Guests: Joey Airosa, Airosa Dairy, CA; Kelly Reynolds, Reyncrest Farm, NY and Jeff King, Kings-Ransom Farm, NY. Our podcast is recorded at World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. At the 55th Annual World Dairy Expo we were celebrating FFA day. We have a star-studded guest panel today to discuss the latest ideas and trends in animal nutrition.
Our podcast is recorded at World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. At the 55th Annual World Dairy Expo we were celebrating FFA day. We have a star-studded guest panel today to discuss the latest ideas and trends in animal nutrition.
Jeff King is one of our guests from Kings-Ransom Farm in New York. Their operation includes registered holsteins and row crops, and they have a marketing program with registered holsteins.
Kelly Reynolds is originally from Wisconsin but now lives in New York and works on Reyncrest Farm with her husband's family, which also has registered holsteins and row crops.
Joey Ariosa comes from Airosa Dairy, his family’s operation in California with holsteins, jerseys and row crops.
When asked about philosophy, Kelly said as they have grown each person has been able to focus on their passion, which they hope trickles down to their entire team (7:52)
Joey spoke about one of their biggest hurdles in California: regulations from the state. California has one of the highest minimum wages and requires overtime pay. So it is important to strike a balance between caring for your animals and putting their needs first, but living within the regulations the state of California requires (12:07)
Jeff mentioned communicating with consumers is always an area for growth. A lot of consumers visit their operation and make assumptions. Spending 15 minutes chatting with that consumer and answering questions is necessary. (29:20)
Kelly said that the global demand for dairy is real, with a growing demand for high-quality proteins. When they are making decisions about the future of their business, they keep that in mind. Our population isn’t getting smaller, and everyone has to eat. (40:35)
Looking to the future, Joey said you have to work together to deal with your problems and fix them because basic things in life are important; clean air, clean water and safe food. In California, Airosa Dairy is trying to do its part with water management and use less water. (46:34)
In summary, Jeff wrapped up by emphasizing you should never stop learning. The key to setting yourself up for success starts with the more you can open your horizons and learn at every turn. Look at someone who is successful and ask how did they accomplish what they are doing? (49:13)
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Scott Sorrell (00:07):
Good evening everyone, and welcome to the Real Science Exchange, the podcast we're leading scientists and industry professionals meet over a few drinks to discuss the latest ideas and trends in animal nutrition. Tonight we're coming to you from the 55th World Dairy Expo, and it's an electric atmosphere here. We have the FFA Day here. So we've got a lot of FFA kids going up and down the aisles. We've been doing these podcasts now for about two years, and the thing I like most about these is, is, is meeting some cool people. And we've got a star stud cast today that we're gonna be talking to. First, we've got Joey Aso Joey from Play, California. We've also got Kelly Reynolds from Ray Crest Farms in Kew, New York, and we got Jeff King from King's Ransom Farm in Skyville. Jeff, we're gonna start with you. I heard you had a great day yesterday and in the show rang. You wanna tell us a little bit about that?
Jeff King (01:03):
We did. We we've been showing here at World Dairy Expo for several years now, and my nephew was fortunate enough, to have a young junior three-year-old in the Holstein Junior Show. She won her class and also ended up as Reserve Intermediate Champion. So it was a big day for all of us at Kings Ransom and everybody that we're working with back in the barns. So yeah, a lot of smiles all
Scott Sorrell (01:25):
Around. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, understand, you know, everybody here, but for those that don't know you, just give us a real brief background on who Jeff King is and your farm.
Jeff King (01:34):
Okay. Kings Ransom Farm. We're in the eastern part of New York State near Saratoga Springs. We milk about a thousand registered Holsteins crop, about 3000 acres to feed those animals three times a day, all registered Holsteins. We do a lot of work with our on the registered side of the business and have a significant marketing program. We produce embryos and bulls for AI and sell a lot of females as well. Also in our business, we have we bottle some milk. We have a small processing plan on the farm, so we do a little bit of milk modeling. We've got an ice cream parlor and kind of a growing little area of our business. I farm there with my brother. He and I are partners. Both of our wives are involved in the business. My wife Becky and his wife Pandora, and also our kids, the oldest one has just returned, from college, and he's now working with us and a few younger ones along the way. So we're excited hopefully to have some family involvement as well.
Scott Sorrell (02:33):
Excellent. Looking forward to our conversation this afternoon. Kelly, tell us a little bit about yourself. Understand, you're originally from Wisconsin, so you're back home, but you'll live in New York as well. So tell us a little bit about the future at Renest.
Kelly Reynolds (02:45):
Yes. I grew up in Wisconsin and met my husband Tyler at Cornell University. We are the third generation on our farm. We farm along with his parents, John and Shelly, and his siblings, Mackenzie and Andy. We milk 1400 registered Holsteins and Crop, about 2,700 acres. And the show side of the business is the fun side for us. We always joke, some people have a boat, We have show cows and we're here at the show with 15 head from our farm.
Scott Sorrell (03:16):
So boats cost a lot of money. How about show cattle?
Kelly Reynolds (03:19):
Yeah, it's not cheap to come here, but we're excited to be here. We had the junior champion jersey last night, was from our farm. We purchased her as an embryo and sold her this spring. So we enjoy a little bit of marketing, but we also enjoy just bringing a group from our farm and seeing how they stack up.
Scott Sorrell (03:40):
Awesome. Thanks for joining us today. Joey. Tell us a little about
Joey Ariosa (03:44):
Yourself. Yeah, so actually I am the fourth generation. My great-grandfather came to the United States in 1912. My grandfather started a dairy in the same area in Southern San Joaquin Valley which is about two and a half miles, two and a half hours north of LA in kind of a real fertile farming area there. They settled kind of next to the Tulare Lake bottom there. And you know, at one time the Tula Lake was the largest lake west of the Mississippi, and so it was probably a great place for them, to settle and pasture their cows. And they shipped their milk to a creamery there that was founded in 1909 by a bunch of farmers called Dairyman's Cooperative Creamery. And we merged and became merged with Land O'Lakes in 1998. And we currently ship two Land O'Lakes. I have, my mom and dad are partners with my wife and me. They gave my mom and dad allowed me to, and they kept the business going. My grandfather died at a young age in 1963. My dad was 20 years old, and they took the business over. And so really, they, I learned
Scott Sorrell (04:58):
How many cows do they have? Then
Joey Ariosa (05:00):
They had about 200 cows, and I took the business over. And so, you know, I, from a young age, learned a really good work ethic from watching my mom and dad work out there. And then I had, you know, I guess one of the smartest things I did in my life was in 1980, I married a great woman who had a similar passion. You know, you, you can share, you have a dream but dreams aren't any fun unless you can share 'em with people, and they have that same dream with you. And I was blessed to have a wife who had that dream with me. And so we've, we've been farming in Pixley there. We have 3000 registered Holsteins 200 registered jerseys, and we farm about 1800 acres. And yeah, so it's been a, we have four generations on the farm, something that I'm proud of. My dad is still there, myself, and my son, who's about 35. And then a grandson who's 12, and then he's got three kids. My daughter's got two kids, so five grandkids. And yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's a great opportunity to grow up with your family and spend time on the farm together.
Scott Sorrell (06:12):
Yeah. You know, one of the things I want to talk to folks about is kind of your business philosophies joy, I don't know if you wanna start, but, you know, tell us a bit about, you kind of already told us why you do it, but what is kinda your philosophy that you bring to work with you every day?
Joey Ariosa (06:27):
Well, I think you know, and it came up the other night at the Dairy Shrine Awards thing. In life, you gotta have passion for whatever you're gonna do. And so I think you gotta bring that passion with you to your farm, and you gotta have people to have that same passion to help you take care of your animals. You can't run, run a farm by yourself. We've all had to get gotten bigger and to be more efficient and to afford all the new technology that's coming about every day. And so you know, it requires good people that have a love for farming, a love for the cows, and any kind of a love for the family because, you know, a farm is a kind of like a big family. Your employees have families that, you know, live there too. And, so it, it, that's really what it takes. And then I think you gotta be you have to have a dream. You, you gotta always be looking forward. Try not to look back, doesn't do you any good, and just look to the future. And, I think probably one of the most difficult things is deciding on which technologies you can afford and which ones it'll make your business better going forward.
Scott Sorrell (07:37):
Hmm. Very well said. Kelly, you mentioned that you listened to last year's podcast in preparation. And if you'll remember, the passion came up as well in that podcast. Why don't you talk a little bit about the passion you guys bring to your Darron? Talk a little bit about the culture that you guys are creating there.
Kelly Reynolds (07:52):
Yeah, I listening to Joey, so much of that story resonates with our family. Were cow people at our farm. I always joke that I get roped into things like this podcast tours because my family are cow people and not people, people
Scott Sorrell (09:33):
Yeah, that's amazing. Jeff Kelly mentioned that she's a cow person, right? I have a feeling we're all cow people around them, the table here, right? As evidenced by the fact that you brought cattle to this conference how hard is it, as your dairies grow to step a little bit back from being, a cow person and being more of a CEO of your operation? How have you managed that?
Jeff King (09:58):
Well, I'm not sure I've managed it well from day to day, but we certainly rely on great people in our business. Between, our farm and our retail business, we've got about 60 people on the payroll now, and I never would've envisioned that even five, six years ago. So things have gone in a direction that maybe we weren't prepared for. But it's enforced the importance of the people on our team, and it's made us realize how incredible some of those folks are. We're so fortunate to have talented people in every aspect of our business, and that just makes the whole thing roll better. My brother and I who run the business and own the business, we're both away this whole week. And when we talk about being cattle people, everybody back home knows that we're engaged in this, in this business and the cattle business, and we're gonna be away from time to time, and they're making things hum probably better with us away than when we're there. But they're also engaged, in what we do. And whether it's having a little success in the show ring or, or things that we might sell in a sale, they're very engaged and they wanna be included. They love to hear about those successes, and it's, it's part of everyone's success in the team. So it's a challenge, but keeping everybody involved and, and everybody sharing in that success is a big part.
Scott Sorrell (11:27):
Yeah. You know, I've heard all three of you guys talk about the importance of team and people, but I've gotta believe that they're also one of the challenges right, on the dairy, and that's getting the right people, getting enough people. Can you, can you guys talk a little bit about that and, and, and how have you solved some of those problems?
Joey Ariosa (11:45):
Well, I think you know, especially through covid, it was, it was really difficult. And, and we, you know, I'm from probably, I'm gonna say the most regulated state in California with, with California,
Jeff King (12:02):
Joe, New York's catching up quickly,
Joey Ariosa (12:04):
We're,
Jeff King (12:05):
We're nipping at your heels,
Joey Ariosa (12:07):
I was gonna say when we all sat down here that we've had that in common. Yes. We are all in highly regulated states where you know, we're, we're probably the highest minimum wage. We're, we're, you know, we have a 40-hour work week for you know, we have overtime over 40. And one of the things that I think has gotten difficult probably in the last year, year and a half are that, you know, as they develop these rules for businesses, they're thinking about factories and things that they can shut the key off. And, you know, you can let everything shut down for an hour or 15 minutes, but unfortunately on a farm, we know that farmers run 24 hours a day. And so that's probably been one of our biggest challenges. Not so much finding people, but just continuing to deal with the new regulations and also creating that balance where you're able to take care of your animals and still have, you know, the, you know, live within the proper regulations that are required now of us in California. I will say something that I think is pretty monumental for the dairy industry in the United States if you think about the supply chain disruptions that happened everywhere, the cows never stopped giving milk in this country. The production never stopped coming. And so, I, I, I, that's a tribute to every dairy farmer across our country and the people that work there and what they did in a very challenging time. And I think it's something that I'm proud of, and I know that all my dairy farmer friends are too.
Scott Sorrell (13:56):
Jeff King (14:17):
it's still a challenge for us at home sourcing workers. We, we've done pretty well on the farm. It's been a little more challenging in the retail business. We, hire some truck drivers, and of course, finding people in the truck driving business is very difficult. But luckily people on our team have picked up on that and they've made it through. Whenever we're short in one area, someone has been willing to jump in, work as part of the team, and maybe do something they're not, not accustomed to doing. And we've gotten it done. And that's we've been, I think it's fortunate and it goes to the character of the people that are, that work for us. We're really, really lucky. To that end, I think it's gonna continue to be a challenge for quite a while. We will likely probably continue to look at more technology, more things that can maybe replace some people, which would counter to some of what the folks in the labor movement want, but it's reality.
Scott Sorrell (15:18):
Yeah,
Kelly Reynolds (15:19):
We're super fortunate. We have a great team, but talking about replacing people we're building a new barn and we're talking about, we're trying to make everything a half person job. You know, how when we're building something or making future plans, how can we cut this into something that one person can do for five hours versus two people or one person during their 10 hour day? And yeah, just always working on those efficiencies and things like that. And the supply chain on the supply chain side of things with this new barn, you know you priced out something from four years ago and you had this budget in mind and everything has doubled or tripled. And I think that part of our business, it, it, it affects everyone in every business. But we're, we're price takers. And I think just navigating through all of that will always be a challenge, but
Scott Sorrell (16:24):
Certainly price takers when it comes to milk. But you guys are in the businesses selling much more than just milk, right? So we've got genetics, You're in the meat business you sell manure indirectly. So I kinda like to talk a little about some of those income streams that you guys have gotten. Let's talk Kelly, about your genetics
Kelly Reynolds (16:45):
Business. Yeah, The, on the genetics side of things, I would say that's a small portion of our business a drop in the bucket, but it's something, certainly when the opportunity arises, we're always we try to market cattle and things like that. And certainly in the future, we are always talking about we would love to do something with ice cream. Again, cow people, not people, people. So we have to be we all always have to be looking towards the future, but there's definitely a lot of areas of opportunity for us to diversify our business at the moment. So I always enjoy sitting down with folks like this and hearing what they are doing.
Scott Sorrell (17:27):
Yeah, absolutely. Jeff, you guys have a milk business. Tell us a little bit about that.
Jeff King (17:32):
Yeah, actually, my, my family was in the milk business up until the sixties when they, they sold the milk business. They weren't sure my father was gonna come back to the farm and, and ended up just continuing to milk cows. So my brother and I brought that back here in the early two thousands. And we recently, about seven years ago now, we built a milk plant on the farm. We started bottling our own product. We, we deliver milk door to door in the, in the local area, about a 30 mile radius from our farm milk and a lot of other products, beef and all types of other your own farmers, Sorry, your own beef? Our own beef, yes. We really don't focus too hard on that. We focus a lot more on our, on our dairy products. And anyway, we, we then later built an ice cream parlor right on the farm.
Jeff King (18:21):
So it we're open year round there with the ice cream parlor. And we, we sell milk into a lot of stores in the local area. We're starting to get closer to the metro New York area. So it's been a focus, Probably one of the challenges for our location is that we're in a growing area that people really have been moving to quite a bit. So for as well as the land grows, corn and alfalfa and grass, it really likes to grow houses even more. So the, the ability for us to really expand and and increase the number of cows is pretty challenging for us in our area. So as we kind of strategize that over time, we thought, where can we maybe utilize these use these new residents and people moving to our area, to our advantage? And so that's kind of why we headed back into the retail business. So it's been certainly fun very challenging from time to time. But it probably one of the most probably the best experience out of that is being able to put your own name, your own brand on a label or on an ice cream cone, and having people tell you, this is some of the best ice cream or milk that I've ever had. So, and that's that brings a lot of pride, not only, again, to us, but the whole team. It really helps, allows everybody to tie into
Scott Sorrell (19:43):
That. So, looking into the future, do you see that being a, a even bigger part of your business? Or is that,
Jeff King (19:49):
Yeah, it's been, we've kind of been growing slowly and we actually got to the point where we need a little more space. So we just completed an expansion, and it's gonna give us the opportunity to increase our production a little bit more, So we're working toward that. But, you know, it's, it's a, it's not an easy market to jump into. It's not a brand new product. It's a product that's been around for a while, so you've gotta bring oops, bring people into your brand, so,
Scott Sorrell (20:16):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So Joey, you're in the energy business. Tell us a little bit about that.
Joey Ariosa (20:20):
So really our, our putting our toe in the water of the energy business is really driven by California regulating our industry to have 40% of the methane mitigated by 2030. And so we have one of the newest dairy facilities in California. And so when that regulation action came about, one of the things that we quickly started looking at was how we mitigate that. So we maintain the value of our facility and you know, the viability of our business. And, you know, just like every other farmer I know, we, we, you know, we wanna do the best we can to take care of our farms, the environment, clean water, clean air. And so the regulation environment they created fortunately, they, they created an environment that allowed us to get paid if we captured the methane. And so about eight years ago, we partnered with cow, the Dairy Fuels, which was a neighbor of ours who we were already buying the wet distiller product from 'em.
Joey Ariosa (21:27):
We had a great relationship with them already. And one of the things that I was particularly looking for was not changing the dynamics of my farm. I didn't want a bunch of people driving in and out every day. I wanted it pretty simple. And, and so myself, along with about 14 other dairymen all located fairly close, about 50,000 cows, and then a real close proximity, and also facilities that are all really new and pretty modern. And, and so together with cow we basically put in an infrastructure which put a put connected every dairy to each other, and then to the main plant, all the technical equipment is at the cow. They clean the gas process it, and then they put it into a a main line and sell it to customers who want to buy renewable energy. And they also required, you know, companies or corporations doing business in California to have to buy a certain percentage of renewables.
Joey Ariosa (22:32):
So that basically created a market for us to be able to sell into. And and you know, we were the first dairy to go online in California. It's been really, really a great experience so far. And I guess it's one of the old adages, don't be first, don't be last. But in this particular case, being first was actually good. And we've had a good relationship with Calgary, and I know that it's become super popular, not just in California, but in other states now. And, and, you know, it's I think it's a great way for us to, you know, we, we talk about all the time how amazing cows are, what they do. I mean, you, you can, you take an animal that takes all these byproducts that we feed and converts it into, in my opinion, the greatest food source on the planet. And now not only does she do that, she creates fertilizer, she creates energy. I mean, it's, it's kind of amazing. And so it's great thing to add to the story. A a great story that we
Scott Sorrell (23:30):
Already have. Yeah. Do you see yourself selling carbon credit sometime in the future?
Joey Ariosa (23:34):
Yeah, I, I think we will, you know? Okay. And I'll tell you, I think, you know, agriculture in general is one of the only, I think it is the only industry on the planet can be carbon negative. Okay. Wow. That's amazing. That is amazing. And then we can be carbon negative and still feed everybody on the plant. Think about that. Yeah.
Scott Sorrell (23:53):
Well, I think that's that's a point we've gotta get out there among our consumers, and we will circle back and talk about the consumers in a moment. But one thing I kind of wanted to kind of check in on is, is technology, right? Technology's changing rapidly in the dairy industry, whether it's robotic milkers, whether it's wearables for tracking what the animals are doing, whether they're ruminating, eating, laying down, all those kinds of things. So I'm kind of curious if you guys have embraced technologies and where you see it going in the future?
Kelly Reynolds (24:20):
Yeah, we have the SCR system, the wearable collars on our farm. I think there's an opportunity for us to embrace technology a little bit more, but certainly that was a big first step for us. And as we talk about efficiencies and cutting that time in half where an employee has to do work, we basically cut a hertz person position, and my sister-in-law's able to do all of those herd metrics by herself and look at all that information. And that's been really helpful on our farm. Right now, I don't know, we're not really looking at a lot more techno, a lot more technology to use, but certainly nothing's ever off the table.
Jeff King (25:09):
It's very similar for us. We've got a, we've got a cow monitoring, rumination and heat detection program that we use looking at updating that with some new technology soon and, and a few other small things, but a lot of our technology decisions are with the changing landscape, it's changing so quickly. In New York, we're really gonna be looking to push labor efficiency items as much as we possibly can. Even in some of our cropping systems we're unfortunately at a, in a spot where we have to rent a lot of land, so it sometimes makes it challenging to invest a lot, but wherever we can, even making fields larger and, and tiling and some of those things, that's gonna make that crop production more efficient and probably bring, use less labor hours as well. We've been working on some of those things as well. So while we haven't invested heavily, I could see the op the, the chance that we do here down the road.
Scott Sorrell (26:04):
And would that mean, like robotics, you're talking about the personnel before challenges with getting enough people? Do you see yourselves moving into robotic milkers? Anything? You
Jeff King (26:11):
Know, perhaps I'm, I'm not, I'm, I haven't been totally convinced by robotics yet. But we're in a spot where we are using a very old milking parlor. We, we've aimed our investment dollars and our milk processing and so forth. So our parlor is quite antiquated, so at sometime in the near future, we'll be making some big decisions
Scott Sorrell (26:31):
There. Yeah, I was on my first relatively large robot dairy, I think 800 cows, and was really amazed at how quiet it was and just, I mean, the cows just seemed like they were doing very well. So when it comes to animal welfare, maybe there's a, a play there as well sometime in the future. It was, it was, it was striking. Wanna talk a little bit about the consumer, right? They're the ones that pays us, and they've got some ideas and concerns about how we dairy relative to animal welfare, sustainability. They're starting to favor some milk alternatives. And so let's have a conversation about that. Kelly, we're gonna start with you. You were unable mentioned in, I've got it written down here somewhere. Yeah. Tell us about that. Yes.
Kelly Reynolds (27:21):
Through American dairy, they have a animal care award, and we were, I'll mention a few years ago, so that was exciting. I think the biggest thing is on our farm, on a lot of dairy farms, we're already doing so much for animal care and for sustainability. And the problem is we're not communicating that. And that's something we try to, we have a social media page, we try to connect with our consumers. It's been really great to put a face to a local farm for them. We ship to a cooperative, a regional cooperative in Western New York. And for people to be able to connect that brand, the Upstate Farms brand to our farm when they're driving by or on our social pages, I think is, has been really beneficial. And, but the biggest thing is communication. And I always say as farmers, that's, that's something we don't take enough time to do is communicate that we're already doing all these things to take care of our cattle and our land and have a sustainable business. And it's really just, it comes down to better communication on our part.
Scott Sorrell (28:41):
Yeah. Do you bring any locals to your dairy
Kelly Reynolds (28:44):
Ever? Yeah, we welcome tours. We welcome, you know, questions on our social pages and things like that so that we can be sharing a positive message. And we, we really enjoy tours. We did a virtual farm tour last spring. I think we reached tens of thousands of school-aged children. And hopefully if, if just 10 of those kids go home and tell their parents about the benefits of milk and what we're doing on our farm, I think that's a win for dairy. Yeah.
Scott Sorrell (29:16):
Jeff, what are you guys doing when it comes to animal welfare?
Jeff King (29:20):
You know, I think I really believe we, we do a great job with animal welfare on our farm, but like Kelly said, we can, we can do a spectacular job, but if we don't tell people and we don't explain it and show them, it really doesn't matter. It's amazing to me. We have the opportunity to really speak to a lot of, of consumers that visit our place. And it's amazing to me just the misinformation that, or the assumptions that people make and even even people that you would think would have enough of back background that they would understand what we do on the farm. They really don't. And so it's really surprising when I can spend 15 minutes just chatting with somebody and having a give and take and answering their questions. There's so many misconceptions that it, it really is Kelly's perfectly correct.
Jeff King (30:14):
We just need to do a better job of communicating, spending more time, and, and we really, you know, when we're trying to talk with our neighbors who are, are now our customers coming to have ice cream we don't do enough time myself, I, I get too busy on the farm where I, it'd be good if I was spending more time with the customers, but the more we can explain that, the more we can bring that message into a bite size little piece. Because as much as I wanna spend 15 minutes with someone to explain all those things, they don't really probably wanna spend 15 minutes listening to that message. So it's always a challenge trying to get, make that point and do it in a quick and concise way.
Joey Ariosa (30:52):
Yeah. Yeah. Very good point. Yep. Joey, anything to add to that? Yeah, I would just add that I think I agree both. We, we need to get our message out more, tell our story. One thing our industry figured out many years ago was to be successful and, and create a, a business that protected the environment, kept your footprint small, you had to take care of your cows. And so you look at the the the, the hours and countless dollars that have been spent on cow care in this country, and I'm gonna plug it right back to what we're, where we're sitting at today. Because you can learn a lot when you bring your cows to a show and take care of 'em on an individual basis. You can take that home and apply it, and the people that we bring to these shows with us, and then they go back home, they are the best helpers.
Joey Ariosa (31:52):
And I'll tell you when you're at home taking care of your cows and getting 'em ready for a show that rubs off on every last employee on your farm, they see that the love and the care that you have for your animals. And that just spreads to them. And, you know, we, you know, we raise our own calves. And, and we talked a little bit about genetics earlier, and, and I, I always think the most important technology on all of our farms, and it's what connects us together, sitting right here, is having really good cows and people that are cow people that we've talked about that got interested in breeding good cows. You know, our grandfathers, they figured out that that was the best form of technology you could have to grow your business, was to always have the best cow. And we're all competing against each other in some respect. But you know, and that's what really protects the environment too, because you look at what the technology that's built inside these cows now, and, and they just, they're, you know, what is it? We produce the same amount of milk as 66% less cows than they did 50 years ago. And I mean, I don't know if there's any other industry that say it's, Yeah, it's
Jeff King (33:08):
Joe, I'll, I'll agree with you. I'll point out, when we talk about technology, when I, when I'm able to talk to people about what we do on our farm, one of those things is genetics. And they're, some of them are flabbergasted to hear that we can actually select genetics where the cows are more efficient and maybe they're more disease resistance, they're gonna take less antibiotic treatment, or they might live longer. And therefore we, we need to feed less animals because they, they have better longevity. And that's a great point. It's and that's a huge a huge component of what we do in technology.
Kelly Reynolds (33:41):
Yeah, Yeah. We think about technology as computers on our farm, but the choices that, the genetic choices we make every day, that's a huge, a huge gain for the industry and how we use technology on the farm.
Joey Ariosa (33:55):
And we're all using computerized feed programs. We're measuring what the cow eats, we're measuring what we put in the wagon every day. We're measuring how much milk she gives. You know, it's become, I I, I'll tell you, I always tell this quick story. We had we had a bunch of people from the FDA come out to California about six years ago, all people that worked in Washington DC in different areas. And and the reason why they brought 'em out was because they wanted to have people have a visual of what our farm look like. If they ever had a foodborne illness, they could relate it to where the milk comes from, or tomatoes come from, or Canales, whatever's grown. And we had two lady, two ladies that were at our farm for a whole weekend. And when they left, they said, We had no idea the technology would exist on your farm. They just, they thought, you know, the little red barn. And, you know, and we've, we've evolved a long way. And, you know, I think goes back to what we said earlier, you know, we have to keep telling our story cuz it's a great story and the cow's a great asset to this planet, but, you know, we're all kind of guilty sometimes of, we tend to, if it's really positive, we don't listen long
Scott Sorrell (35:12):
Enough. Yeah.
Joey Ariosa (35:14):
So,
Scott Sorrell (35:14):
You know, you're right. We need to tell this story. We've been saying this for years, Joey
Joey Ariosa (35:31):
Tell it. You know what's funny though, and I think I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna put a little bit of a, a back on our education system because you know, we're all in the registered Holstein business. I've had a little chance to judge around the world, different countries. And I was in South Korea a few years ago, and we were at a cultural center and I had these my wife and I were walking, and these, these first and second graders kept coming up to us and thanking us and thanking us. And finally I asked our guide, I said, I know they, they know we're from, probably from the United States or another country, of course, but why are they thanking us? And the guide said, Well, for, for one thing, he said, the first thing here in, in first grade, they teach them how we got our freedom in the United States was one of the, you know, we were instrumental in them being a free country.
Joey Ariosa (36:21):
He said, The second thing is we rely on other countries for 70% of our food, and we get a lot of it from you guys, and they get things that they love from you guys. And you know, I I just about had tears in my eyes because, you know, you feel we, we, we kind of we're blessed in this country to have extra food and the shelves are always full. And so when we can have the ability to feed people, kids and other countries, and that makes me feel good about what I do. And I know these, these guys who
Scott Sorrell (36:58):
Feel the same. Yeah. Know that's a great story too. That's a great story. Guess everything. Can you top that
Jeff King (37:03):
No, we did a great job,
Scott Sorrell (37:08):
So I wanted to circle back on something Kelly said. You know, we were talking about technology and you mentioned genetics. And so one of the hot things now is genomics, and that's really changing our commercial herz. Are you also using that with your genetics as well? And how are you using that and what kinda impact is it having on your genetics businesses taking away J
Joey Ariosa (37:28):
Scott Sorrell (37:30):
Yeah.
Jeff King (37:30):
Jeff King (38:28):
And we're, we're real happy with that progress we've made More recently we've started to use a little more beef semen and trying to reduce the number of females that we're producing. And I really think that that's, it's changing the industry as we speak. I even think that that's gonna get bigger as we're able to build those systems that contract those cattle. And we, we find the best genetics that work well on dairy cows, and then when they go into the feed yards that they perform well and they can track those genetics right from calf to, to slaughter right to the person's plate. I think that's gonna be an important piece. But, so anyway, genomics plays a real big part in what we do and, and we feel like we've benefited quite a bit from us.
Scott Sorrell (39:13):
Yeah, I was wanna talk a little bit about the future of the dairy industry, right? And, and I mean, globally, what, what's the US role gonna play globally? What's herds gonna look like? How big are they gonna be? Where are they gonna be located? You guys get any thought to that?
Joey Ariosa (39:32):
I'll jump out here. I think the us especially the dairy industry is, you know, we have the best genetics in the world and we've been leaders in that area, and I think we, even though we're gonna be the most regulated, probably, well, I don't know, Europe's fairly heavily regulated, but I I feel like our country has really been built on efficiency and, you know, regulations aren't always bad. They force us to, to do things different sometimes in, in a positive way. And I feel like we're, we are gonna still continue to be leaders on growing food and probably the one country that other countries can count on year end and year out to have an adequate food supply that we can share some when we have plenty. But having said that, it won't go without us people being futuristic and, you know, continuing to explore the newest, best technology there is up there.
Kelly Reynolds (40:35):
Yeah, I think, you know, the global demand for dairy I is real. And I think it's easy sometimes as farmers to get down. We talked about alternative beverages things like that. Those challenges, I think can sometimes cloud the bigger picture of there is demand for dairy, there's a demand for high quality proteins, and we're able to provide that and we're able to provide it to people cheap. And I think that when we're making those decisions for the future of our business, that's the thing we always have to remember is our, our population isn't getting smaller in the near future and someone, everyone has to eat. So I think that's always, that always needs to be in the back of our mind when we're making decisions and making decisions about growth. Especially sometimes you get a little hesitant or a little down about the industry, but I think that's the big picture and that's why we're all here and all of this technology is here as well.
Jeff King (41:47):
Yeah, for sure. And I, I would I would add to that, that I think that there's gonna be an increased demand for people to be able to know the, where that food came from. And we see it a little bit because we're able to connect directly with those customers in our retail business. But I think that the US is poised to do that better probably than any other country. As we talk about all of these systems and things that we do every day on our farm, we can track everything that we do. We can track those animals right from birth to the point of being production animals to the point of them entering you know, alternative uses. We have tremendous capability to track that to, to provide great food security, food safety, along with providing an exceptional product. So we can't be afraid to remind consumers about that.
Jeff King (42:41):
We can't be afraid. Consumers are willing to pay a little extra to know that it's exceptional quality and that know that it was produced responsibly in the right way and everything. So I think there's a lot of opportunity for us there. The, the face of the dairy industry will continue to change, there's no doubt about it. And I wish I had a crystal ball
Scott Sorrell (43:20):
Our product. Yeah. So well said, Jeff. And, and so you may not have a, a crystal ball to know what's gonna happen with the the global dairy industry, but what we're talking about the future, what do you see for kings ransom farms, you know, 10, 15 years down the road? What's it look like?
Jeff King (43:37):
Well hopefully we're still in business that that'd be a good positive right there. But you know, I think it's probably more the same. I, we've got some family members, young, the next generation who would be the fifth generation. They're, they're interested in the business and, and we have different ones interested in different aspects. So that's, that's really great. I think that very possibly we can see more cows on the farm. Hopefully we're selling a little more ice cream than we are today. And, you know, we really are passionate about our genetic program and, and hopefully we continue to breed cattle that make a difference in the breed and, and that can hopefully not only make a difference in our herd, but in other herds as well. That's kind of our goal in the genetics
Kelly Reynolds (44:27):
Business. Cool.
Scott Sorrell (44:28):
Kelly, what about Reest?
Kelly Reynolds (44:31):
Yeah, I think we, we talk about the multi-generation farm and there's three of us and we all have families. And I think that our farm is poised to grow. I don't know if the growth that we need to that needs to happen can all happen right where we are right now, but whether growth looks like another facility or selling carbon credits, like you said, I think nothing's off the table. And as the industry changes, I think the biggest thing is we have to be ready to change with it. And we are, we're excited about the future of the dairy industry and of our farm. So I think as long as there's that passion and excitement you know, our future will always be in dairy. And like Jeff said, we don't have crystal ball, so what that looks like, who knows. But yeah, we're excited.
Scott Sorrell (45:36):
Very well. And Joey, same question for you.
Joey Ariosa (45:39):
So, you know, the number one reason why farms stock is because there's nobody interested keeping it going. And so I would say first of all you know, the family members are there that are on the farm. My son, his kids, which will be sixth generation. You know, they have to, they have to have the passion. And you know, my son, my son does his, his kids, I'm not sure, you know, they're too young, but I'm, I'm kind of one to you should do in life what you have a passion for and not hold somebody to do something just because, you know, it's been there for a hundred years, you know? But hopefully I think if they develop that passion, that'll be the, the number one thing that keeps it going. I would say, you know, we haven't talked about it all, but the, the number two thing for me right now would be my state, the state of California, getting their act together on the water deal.
Joey Ariosa (46:34):
You know, we, everybody wants to talk climate change. And you know what, I do believe that we have these cycles in, in our climate over time. None of us have been on this planet very long to really know what that cycle is. But they do change. We know that. And so, you know, I feel like the farmers and the, we're doing our part to be sustainable, to use less water, but we have to have cooperation from you know, the state to, to recognize that we need, you know, our state's water infrastructure was built for 16 million people. We have 40 million people living right there. And my, my new theme is our water problem in California is a 40 million person problem, not the farmers in the San Joaquin Valley's problem. It's it's not climate change. It could be a little bit of, you know, different drought of course, but you know, you know, know at whatever state you're in, you have to work together to deal with your problems and fix 'em because there's some basic things in life that are important and clean air, clean water, those are two of the most important ones and food.
Joey Ariosa (47:44):
But we can take care of the food if they give us a few of the other things. We're pretty good at doing, doing the ladders. So,
Scott Sorrell (47:51):
So you kind of touched on it, but what do you see the future of the dairy industry in California? Right. I mean, there's only so much water out there. Something's gonna have to give.
Joey Ariosa (47:59):
There is, you know I'll tell you there, Well, I don't see the dairy industry growing out there, of course. I will say this, we, we have probably the best weather in the United States day in and day out. And so that works to our advantage. And, and so, you know, we have the water situation going on right now, but, you know, I'm pretty confident at some point we're gonna figure that out. But you're not gonna see more growth on new dairies in California. But what you will see in our industry's experiences for 50 years is people getting better at what they do, taking better care at what they, their cows, and creating better cows that are healthier and give more milk. And that's been going on for a long time, and I don't think that's gonna stop. So I see our industry kind of flat lining out there but becoming more and more efficient.
Scott Sorrell (48:55):
Mm-Hmm.
Jeff King (49:13):
I think my advice and I try to re repeat this to my kids pretty regular don't ever stop learning. And I, I even look back to my days in ffa. My kids were fortunate enough to participate in ffa, and it was great experience. And the more that you can open your horizons and learn at every single turn and try to watch someone who's successful and maybe analyze what made that person successful, how did they accomplish what they were doing? And maybe learn wherever you can. I think that's the key to setting yourself up for success in the future. No one ever say, I, I've got it all figured out and I know how I'm gonna get it done, because usually,
Scott Sorrell (49:55):
You know, Yeah, great advice, Jeff. Kelly, you are a young person, but anyway,
Kelly Reynolds (50:00):
Yeah, I think just echoing Jeff's comments, but also being adaptable. I grew up with 40 cows and now I live on a farm. We milk 1400 cows being adaptable, never stop learning. And my husband, he's had the good fortune, he's worked for Joey before I've worked for some incredible people go to different operations, work for other people, and yeah, of course, never stop learning. I know zero about equipment, the whole drive out here from New York to Wisconsin. I was quizzing my husband about chopping corn and the semis and the chopper and all of that stuff because you know, you're never, you're never too old or young to learn something new. And so yeah, that's, that's my advice. Be adaptable and, and never stop learning. Yeah,
Scott Sorrell (51:02):
Great advice, Joy, Final words,
Joey Ariosa (51:06):
I would say, I just add to what they just said have a dream. Find a great person to share it with, like Tyler did,
Kelly Reynolds (51:15):
Joey Ariosa (51:16):
And don't be afraid to live your dream. And it's scary sometimes. I remember I built a new dairy and well, my, my, you know, my mom and dad and my wife and I, we built a new farm in 2006 and we spent 10 million. And you know, to be honest, my mom and dad were at a point in their lives where they didn't really need to do that. And, and but they seen my passion for my dream. And so I think you, you, you can't be afraid to keep moving forward because the minute you stop, you start going backwards. And so just, yeah. Live your dream. I would like to say one thing too. Interestingly enough, we're all connected right here. We're, you know, she said Tyler intern or that did an intern, but he came to my farm for a couple years and helped me. These guys bought a, one of our embryo we sold last year and we just actually met in person the other night, so just That's right. Yeah, at run it's a small, it's a small world. Yeah, at that's right, that's right. That's right. There's a little fake going on right here. So anyway, thanks.
Scott Sorrell (52:29):
That, that's awesome. No, this, listen, this has been great. I have really enjoyed the conversation. You guys have been awesome. Just, just great guests and I'm gonna enjoy listening back to this here next week. So wanna thank you all for joining us. Also want to thank our loyal listeners for joining us once again, hope you learned something, hope you had some fun and hope to see you next time here. It's real science exchange where it's always happy hour and you're always among friends. We'd
Speaker 5 (52:53):
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