Ep 4 : Matt AcMoody "Spotted at The Washrack"

Matt AcMoody from AcMoody Show Pigs sits down with us for a fun evening in the washrack.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Welcome to the watch round.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Well, good evening, everybody. Hope everybody's doing good out there. All you cool cats and kittens, we have a great episode in store for you tonight. I've really been looking forward to this. Joining us this evening is going to be Matt Ackmoody from Ackmoody Showpigs.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Welcome, Matthew. Hey, happy to be here, guys. Matty Ace. How you been, man?

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Alongside here, sitting courtside, also with us, is our color commentator, Justin Connors. We've got Tate Thompson for his inaugural Washer App Podcast. Hello. Trace Thompson on Technical Support. And Nick Thompson, our host, as per usual. Matthew, how you been, man? Ain't seen you in a while.

SPEAKER_07 1:15

Pretty good. Just uh wrapping up selling pigs for the season and uh no better time to start power washing than now. And so just kind of wrapping up the uh the selling season and moving into cleaning and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Been a pretty pretty good sales season for you so far. You've been satisfied?

SPEAKER_07 1:35

Yeah, not bad. Uh you know, kind of hit and miss like all the other seasons. Uh you got you know new customers, uh continuing customers, and uh everything in between. So well, it's always good.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

You gotta have the repeat buyers, but the new buyers are great to have too.

SPEAKER_07 1:52

Pretty good pretty good year this year for you. Yeah, yeah, that's good year. Can't complain. Um uh yeah, no complaints at all.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Yeah, we we went down a lot through the first set, I believe it was, and uh they looked real good. I was real impressed with them. Crossbread seemed to be picking up too. It's doing well on those, and obviously the spots have always been kind of your baby. So we'll get into that a little bit later, too. But uh I bought a heck of a set of pigs this year down at the Akmoody ranch, so appreciate it. Yeah, might might even have a little something around here.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Well, that's good. Um alright, just to kind of dig into it a little bit, Matt, to throw it way back and you know, as I I got thinking about this a little bit today as we were, you know, as usual, we're very well prepared. We reached out to Matt yesterday, I think, and got him here today. Well, that was a that was a Tuesday, and this is a Wednesday, so we're pretty ahead of the eight ball, actually. Matter of fact, usually we I mean he's had almost I'd say shoot damn near 24 hours heads up. So um, but I got thinking today just as I was bouncing around doing stuff, the first time I kind of remember Matt Ackmoody would have been um I remember the kid with uh the birthmark on his nose at the level we were at a lifestyle judging contest at MLE when they used to have that state contest in conjunction with it, and I'd come down with a team from the UP, and uh that's where I I didn't know who he was, but you know, once you see him, he kind of sticks in your memory and um kind of like you. Yes, a little bit like me, yeah, for better or for worse.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Um but that's the first time I really remember seeing Matt Ackmoody and remembered watching him show a bunch of pigs and stuff that year, and always seemed like they were getting along pretty good, too. And so in that vein a little bit, Matt, uh throwing back to the early days. Tell us a little bit about how you broke into showing livestock, or what were some of your earliest memories showing pigs primarily, you know. I think that's what you guys always did. Just kind of take us from there and give us a give us a blurb that way.

SPEAKER_07 4:04

Oh man, that's going way back. Um the first memory I have of showing pigs is at the old state fair in Detroit. Um I was fortunate enough to show there, I think, for three years, three or four years before they kind of closed that down, and we transitioned to the Michigan Livestock Expo. Um I don't know when that would have been exactly. I'm kind of dating myself at this point.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Yeah. I think it would have been I think 2009 was the last state fair in Detroit, wasn't it? Something like that. I think it was 2009. I think that that was the also the first year of MLE. I think they had it at the Ingham County Fairgrounds that year, and it was the last year of the state fair.

SPEAKER_07 4:46

Yeah, I remember a story specifically from the old state fair in Detroit. Um uh other than pigs, we uh used to exhibit goats as well. And we were it was goat showmanship day, and we stayed in a hotel out on Eight Mile Road. I'm not I'm not kidding you, there's a bullet hole in the window. Um and we didn't stay there the next year, obviously. Right. Um But dad and Brian got up early to do chores. That's Brian Brian Hines, yeah. And uh so dad and Brian got up early to do chores, let us kids uh sleep in, and uh so mom was driving us uh to the state fair that morning, and somehow we got turned around on eight mile road and we're kind of going oh boy driving here and there and everywhere, and uh I missed goat showmanship that morning.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

So that's did you did you hear like lose lose yourself like playing on every street corner?

SPEAKER_07 5:52

Oh shoot. But yeah, good times are at the old state fair.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

Well, I I'll take a minute and share one of my favorite first Mad Act Moody stories. And uh, for those of you that don't know, I kind of fit into this equation in an awkward way because I'm good friends with David. I've gotten to be good friends with Matt. And all that kind of started when my nephew, uh both my nephews, Ben and Brady Littlefield, went to MSU. Um and being only 20 minutes away from campus, um, they'd pop out and check on the livestock and you know have a couple beers and pal around. And I remember the one night in particular, um, it got coined, and that's actually still a Snapchat group to this day, it got coined the 84 Club. Um, we I can't remember a bunch of people showed up here with Brady and Ben, and we drank a 30-pack of beer, and then we drank another 30-pack of beer, and then we ran out. Well, lo and behold, who shows up late with a 24-pack but Matt Aquity? So, and I think that one got drank too. So, uh, yeah, so that's where the the the 84 club was coined, and uh very punctual. That was one of my yeah, one of my first uh I mean I I'd known Matt for a while before that, but that that kind of solidified I think our friendship, and uh and we've been uh been friends ever since, and uh he's uh pointed us in the in the right direction on a lot of great pigs for the boys. And uh we've we've uh ended up with uh one of our foundation styles actually came from him, so it's been fun to to get to know you, Matt, and watch you grow up and be uh be a part of that.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

So and uh appreciate it. That's a that's a good background story how he's why he's known as one more activity. But so you remember you've been around long enough now, Matt, to uh you showed at the old state fair. Um you know, just walk us along through like I mean you were immersed in the showing hogs for for quite some time. Tell us about like where you guys went and like some of the some of the highlights from that over the years, just when you guys were showing, like before you were really starting to breed your own, so on and so forth.

SPEAKER_07 8:08

Um I was lucky enough to make the sale at Detroit uh State Fair. Um my sister was as well. My sister actually made the sale. I think I don't know if they did top five or top eight pigs back then. I can't remember. I was really young. Uh she made the sale both years, the last year of the state fair and the first year of the Michigan Livestock Expo. Um, and we've both had top eight hogs um since then MLE, and we've both had reserve grands overall. So we've been very fortunate in the show ring ourselves. Um, and those weren't with pigs that we raised, those were uh pigs that we purchased um or my dad and Brian found um across the country.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

So and the Heinz family, obviously. I mean, not to keep push for push me along, but they were they were a big part of that too. I mean, you guys, I mean when I think of think of your dad Andy, I normally think pretty quickly of uh of Brian as well. They're kind of like the Bert Derney of the Michigan livestock industry. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 9:09

Sometimes they share a brain, it's kind of scary. You get the two in the same room and they they just start losing brain stuff.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

I've always heard Andy say that they share half a brain, but when they're apart, Andy takes his half with it.

SPEAKER_07 9:21

Yeah, yeah. I might be. Yeah, I think you're pretty you're pretty close on that. Um yeah, so yeah, Brian was really influential and uh um you know me getting started showing pigs and then uh uh ultimately raising pigs um and and that aspect. Uh uh Brian Hines, uh Doc Fisher uh taught me all the ropes in terms of you know breeding and uh you know just uh um husbandry and stuff. Yeah, all all the all the things that you know happens on a farm, and then uh you know, since then I I've uh you know leaned more on Brian Hines and uh Doug Albright have been very good mentors um you know in the most recent years.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

So tell us you touched on a little bit, tell us a little about how you made that transition from showing livestock to raising livestock because I think that's always kind of interesting.

SPEAKER_07 10:14

Yeah, so um showing livestock, when I was getting older, I I had a very fast receding hairline. So you when you start to look older in the show ring, it just doesn't jive with judges, I feel like. So I I was ready to be done, and uh um, you know, coming back uh in the summertime, um just kind of working around uh uh Branch County for summer jobs, and uh Brian was like, hey, why don't you go over there to Doc Fisher's? And so I went over there to Doc Fisher's one day and we kind of hit it off, and uh he's like, Man, if you want to learn about breeding pigs and raising show pigs, just you know come on over. And I kind of thought about it and I was like, I'm gonna take them up on the offer. So I went, uh, you know, time goes on and I graduate college and uh uh Doc and I are raising pigs together. Um and it's it's kind of uh was a hit ever since. And then uh I was raising pigs with Doc for about oh probably three years, and one day he said, uh, hey, I think I'm I'm ready to be done. And I was like, oh crap, like, you know, I don't I don't own this pig farm, you know, and these sows are in, you know, Doc at Doc and I's names and uh his grandson Kale Kale's names, and I was like, oh crap, you know, I'm I'm fresh out of college. I can't afford to buy a you know a farm and all this stuff, and uh he says, well no no no. And so I signed the back of the papers over uh to me and my name, and uh, you know, I think he I think at that time there was three spot sows and like Hadooh and a couple other crosses that he got me started out with. And uh that's how I got started in the in the show pig game. Uh if it wasn't for Doc, we uh you know we we wouldn't be doing what we're doing now, um, especially in the the spot entering. Um all the um sows and winners and uh they all go back to that original sow, the two original sows that he handed down to me, and I actually still have the one in the lot, even though she hasn't had a litter in a while. She kind of sentimentality, yeah, or her place there, and that's still where our sow our uh our farm is today.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

So there's still fair one there. That's cool. I didn't actually know that story. I'm glad I asked you that question, so that's neat.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah. So tell us what uh what Act Moody Show Pigs looks like today. Just give us a little rundown of like uh numbers of sows, uh, what you're working with, breed-wise, crossbreed-wise, so on and so forth, sales you're targeting.

SPEAKER_07 12:45

Yeah, so right now I think we have eight or ten spot sows or just females in the lot right now, whether that be uh you know, sows that are in production or uh replacement ones or just open gilts. Um and then from there we usually have about another eight eight to ten head of crosses, and then uh various breeds from there. Um we have every once in a while we'll have a couple hampshires in and out of the barn there uh from the Heinz crew. Uh my good friend Cody Newsbaum, who's my wingman in this deal, um, he's got uh really nice Poland herd, uh two or three Polands and a handful of crosses. So you know at any time we could be operating 20 to 30 head of sows out there at the farm.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Okay. Yeah, definitely enough to keep the guy busy. How many times a year are you farrowing right now, Matt?

SPEAKER_07 13:40

Uh just just twice. We kind of like to target that uh, you know, middle to early November is usually when we get kicked off, and I like to be wrapped up um, you know, with our uh fall winter farrowing, um, you know, early uh January. I just don't I the market uh you know here in Michigan it's just kind of it starts to get softer once you get past those early jans. And then uh actually this year I bred for some end of maize.

SPEAKER_04 14:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 14:09

Um so uh but those won't be born until June, so uh but no, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

So now data birth can differ from data discovery.

SPEAKER_07 14:19

Yeah, so and th and those will primarily uh target the southern market, the maze or May, Junes, um, you know, Florida, Texas, uh Oklahoma, uh Western states.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Have you been down into that market much so far yet, Matt?

SPEAKER_07 14:34

Uh actually we were we've been fortunate enough. We had uh a handful of Texans fly up and uh stop by the barn, and they bought some some spotted pigs out of the barn this summer, just sight on scene. So that was uh really fortunate to be able to do that and get them down there. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

That's a great opportunity. That's an awesome opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Well, I know you're pretty humble, Matt, but you've had some pretty good runs in the spot deal. Tell us a little bit about uh kind of the beginning of that and how it's taken off for you.

SPEAKER_07 15:11

Yeah, so we started out um our foundation sal was uh my sister's champion spotted guilt at the 2020 Michigan Livestock Expo. Uh that was when it was in cold water uh in the COVID year. Under the big top. Yeah, yeah. So we got uh we got her back home. Thank God she didn't uh make the sale and get her head cut off.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Um how nervous were you that she might?

SPEAKER_07 15:35

I was a little nervous, uh, but after Doc Fisher was on the side of the ring, being like, oh no, don't pick that one. I felt pretty comfortable in the day. Yeah. I felt pretty comfortable in this decision making of the judge that day. So uh we got her home. Uh we ferrowed her. It took one or two litters to get stuff figured out, and then things just started to click. Um, you know, would uh uh would have been the first spot we put in the sale, right? Agreement would have showed. Uh I believe that was in 2022. She would have been seventh overall. Um and then we come back the next year, and I, you know, that was like you know, mind-blowing. I was like, holy crap, we got a pig in the top eight, like, you know, this is it. And with a spot no less. Yeah, yeah, with an uh off breed or a minor breed at the time, but um, I wouldn't say spots are a minor breed at all. I think they're turned into more of a major breed even at some of these NSR shows. Um then the next year we come back um and have the fifth and sixth overall market hogs at the Michigan Livestock Expo. Those are were both spotted pigs. Um they were both litter mates. Uh Petey and Margo were their names. Uh the Myers crew and the Greenman crew would exhibit those. Um those were very uh I I absolutely love those pigs. Um and then uh yeah, and then after that, uh we followed up with the champion spotted hog MLE in 2024 as well. Um and then this last year, 2025, I think was our best year yet. Um we had the high point spot guilt in Ohio. Um and then we had the fourth overall spot barrel at the exposition. Um that was a nice pig.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

I I remember him.

SPEAKER_07 17:23

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, um Jackson Webmeyer would have showed him, and then um we had the reserve champion spotted guilt at NJSS Summer Spectacular, so that was kind of cool. And then uh the litter mate boar went down there to 333. Uh uh Isaac Beaman uh partnered on him with me. And uh unfortunately he died, but um, he got a lot of ghosts though, I think, didn't he? Yeah, yeah, he made a lot of pigs before he died. Yeah, seen a lot of good unlimited pigs out there. Thank you. Yeah, he saw, you know, fortunate enough to um have somebody like Isaac partner with me um on that on that spot board. And uh I believe he saw a lot of a lot of sows and a lot of good sows, sows that I needed to see. So um hopefully it's an interesting summer. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Heck yeah. Well, thanks for that. I know sometimes that's hard to be put on the spot and talk about no pun intended there, but uh get put on the spot to talk about all your accolades, but I think it's worthy, and I think that was something that we want to make sure we highlight on here. So um it's been great to great to watch Matt uh kind of come along the last few years. And going back, uh we interestingly enough ended up with a a crossbred guilt, which hasn't really been your claim to fame, although you've got some nice crossbreds. Yeah, thank you. Um but we we ended up with a crossbred guilt that uh uh Matt we got from Matt that uh we call her Aggie. Um and she did uh she did a lot. She really turned a corner for the boys in terms of the jackpot deal, in terms of getting some pigs that were competitive, and uh, and she's still out here in the lot right now, and we've got daughters, and uh we're we're still trying to get Matt a daughter out of her.

SPEAKER_03 19:05

We've been the very first pig. You guys gotta quit keeping them.

SPEAKER_07 19:09

I don't know. I tried to beat you one and she died. Yeah, yep. So but if you got livestock, you got dead stock.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

So it's true enough.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

But uh just to kind of tie into that, you know when I maybe I'm maybe I'm gonna pump you up a little bit here, and uh good thing we got a big door to get out of this, but uh uh the boys and I put a lot of miles on uh looking at pigs and you know going to lots of different places and seeing things, and it always comes up once a year. It's like, well, you guys are starting to raise hogs now. Like, who do you look at as somebody that you you know respect as a breeder that takes care of their customers and shoots you square? And and there's a handful of names that come up, and you know, I'm not gonna name them all, but yours is definitely one of them. And um, I think you know, in a business like raising livestock and selling show pigs, the integrity and and you know treating people fair and honest is huge, and I think it's overlooked a lot. But I just wanted to point that out that I really have a lot of respect for the way you do things and the way you handle yourself and take care of business, and uh that's not to be said for everyone in this industry.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Um well, like old Snediger always used to say, Al Snediger, another Eton County local and livestock legend, is uh it's not about the pigs, it's about the people. And uh boy, Matt's good Matt's good people, it comes from good people because I sure enjoy time spent with his mom and dad and and Heinz and all the rest of the people that brought him along, too. But so building off of what Nick says there just a little bit about, you know, as Thompson brothers are kind of moving onward and upwards, and operations that they're admiring. You know, when we were in college together, Matt, and younger and dumber, um, and one of us had more hair. Um who were some of the operations that you looked up to, regardless of whether they were necessarily hog operations or cattle or sheep or whatever they might have been, but the guys that you looked up to that way are like they're good operators, they're raising high-quality ones, and they're they're doing it kind of the right way, looking after the folks that are supporting them. Oh man, good question. That's kind of tough. Yeah, I know it. That's why I'm glad I get to ask the questions and then, you know, sip of beer and listen to the guy think on it.

SPEAKER_07 21:27

Man, uh, you know, growing up, showing pigs, um, obviously I like to looked up a lot to Brian Hines, but man, nobody was more dominant back then than uh Brad Morton. Right. Just damn good hogs and I mean why?

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Like what did what did he do that made you like I mean obviously a great hog is a lot of women, but we all know that. I mean we don't know every year now, too. What was it? About him, not only that he had good pigs that won a lot, but what was it that that kind of made you look up to him?

SPEAKER_07 22:08

I mean that I mean honestly, that was pretty much it. I mean, just super competitive, um, kind of always got him where they needed to be. Um never really I don't know. I mean the way he covered it.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

I mean, I'm sure like even like today, watching Mortenson at a show, I mean like talk about a guy that's a little bit like an iceman, you know, like he doesn't I mean he's intense, but I don't think he's he's not flostered.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Um the reason I'm prying a little is that's another name that comes up when we have that conversation. And uh, you know, and I I would agree with you. I mean, I think you know, and I think Mortensen in his prime, and I think he's coming back in his prime. Um, and I think it's gonna be pretty interesting to see how things go there, but but I think a guy that that has a lot of integrity and you know a lot of the same things I said about use, a lot of integrity, a lot of uh care about what he does and and what treats people right, and I think, you know, again, that I think that ties back. Um, and that's what I've seen anyway. We've worked with him for a few years and have a lot of respect for him as well, you know, like I said with you. And you know, the one thing I told you years ago is you you treat us right, we'll come look every year, and I don't think we've missed a year since I said that. But maybe, but I don't think so. I always try to make a point to get down there because I I do enjoy looking through those hogs. So just keep it.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Were there any operations, Matt, that besides like just hog guys that you uh that you looked up to? Or that you, you know, you admired the program, whether or not they were people you were even directly involved with or not?

SPEAKER_07 23:41

Um probably my grandpa's cattle operation, honestly. Um I grew up uh you know helping my grandpa and just saw all the hard work he put into it and was very meticulous.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Tell us tell us about that group of Angus cows, because I think I got something I wanted you to get around to today because uh I think a lot of people overlooked the fact that that was a pretty powerful set of uh Angus females that he was running down there.

SPEAKER_07 24:04

Yeah, and uh yeah, he's still got he's still got more cows than grandma probably knows about, to be honest. It's funny that going back to that, so uh you know, growing up we'd be you know having dinner at grandma's, and then be like, grandma would ask grandpa, hey, how many cows are you up to now? You know, Matt was wondering, and he's like, Well, I got 40 cows. And you know, he'd just kind of leave it at that, and you know, well, I know I knew damn well that he had another 30 heifers. He had at least 40 there. You know, 30 heifers and 20 steers and four bulls running around, you know. Oh shoot. Yeah, no, his herd goes back to uh Jorgensen genet uh their genetic line there. Um Grandpa's had the I forgot, he's had uh a lot of high EPD bulls, so that's what our Angus are, or his Angus are, they're not show cattle. Um he got out of the Club Calf deal a while ago. Um so high EPD bulls, uh, you know, low birth weight, high um rate of gain, daily rate of gain uh type of bulls, um other EPDs and such. Um he's had the world champion, I think it was Penn of two or three bulls, and he would correct me on that if you listened uh at the Montana Bowl Test. So it wasn't that many years ago, was it? No. It might have been six or seven. Six or seven years ago. At this point, I can't remember. It could have been ten at this point.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Yeah, I can remember you talking about that. And yeah, you're probably right. I think it was longer ago, but yeah. Yep, that was probably probably out here in the water.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

No, that's a that's a year in school. That's a good group of cows that that uh for the guys that follow those those more productive type cattle is is well known uh nationwide, not just regionally. And wasn't he a recipient of like the the Angus Hartland Award or something a couple years ago? Maybe I'm wrong on that.

SPEAKER_07 26:05

I don't want man, I don't know. No, if he hasn't, I think I think he could easily be in the running.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

But yeah, no, I've now that's a that's a good group of group of cows, and I'm sure he's doing the right way down there too.

SPEAKER_07 26:17

So yeah, I just always looked up to him and you know, all the blood, sweat, and tears he's put into it over the years.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Right. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

How are you doing on your beer over there? Need another one? No, no, I'm okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

There's that one you he's got the other one to finish it, you screwed up on the intro.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

Oh yeah. Yeah. We uh we haven't got a pre-recorded intro for this yet, so if it sounds different.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't don't go giving away all our secrets, part of our charm.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Country charm.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Matt, you've got a young one now.

SPEAKER_07 26:51

Yeah, so I have uh a boy, yeah, he'll be two here May 7th. Uh his name is Brooks.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

Brooks, cool. Yep. Uh he was uh he was a boss and picture pen when I was down there. Oh yeah, he likes his pics. Looks like a few more years, it's gonna be trouble. Uh trouble in the show ring in the uh the the beginner division.

SPEAKER_07 27:14

It yeah, hope you know, hopefully. Um you know I still haven't given up. Uh he he does like watching golf. Um and he's got a golf set, so I mean if he decides to to play a lot of golf instead of showing pigs, that's you know, that's totally fine by me.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

But you know, you'd be way better off financially.

SPEAKER_07 27:34

So but whatever he wants to do, I'm okay with. So I actually bought him his first two gilts this this year, even though he's uh only gonna be two years old. So well, that's at least what you told him. Yeah, they're gonna be his. He told his mother, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

That's what you told me.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

Oh shit.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Well, as long as we're on the topic of his mother, why don't you tell us a little bit about you and your wife and like uh how involved is she with the pig operation?

SPEAKER_07 28:00

Yeah, so uh my wife Riley, uh, she's amazing for putting up with this uh addiction I have to uh raising high quality livestock. Um so she's uh an amazing mother uh to my son Brooks. Um she takes care of a lot of the stuff at home. Um when she's not at work, she's a special ed teacher.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Well, that explains why she puts up with you so well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

She did.

SPEAKER_07 28:32

Oh. But um, yeah, no, I'm I'm very fortunate to have just uh the support in terms of you know, a lot of the stuff gets uh taken care of at home uh when I'm you know uh working late at the farm or picturing pigs or farrowing or all those types of things. And so uh uh we work really well in in that aspect.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

You got the chickens settled in tonight, right?

SPEAKER_07 28:56

Yeah, yeah, we got she's uh she's got uh six six layers of sorts. Um so I got the the feed picked up and all that jazz and failed I kind of yeah, failed to get the chicken coop, so they're in our garage.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

See, see, I never I never was very good with the chickens. Like I would go back a couple weeks in a row, I bought groups and groups of these chicks, and they just kept dying on me, and I couldn't figure it out, so I finally asked the guy at the counter. I said, I can't figure it out. I'm either planting them too deep or too close together.

SPEAKER_07 29:29

Oh man, that's a good one. I like that. Clever scales.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Here all week, everybody. Try the veal. Oh, anyway, Matthew, you've already kind of touched on it a little bit, and I hate to keep dwelling on it, and I know there's probably a couple of people that come to mind when I ask this question. But looking back on your show career and like your early years, your foundational years here with your your Sal herd and show and selling show pigs, who are some influential people that stand out to you as uh as mentors and and folks that have brought you along?

SPEAKER_07 30:03

Well, Brian Hines and Doug Albright and Doc Fisher. Yeah. Any you want to like uh elaborate just a little bit on on any of those individuals of of maybe things that they've they've done for you or oh yeah, just in terms of uh you know helping, you know, mark you know, like watching them, you know, how they market pigs, um, just in just in terms of the full circle deal. So, you know, picturing, videoing, uh, you know, you know, marketing, uh, you know, uh Facebook, uh, and then besides all that stuff, you can have all that stuff in this industry, you know, anybody can do that kind of thing. But just in terms of like, you know, how they treat people, how you uh talk to people, and uh you know, you you make friendships, and I feel like that's what this is all about here, and you know, that's yeah, well, I wouldn't be here at night if I wasn't, you know, didn't have a friendship with you guys, but um you never know where a friendship might lead. Um, you know, just you know, treat people like um you would treat yourself, and uh I feel like uh pig sales, you know, you know, come from that. Obviously, you have to have good livestock, but uh more so in this industry. It's it's not about so much so much what you know, it's you know who you know. And uh I've sold a lot of pigs and been fortunate to sell a lot of pigs and place them in high-level uh families' homes just because of you know who you know who who we know and you know my friends and connections that way. And uh I feel like that's been the biggest support mechanism from you know those three people is the people that they introduced me to when I first started uh getting going.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Right, help you build that network that you could kind of rely on and and tap into.

SPEAKER_03 31:48

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Yeah. Is there a funny is there any ever like any small world stories that you you could tell about uh something like that?

SPEAKER_07 31:58

Oh man, I'm sure there is. I can't come up with one right off. I can't think of one off the top of my. I mean, I don't know, one I'm sure I was somewhere sometime, and somebody's like, Oh, that's a nice spot, pig. And it might have been uh Indiana State Fair or whatever in the open show. And I was like, Yeah, that that's a you know, a lampoon on a lock jaw or whatever, and uh he's like, Oh, okay, you raised that, and I said, Well, my partner and I raised it. He's like, Well, who's your partner? I'm like, Oh, well, Doc Fisher, and he's like, Oh, I know him from way back when blah blah blah blah blah. So you know, just I mean, obviously that's just a hop, skip, and a jump, Indiana.

SPEAKER_02 32:38

Well, Doc Fisher was no no joke to the spot deal. I mean, he owned a chunk of loudmouth, and I mean he was very involved in the the top end of the spot breed for quite a while. Yeah, probably one of my favorite boars of all time, I would say, was loudmouth. I mean, we got to see him alive right before he died, and like the boys both got pictures of him. Like, we were we were dabbling in the spot thing at the time, and like we stopped what we were doing. Miserable animals, and we put and then we posed like I have a picture somewhere on my phone of them standing next to him.

SPEAKER_07 33:10

So I never saw him in version.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

Never did no never did. It must have been a while ago. It was a minute, yeah. You're about that big, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

Yep, so you were you were about the size Trace is now.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

Wow. Ouch. Better be careful, David. They might come over here and pop you into the ground.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

We were as I showed up this evening, the boys were debating about, you know, Nick's Nick and the boys have got a good set of pigs around. They're debating about who's gonna show what, and Justin and I suggested, well, we could just have it all out as a as a brawl here, and so what it would be is Tate gets to fix the ones he wants.

SPEAKER_07 33:51

Also very influential would be my parents, because I wouldn't be able to, you know, do any of this just getting started out, you know, showing, you know, right, if it wasn't for them. So and then and my parents ultimately introduced me to all these people, so I want to give a shout out to them. Yeah, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

So Andy and Shelly will appreciate that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:11

They got a new are they they got a new place. Is it done? The new the new place? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 34:15

So yep, they got uh their retirement home. It's all single story, so when when you know Andy's in a walker or whatever, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Go up and downstairs to get them get a different beer.

SPEAKER_02 34:28

Low enough to the ground that Ryan and Andy can't fall off the front porch.

SPEAKER_07 34:34

Oh man, if they do. Hopefully they land on their belly. They're not careful.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

They're not careful, they're gonna get farrier moved in down there. I mean, Tyler avoidance stairs, that's gotta be like high on his priority list, I'd say. Shout out to you, farrier, case you're listening. I love you, buddy.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Oh man. We've we've hit a lot of the highlights. I wanted to I want to turn it around a little bit and maybe talk about some of the stuff that maybe isn't quite as much fun to talk about. Maybe some of the lowlights. Like, we've all been there, right? We've all had our struggles. We've all oh man, we've all uh, I mean, we've definitely gone through it um getting started, but like was there ever a time when you were like on the fence, like man, I just I don't know if I can go on, like I don't know if I can do this anymore, or like everything's falling apart and it's too big of a struggle. Like, yeah, talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

Maybe it'd be maybe it'd be easier just to load them on a truck and quit.

SPEAKER_02 35:33

Yeah, so talk to us about that because I think that's something in the livestock industry that we all deal with, but never talk. It's almost like that, you know. We we never talk about it, but I think it's important to talk about it. So we all go through it.

SPEAKER_07 35:45

So getting started out, um uh Doc would always uh float me through the year. So um, you know, when pig sales season came around, I always just you know, if I sold pigs, whatever, just gave them all the cash checks, all that kind of stuff. Just said, hey, make it out to Doc Fisher, you know, because man, I didn't have any money, I was fresh out of college, you know. Sure. Um living with my parents. So you'd spend a lot of money on books, yeah, books, studying studying, uh seminars, taking extra credit, tutors, um, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Matt and I stayed up late studying.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

Yeah, oh yeah. I remember the story.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

That was the only time we were ever tired in the mornings.

SPEAKER_07 36:28

Uh so yeah, so he always floated me, and then uh, you know, the one year, and I'd saved up a little bit of money, but I was, you know, 22 years old, irresponsible living at home, you know, living high on the hog, no pun intended, but um I should have never moved out. But uh no, I'm just kidding. But uh so years go by, you know, Doc hands the operation over to me, and I'm like, okay, cool, you know, I can do this, you know. So I, you know, I pay him off for you know, you know, uh carrying my operating loan for that year, and then you know, the year comes by, and you know, the next sales season comes by and I start raking in all this money, and I'm like, oh man, this is great, you know, like you know, making money, you know, all this stuff. Well then, you know, just you know, you're not really thinking, and you still got these bills, so you pay the bills, and then you're you're spending a little bit more money than you should have, and you're like, oh man, this sucks. And so uh you know, there was a time or two I thought about uh calling it quits, uh, but I got this uh great thing called a financial advisor. Um they're fabulous people. Um better attack the most incredible people. So I uh so I have you know, I I I do budgeting now. Um we have no operating loan, uh, which is which is amazing. Um, you know, it the the pig operation fully uh funds itself, which uh knock on wood, you know, we could have a you know an off year. But yeah, there was a year or two there that I thought uh about calling it quits even when even when I did get, you know, maybe my bad spending habit in check, maybe there was a year or two where you know it just it stuff needed to take off the ground more, you know. We needed to sell more pigs or bring our bottom our bottom line up um and to in terms to make to make our break even. Probably two you know, two years there that was really hard because you're dumping all this money into replacement guilts and spending more money on high quality semen or you know, marketing or vice versa. You know, it's all expensive, or um, you know, you spend money on sows and they don't take. Um, you know, you buy expensive you know, guilts, and uh then they die, they don't breed. Yeah. Um so just stuff like that. I'd say, you know, uh for the young people out there, just make you know smart money decisions, um, you know, don't take anything for granted because you could have a home run season, your next season's you know, kind of uh you know, subpar, not very well.

SPEAKER_01 39:10

We're we're we're farmers, so we gotta believe the next season's gonna be a home run season because we're optimists. If we weren't optimists, farmers would have quit farming a long time ago.

SPEAKER_07 39:19

Right. Right, I agree. And then, you know, that that's just kind of like you know, I mean, I feel like, you know, financial burden stuff, uh, but we're doing all right now. It just took, you know, it takes a long time to get operations off the ground and don't throw the don't throw the stick in the mud in the first three years.

SPEAKER_01 39:36

Uh yeah, you know, and like I think I think back on, I mean, you talked about like being grateful to your parents. I mean, if it wasn't for my folks floating me along for a long time, even through to this day, really, like, we wouldn't be to where where we're at. And I mean, we're we're boat to where we where you're at now, Matt, to where the sheep thing can finally stand on its own two feet, but there for a long time. I mean, we were there was plenty of uh plenty of years where it bit barely paid for itself, or or maybe it was just a little bit the other, just a shade the other way, you know, and so I think something else too is being able to uh actually identify your uh what your break-even is. I think a lot of people don't know what they've got to be able to sell one for to uh to make it to make a few bucks. So I think being able to actually honestly look at your operation, see where your costs are coming in and out is a is a big thing, and knowing what you've got to get to to sell them at. And you've either then you've got to identify your bottlenecks, like we're not selling them for enough because they're not good enough. So we've got to make some changes there. Breed the higher quality rams or boars or bulls or is our is our marketing subpar? We need to change how we're selling them. Um, you know, I think there's a certain point in time you gotta look at yourself in the mirror. But uh, I do have a question for you, Matt, because you mentioned marketing. This isn't on anything we've prepped you for, but what do you think the best form of marketing marketing is um for a purebred livestock operations like we're all running?

SPEAKER_07 41:12

Honestly, I think word of mouth and uh other show families or customers uh making recommendations that way. I mean you can blast ads with all these winners and blah blah blah blah blah. But I feel like a lot of people in this industry, um, you know, there's some. There's some. You'll snatch up some, you know, random and people and they'll buy pigs, but I think the best way is honestly get good reviews, in-person reviews, um, or just uh people seeing the way you conduct yourself at a show with with those exhibitors, um, you know, in a professional manner. Uh because I feel like there's some people, you know, in this industry that can get a little bit out of hand. Um but uh you know, honestly, I think word of mouth um is still still the best. I mean you can you know we we do we've done Facebook ads and uh we we have Walton Webcasting come out, which is a great company, um, and you know, do videography for our pigs and uh um you know selling pigs online through uh the Lent group. They've been great partners and um you know, Pig Planet and such, etc. etc. But I think at the end of the day, just being a good person, raising good livestock, and um, you know, helping you know helping those families out after the point of sale um goes a long way, I feel like, in terms of return customers, um, you know, just right, having some follow-up, yeah, yeah, yeah, like and some accessibility, maybe, you know, like sometimes they sell too far away to where you're able to go and see them with any kind of regularity, but at least being available to um answer a phone or answer a text message when someone gets a bully.

SPEAKER_02 42:57

We deal with a lot of folks now with uh um, you know, send us a video. Uh you know, you can you can get a pretty good idea on how you need to change feed and and by helping your customer, you know, like if you know, send us a video of that pig and we can look at it at least on a video and get some idea of where you're at and if we need to make some changes or things like that. But oh yeah, I think that's that goes a long way too, even if you can't drive to their place and and look through them. Um but with with today's world, like that goes a long way.

SPEAKER_07 43:30

Yeah, no, a hundred percent. And and we're getting into the end of March here, and I've already been uh you know looking at videos of uh pigs that you know are on our you know family show you know and their show string and stuff for here probably the past month and a half making feed recommendations, changes, all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 43:49

I think that stuff goes a long way too because the like you said, the service after the sale, uh you know, you start thinking about these show pigs and boy they're expensive and yada yada, but number one try. If you think show pigs are expensive, try raising them. Number two, what you get after the sale is part of that price. And I think that sometimes we're a little, and I'm guilty of it too, I'll be the first to admit, we get a little shell-shocked at some of these pigs. But if you know the breeder and you know what you're working with and how they're gonna t you know treat you and take care of you, some of that's worth something. Right. Yeah, I would agree. Um I think that we sometimes overlook that when we're you know clicking that bit again one more time button. Um but uh yeah, so I it it is a people business. I mean I hate to go back to SNED, but I actually I don't mind going back to SNED, but um it is a it's a people business. Well that goes back to what you were saying earlier, whether being able to, you know, take care of everybody and you know do the sales and shows and all that. Absolutely. Matt, this is a we talked a little bit about the spots, and this question I I don't want you to necessarily pigeonhole, but um when we when you think back to when you were first getting started and you know you and Doc were working together and all that stuff, maybe it wasn't necessarily like the first pig that you put in sale in MLE or this or that, but what was the first one that you raised that you were really proud of? You were like, man, yeah, that one, that one, you know.

SPEAKER_01 45:25

We're on to something.

SPEAKER_02 45:26

Yeah, we're on to something here. But I really you know, it might have been a Podunk County Fair pig, like or whatever it was, but just think I just want you to kind of think about that and like what was that one? What was that one?

SPEAKER_07 45:36

Uh no-brainer to me. Um since she was on the crate. Actually, was Wean running around on the decks there in the hot nursery, uh and that Ryder Greenman guilt there in 2023 was 22? No, 23. She was uh sixth overall. Okay. Um should have been fifth overall, but whatever. Uh good thing. Uh yeah. And I think Brockman picked the wrong one, but hey, we'll take two in a sale. Um that shout out. Shout out. But uh no that one, man, that was that's the I I thought, you know, I'm I'm not trying to be like cocky or gun or anything, but that to me, and uh you could ask other people and you know breeders, but I that's uh that's a top five spot guilt that I've ever seen in my life. And I'm still trying to raise something like her today. Yeah, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_02 46:35

That one was cool.

SPEAKER_07 46:35

I mean, I remember that pig.

SPEAKER_01 46:37

So would she go down as like the one of the your favorite you've raised thus far?

SPEAKER_07 46:41

Yeah, I mean absolute favorite. Like I that I and I that pig more I mean that pig means more to me than Unlimited did. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

So that's saying something. Uh who was the first good one you raised then? Maybe we should start rephrasing this a little bit. Yeah. What was the first good one you raised?

SPEAKER_07 47:01

Oh man. The first good one we raised. The first good one we raised was my sister's uh three overall spot gale uh MLE in 21. 21.

SPEAKER_04 47:14

What was that one?

SPEAKER_07 47:14

So she would have been a Lampoon uh Lockjaw, so she would have been out of the Lockjaw Sal, uh Lockjaw mouth off sal that Lily would have shown in 2020 if that was a champion at MLE. Uh so this would have been our first mating to Lampoon. Um Dak Fisher on that board too, um part of him. Um so it was our first mating. I really loved them. Um they were built they were a little fleshier, they were more like a like a broody female. Um so then dad and I kind of figured out how to tweak the feeding and all this stuff, kind of cut their jawline up a little bit, got a little bit more look out of the front one-third out of them, and then that that following year would have been uh the year that Ryder Greenman made the sale with uh uh full sit.

SPEAKER_01 48:00

Okay, so I was just gonna ask uh if if how that one was if she was related to the to the Greenman, the Greenman Guilt, but pretty cool if she was.

SPEAKER_02 48:10

So well, guys, it's uh it's very good.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

I think I think we're coming to halftime, aren't we?

SPEAKER_02 48:15

Yeah, I think so. We're gonna we're gonna pause for the cause and uh we'll cows are talking.

SPEAKER_01 48:21

Somebody needs to go and check, see if somebody's calved yet.

SPEAKER_02 48:23

Yeah. So we'll be back in just a minute.

SPEAKER_01 48:25

You'll never even know where we're going.

SPEAKER_02 48:27

How do you want? What a great break. We're getting warmed up around here. A little college throwback there in the intro to the second half of Mad Act Modi. I'd like to give a shout-out to our sponsors. Uh right now, the sponsors are uh today.

SPEAKER_01 48:52

Today's show is brought to you by apps for Scales Farms.

SPEAKER_02 48:58

For Thompson Brothers. And you know why we're the sponsors? Because we're paying the bills right now.

SPEAKER_01 49:04

We're gonna announce ourselves every fucking episode.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

If you want to help us pay the bills, we'll give you a shout out too.

SPEAKER_01 49:12

We can even carve out a little more space to do it, and we'll even do it better than we've been doing for ourselves.

SPEAKER_02 49:16

Yeah, absolutely. Uh shout out to Equity Showpage tonight since uh Matt's on the on the podcast live. Well, it's recorded. We're live, but you're gonna hear it recorded. Yeah. So anyway, things sometimes the best stories get told during the piss break. Yeah. And uh unfortunately, a couple of those probably aren't able to be shared with you, but just know that you know we're here having a good time. Even if uh nobody's listening, we're gonna keep doing this because I always say we're having fun.

SPEAKER_01 49:46

We don't we don't we we don't necessarily have much, but we do have fun. And uh so we're we're we're proud of that here at the wash rack. On a sign or something. Koozie. On a coo. Yeah, yeah, there you go. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:00

$12.99.

SPEAKER_01 50:03

All right, Matt. I'm gonna add oh hold on, you had a question.

SPEAKER_02 50:06

I had an easy one. Okay. Where'd you come up with the logo, Matt? Because I love your logo. And uh I I love your logo. I got an At Moody t-shirt, I got a hat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:18

One of your biggest fans.

SPEAKER_02 50:19

Yeah, actually. One of your biggest fans.

SPEAKER_07 50:21

Uh, you know, we were just uh kind of going through the rigma roll there. Uh, you know, uh Steve Wallman and I'm gonna drag him into this. I was like, we're still louder than words. What a and uh yeah, I mean, we just kinda repurposed uh logo from another uh uh breeder at the time and just kind of rolled with it from there, you know.

SPEAKER_02 50:43

I feel like some of the you know the the most sincere form of flattery is imitation. And yeah, we we didn't say we didn't we may have done that a little bit too. No, that's cool. I like the we we stole the purple from you actually. Okay. We like the purple and silver.

SPEAKER_07 51:03

Yeah, I like purple, it's the color of champions.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

Yeah, no, ain't no doubt about that. Alright, Matthew. Looking back on it, what's your favorite boar you've ever used yet?

SPEAKER_07 51:18

Oh man, favorite boar ever? Uh easily lampoon.

SPEAKER_01 51:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 51:23

Um we actually went like I got frozen straws of him um at uh Stateline Cryogenics there.

SPEAKER_02 51:30

Shout out to Stateline Cryogenics. You too can be a sponsor. Ben and Kelsey.

SPEAKER_07 51:36

But uh, no, they do a great job down there.

SPEAKER_01 51:39

Drew and Drew and Kelsey. Sorry, Drew and Kelsey.

SPEAKER_02 51:43

Yeah, but but we like Ben too.

SPEAKER_01 51:45

So uh I mean it's not sorry, not to keep interrupting. Yeah, Ben's got a couple uh yearly and age bulls for sale. He called me the other day on it. Um I know he's a listener, so I want him to know that I have been pushing these around. He's got uh Epics on there. There's two of these go back to the Lucy Calavac moodies. Um there's another one that's uh that's a data bank. Uh what the hell was the back? Yeah, wasn't he saying he'd sell the pair for like $2,000? I thought all three of them, three of them all together. You took them all, $5,500, would uh would buy all three of them. So that's a smoke.

SPEAKER_02 52:16

Well, then they're our commission off of that for something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's true. Anyway, back to lampoon.

SPEAKER_07 52:22

So lampoon, lampoon. Oh man, favorite favorite board of all time for for me as a spotted pig uh uh enthusiast. Uh I mean he just made them uh he made them so good. I mean the females are they're phenomenal. Females are our uh our best females go back to our uh lampoon sales. Um recently I just uh last year I would have gone back and bred Lydia's champion from 2020 to Lampoons, so made some Lampoon Lockjaws, full sibs, writer agreement sound overall. Um and then uh so uh they were kind of a younger litter. It was hard to get that sow to catch uh get her bread and pharaoh. It was really hard on her. That'll be her last litter ever. Um she's just kind of hanging out in the sow bottle, salty there, we call her. Um and so kept a got a female back out of her. Um she was uh reserve at Calhoun County Fair, and those are some of my best pigs. Um those would be Limitless Lampoon, Lockjaws. Um I have uh I have a keeper guild out of her that's uh being shown by uh Kaiser Albright this summer, and then I've got two other spot boards on feed. So uh by far Lampoon um has been the most influential, he's been our my favorite uh boar to use ever, um and just makes really good females.

SPEAKER_01 53:46

So like building off of that, looking back on I'm gonna keep testing your memory. What was the best hog you've seen showed?

SPEAKER_02 53:55

Oh man. Of ever. Ever?

SPEAKER_01 53:59

Not one in yours, it doesn't have to be yours, it doesn't have to be in Michigan, it could be one you saw in Iowa, anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 54:07

The best creature on four legs you've ever seen. Man, we don't have all night. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 54:16

Yeah, we're we we're paying this for the minute, aren't we, Jack?

SPEAKER_05 54:20

That's tough. Um man, I I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 54:25

I mean best animal I've ever seen was when we were in San Antonio, um, when I was on the livestock judging team at Michigan State. Uh it was a slick short steer. Um best animal I've ever seen in my life in terms of livestock, show show livestock. I mean, just to, you know, not be fluffy and it all be real, and it's all there and it can move. Yeah. Man, that was impressive. That's the best piece of livestock I've ever seen. I don't know who had it, what it was out of, uh, but it was in a class of four.

SPEAKER_01 54:59

Okay. So we got to judge it. And he sticks out in your memory. Yeah, it's a red steer. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 55:06

That's the right answer, by the way. So that was good.

SPEAKER_07 55:09

Um best hog I've ever seen in my life. Well, that's optional, but go ahead. That's that's kind of I don't know, it's kind of a toss-up. I mean, I I've seen a lot of them. There's been a lot of good ones. Um man, I don't know. I I can't answer it. I I honestly can't.

SPEAKER_01 55:31

Who's your I mean, who's your favorite one then? Can you answer that?

SPEAKER_07 55:37

There's probably a bore somewhere at some point. I honestly don't remember. Well, I keep thinking about it. It sounds bad it honestly sounds bad, but I Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:46

No, I'm I get it, it's a tough thing to do. Like, as I'm like, as you were thinking, I'm kind of thinking to myself, like, who's the best one I've ever seen? And it's like, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 55:55

Uh I got I saw Sky's the Limit in person, and I thought that thing was like the pinnacle of uh he was owned, I believe, with genetic edge and upper hand at a time. Okay. World record selling boar at the time. I thought he was he was one of the best ones I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_02 56:16

Especially at that at that time. Yeah. I mean, and and it's a little bit subjective, right? They changed so much, and like the best one today, and probably not the best one five years ago. Yeah. Um, but at the time, for sure. So um this is actually, I think, gonna be a little bit of fun, man. Like, I sitting here kind of I got to be a casual observer of both of your college careers a little bit and thoroughly enjoyed you know living, living, uh, reliving my college days too.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

You've been a few different times actually, kind of a participant.

SPEAKER_02 56:48

Well, I mean, I dabbled a bit.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

Um, but but we we brought him off the bench.

SPEAKER_02 56:54

Right. Hey, come here, little buddy. I ain't I ain't what is it? I ain't here for a long time. I'm here for a good time.

SPEAKER_01 57:01

Or what it came down to is good as I'm gonna do it. I was gonna say Nick, Nick might not be as good as he once was, but he's as good once as he ever was.

SPEAKER_02 57:09

Yeah, I I definitely tried. Yeah. What is a story, Matthew, that nobody would believe?

SPEAKER_07 57:16

Oh man, there was this one time at PT's. There were these two hot blondes and they were fighting over David.

SPEAKER_01 57:27

Because it never, never fucking happened. I don't remember it.

SPEAKER_02 57:34

Oh you're right, nobody would believe that. Yeah, no, because it didn't happen. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 57:43

I'll be the first to admit that didn't happen. Uh we can tell a story on Bradford here. One was a Bradford one. Yeah, exactly. One was a burn at yeah. I did have the shirt ripped off me one time at a bar by a girl, but it was I'm not gonna get that.

SPEAKER_02 57:57

Probably not because of for reasons you wanted it to be.

SPEAKER_01 58:03

No. I think it was Bradford's fault.

SPEAKER_02 58:07

Well imagine that. Everything's Brad's fault.

SPEAKER_01 58:10

Yeah. No, that's a you're catching on. You're catching on. No. PTO Malley. You know what? PTO Malleys, gosh.

SPEAKER_05 58:20

Is this still there?

SPEAKER_01 58:21

It is still there. Like I've been in back inside it once, like two years ago. They painted the inside white. Oh, it's not like it used to be. Just remember it like it was.

SPEAKER_02 58:32

Yeah, PTO Malleys, if you're listening, you can be a sponsor too.

SPEAKER_01 58:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 58:37

Matter of fact. Do they still have the shot wheel?

SPEAKER_01 58:39

They do still have the shot wheel, which was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_07 58:41

I was wondering for a friend.

SPEAKER_01 58:44

No, in all honesty, we could go back and like freeze the clock in like 20 like what 18, 19?

SPEAKER_03 58:52

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:53

Gosh, those were so those were those were the the good times. When you think on it a little bit, Matt, some of the people, I mean, I mean, you know, I realized that Michigan State is not what it was 25, 30 years ago. But when you think for a second that you had me, and I'm I I've had a smattering of success. I've not done that well, really. But I was there, you had uh um Brady Littlefield, who's like when you look at the influence that he's starting to develop himself with the storm sail that he started to put on with Ruggles and Tim Tradles. The storm. The storm. Yep, exactly. I've always thought someone should have the calm, like the day before the storm. But yeah. Um Brad Chapman was there. And Brad's, you know, been pretty done damn well for himself the last couple of years. Travis Rostel was there about the same time. Those guys have been buying and selling steers at uh at a high level. Him and Kimmy. Yep, him and Kimmy. Um Colin Johnson was there about that same time. They're him and his fiancee. Yeah, Colin has been. And they've been they've been selling cattle well. Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan. Ethan Douglas. Ethan Douglas, there's another one.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:17

Carly soon.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:18

Carly and she's Carly Homage now, and Carly, you know, what, two years ago had the $14,000 bull at nice bull. Um damn nice bull here at the Beef Expo. There was a group of us that were there that were who would have ever thought that us kids that were sitting around listening to loud 80s and 90s rap and rock and old-time country songs and um whatever else would branch out as adults. You know, I hate to anybody mistake me for an adult because of my age.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:53

Um you were you were an adult when we were in college.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:56

Here comes grandpa. Yeah. Hey. I was getting up there. Um but uh that we'd be able to we'd step off and and uh and and have the success we've had. Um you know that was talking about PTL malleys and some of that old stuff got me got me sentimental here. Oh yeah. You know, that's what brings a brings a tear to my eye.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:23

Yeah, it's a good time, so kind of feel like sad now.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:30

Yeah, no. Here I am. Like I'm like one of us died. You guys want to run up to BTC tonight? Oh man. Oh gosh, probably 20 minutes away.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:43

We gotta are they open on a Wednesday? You can't forget about uh Brandon Gearing and those guys, too. Yeah. It's a good crew, man. Oh, we had a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:54

Uh Brandon's a regular over here. We've been kind of in the area now. Brandon uh Brandon trim speed for us.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:00

Yeah, Brandon lives down in Marshall. Um engaged to be married to his beautiful bride to be, Katie Francisco.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:09

So shout out to Francisco Shorthorns. You could be you could be a sponsor. You two could be a sponsor of that.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:14

You two could be a sponsor of the wash rack.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:16

So could Be G's uh hoof trimming.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:18

Beatrice, yeah, Bee G Hoof trimming. Um I had a point to all of this.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:23

I'm trying to remember what I'm this is pretty common. There was a point, but we forgot it about 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:30

Yeah, gosh, this is this is worrying me about myself.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:33

Talking about grandma. I'm not that I'm not that old. All the fo that the four of us uh have you been here? Jimmy, Brad, and uh Brady thought that we were the smartest people.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:41

Oh, that is one thing that was something that came up while we were outside checking calves.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:46

Um is that uh at the time, when the four of us were crowded into a room, I don't know there was four smarter people that had ever been assembled, except maybe for when John Kennedy had dinner alone. Um But we yeah, we thought we were we thought we were pretty hot shit.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:05

Yeah, we're just small fish in a big pond.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:07

Ah, we are, there's no doubt about it, but um No, we we thought we were on to something. We had a lot of fun. No, and I'm glad to be able to still be still be buddies with with all those guys as well. And we talked about uh you know, Matt and I were talking like, ma'am, we probably go back like like that. Um if we could. Because when you think about it, there was never a time when there was more of us that all were passionate about the same things, interested in the same topics, and we were all living there in college town, basically, aside from one or two people that would drive in.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:48

That a time where your life has responsibility, but also not a care in the world.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:52

Yeah, realistically. And you know, and I actually you told me this once, Nick, that uh when you're in high school, your friends are based on geographic location. I tell kids all the time. And when you uh when you step off and and you get to college, the friends you begin to make are based on on shared passions. And I think that's where these lifelong relationships that that come from come from us being at school really came from. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:17

We kind of had our own uh fraternity, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:20

Yeah. Oh absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:22

You know, our own little agriculture community there in uh in college town, and I'm at I guarantee I could call any of them, you know, right now and you know something.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:33

Yeah, and I'd give me they'd send me the shirt off their back. They couldn't make it. I had a I had a very similar experience you know, just a few years before you guys, but uh funny funny story is uh one of my college roommates is out in Oklahoma, Ryan Sweeney, and uh Trace started dabbling and making some gates and different things. He's building fitting pens. Shout out to TNT Fab. You too can be a sponsor. Yeah, not too broken. Anyway, no, but but uh those of you know Ryan did a lot of that in in uh college and in high school, and uh and so his boys out in Oklahoma doing it now, and I probably hadn't talked to Ryan in eight, ten months, maybe a year, and I called him up and we just you know, right back at it, like we never missed a beat, you know, right chatting away, and um, and there's I I hate to even name them all, but you know, yeah, because you'll start missing some.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:19

But I mean I'll name I'll name one for you, but like you were roommates with uh with Brian Preston. Yeah, and uh, you know, the Preston family bought some sheep from me at different different times and Brian and I share a birthday. Oh, look at that. Oh, that's coming up, yeah. And uh Brian and Carrie stuff 40.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:37

Yeah, somewhere in there.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:41

Um we were all here actually. I mean I age Nick, but I think we were all here for Nick's surprise 40 at the birthday party.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:49

We were yeah, yeah. You were instrumental in the quote unquote.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:54

Yeah, I I don't want to I won't want to rub the luster off the lily on that. You didn't do that. Let's just say my job.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:02

Where were we going with this? I we had a point.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:09

Oh, you were talking about prestence, buying sheet from us.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:11

Yeah, I was talking about pre just like just throwing out they were roommates a year. Or like Brian was a roommate of years, and like you got we got laughing and joking a little bit, and it's funny how like generations can transcend a little bit, is because I think Brian and I can laugh at some of the same shit that you guys probably laughed at. Absolutely. Absolutely. You're an old soul, David. I've always have been. You know, you're kind of an old soul too, Matt. But you know, but Matt could Matt was also pretty hit back in the day. Matt, for our group, was the uh, I would say the designated DJ.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:41

Um for the for the he certainly wasn't the designated driver, I can assure you that.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:47

Um for vision impairment reasons. Right. I can't drive you know at night, so right.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:54

Yeah. Yeah. Um I knew that always bug you. Um but uh I can recall one time at the Michigan Livestock Expo here a couple years ago when our good buddy Brady with uh the the Littlefield family had a heck of a run at what was it, the 2019 Michigan Livestock Expo, is that right? Somewhere in there. Man, I can't. It was pre-COVID.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:20

They were on a good run for us.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:22

They were on a no, they've been on it, but that particular year, Tommy has one in there. Brady had one in there. They managed to get a spot inside the spot was earlier than that. The spot was earlier. No, this was the year that uh Brady's sister had grand overall. Brady's sister, yeah. Fill me in here, correct me. That nice calico barrel. Yeah, nice calico. Didn't Brady with the blue-eyed goat was the year before.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:48

That's right.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:49

No, they were on the run for they were on here for a while. Yeah, that that spot from Brick Show Pigs.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:55

The one that was born right over here.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:57

Yeah, actually in that little barn right there.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:01

I remember looking at that pig on the deck and I was like, uh you gotta show that one.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:07

I'll never forget Tate picked that out. Tate was like, I don't know, six. Dad, that's the one I want. Brady looks at me and goes, uh I'm like, yeah, it's fine. We'll find we'll figure it out. He ends up winning the spots and fourth overall at MLE that year. The highest of spots ever placed. Is it?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:28

Yeah. That's right. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:30

We'll have to put a sign on the front yard.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:32

But uh I still have a brick show pigs hat. That thing's like a black mask was born here. That's good. That was his name. Very good name. That was his name.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:42

Yeah, Tate named him.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:43

So that that year we all end up gathering back at the campsites there at the pavilion and um celebrating a little bit, and the night was getting a little late, and we were probably staying a little loud. And lo and behold, here the red and blue lights show up. Shut us down for the night. So, of course, I remember people just scattering out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:07

Like, like I want to pause for a second and I want to give a shout-out to Kyle Ruggles. Kyle Ruggles says, Uncle Nick, the cops are here. We should go to my camper. And I said, Hey, that's a good idea. Thanks, Kyle, for taking care of Uncle Nick that night.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:22

All I remember is people scattering out of there like like rats when the lights get turned on. Um and so uh Ack Moody and I melt back towards Farrier's truck. Tyler, we mentioned him earlier, kind of adverse the stairs, sweat. Um, and I think Ian Stewart was leaning with us against the truck, too, over there. So that makes like four. We've done four episodes now, and Ian, you've gotten mentioned four times.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:48

There you are, Ian.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:50

Fun fact Ian was my dad's little brother in Farmhouse.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:55

That is a cool fact. I knew that too and kind of forgot about it. Oh yeah. Go way back. Yeah, old Uncle Ian. He may well be a co-host here as often as he gets mentioned.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:05

Finish the story, David.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:07

So that's a blue red light. Yeah, that's a blue red light. This isn't my house.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:13

Dozens of listeners are waiting in conclusion.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:17

Yeah, sorry, I'm I'm getting through it. Long and the short of it is Matt always uh disposed of a great sense of humor. Besides, as the cops are walking up from their car, he was our designated DJ that night, as he was most nights, was still hooked up to the Bluetooth speaker. He plays bad boys as those guys were walking out the campsite. And uh, I'm surprised he didn't hear us to come over and arrest our ass because we were laughing so hard. But anyway, one of my favorite Mad Act movie stories.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:46

I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:47

Does anybody else have an actual question for Matt?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:50

I don't know. It's gotten way off topic, but yeah, it has just been a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:56

Alright, let's go back to the basics here. Matt, what's the best decision you ever made in the livestock industry? Never give up. Never give up.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:06

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:08

What's the worst decision you ever made? Never give up.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:13

Yeah, that could be inverse there. Um, worst decision I ever made. Um, I don't know. I mean, maybe just kind of just buying random guilt, you know, here and there, not putting a lot of homework into them and taking them home and breeding them. Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:39

Like that. A lot of that comes with experience though, right? Like you're you're wiser, no? I mean Yeah, like everybody I don't know, I don't think it matters what you're doing if you're raising livestocker, whatever it might be, you look back and go, man, that was really dumb. You know, I wouldn't I wouldn't do that anymore. I mean, that's part of learning, right? That's part of part of the process, I think.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:03

Right. Or uh or like maybe forgetting to foul up with customers and forgetting about a pig, and it's like, oh crap, this like this one's pretty good. Like for man, I I like I f like I forgot about it. You know, and it's like, oh dang, like, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:20

Right. Kind of feel bad, and uh yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:22

Just stuff like that. Um, you know, luckily I feel like we've dodged a lot of bullets.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:26

Um is there any like what do you do you keep a track of that more now as far as who's got what and trying to check in with them? Or like is what what's your method of your madness? I mean, because I I I'll be the first to admit, like a lot of times it's not the high seller that's the good one in the end, right? Like sometimes I mean yes and no, but like sometimes it's the the $400 one that you're like, oh, he's going to a county fair and they show up and like, oh shit, that one's pretty good. Like, do they even know how good it is?

SPEAKER_07 1:13:00

You know, like oh yeah, no, exactly. Um, you know, I'm I'm a firm believer that price determines ownership, not quality. Um, you know, and then people can argue, you know, obviously the higher quality ones at this you know stage in the game are gonna bring more money, and that's not always true. Um, you know, we've sold four or five hundred dollar pigs that have made the sale at MLE, um, they've done good in the national scene, blah blah blah blah blah blah can keep going on. Um but yeah, no, there's there's been pigs that have surprised us, and that's just why you don't take anything you know for granted in this industry and you treat every customer equally, or you try to at least. Try to, yeah. Um, and I'll be the first one to say that, you know, um, you know, we I you know I tr myself try the best to communicate, and um you know, uh Cody and my sister are a great support team in terms of you know checking on pigs or if one person's going this way to you know and we all kind of communicate in that way, but yeah, well, and I think just having a presence, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:04

Even if it's not you, it's somebody reaching out. Right. Hey, I'm in the area, can I swing by? Right.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:10

And I and I feel like as a breeder, um, and you get you uh are starting to sell so many numbers of uh pigs. It's hard to keep track of them all. It's hard to keep track of them all. Um, you know, like in Michigan, um I try to make it to a decent amount of the jackpot shows.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:28

So it's a great place to see quite a few of them.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:31

Yeah, it's a great place to you know analyze um you know pigs that are on feed at various families um and just kind of make adjustments from there. Um that that's big for me is going to the jackpot show, seeing them in person, they're all at one place. Um and it's just so hard to go to every customer's uh well and I will argue a little bit too that communication is a two-way street.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:55

And you know, as a customer, I think it's important for people to understand it's okay to reach out to your breeder, send them a video, ask them a question because the squeaky wheel is gonna get the oil, as they say. You know, I've never had a breeder, and we don't buy high dollar pigs, and we buy from a lot of places, and we talk to a lot of people, but I've never had a breeder that I've reached out to that didn't a didn't want to help us.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:21

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:21

And I think that you know, one of the things as a customer that's important to understand is Matt sells, I don't know, what do you sell, a couple hundred pigs a year? Maybe more?

SPEAKER_07 1:15:31

Yeah, I don't I think we yeah, I think we sold like 160.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:35

Sure. That might be 150. It might be 150 families, 140 or 30 families that buy pigs from me, potentially, right? So sometimes it's hard as a breeder to think of all that. But I guarantee you, if any one of those 130 people reach out, Matt Aquidy is gonna respond back and and try his best to communicate and and help him send, you know, hey, send me a video. You know, maybe this one needs to drop protein, or maybe this one needs to be a little more, or you know, those kinds of things. And and you know, I just kind of want to point that out, not to get too serious here, but like I think that's something that that people need to know is like don't hesitate to get a hold of those breeders because it is easy to forget people, and it's not because you don't want to, it's you know, it just it just happens, right?

SPEAKER_07 1:16:22

No, yeah, no, yeah. Please, you know, and I I think I you know I speak for a lot of breeders, you know, bug us, reach out, you know, send videos.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:31

Uh and don't feel bad if you bought a $400 pig reaching out, because I think that people value that relationship.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:39

I mean, if if I mean I think Matt's probably about like I am, is that to uh I mean up I want to win the county fair up you know up in Macosta County just as bad as I want to put one in the sale of MLE too, you know. I want everyone that buys one from me to have to hit their to hit their goal of success. And ever and everybody that comes through buying them has has different goals. Not everybody has the goal to make the sale at MLE. Some folks want to go and like get talked at a jackpot show or two and then win their county fair. Those are important goals to hit too. Um, and so I, you know, at least from my perspective, I'm sure it's the same for you, Matt. Like, I I care about trying to make get that accomplished for those folks just as much as I'm trying to work hard for the couple people that are buying the the state fair caliber ones from me. Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:29

So wow, it just got like all serious.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:33

I mean, we went from what a buzzkill, Nick. I know. On that note, Justin. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:40

Um Justin's arm is really strong from just from lifts a lot of weights 12 ounces at a time.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:50

Yeah. A lot of reps.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:52

Um, I've got a question for you, Matt. And uh, I've always respected you as one of the guys that I thought could uh stumble into a group of livestock, and I don't care if we're talking ruminants, small ruminants, or hogs, and generally you'd come up with the top four or five of the group. I don't I really don't care if it's a group of five or six or if it's a group of a hundred of them. Um what are your priorities when it comes to sorting livestock and breeding livestock in terms of you know you know, I I know for me it it generally comes down to I'm everybody always brands me as more of like a look and pretty guy, you know. Um, different people. You might, you know, a good buddy of ours, Brad Chapman, a lot of people try to cram him into a corner of like just strictly a power guy. You know, you can't make him thick enough and round enough body and stout enough for Brad. You can't make him long enough neck and shallow enough chested for me. I don't think that's necessarily true because I think in the long haul, if Brad Brad and I are both sorting a show together, the top five ain't gonna look all that different of the whole show. And actually, most class winners probably aren't gonna be all that different either. Where we're gonna have some sort is gonna be like second through fifth. Um potentially. Um so anyway, I just you know toss that out there. Like, here's your opportunity to talk us through like what your priorities are in terms of livestock, breeding livestock, judging them.

SPEAKER_07 1:19:19

Yeah. Um for me it starts at the ground. Um you gotta have a good foundation, you know, square coming and going, um enough feature, enough width. Um, then and then from there up um you know, just enough to check the boxes in terms of you know uh dimension, rib shape, uh, you know, top shape, uh, length of hip. I'm a I'm I'm big on length of hip in pigs. Um I I can't stand a short hip pig. Um I just don't have a they don't have a place for me in in uh you know uh our barn or our program. Um and then and then you know going I guess from there forward, um I'm huge on front one third. Um I like I love pigs that just run uphill um very elevated um and are athletic. Um yeah that that's where I'm at. I and I start at the ground. Um because if if if stuff doesn't make sense from the ground up, then you'll never be good enough in my book. Right. Um, you know, I I believe, you know, I I I run sows on dirt lots. Right. So half half acre dirt lots. Um if you can't perform, if you can't you know can't stay sound, can't yeah, can't travel up to people walk up and get fed.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:39

I mean you're you're gone. So have you have you found have your has your priorities changed at all since you've started breeding them as opposed to just showing them?

SPEAKER_07 1:20:50

So for me it depends it depends on the species and the breeds because there's there's always breeds within species that could be better somewhere. So for me, in the spotted game, uh what when I got into it with Doc, it was more of having spots that would wow you in terms of their front one-third. I feel like that's where the breeds struggled out a lot. Um, and I thought that's where we were out of our time, uh, you know, up here in Michigan, um, which is you know, having that whacked out front end um in terms of height, elevation, look, build design. I've always been a building desert. Yeah, and the breed as a whole has gotten better there. Um and that's and that's where you know, like right now we're trying to figure out, and I'll be honest, you know, some of our spots go a little pencil headed. Um and uh, you know, you you can get a little frail just because of just just single tree breeding animals for building design. So just get a little bit more flesh, a little bit more substance, stoutness, uh burliness into them. Um, and that's I think we were on to something with that uh litter that Unlimited was out of, and we're headed in the right direction.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:59

Um not saying that we're not, but so try trying to keep that look and and design while adding that extra stoutness to go with it. Yeah, without sacrificing your look. Right. Which is always the hard thing to do because a lot of times those are inverse traits. Like to me, those are those are the the lot to me, those are the livestock that should be rewarded most of the time, are the ones that do the things that are hard to do. The ones that have that kind of the kind of look up front that make you like, wow, that one's you know, incredible chest and like the angle of his shoulder, how he ties his head and necks real good. And then that one's like he's not just a pretty look, he's still got enough shape of case. He's three-dimensional, he's got some hip, he's got some back, he's opened up. Maybe he's not the absolute stealthist one on the day, but is the absolute stealthist one on the day able to run with him in terms of design? That's to me like if he can. Yeah, that's like you know, uh it it bugs me sometimes when guys always want to crowd me into a corner is like being a pretty guy, because that's not the case at all. I just want the ones that do the things that are hard to do. Right. And to me, that when the like I'm always generally gonna use the one that is the good chest of good-looking one from the side, because that that's gotta check a box first before he has the dimension and the cage in the back and the ass to go with it. Um Right, because the ones for me that push the envelope, they're not gonna survive on farm.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:17

I mean, let's be honest here. They just don't. They're not prolific. Right. So no, I'll I'll always be a built design wow factor in terms of athleticism guy.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:29

Yeah. And I'll bring you the choir here. We're missing, we're missing the other parts of the puzzle because like we had Chapman arguing from the other end of the puzzle here. Oh, it'd get even more interesting.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:40

But but but we don't have to turn the mics down because you guys are yelling so damn loud in the back of the bigger.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:44

Well, and it's a different it's a different game. Because in the in the you know, in the sheep game, well I got recepts. So those those used all they gotta do is be a donor, and they don't have to walk around the farm and carry a baby and all that stuff. So it's different for me the pigs. And and don't get me wrong, we have some we have pigs at the barn that are pushing the envelope in the salon. When you say push the envelope, what do you mean? Uh, in terms of width and spread and dimension, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:14

You mean extremeness of this being like incredibly stout and open up probably a little too straight.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:19

Yeah, and you you gotta have those on the farm and you gotta find one that mates up with them uh, you know, to make that home run breeding. You gotta have one or two, you always gotta have one or two or three of those.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:30

Oh, yeah, you gotta have some extremes. You gotta have some extremes around. If you're not if you're not selecting towards an extreme and you're always selecting just right down the middle, you're always just gonna make middle of the road stock.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:40

And at the end of the day, middle of the road stock doesn't quite it'll get you a nice third or fourth place in class. It doesn't ever quite get you to the division.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:49

So I mean, you know, you got a handful of those running around, but majority of them are you know high quality sound females. So, anyways.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:58

This is what I always love talking about at Act Moody with is like we always we have a great time, we always end up I think Tommy's pretty, and so you know it's easy to it's easy to argue with somebody that's like-minded. Yeah. No, I've always seen them a lot like Matt. I've always enjoyed him with Matthew.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:14

I I'm sitting here, uh I I like muscle. I do. I mean I I appreciate pretty, but I like muscle. And my boy over here likes pretty. And honestly, in a lot of ways, like it makes us better because like we'll argue all the way home from some we'll we'll go look at pigs at mats and argue well, what this one? No, that one wasn't stout enough. Well, this one wasn't pretty enough, and then you end up like, well, but there's this other one over there that that one's kind of does both, you know. We always end up doing better at picking stuff out because we argue. And uh for better or for worse. I'll never forget. We bought a not to get way off topic, we bought a barrel from Corey Shug a couple years ago. And uh Shuggy. Yeah, Shuggy. Daddy Shug. Yeah, Daddy Shug. We named that barrel Daddy Shug, but that's a whole other story. Uh we're on the way home, and Trace is pissed the whole time. Like, he's too much, Daddy's way too much. God, he's too wide. I said, Yeah, but we can manage it. He was too wide and he still is. Yeah. Well, but he worked, though. He was he was the only barrel that you won the county fair with, wasn't he? Yeah, yeah, that he was. Old dad. Once in a while. He knows a thing or two, but you know, don't tell that to a 17-year-old.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:31

Well, Trace is getting close to the age that Matt, Brad, Brady, and I were at, and we were some of the smartest people we'd ever met.

SPEAKER_07 1:26:39

I'm glad those days are gone.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:41

He had a good idea today, and I'll give it to him. No, wait, I gotta hear this. Hey, hey, on that trailer. We were pulling, yeah. We were pulling everybody's. This is on tape. Those pins on that trailer back there work great until I burn the electrical cords.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:56

Yeah. I didn't tell you to like heat that up and bend it back and also melt the wires out of it.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:04

Well, it just happened.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:05

Well, hey. Every once in a while the old man's got a good idea. You do. Anyway, back to Matt Ackmoody. What are we forgetting, Matt?

SPEAKER_01 1:27:13

Yeah, is there what's something that is there anything we've missed that you want uh folks to know about you, the rest of the Michigan livestock industry to know? What do you got coming up? Give us this is your opportunity to do a little a little plug-in for Ackmoody show pigs. What's what's coming down the pipeline?

SPEAKER_07 1:27:32

Oh, yeah, so big plans here. Um big plans. So as we were talking about earlier, my parents uh they're gonna be selling uh the house we grew up in or our show barn there. So if anybody's looking for a nice, you know, five acre lot there in cold water, uh, we well, or if you know, ready set turnkey show barn, it's there. Um, but besides that, um we get a we get a small commission for real estate on you, right? Yeah, I think it's like 30.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:02

I can't remember. I'd have to look it up. I'd be happy with three.

SPEAKER_07 1:28:06

I'm sure mom will be fine with that. But uh no, so yeah, they they moved uh addresses and uh uh we're gonna be building a show barn. Nice uh new sit or uh kind of sale facility. We're still gonna be having our sows uh where we have their um box on US 12 Yes, Doc Fisher's place there. Um and uh it's just gonna be our new like uh show barn sale barn facility. So uh that's exciting. We're hoping to have that done here and uh get that up and going here for the not this uh you know summer sales season, but uh year from now or next winter. Next winter. Next winter is what we're hoping to do. So that's exciting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:46

No more hitting your head on the uh the pool noodle there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:51

Yeah. Oh, I gotta love that stuff. That's cool. That's really cool. Speaking from somebody who's worked on building a building, um, that's exciting. And uh I'm sure you've got a lot of brains behind that deal with between your dad and and Brian and uh all the folks you know, so I'm sure it'll be it'll be pretty right when it's done.

SPEAKER_07 1:29:13

Yeah, we hope so. I've I've been doing uh a couple new builds now and um just seen a lot of stuff and taking a lot of advice and uh ideas and so we'll we'll see uh we'll see what comes to fruition. Cool man.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:29

I'm excited. Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:31

So well, hey guys. I guess it's about time to go cut them heifers down, is it? Is it I mean I'll sit here for a while, yeah, talk to Matt. I mean, I've been having a great time catching up my buddy Matt Ackmoody.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:47

I still got a half a beer left, but you know, it's been a good run. We've had some good laughs, a good time. I think it might be time to cut them heifers down, Trace. Yep. Hey folks, thanks for joining us. If any of you did, uh appreciate you coming, Matt. It's been a lot of fun visiting with you. Hey, this has been the wash rack.

unknown 1:30:05

Have a