The Farmer's Greatest Asset Podcast

Coffee on the Porch: Haymaking, Mindset, and Green Beans

• Jesse and Dr. Leah Steffensmeier

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Jesse and Dr. Leah share their "Coffee on the Porch" conversation covering farm updates, personal reflections, and practical health tips for agricultural families.

• Discussing the satisfaction of haymaking season and the nostalgia of fresh-cut hay smell
• Comparing the surprising growth difference between expensive hybrid soybeans and simple garden green beans
• Practicing gratitude as a tool for maintaining perspective during busy farming seasons
• Addressing the challenge of getting caught in day-to-day busy work versus tasks that "move the needle"
• Exploring the limiting belief of needing to do everything yourself instead of delegating
• Highlighting the importance of intentional exercise beyond regular farm work
• Suggesting short 5-10 minute walks after meals to improve digestion and metabolism

Share this episode with five friends who may need a funny story or information to help improve their health and wellbeing. Send us your stories or questions at farmersgreatestasset@gmail.com - we appreciate your feedback!


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Speaker 1

The Farmer's Greatest Asset podcast. We believe the farm's greatest asset is the farmer their knowledge, experience, mind and health. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Jesse.

Speaker 2

And I'm Dr Leah.

Speaker 1

Well, I guess we're going to introduce something we're going to try to do on a regular basis, I don't know, every other week, once a month, something.

Speaker 2

Let's not put time constraints on it, we're just going to put things out there.

Speaker 1

So we're calling it coffee on the porch.

Speaker 2

We love having coffee on the porch.

Speaker 1

That's kind of us.

Speaker 2

We get our coffee and have our morning talks. Morning talks are amazing for our relationship. I would say about three quarters of the time, but they go on sometimes for hours and hours. It kind of depends on the weather and how much work we have to do, but I love our time in the mornings together.

Speaker 1

We get some good talks in.

Speaker 2

And some good planning, and sometimes it starts some heated discussions. We'll just say it in that way. And then the day doesn't go so great.

Speaker 1

Some days.

Haymaking and Farm Updates

Speaker 2

Some days, but no, that's relationships. Sorry, I'm taking this in a whole different direction. I love you.

Speaker 1

So our coffee talk. What have we been accomplishing on the farm this week? Well, we got our baling done for the most part last week.

Speaker 2

Second cutting no.

Speaker 1

First, cutting grass.

Speaker 2

First, cutting grass.

Speaker 1

We are going to be doing some more second cutting alfalfa this week, so it's like the hay baling never ends.

Speaker 2

And I asked you yesterday.

Speaker 1

You really enjoy making hay, don't you? I do. I don't know. If it's the smell of fresh cut hay or raked hay, Then you can kind of smell that hay that's kind of cooked, a little bit curing. I love that smell.

Speaker 2

When you were younger.

Speaker 1

I probably hated it because it was all small squares by hand.

Speaker 2

You probably got that time alone in the tractor. Like the smell's got to bring something back to you.

Speaker 1

But the raking, did you not rake? I was a kid on the hay rack, Sure. But what about the mowing and raking? Who did that? I did some of it. I don't remember doing much raking or mowing, I don't know, it's just the smell.

Speaker 2

I love the smell of hay that's how I feel when I mow grass. I really love to mow the grass like Like now you can walk in.

Speaker 1

We stacked all those small squares in the barn and you can just walk in the barn and it's that smell of the alfalfa, drying and curing and I love that smell. I don't know why I I really like making small squares too, and when I was a kid it was work and that's all I did all summer was bale hay and bale straw.

Speaker 2

Maybe that's why you love it. It brings you back to your childhood.

Speaker 1

I guess, I don't know.

Speaker 2

We got a little bit of the stacking of the small squares. I mean, we do have an accumulator, which I am grateful for.

Speaker 1

I have threatened Henry that we're going to get rid of the accumulator and go back old school and build some hay racks. We don't have a single hay rack sitting around the farm anymore.

Speaker 2

I think the only people who have hay racks are auctioneers.

Speaker 1

They bought all the hay racks.

Speaker 2

I think they have bought all the hay racks.

Speaker 1

But I have threatened to get rid of the accumulator. We're going to go back and do it old school and stack them on the hay rack.

Speaker 2

I'm fine with the grass, like this time, I could easily lift the grass bales, those hundred 125 pound alfalfa bales.

Speaker 1

They weren't that heavy.

Speaker 2

Okay, even 75 pounds repetitively for me.

Speaker 1

I was making them really heavy and really tight and the neighbors that we do their hay for for their horses. She really disliked it as well, because she wants to be able to pick up a 40-pound bale and 35-pound bale and go put chunks in for horses and we'd stack it in their shed for them with the accumulator and she'd have to crawl up there and roll it down and so struggle now I can handle 50 pounds easy, like they don't have to be 30 to 40, but 75 on repeat it would be it would be a challenge for me and to get done in that short amount of timeframe because it is like the hay is done, it has to be in the barn that night.

Speaker 2

but we did get some experience with uh moving the bales ourselves after uh caleb's little mishap on the farm well, I think we're gonna have to threaten our, our employees that we're gonna do it. Old school, so you can learn how to stack hay in defense and he was quick to point out it was the first time he ever stacked them with the accumulator. The first row was really good. The second row was pretty good, and then it began to kind of shift.

Speaker 1

The higher he got, the further over it got to the passenger side.

Speaker 2

And then when we went to move them and he had taken the straps off, I don't know how he made it home. Because it had to travel. What 15 miles.

Speaker 1

Up hills and around curves and turns.

Speaker 2

It started shifting more and more and more. Thank God for the straps so this week.

Speaker 1

We're grateful for straps he had it strapped, got it home, parked it and I was unloading the other loads and I sent him and dalton off to do something, return some trailers or something. And I just looked over at that trailer. I thought I'm not touching it about doing it. We're waiting for caleb to get back and sure, sure enough, we dumped it.

Speaker 2

He dumped it jesse knew it was gonna happen.

Speaker 1

We knew it was gonna go, so we told him he's gonna move it, and sure enough, it went all over but luckily those bales were super light so it wasn't.

Speaker 2

It wasn't horrible. And the weather it was a nice cool evening and the sun wasn't out, so it wasn't super hot. It was not a typical unstacking of the bale in the hot barn. You need a gallon to rehydrate situation. Thank god we don't do that anymore.

Speaker 1

Thank you for accumulators so, yeah, I do love making hay and I don't know why. Why that is, but because I complain about that's. All I did is, as a kid in the summer, baled hay baled straw for us, for dad, dad for the neighbor, for the uncle. I got farmed out to everybody, I believe.

Speaker 2

Now, that's why you're so big and strong. One of the reasons, sure, well, maybe it's not a complaint, maybe it's just a happy memory. Must be yeah. So what else is going on on the farm? We loaded out some fat cattle. What's?

Speaker 1

that Fats go. Got some more fats going, not this weekend. The next weekend we're still post-spraying some soybeans. Should get that finished up here in a couple days. That's going well, changing our whole program on that, actually Starting to fertilize more while that sprayer is going over. I'm doing a lot more foliar passes, so we got a lot more spraying to do yet. But I we know that it works. You give the plant what it needs when it needs it and just keep spoon feeding. So a lot of that corn post-spraying is done. But that means it's growing like crazy because we finally got some heat and humidity, some rain, so it's pushing. V9, v10.

Speaker 2

We've had really good corn growing weather.

Speaker 1

Yes, we have.

Speaker 2

In southeast Iowa I know a lot of our neighbors to the east out in Ohio. I guess they're not so much neighbors.

Speaker 1

There's a lot of water everywhere. There is a lot of water Even in Missouri, there's a lot of water. They keep saying we're in a drought. I'm not calling it a drought, but again, I don't ever want to not get the rain. I'll take it when I can get it, so I think it's been pretty good growing conditions where we're at. There's a lot of good crops though out there.

Speaker 2

And the beans are doing well too.

Speaker 1

Beans are doing good. They're finally taking off.

Speaker 2

They're slow growing, but we haven't had anything over 80 degrees until a week ago.

Speaker 1

Yeah, my greenhouse is loving all of the sun. Yeah, here we are. Okay, I'll paint a picture. We chop our triticale for cattle feed, we get it done, get some manure hauled and we plant the beans.

Speaker 1

On a sunday, and I think you planted your green beans I think wednesday after I planted the soybeans yeah so we're spending all this money on these fancy beans with all of the coating, all of the stuff on the beans, expensive hybrid beans. You plant green beans they were four days after me. You just go out there, you move a little dirt, dig a trench and you just drop some seeds in and we have these multi-hundred thousand dollar planters for spacing and depth and and the the green bean seed costs like 33 cents.

Speaker 1

Sorry, it costs 33 cents you just cover yours up with your foot and throw a little water on it and I was squatting down and I used my hands to cover it up and create some compaction it was not a $500,000 planter that put these green beans in the ground and those little suckers three days, popped up in three days and in another three days they're a couple inches tall.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah, now they're. I mean, I think they're, they're totally starting to leaf out already and those soybeans were planted in pretty good conditions.

Speaker 1

The ground was still fairly mellow, I know they went into moisture and it took till the next Sunday for them to actually start popping up, and they had some rain on them after they got planted.

Speaker 2

You know now that I think about it, I'm like when I'm cost comparing and return on investment. I bet I could get more than ten dollars a bushel on green beans. But it is labor intensive like you have to hand pick it is but I bet I'm I. I bet I would make more money on the green beans, those green beans at 30 cents.

Speaker 1

It's a little frustrating. Anyway, you did a fantastic job at growing your green beans. Well, I haven't, I haven't, they aren't even flowering yet but you got those suckers out of the ground quick though. Yeah, I did. Well, that was excellent.

Speaker 2

I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I've had to go back and thin out those green beans. Like initially, when I started planting them, I was like, okay, every three to four inches, three to four inches, and I think it's actually supposed to be like four to six because they get so bushy, and I've never actually thinned them before. But I thought I'm going to try that this year. I have like a super long row. Initially I was like planting them, spacing them, well, and then by the end I was like, screw it, I'm just going to thin them out.

Speaker 1

They all grew.

Speaker 2

They did. There was even one on my weed barrier that started sprouting with no soil.

Speaker 1

Soybeans will do that too. But man, those little suckers grew.

Practicing Gratitude on the Farm

Speaker 2

Well, we all like green beans, so that's true.

Speaker 1

So, anyway, in the past we have talked about how not only our faith has been helpful for us, but being grateful, always finding something that you're grateful for, and it could be as simple as going out and saying that's a beautiful sunrise, it's going to be a great day, and just being thankful for me and grateful and seeing it is been helpful in changing my mindset.

Speaker 2

So what are you grateful for this week or today?

Speaker 1

I was thinking about that earlier this morning before we started recording the podcast. I was thinking about that earlier this morning before we started recording the podcast and it is truly that I get to do this with you and our kids. I love having the kids around and being part of the farm and having you on the farm and getting to do it as a family, even though I get a little cranky. I'm working on that.

Speaker 2

We are all works in progress.

Speaker 1

It's the pain, like physical pain, that I'm trying to and fatigue. We're getting better.

Speaker 2

Day by day. In every way, I'm getting better and better. Well, this week I am really grateful for the small square hay accumulator Because, although it is a good workout, I did not want to commit that much time to moving all those bales. It goes a lot faster when you have an accumulator and someone driving a tractor.

Speaker 1

You guys did a pretty good job. So half of the stack was on the ground and half was still on the trailer.

Speaker 2

Somebody Dalton was on the ground and half was still on the trailer. Somebody dalton was on the trailer.

Speaker 1

Henry caleb and I were out moving the bales so you'd stack them in the groups of 10 so I could come and grab them with the accumulator. So by the time I could get them stacked in the barn and back out there, you guys had the stack ready for me yeah, they were.

Speaker 2

They were light, so they were easy moving. I was thankful for that as well. You're welcome those 75 to a hundred pound bales are not as easy for me.

Speaker 1

We've never made a 75 or a hundred pound small square bale. That'd be a monster bale.

Speaker 2

You've also never weighed them. This is true. Otherwise, I am thankful that I get to do this life with you and that we work, get to work on the farm together. Leaving medicine was difficult and for me, getting out of that rat race was the best thing that I could do for myself and therefore for our relationship and our family it was a rat race, it was. I did serve a lot of ladies, delivered a lot of babies.

Speaker 1

It was all part of your path.

Speaker 2

It was it was. I'm grateful for it and all of that that I went through. It has helped grow me in ways that would never have otherwise been and helped led me to regenerative medicine.

Speaker 1

Right. It led you down a whole other new path, but it gave you all that knowledge too.

Mindset Challenges and Delegation

Speaker 2

Yes, the foundation on which to build Right, and also the insight in problem solving that a different way of thinking, like medical school, gives you a completely different way of thinking and looking at the world. That is all individual, too, because I can see a difference between myself and my classmates Not that there's a right, wrong or indifferent, but it grew me and my experiences within medicine grew me to be where I'm at today. Experiences within medicine grew me to be where I'm at today and I'm so grateful that I can be here to help serve others, and especially in the agricultural community, and I'm really excited to help agricultural families with improving their health and mental well-being. So we have been talking about health and well-being and your mindset throughout our podcasts. Right now, at this point in my life, this time of year for myself it is I struggle with being busy and getting the work done, so I have to.

Speaker 1

It's not that you're struggling to get the work done.

Speaker 2

Well, I'm struggling to get the work done too, but it's the mindset around it.

Speaker 1

We just get so busy in the busy work and then fail to do.

Speaker 2

Maybe I shouldn't call it fail but we just don't get to the big things that really will move the needle in response to our business. So there are big projects that will help move the needle significantly, but we are I am caught in the day-to-day busy work. It's a comfort level, like I'm comfortable with that, although I'm not getting the stuff done that I really want to get done. There's a comfort to making lunch and cleaning up after lunch and getting it out to everyone, and those are all things that I do not need to be doing. We have three children that can be helping with all of that as well. So delegation is a thing that I am working on right now with my mindset around that, and I've I've had to come back to this so many times because I have this limiting belief that to get it done right, I have to be the one that does it, and that keeps me busy and keeps me from moving the needle, which is not really aligning with my soul's purpose here.

Speaker 1

We focus on the busy work and avoid the hard things. But the hard things are the right things.

Speaker 2

Probably one of the one of the big hardest things with, with that whole time scarcity. Focusing on the bigger picture, I have this fear that I'm going to be letting you down and letting the kids down, because a good mom makes the meals and has a clean house and a good wife is there when her husband wants to call her. And really, at this point, for me to really start moving the needle for our business and the direction that we're heading in serving the agricultural community, I need to have a life away from the family, which is a big change and it's hard. It's going to be an adjustment for you, it's going to be adjustment for the kids. Like I need to have that work time.

Speaker 2

It is me thinking that you guys will be in resistance that keeps me away from that. Like I'm going to be letting you down and that isn't something that you guys are placing on me. It is a limiting belief that I'm putting on myself and it's easy for me to sit there and point a finger at. Well, jesse's going to be upset if I don't have his lunch made, or or the kids don't want to make lunch today, so I'll make it easier for them and we all have to clean up together and then I don't have to delegate and I just keep myself busy. So, changing that mindset and really focusing on the direction that I went ahead and letting go of those fears that I'm going to be letting people down that is what I am working on right now.

Health and Exercise for Farmers

Speaker 1

For me. I realized literally last night that we have talked about in the past on the podcast about working out and staying healthy. You know, I saw somebody working out and I realized that one you got to take care of your body, to be productive and everything else. And I am still very active outside, but it doesn't, like we've said before, it doesn't take the place of exercise. And actually in that moment you asked me if I could still do a pushup and I literally didn't know. You asked because of my hip and I was more concerned about my wrist and I can't do put my hands flat on the ground to do a pushup. But then I tried and I can make a fist, so make a fist and do my pushups. And I was still able to do pushups. Woohoo, yeah, so that. So make a fist and do my push-ups. And I was still able to do push-ups. Woo-hoo, yeah. So that was a good moment, I guess.

Speaker 2

But I realized We'll chalk that up as a win.

Speaker 1

Right, but I realized that I need to get back to working out and I could do simply just going on a walk with you or by myself, whatever, and then do some push-ups and sit-ups and crunches, just simple stuff that doesn't necessarily have to go to the gym and still get some sort of workout in.

Speaker 2

So how are you going to hold yourself accountable to doing that every day? Because here's the thing I'm really great at setting aside time for planning, and I plan really well and I put all those things in my schedule, but how are you going to hold yourself accountable and make sure you do it?

Speaker 1

Probably should keep a journal of when I do go. So when I go I journal on when I went and what I did in that workout.

Speaker 2

Maybe we should have like a family calendar check off like that we all look at every day. We put a check mark up there for when we do our activity and we can all hold each other accountable. That being said, we'll have to go on a walk after we get done with the podcast. That sounds great, babe. I'm definitely in that with you. I have been doing more walking and getting outside and I need to work on the strength training portion. That is where I need to go with my health.

Speaker 1

We all do, all farmers do, everybody does, because we're active. Doesn't take the place of exercise, strength training, walking. You got to have that actual workout put in, because when you take care of yourself, everything is better.

Speaker 2

Because when you take care of yourself, everything is better. And I would say, if you can't take a 45 minute walk once a day, think about splitting that up into four 10 minute walks. If you eat and then go for a five to 10 minute walk, your metabolism changes and, like your body, changes how you process that food. So even just taking a quick little walk, instead of going directly from your meal to out in the tractor or out to the shop or something like that, just go for a quick little walk. It will help your body process the food that it just digest or that it's in the process of digesting, that it just took in.

Speaker 1

Definitely. Don't go to the recliner and kick back. You need to work on processing and utilizing that energy. You just the gas you just gave your body.

Speaker 2

So that would be our simple tip for you, you guys, to go out for a five to ten minute walk after each meal.

Speaker 1

Well, thanks for listening. If you found value in any of it or enjoyed listening, please go out and like it and subscribe and share it with all of your friends.

Speaker 2

If you have found value in this, share it with five friends who may need to have a funny story or or listen to something to help improve their health and wellbeing.

Speaker 1

Go share a story with us, send us a message, something that you guys have accomplished or want to hear from us at farmersgreatestassetatgmailcom.

Speaker 2

We appreciate all the people who have been sending in information.

Speaker 1

It's been good.

Speaker 2

So we'd love to hear your feedback and let us know if you have any questions.

Speaker 1

It's a good day.

Speaker 2

To have a great day.

Speaker 1

To have a great day.

Speaker 2

Bye.

Head Shot

Jesse and Dr. Leah Steffensmeier

Co-host