OFI 1256: Farming The Entire Countryside With Goats | FFA SAE Edition | Willis Wolf |Replay of OFI #703

In today’s show, I feature a replay of an awesome interview with one FFA member who is making a goat business work. He is expanding and finding new ways to not only grow his goat herd, but also to grow his goat herd. Check out today’s replay of episode 703.

Notes from the original show:#

INTRODUCING WILLIS WOLF!

In today’s interview I get to talk about some familiar agricultural country for me – the Central Valley of California.  Willis Wolf is from Merced, California and he is currently studying agricultural business at Fresno State University.  He has done something that I have always thought was possible, but that I have never implemented.

Willis started raising goats some years ago, and it is something that he really took to.  As a result he kept growing and growing his herd.  Today he has 600 head of does that he is raising.  That will equal somewhere between 1200-1500 kids per year.  He needs a lot of land to do this, but his family does not have that many acres.

So, Willis has found people with ground, up and down the Central Valley, where he can raise his goats.  It was an interesting discussion because there are so many pieces of ground that look like they would be great places to put goats, but they are lacking infrastructure.

Willis told me that he will build fence on other people’s property in order to be able to keep goats there.  He works out the cost of this in the contract.  For example, depending on the cost of the fence, he might not pay rent at the property for 1 or 2 years until he has been reimbursed for the capital investment.

Willis has some awesome plans for his goats.  He wants to become fully, vertically integrated with goat meat production.  He sees a future for goat consumption in the United States, and he is poised to take advantage of that.

It is clearly Willis’ work ethic and vision for the future that has led him to be a national finalist for star farmer this year!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Goat Production

HIGH SCHOOL: El Capitan High School; Merced, California

MASCOT: Gaucho’s

FFA ADVISOR: Celia Casso

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR WILLIS WOLF:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the El Capitan High School Ag. Department’s website:

Willis’s FFA Advisor’s Email Address: ccasso@muhsd.org

El Capitan High School’s Telephone Number: 209-384-5500

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA – One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start – pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

• Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
• Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
• Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald: