The Moos Room™

00;01;00;13 - 00;01;11;08
Emily
You welcome everybody to The Moos Room. I am back. It is me, Emily. In case you forgot. And of course, Bradley is here to.

00;01;11;10 - 00;01;16;24
Brad
Yeah, I am. I'm here today. Both of us. Finally. It's been a while.

00;01;16;27 - 00;01;23;01
Emily
Right? It's like, forget almost a month. Probably. Where in the world have Emily and Brad been? You know?

00;01;23;03 - 00;01;23;24
Brad
Exactly.

00;01;24;00 - 00;01;42;19
Emily
We are everywhere. And before we dive into where we are today. You know this. Of course, we record ahead of time, but on the day we are recording this, I will say it's February 25th when we're recording this. It's Brad these birthday today. So happy birthday, Brad.

00;01;42;21 - 00;01;48;24
Brad
Thank you. Thank you. Yes. 21. Finally be able to go celebrate tonight. So it's.

00;01;48;24 - 00;01;49;11
Emily
Yes.

00;01;49;11 - 00;01;50;18
Brad
It's been fun.

00;01;50;20 - 00;01;51;01
Emily
Yeah.

00;01;51;06 - 00;02;08;08
Brad
I am never. I am. It seems like I am always traveling on my birthday. I think I'm always at a conference or something else that just happens that way. It's like I've celebrated my birthday with a lot of grad students over the last year. It seems we're always at the same conference, but it's fun.

00;02;08;15 - 00;02;14;15
Emily
It's fun. Yes we did. Did your birthday at a conference before? Absolutely, yes.

00;02;14;17 - 00;02;19;21
Brad
Got a text from my daughter this morning wishing me happy birthday. So life is good.

00;02;19;23 - 00;02;30;08
Emily
Oh, what a good daughter. So. Exactly. So, speaking of that, Bradley, you know, where are you? Where are you celebrating your birthday this year?

00;02;30;11 - 00;02;59;19
Brad
I am at the Southwest Missouri Spring Forage Conference in Springfield, Missouri. At it looks like it's a great conference. A lot of, cattle producers here, sheep and goat producers, very heavy grazing focus. So I think there's probably a good 300 plus people here. So it looks like it's a wonderful conference. Exciting. I'm actually talking about agro voltaic today.

00;02;59;19 - 00;03;22;18
Brad
So solar grazing, grazing underneath solar panels. Everybody knows my crazy idea. So here in Missouri I think it's getting some attention. So I'm here to speak about to farmers very a heavy farmer orientated conference today. So lots of farmers from Missouri and surrounding states. So yeah, I'm excited to be here.

00;03;22;21 - 00;03;46;11
Emily
Yeah. No. And I, I looked up the conference and was looking at the agenda, and it does look like a really fabulous conference. And, you know, it's great to see the agro voltaic work being included in there because I think we know there's a lot of interest in that. I know I was just talking to one of our other colleagues, Brad's former grad student who now works for extension Sabrina.

00;03;46;14 - 00;03;57;18
Emily
And she's also continuing agro voltaic work. And I know it's very popular, so it'll be interesting to see kind of what people are thinking, down in Missouri about it.

00;03;57;20 - 00;04;25;02
Brad
Yeah, it'll be interesting. And to see. I know it's getting some attention. It's getting attention all over the US. So we'll see where we go with it. A shameless plug Sabrina and I are putting on some webinars in April, May, June and July. We have a field day at our research center on agro voltage coming up. So learning about cattle grazing, sheep grazing, underneath solar.

00;04;25;03 - 00;04;33;27
Brad
What to grow for forage is a lot of that stuff. So we'll talk more about that into the future. But that's a few things that we have on the docket.

00;04;33;29 - 00;04;42;21
Emily
Yeah. So stay tuned for those events. And now, you know, idea on the fly. Maybe we can record some clips for the podcast of the Field Day in June.

00;04;42;25 - 00;04;45;06
Brad
So yes, yes, that would be wonderful.

00;04;45;07 - 00;04;49;00
Emily
Yeah. Stay tuned for that folks.

00;04;49;02 - 00;05;12;06
Brad
We Emily and I have not been together in a while. Yeah, we're going at 100 miles an hour all over the place. And I think it was just kind of a. What in the world is Brad and Emily up to today, and where are we going in the future? What fun things are we working on and what are we excited about coming into the spring?

00;05;12;08 - 00;05;27;13
Brad
Hi! I'm excited. Spring is hopefully coming and there's lots of things happening. I'm starting to get anxious about starting some new research projects and all of that fun stuff. So what's happening with Emily?

00;05;27;16 - 00;05;52;27
Emily
Well, you know. Yeah, Brad, you're totally right. We just need to catch up on what's going on. And, you know, there's a lot of exciting things happening in extension. And the big thing that's been occupying my time. Well, right. Just like you, Brad, it's conferences. We always say that, like this time of year, well known as conference season in the agriculture world, of course, because the ground is frozen.

00;05;52;27 - 00;06;16;13
Emily
Right. So so it's a popular time for conferences and so attending them and also planning them. So, those of you who know me probably know I've become kind of, conference planning extraordinaire. So this year I took on, three conferences in three months. So the first one is already done. So I got two to go. Bradley is shaking his head at me.

00;06;16;15 - 00;06;18;21
Emily
So it's craziness.

00;06;18;24 - 00;06;22;01
Brad
Conference planning is a lot of work. We know we know that.

00;06;22;03 - 00;06;41;17
Emily
It's it is a lot of work. And I will admit, you know, I complain about it, but I think conference planning is also so rewarding. That's why I really like doing it. Because I'm, I'm a social butterfly. You know, that may be shocking to some of our listeners who may not know me, but I'm an extroverted social butterfly.

00;06;41;21 - 00;07;02;27
Emily
So any event that's bringing a ton of people together and getting all this energy in one room, I am there. I am all about that. And being able to create those spaces for people is just something I really care a lot about. So, in February we had our Extension Women and Egg Network conference in Saint Cloud.

00;07;02;27 - 00;07;26;24
Emily
We had over 200, people attend that. So is not just women. We do get some men that come as well. And that was a huge success. That is, a partnership that I work on with our egg business management team. Many educators in extension work hard to get that put together. Many community partners as well.

00;07;26;27 - 00;07;47;07
Emily
So that was a huge success. And now it's kind of like that is off the plate and I'm on to the next one. So we are kind of barreling towards the finish line for the next conference. So on Saturday, March 8th, I'm very excited, that I am co-chairing a new extension conference and that is called egg for all.

00;07;47;14 - 00;08;18;22
Emily
So egg for all is a conference for LGBTQ plus agriculturalists and their allies. So again, this conference is open for anyone. But it will really focus on, education and, and affinity for, people who belong to that audience. So it's modeled after our Women and Egg Network conference. So lots of general information about farming, soil health, getting started with livestock grant opportunities, etc..

00;08;18;25 - 00;08;40;23
Emily
So if you want to learn more about that conference, you can visit Zeek. Any edu slash egg for all 25. And we will put that link in the show notes again. That conference is Saturday, March 8th. So it is coming up. But we are accepting registrations until the day of the conference. So if you want to join us, we are happy to have you.

00;08;40;26 - 00;09;06;19
Emily
And then after that I have the Women's Egg Leadership Conference. So another women's conference, not an extension conference. This is actually a completely volunteer led conference. So it's women from organizations across the upper Midwest, that put on this conference at the Arboretum, in Chaska each year. And so I also helped plan that one. I run an awards program for it, and I am on the program planning committee.

00;09;06;19 - 00;09;30;29
Emily
So, very busy with, planning agendas and coordinating with venues and doing all of that stuff. So, you know, for people who ask, like, what do you actually do for your job? Here's a little glimpse into what some of that is. So if you know somebody who says they're planning a conference, know that there's a lot of pieces they're doing with that.

00;09;31;01 - 00;09;50;01
Brad
It is a lot of work. But actually, I think those of us that work in extension here, it's it's exciting to do that, to reach out to producers and farmers and industry and work with them and I think you feel some sort of satisfaction when it's all over, even though you're completely exhausted.

00;09;50;04 - 00;10;12;05
Emily
Yes, I but I always say that is always the best drive home is after a conference. Because, yeah, it's like I'm exhausted, but I'm so happy and satisfied and proud that it's just like, kind of floating on cloud nine the whole drive home. So, you know, it's a lot of work, but yeah, again, I, I really like it.

00;10;12;05 - 00;10;30;27
Emily
And and again, you know, if, if any of our listeners out there know me at all, you know, I, I love a good conference attending and planning. So it's it's a lot of work. But it's always worth it. And if you are a person who attends any conference, please know that the conference planners are always grateful that you're there.

00;10;30;29 - 00;10;42;05
Brad
And I'm sure you'll be running all over the state this summer too, right? With different workshops and farm safety workshops. Probably be at Farm Fest again.

00;10;42;05 - 00;10;42;29
Emily
Yes, and all.

00;10;42;29 - 00;10;44;20
Brad
Of those fun activities.

00;10;44;20 - 00;11;14;00
Emily
Yeah. So we'll have our youth tractor and farm safety training again with locations all over the state. So basically, once my third conference is done in April, we will start immediately planning for those. So yeah, lots of safety stuff coming down the pike as well. All of our, yes, summer programs and summer events. And you bringing up Farm Fest just makes me realize, like, you know, it's like six months away, I think, at this point.

00;11;14;00 - 00;11;17;03
Emily
So, yeah, it's coming up.

00;11;17;06 - 00;11;28;20
Brad
We're going to Farm Fest to our research center is and we're already planning our activities at Farm Fest. So it's it's coming. It's so many things going on. It's crazy.

00;11;28;23 - 00;11;35;14
Emily
Well, and you guys do arguably have one of the best displays at Farm Fest. I think lots of lots of cool stuff to look at.

00;11;35;16 - 00;11;56;18
Brad
Of course. Of course you should come see us and all our cool gadgets and toys and electric tractors and what we're doing for research. We not that we haven't ruffled a few feathers with the University of Minnesota other booths, because we just have decided to do it ourselves and showcase our stuff. And it's great.

00;11;56;19 - 00;12;00;19
Emily
There's a lot of University of Minnesota presence at Farm Fest right?

00;12;00;20 - 00;12;04;17
Brad
There is. And that's good. And we all should be there and showcasing our stuff.

00;12;04;22 - 00;12;21;06
Emily
Yeah, yeah. And if anybody listening has ever been to Big Iron in Fargo, I got to go to that show, in September for the first time. And it's same thing, right? You see Ndsu extension everywhere. And they do a great job of being present. And so I'm like, all right, we're doing the same thing at Farm Fest.

00;12;21;06 - 00;12;39;09
Emily
Cool. But but anyways, right. If you haven't, you know, picked up on it yet, this is kind of Emily and Brad just catching up because we truly, like Brad said at the top, have not spent any time or seen to get seen each other in weeks. So you know what else is is on the docket for you, Brad.

00;12;39;09 - 00;12;51;19
Emily
So I know you're in Missouri right now. You're at the conference. Do you have more conferences? Still on the docket for the next few months or what else are you doing besides the agro voltaic stuff?

00;12;51;22 - 00;13;27;25
Brad
No, actually, I've been on the conference schedule in January and early February here. It's been kind of all over in Wisconsin. Minnesota, now in Missouri, been to Iowa talking about agro vortex raising calves, some of our other dairy beef research, talking about grazing to Iowa State University students. So it's been kind of all over. And, you know, I haven't traveled much in the last year and a half because as listeners know, I was sick with Lyme disease quite a bit.

00;13;27;25 - 00;13;51;17
Brad
And so I hadn't traveled. And now it's kind of gotten crazy. I actually had a travel trip scheduled to California in early February, but that kind of got canceled due to the bird flu. It's bird flu is still, I don't know if we shouldn't call it the bird flu. H5n1 is still ravaging California, and so I was going to go out there.

00;13;51;17 - 00;14;21;26
Brad
I was looking forward to being in Californian sunshine. There hasn't been much sun in Minnesota. So anyways, lots of conferences for me. It's kind of winding down a little bit, but now I'm ramping up with what I'm going to do for research. One thing that I'm excited about actually, I did this at a conference is virtual fencing. I bought, oh, I bought ten tags for virtual fencing because I'm curious.

00;14;21;27 - 00;14;39;26
Brad
I get lots of questions about it and I'm going to see what happens. So we're going to put it on some. Well, I don't I'm not sure yet. People told me that I shouldn't put them on lactating dairy cows, but I might just do it. And if I break them, I break them. That's what bread does quite well, is break technology.

00;14;39;28 - 00;15;08;10
Brad
But I think I'm going to put them on some dairy heifers and do some. Just see what it does. I'm curious. And will it work and how does it work. And we just don't see it enough. So it'll be interesting to see what happens. I'm sure it'll be crazy. You'll come to our research center, there'll be a perimeter fence so the cows don't actually get out, but there won't be any other fences, and animals will just stay where they are, so it'll be interesting.

00;15;08;12 - 00;15;16;13
Brad
That's what I'm excited about. I know workers at our research center have been like, oh boy, there he goes again.

00;15;16;15 - 00;15;19;11
Emily
Crazy idea I another idea. Oh no.

00;15;19;12 - 00;15;40;12
Brad
Exactly. And and it's like we're we're going to do what? We're not going to fence these heifers in anymore. Nope, nope. No fences. We're going to have our perimeter fence and Brad's going to have the fence on his app, on his phone. And that's it. So stay tuned. I guess we will have a yes.

00;15;40;12 - 00;16;00;15
Emily
Well, and if you're interested, we have discussed virtual fencing on the podcast, so you can check that out. Episode 262. If you're interested in learning more about virtual fencing, we had Miranda meehan. From Ndsu on to talk about her work with that. So if you're interested, 262.

00;16;00;18 - 00;16;22;14
Brad
And I think there will be a lot more virtual fencing. It's only growing and I'm the I'm Emily knows I'm I'm the pusher. I'm the I'm the crazy guy. I'm pushing some of these companies, to do it with dairy cattle. I'm the dairy guy. We don't have beef at our research center. And it's been popular in the beef world and the goats and the sheep world.

00;16;22;14 - 00;16;55;09
Brad
But what about dairy animals? What can we put it on? Dairy heifers. And I'm the guy that's like, well, I want to on my lactating cows. Although I did hear a story I haven't, I don't know. But supposedly there's a dairy in Texas grazing dairy that's using virtual fencing. And on a lot of animals, lactating cows. And he basically comes out to the milking parlor in the morning to milk his cows, and they're all in the holding area, the virtual fence has brought the cows back to the holding area.

00;16;55;11 - 00;16;58;15
Brad
Nobody else has gotten the cows out of the pasture except for the fence.

00;16;59;15 - 00;17;05;06
Brad
So I that's an idea that I'm willing to try.

00;17;05;06 - 00;17;07;14
Emily
Bradley is intrigued. I can tell.

00;17;07;17 - 00;17;19;15
Brad
I'm very intrigued with that. I'm like, ooh, if I can get cows out of the pasture without nobody going to get them and saving labor and just have the fence do it. Oh, man.

00;17;19;17 - 00;17;21;24
Emily
We could really be onto something here.

00;17;21;26 - 00;17;46;23
Brad
That's right, that's right. So we shall see. I like I said, I only have ten right now because I'm just starting out slow. I need to figure this out with ten versus putting it on 100. And then I have a disaster on my hands. But. So yes, that's, that's what's happening with the virtual fence. And Brad is also gone off the deep end.

00;17;46;25 - 00;18;12;05
Brad
I'm doing some ag techs work this summer. However, I'm going to grow probably some wine grapes under them, some peppers, tomatoes. So I'm getting into horticulture, crops and growing under solar panels. People keep asking me about that and I'm the cow guy and I'm like, okay, well, let's try something else. And so I, I don't know. All right.

00;18;12;05 - 00;18;20;19
Brad
Well we'll see people. Yes. This is you gave me the same look that the workers did. Oh my gosh. What? You're going to grow tomatoes under solar panels.

00;18;20;19 - 00;18;44;08
Emily
Yes I know I think it's great. Right. And and we know. Right. And we always say like an extension like we are for all farmers and all types of agriculture. And you and I both know that there's a big growing interest in really that kind of farmstead homestead idea. Like we're going to just kind of grow all of our own stuff and be self-sufficient.

00;18;44;10 - 00;19;03;16
Emily
And it makes perfect sense to me. We are going to have a solar panel for our energy, and we're going to graze some livestock underneath it. So they also have shade and we're also going to use some of that space underneath it to grow produce for ourselves. So I see it I see the way the system could work.

00;19;03;18 - 00;19;07;25
Emily
I'm, I'm a believer already.

00;19;07;28 - 00;19;33;01
Brad
So it'll be interesting. I have some undergraduate students going to work with me. We're going to do some cow heat stress, solar grazing, and then we're going to grow crops and tomatoes and all that fun stuff. So it's going to be a busy summer. Outside of all the other projects and, happening, I'm excited it's spring time or getting to be spring.

00;19;33;01 - 00;19;54;02
Brad
We're going to start calving and getting new babies at our research center. So that's going to be fun times. It's always fun to spring to see. I have some I'm, you know, I have registered Holsteins here at Morris, so there's always an excitement to see what's going to happen. And I've gotten back into the registered in the classification with our cows here.

00;19;54;02 - 00;20;00;12
Brad
So it'll be interesting to see I'm reverting back to my teenage years.

00;20;00;15 - 00;20;00;21
Emily
And.

00;20;00;21 - 00;20;20;15
Brad
All of that fun stuff. And, so it's it's fun to see that and how I, I've, I've grown the herd and and I make all the mating decisions and all the breeding decisions. So it's, you know, I take ownership in that. So it's good. And I'm not wrecking the herd, not wrecking the herd. I'm just just having some fun.

00;20;20;18 - 00;20;23;26
Emily
The defensiveness I still.

00;20;23;26 - 00;20;37;08
Brad
Have crossbred with two thirds of the herd is crossbred, and a third is Holstein. And I'm trying to improve, all of the cross as well as the Holstein. So, and I think I've improved the Holsteins as well. So it's been fun to see that.

00;20;37;11 - 00;20;59;07
Emily
So I'm kind of curious, you know, you talk about going into the spring and of course, we always talk about you getting, you know, the cows back into the pastor, back to grazing more. And, you know, what are your thoughts on how the spring is going to go, like how your grasses are going to come up, you know, at least where I am in southeast Minnesota, we haven't had a ton of snow cover this year.

00;20;59;07 - 00;21;16;26
Emily
I think you have maybe had a little more than we have out West and Morris. But I'm curious kind of what what do you think the spring is going to be like for pastures that maybe haven't had that snow cover? Do you think we're going to see winter kill or things weren't quite cold enough? What what what?

00;21;16;26 - 00;21;19;03
Emily
Look into your crystal ball.

00;21;19;05 - 00;21;43;20
Brad
I'm worried. Oh. I'm worried. I don't think we just haven't had enough moisture over the winter time. To sustain grass growth through the whole summer. Now, that could change if we get some wonderful spring rains and it rains into the summer, we could have a lot of grass. But there's there's moisture there from snow. And and rain.

00;21;43;20 - 00;22;04;26
Brad
Actually, we had rain the other day in Morris. February. So there's moisture there. And I think it'll the grass will grow off start. Well. But if we don't get the moisture, I'm a little worried that we're going to have sustained grass growth. So I'm hoping that we're going to get some nice rains and the weather could change really fast.

00;22;04;26 - 00;22;29;07
Brad
And all of a sudden it does well. But if you think about today, I'm I'm kind of worried and it's like, how do I start grazing our cows but not get too crazy with taking too much grass off if we have some issues. So, I think I see that in other places as well. You know, I'm in Missouri, it's the grass is brown, but there's they've had snow through here.

00;22;29;07 - 00;22;50;20
Brad
You know, they've had a lot more snow than we've had in in Minnesota. So they probably have some probably a little bit more moisture here than what we have had. But I don't know I'm. Yeah. And it we it's we've seen this before. It's nothing new going into the grazing season. But it's one of those things where we just have to watch ourselves and not turn the cows out and let them eat all the grass.

00;22;50;20 - 00;22;55;02
Brad
And then in the end of May, we go, oh, maybe we shouldn't have done that.

00;22;55;04 - 00;22;58;19
Emily
Right. So, so more of an ease into it approach that.

00;22;58;19 - 00;23;24;17
Brad
Ease into the grazing season, I think, in Minnesota and Wisconsin this year than just go crazy. So we'll see. We'll see. I'm cautiously optimistic about the grazing season. And sometimes it can surprise you. And, but we have to be thinking about that going into the summer about stored feed. I know we're going to be feeding supplement for a little while before we get full on to grass.

00;23;24;19 - 00;23;30;14
Emily
All right. Well, is there anything else we haven't caught up on?

00;23;30;16 - 00;23;32;20
Brad
Oh, I'm sure there's way more that we could.

00;23;32;23 - 00;23;35;05
Emily
Ask that might. That was a dumb question.

00;23;35;07 - 00;23;55;13
Brad
We could talk about so much fun stuff that we've, done within the last few weeks. Yes. It's been fun to, catch up and give a little glimpse into what we're going to be doing over the spring in the summer. And, I'm sure we'll be talking about some of these topics into the future.

00;23;55;15 - 00;24;20;00
Emily
Oh, absolutely. I yes, you know, we like to do these kind of preview what's on our dusk episodes, because, yes, it usually sets up what we're going to be talking about, in the future. So you'll have to stay tuned to see, you know, how all the conferences go. Learn more about the programing coming up. See about this virtual fence.

00;24;20;01 - 00;24;29;29
Emily
And of course, I think we'll do, a deeper dive into pasture stuff as we get more into spring as well. So plenty to to look forward to.

00;24;30;01 - 00;24;54;05
Brad
And we have some wonderful guests coming up in the next few weeks, talking about, an app about moving cows and animal welfare and talking about nutrition aspects. So we've got some things planned here for for the podcast too, and we'll keep marching away with that. And, it's been a good it's been a good time.

00;24;54;08 - 00;25;23;07
Emily
It has. But I think we will wrap it there. So if you have questions, comments or scathing rebuttals about today's episode, or if you have an idea for a topic you would like to hear about on a future episode, you can email those to the Moos room at Umkc. Edu, you can find us on the web at extension Dot, Umkc Edu and find Bradley on Instagram at NC0 Rock dairy.

00;25;23;09 - 00;25;26;19
Emily
So we are signing off and we'll catch you next time on the museum.

00;25;26;25 - 00;25;31;17
Brad
Bye bye.