From the milk house to the courthouse?

"So, are you running?"

It's a question I've been asked with increasing regularity over the past few weeks in regard to the soon-to-be open position of Probate Judge in Lamar County. For those of you unfamiliar with my county's politics and interested enough to continue reading, our probate judge essentially serves as our county's CEO with duties that include overseeing all matters of probate (obviously), issuance of car tags, and serving as the chairman of the County Commission. Our current judge recently announced he would retire at the end of this month rather than serve out the final year of his six-year term. This leaves Gov. Ivey with the responsibility to appoint someone to fill the position until a candidate is elected in November.

I've playfully teased the idea of running for public office on social media before, from posting faux campaign images like the one above to sarcastically tweeting about my willingness to fill Jeff Session's former Senate seat if asked. If there's one political job I've ever been genuinely interested in, though, it's the one I'm now being asked about.

Podcasts I enjoy in the tractor cab

It wasn't too many years ago that the radio of the primary tractor I used on the farm went on the blink, leaving me to find ways to keep myself entertained. Thankfully, radios can be fixed and technology is always making entertainment easier to access. I occasionally listen to the radio, especially if a Mississippi State baseball game is on the air or if the local country station is playing songs from the 70s-90s (I won't listen to the new stuff). If I'm in the mood for music, I'll usually listen to the eclectic blend stored on my phone that ranges from Conway Twitty to Meat Loaf or tune into a 90s channel on Pandora. I mostly listen to podcasts these days, though, and for whatever it's worth I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.

Sports

I was really liking
whatever I was listening to.

• The B&B Show This daily Mississippi State sports podcast is the first I listen to every morning, generally as I'm putting out feed for my milking herd around 6am. Brian Hadad excels in his role of "voice of the fan" while Bob Carskadon provides insight from within the school's athletic department. 
• More Cowbell The second daily MSU sports podcast I listen to is hosted by the oftentimes sarcastic and cynical but always entertaining Brandon Walker, a former MSU beat writer who now works for SEC Country.
• Total Soccer Show Yes, I am a farmer from Lamar County, Alabama, and soccer might just be my favorite sport to watch and follow. TSS puts out an entertaining yet informative daily podcast that provides previews, reviews, and analysis of the week's top matches. 
• Blood Red Podcast  A round-table discussion about Liverpool FC that's published 2-3 times per week.

Political/Current Events

• The Federalist Radio Hour One of my daily "must listens" that focuses on politics and current events with occasional detours into culture and sports. 
• Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates Hour-long debates on current political, economic, and cultural issues published 1-2 times a month.
• Common Sense w/ Dan Carlin I don't always agree with him, but I really enjoy listening to Dan Carlin lay out his viewpoints and arrive at his conclusions in this monthly-ish podcast.

Faith

• The Briefing Another one of my daily musts, host Dr. Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary bills the podcast as "a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview" in which he examines the headlines in light of Scriptural authority.
• Signposts Published 2-3 time monthly, Dr. Russell Moore of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission talks about "the latest books, cultural conversations, and pressing ethical questions that point us toward the kingdom of Christ."
• ERLC Podcast  Speaking of the ERLC, their own weekly podcast offers insights into current moral, ethical, and cultural issues.

Miscellaneous

• The Popcast with Knox and Jamie Billed as "a weekly pop culture podcast seeking to educate on things that entertain, but do not matter," this one often has me laughing hard enough to make me stop the tractor. The Popcast is the jug of 3.5% butterfat in a world full of skim pop culture podcasts.
• Dan Carlin's Hardcore History Every few months Dan Carlin comes out with a new 3-5hr Hardcore History podcast in which he weaves together a captivating narrative from historical accounts of people and events within a certain historical time period.
• This American Life One of the most popular podcasts out there, this weekly radio show usually tells the extraordinary stories of otherwise ordinary people.

This isn't the exhaustive list of the podcasts I enjoy, but these are certainly the ones I listen to the most often. Let me know if you are a fan of any of these, or point me in the direction of any of your favorites you think I might enjoy.

Happy listening, and have a "dairy" good day!

Registered Holstein

Here's a little photo of Spike & Pet I put on our Facebook page this morning. I hope you get a chuckle!

Support Team Dairy

After months and months of spin, misrepresentations, gaffes, attack ads, and robo-calls, the Presidential Election is almost upon us. With Americans tuned in so intently to the political back-and-forth, farmers have seen an opportunity to throw a little dairy promotion into the mix. One great example of that is Tennessee dairyman Ryan Bright's series of blog posts detailing one of his cow's campaign for POTUS.

Joining in on the fun, a few of my fellow farmers have started using the #TeamDairy hashtag on Twitter. "Team Dairy" is meant to represent farm families, our cows, dairy products, and everyone that supports us. Be sure to look for #TeamDairy updates from farmers around the country (actually, around the world), and feel free to tweet it yourself to show your support.  And remember, Team Dairy has been around far longer than this election cycle and will continue to be a force for good regardless of who we elect as President. Team Dairy: providing you and your children with safe, delicious, nutritious food choices for a "dairy good" today and a brighter, healthier tomorrow.

In closing, I'll leave you with a couple of "cheesy" (get it?) "Team Dairy" promotional pieces I've put together. The first is a meme I posted on our farm's Facebook page, and the second is a poorly-constructed attempt at a political ad. I hope they make you chuckle a little bit, and feel free to share with your friends.

GO TEAM DAIRY!

DmB's Humpday Edition: 2/25/09

How about that Presidential Address last night, huh? I fell asleep in my chair about 8:30 (which happens almost every night) so I'm having to look up the high points on the 'net this morning. Are there people out there who can get excited about or buy into what any politician in Washington has to say about the whole economic mess? It's like believing a kid that throws a brick through a stained-glass window when he promises you he can fix it with Elmer's glue and masking tape.

But enough with the political commentary.

We received the preliminary report from our milk weighing yesterday afternoon, which indicated a herd milking average of just over 63 pounds. The thirty first-lactation cows we had grouped together averaged 63 pounds as well, so I think it's been well worth our time to feed them separately. We will mix them back into the main herd today, though, and pull out a group of lower producing cows. We believe we can give the low-enders a third less grain per day without significantly impacting their production. Lower feed cost + minimal sacrifice in milk production = profit, something that's going to be really tough to come by over these next few months considering how poor our milk price is right now.

An aside for those who have "edopted" one of our cows: Missy Moo finished with the second highest total, somewhere around 110 pounds. I should have the full results for each posted on the website after we get the final report sometime next week.

Finally, I'll be going to my county's extension service office this morning to plug into the broadband and connect to a webinar. Dairy Management, Inc., the national outfit that manages our dairy checkoff, is offering the webinar to give dairy farmers ideas about how they can use the internet to tell their stories and communicate with their customers. Provided we get the technical issues taken care of, I'll be an active participant during a segment of it talking about the blog you're reading right now.

Have a great morning, and make sure you get your three servings of milk, cheese, or yogurt in today!

A serious appeal to America's voters

When you go to the polls tomorrow, please vote for pro-agriculture candidates and ballot initiatives.

America is, in my opinion, "Ag Independent". Even though there are fewer and fewer of us on the farm, we're still managing to produce in such abundance that we enjoy the safest, most affordable food supply in the world.

But for how much longer?

Heaven forbid we ever reach a point where we depend on others for our food and fiber as we do for energy. We're a long, long way from that point, but let's take steps NOW to make sure we don't face that grim prospect later.

As a farmer I can tell you that public policy and those involved in its creation, implementation, and enforcement effect every facet of my business and have a major impact on my ability to viably produce a product my fellow Americans want and need. The same holds true for most every other farmer I know.

We've got a great agriculture industry in this county! Let's all vote tomorrow to keep it that way so we can continue to enjoy safe, nutritious, affordable food.