Ag & Livestock: What's new in Randolph County

In this episode, we sit down with Extension Agents Adam Lawing and Lauren Langley to talk all things livestock in Randolph County. From pasture management and herd health to common producer challenges and hands-on workshops, they share practical insights for both new and experienced producers.

Whether you’re raising cattle, poultry, or just getting started, this episode highlights the resources, support, and real-world guidance Extension offers to help your operation succeed.

Thank you for listening! Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RandolphNCCE or Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/randolph_county_extension/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Welcome back to Under the Green, the podcast where we highlight the people, programs, and real-world impact happening inside the Randolph County Agricultural Center. Today we're talking livestock. Whether you're a longtime cattle producer, raising goats or sheep, managing poultry, or just considering adding animals to your farm, livestock production plays a vital role in our county's agricultural landscape. I'm joined today by Adam Lowing and Lauren Langley, our livestock agents, to talk about how Extension supports producers of all experience levels, what challenges they're seeing in the field, and the practical resources available to help livestock operations succeed. So welcome, Adam and Lauren. Lauren's been here before, but Adam is new to the chat. So Adam, tell us a little bit about your background.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Yes, I'm Adam Loing, a livestock extension agent here in Randolph County. I've actually been in extension for, I think this will be my 10th year in June, but I started here in Randolph January of 2020. But I grew up on a sheep operation where our family raced and showed uh club lambs. I went through 4-H FF8 growing up. I got into NC State when I was uh graduated high school back in 2012, graduated there in 2016 with a uh bachelor's degree in animal science and then went straight to extension.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

All right. I know y'all know me, but um I'm gonna tell you a little bit about my livestock background. So I have been around the livestock equine world since I was probably seven, eight years old and uh riding horses. I started in 4-H showing dairy cattle, and then I moved into FFA and did livestock judging, dairy judging, all those things. And I was part of high school rodeo. And uh, so I did all the events in high school rodeo, and my family always had some sort of livestock that we were caring for, whether it was cattle, goats. I'm trying to think. We never had sheep on our property or pigs, but I think we've had a little bit of everything else. And right now we currently have a cow calf operation with Herford and Black Angus cattle, and we have a commercial brawler operation, and I still have a few horses hanging around.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Very nice. Adam, you've got some livestock at home too, don't you?

SPEAKER_00 2:23

Yeah, I do. We've got uh we're trying to build our herd. We got a small herd of semangus cattle running right now, trying to maintain around 10 head, looking in that cow calf right now, but looking to try to move toward that seed stock down the road.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Nice. So not only are they helping people in our community learn about this, but they're also living it, going home and taking care of their own animals and livestock. That's always reassuring that we're putting all of this knowledge to the test in real places and real time. So let's just jump right into our questions for today. At a broad level, what does livestock programming through extension include?

SPEAKER_00 3:00

So a lot, especially in the livestock side, especially on my program area, it's focused heavy a lot on the forages, mainly because forages are the backbone of any livestock operation in our area. And forages are the cheapest feed that we can use for a livestock. And so we really try to focus a lot on forage production, uh, getting producers to understand how to maximize and strengthen their uh forage stands. I do quite a bit on livestock safe handling just because that's always important when you're around livestock, whether accident or not, where they mean to or not working livestock. It can be dangerous at times. They may not, again, may not mean to hurt you, but work with producers trying to save low stress handling operations is one thing we try to really push. Then also covering herd health. We can't necessarily do veterinary work just because we're not licensed vet uh vets, but we can provide resources, provide contacts, and also get some other speakers in for different programs that can address herd health more on a specific level.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

What are the main livestock sectors you work with here in Randolph County? And that question will be for both of you because y'all are covering kind of two different uh areas. So would you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Yeah, sure. So a lot I do have a lot of uh new and beginning producers that I work with. We're getting kind of more and more homestead and backyard producers, a lot more people is trying to get into agriculture on various levels through livestock or horticulture. So we work a lot with the new and beginning producers. I'm looking on the beef side of things, diving in a little bit more specific. Most of my work is with the cow calf producers, seed stock producers. And we have a few background or feedlot operations that I work with from time to time, but mainly those cow calf guys is uh the ones that I work with the most. I mean, as well as sheep, sheep and goat producers across the county and then uh hay producers as well.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

So I'm covering the other areas which include poultry, and that is more small flock, uh, pasture-based poultry, not your commercial poultry. We do have an area specialized poultry agent that helps out and and does some educational programs for commercial producers. And then I'm also covering equine. And like Adam was saying, the backbone of the equine community is also forages, pastures. And the the biggest difference is a lot of times horse folks have their horses out at a boarding facility. They're not necessarily with them. And the moment they're able to purchase land and bring their horse over, they need to learn all the things, all the things for managing their own horse on their own land. So I've done a lot of work in that particular area. And then youth livestock, I'm very passionate about youth livestock. Adam is as well. So we're starting up that program here for 4-H'ers where we'll coach livestock judging, skeleton, and quizbow. And then I work with the beef quality assurance program here in North Carolina. And that's another topic that I'm really, really passionate about. And like Adam was saying, it's really important that we teach herd health, we teach low stress handling, we teach producers how to give injections correctly, how to understand labels, and all those good things.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

What are the most common questions or problems producers contact you about?

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Yeah, so when I when I was thinking about that, there's about three things that really come to mind when I'm answering questions, when I get calls. One of them is identifying weeds and how to control those weeds in pastures and hay fields. And also get a lot of questions on making pastures and hay fields more productive. They see their pastures may not be producing as much forage, yield may be going down, just bare spots, whatever the case may be. So we're working with those producers, trying to get those fields back up uh to tip top shape. And then get a lot of questions on people calling in. They don't know where to start. They're maybe beginning operators or just have questions about venturing out diversifying. Um so working with those people on trying to figure out how they can improve or add things to their operation.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Yeah, and so I'll add, uh, whenever I first read this question, I definitely thought about pasture management. Anything to do with pasture management is probably our top uh question that comes in, whether it's related to weeds, forages, like what to plant, how how to plant it, where do I rent a no-till drill from, like all those kind of things. What variety do I plant? And then also like soil sampling and helping them interpret uh what fertilizer and lime is needed, how to read those soil test results. I do a whole lot of that, a troubleshooting. They're like, I've done these things. Why isn't my pasture being productive, or I cannot seem to get a control on this particular weed, or I can't grow grass no matter what I'm doing. And so we kind of have to like dig back in there. I just had a question actually this week on this, where a producer wanted to get rid of a particular weed or a horse owner, sorry, a horse owner want to get particular get rid of a particular weed. And I started peeling back all the layers because it's not a simple, oh, spray that weed and everything will go away. It has to do with how many animals you have stocked on that pasture. Are you doing any kind of like rotational or controlled grazing? Are your soil samples up to date? When's the last time you planted grass? Has all that grass left that field? And all that plays a role into that weed problem. So we do a lot of that. And then the other bit is toxicity. So, like toxic weeds get a lot of questions on that, toxic trees to livestock and uh fire ants. I get a lot of fire ant questions. I know Adam does as well.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

So yes. Um, you mentioned soil testing. How often should one get soil testing?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

So we recommend uh about two to four years, kind of that three-year average. And especially if you look at soil pH and applying lime. Lime is very slow to get worked into the soil. So lime, if you apply lime this summer, it may take a a year to 18 months before it actually affects that pH. Um so we typically say that soil samplers are good for about three years.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

That is good information, good for homeowners and and gardeners, everybody alike. If it's good to know what's in your soil and what you can grow or what problems you may be facing and what you can do about it. How do you support both new and established livestock producers differently?

SPEAKER_00 9:13

And that can be a little bit tricky when doing group workshops because you'll always have more experienced producers and also beginners. We try to cover general and broad general and more specific topics in those, but a lot of times we'll have more beginner courses that we have and also some more advanced trainings. Um, but to kind of dive a little bit deeper in that question, I always encourage, especially the call-ins or going out and meeting people, doing that one-on-one farm visit, doing actual consulting consultation with them because every livestock operation is different. No matter if your neighbors, you're going to have different goals, different ways to manage them. So I always really encourage them to schedule time and for me to come out and visit the farm. With e-producers, a lot of that is understanding the resources that's available to them, extension programs, programs at soil and water and NRCS, which is a natural natural resource conservation, then also the farm service agency, all those different programs and uh things that they can get enrolled with with them. And then just uh looking at the the importance of for them to get started off in the best way they can, whether that's not overstocking pastures, maintaining that um land capability on how many head they can run, the importance of rotational grazing when you're looking at managing forages. And one thing with uh small runic producers, especially with the new ones, is the uh critical issue we have with parasites in those. So just kind of going through laying out some of the basic topics that they need to understand. And then looking at more the uh established producers, a lot of it is figuring out what areas on their operation need improving. They may know that something needs change and they're doing a lot of different things and a lot of good things that they're doing right. There's always something that always can be um improved. And a lot of those guys are looking at re-establishing pastures that's kind of overdone, and then just looking for new or different ideas that they can incorporate into their operation.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

And as we learned last time in our 4-H talk, you can apply that motto to this as well, like making the best better. You may already be the best, but you can still be better.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

That's right. There's always room for improvement.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

That's right. What herd health or management practices are especially important for producers right now? We're coming out of winter, we're heading into spring. What's on the horizon that everyone needs to know right now?

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Right now, we're in that green, a spring or the spring green up period when looking at forages. Our cool season forages are starting to grow pretty rapidly at this point. If we can continue to get some good moisture in the ground, we should have a pretty good uh spring crop of uh cool season forages. But with looking at that nitrogen applications, if you're they want to put out put out nitrogen, right now is kind of the perfect time. From really end of February to mid to late March, it's kind of the ideal time. So really be getting that on the books, keep trying to make plans if you've not already had uh nitrogen or fertilizer put out. Looking at kind of more herd flock health, with this green grass growing, the forages are lower in magnesium. Um so if you're out grazing these fresh growing forages, utilizing a high mag mineral, those are minerals that have a higher amount of magnesium in them. Because if um they get deficient of magnesium, they can get a condition called grass technique. They can really get kind of staggers walking around kind of like they're a little bit drunk, and then it's pretty, pretty quick death in a lot of those cases. So getting ahead of that is really, really important. And also it's time to start planning for fly season with this warmer weather, trying to reduce the amount of pink eye in in all livestock. So working to create a fly management plan for this summer, whether that be applying the feed-through fly control mineral or fly tags and also utilizing the pink eye vaccines, we try to recommend all producers at least doing two or three different uh different practices to try to manage those flies.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

What educational programs or workshops do you regularly offer?

SPEAKER_00 13:03

So again, pasture management, looking at forages, and we may beat that in the ground a lot, but getting people to understand that that is again that backbone to livestock production. We're doing all those pasture management workshops. And with all those, we try to tie in pesticide credit opportunities. We got producers that have pesticide credits. They have to get uh certain continual edit credits uh throughout the year. So we try to at least at least incorporate those into their workshops. We're currently working on uh planning a fire workshop control later on this spring. So we'll have that stuff rolling out hopefully here in a couple weeks. Some things we've done in the past and we're going to try to do again here in the future, especially with the cattle markets away the way they are, doing kind of a cattle market workshop, having somebody come in explain what explaining what these uh buyers are looking for in stockyards and sales. Um, there's really it's a complicated process that they go through on what they're looking for, different criteria, whether it be size and frame, weight, sex of the cattle. So there's a lot of stuff that a lot of producers don't necessarily understand. And I think if if you get some people that know the market side of things, know what feedlots are looking for, and producers can really help increase, increase their value and their livestock by knowing what those guys are looking for. Then also we do a lot of cattle handling workshops. Uh, Lauren mentioned the BQA, the beef quality assurance. We do some of those certification trainings from time to time. And then also some herd help talks throughout the year.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

All right. And I hope to add to that with uh chicken processing workshops. So that's something I was the livestock agent of Alamance County for 12 years. And for the past couple of years, I've offered that workshop two times a year. So I plan on trying to do that here in Randolph because we do have a mobile poultry processing unit here. And you do have to go through one of Extension's uh poultry processing workshops in order to rent out that unit. So we are gonna do that coming up in May, and then we hope to have another date in fall to go through that process because we do not have a brick and mortar chicken processing plant for small flocks in North Carolina, and we have not for quite some time. And so it's a challenge, and folks need to know how to do this process, be able to rent the equipment. The equipment's very expensive, and also how to do this all safely because this is going into our food supply. And then Adam mentioned pasture management. So I I also always incorporate incorporate pasture management talks, BQA handling talks. And then on the equine side, I really like to focus on hay, forages, pasture management, which includes dry lot management, apparasites is another big thing with horses too, and body condition scoring. So any of those type of things and also nutrition, kind of overall nutrition. So that's what I look, that's what I am planning to have here in Randolph County on a pretty consistent basis.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

Yes. So if any of those sound like something that you need to take part of, keep an eye out on our Facebook pages and our websites, Instagram as well to see when those things are gonna start taking place and sign up for them at probably a low cost uh to attend, and the information you will get will be invaluable. What is one issue producers sometimes underestimate that can significantly impact their operation?

SPEAKER_00 16:21

So I'm gonna start. There's uh two things here that kind of go hand in hand, and it's going to go back to these forages and understanding the ports of that. And even though a lot of producers do know the importance of forages, we kind of get pushed on stocking density, stocking rates, trying to maximize the number of head that we have. And it's not always necessarily about the the amount of livestock that we have on owner operation. So trying to get those producers to understand that there is a natural balance with the land and how much of capacity and of livestock they can run is really important. Trying to get producers to understand that we're livestock producers that produce a byproduct, which is livestock. So getting those guys to understand stocking rates, stocking densities, and it's not always about how many head or head of livestock that you have. The next thing that I think is kind of get kind of gets underestimated, especially with us coming out of these winter months. We had those few cold snaps and with all the snow and the freezing weather, is uh getting people, producers to understand protein and energy requirements through those cold times. Both are really important, um, especially with lactating cattle if you're got a fall calendar program. But it's really understand, it's really important to understand when they are needed and how much. And so a lot of times people get too focused on protein in in the wintertime. But if you've got lactating cattle, that energy is also a really important nutrient because that's what's going to help them stay warm during those really cold spells. And a lot of people utilize protein tubs, and protein tubs are a good tool that we can utilize. But kind of the issue we see is not a lot of them have a lot of energy in them since they are protein, heavy in protein. Um the other part of that is they're kind of they're limit intake. So they're designed to only eat a pound or three pound a day. So even if it had enough energy in it, um, they may not be consuming the amount of nutrients that they need. And so that's why it's important to be testing your hay, knowing what you're putting out for those cattle or any other livestock, knowing and doing those hay tests, it'll tell you exactly how much nutrients are in the hay. And so you'll know what you what else you need to supplement for during those cold times.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

What does a typical farm visit look like when you're helping a producer troubleshoot an issue?

SPEAKER_00 18:40

So one thing I like to do, especially on any farm visit, especially if it's a first time, I let them kind of show me around. Whether it's walking or riding, they can show me whatever they want to because that really helps, especially when it comes to trying to pinpoint issues. A lot of times there's a lot of different underlying issues that may be causing one certain problem. So just looking at every part of the farm that they have is really big help. Looking at livestock, looking at their livestock pastures, their handling facilities, trying to understand everything that they do on their operation. Um so that's one thing we try to do is really understand what they operate on, how many acres they do, how many head of livestock they're running. And so really trying to pinpoint all that at all, all that at all is really beneficial on these first visits. Um, to get into a little bit more detail with them, trying to consult different issues that they may be having, again, trying to figure out how many, not just actual acres they own, but how many acres of forages do they have. Then how many livestock they're running at a time on those forages. Um, that's really going to help pinpoint any overgrazing issues that we have. Then always recommending soil, soil and hay samples. A lot of people don't know, especially beginner ones, that a lot of this stuff is available. Um so getting them to take those hay samples, take those soil samples just to get them a baseline of kind of where they're at. And then I always like to look at uh the general health of the animals because I can really pinpoint a lot of things. Um, even though we're not vets and we can't give kind of vet recommendations, we can give some management decisions that may increase the overall herd health of their operations.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

So you mentioned hay sampling. Can you talk briefly about what that looks like, how one goes about getting their hay sampled and tested?

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Yeah, so with the hay samples, the NCDA has a lab that they can test for samples, and there's a lot of other private, private labs throughout the country. Um but we have a hay hay sample probe that you can loan out and it attaches to a corded or cordless drill. I mean, you especially with round bells, you puncture the side of it so you go through the side to get as many layers as you can. And you want to take good representation of different fields of hay or different lots of hay that you've got, because different fields can produce different nutrient quality hay. If you're cutting hay from different fields, sampling each field, what's what each kind of load of hay is looking like, or if you're buying hay, taking samples of that that load that you bought. Um, we try to fill up a half gallon to a gallon size bag of each sample, so it's taking different core samples from different bales. And again, that's going to give you protein, energy, all the mineral contents, and there's a lot of other information that you can get off of them. Testing for nitrates is important in some forages to try to prevent nitrate poison. So there's a lot of good information that can be get can be gotten from a say test.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

And once they've pulled that sample, what's the process to get it tested? Do they bring it here? Do they mail it off? How does that work?

SPEAKER_00 21:40

So um, if you're utilizing the NCDA lab and you're not in a rush, a lot of a lot of times there's an agent going to Raleigh once or twice a month. We can always take that sample. If you're in a rush, the quickest way is to mail it to them. All this information on the salt or the hay test form that we can provide for you. The NCDA also has it online that you can. Can get. And especially if you're utilizing a private lab like uh, for example, Cumbern Cumberland Valley, you will have to send that off by the mail to them.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

What's a piece of advice you find yourself repeating often to producers?

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Most of it is uh probably the most question that I get is what do I spray on these yellow flowers? So looking at timely herbicide applications, um, to go in more detail with that question, the yellow flowers most people are talking about is buttercups. And that is a cool season weed that we uh a lot of producers battle with. And with those, when you see those yellow flowers, most cases it's too late to spray just because some of those seeds are already viable, even if you apply that herbicide. But also the the larger, more, more mature that plant gets, the harder it is to kill with herbicide. And if you actually take some pasture walks in your pastures, you'll see those buttercups germinating coming up November, as early as first November, if we have decent weather. So you can always back to that timely herbicide application, spray those cool season weeds late fall, early spring before they actually start producing those flowers.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

All right. I'm gonna answer this question for from a much broader perspective. Adam dived in on like a particular topic, and we definitely get that a lot. But one thing that I typically uh give time and time again when it comes to advice is talking to producers about how this takes time. This takes time uh to turn around pastures, it takes time to control weeds, it takes time to implement grazing the way that it needs to be implemented, and establish pastures from scratch or hay fields from scratch. And the biggest one is establishing from trees. Going from a forest to a pasture takes several years. And folks want it to be ready to go yesterday. And I have to explain that this is a process, and I have to always put it out in a timeline for them so that they can understand this is what you do in the spring, this is what you're doing in the fall, year one, year two, year three. And seeing the success in that years down the road is always so rewarding for me. But like in that moment, I feel like they need reassurance, they need to build up their self-confidence that they know what they're doing after they learn it and to get in there and do it. And sometimes I I also have to give that advice of you can learn as much as you want, but sometimes you just gotta do it. Go get that first cow, go get that first goat, get out there and do it because that's where the real learning will take place. However, we are proponents that you learn as much as possible. Come see us before you get started so we can um help you get off on the right foot. But there's some people that will kind of linger on that thought for a really long time and you do at some point just have to get going with it.

unknown 24:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

I can understand some hesitation. I mean, you're talking about a real live animal, and it is something that you're responsible for. So I can understand it, but definitely agree that sometimes I'm definitely one of those you just jump and see where you land and take it from there. What trends are you seeing in livestock production locally?

SPEAKER_00 25:13

So we still have plenty of folks that are trying to get into the freezer beef market. Uh, that really ramped up during COVID with all the with all that stuff going on then. Um it's kind of peaked a little bit, but we still have quite a few producers utilizing those markets and actually doing a really good job marketed and making some extra income on that uh freezer beef side. So that's still people looking into that. Probably the other side, maybe a little bit more controversial with certain certain topics, but we're seeing a lot of increase and a lot of regenerative practices looking at livestock operations. There's a lot of people that start to understand that everything that we teach and do are tools that we can utilize. And figuring out what tools on the uh regenerative side, there's a lot of good things that people can incorporate on their operations to either save some input cost that they're having, and also at the same time improve improves soil and uh forage and livestock health doing that.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

What is something about your job that people might not realize?

SPEAKER_00 26:14

So we kind of have a little joke between extension agents that uh we know a little about a lot of things. We are everybody's first contact on lots of different issues from start to finish. So if you're looking from that first time that grass seeds planted to it, uh that piece of meat's being served on a dinner plate. We try to know as much as we can about that whole process. Um so just understanding a lot of times that we may not know everything right then or have that answer right that minute. But we're fortunate to have relationships with specialists at the universities and also private sector companies that we can work with on different things. But uh just understanding that we may not have everything, all the information right now, but we will do our best to get everything that you need to help your operation.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

One thing that I typically uh see that people don't understand that we do, and they're always so excited to hear about it, is that we do farm visits and we do consultation work for free. Uh, this is your tax dollars at work, and we are so excited to come out to your farm to get to know you, to see your operation, help you reach your goals. And so that looks like a farm visit, multiple farm visits. Folks don't understand that either. We can come out multiple times as much as you need us to come out. And uh phone calls and emails and office visits. There's some folks that I meet with quite a bit because we're working through a lot of things. And there's some that maybe I just touch base with once a year just to see how they're doing and and they're trucking along. So we definitely have this consultation side to what we do in Extension.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

And I can attest to that too. There I've been on a number of visits and we get wrapped up and producers like, well, how much do I owe you?

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

And and a lot of people don't realize that, like Lauren said, we do that and they pay for it with their tax dollars.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

So yeah, it's a prepaid service.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

And tack on that just a little bit. We talked about people have different goals and every operation is different. That's why we try to do as many one-on-one consultations as we can so we can personalize a good plan for that producer.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Absolutely. And if I had to add one thing outside looking into what they do, and this would apply to every agent in the office. And we've covered it in a previous one, but we are educational and not regulatory. So our hands are tied on any regulations, and we are just the rule followers and educational folks for free. So a fun question for you both. If you weren't livestock agents, what other role in agriculture do you think you would end up in?

SPEAKER_00 28:53

So I would still be involved somewhere in the agriculture industry, uh, just because that's where my roots are and that's what my passion is. And I'm fortunate now to have an operation at home and a job that at all times I'm doing what I love. Um, but and that's working with livestock and work working with livestock producers. In a perfect world, I'd love to have my own cattle operation or working in some sheep in that full time, but love to do that for full time, but that's I didn't have that sizable operation to come home to. Don't can't necessarily afford it right this second. Um so I'm gonna be here for a while. But if it wasn't for extension, I would probably I would say at least start it out. I was working part-time when I was an undergrad at the Butler Beef Cattle Field Lab. And so I'd probably have worked there for a spell or still be there if it wasn't for extension. But other than that, probably I do have a uh passion for forages. So working with seed companies, forage seed, forage seed companies, and whether that be sales or something in that in that aspect.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

There would be signs. If I won the lottery, you would know. I would love, like Adam, to be a cow calf producer, but you need a lot of money, you need a lot of land to run that many cattle to live off of. But in a perfect world, if I was rich, that's what I would do because it takes money to make money, right? And uh the other, the other things I would love to do in a more regular world, not one in the lottery, is uh work with National Beef Quality Assurance. I'm very, very passionate about that program and I'd love to work on it on a national basis. And then another one would be a beef cattle specialist at a university. I just really am passionate about beef cattle. I love all livestock and poultry and all the animals, but at the end of the day, beef cattle is definitely where my passion lies. And I really enjoy working with beef cattle and with beef cattle producers.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Well, kids, never give up on your dream. It might happen. You never know. So, what is the most rewarding part of working with producers in this county? And this is a kind of a special take because both of you have experience working as extension and livestock agents in other counties. So, what makes us so special?

SPEAKER_00 31:09

One thing in both counties, too, it's always a people's and and the connection that's made. Being in this role, we are a more of a public servant entity, and so we're all the time working with the public, working with people. Really, when I come here, when I was in McDowell, it was a smaller county. I think the USDA census then said that they had 1,300 head of cattle. And then coming here back in 2020, I think it was somewhere between 35,000, 45,000 head. So a huge increase in just the overall cattle industry in the county and getting out and meeting all these cattle producers and also the small rural producers as well. A lot of good people in the county, a lot of people that's willing to help. We've had several on-farm workshops, demos, all of our producers. I couldn't say a bad word about them. They've just been super, super helpful and super supported, supportive of extension. The other side of that that's rewarding is the help that we're able to give to them, watching these guys work through their issues, being able to figure out their issues and a solution to those issues as well is also probably at the end of the end of the day, the most rewarding part is really being a uh a benefit to these operations.

SPEAKER_02 32:22

I haven't been in Randolph County long enough to really see an impact just yet. And I have been kind of buried under uh this new place they call the Ag Center. So I'm I'm really looking forward to making an impact here as well with livestock. My time in Alamance County, the most rewarding part of it, working with those new producers, those those folks that walk in the door that are absolutely green, don't, don't even know what market they want to be in, maybe what species, and really working with them all the way through and actually seeing them with their pastures, with their animals, achieving their goals, getting into the market they want to, and really being successful. And sometimes we see that and sometimes we don't. And I've tried to do a better job of following up and going back out so I can visually see, see that progress. And sometimes they email me pictures and I'm just like, oh my gosh, this is this is why I do this. I love helping people, love helping them make or save money. And then kind of on the other side of it is these established producers that have been around a while, watching them learn and grow and maybe change a little something, try a little something different. One of the things that was kind of like voodoo when I started as a livestock agent was planting crabgrass. And I was one of the first ones that was really starting to plant crabgrass and really talk about crabgrass. And people thought I was absolutely crazy. And now it's like just common forage, common knowledge. Nobody looks at you sideways when you say I'm planting crabgrass. And uh, but to see those kind of like early pioneers or early adopters and work with those folks is very rewarding because you see a vision, they see your vision, and and uh they're willing to take a chance and let you hopefully make an impact with them.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Adam and Lauren, thank you both for sharing how livestock programming supports producers across Randolph County from herd health and management decisions to educational opportunities and farm visits. It's clear that this work helps strengthen both individual farms and our broader agricultural community. In our next episode of Under the Green, we'll shift gears and head into the world of horticulture. We'll talk with our horticulture expert about seasonal topics that matter to gardeners, homeowners, and growers alike, from planting tips and landscape care to what you should be thinking about in your yard and garden as the seasons change. So if you've got questions about what to plant, how to care for it, or how to make your landscape thrive, you won't want to miss this conversation. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time right here under the green.