SharkFarmerXM's podcast
Jenny Weg from Iowa 6-19-24
(Singing) Unstoppable, unshakeable But it rolls off the town unfrakable It's unavoidable You're so relatable In between the lines Start to loosen up your mind And war begin to shark farmer radio, hey! I hope you're in our studio today Shh, outside of Bradford, Illinois Studio powered by Beck's hybrid We're not rolling We talked this morning with David Hula King of corn, right? World record, growing 600 bushels Of corn and acre Yes, and he's always so much fun to talk to Cool guy Yeah, and they're in Virginia And they're rolling His corn was rolling hard, he said Yes, yes, they said that, you know, really It was sort of a drought there So, which is sad I always feel like it's so hard to watch things Get rolling and drop up You can't say we're We could use shower We could use shower We definitely can't complain now We're sitting out there trying to set a Building out like the corner post Cause we're going to be gone And hopefully The guys that are going to come Level it off We're coming Trying to find where a building Goes on a farm It's just, I don't know It drives me It's super hard for you Because, you know, you have to block Some sort of view, right? And then we like all of our views I mean, you know, it doesn't matter Where we're standing on the deck Or in the backyard Or, you know, at the horse Pen, whatever Like, we like all the views Yeah, you would think FBI builders That are putting it up They could maybe do it That would be cool Wasn't a shed underground Our glass one Yeah, so we could see through Oh, no, that's just um A glass shed Alright, let's go out to Iowa today We're going to be talking with Jenny Weg How you doing, Jenny? I'm good, how are you, Rob? Good, can you believe that? A glass machine shed Yeah, that wouldn't be real practical Like where we live We have so much wind and hail Like, I can't imagine People can imagine Moa next to it Just forget it We're having fun You're farming out there in Iowa The fifth generation farmer You grew up on a farm, is that right? I did My parents farmed my whole life Farmed my dad and my uncle farmed Together and it's the only way Mm-hmm Was that always a plan that you were Going to come back? No, not even a little bit So I am the third daughter I'm one of five children And I have two younger brothers And there was just always this assumption It wasn't ever said that I couldn't farm But there was this assumption that my brothers would farm So when I was graduating high school I thought, you know, I've got to go find something to do And I really didn't know what I wanted to do But oddly enough, every opportunity That crossed my path was tied to agriculture In some way, shape, or form I kind of went to business Throughout, you know, I worked in the bank And, you know, I had an egg-lending side of things I worked at a grain co-op Doing grain buying and Seeing that aspect of it I did a little bit of insurance More so than like the property And casually said of things but kind of learned A little bit on farm insurance as well And then I got into digital marketing Which is what I currently do We do work with a lot of different Livestock-egg aspects of things But when farming was kind of introduced To me that was a possibility for me to do it Was my youngest brother did want to farm But my other younger brother had no interest in it at all And we kind of realized the operation was probably too big For just my brother to do And I said, "Hey, you know, I've helped out here and there And I think I could do this." My husband also comes from a farming family But he wasn't actively farming with his family at that time So it was like, you know, maybe this is an opportunity for us To be a part of this operation Even though it wasn't what we initially thought it would be It's really turned into something special Where'd you meet your husband? We actually met in high school We are high school sweethearts We've been together for 15 years And I wouldn't have it any other way I know some people say you should go out and explore the world And see what there is to see But home has always been where I've wanted to be And he had no desire to leave either So it worked out perfect Okay, I got what year in high school? Because I think that's important We were sophomores in high school So I actually wasn't allowed to date until I was 16 years old That was a year in our house And a month after my 16th birthday We started dating and the rest is history We have so much in common We have so much in common We have so much in common You were dating before you were 16 I think it's safe to admit it now Okay, I will admit I didn't have quote unquote boyfriends But dating, when you live 10 miles from the nearest town It's awfully hard to date when your date can't even come and pick you up So maybe at like a high school basketball game You know, holding hands on the bleachers But definitely not any serious boyfriends before you get to see At least we had our license Emily when we met That's right, apparently We met just the summer after our sophomore year So yeah, we have been driving for like two months And so he came from a farm too So I mean, there's always that worry about going back to a farm You know, whether it's, you know, what it is, the unknown But both you and a spouse, you both had that experience So was this like, were you excited to get back to the farm? Oh, without a doubt So we'd always been close to the farm And involved in our operations It's just our checkbooks were involved at that point You know, we were there to help out or, you know, pitch in Whenever we do, but we just, we weren't fully vested I guess you could say into the operation But it was really helpful that we both knew what to expect I know sometimes when you have somebody who hasn't ever been involved in agriculture You don't understand, you know, the time commitment The financial commitment, those kinds of things So we didn't have that optical to get passed But it has been interesting because, although my husband My husband works full-time off the farm So he has a full-time job, he runs heavy equipment And I work full-time off the farm, and I help with the farm So kind of finding that balance of what our rules are in the farm You know, my name's on the operating note on the land rent And all those things, but knowing that he has a certain perspective From his background and agriculture that we can work together And, but knowing that, you know, I kind of have the final say And a lot of the decisions that we make as well Yeah, definitely, I wish Emily's name was on the only one on the operating note But anyway, today we're talking with Jenny Wei from Iowa We come back, we're going to learn more about our farm We're going to learn about all sorts of stuff We'll be back, right after the break What is today? Well, check out Common Ground, where they connect landowners and farmers And hunters too, by the way, go to commonground.io That's commonground.io What is today? Wednesday? It is Wednesday all day It is all day You didn't even watch your show last night, did you? You know, I had to laugh, it was 10-30 last night When I took, like, a breath and sat down And it's like, oh my gosh, we didn't watch our own show Check farmer TV, although it is a rerun I mean, we were on rerun 8 Encore presentation, we don't say the R word anymore Season 9 starts next month in July Does it really? It does Good night, we probably should get on that, didn't you? Alright, today we are in Iowa We're talking with Jenny Wei, now she is a fifth generation farmer Go follow her on her Instagram, the faithful farming family Alright, Jenny, we talked about you Meeting your husband and coming back to the farm Your dad was farming, is that correct? Yep, my dad and uncle had always farmed Together for 35-40 years And then my brother started to farm with my dad When they started farming together, we kind of realized That maybe it was too much for my brother to do on his own So in 2022, we kind of had a conversation of Okay, dad's going to probably retire in about five years What does this look like for me to kind of get my feet wet Be able to learn from dad and get started But about three months after we had that conversation My dad actually went into the hospital It was December of 2022 with a pretty serious case of COVID And it was to the point where we got a phone call in the middle of the night To drive to the hospital to say our goodbyes Oh wow At that point in time, it was just kind of a jolt of reality for us You know, sometimes we don't always get a wait and plan for retirement You know, we have to have a plan in place now So during that time, he was unconscious, he was on a ventilator And we were basically told there was nothing that the doctors could do for him And in the midst of all this, like I said, it was December It was time for me to go out and get an operating note It was time to start pre-paying all of my chemical and all my stuff for the next season It just wasn't going to be with my dad's help And that was really hard for me to accept that I might not have that opportunity To learn from my dad to do this alongside of him But after 18 days of a lot of prayer and a lot of miracles that we saw happen My dad did wake up and is 100% recovered The doctors were shocked, he had no scarring on his lungs from the COVID He did not require any oxygen support following being on the ventilator Which was expected that he would And so it's kind of like I had this second chance come January He went through quite a few weeks of rehab He had lost a lot of muscle mass and things like that But by the time spring planting rolled around, he was back out in the field with us And now I have this opportunity for the last two years That I've been able to work alongside him and learn And just kind of get my bearings before the day comes that I'll have a bigger part in the operation Yeah, I bet that was a really scary time, not only for your dad's health But thinking, "Oh my gosh, this is my first season and I don't have them to ask questions to" What was it like for you and your siblings to watch your mom go through all this too? Did you all just, were you crowded around his bed praying for him? Was somebody always there with him those 18 days? Yeah, it was super, super tough So even though it was 2022 of COVID, there were still a lot of protocols that we had to adhere to So we were only allowed two people a day in the hospital with him And it had to be the same two people And visiting hours were from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day And my mom was there every single day without fail And we always made sure that one of us were there. We're all very close both geographically and in our relationships So all of the siblings arranged our schedule so that somebody could always be with mom And it was tough Like I said, you know, I've never really had anything super challenging in my life like that where my face was really tested But I'm very a fix it person, you know, who do we need to talk to to get this fixed? And so, you know, when the doctors would come in and talk to us and they would just say, you know, there's nothing we can do here You know, this is what we're doing everything we can But if anything goes south from this point, there's nothing additional we can do to help him And my mom was just very specific in her praying We had a whole army of prayer team behind us, extended family that was praying with us And every day we would pray these very specific prayers And we could literally see them being answered before us You know, it would be dad's oxygen stats are in the low 80s They need to be consistently at 90, the doctors, you know, have told us this And we would pray, dear lord, you know, let those numbers get up to 90, where they're in a safe range And you can literally watch the monitor just climb And it was just being able to witness those prayers being answered Not just make dad better, it was specific things we asked for that were happening throughout the days So it was a really long haul, it was 18 days But it felt like we lived a whole lifetime in those days Yeah, that was a rough time because, I mean, there was so much unknown And, you know, people were saying, well, this is how you cure it And this is how you get over it It was so hard to know what to believe and what not to And you as a fixer, it was probably driving you nuts Oh, without a doubt, and you know, that's one of those things too The doctors didn't know how to fix it, you know, it wasn't even that we could call in, you know, the best experts or, you know, whatever it was There was just so much unknown, and in that time, it was just remembering, you know, God is sovereign in all of this And fully releasing that control, that we don't have the ability to fix those things And we need to walk alongside the Lord and trust that His plan is greater than ours And I won't ever forget my niece, she was six years old at the time We were trying to break it down for the kids, like I said, my dad's super close with all of the great kids So we, in a way, we were kind of like being very cautious with our expectations And saying to the kids, you know, like, well, Grandpa might not be better by Christmas time And, you know, Christmas might not look the same this year as it had in the pastures Because it's not that he's going to get better right away And we said, you know, we just really need to pray for Grandpa And you know, that he'll get his strength back and that he'll wake up and what not And we said, you know, it could be 20, 30 days before he even wakes up And my niece looked and she goes, "Why are we praying for 20 or 30 days? How won't we pray for 10?" I just had a good point. We could just pray to say, and I'm not even kidding, 10 days from the day that she prayed that prayer Was the day that they lifted the sedation on my dad And it was just such a lesson to us, that as adults, sometimes we've been into those boxes of not fully believing And not having that full childlike faith, so that was such a cool testament to Just going back to those roots of that childlike faith And Dad, you said doing fine now and still farming and all good He is 100% recovered, just a true walking miracle And back to doing what he loves, that was always our goal When we would talk to the doctors about, you know, what his lifestyle was like, it was, you know, he needs to be active He needs to be able to get back to the farm, he can't be toting around in oxygen tanks So knowing that they had that goal in mind too was really good Alright, today we're out in Iowa, we're talking with Jenny Weg Make sure you go follow her on her Instagram, The Faithful Farming Family The Faithful Farming Family, it's fun to say, try it yourselves We come back, we're going to talk about her $3, we're going to talk more about her farm, we got a lot to cover Right after the break This segment is brought to you by Common Ground Are you looking for an easy way to buy, sell, or lease your land? Well check out Common Ground, where they connect landowners and farmers And hunters too, by the way, go to commonground.io That's commonground.io It's time for America's favorite radio segment, "Where in the world is well?" Well, what you got for us today? Today I got some interesting facts about the great state of Iowa Uh-huh, Caitlin Clark, that's all you got to say Yep, yep Hogs outnumber people four to one Yes, it's not a bad thing With 3 million people in the state, that means Iowa's home to around 12 million hogs Iowa raises nearly a third of US hogs, and as a result, is the nation's number one producer of pork Yeah, back to number one, well done Iowa Yep Iowa's literacy rate is over 90% making it one of the highest in the United States There you go See you, bacon is good for reading Right, Iowa also consistently ranks among the highest states in the ACT and SAT scores That's 'cause they cheat Right, yeah That's Illinois The Red Delicious Apple originated at an orchard in Peru, Iowa in 1880 Is that, I mean, it's all about what the honey crisp now, isn't it? Is the Red Delicious, is that yesterday's news? Yeah, Red Delicious might have lost the throne, but it's still a classic Yeah, you're right, okay Also, the modern day Red Delicious is far different from the original apple But we can still trace its roots to good old Iowa Okay The town of Britt, Iowa is home to the National Hobo Convention As well as the Hobo Museum, which is the only museum that dedicates itself to the Hobo way of life Can we still say that? It's like you can't say anything anymore, Hobo's still Hobo's like a specific guy who hops on a train No, I'm sorry, I don't think it's just a guy, it could be a girl I don't think you can hop on trains anymore You can hop on trains, you can hop on trains for sure You sound like you'd know Oh yeah, oh yeah I watched this video, like a homemade documentary about this guy who train hiked from Canada down to, like, Juarez, Mexico Oh, was that on RFD? Tired with Arabella Mansfeld of Burlington became the first female lawyer in the United States in 1869 Gotcha And about 10,000 years ago, there were giant sloths in Iowa There still is These giant sloths grew up to be 17 feet tall and weighed 5 tons They could be found on an exhibit at the Museum of Natural History at the University of Iowa Okay, all right, I'd like to see a giant sloth Maybe, I'll run them Thank you all, today we're talking with Jenny Wague from Iowa Jenny, did you learn anything? I actually did learn something, and I'm going to get a point to go see those giant sloths You want to follow Jenny on her Instagram, the faithful farming family Jenny, so here you are, fifth generation farmer, but you only have three girls You have to be disappointed that you don't have anybody that's qualified to come back to the farm You know, that is my biggest disappointment is the amount of comments I get regarding the fact that we have three daughters And I feel like that happens in a lot of families, whenever you have only one gender child, but in a farming family specifically Like when you have all daughters, that is all anybody can talk about it seems like So the really interesting part of it actually is so not only do I have three daughters My brother, who is the other half of this operation, him and his wife just had their third daughter With no sons as well, so we've got a pool of six girls in this sixth generation And not to say that that can't change at any point in time if either of us had more kids But it's just been so apparent to me, especially in the social media space When I'm sharing me and the girls out the farm, I hit so many comments of, well, are you going to try for a boy? Is your husband disappointed that you don't have a boy? And with me being a part of the farm the way that I am, I just really kind of wanted to break that stigma That you have to have that fun in order for your family farm to continue So sharing that my girls are here with me, they're learning alongside of me Even in a different way than from what I learned growing up It wasn't apparent, like I said, that I wasn't going to come back and farm And also having that knowledge that I would never ever force any of my daughters to come back and farm Do I hope they would want to come back some day? 100% But if there's something that they find later on in life that they're very passionate about, it would be 100% encouraged for them to go and do that as well I believe you are younger than me, I've got five older sisters and that's probably my parents I'm sure that they say they didn't, but you know, come on, they just kept going until they've had someone to take over the farm It seems like, maybe it's just because the females are a little more active on social media But it almost seems like there's more women coming back to the farm now than men You know, I've noticed that too, and I think the most recent statistic that I've read is about 30% of family farms right now have a female owner operator Which to me is significant, you know, it's not 50/50 by any means, but to have 30% And when you really look at the statistic, whether it's an owner operator or just a woman who's contributing to the operation I mean, there's so many ways that farm wives or farm daughters contribute to their operations, even if they aren't that owner operator So just knowing that you can have that place in the family farm, regardless of what your gender is I'm telling you right now, all women should be in charge of marketing, grain, hands down Tell me about this, the Free Tractor Activity Book Yeah, so I actually put this together because there are a lot of days that I have my daughters in the tractor with me for several hours And so just having something that would keep them occupied, that wasn't an iPad in front of their face all day So we just did some fun, like kind of preschool type activities that they can, you know, ice by, tractor maze, coloring pages Just to keep them busy, and that's probably the most asked question I get on my social media is on my word How do you take those kids in the tractor with you, and it's just a matter of lowering your expectations, bringing a whole lot of snacks along and having something for them to do to keep them busy Yeah, we always use NyQuil, it worked pretty good I love the way that you talk on your Instagram, I love the things that you say, so that, you know, there's a lot of little girls in agriculture But if they don't see someone else, a woman in Ag, they don't even know that it's a possibility So I love it that you're opening people's eyes to what happens on your farm, and you and the tractor, and that girls can do anything Yeah, without a doubt, it's actually really funny, so my girls, they know, my family's operation is pretty much purely John Deere My husband's family operation runs the all-case age, so they will identify tractors if it's a red one, it's a daddy tractor, and if it's a green one, it's a mommy's tractor So just knowing that, you know, mom gets in the tractor, and they know that, they know that that's what mom drives, so just letting them, you know, see that side of it and that put anybody in a box that they can't do it I'm really glad that you are not just letting your husband do that terrible thing to your daughters, now Jenny, if people want to find you social media, internet, all that stuff, where do they go? Yeah, you bet, so I'm primarily on Facebook and Instagram at the Facebook farming family, like you said, I am slowly breaking into TikTok, but I'm kind of an elder millennial, so I feel a little bit old for the platform But we're dipping our toes in there, and that's also the Facebook farming family Awesome, well Jenny away from Iowa, I want to thank you for being on the show, truly appreciate it, but Jenny, I don't want you to go anywhere, Sean Haney's coming up next, he's Canadian He doesn't like Caitlin Clark, that's what he told me one time Jenny, thank you so very much, everybody else, we'll catch you next time [Music]