Episode 49 - Crop Condition Ratings, Scrapie is back, and Another Roundabout Affecting Rural Traffic

Thanks to Spraytec for sponsoring this week's show. Find a dealer near you at spraytecusa.com.

And thanks to our studio sponsor Biotech Innovations.  Learn more about them at www.biotechinnovationsag.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Welcome to Dirt to Dollars, where we cover everything from the dirt on your land to the dollars in your hand.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

We're talking all things agriculture incentive and took, from the field to the farm office.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Join your hosts, Daniel Carpenter, Matt Adams, and Mark Thomas as we dig into current ag news, practices, and more. And now, coming to you from the biotech innovation studios, here's Dirt to Dollars. Now let's get innovative.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Welcome back to Dirt to Dollars, where our pronouns are he haw. Here's Dirt to Dollars.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

And that's why we don't let him do the cold open.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

What? That was funny.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

No.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

You don't have that under your email signature, he haw.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

No, I do not.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Quotations? Or what are those parentheses? Is it parentheses or quotations? Parentheses. They put it in parentheses, don't they?

SPEAKER_00 1:01

I don't know. I thought it was quotations, but anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

That's if you get a email, an official Dirt Dollars email, that's what our that's what our pronouns are.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

And don't worry, I'll uh I'll do the intro next week, folks. Before we lose them, Mark, who's our sponsor this week?

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Low rates, high yields. Spraytech's exclusive technology enhances the absorption of the nutrients by delivering the right form of the element along with the polarity that activates plant metabolism, making them more efficient on utilizing all active ingredients. 100% soluble form and EDTA chilated. Visit spraytechusa.com to learn more and find a dealer near you.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Is it chilated or chelated?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

I guess technically it's chelated. I did say chelated.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

I don't know. You had me at low use rate and I just ignored all the big words. I mean that's a man, that's a that should go on like their next radio commercial or something. It should quote right there.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

You know what the other direct quote is? Use it once, trust it always. Huh. So check them out. They got some pretty good products over there. Um this week. New sponsor is a new sponsor. New first time sponsor. So probably after they heard Daniel's opening, man.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Hope they don't have much stance on. Back to school this week here in our little corner of the world.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

You're gonna Adam Sandler sing for us there, Daniel.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

He started to. People think I'm not a fool. Isn't that how something like that?

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Yeah, that's no, prove to them I'm not a fool. Yeah, close enough. Something like that. You're close.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Yep. It's got everybody just riled up and ready to go this week. I hope they all have a good first day. I know uh I've got one starting in middle school, and Mark's got one starting kindergarten.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Does every school release an hour early on opening day?

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Just the elementary school, uh, except except for Lakewood.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah, that's down there by West Arden.

unknown 3:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Why doesn't like some of the kids ride the same bus maybe or timing would be off? They they tie into West Arden's schedule. They got the same start time because all the other elementary schools start at 7 30, I think, and they don't start till 8 15 or 8 20. So and then get out later.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

But so the the hour early release deal is because of school buses, because they don't have to give everybody extra time, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Yeah, so they told us um last week at Kinder Camp when she went to that that their goal the first day. Well, she went to Kinder Camp and I had to go to a parent meeting at eleven o'clock and then meet with her teacher. Um did you did you did you pass? I did barely. Are you a Kinder Camp graduate, Mark? I am. It was it was close, man. I almost didn't make it.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Um we're glad you made it.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

It was all about tying my shoes. You know, I've been wearing slip-on boots for so long that kind of forgot how to tie my shoes, but um anyway, they said their goal the the first day of school was to get them in the building, feed them breakfast, feed them lunch, and get them home. That was that was their goal the first day. Life quality and get them back out.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

So, Mark, you'll you'll get to experience this, but it's it's just a cr that first day, really that first week, it's just insane. Picking up and dropping off, and just you know, you get so many people that are new to the whole thing, and it's and then it's just a it's just a whole experience.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Mark's gonna mess up the drop-off.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

No, and they did, and they did make a comment that um that kids parents could walk their kids to the front door if they so choose.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

But they also said, if you're gonna be dropping them off around back, just rip the band-aid off on the first day and drop them off in line and get used to it. So now the SRO that's over there um know him really well, and he said, It's gonna be crazy the first day. Everybody brings their kids on the first day of school. So just be ready.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Shout out to the SROs. I really we've got um, you know, so Officer Styles is at Sisaki Valley, and I think he listens to our show from time to time too. But um got it just, I don't know, it really makes me feel good and and feels, you know, helps me to feel good about my kids being in school because they're they're always on the on the job there and seem like they're watching out for things and they care about the kids too. You know, tell the way they interact with them. So shout out to to the SROs.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

So, Daniel, do you walk the kids in on the first day or just kick them out the door?

SPEAKER_02 6:30

No, but you know, when it my first my daughter's when she first started, and that was during COVID. And um uh, and I think that may have been, I don't know if they were like doing that much before that, but that was kind of like the heart out of like, no, you can't, you have to drive, they have to get out and have their mask on, like you know, parents can't can't come to the building or something like that. But do you all remember? Like, did your parents walk you in like when you were younger? Like, I I don't remember it really.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

I I don't remember either.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Uh less than a mile from the school and I had to ride the bus.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Well, I mean, we rode the bus sometimes, but I got that seemed like the first day we would I feel like we got walked to the front door, maybe, or maybe right inside the door and then dropped off and that was it.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

But so when I and I don't remember kindergarten at all, but I know when we lived on St. John Road, I rode the bus every morning. And I'm sure I rode it on the first day of school, you know, when the time came. Because dad was milking cows at the time. So you know, and mom had to be at work. So that was the same. You were gonna ride the bus, you rode the bus. So once we moved over here, then I was out of district, so somebody had to drop me off, somebody had to take me every day. But but no, I don't ever remember walking to the door. It was like, there's the door.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Yeah. Go. Now that we have kids in different schools, it's like, well, we all gotta ride the bus. Here's how it is. Sorry. Sorry, not sorry.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

So are they both gonna ride the bus? I think so.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

Okay, good deal.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Okay. I that's yeah, I was gonna ask you that because that's I've got several years where I have to worry about that, but I'm gonna have to figure that out. I think from what I've talked to people, there's enough time for us to drop one off at Creekside and get uh I guess.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

What helps what helped sell the bus? My daughter's not listening, but she gets to sleep in an extra 30 minutes because there's 30 minutes between their buses.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Which that's kind of crazy to think about, but um, but yeah. So it's a different bus picks up elementary school and middle school.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

But different schools, yeah. I mean, it's still totally different schools. Now, do you I wonder if some of that'll change next year when West Harden is open behind central.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Yeah, when they're closer together, that might change, but still I don't, you know, I think there's a big thing there where I mean when I so when I was growing up, I rode the same bus as elementary school kids as high schoolers. We all rode the same bus. And oh man, the things that I learned. But but you know, you want to form a young Washington County mind, you you put them on the school bus. But but besides that, the the like the elementary school kids are on their own bus. And I I think the middle school kids are on their own bus. So I don't, you know, if I don't know that they would put all those together or not. I'm I I don't know. I don't know the thought process with with that or if how they operate that.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

I don't know. That'll be interesting to say, interesting to see.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Um but I'm fairly kind of I know they won't be on the same buses.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Well, they won't they most likely they won't be on the same uh time schedule. I I can't see Secidi Valley changing their school times to match West Harden, even though it's right there, although that's what Lakewood did. So it'll be interesting to see what school times change for 2027, if at all. Um so very interesting.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Now that we're out and got our our school administrators' hats off, since we know how to run all the transportation now.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Um $30 crew for school board.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Yeah, right. Uh we do have uh some some sheep news. Did y'all have y'all seen the sheep news? Does it involve goats too?

SPEAKER_01 10:25

No, not really. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

You're but um so Matt, you're since me and you were both former extension agents, do you did you ever get calls about scrapie tags? Yeah, yeah. It seemed like that was something that nobody could ever figure out how to get their scrapie tags. So uh scrapey. Yeah, well, it seemed like I got a lot of calls from yeah, they didn't get help at Harmon County and they'd call LaRue County. I'm not sure, but I mean that maybe that was just a small portion of that, but anyway. But no, Scrapie uh has surfaced in Oregon uh for the first time in five years. And uh Scrapey is like a it's something, it's very similar to mad cow disease, I believe, uh that you get with with cattle, but it doesn't, it's it's not transferable to humans, whereas mad cow disease is right, like humans can be uh yeah, something like that can happen.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

It can transfer to humans. It can transfer, it's not called the same thing when it gets in a exactly.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

So it's you know very hard to transfer. Yes. So um anyway, we were if a country goes seven years without a scrapie incidence, they can be considered scrapie free. They don't have to do the tagging anymore, they don't have to monitor anymore. Uh so we went five years without a case, and then they had one pop up last week in Oregon. So it starts that seven-year cycle again, uh where you still have to get the special uh scrapie tag. Um I think it's a conspiracy theory. I think that is a goat thing too. Goat tags get it. Well, they have to have scrapie tags, but I've never I've never seen that um that that they're they're never really talked about when there's cases.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Well, then why do they have to have scrapie tags?

SPEAKER_02 12:24

I don't know. It's a good point. I mean they do have to have the tags too. They do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Looks to me like you can buy them online at scrapie tags.com.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Yeah, but no, but see, here's the thing. You get up, they used to be able to get them for free. Um so everybody, you know, they would get sheep and goats, and they'd say, Where's my free tags? I don't know how to get the free tags. I got sheep and goats, and I need my free tags. And then they they'd end up having to pay extra for the tiger to use those tags. And then when you look at what your total you paid, you paid about as much as you would have just gonna get the cheap tags somewhere and get the numbers printed on them and get the free tiger that comes with it. But nobody ever wanted to hear that because they wanted their free scrapie tags.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

So what's the whole purpose of them? I mean, you don't have to be do you have to be like clear by vet before you can put them in or of what for the scrapie tags? Scrapey tags, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

It's just a track tracking number.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Yeah, it's uh it's not saying they don't have scrapies when they're put in, it's just saying that if it comes up, that they can trace it back to where farms it came off of.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

So same thing, it's like a premise ID. If anybody applied for Kate, probably know what that is now, but uh that didn't make really make much sense either. Well, we gotta have those numbers, but um, but anyway, that's this the scrapie ID is basically a premise ID. Uh so it ties that animal to your phone.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Premise ID to get scrapies toes because don't don't they tie together? Somehow, but uh I mean they'd have to for them to be able to trace them.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

It's it's yeah, there it's that number is to my address. So actually, you know, we just recently moved up the road and we had to update our scrapie um uh scrapie registration because they would not mail the tags to my new address until we had updated that. Um so yeah, it's they I mean there's a it's tied to a name and a place uh with with each number, so it's basically a premise ID. But you put them on your your tags for for your sheep or goats. But anyway, you know that we could talk about that that tag process and how it's supposed to work. Well, guess what? This animal that they found in Oregon didn't have one tag. So that worked real great. Um my my conspiracy thought on this is that there's probably a lot of jobs and a lot of uh grant funding that would be gone if uh if we were magically, you know, if we were to be able to eradicate scrapie uh from America. So I have to do that.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

I've always heard scrapeies. Scrapie. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

And I don't know if this is why they call it scrapey, but you know, you can tell if uh sheep or goat, one of the symptoms of that is if they're scraping their head on a fence post or uh against the side of a barn or acting weird like that. That's that's what I'll put it with.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Well yeah, rub their heads on stuff.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

They rub their side, they rub their well, all these hair sheep are trying to get their that hair off of them and they'll rub on stuff, but not it's not on their heads too much. But anyway, that's that I don't know if that's why they call it scrapie, but that's I always thought maybe that was why they called it that. Anyway, that's one of the first things you learn when you get sheep or goats is that you gotta get a scrape tag. But it looked like we were close to being out of that to not have to do that anymore, but another seven years, I guess, of no cases. And I also I will say another thing with that scrapie is that it takes a long time for an animal to show symptoms of that. Like it's generally your older use, your older animals that would show that they they maybe have scrapie and they would test them and find out they have them. Um the sheep market's been really good the last few years and it's kind of slowed down a little bit. Makes me think maybe people are holding more sheep back, getting a little older, and just kind of increase the chances of that happening. It's not gonna have any impact on the prices or anything like you can with some other, you know, like if Maccow disease were to come out or something like that, you'd see a big impact in prices, but just a just a uh irritating circumstance, I guess, that uh we're just gonna last a little longer. So that's all the sheep news I got. I just felt like I had some sheep stuff to share. I needed to share it.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Glad you could contribute this week. Yep, I'll go back to my corner now.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

We're always open to good sheep news.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Just no more bad jokes, please. So I had some crop conditions come out this week and some interesting notes on those. Did you know? So I think we fell the national crop ratings or fell to 61% good to excellent. Was that on just in general? Like crops in general? That's the national average, yes. So that would be one of the lowest in recent memor memory. It's the fourth lowest good to excellent rating since 2008. Over the last 18 years, we've only seen three years that have been a lower rating on today's date, so for this week. Uh 2012 was 23% good to excellent, which we all know to the 2012 drought. 2019, 57% good to excellent, 2023, 57% good to excellent, 2026, 61%, and 2022, 61%. And just to reference this time last year, we were sitting at like 74% good to excellent nationally.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

But but our crop was not near as far along this week last year as it as it is now.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

Here.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Here. I mean maybe maybe not maybe not nationally, but here, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Yeah. And I think you get over in the corn belt and they kind of experienced what we experienced last year and the crop was kinda late.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Yes, I think so.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

So yeah, 2024 was uh like 67%. So some interesting numbers there.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Uh and you do you have the Kentucky, like the Kentucky numbers or anything about the general consensus on I do not right now, but Mark.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

I know you've probably been out looking at some corn if you want to give your report of what you think crops look like in your neck of the woods. I will find the Kentucky ratings for this week.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

Really, really good. Um we are everything I've looked at this week of of mine, I haven't stepped out in anybody else's fields and you know done the done the whole uh pro farmer crop tour and you know, trespassed and walked into other people's fields and looked. But uh our stuff.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Um just wear your dirt to dollars hat and just tell them you got a press pass. Yeah, I got a press pass.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Exactly. I've been victim to that crop tour three or four. No, that was the Hard and LaRue crop tour. Maybe that'll make a comeback this year. I don't know. Um but stuff looks really good. Um on my farm, I'm anywhere from three to five weeks uh to black layer. So, you know, our corns really coming in, hopefully finishing strong.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Um Kent, real quick, for some of our listeners that may not be familiar with a lot of the terminology, what's important about that black layer?

SPEAKER_00 20:19

So black layer is um the point in which the plant has reached physologic physiological maturity. Physiological see there I am mispronouncing words again. Um that's maturity for the corn plant. At that point, no um no more starches go into that that corn kernel. So it has it has made its maximum yield. Um the only thing that can happen from that point is it can dry down. So at black layer, typically corn is um around 30 to 32 percent moisture. Uh depending on the hybrid, it could be a little lower. Um, we sell that corn on the market at 15.5%. So still got a long ways for it's for it's ready to you know harvest and and market without a grain dryer, but that's an important date. Um, and here we are. Uh, we're recording this on the 5th of August. We're kind of starting to get dry again. Uh we'll maybe talk about that again here in a moment, but we're at a pretty critical time for corn and soybeans. We we need some we need some water in August and to really knock these corn and bean bean crops out of the park. And um we were actually down at the farm tonight, pre kindergarten, you know, farm visit, hanging out, and uh my wife was actually looking at some soybeans behind the grain bins, and she was like, Wow, these these are some good beans, they're just pods everywhere. I've never seen pods like this before. So then I started obsessing over the beans and looking at them and looking around and she was like, You you haven't obsessed over these beans ever. It's like, Yeah, but you commented on how good they were, so now I'm obsessed with them. Because she never comments on how good the beans look. So we've got at least here very good potential for high yields if we can finish out with some rain this month and get some seed size and some seed weight to it.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

So I'd almost argue and say this crops early enough. We've got potential for a good crop, even if it does shut off.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

We've got potential for a really good corn crop.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Potential for an excellent crop. We've got potential more rains. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Yes. If if it didn't rain anymore, we would have a very good corn crop still. We would have an okay bean crop, I think. But if we're one or two rains away from an excellent corn crop and an excellent soybean crop.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

I I talked to a farmer uh just last few days and just the the words cautiously optimistic was used. That's kind of how I think it was a good way to put it because how many times have we had these like really good, like everything is just lined up perfect, and yes, we're gonna finally we're gonna get us a good a good yield of the year, and and then something crappy happens. You get a derecho or you get a hurricane or um uh water sure or the water shuts off. We're just all about pronoun the way we're pronouncing things today. Um, but the uh but yeah, something something just crappy happens and and and it's not as good as it looked to be. And and then we get a little down about man, we just had that really excellent potential and we lost it. Um the the the good thing about now is that I I still think you know we'll be okay if if if we were to to just cut off. But um I'm I'm seeing in grass, of course, my soils are not deep um here, but it's it's we're it's starting to show a little dry uh around around my parts now. And it's and we've been getting a lot of rain.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

And that's serious if it's getting dry in the Howe Valley wetlands down there. Right. Typically get rain every three days.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

Well, the last few rains though have not just been a tenth or something. Like it's not much. Um and you know, one of those days it was just an all-day drizzle, but just nothing need a good need another good soaker.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

You know the good soaker. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Yeah, that's I uh I've noticed some some beans that have started to look a little tough in the afternoons on the thinner spots, you can see them, but uh yeah, if we could catch really if we could catch two more good rains this month.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

It would pretty well carry us through.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

It it absolutely would.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

It would make that crop, but I did find our crop condition ratings for Kentucky this week. Uh corn is sixty-nine percent good excellent. So was it again? What percentage was that? Sixty-nine. Uh beans would be sixty-two percent good excellent. So I would think that's a little low. I would kind of think so too.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Well, so those numbers could be skewed slightly. Of course, I know we're talking about the whole state, but But even then, I mean it's better had some replant that and some that didn't get replant that should have gotten replanted.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

If you go kind of the kind of western Kentucky and up around that Owensboro area, and I've even heard kind of the Bloomfield area, more in central Kentucky, where you've got a lot of river bottom. Uh I've heard of a lot of crop that got wiped out, and some of those July rains that got went in and got replanted in the middle of July.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

So that's reflecting some of that. And in somewhat of that same area, a lot of uh frost damage, trees damage that got replanted, and as soon as it got replanted, it got flooded out, and then they replanted again, and it got flooded out again, and uh, and some of that's just like we're done. Or it's just gonna be not very good.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Uh, we've got a 12-acre bottom here behind Dad's house where two creeks come together, and I don't know, it's been three weeks or go. That that last big rain we had where Etown got five and six inches. We didn't get that much at home, but anyway, the creek came up. Um, I've been watching those beans. Typically, when that happens, water gets over two or three acres in that bottom. You can see the dirt on the leaves. And it just sometimes it doesn't wash off, sometimes it does. So I kept noticing those beans didn't look any different. Today I looked at, I actually walked down and looked at them, and they're far enough along that I don't know if they're gonna make anything because the dirt just coated the pods, and it just all the leaves are just dropping off of the beans. So they've I think they just said, you know what? I'm done. I'm giving up.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

So um isn't there something there about if they had pods on them and they were underwater, they're contaminated, you're not supposed to sell them anyway.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

I don't know what stage that is. Yes, there is something about that. I don't know what stage that is. Um, but you know, these were like in R4, so for legal reasons.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

They didn't have pods.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

They didn't have pods on them now.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

Uh he's probably already made a TikTok about it anyway, so it's out there.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

I have not, actually.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

So yeah, we've got a lot of potential really good crop out there right now. Uh like I said, it just depends on how uh the weather works out. Hopefully by the time this hits the radio on Saturday morning, we've gotten a shower or two. We're getting a shower. I know we've got some chances coming in into the week and through the weekend. Uh and then some high temps in the 90s, it looks like. So yeah, it'd be very, very nice to get a little bit of rain. Well, and I've kept seeing a lot of these model forecasts showing way above normal rainfall for us uh kind of for this week two of August. So hopefully some of that materializes and we can get some there. Uh I know I've read uh back some of the weather services that we follow and stuff, and I think our buddy over at Central Kentucky Weather has even kept up with some of this. That uh you know, we're talking about switching into this El Nino pattern and what that might mean for our weather situation, and everything I've seen lines us up with 2023, and I think that's what Sean over at Central Kentucky Weather had said in his interview back in what April? Yep, it was uh that everything at that time was lining up with 2023, and we've kind of went through the summer uh really shaping up like if we did in 2023, which for here was a record crop in 2023, and I'd kind of forgotten about this because it was so good. Uh but some of the things that I was looking at just yesterday, uh comparing 2023, and once you get through August and get into September, October, we turned extremely dry in September and October. In 23, we did. Yeah. And it uh so it showed that on some of the maps, and I can remember that pretty well because we had beautiful growing conditions all season long. And 2023 was the year that we won Farm Bureau Outstanding Young Farm Family, and they came to do our video like the 2nd of October, and everything was burned up.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

So I think I remember yeah, I had finally decided to try to reseed some pastures, and it was like, man, we're getting rains. This is gonna be a good year. Because I've had the same thought this year. Like, you know, if we stay with these wet conditions, I can actually get some some grass established in some of these fields where I haven't had luck. That was the last time I did it was in was in 23, and it didn't get a rain, like didn't get a rain on it, never came up. And then the weeds just just came back and took it over.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

But yeah. So yeah, we'll see uh how that plays out, but can't stay wet all year long. And I think 2023, I think, I mean it was pretty easy harvest that year getting the crop out. We just had a lot of crop to get out because it was really good. And uh and was a really good vein crop. We had we had I think that was a year, didn't we have some fires?

SPEAKER_02 31:16

When there's some probably. I I feel like that was because it was such a we had a good crop and it was everybody everything was you know having to work hard to get it out, right? And then we had that really dry that dry weather too. So I seems like I that was a year that we had a few big fires.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

Yeah, so we'll just have to watch that and see how all that plays out.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Keep your water tank handy. Just in case.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

But you know really, no two years are exactly the same. So there that's no guarantee that since we've matched up so far that that we could do that. And I and some of the stuff I was reading on last night was actually talking about if this like a high pressure or a dome or something shifts just a little bit one way or the other, we could be wet all the way through October going into the winter. We will see what happens.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

That's all we can do, right?

SPEAKER_01 32:15

That's all right.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Sit around and wait. Did y'all see some uh news out of the pork industry this week? Six state uh pork associations have united to launch the Southeast Pork Alliance. During the South East Summer Conference in Franklin, Tennessee, six state pork organizations officially announced the formation and launch of the Southeast Pork Alliance, a producer-led regional partnership designed to strengthen the pork industry through collaboration, shared resources, advocacy, and innovation. So those are Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi Pork Producers Association, Alabama Pork Producers, Georgia Pork Producers Association, and the Florida Pork Improvement Group. So eat more bacon. Eat more bacon. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

So that kind of seems to be which of those states would be the biggest pork producer?

SPEAKER_01 33:15

I would bet Tennessee. I would bet Tennessee because of uh Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida?

SPEAKER_02 33:22

Yes. Because I was kind of thinking it's either Tennessee or Kentucky, and I would think it's Tennessee. They don't want to have more nuts.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

So here's a couple of interesting stats on it. Um Tennessee experienced one of the nation's fastest population increases in 2025, with the Nashville metropolitan area growing twice the national average. Georgia has added more than 500,000 residents over the past five years. And Florida continues to welcome an estimated 550 new residents each day.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

All these old people going down there, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:02

That's right. So a lot of this started uh the idea for the Southeast Fork Alliance began in 2022 through conversations with Tennessee producer Jimmy Tosh of Henry, Tennessee. Uh those discussions focused on finding better ways to leverage producer checkoff investment investments and collaborate across state lines. So it was around that 2022-23 time frame that Kentucky and Tennessee merged. So that was kind of the first merger. Um and then another merger that's happened in the pork producer association is uh Virginia and North Carolina have merged. So um this this could be a pretty big uh pretty big thing for those in the pork industry. You know, we don't have a lot of pork around here locally anymore, um unfortunately. But that will be uh it'll be good to promote that product. But but really, I mean how much promotion does bacon need? I mean it kind of promotes itself, right?

SPEAKER_02 35:11

All right, yeah, can't go wrong. Is this is this probably a trend we'll see with some other uh commodities as well?

SPEAKER_00 35:21

I would think so. Um probably not well, I I would say in uh livestock more than than grain crop industries because over the last 30 years, I mean, look at what's happened in the pork industry, uh, as well as the poultry industry, and it's kinda taking place in the in the beef industry too, that it's all getting you know, what is it vertically integrated? It's all it's all coming down fewer and bigger. So as that happens, you have fewer producers, you know, to to make things happen. So let's let's merge some states together and and get a bigger organization, you know, a a larger voice for you know their products.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

One one thing that uh we're fortunate here in Kentucky is you know, we kind of have the elite commodity groups if you look at any of them. So really when something like this happens, and I think this was kind of the case with this uh Southeast Pork Alliance deal, is it's basically these those other states coming to Kentucky and saying, Can you help us? It's not us needing the help.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

Yeah, I think that's right.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

It's we have things to offer that benefit these other states.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

So there's a very good very good group of uh people working at at the state office right here in Elizabethtown. Uh and and the Kentucky Pork Producers headquarters have been in Elizabethtown for ever. I don't know. It's been here a long time.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

Long time.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

So you know we're we're very fortunate to have that here. But um so yeah, I think that's we'll see how that how that goes forward. And you know, hopefully they can only get stronger.

SPEAKER_02 37:16

But yep. They're their um their headquarters is on 31, right? It is right under or right by 565. The interstate on 31. Speaking of 31.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

It's an old bank. I don't know if you knew this or not. It's an old bank in there. And I don't know if they keep their pork burgers. You know, you can go by there and buy pork burgers and pork chops and stuff. What do they keep them in the old vault?

SPEAKER_03 37:39

I hope they keep a refrigerator or a freezer, but but maybe they maybe they keep that freezer in the vault.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

Maybe that's what we're there.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

You go, maybe, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:50

Yeah, they pull out a lockbox. Oh, here you go. Here's some some pork burgers.

SPEAKER_01 37:56

All right.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

But yeah, you were going somewhere. I was going somewhere. Uh I was going down 31. So uh yeah, I heard you're not gonna be any sometimes. You're not gonna be this weekend. Yeah, so uh so this what what's the dates for this weekend? Uh August 7th and 8th. Is that this weekend?

SPEAKER_00 38:14

7th through the 10th.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

So the 10th.

SPEAKER_00 38:17

Utility work will require closure of US 31W in both directions this weekend between Sonora and Glendale. Uh cruise will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, August 7th, with the road scheduled to reopen by 6 a.m. Monday.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

And this is another roundabout, right? They're putting a rust about it.

SPEAKER_00 38:37

It is the Mackey Road roundabout.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Yeah, and they're they're redoing Gilead Church Road because of all the you know, all the stuff that's going on at the battery park right now. How many batteries they're making out of yeah, and all the traffic that's there and all the ground that's been disturbed. All these employees that have to come out of there. Yeah, they're lined up trying to get out of there now. Um, they gotta get out. So yeah, this might you know this real important infrastructure thing. So my question is if they've got this shut down, do farm farm implements get a buy that they can they can go up I65 or what?

SPEAKER_01 39:08

It's like that's the detour.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

Yeah, that's what motorists should detour via I-65 between exit 81 and 86. So maybe we should all go out this weekend and and drive our combines and our tractors up right from from mile marker 86 down to 81 just just in protest. Come on, bring it on.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

Yeah, so because I mean we were we were talking about this earlier. Like, if you can't get through there, it's it's a long way.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Long way around, yeah. Because if you can't get on, you haven't been able to get on Mikey Road off of 31W for a while, a couple of months. You can't and if you can't get on Gilead, then you gotta come all the way back to Glendale and go around to New downtown Glendale to New Glendale Road and go out. Yeah. Or you gotta go all the way to take 222 all the way to Hodgeonville, then come back 84, right?

SPEAKER_01 40:09

Yeah, take 222 to 84, not quite to Hodgsonville, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:13

Yeah, right, right. 222 to 84 and then come around. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

So it's so yeah, so if you're on a if you know that's a that's a long detour, but if you're on some tractor or some farm equipment or uh horse and buggy, then you've got a haul. Like that just really made a long trip.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

I sure hope our Amish listeners catch that before they head to town this week.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

I'm sure they will. I'm sure they will.

SPEAKER_00 40:42

They're probably not gonna see it on Facebook, though, where we saw it. Probably not.

SPEAKER_02 40:48

Probably not.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

Matt, you got some uh statistics reports. Speaking of Amish. That was actually my my well, it said it was sponsored by Madam Family Farms, so I wasn't sure. I thought maybe uh maybe Matt put that in. I thought there was a collaboration between those two come up with this.

SPEAKER_02 41:14

No, it was I actually saw this somewhere and it was it, I thought it was interesting because you know we've got some uh Amish um, what do they call it? Like no Amish districts or Amish uh settlements, I guess is what you call it. Like uh probably communities. Community. I think, yeah, the term that I saw me called them settlements, but anyway, that's community. But uh it just had populations of different different areas uh listed. And I thought it was interesting that um the one that that we have there in Sonora is uh, or I'm sorry, in Munfordville is one of the Amish.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

Different set Amish.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

Right, they're all different sets, right? I know, but they're but the ones in Munfordville, they're it's actually they're the largest, the largest population um in Kentucky there, but they're also one of the largest that's the newest, if that makes sense. So it was a they established there in 1989. Um, and a lot of the other ones that you'll see that'll have more than them were established like in the 1800s or 1700s. I just found that really interesting that they I don't know how many like started there, but there's a there's a lot um in that area um there in Munfordville. And I know some of you know I've been to the auction there. I've actually I've I've worked with a few of them around there and I've I've I always enjoyed talking to them and working with them. But um, I was just kind of surprised. I didn't really think there was that many there. But for them to have started somewhat recent, you know, was I didn't realize that was that recent. Yeah, I mean of course, anymore, that's a long 1989 was what 35 years ago, I guess. Um, but you know, we were alive for that. But it's uh uh yeah, that was a long that you I guess it wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things that when you look at some of these statistics that uh you know that these some of these older settlements that have been there for hundreds of years, um and I just I don't know. I found I found it interesting that they were they were pretty much the biggest one that's the newest.

SPEAKER_01 43:22

So what'd you say the 1700s? Some of them are in the 1700s?

SPEAKER_02 43:25

Oh, yeah, some of those in Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_01 43:27

Um they were maybe they were innovative using lanterns and horses and buggies then. They were ahead of their time.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Yep, there's some of those communities like in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, they had 45,000, 45,000 people. You imagine trying to drive through that area. Ew. That they established in 1760.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

They've been there a while. I bet they don't have many roundabouts.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

It's probably easier to get a horse and buggy through a roundabout, though.

SPEAKER_02 43:55

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

I don't know. I've never driven a horse and buggy, so I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 44:00

You know, that's really got me wondering on some of these roundabouts that have multiple lanes, and you know, when they try to go through one of them, I'd be interested to see.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

I would say in a in a situation like to just use the Kroger roundabout up there.

SPEAKER_01 44:18

If they were trying to come out, I don't think they would have got Kroger Mark.

SPEAKER_00 44:22

Probably not, but well, they gotta go somewhere and get groceries and stuff that they can't grow. Anyway, coming out of that would be very dangerous to try to come out of the Kroger and and go left onto Ring Road, like towards the extension office, towards the WK Park.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

I got kind of confused coming out of there the other day. I came out of that one. I wasn't sure which lane I was supposed to go in when I was trying to turn left out of Kroger. And I just I'm just stuck to the inside. I was like, I don't know where I'm supposed to go.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

The best thing in a roundabout when you get in it and you don't know where to go, just take two or three laps and figure it out.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

Dukes a hazard horn and just go in circles. Um we've gone, we've rattled on here. We're I think we're about out of time. Mark, you want to mention our sponsor again before you close here?

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Thanks again to Spray Tech Technology, helping you maximize your crop performance with innovative solutions, bringing together application technology, nutrition, and plant health. Use it once, trust it always. Visit spraytechusa.com to learn more and find a dealer near you.

SPEAKER_01 45:34

Man, maybe if uh they'll sponsor again sometime you can get that tongue twister down.

SPEAKER_00 45:40

I know, it's it's kidding me. I'm like to give this to one of you all and let you all try it sometime.

SPEAKER_01 45:45

All right. Well, thanks for listening this week and in memory of our late friend Dale Dawson, life is good.

SPEAKER_00 45:54

You are appreciated.

SPEAKER_01 45:57

See you next week.