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93: There’s No Shame in Doing Things Differently · CattleUSA Daily

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  Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
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  the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the
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  updates shaping agriculture today.
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  I'm your host Lauren Moylan, a passionate advocate for
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  agriculture, here to keep you informed and connected.
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  Now let's dive into today's episode.
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  Welcome to another episode of the Cattle USA Daily Podcast.
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  I hope that you guys are having a phenomenal day.
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  Today we are going to be talking about doing things differently.
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  What does that look like in AG? And the fact that different is
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  actually a really great thing. Even though in the moment when
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  you are doing things differently, there's a lot of
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  doubt that creeps in. There's a lot of anxiety,
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  there's a lot of imposter syndrome, a lot of second
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  guessing. Am I doing this right?
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  Everyone else is doing it this way, but I'm doing it this way.
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  Is this wrong? All of those things that come
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  along with doing it differently. And the fact is, in the cattle
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  industry, in an AG as a whole, there are a lot of unspoken
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  pressures to do things certain way.
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  And although that is great and that works for a lot of people,
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  I'm here to tell you that doing things differently is not a bad
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  thing. And there can actually be so
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  much power and strength in doing things differently.
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  The fact is, the cattle industry and innovation in the future of
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  this industry is going to be built by people who are scrappy,
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  creative, and willing to do things differently in the 1st
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  place. Because guess what?
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  We're not growing unless we're challenging the norm.
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  Unless we're out here saying, OK, but can we be better?
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  Can we try a different way and do things differently than the
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  way that we have done it in the past?
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  Because that's what's going to bring in innovation, that's
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  what's going to bring in more sustainability, and that's
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  what's going to inevitably continue to evolve and grow the
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  industry that we live in. So what, what does doing things
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  differently look like? It could be anything from
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  leasing pasture to custom grazing or you maybe you manage
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  other people's cattle. Maybe you run your liens instead
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  of having a traditional cow calf herd.
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  Maybe you are working a full time job and building a cattle
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  business on the side. Or maybe you are a first
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  generation that is buying it instead of born into it.
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  Every single one of these is different than the norm for a
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  lot of people because there is that unspoken blanket term of
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  this is what the cattle industry looks like.
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  This is what running cattle should look like.
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  You should have a cow calf herd. You should run yearlings.
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  You should do custom grazing. You should do this.
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  You should do that. Who gives a shit?
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  Do whatever the hell you want, do whatever makes you happy,
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  whatever brings money in for your family, whatever.
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  And you know what? If working a full time job while
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  building your cattle business on the side is what works for you
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  and your family and brings in this amazing thing called
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  insurance and benefits, then go for it.
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  That's that's great. I love that for you.
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  If you choose to be the person that leases instead of owns,
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  amazing. That is totally fine.
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  The thing is there are thousands upon thousands of decisions that
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  we have to make as cattlemen each and every day.
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  We probably make at least 10, whether it's something small or
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  something big, we're making decisions each and every day.
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  And there are thousands that you have to make in order to run
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  your operation and in the way that you run your operation.
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  So it's OK to look at your operation to be like 80% of the
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  decisions that I'm making are going against the grain.
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  That's fine. That's actually a good thing.
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  We need people pushing the grain, going against it, doing
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  things differently. We also do people that are doing
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  things the way that they've been doing it for years.
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  There's nothing wrong with either.
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  I do say on here a lot that my least favorite terms are this is
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  the way that we've always done it and that is still true.
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  But there does come a situation where if you're trial and
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  erroring at least 20% of your business and letting the rest of
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  the 80 be kind of the this is the way we've always done it or
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  this is the way we've done it for the past few years and this
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  is what's working for us. I'm fine with that.
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  As long as you were looking at portions and parts of your
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  business and asking where can we build, where can we do things
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  differently, where can we continue to grow?
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  As long as you're doing that, I'm OK with the thought process
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  of this is what's working for us on this side right now.
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  What I'm not OK with is the closed mindedness that comes
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  with those words. So it is OK to do things
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  differently. And the thing about doing things
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  differently is there is a lot of self doubt that comes in with
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  this, a lot of imposter syndrome, a lot of just anxiety
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  around my making the right decision.
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  And with that, there's a lot of myths.
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  The fact is the cattle industry, like I said, has aspects of it
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  that are just kind of like predetermined, like this is how
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  it should look. This is how you should be doing
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  it. And if you're not following
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  that, then it can a lot of imposter syndrome can come in
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  and you will question yourself time and time again.
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  So some of the myths that I have heard people say that you're not
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  a real rancher unless you own your land.
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  The reality of it is, is land ownership is extremely expensive
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  and it is a privilege that not every single person has.
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  It is not a prerequisite to be into this industry.
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  There are a lot of people out there that lease land and do
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  amazing jobs at running a successful cattle operation with
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  that. So no, you do not have to own
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  and especially if you're a first generation rancher listening to
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  this, you're going to have to do things differently.
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  Trust me, I've looked at land prices recently, they're not
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  pretty. They are extremely expensive.
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  And so if for you right now leasing is a Better Business
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  decision than purchasing, that is totally fine.
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  Trust me, I know how expensive it is here at least in Kansas
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  and specifically in the Flint Hills because my husband and I
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  are constantly looking at land in the area trying to buy.
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  We want to build our house, our next home in the next few years
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  and it's a lot. It's it's not a cheap market out
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  there and it's definitely not going down and it's continuing
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  to grow. So no, you don't need to own
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  land to be a real rancher and a quote UN quote real rancher.
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  You can lease and it is not a prerequisite.
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  Another thing that I've run into is if you didn't grow up in it,
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  you're not going to make it. That is complete horse hockey.
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  We have a massive influx of first generation producers
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  coming into this industry and some of them are the most
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  determined and business savvy people that I know in AG.
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  And it is so exciting for me to look at the industry and see all
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  of the fresh blood coming in and fresh ideas and new innovations
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  that are coming along with this and with a new wave of of
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  interest and drive for the cattle industry.
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  Another one that just generally with things looking differently,
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  if it's different, it must not be that serious.
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  Or if you do things this way, then you're not an actual
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  cattleman. Or if you do things this way,
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  then you're not actually taking your job seriously.
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  The reality of it is, is leasing partnerships, inside hustles,
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  all of those things are strategic tools, especially in
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  today's economy. So no matter what you are doing,
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  if it is working for your operation, continue to do that,
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  continue to build that, continue to push the status quo and try
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  some things differently this year.
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  Because even though it's uncomfortable, even though
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  there's a lot of imposter syndrome that comes in with it,
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  doing things differently is so powerful.
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  And it is so awesome to see all the great things that have come
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  out of people pushing that boundary and doing things that
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  not everyone else is doing. And doing it really freaking
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  scared and really nervous at times, but knowing in the end
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  that no matter what, even if you fail, you've now learned a great
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  lesson. That is why I always recommend
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  to people that if you are going to be doing things differently,
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  if you are going to be pushing things in certain areas of your
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  business, do it that 20% pick a percentage that you can look at
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  and take that unprecedented risk on of your business.
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  It is not smart to look at 100% of your business and say we're
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  going to risk the whole thing like we're going to risk it for
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  the biscuit. No, don't, don't do that please.
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  That is a great way to give your banker a heart attack if I'm
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  being honest. So look at 20% of your business.
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  What 20% can you look at right now and say you know what, we
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  can do things differently here. We can start to push in this
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  area. We can try new things, we can
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  bring a new protocols, all, all of these things and do it with
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  partners, do it with your team of people behind you.
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  Do it with your extension, local extension offices, your USDA,
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  your FSA. Do it with your bankers and your
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  attorneys and get that team of people behind you that is going
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  to help you build a really great business plan and look at this
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  and say, hey, we're going to do things differently.
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  And that's great. This is our risk.
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  This is the potential reward. And here's how we're going to go
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  about it. The thing is, is this industry
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  needs untraditional producers. More people equals more
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  resiliency. More people continuing to enter
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  this industry and stay in this industry means we have a very
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  resilient industry. Also, new models of doing
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  business often lead to better efficiency and profitability.
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  Someone somewhere down the line had to do things differently in
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  order for us to have the research and everything that we
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  have right now in AG. We're not doing things the same
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  way that we did then 10 years ago or 50 years ago or 100 years
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  ago. And that's because people
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  decided to do things differently and try new perspectives.
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  So don't be afraid to bring in different experiences and bring
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  in that fresh perspective. This also goes to what we talked
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  about last week of when fresh perspective gets brought in.
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  Do not close yourself off to it, whether that is you go to a
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  local extension meeting and they talk about a new protocol or a
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  new research study, or if it's you have that next generation
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  coming back from college and they learned about this new
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  research study or they did these new things in school and they're
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  bringing back a new perspective on things and have ideas.
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  Don't close yourself off to those.
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  Don't just shut down your barriers and not let anyone say
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  anything and be like, no, this is my operation.
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  I'm doing it this way. This is how we're doing it.
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  This is the decisions that are being made.
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  Allow yourself to be open to fresh perspective because
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  different experiences bring that fresh perspective.
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  And so continue to allow yourself to just be open to
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  ideas and thoughts and research. And you know what, not
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  everything is going to work for every operation, especially like
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  things that work in southwest Kansas are not the same things
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  that work in northeast Kansas. We have very, very, very, very
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  different environments that we are raising these cattle in from
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  one corner of the state to the other.
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  And so, so it is extremely important that you take things
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  and put your producer glasses on for your operation and for your
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  local area, climate, everything like that and apply it through
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  those glasses. The thing is guys, we have got
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  to allow ourselves to continue to grow.
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  You need to own your story, own the way that you are doing
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  things, and remember that at the end of the day, you don't have
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  to prove yourself to anyone. No one else has to get it other
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  than you. As long as you can sit there and
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  defend yourself and say This is why I'm doing what I'm doing,
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  even if you're doing it a little unsure, that's all that matters.
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  Own your story, measure your successes, and continue to push
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  the norm. Also with this, it really,
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  really helps if you surround yourself with producers who
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  continue to build you up and continue to push you to be a
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  better producer yourself. I'm a big believer.
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  I don't remember the first place that I heard this, but you're
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  the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
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  So are you surrounding yourself with other producers and other
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  people within the cattle industry that are continuing to
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  push you and challenge that status quo?
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  Or are you surrounding yourself with people that are breaking
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  you down or just not pushing to be better businessman and Better
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  Business people and more sustainable for the industry and
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  the environment and everything like that?
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  And are you having really productive conversations or are
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  you just chatting about the town gossip?
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  Really question that today. Surround yourself with those
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  producers that are going to continue to build you.
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  And more than anything, guys share your journey.
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  You are paving the way for someone else who is watching.
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  We would not be where we are in AG today unless we did things
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  differently. You were not less than by doing
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  things differently. You're just doing it
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  differently. And there is a lot of power in
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  that and it's uncomfortable right now, but the more
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  uncomfortable you get, the more comfortable you're going to get
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  with being uncomfortable. So allow yourself to do things
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  differently and don't judge other people for doing things
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  differently because we need innovation, we need growth.
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  We need people who are willing to go against the grain in
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  certain areas of their business to continue developing and
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  growing their industry. So I challenge you guys today,
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  look at your business, what, 20%, ten percent, 5%, If you
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  really don't want to try and risk anything, 5% of your
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  business, can you look at today and decide to do things
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  differently, decide to push the status quo for your business and
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  for the industry as a whole to continue to bridge that gap
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  between our growth that we are on the verge of or for so many
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  business people and so many producers within this industry.
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  If you just keep pushing that five, 1020%, you're going to see
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  amazing differences and not only yourself as a person, but also
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  in your business. Thank you guys so much for
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  listening to another episode of the Cattle USA Daily Podcast.
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  I hope you all enjoyed today's little chit chat and little
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  discussion about doing things differently.
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  If you guys enjoyed today's episode, make sure you like
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  subscribe, rate, review, do all of the things.
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  We really appreciate it here at the team.
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  I know I say that every single week, but we really do.
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  And thank you guys again for being around and sticking with
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  us through all of these episodes.
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  We're almost at 100 episodes guides, which is crazy.
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  I think we're going to hit it next week and I am just it's
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  been an amazing almost 100 days with you guys doing this podcast
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  and bringing this timely information to all of you every
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  single day. So make sure you check out those
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  show notes, check out all of the Cattle USA links and resources
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  that we have that down there for all of you guys.
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  And as always, we'll see y'all on another episode next time.
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  Have a good one y'all.