live in the city, they can do that. Right? You have those accommodations. Look around us right here in Lincoln. It's you can anything that you want, you can get. And uh if you're willing to drive a little bit, you can live a little further away from it and and get away from people too. Um, but I think just showing them, I think telling them and showing them that that's possible.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

I think also I'd add to that the access too. We talked about this with uh the internet. Um, you know, we can do these crazy jobs from rural Nebraska because of internet access. Um and also, I mean, we can we can roll our eyes about, you know, Amazon and and Elon and all these different people doing these things, but really they are doing a lot for rural America. Um, there's just a lot that we wouldn't have access to otherwise. It wouldn't be sustainable to have uh, you know, a big store that carries all these random things that, you know, maybe one person in town might need one time. Granted, there are plenty of local businesses doing those things. Um, in Minden, they just revitalize the hardware store. It's incredible. We rarely leave there without what we need. Uh a lot of these small towns are getting coffee shops. I think that's incredible. Uh, you know, we used to travel and you know, one of the highlights of traveling was going to a coffee shop that we didn't have access to. And now you can hardly go to a small town without finding a cool locally owned coffee shop.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

When they're roasting their own beans. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Yeah. I think that is so cool. So, so we have access to these things. You know, these small towns are really working hard to keep themselves going. Um, you know, young entrepreneurs are investing back into their communities and and literally building what they want to see in their community. And I think that's kind of what what we really try to do too is you know, we're not going to complain about something in our town if we're not willing to try to fix it. Um, and so I think that's a it's a good mindset to adopt, especially for a young person. Um, you know, be the change you want to see in your town.

SPEAKER_03 36:17

So, what those are opportunities, and I th you guys again are a testament to what Nebraska has to offer. What are some challenges? What are some things down the road that we need to be keep our eye on to make sure don't frustrate that effort to you know to attract people to Nebraska to retain those Nebraska kids who grew up here who could do great things around the world but still do it from Nebraska?

SPEAKER_02 36:38

Yeah, you know, and uh in the in the agriculture space in in which we are very fulfilled with in Nebraska, I think that we we really have to to take a hard look at our you know our farm transition pieces and how that's done. Um, you know, for us, fortunately, uh today we don't have to we don't have to worry about that, right? We're we're building that but but I see that happening over and over where you know kids could come home to the farm, but that transition period or transition plan's not there or or not not quite there, that willingness to have that conversation isn't there yet. Um I think that that our um our property taxes are a double-edged sword. Um I think that for from my standpoint they're high and they're probably too high in comparison to other places.

SPEAKER_03 37:22

I don't think anyone's gonna disagree with you on that.

SPEAKER_02 37:24

No, but on the same on the same token, you know, we have a beautiful place to protect. Now the allocation of those can probably be be uh discussed and and how those property taxes are allocated, but it also it also deters some some investment uh coming to the state, which isn't always all bad either, uh, from outside investment is what I'm saying. From China. Yeah, China, right? Uh really any other big, you know, big other conglomerate. Um so I but I think those things have to be addressed as well uh from a macro level because if if we don't, it's it's really hard. Even for us, it's you know, it's it's really hard uh to have what we have, right? We have to work really hard every day to make sure that uh we can we can make that pasture payment, that we can we can pay for that feed. And uh so access to capital and and access to to uh just those types of financial items on top of property tax is really hard. And I think that we have to we have to take a hard look at how we can do that in the future. And I you know I've heard a couple times now that uh the interest rates today are nothing compared to the 80s. Hey, I lived it.

SPEAKER_03 38:33

Bought my first here's a story. Bought my first heifer at the age I think it was 10 from what was then called the Production Credit Association. The interest rate on that heifer was 16 percent.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

Yeah. But the difference is what did that heifer cost you?

SPEAKER_03 38:48

I think I paid maybe a thousand bucks.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

Right. All right, and so if she was uh if she was an open heifer today, she's worth uh 1900. So I'm not not a math whiz, so I didn't do the the calculation today, but it is higher. It's more expensive. And interest rates are things that that we uh as the uh the local government and people can't control in the banks, right? It's it's a federal thing. However, there's ways that that we can get better access, I think, to to that capital and and and money and and loaning. And I think we have some great people that are that are in this state doing it. Um you know Fred Brunning is is is our bank and absolutely immaculate, it's awesome. He's there to help young people and make it work. I know you had Jerry on here, and I think they're doing a great job too, but but continuing to look at that for young people, I think is gonna be very, very important for us in Nebraska uh to attract that that young talent back here.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

Andy, Hannah, one thing we ask all of our guests, I'm gonna start with Hannah, because I know Andy will cheat. You get one word and just one word that to you describes this wonderful place in which you live, and which you're you know, building a business and uh being a part of community. What's your one word for Nebraska?

SPEAKER_00 40:00

Uh I'm gonna go with tenacious.

SPEAKER_03 40:02

Explain.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

Uh Nebraska is a is a really easy place to live, uh, but every coin has two sides. It can also be a really challenging place to live. And uh much of the the population of our state is in a rural area. And I was thinking about it. I was at a bull sale uh near Bassett, and I'm like, where is the nearest Walmart for these folks? Um and it's about two hours away, and that's not uncommon for a lot of the folks in our state. Um we talk about this a lot every time Andy's getting ready to go on a trip. Man, this would be a lot easier if we live next to a big city. Um, if we didn't drive three hours to to a larger regional airport that is still not yet international. Um, so there are some challenges for sure. Um, but but there's this grit and this desire to be here. Um, I think about the the pioneers a lot coming through here. And you know, what made them stop here and say, this is where we're gonna stay, right here in the middle of nowhere. Um but man, I'm glad they did because what a cool place to live.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

Andy, what's your one word for Nebraska?

SPEAKER_02 41:02

Mine is wholesome. I uh I tell people this all the time. You know, I I get to do this travel and uh travel around the world, and it's it's wonderful, and it's wonderful to meet new people in different cultures and get that experience, but but the wholesomeness coming back to to Nebraska in this community is is something that you you strive for after you've been in, you know, London or or Tel Aviv or or anything like that. Like that wholesomeness is is really rich. And I also love that I come home to uh a place that has more cows than people after I've been at places like that.

SPEAKER_03 41:36

It's a great way to end. Do you guys have a website for your cattle operation? We have a Facebook page and Instagram. Where should folks go for that? Dorn Cattle. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 41:46

It's on Facebook and Instagram.

SPEAKER_03 41:48

If people want to learn more about Merck and its technology and uh the livestock sector and the stuff that you get to work on, where should they go?

SPEAKER_02 41:56

Yeah, go uh you can go on the the Merck uh Merck Animal Health website. Um, and and uh there's multiple Merck representatives across the state uh that are great people, great guys and gals that that would be more than willing to help you out, and so you can seek them out.

SPEAKER_03 42:11

Folks, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or whatever your favorite podcast app is, and please give us a good rating. And please keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska. It's great communities, Nebraska's number one industry, agriculture, and the folks who make it happen.

SPEAKER_01 42:27

Thanks. This has been Nighty Three, the podcast, sponsored by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Ludke.