Latest / The Source – The Jorgensen Land & Cattle Podcast / Episode 15: The Animal Health Industry

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Episode 15: The Animal Health Industry · The Source – The Jorgensen Land & Cattle Podcast

• speaker-0: Welcome back to the Source. It is your host, Jamie Wolfe, and I have a big honor today, folks, as a young person and the young people that are listening, you have people that that come into your life, whether it's through your parents or through an activity you're in or just by happenstance. And the guy I get to sit down with today has known me since before I was born. and that relationship for for him and I has done nothing but grow since. Carter Johnson has has always been somebody that would that would shoot me straight. when I needed to hear how it was, he'd tell tell it to me that way. and I I'm so blessed that through all the different phases of my life I'm am now back in a position where I could see Carter on a on a somewhat routine basis and and get to have conversations with him and Carter, go ahead and introduce yourself to the folks and we're gonna jump into how you got into the animal health industry and kind of where that's led you up to today and then we'll we'll go from there. speaker-1: Well, thanks for the introduction there, Jamie. that means a lot. You know, you don't you don't really realize sometimes maybe the impact that you have on someone's life, you know, and and thank you. You know, yeah, I've yeah, I've known you your whole life and it's been a pleasure and and for me I I work for a W I Animal Health, we're a we're a wholesale distributor, to primarily veterinary clinics and I travel the state of South Dakota and I I also have a little bit of Nebraska and a couple counts in Wyoming. So so I get to see this great state every day. A lot a lot of it, you know, but you're used to that from what you did before and what you do now, you know. And so so you know, I graduated from South Dakota State And went there and I was an egg econ major with an Ansi minor and I always tell everybody I took egg econ is 'cause I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. So speaker-0: Right. And do you come from an ag background before you went into college, Carter? speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. So I grew up in northeastern South Dakota. Grew up on a a farm there where we had a cow calf operation and and we would wean those calves in the fall and we'd feed everything and and of course grow all the grain to feed and so yeah, yeah. And and it did that, went to college of course that was in the eighties and right. And in the the eighties That was a pretty rough time in agriculture as everybody knows, you know, and and could have had an opportunity, you know, if you would have wanted to go back home, but I don't know. That was that was kind of a tougher time and I speaker-0: Just wasn't wasn't a lot at home for another mouth and speaker-1: No, no, there really wasn't. So I you know, I went to college there and and animal health was something I was really interested in. I knew I wanted to be in agriculture and I knew I wanted to be in South Dakota. speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: just didn't know if I'd be back home. speaker-0: And part of that too, you rodeoed at South Dakota State, didn't you? That speaker-1: Yep, I did. Yep. speaker-0: was that was another part of getting the college days taken care of was still tying your hand in the wall rope. speaker-1: It was. Yep. Yep. Road bowls there at South Dakota State and and yeah, exactly. You know, rodeo is kind of what got me to college. you know, we we're four H in high school rodeo and like yourself and and all of a sudden you learned that, hey, you can you can do this in college too. Well that sounds kinda fun, you know, and I kinda wanna go to college. So Yep. Yep. You know. And it's just one thing led to another. speaker-0: Absolutely and and we're gonna we're gonna keep going down your history, but you mentioned you went Ag Econ because you really didn't necessarily know what you wanted to do. But in what you do today, how much do you feel like that economics background at SGSU helped build an understanding of what these guys are going through, whether it's a veterinarian or the guy on the ranch. speaker-1: Yeah, I you know, I I think you can use that, you know, in every your every aspect of your life, right? From the economic side of things, just understanding, you know, whether it be markets or or trends or things like that. And so, I d I do think it helped me quite a bit. You know, it gave me that good good solid foundation, you know, to be able at least understand that that part of the industry and and you know, I'm I'm so glad I took the path that I did, you know, just just because I wasn't for sure where I was gonna be. speaker-0: Right. Right. Did you do any internships, just out of curiosity? speaker-1: You know, I did not. You know, there were they're you know, in the summer, speaker-0: Less prevalent in the speaker-1: they were less prevalent. I mean there were a few of and I didn't really think of probably about internships at that time. You know. I I would just you know, in the summertime you just went back home and worked, right? You know, my my dad and my uncle were back home and and so you just kinda you know, go back home and and work in the summers and even there you know I don't know if it was an expectation. You kinda felt maybe it was you know Yeah, speaker-0: Obligation. speaker-1: maybe. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. speaker-0: if you were like me and thinking about white lines and shoot gates during the summer, going somewhere that wasn't necessarily home, it made it a it was a different play for for us than than what some of these young people have as far as opportunity and and where they want to spend their summer. speaker-1: Absolutely, you know, because yeah, we would want a rodeo in the summer as well and and so if you went somewhere else you you know, you don't know if at least your folks knew what you were doing and they were gonna Yeah you know. Yeah and you speaker-0: Like you you kinda knew where you were going and it yeah is different when you speaker-1: Had to be back home Monday morning to work, but you know. speaker-0: Little freer. What year did you graduate S G S U? In speaker-1: I graduated there in ninety. speaker-0: ninety. speaker-1: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So that dates me a little bit. Well it's been a while. speaker-0: I tell you I I I never I I will learn a lot of this story as we have this conversation because that would have been so you and Dad would have bumped into each other both pretty green into the business. speaker-1: Yes. Yeah. well, yeah, 'cause yeah, your dad would have started practicing. speaker-0: Rated a ninety. speaker-1: Yeah. And so you know, I went on I I w I did work for two years in in eastern South Dakota in Flandrew, for fertilizer and chemical company actually. You know, just to kinda get my well, I kinda needed a job, you know, and and it was a good opportunity, you know. And got to work out of Flanders, South Dakota and meet some really great people there and and understand sales at that point. speaker-0: That's what you were doing. speaker-1: It was fertile fertilizer and chemical and then you know, you kinda talk about rodeo and things and how you get to where you're at and sometimes, you know, I mean I always say this and hope nobody cusses me for it, but you know, you learn you learn a lot of book things in college, but but it's the people That and the people you meet, right? I'm I'm here today because of the people, you know, that I'd I'd met over the course of years. I my wife now and she was my girlfriend then had a really good opportunity and her folks lived out out west here and in Rapid City and and I was looking for an opportunity, you know, in western South Dakota and and And egg jobs in western South Dakota aren't as prevalent as they are in eastern South Dakota, you know, 'cause you just you know, it's more limited, you know, we don't have all the aspects and so I I reached out to Jim Thompson at that time. He you know, Jim, you know, he he announced all our college rodeos back in the day and and so he gave me a few names of a person and I I went to work for a guy in Belfouche, South Dakota in the feed business in ninety two. And so that's what got me out here. Okay. And so so through that relationship we started actually I I partnered with him in the feed business and then then in Belfouche and and in ninety eight was when Ridley block bought Hubbard. speaker-0: Okay. Yep. speaker-1: And we were or and they bought zip feed at that same time. So they owned them both and we hit we had a zip feed dealership and and they were gonna combine that into one and you you know, we were gonna kinda lose our main manufacturer at that time. So so we kinda looked at each other that fall and said, you know Maybe we might wanna do something different. And so so we kinda dissolved the feed business there in ninety eight and and I got a call from a good friend of mine, you know, that was a customer of ours in the feed business. He knew a he knew that one of the animal health companies was looking for for a rep and and so I applied for that and that's when I got into the animal health was in ninety eight then. So it's kind of the job I wanted out of college. It just took me away a while to get there. speaker-0: And probably being, you know, both, you know, getting your feet wet on the sales side on in the fertilizer business and then truly honing that craft through the feed business. along with what we've we've talked about being it's a people business, the context that you probably built through through the feed business, especially in western South Dakota, probably helped substantially as you stepped into that next role. speaker-1: man, I I tell you what, it it helped me more than than I knew at the time to be honest with you, 'cause I already had a base of people, like you said, that I n I knew. and I had a good foundation from the feed the nutrition side. As you know that's you know when it comes to animal health, nutrition is front and center, right? You know, and so you really had a good background there. And and it it was a good it was a good fit. I'm I'm thankful I didn't. get that animal health job right out of college, to be honest with you. I'm glad I had those other experiences because it it helped me tremendously. And I was more mature, you know. speaker-0: Yeah. Sometimes that's it goes a long way. It goes a long way. speaker-1: Because all of a sudden they hand you a credit card and a vehicle and say, Here here you go, you know, and there's a lot of responsibility to that, you know, and so so it was yeah, yeah. I'm gonna I'm glad I went through those those things, you know, those steps to get to where I'm at. speaker-0: Yeah, and you know, you touched on the the nutrition really really being something that, you know, veterinarians and nutritionists we like to fight with one another most of the time. When really if we could you know, I always had the mindset of my ego's gotta be out of this. If it was on me, then we've gotta own that and hopefully the veterinarian has his ego out of it and we can get together and say, Look, we need to work together to fix this, not fight each other and point fingers at one another to get to the to the correct answer here. speaker-1: Absolutely. That's the nail on the head, you know, because it it you know, that's our baseline right there, you know, if we and if we don't have and there's little things, you know, just little things that can be out of whack. They seem like little things, but boy, they can be really big things when it comes down to just overall health or or reproduction or whatever, right? You know, and and so fertility, it it is Yeah, it's it's it's fun when you start digging into some of those things, you know, and see some of the speaker-0: Yeah, you can chase some rabbits pretty into the hole. speaker-1: Isn't that true? On on both sides of it. So so yeah, I am so thankful for for those experiences. I wouldn't have traded them for anything, you know. And at the time you know, and so then by ninety eight then I finally got to where I wanted thought I wanted to be, right? speaker-0: And so what was the first animal health company? speaker-1: It was Fort Dodge Animal Health. Yeah. Yep. It was Fort Dodge Animal Health in in the fall of ninety eight went to work for them and and you know, they don't they're not here today, you know. They've they've you know, as the industry has had more consolidation, but what a great place for me to start at, you know, it it and again that that company gave me a really good foundation to start with. and and they you know, they were heavily involved in the in the cattle side of things, but also the equine and the companion animal. And so I got a really good cross section of everything there. It gave me a good foundation. speaker-0: Yeah. And so as a as a young would they have called you reps at that time? Were you territory managers? What was the what was the terminology they were using? speaker-1: You know, pretty much we were territory reps at that time. Yep. speaker-0: So what would you have been covering at that time? speaker-1: At at that time I when I actually when I first started in ninety eight, that was the year that Fort Dodge and had launched Psyductin. Okay. Yep. And so with that launch, actually when they hired me, I they hired me part time. I was to go out and promote that product. Yep. That was that was kinda you know They used to do some that, you know, where they'd hire kind of part time people. And so I started out doing that in in the fall of ninety eight. And then by the spring the territory in western South Dakota had opened up. The the person that had this territory had moved up to a regional manager's position, Ron. And and so then this territory became open and so I had western South Dakota then from From February of ninety nine till two thousand two and fall of two thousand two. And so, just western South Dakota, which was man, that was nice territory too. speaker-0: Yeah, and I mean I think it's worth talking a little bit from you know, we're gonna talk a lot about the animal health industry and the changes, but but for kids that maybe are interested in in what folks in the animal health industry do from whether it's sales, marketing, whatever it is, Western South Dakota's really an interesting territory to have. Especially, you know, Fort Dodge at the time. Pretty pretty decent companion animal market as well for them. You have Rapid City out here and then you go sixty miles north of Rapid and you're in God's cowboy country. Talk a speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: little bit about you know, especially as a young salesperson. Dealing with all of those different kinds of accounts through that time card. speaker-1: You know, that's a great question too, Jamie, because it was it's a little different today. I'll jump to that, 'cause now they've segmented and a lot of reps are either Cattle reps, baby reps, or equine reps, or companion animal. At that time we were responsible for it all. So so yeah, I was responsible for calling on small animal clinics. I was responsible for calling on large animal clinics and and mixed practices and things like that. So yeah, you would you really had to think your think your day through. I almost would segment it, you know, where I would spend a certain amount of time at night. only call on small animal clinics and then I'd turn around and go out and and work with my large animal clinics just to kind of keep my mind, you know, not bouncing back and forth. And then you'd throw equine in there, you know, on on on both both sides of it. And so so the the beauty about that though too is you know having all those responsibilities I found that you know A I learned I learned everything from from cats to cows, right? You know, you learned w which was good. And even even if you were out on the prairie, you know, they were they were still mixed animal practice. They were still you know, dealing with a a sick dog or a cat or or or a horse issue or or or might be pregnant, you know, and so so it really, you know, I was fortunate. to get that well rounded of of experience and then to have you know, have those experiences to to fall on, you know, to where I'm at today. speaker-0: So what do you fe especially in in those early days, Carter, you had to have such a an understanding of so many different products in those days. Cause I can imagine to the small animal clinic in Rapid City, they needed to to have product details and know the ins and outs of those those small animal products because of the the clientele they were dealing with. And your Kel Kiev guy in Faith, he needed to know the ins and outs of the cattle product, but the small animal product he just needed to know what it was and that it worked. speaker-1: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, you'd get into the weeds a little bit more on some of those, you know, like the the more specialized, like you said, on the the companion animal person in in Rapid City is probably gonna ask you a few more different questions or even be interested in maybe a few more or various products at times, just like they they didn't really they didn't really care what I had for cattle vaccines. Exactly. speaker-0: It was fairly irrelevant. speaker-1: And so the so then you'd roll out on their on out on the I call it the prairie, you know, out out into western South Dakota and the and really delve in and I mean you could some of the conversations are just amazing, you know, that you have on on on some of these products and what they do and and then just the development of over time, you know, both for the companion animal and and and the large animal or cow calf guy. You know, it's yeah. But you you kinda had to g you kinda had to go in with a different mindset, you know, you had to really be able to shift gears quickly. Yeah. But but that was good. Yeah. speaker-0: And we'll we'll talk more about the people side of it later because we know that that's as much a big part of of what we do as anything. So we're we're in O two. And is that when you went to WI? speaker-1: Yep. Yep. In in it would have been a December of O two. So this year'll be what, twenty four twenty four twenty four years. So yeah, I've got an opportunity with WI at that time. You know, they're a wholesale distributor to vet clinics. they didn't have a full time rep in the state of South Dakota. So they were just aren't they had one in North Dakota and and they'd kind of filled in, you know, from Montana, Wyoming, West the the corporate headquarters of Boise, Idaho. And so they they started west and started moving east. And so then I was given the opportunity to go to work for them December of of two thousand two and and I jumped at it. You know, it was it was wide open. It was y you know, you got the state of South Dakota. Here's your book and and go, you know, and so so the transition for me, you know, I mean it w you I went from I don't know how many items we had at Fort Dodge. But I know at w at one time with W. I you know, they used to say we had twenty seven thousand skews that you'd inventory and another about that many that were special order drop ships. So all of a sudden you y you had all these products and and so man, talk about kid in candy store also drinking from a fire hose too. And then speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: starting a new territory, you know, where they they didn't even know who Who W I was at that time. speaker-0: So talk a little bit about the difference between the wholesale distributors. There's a couple of W I H I, I'm sure I'm missing one in there somewhere, but there's a couple of versus the the strictly pharmaceutical companies. Just talk a little bit about the difference between those two businesses, Carter. speaker-1: Yeah, you know, f from the manufacturer side, like at that time, Fort Dodge Animal Health, you know, you had your you had your set amount of products, right? And and that's what you spent your time trying to convince someone, you know, to purchase, you know, for various reasons, right? And and and now I roll into the distribution side with MWI and now I have access not only to what Fort Dodge had to offer, but at that time it would have been Pfizer and and Beringer Engelheim and Baer and Navardis and sharing platforms. And Intervet, I'm saying a lot of names that don't exist anymore. But now I had that whole portfolio as well. But I also had X-ray machines. I had suture. I had needles. I had syringes. I mean, anything that you can imagine that's in a vet clinic, now I was selling it. And so you know, just the equipment side of things, you know, it w it it could seem daunting but yeah. But but you know, I had some mentors that were just amazing, especially within MWI that I was able to work with. we had r wrap up in North Dakota and and Lyle over in Montana who's still running Montana, you know, and I mean I I I and I think this would be for Any young person, I mean I leaned on those guys every we had a rap Tom in in Wyoming and Colorado and I I I'm not kidding ya, they were on speed dial for me. I would talk to them every week, you know. And and and Bob, Bob knows up in Montana he was a a real good man or mine and and I and I'd just lean on him. You know. If I didn't know I'd call they'd tell me. speaker-0: Yeah, and they I think it's it's funny that you bring it up even from back in O two. It was harder to get a hold to them guys in O two because had landlines of bag phones. You don't have these computers that that we get to carry around on our phone. 'Cause I know for me, Carter, you know, even some of these professional development things that I've had the opportunity to do, like going on that BLI tour last year. I met guys on that tour that today, God, I'm pulling my hair out. Something I'm doing just It's not work why is it not working? Why is what we're doing not making sense? And you've got that person that you can pick up the phone and just say, What am I doing wrong? What and just get that speaker-1: it's huge. I mean if if if you're in an industry and I don't care what it is, if it's selling widgets and and you're new to it or getting going, man, find that mentor. Find the find those successful people. search out and and ask They're they're most all of are an open book. They're more than willing to help if you if you're willing to ask And and boy, that's that's really what you know those First first and I'll say ten years, you know, it it takes a long time to learn all that stuff. And I mean I could pick up the phone any time and and those guys had been doing it long enough, they'd they'd remember products that didn't even exist anymore, you know, and they could tell you this and that and they sure helped out. I I you know, I This'll go back. I the first time I ever sold an X ray processor. This was back when we were still processing film, which again we're not you know, that's all. And and I sold one to the in the clinic in Belfouche and and you had to set up for you know, you had to go in there and you had to set the machine up. I had no idea what I was doing and so so I mentioned the his name before Bob knows. He was our rep up in Billings, Montana, and I called him up and I said, Bob, I You know, I gotta go into this clinic and I gotta set this thing up and I have no idea what I'm doing. He goes, Well, when are you doing it? And I Well I'm gonna do it next Thursday. He goes, Well, you know, I'm gonna be in Sheridan, Wyoming that day. I'll just drive over there and help you. And and literally I mean so, you know, Sheridan Sheridan to Belafouchias a few hours, you know. Yep. He drove over that afternoon, helped me set it up, got in his pick drove back to Sheridan, you know, to start it you know, took took that time. Yep. out of his busy schedule to come help me. I'm I I don't forget that. speaker-0: No, that's no, those are the those are the things that that those people that that end up meaning so much to you. They when they'll drop what whatever they've got and make it work to speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: to take care of you. And, you know, the other thing there you probably studied hard enough that day as you were putting that processor in that you know, it wasn't necessarily smooth the next time, but you at least had you had retained What do you have taught you 'cause that's the one thing you can't just keep calling. speaker-1: No, no, absolutely. You're right about that, JB. And of course back then we didn't have YouTube videos to cheat with either, you know. Now we I could just YouTube it and put it together, you know. speaker-0: It's like this this podcast and shoot, we just did one on on our genomics tool and you know it i if somebody wants to figure out how to use our genomics tool and I can't get to in the time frame which they want to do it, well there's a YouTube video now. There you it's like speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: how how things have changed. speaker-1: Man, yeah, you know, and so I didn't have the advantage of that. So some I mean, I find it nice having the YouTube videos today, but it was pretty You know, learning it that way wasn't a bad way either. It was kinda trial by fire and y you learned, you know, and there there were those people out there. So so I I was very fortunate. I mean the w the team around me was you know, I it was hard not to be successful with the people that were around you, you know. Iron sharpens iron, right? Yeah, you know. speaker-0: Yeah. in those early days, Carter, at MWI, would you have had a distribution center in western South Dakota where you guys stored product or were you still drop shipping most everything in those days? speaker-1: Still shipping it, you know, just like today. No, we did not, you know, my closest warehouse was Denver and at that time. at that time it was just Denver and so so so that's where all my product came out of at the at that point. You know, we didn't have the Kansas warehouse at that time or or Minnesota one. So so yeah. speaker-0: And that should should tell you how much that business has grown. my calling probably my best friend actually works for MWI in southwest Kansas. and he talks about he we we talk at seven in the morning because he's headed to the warehouse to load for the day and he's gonna go deal his drugs. You know, that's a big running joke with us. speaker-1: But yeah. speaker-0: How's the drug dealing business today? speaker-1: That's right. speaker-0: about how that kind of thing has changed because, you know, we we talk about back in O two with MWI and opening up territory in the Dakotas, the starting into the Great Plains in the Midwest. That was strictly vet clinics at the time probably and still for you very much is because of who our producers are in this region. Correct. But the way that has grown in in li a a region like Southwest Kansas. Talk a little bit about that. speaker-1: Yeah, you know, so so as the process came and we filled in filled in those areas, you know, we we added warehouses in Kansas, we added people further east, you know, some distribution way out east and we just started filling in that middle and then we filled in with we we we had purchased a a smaller distributor in Nelson Labs in South Dakota at that one point. So I did have a warehouse there in Sioux Falls at one point. And then from there they ended up needing a larger warehouse to service a little bit more area. So they actually picked up and basically moved that warehouse to Shacopee, Minnesota. So that filled in everything. But, you know, when we first started you know, when I first started serving this area, you know, the our only service option was U P S at that time and we wouldn't we'd next day a lot of stuff to people, you know, just 'cause you you had to and for need and and to get serviced, you know, but as that business grew and and the company grew and things like that then you know, ha have other options today and and a lot of different ways to to get product but but yeah, you know, you and you talk you know, later on, you know, and it's I don't know the dates. I should have all those in my head, but it's probably been fifteen years ago or so when micro technologies came on board, you know, and so we have the micro the technologies for the feed yards and the dairies and that as well. And so so that brought on a whole new aspect, for us as well. Right. just kind of a full service turnkey deal, you know, I mean, for for my veterinarians there, you know, Y you you just don't y you're able to offer everything. Right. You know. Yep. And and then and then even then for their producers, you know. So that's a it it's been an amazing transformation over the years. Yeah. It really has. speaker-0: And so let's let's go ahead and start into a little bit of a different conversation as we roll on here, Carter. Being with a wholesale distributor, y you have so much more flexibility for the people that you work with. how nice is it to to roll in and not have one set line of products that that you need to get a veterinarian on board with but bring all the information you have. Here's the different product lines in say a seven way category. And you pick what you want a inventory and what you want your customers to use. It's speaker-1: Yeah, you know it's speaker-0: a it's a blessing and a curse I imagine a lot of times, right? speaker-1: It yes, absolutely. the curse being that you have to be fairly versed in a lot of different things, but the but the blessing is you have a lot of things. Right. and and so it's been really nice. y you know, from my perspective I look at it, you know, from it's more of a from my my standpoint I have a More of a partnership. I I feel with with my customers just for the fact is you know I am able to offer offer you know, whatever they need and we can really get into detail on on various things, you know, on in in the ins and outs of of whatever it may be. it may be an x ray. machine it may be it may be a seven way you know, but y you you can really delve into those things and and just freely, you know, and so so yeah, you know, there's a lot of some days I joke I'm a problem solver. Right. You know, I mean it's a lot of problem solving a a lot of times and it and that may even be logistics. speaker-0: Well yeah, I mean we we know what that can be sometimes too. yeah speaker-1: You know, speaker-0: I know when I was in the middle of nowhere mountain city, South Dakota, our veterinarian that we worked with up there, we I don't think ever one time actually picked product up at the clinic. We never picked something up that was inventoried in Hosborne. speaker-1: Right. Right. speaker-0: And any time we needed something. Typically two days it was sitting at the house in Mound City and for for you and and for those veterinarians, some of that can be a headache, but it also gives you so such flexibility of not having to to overthink it sometimes. And you you hope that like us, like our brand and vaccines, those things, we knew how many when we were gonna do it, we were two to three weeks ahead of that, so it didn't have to get overnighted. But still, you know, sixty miles to Hosmer. and two of us Kevin Cows, time wasn't necessarily there to get to Hosmer just to pick vaccine up. And speaker-1: No. speaker-0: and so those capabilities have certainly changed how the animal health industry functions today. speaker-1: I absolutely, you know, you know, we we as a company really, really focused on the ability to be able to do that for our customers, for our veterinarians, to be able to get it to their customers, you know, in a timely fashion where like you said, you weren't able to you know, nobody could break away, nobody could get there, you know, and so to be able to drop ship that to to to you if if need be on behalf of that clinic, you know, that's it It's been a a fun development, but it's also presented challenges, right? Because of the remoteness of of where we're you know, and and finding the right the right delivery company that that can perform that task. And it seem you you know, you you see it seems seamless, but but it's not. You know, logistics are a huge part of what I do. Yeah. Actually just just knowing, you know, the different you know, use some jargon here, but O Ts, you know, mode of transportations. We're we're dealing with that quite a quite quite often, you know, and especially, you know, it seems here over the last few years some of those some of the larger companies that we're familiar with have kind of started backing up some of their services in some of rural rural the rural areas, you know, deferring, maybe not going there every day and stuff. We're seeing some of that. And so so that presents a new set of challenges to work around. But yeah, you know speaker-0: You kinda had to probably learn what of those those companies, you know, are best in say a a Pierce South Dakota area versus a Faith South Dakota versus a hot springs. There's speaker-1: And they're different. Yeah. speaker-0: yeah, I I had never necessarily thought about that. But yeah, you really have to probably know and understand what carriers are are best to get distribution done. speaker-1: Yeah. And sometimes it's this the same carrier, but they have a different coating just because they run those routes so differently. And so you might be with it in the same carrier, but they're you know, you you gotta make sure the one one might be sorting in Sioux and one might be sorting up in Saint Cloud or something like that, you know, and knowing which what what can get where. So y you know, that does present a A new set of challenges. Yeah. And so sometimes I'm not talking animal health, you know, sometimes I'm talking about which truck we're gonna put it on and how to get it there, you know. But once it's done then it's coded in the system and we go on. You know, that's the beauty about today's technology. speaker-0: Right. Once you figured it out the first time, then it gets a little simpler the second time. Yeah. speaker-1: Yeah, so so it's yeah, yeah, it's not it's cut and dry maybe today. But speaker-0: So let's talk a little bit about changes in animal health from when you started in ninety eight to now. What are what are a couple of the the big glaring things that you see that have that have changed, maybe for the good, maybe for the bad, just just differences for for those of us that are of my generation compared to our parents and and how they perceive yeah what products they're gonna use, how they're gonna be ab go about getting to that that answer. speaker-1: You know, and it's kinda interesting, you know, a lot of those products that we were talking about, you know, twenty years ago have developed and a lot of are still here today, right? Or or or variations of you know, built off of them. But probably, you know, some of the things I think like agriculture in general, right? There's been a a A certain amount of consolidation, right? And so so we've definitely seen that, you know, when I first started the conversation, I think what I name off about eight eight or so different manufacturers. And today we've you know, the you know you know, they've consolidated the half of that, say and and and then there's a lot of smaller manufacturers. So it it's almost like there's more smaller ones today and then you've got that core four or five, you know, bigger ones and and so that that's been a That's been a change, but but it's been also fun to see that'll you know, those products that were developed in the nineties, you know, they're still valid today and we're still using them, right? They just may may fall under a different name today than they did in in the nineties. but but you'd mentioned earlier too, I I I think that just the speed at which information is is is presented or the speed at which, you know. people even want that information, right? I mean it like you said, it it used to be a bagphone. You had a bagphone and half the time when I was traveling in South Dakota I didn't have service. Right. speaker-0: Which even today sometimes you don't have service. speaker-1: Well that's what I tell people. It's gotten pretty good. I don't speaker-0: It has it's got speaker-1: have many dead spots out there anymore, you know. some days I wish I had a few more now. I'm I i you know, and all joking aside, you know, so you had bag phones and and and at the beginning that was probably the beginning of even having the laptop computers, you know, right in the late nineties, early two thousands. And in even that, you know, you you You couldn't just stop and pull up information off your laptop because you had to have a hard line. You know, you had to add an e net or or you you plugged into your phone line and you did dial up internet, right? Which there's a lot of people on here that what is that? You know, and so that's how you know, so the communication was so much slower. Right. You know. you might leave a message for me and I might get that five hours later, right? speaker-0: Yep. speaker-1: And there wasn't any texting. Right. You know, until so we moved from the bag phone, then we moved to the the flip phone, you know, and still communication was still pretty sketch. Yep. You know, especially in western South Dakota or even South Dakota in general or Nebraska and and then you know, probably started moving, you know, in the middle middle two thousand or whatever, you know, when we started you know, just the internet started a little bit easier to connect. You know, the wireless things come along or you know our our phones now. You know, today I get all my emails on my phone. I've got everything there. I've got you know, I got the world at my fingertips, you know, as far as information and you can text me and I can text you back within twenty minutes if I'm not in in a clinic or something like that or have a conversation and and I'm able to get right back to you, you know. And so the speed at which information travels today, a which I'm sure, you know, from your aspect, you know, it's just amazing. It's light speed. speaker-0: Yeah, and you just you start talking about that and it's simple things as you know, you get a lot of windshield time, I get a fair amount of it today. the ability to do business in that time where you know, if I've got somebody that I need to call and I know that I'm gonna be driving for two hours A lot of times I'll finish the project that's in front of me and I'll just know that I'll talk to while I'm on the road. Talk about especially you get on I-90, you've got it service all the way across the state of South Dakota, you know, I know that I have nothing else to do during that time, you know. That conversation maybe warrants me being in my pickup driving down the road to to be on the phone and have that conversation. speaker-1: Yeah, absolutely. You know, so so it's just you know that And so there's l probably less late night conversations, you know, where where we're not, you know, it's eight o'clock at night and we're finally catching up with that doctor that had the question or or whatever it may be. You know, we're we're getting it done during the day, but we're doing it when we're traveling, like you said, where before. Right. It was all dead space. You were listening to the radio and Paul Harvey, you know, or whatever the rest of the story. So so yeah. Or I can pull over and they say, Hey What did I do last year, you know? And I I can pull over and in within seconds I can have that information like, Okay, here's what you did, you know. And and and so it's really nice that that part's really nice. It's a blessing and a curse, right? I think technology is always kinda that way, right? speaker-0: I didn't matter. We i in our business it's genomics and E P Ds, right? There's speaker-1: Right. Absolutely. speaker-0: people that that curse E P Ds, there's people that chase E P Ds and and then there's the rest of us in the middle that, you know, we're a business that has our own genomic test. I love our genomic test. Right. But it's still just a tool. Right. And that's the thing that that everybody has to remember no matter what tech it is It's not the be all end all. It's just it's just another tool that we have to use. speaker-1: Absolutely. And and it's just, you know, we had that information twenty years ago, it would just take me a few hours to get it. Right. speaker-0: Right, exactly. speaker-1: Today it's just it's quicker. It i it is, it is. So you know, which has been like I said, a blessing and a curse and speaker-0: So I think that leads into a really interesting question, Carter. Talk a little bit about how your interaction would have looked with I'll name drop him, Dr. Wolf, in in let's say two thousand five at probably six o'clock in the morning at Oahee vet, 'cause I know I sat through some of those meetings. Yep. And and later on, you know, it wasn't like you guys talked business for the the whole time you were there. You spent twenty minutes talking about family and then you said here it is and speaker-1: Relationships, Katie. speaker-0: And so so that that's where I want to go with this. Carter is is what what a lot of the rel business relationships look like, say in in the early part of your career, versus what it looks like today and and do you feel like you have to communicate with my generation differently than that older generation of veterinarians that you that you still work with that are still rock and rollin'? speaker-1: think that is a excellent question. Absolutely. So it's still relationships. but like you said, just the way we communicate that is probably a little bit different. like your dad, absolutely. We'd sit down, we'd have that conversation, whatever it may be, whether it was a a set of cabs that you know had some question, you know, whether we might be dealing with, you know, that might or or a new product, you know, that conversation was happening. Like you said, in the morning we'd be having breakfast or whatever and and and doing that on a on a face to face. And if it and if and if there were questions in between there would be a phone call. Right. Yeah. You know, I you know, we've had a lot of conversations over the years on the phone. and today I would say we're probably doing it more with with some of the younger ones. not You know, it varies, but I'd I'd say more text messaging, emails, a little more communication definitely that way, you know, and y and and so I'll y and it's not that they they're like the gener your generation isn't willing to have a conversation. It's just that they might be in the middle of something and they just you know, they just find it quicker just to have a quick text. Hey, what do you think about this or or have you seen this? And what do you know about that? And and we can have that conversation. We're done in about two minutes and off they go. And so so it's a it's quicker but but it's still, you know, the expectations are still the same, you know. find the answer for me, get it for me, you know, and and and you know like I said, I don't know everything. I never never will, you know, but but I know the people that do. So I know a guy. speaker-0: Yep, yep. I know a guy. Kind of my s my standard line. I I know a guy. Let me make a point. speaker-1: I know a lot of guys, you know, so so which that's my lifeline, you know, getting back to those mentors. But but so that's probably the biggest thing, you know. even my even Even myself, sometimes I'll find myself reverting to that way, you know, where it's you know, it's d it doesn't need a long conversation. It can be quick and we can get to the p you know, just get that question answered and and move on. And and then there's sometimes you just gotta pick up the phone and say, Hey, I'm not getting you know speaker-0: Well yeah, and I speaker-1: talk, you know. speaker-0: I think that's all. number one, it's how you like to communicate and then like even setting this podcast up, there's no reason for me to call you and and take that time from you with a phone call. Yeah. Send you a text and you know, I I do a lot of that. call me when you have time. Yeah. That's that's absolutely speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: A nice thing about the texting, like it is this this conversation's gonna take two minutes, but it needs to be a verbal conversation, not a text message conversation. So I just pop the text off, call me when you have time. That then allows for whoever I need to talk to to if they're in the middle of branding Kievs or or whatever they're doing, pulling a Kiev, whatever it is, when they're done, they then can can at their leisure pick up the phone, give me a call and we can sort out what we need to sort out. speaker-1: Absolutely. Same thing here, you know, it's like, I'm not I'm not getting what you're asking here, you know, just when you get an opportunity give me a shout and we'll get her figured out. So so yeah, but but you know, definitely and and again, it it's really nice. You know, I don't think I can have a better compliment than when I have one of my veterinarians reach out to me and ask me about something or something like that. You know, and and you know, it it puts you in a true consulting role and I don't take that light like you know. that I that means a lot to me and and the industry, you know, it's it's been incredible to me. It's been a amazing. Meet people like you, Jamie. speaker-0: Well, yeah. let's wanna talk just a little bit of of the marketing side and this we talked about this before we we turned the mics on. MWI not necessarily a company that has to do a lot of shows. you guys have built your business around the veterinarian relationship. And then the relationships on the backsides with the companies of the products that you put out. curious a little bit, I guess I want to start with something like your Young Vets conference that you guys do with with the Lanco. some of those kinds of things, Carter, how has that changed compared to you know, in the early two thousands South Dakota vet meetings was such a big thing. Like again, me as a kid, sitting at bar at the Ramcota until two or three o'clock in the morning because you know, and for me such a blessing and you know, so much of what I do today I got to learn at those young ages because I got to see and watch how it was handled but You guys got a lot of business done at the bar at South Dakota vet meetings. And so I just I want you to talk a little bit about the difference in you know, in those days when everybody went to those meetings versus what it is today. speaker-1: You're right, you know, and of course oddly you mentioned that that meeting is next week. So I'll I'll be leaving there Sunday for the S D V A. But but yeah, you know, you still have your group there. But again for for our veterinarians today there's so many different ways to get CE. You know. Right. back then we had limited Well speaker-0: Didn't have a choice. speaker-1: and you didn't have the internet, you didn't or th w they weren't doing many online say C E And so your C E continuing education, you had to go to these meetings, you know, and you had to get to be able to keep your accreditation and and that. So so you had huge participation. We still are Yep. speaker-0: Captive audience. speaker-1: Yep, absolutely. You know, and there's still good participation today. But I think, you know, as as some of the you know, younger y your group come in, you know, they they might They might wanna maybe go to a western states in in in Vegas and go get some there as well. Or like you mentioned, the Youngback Conference. It's been a great tool to to able, you know, we've done it a couple of ways. It's able to network with some of the younger veterinarians who will be owners, you know, hopefully, knock on wood, you know, on down the road, partners in the clinics hopefully that they're in and and it's so it's a great way to develop their those relationships with them in a different format and and just kind of on a one on one format that way and in and they're able to get some CE. So so I think that's probably that's been a really big change, you know, just the way you know and and and I'll throw you know twenty twenty, you know when when COVID hit, you know, people still needed their credits but but How do how do they do it? And so that's when you've really seen an explosion of of online ability to get credits and and some of that is kinda stuck around today, yeah. You know, and speaker-0: Yeah. So you know, we talked about that and you talked about, you know, in the mid two thousands. They were getting their C E. The veterinarians were all together. For the most part they got along. Yeah. They talked. You know, you guys were there. Relationships were really forged and they were they were a big, big network. Do you think some of that's changed today, Carter? speaker-1: actually, you know, and and I'm glad you asked that question. In my world, in South Dakota, I I know. because I'll I'll go back I'm from that Young Beck conference and and I'll I'll just use that as an example. I think this year was our eleventh one, so we've had some, you know, come and and go out of that. But But it's amazing how many of those veterinarians that came to the first few and aren't coming anymore now, they still stay in touch with the other veterinarians that were there. And and they've created that network. Because as you know, you know, you're y y you growing up in the industry, I mean, there's a lot of things coming at you as a veterinarian. And and and it's Practicing, right? I mean we always kind of joke about well it's practicing, you know, 'cause there's no definitive answer and and you just need that other person to be able to bounce stuff off of and say, Hey, and just have that, you know, that network. That those people, they're your people, right? You need those people. because they're that person may have seen it and this other person may not have. And if you have that communication, you know, and so y so I still I I still see a lot of networking there and I'm thankful for that. speaker-0: Yeah, and I think that's we we mentioned it earlier, but I think it's worth reiterating whether it's going to a set of meetings or a a conference you get invited to, we're having a an invite event next week that getting as many people together as we can and it it's not because we're there to sell something. Right. And and it's not even that that we need to be a part of their network. it's young guys that are in the Kow Kiev sector of this business that yeah somebody else is having the same problems you're having. And speaker-1: Absolutely. speaker-0: you need you need that that guy that is not in part of your business that you can call and you can just scream to and say, Hey, I am having this speaker-1: This ain't working. speaker-0: is I am having a bad day and I agree. speaker-1: I agree wholeheartedly, those relationships you just have to have you know, I think 'cause th these are stressful occupations. They're str you know, it's stressful and a lot of things can come at you and you just need that know that there's that person a hundred and twenty miles away, they're going through the same thing or maybe they've seen it and they can help walk you through it, you know, and and and so and and it's good to have someone, you know, your you know, your age, you know, like You know, like your dad for instance. There's a whole group of those you know practitioners you know, in that in that group, you know, that are just close and and and I and I am seeing that continue on. So I am so thankful for that, you know, because it's it's Yeah, it could be lonely if you didn't have that. Yeah, you know. Absolutely. speaker-0: Certainly. speaker-1: So that that that's a fun part. That's a fun part probably now, you know, is to continue to see right see these younger bets start start cultivating that, you know, and and it and it and it's nice to hear, hey, I called up so and so the other day, you know, and or I texted them and I go, good, you know. And they didn't know each other until that particular meeting. So that's awesome. speaker-0: Yeah. Yeah. And you know we know that in the agriculture sector, people do business with people, right? speaker-1: Absolutely. speaker-0: So so talk a little bit about you know and and maybe you're maybe it hasn't evolved any, maybe through the feed business you you got a pretty good feeling of that, but but how you've evolved building relationships and becoming that that person that that veterinarian picks up the phone and calls 'cause that's not based upon the fact that you sell the product. Right. That's based upon the fact that they trust your opinion. So so talk to me a little bit about that, Carter. speaker-1: You know, I think the this is gonna sound really s simple, right? Yep. It's just picking up the phone. It's taking that call, you know, and sometimes they're gonna be tough calls. Sometimes you know that person is upset. Yeah. Yeah. You know, but you pick up the phone and just talk and and then and not being afraid to tell I don't know, but I'll find out and then getting back to I mean I think those are those are things that just you know I I guess I've always approached it. I wanna treat them like I wanna be treated. And I figure if I do that I'm the rest'll take care of itself and it kinda has. I mean it seems kinda simple that way. but but I mean just genuine, you know, don't you know, just be up front. And if you don't know, tell You know, that's okay. Yeah. That's okay. Yep. You know, but but say, hey, I'll find out, you know, and I think those and I and that goes in in nineteen ninety eight to twenty twenty six. I mean, 'cause those relationships, you know, they're yeah, they're they're it's what it's built around. I and I am so thankful I live you know, I That's one thing I did know when I went to college and got out of col I would never leave this state. I I never wanted to leave South Dakota. I love South Dakota. No matter where I'm at in the state. I I don't know. speaker-0: And I've I've bounced around a lot and have always found my way back to speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, you have. You've lived in a few different places, but yet you know, you come back, you know, and there's something about it there's something about the people and I think it it and I don't know, maybe it's the same way if we were in another state that these relationships are this way too. I'm guessing if we're probably in the Midwest or the West. Yep. I would guess that's probably the case or or the smaller rural communities of the of the south east and that and Florida, you know, man, you know, big cow country, you know, really and I think I don't know that it still values out. speaker-0: You find a lot of a lot of the same kind of people, but so much of that's just the business that we're in. True. When you're true when you're in this business, you know, I found good cow people in the great state of Washington when I was up there and found some people that you know I Yeah. was happy to get back to South Dakota from there. But but there was still you know, you still had your good rural cow people out there and they I think people in our industry, no matter what segment they're in, they're all the same kind of people. Otherwise they don't last in our industry. speaker-1: I would I would agree. And then even you know, and even from the the small animal clinic in Rapid City to the to the mixed animal practice in Pier or Faith or wherever, you know, we're still South Dakota is, you know, our biggest city is what, two hundred and twenty five thousand, two hundred and fifty you know. Yeah. we've we're short of a million people and I think if we added up our cow calf pairs, you know what, three point speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: Six million or something like that. So we have way more cows than we do people. And so no matter what, you still keep that that that feel. And I yes, thank God. Thank God. Yeah, I think last you know, we're still holding strong on the on the highest per capita cattle to hu people ratio of any state in the in the US and I'm proud of that. You know. But I think that lends to the kind of people we get to deal with on a daily basis too, right? You know, a little more commonality. speaker-0: So we've we've talked a lot, X's and I was I gotta get some stories out of you. So give me one of your your favorite memories from being in this business of something you got to be a part of or a problem you got to solve, something that that just stands out as man, that was that was such a cool thing I got to do or be a part of. speaker-1: You know, gosh, Jamie. Y those I I am such such a terrible person at these on the spotlight guys. I know. Yeah, and I I do struggle with those, but there's been so so many, but you know, there's been a few times and this has been years ago and we you know, th there w and this was before this was when I was still back in my Fort Dodge days and you know, a a particular individual producer was having having some serious health issues in a set of in in some calves and the in the you know, th through the clinic we'd found out and so the myself and one of the tech service veterinarians for Fort Dodge at that time and had to go out and talk to this producer and and discuss, you know, kind of what was going going on with the herd and and it was a significant event and and we were able to identify what was going on in the herd and and we were able to get to understand what had taken place and And help him fix it. Yep. And you know, 'cause they had experienced a fair amount of death loss in some calves, you know, which, you know, you at any time, you know, whether it w it is today or in nineteen ninety eight, you know, that was a speaker-0: It was speaker-1: you start losing. You start losing yeah, absolutely. And and so It it was a cool thing and and we were able to get the situation resolved within a year and he was they were back on track, healthy calves again. And and it was probably and I'm I'm guessing that would have been probably about two thousand, somewhere in there. And and it was probably six, seven years ago I ran into that producer, you know, somewhere and he came up and and and he thanked me and he remembered who I was and and thanked me for the help that we'd given him to get him through that situation. And I yeah that was that's probably one of the coolest compliments I've ever gotten, you know. Yeah speaker-0: Those those things are special where you know it speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: it's you solved a problem and it made an impact. speaker-1: It did in and for him to remember who I was you know, 'cause I'd moved on to MWI at this point and so I really wasn't I'm you know, I don't get to interact as much with with the producers themselves as I do the clinics other unless they're doing a meeting or something and so so he he came over and personally thanked me and that's probably the that's probably that one sticks out to me. Yeah. I mean there's been a lot of crazy times, you know, you talk about those meetings but I don't know who speaker-0: Yeah, they they didn't get they didn't get too ranked most of the time. There was usually, you know, and and I always laugh 'cause there's a bunch of we call ourselves just dirty vet kids. speaker-1: There were there was a whole crew guy. speaker-0: yeah, Tornberg's kids and us and Yeah Yeah, speaker-1: C A's. speaker-0: and I I think it was such a Veterinarians are such a unique breed in that that the kids usually are never left out. And, you know, there we were probably in a lot of places we should have been in and in some situations we didn't need to be in at times. speaker-1: Probably but speaker-0: But how fortunate are we to have you know, for me it's people like you and Tim Nutter and Yeah. Blackstone. Just speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: just the the the people that I have a relationship with in this industry where if I'm having a problem that's speaker-1: really? speaker-0: related to something, I've got a guy I can pick up the phone and call. speaker-1: Yeah, absolutely. speaker-0: That knows me well enough to take my phone call. speaker-1: Absolutely. In a heartbeat. Well, here I am. Yeah. And it's because you asked. Yeah. You know, Jamie, like I said, you know, we've I've known you since you were Well yeah. Yeah, exactly. I've known you your whole life and absolutely. It it's a fraternity or or whatever you want to call it, you know, it's a close knit family where you know we kinda end up all kind of being family, you know. Yep. And and so that's pretty cool. Yeah, and and yeah, I've watched all you kids grow up, you know, and and that and that's been fun too, you know, and it's been fun to see you go on and and branch out and do your stuff, you know. It it it's it's awesome and and thriving, you know. And and it is because a lot of those experiences, you know, that you got to have. You know, whether it was back in the day when we used to have the S D V A rope and speaker-0: yeah, yeah, yeah, that was those were good times. speaker-1: And and doing some of that fun stuff or or just you being at the clinic, you know, me showing up and there you are and you're you're with your dad that day. You're you're going out to the country or you're helping him back or whatever that may be, right? You know, so so those experiences you just man, you can't yeah. Yeah. Got you got you introduced to a lot of people and that's invaluable. Yeah. speaker-0: So a travel story because you've always stayed on the road. You guess we'll we'll tie back to that just a little bit, Carter, go back just a little bit to the educational portion of this conversation. Sure. You like to see your veterinarians. I know that you're somebody that stays on the road. You see face to face. speaker-1: Yum. speaker-0: Just just how valuable is that even if it's ten minutes of of face to face time How valuable do you find that? speaker-1: I I find it extremely valuable because it you know, y I think I think you gotta be consistent. I think you gotta be showing up and and in and being there, you know, good and bad times, right? And and just You know, not not there just during maybe the big rush of things because those times it's hard to have those conversations. Sometimes it's the slower time when you really need to be there because that's when speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: they have the time to sit down and talk to you, you know, and I I you know, I You never know that conversation could be ten minutes and I've ha it's been two hours, you know, and so you just gotta be prepared for that and and take advantage. And if you're not consistently making those calls You don't get those opportunities. Right. You know? Yep. I I'm not quite as consistent as Bill was. Bill, you could have set your watch to Bill. Yeah. You know, you knew every day he would be there on Monday at three o'clock. Now I'm not that consistent, but you know I'm gonna be there within a week. Right. You know and s and so I you know, I to me that's that's really important. Even with the you know, the younger generation coming in as well, you know, I think consistency, you know, just n just knowing that they're gonna be you know, I'm gonna be there, you know. So yeah, absolutely. speaker-0: So we live in you've you've always covered a South Dakota type territory. Mm-hmm. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, snowstorms. speaker-1: You know, I tried I've I'm much better today. I watched the weather. You know, that's why I might be a week off and calling there. I Northeastern South Dakota's gonna have a blizzard. I'm not heading there this week. But there was a time was a couple of One is I did not know do do you know at least this was would have been in the two thousands, that a Chevy Silverado's temperature actual temperature you can bottom that out. speaker-0: I did not know that, I can believe it though. speaker-1: I bottomed it out at a negative forty seven below zero, actual temperature. And that was traveling between Aberdeen and Ipswich one winter. man. Yeah. It all of a sudden it read minus forty seven. And and I mean, yeah, no windshield. We're talking actual temp. And then all of a sudden it went to NS and it quit reading. And for I think it wasn't until I got to Selby where it kinda warmed up. To a minus 43 and then it started reading again. But but that one and and it I really thought to myself that, you know, this probably isn't the smartest thing you could be doing today, Carter. It is, you know, because you were not gonna survive that very long. No. but but being in the great state of South Dakota, I'm sure someone would have stopped and helped you. Right. but but still, you know, that was one. There's another time gosh got snowed in in winter South Dakota and couldn't even get out of the parking lot of the hotel there, you know. so I spent I think two days there. it was pretty cool. It was the Super Eight and and the owner the owner fixed all of us chili in the in in down there and made sure everybody had something to eat. But yeah I was snowed in there for a day and a half, I think there, you know, on a a big one. I try try to avoid those hail storms been in a couple of hail storms out on the pr out by Kadoka. I remember one time, man, you ducking at you know, getting off at one of those exits, going to Phillip and trying to get in underneath the bridge there and just getting pummeled with hail. So so but there again with the technology, you know, at at that point the technology wasn't that good. You were just listening to the radio and they were telling you there was a thunderstorm, you know, west of Kadoka. You know, now Man, I've got an app on my phone, you know, and I pull it up and I can see where those storms are. So I can really kind of avoid a lot of it today or just slow down or speed up or go around, you know. So I I I'm much I'm much better about that today. So so yeah. A lot of bush. This is a fun fact. So you know, I have yet to trade in a pickup in my twenty. eight years throwing the four dodge side of things that hasn't had a broken windshield. speaker-0: Yeah. some of the roads you see, some of the places you get to go in the great state of South Dakota, it's just hard to avoid a little of speaker-1: Yep, I just you know, I trade in I say, Yeah, it's got a broken windshield. It's it's almost automatic. So so some of those things and there was it one other what this is kind this was kind of a fun little story. It it was in the winter time and and it was probably twenty below out or so and I was over by Faulton and you know, j that intersection east of Faulkton, five mile, I don't know. I I don't know highways in this state. I just know where to go. Right. And so anyway out there at that intersection Off some boom, I have a flat tire. And I mean it's cold. It's 20 below and the wind's blowing and it's an F-150. And and so I get my coveralls on, like you know, we all carry winter time. And I get that thing jacked up and I cannot get the wheel off the hub. It's seized. It's seized. And so I call the vet there and Faulton, John, and I say, Hey John, what are you doing? He said, Well, nothing. It's too cold to be outside. And I said, Well, yeah, I got a flat tire out here. I said I need I need a little help getting this tire off the hub. I said, I can't get it off and and he goes, Well my dad lives just right down there. I'll come out there and we grab a sledgehammer and a four by four and and John's a you know, pretty good sized guy, you know, he can wheel that sledgehammer and we hold that four by four up there and he and he takes a few whacks at it and we get it knocked off there and I go into Faulton to have the tire repaired and And I said, Man, I couldn't get this I couldn't get this tire off this pickup. He goes, Let me guess, Ford, huh? F one fifty. And I Yeah. And he said, Well, those metal hubs and aluminum wheels, they they kinda like to seize on there a little bit. He goes, we have to do that quite often. So I was just thankful I was close enough to a community where there's a sledgehammer. speaker-0: Yeah. I just it's funny you bring that up, you know, my wife being from where she's from up there in Washington and when we first met out there she jumped in my pig up and backseating my pig up was full speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: of clothes. Said well where I'm from you just don't ever know what you might get into. She'd been here about six months speaker-1: It now she knows. speaker-0: Yeah, now she carries a in her car she has clothes for all kinds of weather because you just don't ever know. speaker-1: You don't know, yeah. I you know, I stress that to my daughter, like just have everything in there because you just don't know. Yeah. You don't it can be many things. So those are a couple a couple not too crazy, but yeah, fun, memorable memorable things. So speaker-0: Carter, this has been a blast. I'm so thankful that you took the time to to come sit down with me. speaker-1: I'm just happy that you asked. I'm happy you were interested in in it, you know, Jamie. It you know, I've like I said, we've known each other forever and and I've been able to watch you grow up and and doing what you're doing today and I it you've done a wonderful job and and thank you for thank you for asking me. speaker-0: Well, I I think Carter we we reach a lot of young folks with this podcast and you know, I I think there's probably probably some some kids thinking about a career in agriculture and hopefully they learn something today about what it means to be be in the business of a of a pharmaceutical rep and be a be a part of a sales team. What I th I have started to ask my guests as we wrap this up, what's one thing that you would tell a young person that wants to go into the animal health business? What is one thing that they need to either either know or a a mindset they need to have going into it as a starting point to be successful? speaker-1: Well and I and I think that that's a good question. I yeah y you know I think be open minded and be willing to you know, if you're willing to travel, i it may not be the exact place you want it to be to start with, but but you know, go get some experience. G get your feet wet somewhere, you know, whether it be fertilizer and chemical for two years and six years of of feed industry. You know, just you know, you don't have to take no for an answer. Keep your contacts, you know, just stay in touch with people. You know, and and do you know, do your best at whatever you're doing and and and just keep your name out there. You know, and good things will happen. Yep. You know, I I do believe that. And And so I think and and then once you are there, you know, find those mentors, find those people that'll that you can just pick up the phone or send that text to now maybe and and they're they're gonna get back to you. But yeah, yeah, you know, don't don't You know, if you don't get that internship with that animal health company when you're in college, you know, don't give up on that. You know, maybe you gotta do something a little bit different for a while and and maybe you gotta live somewhere or you may not wanna live permanently, but it's a start, right? I mean you you you know what I'm talking about there, you know. You y you gotta do those kind of things and don't, you know, just and learn as much as you can while you're at it and yep. You know, you'll get there. speaker-0: Well, yeah, and I think that's a that's a great point as we kinda wrap up, Carter, that you you mentioned I I landed where I'm at today. Everything that I learned through whether it was selling feed, being an extension, just ranching, all the way back to when I was with dad and I was sitting in those meetings with you guys and all that, that all plays a a huge factor in what I do today. speaker-1: It's all a foundation. speaker-0: And so I think the key point there is no is never an answer. Don't don't just poo poo an opportunity. if you have an opportunity, sometimes it's worth taking and it is speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: and learn what you can learn out of it. speaker-1: Yep, yep. Be the best at it and you know, and people people notice that. You know, they they do. As you know. speaker-0: And it's a it's a small industry. It is. speaker-1: Yes. speaker-0: Even into equipment sales and feed sales, fertilizer sales small industry. speaker-1: And it is. It really is. And it's kinda like, you know, once you're in, you're kinda in, you know, you do a good job. Treat people right, you know, you you'll be you'll be fine. Always, you know, be willing to learn. You know. Yeah, no, you're you're right, you're spot on. Just, you know, get after it. Go do what you want to do. Get after it. speaker-0: Thank you, Carter. speaker-1: Bet thank you for asking me, Jamie. This has been fun. I've enjoyed it. It's been a good time. speaker-0: Glad you were off the road long enough to come sit down and do this. Folks, this has been the source with Carter Johnson MWI. I appreciate you listening and we will catch you next time. Thanks.