Practically Ranching
Join Matt Perrier as he visits weekly with interesting, thoughtful, entertaining individuals within the beef community. Conversations will inspire curiosity and creativity while maintaining the independent spirit and practical nature for which ranchers are known.
Practically Ranching
#81- Justin McKee, We Are the Caretakers
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Justin McKee is a professional rodeo announcer, a cattleman, a communicator and a leader.
Raised in southeast Kansas, he now has a ranch near Hico, TX, and is a commentator on the Cowboy Channel, as well as announcing numerous rodeos across the nation. In addition, he puts on broadcasting clinics and leadership seminars to help others bring out their best.
https://www.justinmckeenow.com
And happy Thanksgiving and thank you for joining us for episode 81 of Practically Ranching. I'm Matt Perrier, and we're here thanks to Dalebanks Angus, your home for practical profitable genetics since 1904. This year, I have a lot to be thankful for. Last Saturday, we had a tremendous sale with an incredible crowd of customers and friends. Family members and so thank you to everyone who attended or watched online or bid on or bought bulls and heifers for all of you who have supported us through the year, I can't tell you thank you enough. I'm thankful for the weather we've had this year and the market conditions that we've experienced through most of 2025. I'm thankful for my family and my faith and to live in a country where I have these freedoms. And today I'm thankful that I got the opportunity to visit with this week's guest, Justin McKee. I met Justin somewhere around 25 years ago at the Linn County, Kansas Fair and Rodeo, and we have several mutual friends, but honestly, until I recorded this episode, I didn't know half as much about Justin as I thought I did. You may have heard him announcing rodeos on the Cowboy channel or PBR series or even a PRCA rodeo or two in person. Justin puts on broadcast clinics. He's a keynote speaker, but it's his passion for ag producers and our western lifestyle that impresses me the most. In this episode, we talk about finding your passion. We talk about involving the next generation of ag producers in the business and authenticity and destroying sacred cows, and being a contributor instead of a consumer. Honestly, I figured out about halfway through this conversation that Justin is about as much of a motivational coach as he is a broadcaster and he's doggone good at both. His days, helping his family at their livestock markets in southeast Kansas clearly taught him to hustle. His time in the FFA program, taught him how to set goals and to communicate. And his time as a rodeo announcer has demonstrated just how interested the general public is in our way of life. And we recorded this episode couple weeks ago, but I think it's a fitting reminder to be thankful, not just this Thursday, but always for the opportunities that we have to live and work as caretakers of the land and livestock. So happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for listening, and enjoy this conversation with Justin McKee.
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917By the looks of things on social media and cowboy channel and everything else, I'm shocked that I got to carve out an hour of Justin McKee's time today to even talk with you. You, uh, you're a busy, busy guy. Most, uh, most of the time.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917Yeah, thanks. Thanks for
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Yeah. Yeah.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917I guess, uh, yes, uh, we keep her rolling. And, uh, I'm naturally caffeinated. Fortunately, don't require a lot of sleep. I guess maybe. I love what I do and, and one of the things I tell my, my broadcast students are in the leadership clinic. I tell people, man, if you can just find that passion, that passion will give you so much that you need to be successful. It'll give you drive, it'll give you creativity, it'll give you energy. And so, uh, unfortunately I've kind of become an adrenaline junkie, I guess, when it comes to that kind of adrenaline.
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Well, I'll tell you what, you're channeling it in a lot of pretty good ways and, um, you, you touched on a few things. I guess just. Give me a rundown 'cause I'm sure I don't even realize everything that you've got going on. And then we'll kind of figure out how you got to this point and where it goes from here.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917Wow. Well. I am, uh, in my sixth year with the Cowboy Channel, left northeast Oklahoma up there by Coffeyville, Kansas about six years ago on a ranch that my wife Jeanie and I put together, uh, shortly after we got married in the, in the nineties. And, um, we was continuing to add and build and develop and, and continue to lease more places around there and never thought we would leave. As a matter of fact, my, my only regret over the last six years is I finally built the ultimate, my all time favorite best set of working pens. I, I've been studying for years and I'm kind of a geek when it comes to cattle handling, so I had alley's. All the way around four. I mean, the whole outside, the whole perimeter was an alley. Of course there's an alley down the middle uh, everything was hydraulic when it comes to the lead up and the squeeze chute and a double barrel load behind that. And, I never thought we would leave, but the Cowboy channel called Patrick Gottsch said, I want you to come down here, and I gave it a, gave it a go for six months and realized when we came back from COVID. shutting down for a couple months, if we could survive COVID, this is long term and I really like it. So into our sixth year, we moved to Hico, Texas, which is about an hour and a half outside of Fort Worth. And we, and we, we found an amazingly similar place to what we had in Oklahoma. It's even laid out the same.
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Cool.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917I mean, the traps, the pastures are all identical. We're the exact footage off the road. It, it's spooky, really, uh, similar this, except this is actually a lot nicer. so I'm saying all that to say we left Oklahoma and moved to Texas to work for the Cowboy Channel full time. the meantime, my hobby is work and, uh, we run about 300 cows. Still ...not on this place. I've got some guys that help me, but we, um, we retain the ownership on them through Wheat Pasture. We are just finished kind of getting the first 40 days on the weaning process on them, uh, up in, uh, Southern Oklahoma. we are gonna send in the Wheat Pasture, sell 'em on Superior mid-March, deliver 1st of May. And I'm also involved in, uh, what's really been keeping me busy here lately. I still announce about a dozen events live announcing along with doing a lot of cowboy channel stuff. But I started this broadcast clinic two years ago and I've had seven of these things and that's turned into leadership conferences for any kind of a business and keynote speaking and a lot of ag conventions. um, I'm having a blast doing that. That's kind of my new season here.
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917I love diversity in life. I love ironies and antagonisms and everything else. And I, when you said that you're kind of a cattle handling geek, I wonder how often you're sitting there at that rodeo announcing and cringing going. Oh, this could be done a little bit better. Oh, there aren't a lot of cattle handling gurus that are announcing PRCA radios.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917You know, that is a fact. I'll tell you what bothers me the most is watching the ranch rodeo in the mugging when they try to tie a steer and they're trying to both tie the steer at the same time, and, and it's nine outta 10 times. They do this all they're doing is getting in the way with proper, uh, gathering of the legs skills. You shouldn't need anybody helping you out. And that drives me crazy. But, uh, yeah, thanks for
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Oh yeah. I mean, I've been there.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917way. But I, I, I jumped at, jumped the gun. I didn't know we were
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Oh, we're started. We're from the time I hit record. We're started.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917Yeah. Well, Matt, I just wanna say thank you for, asking me to be a part of this. I love what you're doing and, and I've been a fan of yours for a long time, and I've, uh, I'm certainly a fan of. Where you come from and the Flint Hills and Eureka is one of my favorite places on the planet. I can't wait to go spend more times there. I watch Mike Wiggins, your neighbor, Mike Wiggins, post videos of shipping and receiving and and, and chasing coyotes with them greyhounds. I'm like, oh, that's, that's another thing I miss from being up, being up home.
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Well, since you're backing up, I'll back up too, and I'm flattered that you even. Know what it is that we're doing here. Um, and I know that you keep close tabs with the Wiggins family. And I, I have to tell you, and you won't remember this, but the first time that I actually got acquainted with Justin McKee was in Mound City, Kansas, probably somewhere in the late nineties, early two thousands. And I'm actually married to John and Candy Teagarden's daughter, Amy. And so I met you while you were announcing the Linn County Rodeo. Like I said, I don't know when it was you were doing that, but I'm guessing it was somewhere just after the turn of the century 2000. That is,
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917when did you guys get
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917we got,
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917seemed like you were
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917yeah, I think that's right. I think that's right. We got married in November of oh one, and so it may have been a year or two before that, and I remembered thinking at the time, and I didn't grow up. In rodeo, you know, we went to a handful as a kid, but, um, your combination, and we've already talked about all these different talents that you, and passions that you've kind of put together in a, in a pretty, um, cool way, but, but your combination of, of voice and enthusiasm and passion, coupled with just the right for this guy anyway, the right amount of humor. Sometimes I think folks in your segment of the industry, want to be more comedian than they are play by play person or too focused on the play by play and not enough humor. And, and I mean, I think at that time, 25, 30 years ago, I thought, man, this guy. This guy's got something and something special and you've proven exactly that as you've risen up the ranks in announcing and then, you know, parlayed that into your public speaking and your broadcast clinics and so many other things, it it's pretty cool to, to watch. 'cause I felt then that you were maybe a diamond in the rough and, and of course you moved on from Mound City and, and have gone bigger, bigger places. Not that, uh, you don't enjoy going to those too. But, uh, yeah, it's been cool to watch.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917Aw, thank you. I appreciate that. I had some good people to look up to. of course, FFA is where I owe most all the
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Yeah.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917And as I mentioned Mike Wiggins, for those that are listening that know, he and I, um, a
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Yep.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917may not realize that when he was fresh outta college, he came to Labette County High School in Altamont, Kansas, and he was my ag teacher for three years. And so we ended up winning state. We won the state championship in livestock judging of my junior year with Jana Cheney and Travis McKenzie. And so we, uh, we had some, we had some real special times together and that I, and that he was a cowboy was just, uh, fantastic for me at that time, uh, as an ag teacher. But I also had John Frazier. Dan Peterson, we had three ag teachers. We had a great ag program there. And, uh, John Frazier really knew how to bring out the, our, our true potential in, in terms of speaking. then he encouraged me to run for state office. And then, um, the being state, FFA president was really,
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Gosh.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917looking back, that no doubt was the, the greatest stepping stone that I've had in my whole life. So I'm very thankful for that and that that's where the roots are. And then Clem McSpadden announced our hometown
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Hmm.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917in Coffeeville, Kansas and Bonita, Oklahoma. And um, I just idolized him. I was just really taken by what he was able to do. Of course, I grew up auctioneer because my folks ran the livestock auction there in South Coffeyville and Parsons, Kansas. So I was behind the microphone and I'm hungry to be a rodeo star if I could. So. was a perfect combination of, my two passions at the time. And, um, I learned so much from Clem and then I was able to meet Bob Tallman when I got serious about it. And you take the sincerity of Clem McSpadden and the classy ability really love the people. And have that desire to tell their stories, right from Clem, he was, you know, Clem was Will Rogers nephew and he learned from Will Rogers. never thought about this, Matt, this is crazy how, how Clem his uncle and, and wanted to have that personality in his approach and his presentation and sincerity and true Western knowledge. Well, I'm, I'm just, I'm, this has never dawned on me before, that I'm, that I feel like I might be the third generation recipient of Will Rogers stuff through Clem here. But, uh, I just, I studied how he had handled situations and made people feel great about themselves and, and especially just in conversations before the rodeo deal. It was, it was just, just amazing. uh, then as I watched Bob Tallman. the, the, the humor and the spontaneity and the energy, I don't know if I set a goal early on, but I kind of wanted to be a combination of
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917I wanted to be somewhere in the middle. I wanted to have the energy of Bob Tallman, but I wanted to, to have that, that classy orator of Clem McSpadden. And so I feel very comfortable where I landed. Finding and that really was a, a real genuine fit for me. And, and my hope and goal is that people see some authenticity. That that's what I want 'em to see because that's, we're, as we're speaking in front of people, in our background, in our culture, people can sniff out a phony and especially in the, uh, rodeo announcing business, I guess maybe anything but. They can tell if you have not really been there. And so that's what I wanted to capitalize on, uh, my time in the saddle. Then marrying Jeanie, I, um, into a rodeo ranching family and, uh, she really, if I've got any cowboy skills or horsemanship at all, it's, it's come from her. So was just a real great combination.
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Well, there's one more similarity that you and I have, um, or maybe one of the few because I sure don't have the voice or the,, uh, diversity in, in, performing and production and things like that. But same way, I had a passion for horsemanship and didn't even realize it growing up. And after I met Amy. And her folks interest in horsemanship and, and, um, you know, I went to my first, uh, horsemanship clinic with it, which I didn't even realize they had shortly after she and I got married with her father John. And, and, um, yeah, I've just been hooked ever since. The cattle handling deal came as a natural fit for the natural horsemanship, uh, as well. And, and, uh, yeah, they go together.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917the parallels are all over the place.
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917it's the same thing and every one of those clinicians likes to have their little thing that they do differently than somebody else. But basically, I mean, um, I think it was Ray Hunt that first said, make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. And
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917right.
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917whether it's cattle or horses or, honestly, I had a elementary school teacher one time who said, you know, it's the same for teaching kids. Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult, and eventually, hopefully they'll figure it out. And, uh, so yeah, that's, those are cool things.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917I'll, I'll add to that, and I share this almost every time I speak. I think it's the most appropriate definition of a true cowboy. And that is a true cowboy knows what the cow's going to do before the
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917he's
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Yep.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917Same goes for horses. And, um, not that we get it right a hundred percent of the time, but nobody does that. And if they say they do, then they're not really. They, they're not an expert at
matt_2_11-11-2025_104917Yeah. And, and that's, that's just it. I mean, you can, you can see it coming if you'll just look cattle, horses, people, if you'll watch their eyes and watch what they're likely telling you before they actually do it. Then just figure out, is that what I want? Or close enough and let 'em do it, or no, that's not where I want 'em to go. And you take a step ahead of 'em and let 'em know before they bolt that, nah, that's not the right answer. So, uh, yeah.
squadcaster-da39_2_11-11-2025_104917good idea.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612So there's a, another similarity that as I have been peeling back the layers of broadcasting and announcing, one of the, one of the things that I found, and, and this is what I teach my students, is have to, to see the whole picture, the whole arena, everybody in the crowd, every movement. Is part of a calculation. is. is part of a formula going in your brain and by every movement of a pickup man, as every gate man, every movement of the livestock, every reaction of the crowd. You're constantly taking in of this information, and that's what determines what you say. It could be dozens and dozens of moving parts, and that all should go into this equation to determine what you say, and that's the way it is with, with cattle handling. And you may have a dozen people, a horseback, may have 300 head of cattle that you're moving, and every step of every person at every angle, in every position of every cow in line. goes into a formula to determine you need to be, and I think that's interesting
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612and you gotta make that decision in a quarter of a second
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612yeah. So how do you do that? It, it's tough enough when you're there in the arena as the announcer. How do you do that behind the video screen on
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Hmm.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612a cowboy channel or, I mean, as you see changes coming in rodeo, uh, can you do it the same or do you have to be either in the arena, horseback or up on the catwalk or whatever the case may be?
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612well, again, it's the same principle. One of the, one of the, one of the, um, biggest mistakes that I learned very early on in broadcasting television, rodeo and television you get to looking what's going on into in the arena and describing the action there. But in fact, that's not where the camera's being pointed. You have got to watch your monitor, your TV monitor the whole time 100% of the time. it's so easy to get distracted if there's something extraordinary going on in the arena. The crowd reaction, you wanna look over the top of the monitor and then you wanna talk about, oh my gosh, the bull jumped into the crowd. You can't do that. You cannot look off of the monitor. have to only say what you see on the monitor, which makes TV broadcasting that calculation on what to say so much easier because you
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Huh,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612as moving near as many moving parts. So
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612interesting.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612the process in a lot of ways. But it's funny when we bring in new. Uh, color people and analysts to describe the action. It's a hundred percent they go to looking off and, and over the years I've learned to set 'em up for success ahead of time. I give them rule number one, do not look away from the monitor.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612darn.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612ever, ever, everything, everything that you're looking at will be 100% coming from the.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612So along those lines, as we've made or seen this, I think beginning of a move to a commentator of a sports event; rodeo-- instead of live viewing, um, on a few of these big rodeos, like what you're doing, uh, where, where do you see that going from here? Does it take any of that and you use the authenticity word --out of it? Uh, does it make you job as an announcer more difficult? Because now instead of a person seeing you once a year, maybe at that rodeo. They're seeing you every weekend and they're hearing some of the same mannerisms and things like that. Does that make that harder? As a, as a performer, as an announcer, I mean, take the whole, the gamut. I heard a, I heard a, uh, bullfighter one time say that this cowboy channel is, is wrecking things because I can't say the same things night after night after night. 'cause everybody's heard my stuff. How does it change rodeo?
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah. A barman.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah. Yeah. That's Well, a barrel man. Yep.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah. Certainly changing it for them and announcers fortunately I have been able to, don't get me wrong, I, I, I use a lot of the same phrases, I hate. Using the same stuff over and over and over again. And I, I try to, I try real hard and I'm not always successful, but I really try hard to be fresh and to be innovative and, and always saying it a different way. As, as I was flying all over the country, every weekend for the PBR doing tv, I would sit with people on an airplane and they would ask what I do I would tell 'em, I television broadcaster for bull riding. And they would frequently ask, so what, what is that? And what, how do you do that? I said, it is real simple. Finally, I came with, with one patent answer and it was, I talked about how the cowboy rode the bull, on the bull, or got ran over by the bull. And again, when I go to breaking down the basics of announcing that I can teach in in the broadcast clinic. That's huge for students to really understand. Number one, keep it simple. And number two, this is what, this is my goal for my students and for myself. We gotta have a, we gotta have a hundred different ways, if not a thousand different ways to say stayed on, we bucked off, got ran over. He, he stayed on, he got bucked off, or there was a wreck. And so if you can, and that's what Bob Tallman has done. He's, he's, he's got a million ways to say he stayed on, bucked off, or got ran over,
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612And an amazing way to deliver them all.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612him. That's what separated him. And nobody even knows why he's great. And I didn't know until I started writing this curriculum. I go to discovering.... Why do we do things? Why do we get in these ruts? Why do we keep saying the same things over and over? and and that's why this, this clinic thing, and I don't mean to keep harping on it,
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612No, that.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612it has freshened me up in every way. It has, it has sharpened me up in every way because I'm really digging into why, and, and, I love doing, I, I love using that example in a leadership clinic because, the worst thing in the world, especially people from agriculture, is we live the definition of insanity. Which is we keep doing the same thing over and over and over again because granddad did it this way, but we're expecting better results when in fact, that is the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. And so that's a big part of my mission, to destroy the sacred cows in not just rodeo, but in agriculture are holding us back.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612So let's talk about a few of those in ag, because not everybody listening to this may be a rodeo fan. What are those sacred cows in agriculture that we refuse to innovate and let go of and move on?
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Thank you for asking Matt, because this is, this is not only my, my next season in life. This is not only my mission, but this is a, a conversation that I hope to have over the world and, um, I I, I think that a lot of things are leading up to that. Here's what we're doing wrong in agriculture. have not told our story. We are, there's two things that hold us back from being able to tell our story. Number one, we work seven days a week and it takes every ounce of energy just to keep surviving in agriculture. I understand that very well. And number two, we are brought up to be humble and not promote ourselves, which keeps us from promoting our own product and the values that have made us who we are and our work ethic and our opinion of humbleness. And the values that we have grown up in, we've taken it for granted. That is the number one thing that we have missed. We have taken all this for granted as I travel these big cities and work in Fort Worth and Dallas. I'm constantly reminded now more than ever that the, the agrarian lifestyle people of the land. Have so much to be thankful for, and I've always known that, you know, we, we should be thankful. But every day my understanding of how blessed we are grows deeper and deeper and deeper. So my message is, let's become storytellers. If it's not, if it's not you personally, find the person in your family or operation. That knows and can see beautiful scenery that we have all around us, and I don't care what your operation looks like, if you've got five acres and a mobile home, you're still living the dream for 99% of the rest of the world. That five acres is only a dream for most of the world. But I want us to realize that where we come from is beautiful. It's spectacular. The, the, the visual attraction from people, let's say in big cities or east of the Mississippi or whatever that demographic is, that is, that's living the same day over and over and over again every day. It's the same thing in a very small space. Our wide open spaces are amazing, everywhere I turn around now I'm seeing the beauty of it the way God intended it to be on full display. And I'm seeing the need for us to tell our stories and first of all, to be a great storyteller. You, you even need to be a great storyteller if you've got a great visual.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Uh, I, I tell people my, in my clinics that. A picture is worth a thousand words compared to words. A picture is worth a thousand. A moving picture, and this is what I have up with. A moving picture is worth a million words. Picture is moving or animated, and you've done that in somebody's mind through your storytelling, verbally and visually. We've got an audience that's hungry for where we come from and what we do. They want to see how we live. And for all these generations, we have not told our stories somebody else has told our stories that wants to tear us down, that wants to destroy our lifestyle. Those are the people that have been telling our story, and that's why we've had a lot of challenges. Well, this is the greatest opportunity in the history of agriculture. People appreciate, they're starting to appreciate where their food comes from, and they want to know the people who is developing this substance of life that they put in their mouth every day. And I love, I don't know who came up with it, I think it was an an ancient philosopher, but I'm gonna credit Red Steagall because red is the one who has said, or I've heard him say the most. You know, every now and then you'll need a banker and maybe a lawyer. But every day, three times a day, every single person needs a farmer or a rancher. That's what I want to tell urban America. I, I feel like maybe I'm not gonna be spending all my time speaking to ag groups. That's where I want to go, but I feel like my calling is to go to the urban places and tell the story that I, I just shared with you that these are the people that are feeding the world. They're wonderful, God-fearing people the values that they live by: helping neighbors. Communities. Communities that are true communities is how the rest of the world should live. I think we've got the model and I think the next, I think from now till I'm gone, we're gonna be telling the story of agriculture the way it should have been told, and I'm gonna bring some beautiful scenery along the way.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612I think. Do it Well currently. You will do it well if you choose to make that move. But I'd say what you're doing right now, whether it be in the arena or whether it be putting on these announcing clinics, broadcast clinics, um, speaking to ag groups... hopefully you are in your very God gifted way teaching us how to do it ourselves because you can't do it. You can't do it alone. I, I really believe that it takes a lot more folks that have got, I mean, we've all got an incredible video camera in our pocket, 24 7.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612That's, I, I tell my students, I, I tell everybody at every speech. Everybody has their own television network, if they're willing to put in a little bit of work and creativity in their
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612On this phone? Yes.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah. And that is as authentic as it gets. Sometimes maybe a little too authentic, but as I look at what is happening all around us and the interest that folks have in pick your person, uh, Taylor Sheridan,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612I mean, all these different folks that have taken what we say. Eh, that's not exactly how it is in ranching. You know that that newborn quote unquote calf in the opening episode of Yellowstone that weighed two and a quarter and jumped up and ran off two miles, that's not the way it really works. Well, guess what? Those details maybe don't have to be perfect. He has captured an interest in the Western way of life. Now, maybe a little extra drama and sex and murder and everything else that doesn't hopefully happen in highways and byways of rural America. But he has captured an interest and proven to me that people really do want to hear those stories and they wanna hear 'em from us.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Matt, I got, uh, I am gonna share this for the first time. Nobody has me publicly say what I'm about to say, but I'm coming off an extreme, uh, unbelievably weekend at the Hondo Rodeo in
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612I saw that.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Downtown Phoenix Chase Field, where the Arizona Diamondbacks play professional baseball seats. 50,000 people, 45. 40 to 50,000 people. Indoor baseball facility. By the way, they sold 90,000 tickets and they didn't come for just the concerts. They came early for the rodeo. 90% of that crowd was there for the bareback riding.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612I'll be darn.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Last year was the first time they had this rodeo and I left there shaking my head, what is going on here? Who are these people? 'cause I'm watching the crowd 'cause I'm, if they're. If there's anything that I'm a fanatic about, about More Than Than cow psychology, that is the art of knowing the crowd, the art of reading, who these people are. I was so frustrated I couldn't read it.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612This was an urban crowd was very affluently dressed western.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612The reactions. We're not your first time participants, not your hardcore fans either. Not a Houston crowd. They're there for the concert, not a Houston Rodeo
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Right.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612They're there for the concert, not a Pendleton Roundup. That's a pretty educated crowd somewhere in the middle. I'd never seen it before, but I saw the same dynamics at the rodeo in San Diego, also on the ball diamond where the San Diego Padres play and these mainstream people are crossing over. And I just figured it out. They want an experience in the Hondo Rodeo, it's called the Hondo Rodeo Fest, and they've got a fan zone of three blocks of vendors and activations that are very engaging around that, that baseball diamond, that field, that building that we were in. So bands and music and wares and Western everything. And it's a festival, the different professional level rodeos have tried to, what was, oh, it was the er, uh, was ERA elite anyway, when all the top, uh, contestants got together and they thought
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612and
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612their own
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612yeah.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612showed up because I, in the urban areas. It wasn't marketed right. They were trying to market the stars. Well, rodeo stars aren't big enough stars, but the attraction of a festival, a place where they could engage in the western lifestyle is what's made this thing as successful and just figured it out yesterday
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Wow.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612because I was leaving the airport and there's cowboy hats all over the airport in Phoenix, not the hats we would wear.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Close enough.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612purchased, very affordable hats.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Right.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612But these people are coming up and they're talking to me and I'm talking to them. They flew from all over, all around the world to come to this rodeo
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Wow.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612and, and, and here's what I think's happened. Taylor Sheridan, COVID Cowboy Channel, people tired of being lied to by politicians and actors. They want something real, especially conservative Christian.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612in urban America. They're looking for a community. And thanks to the internet and Taylor Sheridan, they go to digging in our lifestyle, people from around the world and especially in the United States. And the more they dig, the more they find out that we are authentic, the more they find out that this is the audience, this is the community they've been searching for. Not to mention all the values and quality of the the John Wayne image of courage and determination and grit. That is so lacking in our conversation in this new American way of thinking.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612They're finding the real person that they want to connect with, and the deeper they go the more they like it it's real. Because we are real. I'm just found this out I know that's what's going on. Nobody's having this conversation. You and me are the first ones that are having this conversation, and that, again, backs up why we have to be intentional. In creating storytellers because we've got an audience that's ginormous. We are just scratching the surface right now, agriculture is on its way up in every segment.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612So if a rodeo fest with all of the smoke and all the lights and all of the cowboys and athletes and Unbridled excitement that a rodeo and the festival that goes along with it can provide ...if it can hook them. Now, how do those of us that do a little less exciting, often mundane, feeding and caring for the land and the livestock and the crops and everything else? How do we position that with enough excitement? There's plenty of authenticity. Nobody's gonna argue that, but how do we, how do we do it well enough that somebody cares and is excited about making that next beef purchase or supporting that next, um, piece of legislation that keeps families on the land instead of them being turned into the next subdivision or whatever. How, how do we do that?
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612You just gotta realize, uh, again, I, I said it earlier, you, first of all, you gotta realize that everything around you is beautiful to
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612has never been on a ranch. You see, that's what we take for granted. step. There's another angle that you could shoot. And again, I'm gonna go back to Mike Wiggins. Mike Wiggins has inspired me. My ag teacher, your neighbor in the Flint Hills of Kansas is. Videoing
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612those pots pulling in to deliver cattle, he's videoing those cattle coming off of those trucks. See, that's every day for us. People have seen, there's people all over America that have seen those trucks with holes in the side all up and down the side of that, of that trailer, and they don't even know what's in there.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yep.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612And then when they see what Mike post at his ranch, north of Eureka, Kansas. Oh, those are the
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612See the things that we take that is amazing to them. And then to see the beauty of the hills, the trees, the creeks, the rivers, the valleys, the cattle coming to a feed truck. The dogs working in an alley saddle, and the horse in the barn. When, when it's just cold enough, you can see the breath that horse. The, sunsets, the sun rises. We gotta develop an eye though. There's gotta be that, that basic creativity that, that we can see. Oh, that's a beautiful picture. And I, and I know it can happen 'cause I didn't necessarily have that eye, but I developed that eye through working in television. And it's not that, trust me, if an old cowboy like Mike Wiggins with, with his worn out flip phone, can. Capture the images that he's capturing. the, the old foundations from the limestone original homestead houses and barn old barns, old windmills, uh, water, running over rocks in a small waterfall in the creek. A spillway at at a at a lake. Uh, cattle drinking out of a lake. It's spectacular. It's just taking the time to see it, shoot it, post it and grow. Not gonna happen overnight. It's a process you just gotta keep developing and growing in what you see, you film it. Lighting. I tell, oh, I've never thought of this. I've got, You're breaking out the best in me. I, I, I'm getting all kinds of new content,
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612That's saying something Justin.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Here's where I got an eye because a lot of it's about the right light. You've gotta get the right angles of the light. You've gotta have the sun behind you. Never shoot into the sub. You know, I got my guys that take care of my cows and, and I have 'em send me videos every two or three weeks so I can get an eye on 'em. 'cause they're four hours away I'm like, they're shooting into the
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Get on the south side.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612can't see the condition of my animals here. Now, lemme tell you where I, where I developed that eye. For great visuals, taking great pictures and great videos. When I was with the PBR, let me think. I would've, it would've been in the nineties. yeah. probably 96 or seven I got in, uh, the business of raising bucking bulls. I wasn't gonna raise the bulls, but I, that's when the futurities were starting and there was a high demand for yearling bucking bulls so they could go to the 2-year-old f fraternities. Well, I'm in the business, man. I'm, I'm on TV every week talking about bucking bulls and such. And, uh, yeah, I guess it was, would've been end of the two thousands, 99, 2 thousands, uh, or early two thousands. I know I've got all the connections to buy the right kind of mama cows and to get the right breeding bulls, and so I maxed that out. But when I had to market those calves, I took individual pictures like you would your, for your seed stock sale The way you would light and shoot hopefully your bulls as individuals for your catalog. That's what I had to do. I had to go shoot those yearlings, posed up, lighting perfect every ear up in the, you know, point in the
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612head up, chest out, as much width as and and depth of body as I could, and I was rolling around. Literally rolling around out in the pasture with these bucking bull calves when they were still on their mama's, which is kind of dangerous by the way. Those mamas will come and get you.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612But I'm out there for hours cheap camera and trying to get the perfect shot of those yearling bucking so I could market them individually. It was worth it because they were bringing a lot of money. I mean, even back then you could get 2,500 pretty easy for a prospect, sometimes up to 5,000 and more. So I could spend every morning when that sun was right, and every evening when that sun was right, out there laying in the pasture, crawling around on his belly, trying to get, to get those calfs shot. And I didn't know that until, until just now. That's where I developed that eye.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612And it's those experiences that. May teach us, we, we may not end up being the perfect livestock photographer, a professional livestock photographer, but we learn something from that that we can parlay into something else. And I think that's what you've done so well. All these different gigs that you continue to stack up on top of one another. You pull something that you'd learn from that FFA state champion livestock team or being FFA state president or whatever the case may be, that you can use, uh, in your dealings other places. So every time I hear of something new that the beef industry, let's say all of production agriculture is challenged to adopt, I hear the same one or two questions from producers, who's gonna pay me to do it? And what are the risks? As we talk about this notion of telling our story,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612often the same question. I've got a lot of, I've got a lot of irons in the fire. I've got a lot of things on my plate. How do I have time to do it unless somebody is going to pay me, quote unquote, to do it? And what are the risks that I take? Something. I mean, last weekend we had kids back and we were dragging calves, fall babies using Nord forks and that process, every time I take a picture of that or film that I know that. That is a very brief moment of holding that calf down so we can give it its vaccinations, we can do what we need to do to make sure and make it healthier and
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612you know, ready for any challenges that that mother nature throws at it. But. That point, that few seconds where it's in the forks. I struggle with whether I should show that on a video because it looks like it's a little painful. Well, guess what? It probably is just like it is for that infant that's got two nurses and a mom and a dad holding them down as they get those inoculations, what are the risks? Short question is what are the risks to putting those types of things out there, and are they worth the rewards that we get?
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612short answer is yes, it's all worth it. It's all worth it. Uh, especially if you're honest. Oh, at the end of the day in life and in agriculture and telling the stories, if you're just honest, we, we got nothing to be ashamed of. of all, we gotta realize that we have
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Right.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612the lie ourselves, you and me. People that are really trying to do right
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Our industry and our standard have believed that lie, we should never question what we're doing because we're not gonna do anything that's gonna harm that animal. But we believe that, oh, this, this looks bad. So all we gotta do is tell the truth. And that's a great opportunity for education, to slow it down. I mean, here's what it's gonna cost you. What here? Here's the cost, here's the cost. Time. Stop. Stop. I know, I know we
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yep.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612to, I know we wanna work 85 an hour here, but we've gotta stop. Bring the camera over here. Get the light behind you. Let's think about what we're gonna say because words matter. Try it out.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612me, take one. Probably need to go in the garbage. Let's try it again. Take two until you get it right. it might take 10 or 15 goes at it, but it's okay and it's worth it. Uh, other than that, it's not gonna. You know, the risks are not there
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612you, if you tell the story properly. And, and here's the other thing we gotta realize. There's always gonna be people against us in, in whatever we do. And we just can't let that determine our direction and, and we can't let them detour the action that we need to take and the reward, holy cow,
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yep.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612don't even know how big the reward could be. I don't think we've even to see the direct interaction that we're gonna have between a rancher and a consumer, which is really what we've, what we've always dreamed of. Now we're too scared to go after that.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612I would maintain that we have started that process and some of what we're seeing with $2 and 40 cents fed cattle and 10 and 20 and $30 a pound beef at the grocery store that is flying off the shelves. Regardless of what President Trump has said the last, uh, few weeks or month, I mean. Folks want that product and they're willing to pay for it. And I think there's two things that work there. I think number one, we're selling a way better quality product in the beef industry than we ever, ever have, especially 20 and 30 years ago when we had a hard time giving the stuff away sometimes.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612product.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612That is driving it as much as anything. But I think what I, what we've just talked about here for the last 15 minutes, the Taylor Sheridan effect, the Justin McKee effect, the Hondo Rodeo effect. This, this return to the Western lifestyle being in vogue; and not only being questioned, but being mimicked by, you name it, fashion,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Right.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612music, uh, entertainment, all these different things. That is transferring into their one opportunity to have a physical connection with that 30 acre or three acre or 30,000 acre ranch, and that is a steak on the plate
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612That's
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612and a story that they heard that connects how that beef got from the ranch to the feed yard. To the retail counter. And yeah, I, I think we're already seeing that payment and, and when I asked you who's gonna pay me for it, it was a little bit of a philosophical question because I hear that, but I don't think that we realize that we all are gonna make some extra jingle because of it. And, and that story is worth pennies or dollars per pound when it comes time to sell our product.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612It is because they're. They're gonna be, they're gonna be up, um, battling each other as customers to get to your product. That's what we're gonna see.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yep.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612so I, I love the dynamics and I, and here's what, here's what I tell people to when I kind of wrap up my conversation about: get the videos, get the conversations, tell the stories. The great storytellers today will set their legacy in motion. The great storytellers will set their family operation up for generations of success. It will last generations, but we don't have that right now. We are, I mean, every year we've been decaying the continuation from one generation to the next that, that, that succession rate has just consistently been dropping. Nobody talks about that. You know, I mean, it would, golly, it was rolling in the eighties and we, we made a recovery, but we're still, we're still, we slowed that down, but we're still going the wrong way. This is, this is the turning point that is going to let the succession of this family operation continue if it really
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah. Yeah, and I think you think about that younger generation that is coming back now. It's easy for them to tell the story. They've been telling their story exactly
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Yes.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612their lives. And so how, I guess another question for you. How do we as old timers like me or Mike Wiggins, or my father, or whomever else who have been driven by
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Efficiency for decades and decades and decades, and you don't under any circumstance. Stop what you're doing to take a video and post the damn thing. How, how do we allow this next generation who can probably do it without even having to stop things, but how do we say, okay, it's okay. That's important. That's, that's maybe almost as important as getting the work done in and of itself.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612yeah, yeah, that's, that is all so true. First of all. Any process, you gotta recognize the problem,
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Mm-hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612I, I think anybody who hears this conversation can, can agree with most of the points that we've made here. You gotta recognize the problem and then you gotta find the most qualified person take action against the problem, and that is somebody younger.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612you've gotta sell 'em on the vision. I want you to continue this operation. If you want to continue this operation, I'm acknowledging that we need to tell our story and I also acknowledge that I can't be the one to do it. And you understand the process of stopping and videoing, you know how to do it. It is just engaging the next generation, selling them on, on wanting to continue what we're doing. I think it's a pretty easy sale, but I'm, I, I had to chuckle while you were setting that question up. Because we don't stop the, one thing that that rings louder than anything that my dad put on me growing up was whatever you do, especially this is sending cattle up the alley at the sale barn when I was in the back sorting and he was in the ring. You keep that alley full, whatever you do, even if it's wrong, keep moving. What? That, that's what a big part of my drive today. Whatever you do, keep moving. Even if it's wrong, keep moving.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yeah.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612so, yeah, we're not equipped for that by nature, but, uh, but I think we, I think we gotta stop and acknowledge and, and, um, have them conversations. We, we need to take the time to have that conversation. With the next generation that can take care of business, like we don't know how.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yep. And they're moving probably in a little different way than we were taught. Maybe physically they're not moving as much, but maybe they're getting more done as they're standing there on the phone. And, and that's, I, I fight that. Uh, but, but. I'm shining a light on myself that sometimes we may have to figure it out that they're moving just in a different way.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Yep. They are. And it, it doesn't, doesn't hurt to stop, mean I had to stop. I was, hadn't been home three days in three weeks and was home today and I had a lot of movement to do outside, and came in here and sat down and had this conversation on video and, and I'm. And I'm realizing these, this is what I do, this is what I want to do, this is the message that I want, get out there and, and, um, and you've got a great avenue. This is, I, I'm, I'm just very thankful that you asked me to be on.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Well, I'm thankful that you made time for it and could, and because this is, this is gonna go down as one of the great ones and you know, you said something a little bit ago, we've got to sell them on the vision. I guess my final question for you, Justin, would be how in an industry that's pretty steeped in tradition-- rodeo, ranching-- you have a lot of vision that may often be a little bit, challenging to the traditions that, that we all have here in the cattle industry, the horse industry, the rodeo industry. How do you sell that vision to everybody around you? That loves that the, the reason they're in this industry is because of the tradition and they wish that they were born a hundred years earlier. And here you are saying, Hey, we need to skate to where the puck is going to be. We need to be where we're going to be in 5, 10, 25 years. How do, how do you balance that in a, in a world steeped with that tradition?
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612You know, I worked for 20 years out on the road announcing. Mainly with the PBR at that time. But my whole goal, what drove me at that time was want, I want to, I wanna pay for some land and um, was my drive. And then I wanna be able to have enough land and cattle by the time I put in my 20 or 25 years, go home and ranch. Well, that's what I did. And then the Cowboy Channel, Patrick Gottsch called and I had to, I had to really dig in deep and think about my impact. What impact am I having on the world feeding cows, which is what I enjoy, raising babies, the whole process compared to having a platform like the Cowboy Channel? The value I can give to my fellow man is greater, being on tv. Now, not everybody's gonna have a chance to be on tv, but again, they have a TV in their hand. How are you going to see? There's two types of people in this world. There's consumers and there's contributors. Uh, too often we we're last years when we realize, I don't think I contributed enough. In my lifetime, oh my gosh. If I had this to go over again, I would. would give more. And so the greatest asset we have is our time and our stories and in agriculture, our lifestyle. And so we are adding value here. Here's, here's what I believe the Cowboy Channel was created for. The Cowboy Channel was created to add value rural Americans lives, and I think we've been very successful with that. That's been my mission statement when I seen it happen. When I started hearing people come up to me out on the road I've never met before, and they say we love watching the Cowboy Channel, it's a whole new life for us now that we have our sport, our people to cheer for. It's radically changed our mind. We watch it 24 hours a day. It's the only thing we watch, and I can see the excitement and their sincerity. I realize, man, we're adding value to people's lives. Every day, we're adding value. That's the purpose of life. Sell the younger generation on the impact that they can have on the world. See, I, other thing I teach is as we talk about being a contributor, that is the purpose of life. Man, I wanna change the world. I wanna be a world changer. Sometimes our goals aren't big enough. I know we just spend our time trying to survive, but need to stop and realize what are we really doing here? And I'm not talking about contributing money. None of this stuff, when I say contribute, I'm not talking about writing checks.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Right.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612telling your story that doesn't cost anything but a little time. And I think that's an easy sell. I think that's a, a great concept. I think. I think it will, it will create space for young people to come back to the family operation. I mean, so you need a whole marketing team to do this, right? Which could be one person on the team that's part-time that you're gonna have a horseback while he's working or she's working of the time. I they can still be in between getting good shots at the working chute. They can still be back there pushing them up to you. It's, it's a no brainer. I think, uh, I
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612And,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612be good
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612And, even more powerful when it's when they're doing it all. And I think that that adds,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Yes,
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612yeah, adds to that authenticity, adds to that reality. Um, yeah, it just, it, it all comes together and is even more believable when you do it that way.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612That's exactly right, and it comes back to you
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yes.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612seeing the value to contribute to somebody else by telling your story, you know that you've added value. That's gratification. That's fulfillment, that is peace. And when you get all of that, then you get clarity and then you can hear God's voice easier and you get rid of all the busyness up there and the worry and, you're more focused on man, you When, when you tell your story and you put it out there and somebody comments on your Facebook post and says, "thank you for giving me something beautiful to look at today," or even better. "You that I got to spend
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Hm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612two days at your operation getting to meet your family. It changed my life." That's what's gonna happen to people that take this advice and then you're gonna go, oh, that's what I'm here for.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yep. Well, sometimes, Justin, and I have to really work as the host of this podcast to, um, tie things together that we've just talked about for the last hour. I got nothing. That sums it up and sums our lives out here in rural America up as well as any guest I've had. And so all I've got is thank you for being here, for doing what you're doing and all of the different spaces that you're doing them and reminding us just why we do this. We didn't get in it for the money it, it may be in the cattle deal right now, may be pretty profitable, probably more profitable than anybody listening to this has ever seen,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612Yes.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612But we didn't come into this business because of that. We came in for the very reasons that you've just outlined. And I think sometimes we have to be reminded of those reasons. And as you've said, the fact that we need to share that and contribute back to not only our industry, but society in general. So thank you so much.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612thing, it'll take
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612You bet. You bet.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612trying to work this into my conversation at any event that I'm announcing, especially at rodeos. And, and I think it's, it's vital and, uh, and, uh, it's my responsibility to remind people that we, the people of agriculture are caretakers. The land and the caretakers livestock, we've been chosen by God who gave us great passion to do whatever it takes leave this land better than how we found it, and to give these animals the best life possible. Why haven't, why haven't you, and I heard that before.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Hmm.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612That's the truth.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Yes, sir.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612That is the truth. And I'm, I'm embarrassed that I haven't, I've had all these missed opportunities to tell that over the years, but not anymore. And that's changed just this week, is I have got to tell people that we are, we're the people that care most about the land. We're the people that care the most about the animals. That's it. It is. That simple. I can't wait to tell that story.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Amen. Amen. Well, that, uh, once again you did it again. Summed it up perfectly and, uh, yeah,
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612I
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612we will. No, that's, that's what we need. Those kinds of challenges, those kinds of thoughts from someone else. Oftentimes that's why one of the many reasons we created this podcast was so that folks who don't get off the ranch very often can hear these messages and be assured that they're in the right spots and have some ways to even do better. Justin, thanks a million for being on here and again for all that you do and, um, this has been a blast for me to record and I know it's gonna be a blast for everybody to listen to. so thank you.
squadcaster-da39_3_11-11-2025_110612so. I've loved it. I'm, I'm so thankful that you called and, and I can't wait to see, uh, you continue to do great work.
matt_3_11-11-2025_110612Awesome. Thanks a bunch Justin. Do.
Thanks for tuning in to Practically Ranching, brought to you by Dalebanks Angus, and thank you again for making our 2025 sale a record- setter for us, 147 yearling and coming 2-year-old Bulls average just over 13,000 ahead in the six fall heifer yearlings average 97 50. If you didn't get a bull through the sale, we will have some private treaty this fall and winter and then again, uh, mid-March of next year. So may God bless you. Have a happy Thanksgiving and we'll talk again soon.
