93
Let’s hear the story of Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry Agriculture, and the people who make it happen. Sponsored by Nebraska's Law Firm® - Rembolt Ludtke.
93
Lance Atwater--Farming, Family and Leadership Beyond the Field
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In this episode of 93: The Podcast, we sit down with Lance Atwater, a second-generation Nebraska farmer and leader in the Nebraska Farm Bureau, to talk about what it takes to build a future in agriculture today. Lance shares how he balances the demands of farming with being a husband and a dad, while also stepping up as a leader in agricultural organizations. He reflects on the importance of building strong relationships—on the farm, in the industry, and in the community—and how those connections shape long-term success. From relying on GPS as the one piece of technology he can’t farm without to describing Nebraska in one word—unique—Lance offers a thoughtful look at modern agriculture and the people making it happen.
Nebraska is 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 purpose. It's a story that should be told. Welcome to 93, the podcast.
SPEAKER_01Welcome to 93. This is a podcast about Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry agriculture, and the folks who make it happen. I'm Mark Folson, your host for today's episode, brought to you by Nebraska's law firm, Rembrandt Lattier. On previous episodes, we've talked with folks who were fourth and even fifth generation agriculturalists. They come from families with deep roots that stretch back to the founding of the state of Nebraska. Today's guest represents a different but equally important story. He's a second generation farmer, helping prove that the future of agriculture isn't only about how long you've been farming, but how intentionally you're building what comes next. Driven by innovation and committed to leadership beyond the farm gate, today's guest is someone who truly represents the future of agriculture. From his early involvement in FFA to serving in Farm Bureau leadership, he's built a reputation as someone who doesn't just farm for today, but is actively shaping the next generation of agriculture. That commitment recently earned him national recognition as a top ten finalist in the American Farm Bureau Federation's Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award. Lance Atwater, welcome to 93 the podcast. Give listeners a little background about yourself.
SPEAKER_02So I farm in South Central Nebraska. We farm basically mainly in Adams County, grow corn, soybeans, popcorn, non-GMO, white corn. I've been back on the farm since 2014. Prior to that, I attended the University of Nebraska Lincoln, got a degree in agricultural economics, minor in international agriculture, and I always knew I wanted to farm. So after graduating, went to work for a co-op, did precision ag for a year, and then eventually my parents decided it was time to return to the farm. And since 2014, I've been back on the farm working with them, then also starting my foot my own farm operation, uh at Water Family Farms, and then also starting a trucking uh side business as well.
SPEAKER_01Do you have your CDL?
SPEAKER_02I do have my CDL, yep.
SPEAKER_01What's the closest town to your operation?
SPEAKER_02So Air. Spell that for us. A Y R. It's a very small town. I think I don't even know if Air has a hundred people in it. Um so I technically that's kind of where our base operation is where I grew up. And then if you go like I think it's eight miles south, Blue Hill, that's where my wife and I and our kids uh we reside on an acreage just outside of Blue Hill.
SPEAKER_01What uh what's the license plate prefix on your trucks or vehicles?
SPEAKER_02So we got two. Um for the farm side, it's 14, so that's Adams County.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02And then 45, which is Webster County. Yep. So and in our driveway, because I have a farm pickup, it's 14 for the farm, and then our personal vehicles are 45. So what high school did you go to? So Blue Hill, and I was involved in Blue Hill FFA and uh yeah, graduated in 2009.
SPEAKER_01And did you continue that FFA career after high school?
SPEAKER_02I did. I became a state FFA officer on the 2009-2010 uh state officer team. I was a vice president. Um, and that's really I I still go back to that was uh had a huge impact on my life um teaching me about service, and that's kind of what's led me to be involved in different organizations, and that was the start of my leadership journey. I mean, I was involved in our high school FFA chapter. I was president and had different officer positions, but it was the state FFA officer that just really opened my eyes to not only the different opportunities in agriculture, but just what leadership looks like and how I can use my leadership skills to make a difference.
SPEAKER_01Family?
SPEAKER_02So my wife and I, we have two kids. We have Riker, who is five, and then Adeline, who just turned one here at the end of December. So um, I tell people when I'm not busy on the farm, um, we're usually busy at home chasing those two. And if outside of that, then I'm busy with Farm Bureau, Nebraska Farm Bureau as well.
SPEAKER_01So I I think I can ask you this. Old people get offended, uh, but you're not old. How old are you?
SPEAKER_02So I am 35, gonna turn 36 here in another month. So and I don't like thinking I'm getting old. I like I still my mind tells me my mind, well, my mind says I'm still young. I like to think I'm still in my 20s, but I've noticed when I'm playing with my son or daughter and getting off the floor, you know, just a few parts of the the knees and all that.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, oh it only gets worse.
SPEAKER_02I know that's that's what I don't like thinking about.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So you mentioned after college at the University of Nebraska and Lincoln, you did some stuff in Precision Ag. What'd you do?
SPEAKER_02So I when I came back, I worked for our local co-op, and then I did basically like prescriptions for fertilizer, for um for planting, and then right when I came back in 2013, there was starting to be more water management with like water um oh probes, soil moisture probes, and helping schedule irrigations and monitoring the moisture levels in the soil. And even then uh variable rate irrigation was starting to take off. So I kind of led that program for our co-op and just really got involved and was able to bring a lot of those skills back to the farm when I came when I returned to the farm full-time.
SPEAKER_01So, in addition to yellow corn and soybeans, you mentioned a couple other crops that you uh grow. How did you get into those?
SPEAKER_02So it started with my dad. He has always kind of been diversified. Uh unique story about my dad is I'm a second generation farmer. He's a first generation farmer, and if you met him, you'd think he was a lifelong Nebraskan. But he was actually born and raised in Santa Monica, California.
SPEAKER_01How did he end up here?
SPEAKER_02So my grandpa was originally from the Mindon area, and then his family moved to Kearney. He attended the university up here in Lincoln, got a degree in architecture, and then when he graduated, decided to go out west and met my grandma out there, and they started their life out there in Santa Monica. So when my dad would come back to visit family back here, uh he just really enjoyed farming in just Nebraska and decided that some point that's what he wants to do, and just was able to he attended the university, graduated, moved back to um oh Hastings, there where we're at kind of right now, met my mom and just kind of through networking, was given some opportunities to farm some landlords that we still farm for their family here 30, 35 years later. And because of that, we were he was able to grow the operation and he he got in right kind of at the end of the 80s, so there was some opportunity there. But he was also being a first generation, you know, no one really helped him necessarily, so he had to truly him and my mom had to truly start on their own. And so he just he was the one that kind of got involved in the popcorn. Uh, he even grew sunflowers. I have there's a picture of him standing in a sunflower field, and I don't think anyone had grown sunflowers in our area. Um, so he was always kind of trying different things, and it was just a good way to diversify the operation and try some other things just besides corn and soybeans.
SPEAKER_01We've had some folks on this podcast that have been fifth and now sixth generation farmers and ranchers. You're second generation. Uh what challenges do you think you face sort of being just the second generation as opposed to having built up over multiple generations?
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell Well, the biggest thing that I see a second generation and just even the first generation is you're you're having to build something. You're like those fifth, sixth, seventh generations, they've already have had that history of building, you know, land, building that operation. So being a second generation, I don't want to say it feels like we're trying to catch up, but you are, you're having to figure out how to do things differently. Um and think outside of the box. I mean, I wouldn't say that it's any different than a fifth, you know, sixth generation because we're all facing the current challenges in the ag economy. So it really doesn't matter on that part, but it's just more the history part. I mean, there's if you're a fifth, sixth, seventh generation, there's a good chance there's been a lot of that land that's been in the family for over a hundred years and you kind of have that base. So but like I said, the challenges are the same between a second and fifth or sixth generation farmer, too.
SPEAKER_01So in addition to farming full-time, in addition to being a husband and a father to two cute little kids, uh you also are pretty active in the community in a variety of ways, both locally, state, and otherwise. What what are you involved in?
SPEAKER_02So currently I dedicate the majority of my time to Nebraska Farm Bureau. As I tell people, if I'm not farming at home, you can probably find me at a Farm Bureau event. I've had the privilege of serving on the Nebraska Fife Foundation Board of Directors here a few years ago. Um, been involved with corn growers, uh involved with our local jail committee when they're wanting to build a new jail. Uh I served.
SPEAKER_01See, I would do that for just to make sure it was a place for my kids when they grew up, right? Your kids are well behaved.
SPEAKER_02When I tell people I served on the jail committee, I get a lot of eyebrows. Uh, you know, but is to build a new jail. And the main reason I served on that was to represent. We all know that what funds a lot of these local projects is property taxes, and agriculture has a big I mean, we pay a lot in taxes. So I want to make sure there was a voice there and to make sure that we were using those tax dollars wisely. But currently, like I said, I have the privilege of serving on the Nebraska Farm Bureau Board of Directors, currently serve as the second vice president. I actually have been on the board for seven years, and then I termed out in December. I represented young farmers and ranchers. I termed out, I aged out of that position, and now I represent the south central region for the county farm bureaus in south central Nebraska. And so between that and serving as second vice president, it's truly a privilege to get to serve farmers.
SPEAKER_01You've gone all in on the Nebraska Farm Bureau. Why that organization?
SPEAKER_02Well, I've been I'm a member of corn growers. Um when we had cattle, I was a member of the cattlemen. But there's something about Nebraska Farm Bureau. What I what I really enjoy is we represent all ag. We're not just a specific commodity. We really are representing whether a corn farmer, soybean, uh, cow calf, hogs, you know, beets, sugar beets out west, um, you know, potatoes. Potatoes. I mean, it if anything that's part of agriculture, that is what Farm Bureau is representing. And we also represent rural Nebraska values too. And that's one thing I don't think Farm Bureau gets noticed a lot about is we are representing rural Nebraska. I mean, yes, we represent ag, and that's our number one thing, but ag is a huge part of rural Nebraska. So we have to pay attention to those issues that are impacting rural Nebraska as well, because it goes hand in hand with our rural communities. You got to have a good ag economy and farmers and ranchers because they support the community, but vice versa, you want to have thriving communities too, because that's where you get employees. You get your grocery stores and businesses as well.
SPEAKER_01You mentioned that you had cattle, no longer have cattle. Explain.
SPEAKER_02Well, hindsight now with current uh cattle prices, we're looking back to the city. Yeah, don't get in now. I know. Looking back, but at the time we got out was back in 2019. We all know what happened in Nebraska, and we were just at a point where we were going to need to spend a lot of capital in reinvesting in our cattle herd. Um, our cows were getting aged out where we were going to need to replace them. Our facilities just were we were getting by with them, but there again, need to make an investment. And for what we were doing in the cattle side, we just really took a look at our operation and we decided to refocus our resources and go more towards the row crop side. And because of that, we have grown the operation on that side. I mean, I've grown on acres, it's allowed me to focus more on building relationships with landlords and farm managers. But now looking at it, it'd be nice to have that diversification just because of the challenges in the row crop side. But um, I like to say I miss some, but then when we get those cold, you know, blizzards in the winter, I'm not out chopping ice. I'm not having to go out and and uh yeah, or calves, you know, that was the hardest part with calving is those cold nights and not being able to get, you know, you tried to get as many calves as you could, but you just can't control some things.
SPEAKER_01Lance, you uh were recently named a top 10 finalist for the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award. Congratulations. Thank you. Uh tell us about that.
SPEAKER_02So the Ag Achievement Award is from the state and American Farm Bureau of basically just acknowledging young producers and not not what they're only doing on their farm, but also what they do outside their farm, their leadership, their involvement, county, state, um, even nationally. And so for that process, you have to really um open up about your operation, share your finances, and show where you're growing, where your weakness is. And I actually enjoyed it because it was a good reflection um looking at where I started and where I came and where I'm currently at. And just knowing, you know, where kind of doing almost in a way like a SWOT analysis on, okay, here's my weaknesses, here's my strengths, especially the current times we're in with farming. And then also just looking back at as going back to, like I said, with the state FFA officer journey, what I've been involved with since that time and different boards I've served on or committees and involvement. And so it's really a reflection of that. And then you submit your application and you go through, it basically gets judged. And at American Farm Bureau, I got interviewed, I made it to the top 10, which was a huge honor just to be among 10 or nine other individuals that are have very successful operations. Sometimes you almost even for me, I was like, wow, I can't even believe I'm among these people. And then you go through an interview process and talk about your operation, they'll ask you questions, and then um through there, then they'll go through like the top um out of those 10. So for me, it was a privilege of just making it to the top 10. I don't think Nebraska Farm Bureau's ever, as far as I know, they've never had anyone make it to the top 10 in the Ag Achievement Award.
SPEAKER_01What was the toughest question you got in that interview?
SPEAKER_02Um the toughest question I actually got, and I I I always struggle answering it is what's my what's my next step in my leadership journey? And um I always struggle answering that one because I I view leadership as not as a stepping, you know, going from this point to this point to this point. I really believe that wherever I'm called to serve, that's where I'm gonna serve. Um my faith's important to me. So I really do believe that I'll be put to where I'm meant to be at. So that was towards the end, that was the question I got asked is like, you know, after they saw kind of what I had on my leadership part of, you know, what is the next step? What are you gonna do? And you know, I've been asked on, you know, what what's my future look like? And I tell people I really don't know. I just know I love serving, but as I tell people, family comes first, the farm comes first, and then outside of that, um then I can decide, you know, where I want to serve or what to do. And as long as it's meaningful, you know, I want to be able to give back to organizations and industries that have had an impact on me.
SPEAKER_01How do you balance farming, being a dad and a husband, and being a leader in these ag organizations, including the Nebraska Farm Bureau? How do you how do you try to balance all that out?
SPEAKER_02That's a good question. Uh have to have a support system. We're fortunate back home that you know, my parents are still on the farm, my mom still teaches full-time, my dad's still on the farm full-time, and then we have a really good full-time hired man. So being able to rely on a good support system there, and then just being encouraged by, you know, whether, you know, it's like coming down to Lincoln. I have a board meeting tomorrow, and you know, my wife's with the kids tonight, and she actually travels full-time. Um, she's a national accounts manager, so she's on the road every other week. So we're kind of sometimes it feels like tag team, you know, I'll get back, and then she takes off. But I think we're we're both driven individuals. And uh one thing after having kids, and I told other people this is that you know, before kids you think about yourself, you think about your dreams and where you want to go. When you have kids, then all of a sudden that changes, and it's not about you anymore, it's about what their future will look like and what are we doing for the next generation. And that's what inspires me to be involved is making sure that we are setting that next generation up to be successful or to achieve what they want to achieve out of life. And that that's why I choose to be involved in Farm Bureau or serve on local boards or committees, knowing that that those type of things are important.
SPEAKER_01So look back 10 years, uh, pretend it's you or a young farmer who wants to get involved or maybe start farming. Now that you have 10 years on uh on that old uh uh uh younger version of you, what advice would you give to that young farmer, that young Lance 10 years ago that you didn't know about that you know today?
SPEAKER_02Biggest thing is relationship building. That looking back at, and that goes back to that ag achievement application, that was that reflection on there, is looking back at where I started to where I'm at now, it really goes back to building relationships, whether that's with my farm managers, landlords, bankers, suppliers, whoever it is, it is really important to build those relationships because you don't know what opportunities are going to come out of that. And so I always say build those relationships and work hard. People will notice it. Sometimes you may question yourself if those late nights go until two in the morning is worth it or not. But working hard also does pay off. It it may not pay off as fast as we want it to, but eventually it'll pay off.
SPEAKER_01Uh, for that top 10 award you mentioned, you had to do sort of an assessment of where your operation has been and and where it is today. Did you also have to look at where it's going in the future? And if not, that's fine. But tell us where you plan. Let's look at your operation 10 years down the road. What do you want to look like?
SPEAKER_02So that's a great question because they did ask that question is where do you want your your operation to go? And we all know right now, at least in the row crop sector, it's a very challenging time. I mean, I don't if profitability's there this next year, it it's going to be a struggle to get there. And so what I put is there's kind of this focus, it seems like in agriculture that to grow, you it always has to be in acres. You know, when you look around at operations, it seems like you grow in acres. And one of the answers I put on my application was my growth isn't necessarily through acres. If the right opportunity comes along, great, but I want to grow that profit margin and get better at the acres I currently manage. And that's where I I would hope to grow, is get better with what I currently have. And then, like I said, if I can get better with that, then hey, if another opportunity comes to grow acres-wise, I'm good at what I currently have. It'll only add to it when you add some of those acres down the road.
SPEAKER_01What excites you the most about the future of agriculture, not only here in Nebraska, but throughout the U.S.?
SPEAKER_02I think there is going to be opportunities. It's hard right now when you being a young person, because my generation has not gone through a challenging time like this before. I wouldn't say we're to the 80s level yet, but there's no doubt this is probably one of the most difficult times for young people in agriculture because we have not gone through where we've had historically low commodity prices and high input prices. I mean, it just earlier today I was working on my crop budget and there's just not a lot of room that you can cut. I mean, you can cut some areas, but you still got to be able to grow a crop. So I think once we can get through these challenging times, there's going to be opportunity to not only probably diversify your operation, but opportunity to get better at what we're doing. And I think there will be new markets open up. I hope, you know, there's talk with E 15 making that um year round. The biofuels thing could really take off. So I think there's gonna be a lot of opportunity there. And there's going to be opportunity for us to have to think outside of the box and maybe do things different than what we're used to.
SPEAKER_01In what ways does your farm stay on the cutting edge?
SPEAKER_02Well, we use technology. We try to stay up to date with technology. I mean, as with anything, there's always a cost to it. We are using the technology of variable rate, seeding, fertilizing, our fertility management. This next year I'm looking at using a uh Sentinel fertigation or Sentinel uh nitrogen. I can't remember the off the top of my head, but a company that helps us manage our nitrogen basically usage. Um so we're trying to do that, you know, in the machinery side. Like I said, that's that's where we're really at is trying to see how we can be more efficient with some of this technology on this equipment. I'm a big ROI guy though. So although a lot of this technology sounds really cool, I want to make sure it's also returning that investment because it's not cheap. But there's a lot of new things coming out that I think will help us be better, be more efficient, and hopefully save some cost.
SPEAKER_01So you're uh you keep up to date with the latest in agriculture. What resources do you use? What websites, what podcasts, what uh newsletters? What do you look at?
SPEAKER_02So to be honest with you, a lot of my stuff comes from X, it seems like. I mean, I don't know how their Elgos work, but I get a lot of interesting stuff um from the uh X. But I'll listen to like um Agri Talk is another podcast where they talk about the markets. I I just try to stay up with current events. I'll I read the newspaper, the Lincoln Journal stuff. The hard copy. I I do the digital copy. I do the digital copy, but I still stay, you know, up to date on what's going on because a lot of times we can you can listen to read farm magazines and all that, but a lot of what impacts us and impacts the policy is what's going on outside of just ag. It's a global industry now. I mean, halfway around the world, a major issue could impact our markets here. And so it's just trying to broaden in broadening my knowledge of what's going on. Farm Bureau, gotta put in a plug for Farm Bureau, another great resource, especially on the policy side of like what's happening down here in Lincoln as well as in DC. But I'll like I said, I read a variety of resources. I mean, a lot of things on social media, I follow different groups, um, and then just even networking with other people is a good resource.
SPEAKER_01Your kids are young, so this is not a fair question, but do you want them to go into a career in ag?
SPEAKER_02I hope they'll choose a career in ag. As I always tell my wife, you know, it's up to them what they want to do. I think my son very well will go into ag if not farming. I mean, we should buy more stock in John Deere because of the John Deere toys we have in our house. And it's it's fun watching him reenact what we do in real life on the farm and like our grain cart, you know, he'll call our full-time hired man's name's Jeremy, and so he'll say, Well, you need to go be Jeremy because that's who runs the grain cart, or Decker, because that's who drives the truck, or Jason and whatnot. So you can see he's taken an interest in that and he's paying close attention to what we do on the farm. So I hope we're setting myself, I'm setting a good example for him if he does choose to do this. But regardless, I'll support him or my daughter, um, whatever they choose. But AG, there is something special about the industry. And I'm thankful my dad chose to come back and farm and become a first-generation farmer and give me that opportunity.
SPEAKER_01So let's assume neither you nor your wife wants to cook and you want to go out for a special family meal. Where do you go in your neck of the woods?
SPEAKER_02So in Hay, well, it depends. If it's just my wife and I, we love to go to the Odyssey in downtown Hastings. Great food, just a good atmosphere. It literally is a restaurant that you'd find in the hay market down here. So we feel pretty special at the Odyssey. If it's uh Riker, just the all four of us, you know, we don't really go out to eat a lot with as a family. I mean, we like to just do I mean with corn prices, right? Well, with corn prices right now, yeah. This next year we're really going to be cutting that budget, uh, the meal budget a little bit. But we like to, I mean, big thing is just spending time as a family. And to be honest, yeah, we do more home cooked family meals, and then every now and then my wife and I we get to go out right just us have some fun.
SPEAKER_01So, uh, what's the favorite part of your day on the farm?
SPEAKER_02You know, favorite part of my day is especially during planting and harvesting, is just seeing that sunrise or sunset. Let this last year during harvest, we'll start at six in the morning. So oftentimes it's dark. And I told my hired man the one day the sun was coming up and it was just a beautiful sunrise that morning, and vice versa. There's we got, I think we have great sunsets. And I said, you know, we are really blessed to get to be able to do this as a living and get to see some of this stuff that other people don't get to see. You know, there's that sun's coming up, everyone else is just waking up and we're out there working. And I just think it's a cool, neat feeling to get to experience that. And I'm always, it reminds me, especially when you have a challenging day on the farm or a day that you're frustrated, of how blessed we really are to get to do what we get to do, which is farming, growing that crop, taking it from a seed all the way to that ear corn or soybean, and you hope you'll reap the benefit of all your hard work that goes into it. And that's my favorite parts in those evenings of just getting reflect of being thinking about how great it is that we get to experience this.
SPEAKER_01Is there one tool or technology that you use on the farm or in your operation that you just simply can't live without?
SPEAKER_02Well, I would say it's a GPS to be honest with you. Um we have these like sun flares, right? Okay, so here, what was that? Two years ago, I was planting, and all of a sudden I notice I had this guest row out here, and it what we plant, we are 30-inch row spacing, and this looked like 60-inch row spacing. I'm thinking, this isn't right. And I'm thinking this the tractor, the monitor, it's acting up. And so I call our tech person at John Deere, and he's having me recalibrate it, and we're doing all these recalibrations, and and we can't get it. Well, then all of a sudden they send out a message that it's the sun flares, and we had to shut down the rest of the day. And it makes you realize how much we rely on the GPS technology now. Back then, you know, when my dad first got started, they were using markers to plant. And nowadays uh we take it for granted a little bit. I mean, I still believe we need to know how to drive a tractor manually, but I would say GPS is kind of the thing that allows it allows you to pay attention to what you're doing, but it also uh as I tell people, farmers wear so many different hats. You're on your phone, whether it's for financial, it's agronomy, whatnot, and it allows us to also kind of multitask at the same time. Um, so I would say GPS, I've right as of right now, is still the most important technology piece because without it, none of the other stuff works.
SPEAKER_01Right. Uh what's the best advice you've ever received?
SPEAKER_02Well, it was when I was an intern for the Nebraska Corn Board, and it was Don Hutchins, who was the director at the time. And I we had a trade mission from I think it was Taiwan, somewhere in Southeast Asia. And I remember walking in and I didn't have a notepad or pen. And he comes up to me and he goes, Are you forgetting something? And I'm like, he's like, notepad and pen. And so I've learned ever since then that because of everything I'm involved in, is to never be afraid of taking notes. And I now have learned that when I'm in my board meetings or I'm meeting with the banker or whatnot, how important it is to be able to jot that stuff down. So that was kind of one of the important things that I remember business professionally is to always have a pen and paper and be ready to take notes.
SPEAKER_01What do you do with those notes?
SPEAKER_02Do you save them?
SPEAKER_01I save them. It's like drive your does you drive your wife up a wall that you've kept all this stuff?
SPEAKER_02No, it's you know, I try to get my the problem with my notes is if someone looked at them, they're kind of all over the place because I'll just jot down these ideas or jot down. Um I have one book that when I go to like the school board meeting, I'm not on the school board, but I go to the meetings just to hear about what's going on. I'll jot down those notes. And it's you just never know when you'll have to go back and look at them. There's a lot of times you're like, oh, I don't, and then someone will ask you a question. It's like, oh, I can't remember. I didn't write it down. Or if you wrote it down, you can go back, let me go back to my notes and I can figure out what uh what that was about. So so yeah, I've kind of I just remember my professional when I was an intern. That was one of the biggest things that I remember. He he kind of called me out on it. Have a pen and paper always.
SPEAKER_01So we've talked a little bit about uh how you got to where you are today, kind of the current state of your operation, but let's go down about 40 years. What do you what do you want your legacy to be?
SPEAKER_02If I from 40 years now, I would hope the legacy I'm leaving is to make a difference. And I think that's really and when I say make a difference right now, we just being involved in Foreign Bureau, being involved in policy, it's just it's an interesting time right now. And I would hope that looking back I could say that I made a difference for the next generation, whether that's creating opportunities for young people, whether that's my son, daughter, or other peers of theirs, is to make sure that we are leaving the next generation better off than how we got to where we're at today. Because without that next generation, we don't have a future at the end of the day. So I would hope that'd be the legacy I could leave is just making a difference for the next generation.
SPEAKER_01Lance, uh, we ask everyone who appears on this podcast this question. You get one word. What is the one word that to you best describes this state in which you were born and raised, where you attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where you served as a state FFA officer, where you were a very active leader in the Nebraska Farm Bureau and are representing Nebraska even on the national stage. What is your one word for Nebraska?
SPEAKER_02Unique. Can you explain? Because Nebraska is unique from the fact of our people. We have some of the best people in the country. We're unique from the fact we have resources, whether that's an Ogallala aquifer, sand hills, we're unique from our industry perspective of agriculture. We have all sorts of agriculture from ranching to hogs to row crops to sugar beets. Nebraska's just a unique state. And when you go to other states, and I've been fortunate to travel, when you go to other states, there's something that just always makes Nebraska stand out. And it's truly the biggest is the people of the state. They make a big difference in just our communities. People are always willing to step up, whether it's coaching their local youth team for basketball or serving on school board or jail committee. You know, people are always willing to step up to the plate and make a difference.
SPEAKER_01Lance, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me on. Folks, if you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or whatever your favorite podcast app is. Give it a like, share it with someone, send it along so that others can enjoy it as well. And please keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska. It's great communities, Nebraska's number one industry agriculture, and the people will make it happen.
SPEAKER_00Thanks. This has been 93, the podcast, sponsored by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Ludke.
