Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 274: The EPA Just Flipped the Switch: What It Means for Diesel and Cattle with John Campbell

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274: The EPA Just Flipped the Switch: What It Means for Diesel and Cattle with John Campbell · CattleUSA Daily

0:00
Today we are bringing on John Campbell once again to talk
0:03
about the cattle markets, everything that we're seeing
0:05
across the winter livestock family in the region this week,
0:08
it's been a pretty great week for the live cattle market.
0:10
And so John is here with some numbers.
0:11
And to break all of that down for us, we also are once again
0:15
touching on the wildfires that have absolutely ravished part of
0:19
our cattle country and a lot of producers out there.
0:22
So John is touching on that, giving some updates there.
0:24
And then we're going into a recent EPA ruling and what that
0:29
means for agrication. And John shares a really
0:33
interesting, a really great personal story about the EPA and
0:38
what he has had to deal with as a rancher.
0:40
And he makes a great point that if you're in agriculture, you
0:43
own a business, probably have an EPA story.
0:46
And he shares all of that. And then what this truly means
0:50
for agriculture, why we should pay attention, why we should
0:53
care, and hopefully what we continue to see going forward.
0:56
Before we hop into today's episode with John, if you're
0:58
watching on any of our podcast platforms, make sure that you
1:01
take a second to subscribe to the show, follow it, rate and
1:04
review it. Like this episode, do all of
1:06
those things. We really appreciate it here at
1:07
the team. Without further ado, let's go
1:09
ahead and hear from John Campbell.
1:15
Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily Podcast, your go to source for
1:19
the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the
1:22
updates shaping agriculture today.
1:24
I'm your host Lauren Moylan, a passionate advocate for
1:27
agriculture, here to keep you informed and connected.
1:30
Now let's dive into today's episode.
1:39
John, welcome back to the podcast.
1:41
How is life in Lahana treating you this week?
1:44
Oh great, great. You know, boy, record heat
1:47
though, you know, I mean up in the 80s yesterday and the day
1:51
before and just supposed to be 67 or 8.
1:54
They did get some snow in the mountains, I'm hearing.
1:57
So it's a start. I think, you know, rather than
2:01
31% of normal, we're up to 40 or something.
2:04
So maybe, you know, we, we have this conversation every year.
2:10
Well, we still got time, you know, and we, it, it can still
2:14
snow. I've seen it snow, you know, as
2:16
late as May here. And you know, it's the same
2:19
conversation. Hell, in a lot of Colorado, you
2:22
got to start over from zero every year and then you know
2:27
about August. Why everybody be sitting around
2:29
the sail? And you know, I've, I've seen it
2:32
grow some grass here in August and we're still dry, you know.
2:36
But yeah, we live in the desert. So that's, that's why we live
2:40
here. If it was worth a shit,
2:41
everybody want to live here and that wouldn't be good either.
2:44
Well, John, I can confirm first hand experience.
2:47
The mountains did get snow because I drove through it.
2:51
So I was driving through Logan. I drove Logan Pass at 2:30 in
2:57
the morning the other day. About 3 inches of snow were on
3:02
the ground, 3 inches of snow were on the ground by the by
3:05
that time, talk about you were awake.
3:10
I didn't need any extra caffeine.
3:13
I didn't need anything. I was plenty awake.
3:17
John. We were about 15 miles from
3:20
Logan Pass and it started and we drove through the night out.
3:24
We're in Utah right now for a trip for a work thing.
3:27
And I had me and one of my staff members with me and we, we left
3:29
Manhattan at 8:00 PM. We're like, we're going to drive
3:32
through the night. It's about 17 hours to where
3:34
we're at in southwest Utah. And I was like, we'll be fine.
3:37
I've I've done this a ton. Like it'll be all right.
3:40
And so we were doing 4 hour increments between the two of
3:42
us. Well, my 4 hours were up.
3:43
I'd already been driving at this point for four hours.
3:46
John and I get out and it's like starting to spit snow and I kind
3:50
of look over at the girl that's with me and I'm like, you're
3:52
not, I love you honey, but you're not built for this.
3:55
Like we're about to go through Logan Pass and you're not built
3:59
for this. And so I chug A5 hour energy.
4:03
I get out and I do like some shakes and some moving groove
4:06
and I'm like, OK, got to wake myself up a little bit and I get
4:10
going and oh boy, I was awake. I was plenty awake.
4:13
We got done with that and I got to like Glenwood Springs.
4:16
It's about two hours to get from Logan Pass to Glenwood Springs
4:19
and it finally stopped snowing and I was like, OK, I'm ready to
4:22
sleep for the next day because I was on an adrenaline rush there.
4:26
Tell you what, there's nothing like a little.
4:28
Carryover from that even right now, I mean, you're just talking
4:32
about it while you're, you're good for another 7-8 hours just
4:36
you know. We're good.
4:37
I mean, it also could be the fact that I've had a coffee and
4:40
an energy drink already today. We did a sunrise, We did a
4:45
sunrise hike at a location down here this morning.
4:48
So I've been up since 4:30 this morning.
4:51
So we're jazzed, John. Oh my word.
4:57
OK. So anyway can confirm the
4:59
mountains got snow? Yeah, that's great.
5:02
It just brings back a lot of memories.
5:05
My gosh. Well, John, how have the markets
5:07
been doing this week? You know, really pretty good
5:10
they're kind of tearing the commodities up a little bit
5:13
today. I, I, I haven't really
5:15
researched it yet to find out why, but here in a lot of 15
5:19
quality. I, I didn't think on our light
5:21
cabs realistically. So we, we had a couple strings
5:25
of really nice wing fan light cabs last week and most of our
5:31
bunches of cabs this week, which is odd for us was kind of crop
5:35
cabs, you know, right off the cow.
5:37
And they're going to be a little harder to sell.
5:39
But some 315 Ballers at 632 1/2. Here's a little package of 450
5:48
weight steers at 557 1/2. Probably wouldn't be much
5:51
cheaper. 530 weight steers at 5:30 over on the heifer side,
5:57
some little 3 1/4 weight balance or heifers at 565 S you know the
6:02
string tops maybe not there. I would kind of call the market
6:07
steady on on what we had, but we just didn't have the caliber
6:10
that that we had the week before some 4 weight effort still north
6:15
of $5 at five O 7. But if you remember last week we
6:19
had some four way heifers bring 5 I guess or $48 lower.
6:24
But you know comparing apples to bananas, but 530 LB black cabs
6:32
at 452 1/2. I thought our stalker heifers
6:36
when we got into some cattle that really had we had some
6:39
depth in the quality and some numbers really a reflection of
6:44
the true market. They might have been 5-10 bucks
6:47
better than last week. And I thought our feeding that
6:50
for seven to 10 higher. But again shortage of those last
6:55
week in in in numbers and abundance and condition this
6:59
week. But we sold 56 out of 560 weight
7:03
heifers off a string of 370 cattle bring 459 615 LB Big
7:11
Sisters at 4:36. And we had some efforts that
7:14
weighed close to 7 replacements at 393.
7:19
Some replacement after 7:15 at three 75830 LB efforts carrying
7:25
some flesh that went on feed at 347 1/2 Stalker steers in the
7:32
feeding steer market here and a lot of pretty much steady.
7:35
I thought would last week on just packages of Cabs 562 weight
7:40
stairs at 492 1/2. We did have some 6 weight stairs
7:44
up to 471. Again, they would be all black,
7:48
all wean part of that big string for some cattle.
7:51
It weighed right up against seven bring 421.
7:55
That's they're nothing cheaper about that.
7:57
And some 7 weight cattle at at four O 9.
8:01
So for the numbers that we had, I just thought as it has been
8:04
pretty typical demand is has just been just been great.
8:09
They're just staying right in there.
8:11
Yeah, absolutely. They definitely are.
8:13
What are we seeing across the when our livestock family in the
8:15
region? Well, Dodge City and then the
8:19
wheat run is on. You know, they say if you're
8:21
going to cut wheat, why you need to be all kind of 15th, 20th of
8:26
March. I don't know who and L would
8:28
want to cut wheat no more nits worth.
8:30
But anyway, you know, you got grazers and and and then you've
8:33
got guys that are still in in the wheat business.
8:36
So they're starting to get some runs 37120 some cattle in Dodge
8:42
City. No real test on the little light
8:45
cabs in in Dodge, but had some 5 weight steers up to 510 six
8:51
weights up to 454. Some 7 weight cattle at four O
8:56
9. These cattle have done extremely
8:59
well on this week. They're coming early the markets
9:02
pulling them forward but 8 weight steers up to 378, which
9:08
would just be phenomenal and 9 weight cattle at 365 there in in
9:13
Dodge City they had some $4.00, six weight effers, some heifers
9:18
weighing 7 at 368 and you know so 8 weight efforts at 3:45
9:27
which would have been I think our best was 347 so pretty
9:31
similar. Pratt their sale is today but
9:35
last week 27129 again mostly bigger wheat cattle some 5
9:42
weight steers in Pratt, KS at 5:32 and I have 6 weights to
9:46
460. They sold some 7 weight cattle
9:50
at $4.00 but there you really start to see the numbers and the
9:56
quality once you get into the real big cattle.
9:59
And I thought they sold the heck out of their big cattle. 817 LB
10:04
stairs in Pratt, KS at 386 and they had 7 weight eppers at 372
10:12
and so some 6 weight eppers similar to us at 4:34.
10:18
The market that was really great last week was our market at
10:22
Salina, KS 20, about 2900 gattle there and you know 518 LB steers
10:30
at 556, weights at 492. We're about to sell some 6
10:36
weight steers at 5 bucks, 7 weights at 428.
10:41
Same kind of a story. 8 weights weighed 860.
10:45
As a matter of fact that 375 six way differs weighed 630.
10:50
Salina KS 466 and they did sell some seven way differs at $4.16.
10:59
One auction that that we have just acquired here in the last
11:04
six months. A lot of people aren't familiar,
11:06
but it is Marana, AZ and not a name that you typically think is
11:12
synonymous with the outstanding genetics just because that of
11:17
the country that they run in, you know, but they get some good
11:21
cattle down there. And I I thought I'd just kind of
11:24
give a shout out, shout out to Marana. 326 LB stairs at 672
11:32
1/2. They'll get some California guys
11:35
in there and, and, and some local guys.
11:38
But 430 LB stairs at 570. They sold some 5 weight cattle
11:44
at 547 1/2. And remember, this is just
11:48
outside of Phoenix. 6 weight stairs at 4:47.
11:51
I mean, they're a long ways from anywhere.
11:53
They sold some little 4 weight effers north of $5 and, and you
11:59
know, not that much difference, 537 LB efforts at 4:32 and some
12:05
6 weight efforts at 4:24. So hats off to Marana.
12:10
But anyway, I fought for the location.
12:14
Why that's that's higher than anything we did.
12:19
Yeah, for sure. That is such an awesome week in
12:22
the cattle market. And it's really encouraging to
12:24
be able to come here week after week and talk about the positive
12:27
things that we are seeing in this cattle market right now.
12:30
And that people are getting paid well for what they are producing
12:34
when they're coming to sell them at the sale barn and really get
12:37
things moving on that part. So it's really encouraging to
12:40
see as far as all that goes and hopefully we keep on seeing it
12:43
as we move forward in the coming months.
12:45
I think the stages is set for, you know, a great market right
12:50
on out. You know, like we kind of
12:52
qualified it way early before the fall started, you know that
12:56
it just looked like it was it was an open up to be great for
13:00
us. So anyway, let's hope we can
13:03
keep rocking along here. Absolutely, absolutely.
13:06
Well, John, what do you have for us for our main topic that we're
13:09
going to chat about today? Well, first thing I want to
13:11
thank everybody that opened up and said, my gosh, hey, feed
13:17
fencing supply, all the truckers that donated the diesel fuel and
13:22
the labor and, and their rigs to, to haul all this it into
13:27
the, you know, southwestern Kansas, Oklahoma Panhandle into
13:31
Texas. My guys, the labor, the money,
13:33
all the Volunteer Fire Department fighters, they raised
13:38
$37,000 in Dodge City in a matter of an hour yesterday.
13:44
And, and just, I, I mean, it just gives so much credibility
13:49
to what, what were agriculture, it is made of, made of it and
13:55
the, the complexion of the people in involved and, and you
14:00
know, the beautiful thing about it is it all dominoes in a good
14:05
way. We, we look at a lot of things
14:07
and think we're snowballing the wrong way.
14:09
And in a lot of venues we certainly are.
14:11
But it was interesting to talk to some people.
14:15
And, you know, my son-in-law was one of them.
14:18
He said, man, you can't believe the help that we got when there
14:22
was a fire down here and tearing outfits.
14:25
He's got a picture of a, a crew while you couldn't throw a rock
14:29
over all the people that were helping.
14:31
And he said, I'm never going to forget that.
14:34
And there's so many of those people just raised right and of
14:38
that discipline that when something does help or happen,
14:41
any big light goes off. I mean, you drop everything and
14:44
think, I remember when I was that guy and by God, I'm going
14:48
to help and I'm going to do something.
14:50
And and so just a great endorsement for rural America.
14:57
Absolutely. I think it really just puts into
14:59
perspective that when we need to show up, we show up for one
15:03
another and we show up in ways that is so hard to even imagine.
15:09
Like the amount of people, the amount of time, the amount of
15:12
effort, the money, everything that people put forth to help
15:15
out our fellow ranchers and our fellow individuals in rural
15:18
America. I think that that is a testament
15:20
right there to why we live the lifestyle that we live right
15:24
now. Right, right.
15:25
And, you know, I mean, again, I asked people if you haven't,
15:29
it's not over. You know, I talked to a guy,
15:32
well, early this morning, he said, yeah, there's still some
15:35
fires burning down there. We're still going.
15:37
But actually it's from this point forward where they're
15:40
going to need the most help. I, I, I mean, once you have time
15:43
to assess all the damage that went through and everything that
15:47
happened and, and, and, and thank goodness for, for what has
15:51
happened so far. But if you have not contributed
15:55
anything or you've been thinking about something, why appreciate
15:58
that it's on your mind, but it is not too late because the, the
16:03
work and the expenses just getting started.
16:05
So I, I, I had several people call me and say, well, John, do
16:10
you know any individuals? You know, some people say, why
16:14
I'm not big on throwing into a big fun because I don't know
16:17
where it wants to go. Well, it'll get taken care of
16:19
the right way. But I, I also have some names
16:22
and that's what I did personally.
16:24
You know, just some, some people that, that did amazing things.
16:28
One guy, you know, dove in that I don't know if you've seen the
16:31
picture of the fire truck that's played upside down in the
16:35
Canyon. Well that that guy was a friend
16:38
of my actually a neighbor of my daughter and and her husband and
16:42
he crawled down in there and pulled those guys out of there
16:45
and in the meantime loses 100 and some head of cattle trying
16:50
to help everybody else. So that was kind of near and
16:52
dear to my heart. So I can you know, and and and
16:55
you want to do universal good and help everybody, but to
16:59
anyone or anything, or if that's your persuasion, why don't short
17:05
yourself or any of those people in giving?
17:08
Because man, you talk about a kid that deserves a hand up.
17:12
He he's 1. He went above and beyond.
17:15
So anyway. Yeah, absolutely.
17:18
And I will still continue to have all of those links and
17:20
everything like that down on the show notes down below so that
17:22
you guys can find out where to give, how to give, what the
17:24
current needs are. Because I think the biggest
17:26
thing to remember is it's on our minds right now.
17:29
People are dealing with it right now, but it does not end in the
17:32
next week or the next two weeks or the next three weeks.
17:34
This is a continuous thing that is going to our, our communities
17:38
are going to need our help not for the next three weeks, but
17:40
for the next three months, the next six months as they continue
17:43
to rebuild and re establish their operations.
17:46
So. And Lawrence, thank you for
17:48
doing that. I saw that and I, I appreciate
17:52
it. Any of those, any of those
17:53
contacts are great. If, if you have anything you'd
17:57
like to do specific or wondered about them, but you know, give
18:00
me a holler and if I don't know where, I know who you can call
18:03
that. But if you want to talk
18:05
one-on-one with somebody, why I can set you up.
18:09
Absolutely, absolutely. Well, John, thank you for
18:11
donating your time in that way and your resources as well.
18:14
But we have some other news that we want to chat about today too,
18:17
and that is a recent EPA ruling and some things that are
18:21
happening there. So would you like to kind of
18:23
give us the lowdown on what is going on?
18:25
Well, yeah. And I just think it's
18:28
phenomenal. I don't think a lot of people
18:30
realize it, but Trump has reversed 2009 endangerment
18:35
finding that greenhouse gas and we're talking about COT to and
18:39
methane and reversing that that it is a threat to public health.
18:45
He claims there there's no basis for the regulations and, and you
18:50
know, calling it the green new scam deal is, is his exact
18:55
words. And it was put in place back in,
18:58
in the Obama administration. And what it essentially did is
19:03
it, it established the legal foundation that all of these EPA
19:08
rules and regulations were derived from.
19:11
And so he, he has discredited that old deal and, and just
19:15
threw the whole finding out. And just to bring it home a
19:20
little more this that it took place in 2009.
19:24
And that's when the whole cattle methane production deal and all
19:30
the issues associated with it come about, you know, from back
19:34
in 2009. It doesn't seem that long ago,
19:36
but you know, the cud chewing and the cow farts and that was
19:39
going to be the end of the world.
19:41
And we kind of laughed it off until we thought, Christ, these
19:45
people are serious. And we ran the whole gauntlet of
19:49
that. And not only discrediting all of
19:52
that, but something I think everybody can relate to, you
19:56
know, getting rid of putting this death, DEF death in all
20:00
your diesel vehicles and, and what a pain in the ass and
20:04
headache all of that has been. It's estimated that for the
20:07
manufacturers of automobiles. Say $2400 ahead on these
20:14
vehicles just because of all the pollution control BS from
20:18
catalytic converters, do you name it, that were added to all
20:22
all the automobiles. And what it's saying is that the
20:27
government will no longer have power to fight climate change.
20:33
Meaning the government can't take the initiative anymore for
20:38
all of these regs and stuff that are coming out and then have a
20:42
basis to defend their position with.
20:45
I think it's great start going back to gas and oil and coal
20:49
production and shit. Can all these wore up windmills
20:53
and you know, hell, it has been wherever they cost more to run
20:56
and maintain then they'll ever produce in their life.
21:00
And, and all of these, the lifespan of these things are now
21:03
coming to an end. So you got the residual effect
21:08
of all these wore out windmills laying around and stuff that
21:11
have to be taken down. And I think there's some town in
21:14
Texas that's suing these people 'cause they're dumping all the
21:18
old wild windmill blades and all that crap.
21:21
And my gosh. But anyway, it won't be without
21:26
opposition. So we'll see how it goes.
21:28
California, they, they've already guaranteed that they're
21:31
going to sue the government. And, you know, Can you imagine
21:34
this false narrative and this infrastructure around these
21:39
electric cars, these methane buster's and all of these
21:43
government backed entities that now they're, they're out,
21:49
they're out of money, they're not going to get funded anymore.
21:52
So, you know, so now who's going to finance the Green New Deal
21:57
and, and projects that are up and running?
22:00
The only reason people got involved with them and and banks
22:05
ever got behind them is because they were backed by the federal
22:07
government. The pretty good chance you're
22:09
going to get, you know all the goodie off the program and
22:14
there's several of those that didn't no more give a shit about
22:17
how great the economy was, but they saw a vehicle to hop on and
22:22
ride that you can get all the government money you want.
22:26
And so none of these things had a sound enough basis to stand on
22:30
their own. The only reason they were ever
22:33
even implemented from the solar to the windmills to the all this
22:37
stuff is because it's backed by the US government and you were
22:40
guaranteed you were going to get your money.
22:43
And I really feel bad because it's going to throw a wrench in
22:46
the NCBA's agenda to be carbon neutral by 20-40.
22:52
But the boy what a tearjerker that is.
22:54
But I mean, just we can shit can all of this stuff.
22:58
And I'm not saying you run amok and maybe there are, I know
23:03
nothing about it. So I'm a rock thrower.
23:06
But I do know it's gotten completely out of control and
23:11
more like you and I have talked before.
23:13
That doesn't mean you run amok on all this stuff.
23:16
But my guys, they've gone completely nuts on all of this
23:20
stuff. I think it's the best solution
23:22
in the world. Just defund the whole deal.
23:25
And then if you want to introduce your little deal that
23:28
maybe makes some sense. We might look at it, but in the
23:31
indrum, that's it. We're done finance and all this
23:35
crap that amounts to nothing and and destroys commerce and and
23:39
and beats agriculture to death and and industries the death to
23:43
the point where they can't even operate because of all of these
23:47
EPA restrictions put on them. You're you're stymie in the
23:51
economy and you're not creating enough jobs with this false
23:55
economy that's supported by the government to justify anything
23:59
that's not a real economy. So anyway, that's think it's the
24:04
greatest thing ever. We'll see how it goes.
24:09
I, you know, I hope it sets a precedent and if it will in fact
24:13
become, you know, and it'll probably go to the Supreme
24:17
Court. And if they would pass it, why
24:19
then it's, it's hands off and, and, and no other
24:22
administration, the way it was described to me can come in
24:25
behind and say, Oh no, we're going to go back.
24:28
Well, Supreme Court's already ruled on that.
24:30
So anyway, maybe it'll, I mean, enough is enough on all that
24:34
stuff. And as we mentioned before, I, I
24:37
think everybody has, if you're in business or, or even in
24:42
agriculture, I think everybody has an EPA story.
24:46
You know, I can't do this whether it's renting a car or
24:49
flying a jet airplane or farming or running an auction.
24:54
You know, we have been tearing down a bunch of our old yards.
24:58
Old yards were Santa Fe. They were all done in wood and
25:01
lasted forever. But they had, they had, you
25:04
know, served their purpose. And we were clearing out an area
25:08
what we had about a 10 foot burn pit and it was completely clear
25:13
all the way around. But there's no brush, no
25:15
nothing. It was monitored and, and we
25:17
went to the county and got our permit and we had a, a big
25:23
windstorm, which is not unusual for Lana.
25:25
Well, it filled the pit all full of tumbleweeds.
25:29
And just to kind of tell you about the scenario, well, I told
25:33
the guys, you know, we got our permit, tell the guys we're
25:36
going to burn and, you know, notify the media, which we went
25:40
through all the protocol and I said like that damn thing on
25:43
fire, let's get it. Let's get all them weeds cleaned
25:46
out of there. And well, my neighbor was a good
25:50
guy and I'm not being critical. I mean, what he sees the fire
25:53
going up in the black smoke and he panicked.
25:56
We had all our people around there completely under control.
25:59
Well, he calls the fire department and all good.
26:03
They came out and looked and they said you're in good shape
26:06
and, and no, no problem. And I didn't think anything
26:10
about it. But several months from them,
26:12
then I get this nasty ass letter from the EPA saying that I only
26:19
had so many days to respond and how much a day?
26:23
And anybody that's ever got one knows exactly what I'm talking
26:26
about. The final be $10,000 a day from
26:29
this point forward, if you fail to reply and da, da, da, da, da,
26:34
and, and, and, and the reason I got it is because the fire
26:39
department was involved. And again, another regulation.
26:43
Anytime they're called to a scene, then you have to file a
26:47
report, assess the situation and take pictures and then submit it
26:52
to the EPA. Well, there was a tire in the
26:56
bottom of my burn pit and the, the black smoke was going.
27:01
The tire damn sure caught on fire.
27:03
Wasn't our tire anyway. I'll get into that.
27:05
But so I'm thinking, well, I better call.
27:09
I've got to get a lawyer in on this.
27:11
I'm pretty damn tough, but I can't handle the EPA.
27:14
And he said, well, did you do anything wrong?
27:17
And I told him, Mike, the, the, the only thing I know is
27:21
somebody because it's next to the road and and I'm not blaming
27:24
the trucker, but somebody pitched a tire in there and that
27:28
thing caught fire. And he said, well, he said, you
27:31
probably better leave me out. And this is good facts to know.
27:35
He said, if you hire me and involve a lawyer and they don't
27:39
think you're trying to hide something or really cover
27:42
something up. And I thought, yeah, there I got
27:45
to defend myself. And he said, but believe me, he
27:48
said, if you hire me, they don't really turn up the heat.
27:50
And and so anyway, you know, never in our history had we ever
27:54
had a complaint and anything ever gone wrong.
27:56
So I submitted my response response to the EP as letter and
28:01
did it in time that yes, I in fact did have a permit.
28:05
I had a perfect record. The hole was full of weeds.
28:08
I hell, I didn't know what was in the bottom of it.
28:10
I didn't see the tire. It's not our tire.
28:13
And I thought I did due diligence.
28:16
I hired the fire didn't hire, but I said, Greg, would you, you
28:20
come out and just go around with me.
28:22
I, I said, I think I need a little support in this deal.
28:25
He said, hell, he said, I feel horrible about how this is gone.
28:28
He said, it's no big deal. So I did an assessment of what
28:33
we've got and what changes we're making and how we're going to
28:37
prepare so this never happens in the future.
28:39
And da, da, da, da, da and got this and signed by the Fire
28:43
Chief and sent it in. And I thought, OK, I'm good.
28:47
Well, I, they call for a hearing and so I'm supposed to go on
28:52
such and such a date to Denver and meet before this group for,
28:57
for a hearing. Well, I, I beg forgiveness
29:01
though. I said, man, that's a long ways
29:03
to go up there to Denver over a tire.
29:06
I said, couldn't we do something only vote?
29:08
Well, let me get back with you. And she felt a little sorry for
29:11
me and said, OK, we'd have decided we can do it over the
29:16
phone. Lauren, I, I am not kidding you.
29:19
They started this meeting and she said, well, before we get
29:23
started, this is all being recorded.
29:25
Let me go around the room here and I thought hell is just me
29:29
and her or something, you know, and introduce all the parties
29:32
that are present. Well, you know, and so I'm
29:35
thinking, well, hell, it could be a couple guys.
29:37
I am not exaggerating. There was nine people in this
29:43
meeting, you know, yes, Doctor Greasewood, he's head of the EPA
29:48
authority and next to him his administrative administrative
29:53
assistant, Hillary Flop Bottom. And we also have regional
29:56
director of the rules and regulations for the EPA, Carl
30:00
Buster Balls, and head compliance officer for Southern
30:04
Colorado branch of the Fire Protection and Compliance and
30:08
Miss Susan Long, who is a state director of the Humane Society.
30:13
And, and I, and not stretch it by one person, nine people that
30:18
they went around and introduced that were part of this committee
30:22
that was going to hear about me and this tire, that one tire
30:26
that I didn't like, there wasn't 50 tires, 1 tire caught on fire
30:31
at the bottom of this pile. And so I give them a, you know,
30:35
they say, OK, Mr. Campbell, would, would you know, would you
30:37
like to speak on your behalf? And I give them my soul and
30:41
dance deal and beg forgiveness of the deal.
30:43
And, and, and, and honestly, so I thought, hell, they just, I,
30:48
I, I mean, it was just a mistake.
30:49
That thing was covered up. And I, I damn sure didn't know
30:53
there was a tire in the bottom of it.
30:54
And da, da, da, da, da on how we've always tried to be, you
30:58
know, there, you know, conscientious.
31:00
And I have this letter here from the Fire Chief that we're trying
31:04
to do due diligence and we want to do better.
31:06
And da, da, da, da, da. And then they said, OK, OK.
31:10
And how about the committee? Is there any comment from the
31:14
committee? And one guy, he was upset
31:16
because when the Fire Chief asked my guys that were
31:20
monitoring the fire, I think there was four or five of them
31:23
there if they had the permit in possession.
31:26
And he said, well, we've got a permit, but it's in the office.
31:31
The secretary's got in it. Well, he should have had the
31:34
permit on his person, the written permit while, while he
31:38
was burnt. So that guy was, he was, and
31:40
this is true. He, he was upset over that.
31:43
We were within 20 yards of one of the hydrants of, of, of one
31:47
of our pins. And there was another guy.
31:50
Well, you know, you really should have had.
31:52
And he gave me the specs of the storage tank that should have
31:56
been there, full of water and with the hose and and all of
32:00
that and Laura, the hell, you could jump across the damn hole
32:04
no bigger than it was. And we should another guy, you
32:09
know, you really should have cleaned all those weeds out to
32:13
make sure there was no prohibited materials in the
32:16
bottom of that pit. So we're supposed to clean it
32:19
all out, check, make sure it's OK and then put all the weeds
32:22
back in and then burn it. But the the greatest one was
32:26
Miss Wong as she was, and I am serious.
32:29
She was fighting back tears wanting to know if I knew there
32:35
was a dead animal in the bottom of that pit.
32:38
And I said no ma'am. And she goes, well, it, it's
32:42
there in the picture. I, I said, I see that.
32:45
I said, that's horrible. We have a rendering service
32:49
here. It is by no means to our
32:52
advantage to throw an animal in there, dispose of them that way.
32:55
They will come get them on a phone call.
32:57
They live 5 miles away. They'll pick them up.
32:59
Da da, da da da doesn't cost a dollar.
33:02
I, I said I, I assure you that was not our I, it was a baby
33:07
cat. And, and I know some, and I'm
33:11
looking at putting the trucker down or somebody had a cat die
33:15
and they drive by this pit all the time.
33:17
Is it drag that sum buck in there?
33:18
They won't care. He'll throw him in a hole, you
33:20
know, and this gal, I I mean, she goes into convulsions and to
33:30
excuse herself, I'm pretty sure she shed her pants.
33:33
I'm not sure. But she went into some kind of a
33:36
seizure looking at that. Yeah, in the bottom of that
33:41
hole. And, you know, the.
33:42
So she had to excuse herself. And did you realize there was a
33:47
that animal at the bottom of that bed?
33:49
And, but I, I mean, the whole thing shows, I mean, how
33:54
involved these people are. And she meant it.
33:57
And she was seriously. But how, you know, it's just
34:01
ridiculous when we got to that point where you've got nine
34:06
people and the director and, and, and we're going to have a
34:10
meeting and they said, well, oh, OK, the, the meeting's all over.
34:14
And we're going to meet again tomorrow as a group and we will
34:18
inform you of our ruling. So they reconvened the next day
34:23
and that there must not have been a law about the calf, but
34:27
the tire was the deal, you know, because of the pollution and
34:30
this and that. But this humane gal was on there
34:33
because they had seen a, a calf. And I guess she had to be
34:37
reassured that we're not burning any animals that die at the
34:41
auction. Then they reconvened and she
34:45
said we'll let you know what, what the outcome of the whole
34:47
deal is, you know, and I'm thinking of bribe safe with this
34:50
gal having a meltdown. Shit, head over there.
34:53
I said this is not going to be good.
34:56
And well, they, they, they found their soul or something.
35:01
I think the main thing was, is that we we had never had an
35:04
incident, not ever, not once. And we've been here 90 years or
35:09
at that time 70, some without incident.
35:12
We've never caused a problem, never anybody's even looked at
35:15
us or this that. So they fined a $700.
35:23
And I mean, it's just the whole and, and, and, and going full
35:29
circle. What in the hell?
35:32
The sheriff? So they drove out in his car in
35:36
5 minutes. Say John, what the hell you
35:38
doing? I said well shit, we're burning
35:41
this weed deal and there was a damn fire in the bottom.
35:44
He said, well, she'll be, he could have told me be a little
35:47
more careful, move your pit somewhere where people can't
35:50
drive by it and this and that and it would be over over.
35:55
But Can you imagine what we're paying each one of these 9
36:00
directors of some bullshit committee, Regulatory agency
36:06
plus their assistant to go for two days and meet in Denver at a
36:12
round table for 900 bucks or 700 or whatever the hell it was 700
36:21
and some 700 and some bucks. But I so back to my point, we
36:27
got a hell of a lot of shit to clean up in this government.
36:32
And you may not agree with everything that he's doing and
36:35
the tariffs and the this and the that.
36:36
And that's not, but everybody, everybody has a story like that
36:40
of some kind. And we got to throw all that
36:43
crap out and, and start over and clean the slate is my opinion.
36:49
And and that doesn't mean we run a lawless society or run amok,
36:54
but there's crap like that going on in every branch of every
36:59
We're over regulated to death and we're creating a false
37:04
economy because of it. We're paying these people that
37:07
have absolutely no common sense, have no concern over commerce,
37:12
and they are just like this and they can't see what the Hell's
37:17
going on 'cause the dam standing in the middle of the trees.
37:21
And like I said, I think everybody, and I would be
37:25
interested to see your comments, 'cause I know everybody's got a
37:28
story like that to where it makes absolutely no.
37:32
I mean, it's the biggest bunch of bullshit you've ever heard of
37:35
in your life. And everybody's got 1 and you
37:38
think, you know, that ain't right.
37:39
I gotta find that. But what do you do?
37:42
Who do I make this check out to for $700.00?
37:46
I'm thinking I thought it'd be 70,000 or something with all
37:50
these suits sitting around, you know, wanting to take a run at
37:54
my ass. But they had some compassion
37:58
and, and, but spend 2 days on that Lauren and go home and pat
38:03
yourself on the back about what the hell of a great job you're
38:06
doing. How do you how do you justify
38:11
your existence? But they've done it so long and
38:14
they're so infiltrated in all of these regulatory agencies, I
38:18
think they seriously believe what they're doing makes a
38:21
difference. I'm like I said, I'm thrilled to
38:24
death we're throwing that shit out, or at least making an
38:27
attempt to get it out. Yeah, absolutely.
38:31
I I could not agree more. I think everyone has an EPA
38:33
story. I think everyone has a story of
38:36
something and some situation where you're like, you want me
38:38
to spend $5000 on what? Like you want me to do what?
38:43
Like this dam has been there for 70 years, and you want me to
38:48
bring someone out and spend $5000 to have them evaluate it
38:51
and make sure that the dam is still good?
38:54
Like it's good, guys. Yeah, yeah, don't worry, Don't
38:57
worry. Like it's good.
38:59
You want me to Everyone has a story and I I would love love to
39:03
hear them all, so let us know but the.
39:06
Problem with it is you've got some of these people that have
39:10
got a badge or a title and they're hanging it in some of
39:14
these people's ass over cleaning the pond.
39:17
And it should have been a wetlands or you've been grazing
39:21
on it was surveyed wrong. And you've been on the
39:25
government for 87 years because of that fence line and you
39:29
should have moved it. And, and, and, and I mean, like
39:32
I said, they're stories like that.
39:33
But if you happen to get on the wrong side of somebody or
39:37
somebody that's moving up the ladder that wants to make a name
39:40
for themselves, there's no consequences to these agencies.
39:46
And they will wear your ass out in legal fees and fines and
39:50
stipulations to where you just throw up the towel and say,
39:54
shit, I can't handle the action. I, I, I got to quit.
39:58
You're the winner over BS stuff. Yeah.
40:02
So anyway, I hope it. I hope it flies through.
40:06
I guess he also said we can spray weeds now.
40:10
Whatever that stuff's called stuffing round up or whatever.
40:13
And, and you know, bad deal and, and you know, if anybody, but
40:17
again, there's a risk benefit to a lot of this stuff.
40:21
And boy, you want to starve a nation out Start Stop fighting
40:25
weeds and fighting bugs and see how the hell you get along.
40:28
And they expect 2% of the population to feed 300 million
40:33
of you. You can't do it without some
40:36
give and take in through there and and somebody realistic and
40:40
hopefully can get a hold of a lot of that.
40:43
Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more.
40:45
Very curious to see how it continues to unfold and reveal
40:49
what different areas we can kind of hopefully see some
40:51
improvements in the coming months and coming years as this
40:54
continues to unfold and develop so well.
40:57
John, thank you for your time today.
40:59
Thank you for bringing on a personal story and kind of
41:02
wrapping it all up for us and bringing it all into fruition of
41:04
really the impact that this has on people and their operations
41:08
and really see a ruling and say, hey, this does apply to you.
41:12
This does matter to agriculture and we're really going to see an
41:16
impact on this as we continue to move forward.
41:17
So thank you for your time to all of our listeners out there.
41:20
Once again, what John and I talked about the beginning of
41:22
the podcast episode, make sure you check out those show notes
41:24
down below or give John a call and talk to him personally about
41:28
kind of getting some help to our fellow ranchers and our rural
41:32
community members that need it right now.
41:34
So make sure you check out those show notes down below.
41:35
And John, thank you for your time to all of our listeners.
41:37
We'll see y'all next time on another episode.
41:40
Have a.