Grazing Grass Podcast sharing Regenerative Ag Stories

Speaker: On today's episode we have
Nathan Stuckey of Stuckey Family Ranch.

Nathan was on our podcast just
about a year ago on episode 93.

We revisited with Nate
to talk about his plans.

What's happened on his ranch
since we talked to him.

Plans for the upcoming year
that includes some new genetics.

As well as some new annuals they're doing.

And then we talk about rooted ag.

It's a data collection service that aims
to provide you some insight into your

operation and help you going forward.

I know that's a really short summary.

Nate does a much better job
letting you know what they're

doing, what they're capable of,
and how you'll benefit from it.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: So we'll
get started with the Fast Five.

What's your name?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
my name is Nathan or Nate Stuckey.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And Nate,
where's, what's your farm's name?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
It's Stuckey Family Ranch

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And where are you

located

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: located
just outside of Fort Scott, Kansas.

So Southeast Kansas,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
Yeah, not too far north of me.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
no, not too far.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And what year
did you all start grazing animals?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: We
started in 21 is when we had our first.

First livestock came down.

We got a group of cows

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And what
livestock species do you graze?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
right now.

Just just cattle.

So wanted to integrate some
sheep or goats and chickens.

Not really my Level of expertise and
knowledge So if any beginning farmers

are out there in our area in southeast,
Kansas that want to do chickens goats or

sheep Please reach out would love to try
to work out some sort of Arrangement.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah,
that would be a nice situation.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yes,

Cal: Welcome to the grazing grass podcast.

The podcast dedicated to sharing
the stories of grass-based

livestock producers, exploring
regenerative practices that improve

the land animals and our lives.

I'm your host, Cal Hardage and each
week we'll dive into the journeys,

challenges, and successes of
producers like you, learning from

their experiences, and inspiring
each other to grow, and graze better.

Whether you're a seasoned
grazier or just getting started.

This is the place for you.

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Speaker 2: For 10 seconds about
the farm, mud season is up on us.

Last week we had to really cold with snow.

So now the snow is
melting and we're muddy.

In fact, I waited in line
to wash my car today.

Which just drives me crazy at the cost
it does it, but I like the automated

ones so I don't have to get out.

Yes, I guess I'm a little lazy.

Prefer efficient, but waiting in
line to get it done, I'm not so sure.

What's that mud mean for us?

It means spring is, is coming.

Um, we are feeding hay,
everything's going good.

I am bringing in some spring calving cows,
and I had the plan, and I've said this

for the last few years, of not weaning the
calves, because we've talked on different

episodes, and you can see online, people
talk about not weaning their calves.

I get to this point, and I get nervous.

Um, for one, I need those cows to gain
some weight when the grass gets here.

I think they're pulled down a fair amount,
and this is the way my cows exit winter.

I don't put them on a
high level of nutrition.

I feed them hay and what
grass I have out there.

And I expect them to make it through.

This year the calves have stayed on them.

And, I think last year I
weaned early before winter

because I was short on grass.

So this year we had more.

I left the calves on them, but I just
think those cows are pulled down too far.

So I'm going to get those
cows in and wean calves.

Maybe next year I'll be brave enough
to try it without weaning them.

I just think those cows need a
full on break to gain some weight.

Let me know your thoughts.

Have you quit weaning your calves?

If so, hop over to the grazing
grass community and put it in there.

Let's have a discussion about it.

I think it's a really interesting concept.

I just get a little nervous about it.

For 10 seconds about the podcast,

we've had some issues.

We had an audio issue one week.

We had a video issue.

This week, we hope we're back to normal.

Except, I went to record
an episode earlier, and my

internet's not working very good.

So actually, I've gotta do tech
support, and see if they can figure

out why my internet's not faster.

I paid too much money for
this, for it to be this slow.

Non related, that most of you won't
care about, but I've heard enough

about Riley Green and his mustache.

I had to try it.

If you're watching on YouTube,
you can probably see it today.

But hopefully by next week, I
will be growing my beard back.

And you won't be able to tell.

It may take me two weeks.

We'll see.

Anyway, enough of that.

Let's talk to Nate.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Nate, you
were on the podcast not too long ago,

just last January, and I say last
January, last January a year ago,

not just January 25.

So, So, just give us a
little bit of an overview.

about your farm, and then we'll talk
about what's happened since then.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah,
so we are a cow calf producer focusing

on conception to consumption or birth to
bite if you will, so we do finish some

out and then we'll sell those to friends
and family and we'll also sell a few at

the sale barn and that sort of thing.

But primary focus is from raising them
on our property rotationally managed

regenerative practices, and producing
grass fed beef for friends and family.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And you're
running Wagyu or Wagyu Influenced?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Good question there.

So yes, most of our cow herd is
50 percent Akaushi or Red Wagyu.

This year, we actually decided to
change some stuff up a little bit and

we AI'd to either full blood Mishona
or some heat tolerant composites.

Just noticed we had quite a
bit of issues in the summer.

with pink eye and performance.

So wanted to make some changes there
had done quite a bit of of research

and looking at different options and
for kind of what we want to do going

forward the, the Meshona and some
of those heat tolerant composites

really made a lot of, a lot of sense.

Still being able to produce a nice tender
finishing end product, but also Giving us

some better, uh, heat genetics, obviously.

And another tool that we kind of
wanted to add to the toolbox that

we don't have the ability to do now
with the cattle is push them a little

harder and get into some of that ultra
high density non selective grazing

for, for some parts of the year.

We just, you know, I, I just know now
if, if I try to push our cows like

that during certain times of year.

They're all just going to fall apart.

So, wanted to make some changes there just
to, again, have another, you know, another

tool or whatever you want to call it.

Something in the chamber that
we can use to, to kind of help

push the ground a little harder.

Get the cattle working a little harder
and try to regenerate some other

areas faster than we have been doing.

Mm

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah,
I, I think that non selective

grazing, or total grazing,

as Jim Elizondo

calls it,

El, Elizondro, Elizondo,
Elehon, I, I have to

apologize to him for not
getting it out correct.

But.

I think that's very interesting,
but I have to agree, I don't I know

there's some people not too far east
of me that's gone whole hog on that

and they are doing that all the time.

To me, I know they say you do that for
a little bit and you start training

your cows and they get better at it.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Mm hmm.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Like
you mentioned, I feel like that's

another tool in the toolbox as
you look at your context for what

you're wanting to do for that land.

That may be a non selective grazing
event you want for that place.

Piece of property or what you're doing
right, then at other times you may not.

I'm sure the, the devout of either
grazing or whatever grazing ISS gonna

be like, you can't do it that way.

But that's the way I view it.

It's just

another tool that you
can use when you need to.

And and in fact we're trying to
get some total grazing people

on here so we can talk more

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Are you?

Okay, I Might have a name or two of
some people that you should talk to

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, that'd

be great.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
somebody that's actually Fairly

close to to you guys down there in

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, oh, there is.

In fact, I talked to someone really
close and we just hadn't been able

to make the schedule work yet,

but we'll,

we'll get

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
probably know who that is.

So

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah, I, I

suspect so.

But we'll, we'll get him on here
and we can talk more about that.

I think it's interesting the meshona.

Do you think adding the meshona
is going to affect your carcass

quality with your Wagyu influenced?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
It's a good question, I don't think

so I would imagine we're probably
gonna see a little less marbling.

Maybe I don't know for sure, but I've
seen some from some guys that have

posted different things on Facebook
and the internet where they've done

50 percent Meshona and had very
similar carcass qualities to what

they were having with their straight

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yes.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
I don't think there's going to be

too much of a difference there.

And there's also some testing
that we're going to do here.

Probably fairly soon.

I would imagine mid March we'll get on
that and do some I think it's tenant

testing is what it's called, but
it's kind of testing for tenderness.

So we'll test the whole entire herd,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yes.

Yes.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
so that we have an idea if

they're going to be tender or not.

And it's going to sound cliche that
I'm saying this again, but that's

another tool for the toolbox too.

Right?

So if, if, if we're looking at, if
we're looking at different animals and

we're deciding, you know, if we've got
to cull these ones, well, Maybe that's

an opportunity if she tests high for
tenderness that we're taking her in

and she's becoming Hamburger and when
we've got an upsell market we can we can

sell that too as opposed to just going
Sale barn getting coal cow pricing for

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: This week's
episode, Sean was on it, and he's

talking about using sexed semen.

Of course, he's

dairy cattle.

So, in that industry, it's more
prevalent, and more AI happens.

But AI's a tool, sexed
semen's a tool, that testing.

You know, at some point
in your farms Path.

You go from trying to keep
every heifer on the ground

to being able to make some culling
decisions based upon where you want to go.

And those are all tools
to help you get there.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: very much
So just anything that we can kind of do

to add a little value or decommoditize
ourselves to some degree is, you know,

that's all extra, extra revenue that
we can put in, put in our pocket as

opposed to just going sale barn route.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: The Michona
sounds really interesting to me.

I see a lot of people
post about it on Facebook.

Some people not too far from me using
some Michona influenced at least.

I saw one of my neighbors got a
Michona bull and I say neighbors.

He's probably 30 miles away, maybe 40.

But so it's interesting to
see more of that Michona.

Genetics showing up.

What did you, what bull did you AI
to or did you use multiple bulls?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
so we used multiple this year

and we'll continue to do that.

The one that we used on the Meshona
side is, the nickname was Grumpy.

So if you're in, if you're, if you're
in the Meshona space, you probably have

heard of this bowler, know about him.

Got through just a guy that I knew.

randomly that's a whole other story of how
we met, but you know, he had some semen.

And so we took advantage of
that and got some from him.

And then also used a little bit
of Pharaoh Kit Pharao's He-Man is

another heat tolerant composite
that's got some Mishona, Red

Angus, and Ramos and Wano in it.

So those, those are the two that we used.

Pretty excited to see what those calves
look like here coming up in a few months.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, that
will be very exciting to see and I

know a Pharo Cattle Company has a
fair number of heat composite bulls

They're selling each year
or heat tolerant composite

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Yeah, that seems to kind of be

gaining more and more popularity.

And you're even kind of seeing it North of
us where people are at in just, you know,

maybe they're using 50 percent Michonne
or 50 percent heat composite to get 25

percent just to kind of help out in the
summer months because, you know, even if

you go as far north as Michigan, you're
still running into pretty hot summers.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yeah

Yeah, I was about to say we really haven't
done anything on that front, but then,

then again, I'm running a South Pole Bull
on my dad's cows part of the time, and

you could say, well, they're, they've
been constructed to handle that heat,

so I guess I can't really say that.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
And we're talking about heat

composite when we've got zero
degree temperatures right now, but

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah,
yeah, well, I hope everyone that

complained about the hot weather
during summer is outside enjoying this.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Right,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Actually, I
don't find it too bad if the wind's not

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: right
if the wind's not there you can layer

up and you'll be all right if It's

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah, but
when the wind is blowing Oh man,

Yeah, you know, with your tenon,
is that what, tenet, is that the

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: e n e t.

Yeah, I actually heard about that I
think through Kit Pharo is the one

that kind of started testing all of his

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: oh yeah,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: so That's
how I got started and kind of seeing

that I was like, well, that's a pretty
easy test to do I ordered the test kits.

I talked with a vet that's pretty
close to me and he said well That's

a that's a simple test You don't
need to pay me to come out just come

out to Our operation sometime and
i'll show you how to handle all this

so you can do it all on your own So

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
are you, are you just,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
that goes But

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
are you just pulling a blood

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: yeah,
it's a blood vial that you put on like

a little they have a little card that
you just put on Drop some bloodlets

on, you write on what the animal, you
know, identification numbers are and

you send it in to them and I forget
exactly how long it takes them to

Come back with the results four to
six weeks or something like that.

And then you've got got that data.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: oh yes, so
we use bioprim pregnancy testing.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: hmm Is

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
I pull a, a blood vial.

Yes, it is.

I pull that blood.

Of course, you send that vial
off to them and we use S.

E.

K.

Genetics there in Southeast Kansas.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: that's
who I just talked to so we're doing that

exact same test I think coming up here.

So

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yeah.

And that, I love doing that test.

It's not hard.

I can, I mean, it, you
get results really early.

I believe that on open cows,
it's 99 percent accurate.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
what he was saying.

Mm

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: On bread
cows it's 95 percent accurate and

that accuracy suffers on bread cows
and this is my, it's my understanding

so if I'm wrong someone
can tell me I'm wrong.

It's because you're testing so early
because you can test like 28 days

out and start to know but you still
have some early embryonic deaths that

occur at that time and that really
factors into that 5 percent there.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: I think
that's exactly what I was actually talking

with him yesterday about all this stuff.

So

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
you're pretty spot on with that.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
I, I really like that.

It gives us a nice early early
result that we, we use and we make

culling decisions based upon that.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And
and occasionally we'll have a

cow we kept that turned up open.

But typically, you know, I'd rather
error that way than, well I don't know.

It could be a debate.

Do I want to error one
way or the other way?

The great thing is, if they're
open, most likely they got sold.

So we really like that.

That's really easy to pull in there.

So.

For this tenant test, you're,
you're pulling blood, but you're

putting it on the card, then
you're mailing the cards in.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: So and it
seems pretty accurate from what I've read

You just got to make sure everything's
pretty clean and you got a good

workspace or whatever you're doing there

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Are you, are
you putting each card into a Ziploc, or?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
it's some sort.

I think that's probably what we'll do.

So they all just get put in together
Like I said, you write down the

identification numbers or tag numbers
you've got or however you keep records

of your cattle So when you get them
back, you can tell which ones they go to

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
Who is that through?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
It's actually through tenet.

I believe is the

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, is

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: yeah, if
you just google tenet or tenet beef t e n

e t You'll you'll find those test results.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: I've
seen some of those, and I've often

thought I need someone on the podcast
from there to talk about that.

That's, I really should
reach out and do that.

How's the marketing of your beef going?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
It's it's going okay

just sat through a seminar with Amy
Hay from Sell Beef Direct, I believe.

So, she gave quite a bit, good
pointers and stuff to kind of help.

you know, keywords, what you need
to use, how often you need to

be posting, that sort of thing.

Cause I think that's one of the, one of
the issues that I struggle with is, you

know, I'll be consistent with posting for
two to three months and then, you know,

I'll get busy or it's a vacation or we're
jumping into something else and then I'm

not consistently putting that out there.

And somehow with the algorithm on
the different social media platforms,

it gets kind of lost and then
you're not getting as many views.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: So,
so that's one of the things I've been

trying to be more conscious about.

And focused on is having constant content
that's, you know, going out once or

twice a week, that sort of thing, just
to kind of keep, keep the name out there.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: I think,
I have some trailers I run out.

And when you talk to the people who's
doing a lot of that, they're like, you

gotta post everyday multiple times a day.

I never get that done.

I post a few times a week.

But they're like, you gotta post that.

So, it, it's always interesting.

How are you managing all that posting?

Are you just, when you think
about it, you go in and do it?

Or are you using some scheduling software?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: So
for my personal one, it's just, I'll

try to take extra photos or stuff if
I'm out there for different things.

And then try to just be on top of it.

Now, when it comes to like the
business side of it and like, if

we're using YouTube, we'll, we'll
do some scheduling and stuff.

Like if I know I've got grazing conference
that I'm attending or that we're working

or doing something you know, we'll
just schedule those to be released out.

So they're kind of constantly dripping.

Mm

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah.

You know that's for the podcast.

I use some scheduling software.

I try and load it up once a week.

I'll be honest this week I'm a little
behind so I gotta work on that later But

I try and load up my scheduling software
so it drips out all week the next week

I go in and do it again, so it's not
something I'm having to remember to do

it cost me a little bit of money though

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: sure?

Which is, which is fine, right?

If they're helping you get that

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Right,

right, right.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
worth paying for.

What are you, what software you're using?

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: I used
to use Buffer, because Buffer

lets you connect three social
media channels free of charge.

And so I was doing that, and then

I moved away from Buffer to
1UP, and that's O N E U P.

And I, I like it Buffer's
interface may be a little nicer UI.

But 1UP does it, and I'm happy with 1I,
and I have 10 social accounts connected

to it, 5 for the podcast, and 5 others.

And it cost me, I want to say, 18 a month.

I could,

I'd have to,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
something around there though.

But yeah,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
yeah, something around

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: pretty,

reasonable for being able to handle that.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And I
think buffer was along that line,

but maybe a little bit higher.

I try and pinch pennies, so if it
was 25, I was like, I'll go with 18.

The, the problem I have with that,
especially for the podcast, and

while this isn't really closely
related to, to grazing grass, social

media and managing that is important
if you're trying to sell beef.

One thing I try and do for
the podcast is tag our guests

in our are social media that

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: But
tagging people is difficult

through that scheduling software.

And one reason, I posted on Reddit
about that, trying to figure out

what I was doing

wrong.

And actually the founder of 1UP was he
came on there and he, he's like well, you

can only tag, and I don't even remember
the rules, you can only tag a personal

page, you can't tag a business page,

you can't, There's certain rules to
that which causes all that friction.

So when you go to do it sometimes
it works, sometimes it doesn't.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Mm hmm.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: So, so
basically I've, I've gotten to where

I email my guests and I just post
and, want them to go find it, which

is not the best situation, but man,
I wish the tagging Worked better

and it doesn't work the same
across platforms as well.

You know, you got to do it one way
for Instagram one way for Facebook

and you think those would be the same

and then if you're using blue sky
or Twitter or any of the others

great thing on a farm.

You're you're not having to tag people
Of course, it drives me crazy I'm gonna

get on a soapbox for just a little bit.

I hate Facebook's at everyone
or at What's the other one?

They give, cause a notification
go out to everyone.

I don't like that because I get
those notifications I'm like, no

don't tag everyone or add everyone,

but then again if you're on a
farm and you're selling meat

You might want to use that tag

some

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: but
but yeah, I agree with you there.

There's a lot of times I'm like, why am
I tagged in this like this is this has

no relevance to anything that I'm doing

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah,
as Nate as you look for Or look

forward to 2025 here in February.

What do you think is coming
up this year for you?

Is there something you're
going to do differently?

Just continue on your path?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Good question.

So we're actually gonna make some
pretty big I would call them kind of

wholesale changes had, I think he was on
here recently with you, Dale Strickler

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh,

yes.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: and
he did a full farm consultation for us

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yes.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Which
was which was really enlightening and

eye opening One of the issues that
we struggle with is is we're in the

fescue belt So that's about all we
have and we've got quite a bit of some

really nasty brushy woody area like
this Can't walk through it, can't get

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: And so
he came out and actually talked with us.

And so what we're going to do is we're
going to terminate that hopefully

coming up in May and then go into
it with some summer annuals and,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yes.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
try to, try to get some summer

annuals probably for a year or two
going, and then hopefully go back

to getting some native pasture on
roughly 30 to 40 percent of our land.

operation.

Just because A, we were calving and
calving in and fescue bad last year

and had a big bad case of pink eye
and fighting through that pretty hard

with with our herd and wanted some
other options and also just because

You know, fescue is great at
certain times of the year.

I know a lot of people fight
it and aren't big fans of it.

I like it when it, when it's, when it's.

got its rest and when you're using it at
the correct time, but we needed something

that was going to work better for those,
those hot summer months to, to help our

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
perform to where we wanted them to go.

So that, that is, that's one big change.

Another one that we're trying is the
Steve Campbell water mineral program.

We're, so we're actually, we're
running two tanks kind of side by side.

with the saltwater brine mix
in there and then one just a

regular water for the cattle.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Have you,
have you already started doing that?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
We have started doing that and, and

cattle look like they're in pretty
good condition, so pretty happy

with, with how it's performed so far.

The real test will be when we
get into calving season and start

seeing, you know, and then we can
compare how many cases do we have

last year pink eye versus this year.

So try to kind of tackle that
pink eye issue three different

ways mineral program, genetics,
and different forage options.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah, I was
thinking your heat tolerant composite

bulls with those breeds that's
in that and you're marched up to.

Marshona should help
with that pinkeye issue.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: I would
think hopefully, yeah, quite a bit.

I think, you know, they've been there,
spent their whole life in Africa and

the heat, they're going to be pretty,
pretty used to that sort of stuff.

So, and, you know, we, we do try to
focus, we have some black Meshona

semen that we'll use too, but we try
to focus on the reds you know, because

all of our red calves this year, we
didn't have one issue of pink eye and.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
black, calves, we got it

got hit pretty hard, and,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: We
typically, I'm trying to think

back to the years, typically we
may have a case or two of pinkeye.

It's not very much our neighbors different
directions, varying directions, varying

distances away from me, will pinkeye

issues.

For the most part, haven't
had too much of those issues.

Except, I use a bull.

Used the bull probably in 19 and 20.

Yeah, because I think
those were the 21 calves.

That the calves out of him, I had a
set of calves out of him and I had

another set that I'd bought the cows.

And on that set every one
of his calves had pink eye.

None of the purchased calves had pink eye.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
None of the purchase but

the ones you bred did, huh?

Do

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah, yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: do you
think that's probably something to do

with genetics in there, or the breed, or

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Well, I
think it's a combination there.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Mm hmm.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: So, because
he was a breed that I would say

maybe a little bit more prone to it,

and the others were a heartier breed that
shouldn't have been, or not as likely to,

but it comes back to genetics there.

So, I don't know if you were using,
like, if I was using two Angus bulls.

I don't know if I'd get
that nice, clear definition.

That bull had kevs that all got
pink eye and this bull did not.

But these were different breeds and it
was night as Night and day, difference.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Which, which means even, even if you're
using the same bulls, just getting

that information and finding out.

Does the place you're, you're purchasing
a bull from, do they struggle with that?

Is that an issue?

You know, for your own herd, as you
grow it, if you're not keeping any of

those, you're, you're working towards
getting those genetics out of your

herd, anyone who suffers from pinkeye.

at the same time, when you're
growing, if you've got too many

with pinkeye, you can't just go
sell everything that got pinkeye.

It's,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: it's a

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: right.

It's a balancing act, right?

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Right.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
You got to still be able to grow

if that's what you're trying to do,
or if you're not growing, you're at

least improving, hopefully, right?

You should be more excited
for your calf crop every year.

Than you were the previous year.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: That'll
be interesting to see how your

pinkeye situation goes this year.

It's also interesting with your
summer annuals and getting those

in and seeing how that goes.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
yeah, I'm, I'm pretty excited about

it, so, we'll, we'll we'll see.

It's, it's you know, we
did, we used this once.

We did some fall we did some rye cover
cropping on some old kind of just bare.

used to be just row crop
ground that we have that really

couldn't get a lot growing.

So we brush hogged that down and then came
in and we actually used a drone to put the

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yes,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: I
was a little, I was a little nervous

one of my neighbors might shoot it
down out of the sky just because, you

know, we got a drone flying around,
they don't know what's going on.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: right.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: it was,
it was, it was really cool to see that.

So I think, I think we'll try to
incorporate that some more this year

and use some more of that and have
that come out just because, you know,

If you're going to broadcast seed,
you know, you don't have to worry

about it being too wet or nasty.

You're not, you know, you're not putting
big ruts or anything in the ground.

And they had a pretty efficient system.

I mean, he would do, you know, like
one or two passes down, I think,

which covered maybe an acre is what
he could hold and his, his drone.

And then they'd pop it out.

We'd put more seed in, they'd switch
out a battery and he was taken off.

And I mean, it took him, I think
we didn't, we only did like 15

to 20 acres, but it took him
just a little over an hour.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: oh yeah.

That drone seating, I haven't
heard of anyone doing it around me.

but it looks really interesting
and with the drone they're

able to do GPS and map that

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah.

Yeah.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
make it pretty efficient.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: And
so we're gonna we're gonna still try

hopefully if we can get him depending
on schedule to do to do some we've got a

section where we bale grazed through it
for kind of the winter and we would like

to go back in on top of that and frost
seed and some clover and different things.

And I'm seeing more and more
of that with the drone usage.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: that'll be
interesting to see how that goes.

I, I keep thinking I'll see someone
around here doing some drone seeding,

or drone spraying.

I haven't seen any drone spraying here,
and I say I haven't, you know, when you

look up at the sky here, and I see so
many miles around me, it's not a very

big box when you can, thinking about a
drone, because they're flying pretty low.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah,
but it was, I mean, it was, it was

pretty cool to see, like, he would
adjust the, the height of it based on

the wind and seating rate and stuff,
and then it, yeah, it's, I mean, it's

kind of like autopilot, they just get
the coordinates plugged in and it just.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: There's
a few times with line of sight he had to

go out there and kind of manually work
it, but for the most part it's, it's just

kind of straight up and straight back
and they just move over and keep going.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
yeah, very interesting Nate.

Well Nate, part of you coming
on today was for our overgrazing

section to talk about rooted ag.

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cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
What is rooted ag?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: So we
are a, at the end of the day, it's just

kind of a, it's a data collection tool to
help farmers and ranchers make better use

of their data on their own operations.

You know, you see it
in just about anything.

If you're in sports, they're always
collecting data on, you know, This guy

shoots better from this side or it's,
you know, this play works better, you

know, there's, there's constant data,
you know, and we're, we're talking

social media, they're tracking data on
us and, you know, seeing trends and,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: are,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: and
finding different, different things.

So we want to help farmers and ranchers
track their operation, collecting

data on their operation to help them.

You know achieve whatever those goals
are that they're trying to achieve.

I mean mainly it's reducing inputs,
right and Increasing profits.

Oh, but finding different ways and
tracking, you know, whether something

worked or it didn't work Why was it
manual issue or management issue?

Was it weather driven something
outside of your control?

And then just helping them kind
of navigate As they go forward in

making correct, hopefully, correct
changes or implementation practices.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Is that something
that the, the farmer subscribes to and

they input all the information or you all
coming on site and doing some testing?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Good question.

So we do both We've got a, we've
got a platform now so they can,

they can upload as much data as,
as they'd like to or want to.

You know, we'd like to see recent
soil tests if they've had those

done and incorporate those.

We've got a pretty quick way to upload it.

We're also working, trying to find
a way through the USDA to be able

to pull some different data on
operations so we don't have to.

Have them go out there and kind of locate
all of their pastures because I know

that's hard to do for especially if you're
you know You've got different leased

ground or own ground and kind of spread
out through a county or whatever so trying

to find some ways to to pull that data
into and then We've actually got an AI

tool that we can use so When it comes to
actually collecting data I use it, when

I'm done on the operation, it's a quick
phone call and it's two to five minutes.

I record all of my data and then it gets
uploaded and logged onto the platform.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yes,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Because
one of the, one of the biggest things

that, especially on our operation that
we're tracking, is time spent because that

kind of seems to be the biggest hurdle
you hear for people making the switch to

Regenerative agriculture is, well, it's,
you know, it costs so much time to get

out there and move the cows every day.

Well, we want to be able to track all
that so we can say, hey, it's, it's really

not that big of a time commitment, right?

I mean, especially once, yeah, you're
going to have maybe a little, some

headaches in the beginning, right?

Of getting them used to the
hot wire and getting moved.

But once, once you get them
trained and they're used to it,

it's a pretty well oiled machine.

And it doesn't take nearly as much
time as I think what, what, what

people would think it takes to get
out there and, and to move cattle.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
Yeah, I, I agree with that.

You know, that's always the,
you're going out there every day.

I don't have time for that.

Well, every day during the winter,
you're spending lots of time because

you're, you're going out and you're
feeding hay, you're checking them,

and you know, for, for us with
moving them, once the cows are

used to it, it's easy to move.

We do our hay feeding
in a very concise way.

I mean, I spend, I spent two hours and
put out hay enough for a week and a half

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: hmm.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Not
yesterday, it was cold yesterday.

I did that a couple days ago.

Yeah, because I didn't want
to be out there in the cold

weather.

Now I will go look at them today

and greet them and they'll be unhappy
with me, but that's, they've got

everything they need and then I'm just
giving them the hay as they need it.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: hmm.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And I
would definitely argue my method

is more meth, more efficient
than going out there every day.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Right.

I mean, especially because you factor
in how much time are you spent to get

that tractor fired up and running.

Yeah.

You know, if you can plan it and
you can get in front of some weather

and stuff and get a couple weeks set
up like you, I think, you know, you

talked about week and a half couple
of weeks and get some paddocks built,

especially because bale grazing, you're
not moving them every day, right?

I mean, we're not, so,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: right now.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: but
we like, we just have the, you know,

especially, you know, In the Midwest out
here, you're going to get some really nice

days and take advantage of those and spend
an afternoon and just get some paddocks

set up and built and, and ready to go.

And then all you've got to do is go out
there and cut the cut the net wrap off

the bales and you know, roll up one wire
or whatever you've got and move them

into the next one and that's 15 minutes
of time and they're taken care of.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah.

So I I went out I a little off
topic but or Going down this rabbit

hole just a little bit more But

I cut the twine it's set out and
and they're in each pasture two

or three days Depending upon how
good I want them to clean that hay

up and then I'll open a gate and I'll send
them to the next pasture And now the big

thing is, with weather as cold as it is
right now, I am going to have to cut ice.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Mm hmm.

Yep.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Outside of
that, it's not going to be too bad.

So when, when they're reporting that
kind of time commitment, is that

something they've got to keep track
of and then go on and enter it?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah, so
you just you put it in through the I mean,

so there's two forms You can do it You
can you can go on the platform and type if

you want to and put all your stuff in or
like I said earlier I like to just give it

when i'm there So i'll just make a quick
little mental note of when I arrived and

then when i'm leaving i'm already in my
truck driving home It's not an extra, you

know It's time, but it's time while I'm
already in the vehicle going somewhere.

So I'm not adding extra time to what I'm
doing per se, but I'm just recording it.

And right now it's, it's, it's
free form, so you can just kind of

give whatever data you'd like to.

We're working through to where, The
the bot or whatever you want to call

it, the AI, I don't know the technical,
technically, software, not my cup of

tea, but it trying to get it to where
it'll ask, you know, we're going to try

to work with some consultants on what
they think, like, a series of questions

that need to be answered per day,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
have those included in there, so,

you know, What are you trying to do?

You know, what, how big was the paddock?

How long are you going to have them there?

How, you know, are you trying to just
go the 50 50 grazing route where we're

just taking half and leaving half?

What are we trying to do?

And, you know, time spent and that sort
of thing and get that recorded in there.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: When
you're doing that, you're typing

that in, is there plans to have
that where you can just talk to it?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Mm hmm.

That's what yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's that we and we kind of
leave it open to whatever you'd prefer.

I I'll be honest when we started out.

I didn't really like the idea of just
talking to a to a bot on the on the on

the phone But then I started using it.

I was like man, this is so much
easier than typing I'm just

my thoughts are right there.

They're fresh from the day.

I can just take you know A few minutes
while I'm driving home get it out and then

it's there and then it's you know It's
on the platform in the next day You Mm

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: You
know, I think, you know, there's

some concerns about AI, but the
potential for AI is amazing.

I use chat, GPT.

And there's a little app on my phone,
and I read about people saying this.

Like if I'm driving to town, I
can put that on voice mode and

have a conversation with it.

Granted, you put garbage
in, you get garbage out.

But you gotta be conscious of, but
you can have, it does give you the

ability to talk through an idea.

And a lot of times I talked
to my wife about ideas,

and she's like, I don't know
what you're talking about.

And I said, it really doesn't matter.

Because it's the act of talking about it

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: right.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: that helps you.

So, actually I've been using
that chat feature, chat GPT,

and enjoying it.

Except, I'm very cautious about
it because I'm like, how much?

Because they're taking everything I say.

So I don't want to say
anything too particular.

I don't know.

We're going to have to get
used to that or figure out a

balancing act with that.

it's

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
it's it's here to stay right?

So

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: it is.

Yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
it's kind of like social media.

You got it.

I mean whether you like it
or not, you gotta embrace it

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah.

Yeah.

Well, for, for the podcast the
editing, I use AI to help with editing.

I use AI with helping with content.

It's a, it's amazing what you could do.

So they're giving all
that information to you.

The problem I have with that
information, I want to track my time.

And let's say today I'm like,
I'm going to track my time.

I'll be really good for about a week.

Or at least tomorrow.

And then I get busy and
I don't get it done.

I know there's, there's a
couple of things in there.

One thing you said, it's easy to do.

You can do it on your phone
as you're coming back and get

that information in there.

Do you all provide a little bit
of, um, mentor or follow up with

that to help people stay on task?

Because I know if I'm relying
upon myself, I'm probably going to

get off task and not get it done.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Good question.

And that's so we don't have it quite
there yet, but we are working on a

feature that after a certain period of
time, if we haven't seen data come in

or collected that there will either be
a text that goes out or the phone call

will actually come to you that says,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: can
you, you know, let's get some of this

data recorded that we have missed out on.

So, because and we know that,
you know, it might not be an

everyday thing for some people.

Mm hmm.

But keeping track to make sure
we're getting it weekly or

however is, is what we're after.

So, yes, so that is something
that we are, we are aware of.

And that was one of the big
discussion points that we had was

you know, trying to help people.

Because we want to make this as
simple as, as easy as possible

for people to collect it.

And so, that was one of the things
that we're working on and actively

trying to figure out how to.

And I say we, that's our, Software
engineering team that handles it.

I just, I just relay to them what
things I think, you know, I'd like to

see just from our operation and from
other conversations with farmers and

ranchers what they'd like and then
see if that's something that we can

build or incorporate.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yep.

And then help them understand
the farmer side of it.

Sometimes when you work with
software people, their mindset's

a little bit different.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: it is.

It is.

So

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: But it's good.

We need them to have that mindset so

they can build the
software the way we want.

But then when you have that
conversation, it's like, I know

that's the preferred way, but we gotta
think about real world application.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: and so
and luckily you know We're kind of the

the buffer since we were helping with
it, but we're also on the you know,

we're we're producers ourselves so that
we can kind of relay those messages

and make it understandable and our our
founder Reese one of the founders Reese

Is really really Interested in this
stuff and that's kind of why he got

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: he
read Gabe Brown's book randomly I

think he got connected with that book
and then it he was like, alright This

is something I want to try to help

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
space build out.

So Yeah, so they're very involved in here.

I know he does quite a bit of
reading of different books and

stuff in the regenerative space.

It's, it's, it's not really that
bad when I'm communicating with

him about things we want to do.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
Oh, well, good, good.

It's a spectrum, so yeah.

Now, farmer starts inputting this.

You mentioned soil test.

You can come out on site
and get some information.

What's this process?

We've talked a little bit about
what it looks like for the farmer.

But as they continue on it,
what does it look like for the

farmer and what are they getting?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: So one of
the things would be, you know, especially

when like it comes to tracking time.

One of the things that we're kind of,
you know, looking at is, I think one

of the things that farmers don't always
track is what is their time worth

to them, you know, or what are they
paying themselves, if that makes sense.

So it's, you know, when we were talking
about going out and breaking ice, well,

what's the cost benefit if we put in
some sort of frost proof water, you know?

And so, you know, if we track your
time for the whole entire winter and

we say, hey, you spent X amount of
hours out here breaking ice every day

and you're paying yourself X amount,
Well, you know, it's actually going

to be more beneficial to go ahead and
pay this cost to put in this automatic

water or this frost proof water system.

Because it's going to give you back,
you know, all this time to you and

based on what you're paying yourself.

It actually means, you know, you're
going to come out financially

ahead to make these changes.

So that, that's one way.

And then another one that we're
kind of working through is helping,

you know, adaptive grazing.

So, you know, you start
out with, you know.

You've got your, your paddock size,
whatever that is and you're moving them,

you know, if we're doing truly adaptive
grazing, you're not, you know, let's just.

Use round numbers here.

You got five acre paddock there, and
you're not going to go five acre,

five acre, five acre, five acre, five
acre, right, as you're moving them.

But, but that's also, you know, whether
we're increasing that or decreasing, that

size is going to be dependent on reporting
back of the forage consumption, you know,

what you were trying to take out, and
then also with, you know, what time of

year is it, and are we, are we getting,
are we getting rain that's beneficial to

help grow this, and so maybe that, you
know, we need to reduce paddock sizes,

or, Oh, we've kind of hit a drought,
and we haven't had any, Maybe we need

to extend out some of these paddocks
and maybe keep them in there longer

to give other parts of the operation
more time to recover and to rest.

It's kind of helping them,
helping them put that together.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah, so,
so you've got the data entry, so

you're getting that data and then
you're able to use some that data

and, and coach or help that farmer

as they're making decisions.

Is this a, a monthly subscription?

Is it a one time fee?

Is it a yearly subscription?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Great question.

So, because we just recently started
we're actually offering it free for a year

for, for anybody that wants to try this

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, okay.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
and kind of, you know, what we

ask is use it, provide feedback.

We know it's, you know, there's going
to be times where it's a little clunky

and maybe doesn't work exactly as well.

But you know, for, especially with the
early adapters that we've gotten, they've

done a pretty good job of giving feedback
of, Hey, we really like this part of it.

Can we incorporate this?

You know, we're looking at ways of
incorporating, So that you can kind of

get a time lapse of, of what you're doing.

And then also add that the voice or
you know, features, because we were

talking to some people and they're
like, Oh, I've got pictures of forage

on my phone from six months ago, and
I don't know why I took this picture.

And so finding ways of helping them kind
of incorporate those, those as well.

Just so that it's, it's there
and it's easy to find and

to pull up and then get, you know, Monthly
or quarterly summaries of what's going on

too is is pretty important to us because I
don't know cal how you are, but I used to

be i'm a pretty big note taker So I would
fill up a notebook of you know When i'd

come home of things that were going on the
ranch what I wanted to do what I wanted

to accomplish and i'd have that but I
never really ever would go back through

and look at it or Re evaluate it or you
know, I had I had goals written down

that I had written them down, but I never
went back through and looked at again.

So this helps with also keeping those
goals front and center on you so that

you're, you're still moving, you know,
hopefully towards where you want to go.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: I, yeah, I
want to say there's, I don't want to say

there's no benefit to writing stuff down,
because there is, but if you never revisit

it You've limited the benefit for it.

Yeah, and I think those photos you
mentioned Nate's a really good aspect And

one thing about photos I I take all kinds.

I don't let me rephrase this.

I don't take enough

photos I need to take more But I
try to take some and then a lot of

times I take photos and like you
said I'm not really sure what I was

trying to get out of that photo.

But then, then the other aspect of it,
I'm out there and I think I need photos

so that I can look back up on this.

But when I do that, I
need an established spot.

And I know Dave Pratt and I
can't think of his book's name.

He talks about a system for taking
photos and making sure you're from the

same spot, but some way to make sure
you're in the same spot, looking the

same direction, taking the same photo
Year after year, maybe not the exact same

day, but just so you have one spot you
can really look at changes over time.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah.

And I know, I know Dale talks
about that too being consistent.

So, and then having, you know,
just record your information.

Okay.

I walked, I'm in the Northwest pasture and
I walked 30 feet in and a hundred feet.

Down or whatever, you know, and then
okay now we know when you got to go back

You're going to the same spot and you did
it on this date so, you know depending

on this, you know, you can do it yearly
or seasonally monthly whatever you want

to do and Get those uploaded in there.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: I, I like the
idea, that's kind of what the book,

Dave Pratt's book says about measuring,
you know, and I've thought even about

putting a T post out there in the

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Mm hmm.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: right
there's where I'm taking the photos.

The problem with that is I don't want that
T post out in the middle of the pasture.

When I don't see it and I run over it,

or, or something, something stupid,
I, I'm looking the wrong way, and then

I, oh yeah, there's a T post here.

I won't talk about how that,
I know that can happen.

Anyway so if your phone's able to, to give
you your, to tell you where you are in

some way, that'd be really interesting.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah,
that's a feature that we hope to have

here fairly quickly built into it.

Like I said earlier,
we're still pretty new.

So some of this stuff we're still
working through and figuring it out.

And I've, I've learned that.

You know, I might think something's
really simple and easy to incorporate

and then I talk to our engineering
team and they're like, dude, that is

a lot more work than we want to put
into this little project right now.

And then there's other stuff
where I'm like, Hey guys,

this is a wild, crazy idea.

And they're like, Oh yeah,
that's, it's real simple.

We actually will get that done today.

I'm

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
all right.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah, yeah,
right now in this phase, you're,

you're figuring out what is useful
to a farmer and making sure you can

provide that in a, in a value added way.

And then, yeah, there's, there's
certain things you come across that

the software is not going to be
able to provide you an effective

way to do it at this point in your

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
At this point.

And yes, we just want
people to understand that.

But you know, the goal is
that we can figure that out.

And the goal is to especially with the
AI thing is that more users we have, and

they're, you know, recording their data
or their issues is that it should be

able to pick up kind of on some solutions
from other producers that have been

in the program, if that makes sense.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: you know,
Hey, we're fighting through this issue.

And then our system will kind of be
able to pick up keywords and then

come back with some recommendations.

Now that'll be down the road once we get
more users onto the platform and using it.

But that's, that's kind of the idea of
what they want to build out with this.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: For, for
this program, who's your ideal user?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: I would
say it's anybody that's wanting to do

regenerative, regenerative rotational
grazing or anybody that is in that already

in that space and is, is doing rotational
cattle moves, that sort of thing.

That's kind of our ideal operation.

We do a fair amount of work
now too with, with a lot of row

crop guys that are integrating
cover crops and have livestock.

So those are a really good fit too, but
yeah, anybody that's, that's, that's

running cattle on their operation
and just trying to improve the land

is a, it's a really good option.

And I say cattle, I shouldn't say
cattle, I should say livestock,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
or any type of, type of animal.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Is there a
certain size you feel like the farm

should be for this to be beneficial or
you're open to whatever size operation?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: yeah, I
mean, we're open to working with anybody.

I mean, right now, we've got from
a hundred acres to a few thousand

acres that we're working with.

So, and we'd like to find some bigger
operations to work with as well.

Yeah, anybody that, that's just
trying to be more intentional, and

more data driven on their operations
is a great, great fit for us.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: So let's
say someone's listening to this

conversation and they're like, hey,
I want to find out more information.

I want to get started.

What do they do?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: You can
visit our website, which is rootedag.

com, or you can reach out directly to me.

Email is pretty easy.

It's nate at rootedag.

com, or you can give me a call
on my cell phone, 316 772 2475.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: So
they, they reach out to you all.

What's the next step after that?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: So we'll
send out what we call a it kind of depends

on exactly what we're doing with them, but

for the, for the, for the, everybody will
get what we call a context report or a

farm's needs analysis and that's kind
of an inward thing that we want people

to look through and kind of do some own
evaluations on their own farm what are

your short, medium, long term goals,
where do you guys see that you guys

have the greatest success, what are your
greatest Deficiencies or obstacles or

challenges and there's a bunch of other
questions in there too, but just kind

of helps us understand the operation a
little better, kind of where you're where

you're at, where you want to get to.

We'll talk through some specialty markets.

Are you, you know, are you, are
you, I don't want to say this,

what are you doing to kind of
decommoditize yourself, if you will?

You know, and then the, the platform
will actually even have some, some

recommendations in there for you, you
know, of hey, there's a farmer's market

that's X amount of miles away, or maybe
look at these other kind of specialty,

specialty programs to, to sell your crop
or your beef or whatever you're doing.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Is there any
aspect of rooted ag that I didn't ask

you about that we should have covered?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Good question.

I think you pretty much nailed most of it.

Nothing really jumping out at
me that we haven't covered.

I would say one of the nice benefits
of working with us and being the small

operation that we are is whatever changes
or things you want to see that get brought

to us, it's very easy for us to go to
our software engineers and say, hey, is

this something we can incorporate or not?

You know, we don't have to
jump through a bunch of hoops.

I can just call them directly and speak to
them and get you an answer pretty quickly.

So we, we are trying to be very user
friendly as, as much as we can and trying

to help put whatever issues or things
they wanna see into the, into the program.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: right,
with that, that end goal of

having a useful tool for a

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Exactly.

So

right now it's just, it's just kind
of on the platform, on the computer.

We're working on a mobile, mobile
piece of it as well, just because.

Your phone's always with you, so we
want to try to make that as, make that

as easy as possible for the farmer.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: now that sounds
excellent Nate, and I'm looking forward

to seeing how it goes with you all.

I don't know if I'm, I am interested
in it, but I'm not the only

person that makes decisions here.

So,

yeah, Nate, it's time for our famous four.

Speaker 3: Today's Famous Four questions
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I have a couple things in the works.

And hopefully those will be out
soon and our insiders will reap

the benefits from that first.

But insiders, I appreciate
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helping us keep this going.

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It has it there and you can join and
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I appreciate each and
every one of our insiders.

Thank you.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And I
know you answered the famous four

questions just barely over a year ago,

but we're going to make you do it again.

And we're going to see how those

answers are.

Our first question, grazing
grass related book or resource?

And Nate, I know right off, you're
going to say rooted ag, but beyond

that, what's your favorite resource?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
probably YouTube.

You can find a lot of really
good information out there

very quickly for certain things
that you want to look into and

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yes,

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: You
know, a lot of short videos you can

bounce around from, you know, Greg Judy
to Gabe Brown to Dale Strickler to whoever

you want to, you know, look up and kind
of see different things very quickly.

So I, I like that and then I, if I'm
allowed to add more, I would say, you

know, there's a lot of really good,
good books that are out there as well.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: oh yeah.

I love books and YouTube has
tons of information out there.

Sometimes weeding through the chaff
is kind of difficult but there's

lots of good information out there.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Absolutely.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Our
second question, what's your

favorite tool for the farm?

And maybe rooted ag fits
here, but so look beyond that.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Well,
it depends on the day because I would

normally I would say it's my brain,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: that
that seems to get shut off or whatever.

So if we're going with an actual
tool, it's it's probably the

speedwrite fence remote for me.

That or, you know, Just a good
pair of fencing pliers, but

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Man, I
love that remote and actually I'm

not using SpeedRite right now.

I'm using

Cyclops and they don't have a remote.

And I have to say the thing
I miss is that remote.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: I mean
I can tell when I pull up and I got to

turn it off I can tell instantly by the
voltage if there's an issue or something

I need to address and You know, I can also
just turn it on or off from anywhere that

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: So Mm

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Well, I
still use my SpeedWrite remote to

check the voltage in my fence.

I just can't turn it on and off.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
So you just have those buttons

on there for appearance.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yes, yes
yeah, that's, that's the big negative.

I really like the Cyclops Energizers, but
man, I wish they had a remote feature.

And then, our third question, what would
you tell someone just getting started?

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Do
as much research and knowledge as

you can before getting into it so
that you have a good understanding

of kind of where you want to sell or
distribute your products and find some

way to Differentiate yourself from
what all of your neighbors are doing.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: I
think that's good advice.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Cause
if you're, if you're just trying to

sell calves at the sale barn, you
know, and you've only got 15 head and

you're competing with your neighbors
who have 100, 120 head You're,

you're going to come out on the short
end of that stick, unfortunately,

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yeah, I, I agree.

Find that, that's unique.

thing about your operation or
that niche that you can fill.

Yeah, I think that's great advice.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
and just kind of go, I'm

just going to jump in here.

Sorry, Cal, but

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635:
No, You're the star.

I'm just here every week.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: of,
going back to what we talked about

earlier, you know, of like, if you're
just starting out Maybe it's finding,

you know, a niche with running sheep,
goats, or chickens and being able

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Oh, yeah.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
incorporate that into a lot of other

operations that are around you.

Because maybe it's hard to find
land or, you know, especially

now with how expensive stuff is.

It's, it's hard to go out there and
buy land, but if you can find a value

add to help farmers and ranchers in
your area through different integration

of, of different species of livestock
and animals that they don't have yet.

You can, you can find a way to make
a pretty good pretty good business.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Yes, I, I love
that, you know, look outside of the

box, don't get so hung up on the box.

And I know for years, I got hung up on
the box that I thought I needed to fit in.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Mm hmm.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: And it's
important to be able to look outside it.

And that way you can evaluate
some potential opportunities

that might not be there.

Otherwise, yeah.

And lastly, Nate, where can
others find out more about you?

And we've already talked about how
to find out more information about

rooted ag, but let's go ahead and
include that information again as well.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636: Yeah.

So rootedag.

com is our website.

Nate at rootedag is my work email.

If you want to find more out about the
ranch, we have an Instagram account.

It's just Stuckey family ranch.

And I'm also on Facebook.

It's just Nate Stuckey.

cal_1_02-19-2025_101635: Very good, Nate.

Appreciate you coming back on
and, and keeping us updated

with what's going on and we're
excited to see how rooted ag goes.

nate-stucky_1_02-19-2025_101636:
Thanks Cal.

I appreciate you having me on.

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