“Been farming long?”: Growing up on the farm, with Mosey and Justin Ralph

[00:00:08.010] - Chris Griffin

  Welcome to Back to Your Roots, a podcast that provides insight into all things farming, financing, and farm life, guiding you back to your roots.

  [00:00:17.570] - Jordan Turnage

  Today's episode is Growing up as a Farm Kid, and we like to dedicate this episode to the memory of Brooks Foster. Well we've got Mosey Ralph with us here in the studio this afternoon. Mosey is the son of Justin and Meagan Ralph. Their family has 24 chicken barns, and they have a row crop operation consisting of corn, wheat, and soybeans.

  [00:00:39.050] - Chris Griffin

  So, Mosey, I've heard a lot about you. Shay's been telling me about you and everybody else at River Valley, and I don't know much about you. It was the first time we've ever met, but just tell us a little bit about yourself, about how old you are and what you like doing for fun and things like that.

  [00:00:54.610] - Mosey Ralph

  I'm ten years old. I like helping around the farm a lot. I just have fun.

  [00:01:01.490] - Jordan Turnage

  I got you. You're running chickens and running tractors whenever you get a chance.

  [00:01:06.560] - Chris Griffin

  Keeping your dad in line.

  [00:01:08.668] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:01:08.740] - Jordan Turnage

  I'm sure that probably don't pay enough, I imagine.

  [00:01:12.530] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:01:14.890] - Jordan Turnage

  So what's it like growing up on a family farm?

  [00:01:19.210] - Mosey Ralph

  It's just fun. Easy, hard, kind of. I've helped move equipment a lot, help load semis and stuff like that. So help set up chicken barns.

  [00:01:31.830] - Chris Griffin

  Dad wake you up early in the morning?

  [00:01:33.520] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:01:34.110] - Chris Griffin

  How early?

  [00:01:34.930] - Mosey Ralph

  Six.

  [00:01:35.750] - Chris Griffin

  Oh, man. And how old are you again?

  [00:01:38.500] - Mosey Ralph

  Ten.

  [00:01:38.880] - Chris Griffin

  Oh, man.

  [00:01:39.310] - Jordan Turnage

  So you got to kick to bed or are you ready to go in the mornings?

  [00:01:41.490] - Mosey Ralph

  I'm ready to go.

  [00:01:43.170] - Chris Griffin

  You ready to get rolling?

  [00:01:44.490] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:01:45.410] - Chris Griffin

  You're probably waking him up, aren't you?

  [00:01:47.157] - Mosey Ralph

  No.

  [00:01:47.220] - Jordan Turnage

  Just trying to be quiet for by else in the house. Babies and sisters. Try to keep them all in line.

  [00:01:55.970] - Chris Griffin

  Well, speaking of that, you talked about your sisters. You have three sisters. What's it like growing up with are they older than you?

  [00:02:02.070] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:02:02.650] - Chris Griffin

  Three older sisters.

  [00:02:04.210] - Mosey Ralph

  Only two.

  [00:02:05.060] - Chris Griffin

  Okay.

  [00:02:05.480] - Mosey Ralph

  One's 15, ones 13 and then one's five.

  [00:02:08.490] - Chris Griffin

  So you're kind of that you kind of take care of her, and then you got two older sisters take care of you. I got you. What's it like growing up with three sisters?

  [00:02:18.490] - Mosey Ralph

  Not easy.

  [00:02:20.250] - Chris Griffin

  I don't doubt it. I didn't have any sisters, but I can only imagine.

  [00:02:26.170] - Jordan Turnage

  Yeah. I wouldn't say I lucked out not having any sisters. I've got a little daughter myself right now, so I know what it's like on the father end of raising a daughter, and she's only a year and a half right now, so I can't imagine her being much older and what things are going to be like going forward. I'm sure you got your hands full trying to keep them in line.

  [00:02:44.090] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:02:44.980] - Jordan Turnage

  So I bet, though, being out working and like you've been having to do, you run a lot of late nights, early mornings, because you're just ten years old. I understand, but, you know, I'm sure by now that in farming and agriculture, there's no set time. I'm sure your dad's taught you that you work till the job gets done. You work a lot of late nights, early mornings. What's that like for you?

  [00:03:15.390] - Mosey Ralph

  When I come home at late, I'm tired, I eat supper, go to bed.

  [00:03:22.780] - Chris Griffin

  What's your favorite supper to eat? What's your favorite food?

  [00:03:26.440] - Jordan Turnage

  Yeah.

  [00:03:26.690] - Jordan Turnage

  You'd be out there all day long.

  [00:03:29.170] - Chris Griffin

  What is the thing? If you're like, Man, I am starving. Yes, this is what I'm eating.

  [00:03:33.490] - Mosey Ralph

  She just cooks us whatever, and I'm like, okay.

  [00:03:36.420] - Chris Griffin

  Mama cooks whatever she cooks. You better eat it.

  [00:03:39.910] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:03:40.410] - Chris Griffin

  No doubt. I know that you're ten years old. You're already way ahead of most people. You're a lot smarter than most guys, I promise you.

  [00:03:50.010] - Jordan Turnage

  And just saying thank you to Mama when she comes in, for sure.

  [00:03:54.970] - Chris Griffin

  So I know you got a lot of early mornings and late nights, so when your dad tells you to help him out, what mainly do you do? What's your responsibilities, what's he expecting out of you during the day?

  [00:04:07.280] - Mosey Ralph

  Since I'm the only boy, and since everyone said they have to help, he's expecting me to do the most because they always gripe and stuff.

  [00:04:15.780] - Chris Griffin

  Oh, man, are you serious? Goodness, gracious.

  [00:04:18.680] - Jordan Turnage

  Well, you got to be dependable.

  [00:04:20.120] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:04:21.090] - Chris Griffin

  You kind of keep them in line.

  [00:04:22.690] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:04:23.460] - Chris Griffin

  I got you natural born leader. Okay. Yeah.

  [00:04:27.130] - Jordan Turnage

  What's your favorite thing to do on the farm?

  [00:04:29.610] - Mosey Ralph

  Well, other than Combine, probably just spraying.

  [00:04:33.010] - Chris Griffin

  Oh, okay.

  [00:04:34.470] - Jordan Turnage

  You get to run a sprayer.

  [00:04:36.000] - Mosey Ralph

  No.

  [00:04:36.650] - Jordan Turnage

  But I did hear, and I saw on Facebook, you did get to run Combine this past wheat season, didn't you?

  [00:04:42.830] - Chris Griffin

  How was that?

  [00:04:43.760] - Mosey Ralph

  It was fun.

  [00:04:44.600] - Chris Griffin

  Yeah?

  [00:04:45.150] - Mosey Ralph

  Cool. It's a lot easier than just steering because you got auto steer.

  [00:04:50.710] - Jordan Turnage

  Yeah. But you got to watch everything you're doing. I imagine a lot of money, a lot of moving machinery going in one part. Are you going to push your dad out, put him in the grain buggy?

  [00:04:59.370] - Mosey Ralph

  No.

  [00:04:59.780] - Jordan Turnage

  Have him run trucks?

  [00:05:01.710] - Mosey Ralph

  No. When I get in high school, I'm probably going to have to run the grain cart.

  [00:05:05.160] - Chris Griffin

  Oh, goodness. Well, I'd be all right.

  [00:05:08.470] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:05:09.490] - Chris Griffin

  That would be all right.

  [00:05:11.090] - Jordan Turnage

  Full day of farming. That's fun.

  [00:05:13.220] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:05:13.830] - Jordan Turnage

  My granddaddy growing up, my mama's daddy, we raised cotton in Southeast Missouri, and my granddaddy let me run cotton picker a couple of times. And I was about your age, a little younger, and I'll be 34 this year. And those memories, that's still one of the best memories I ever have with my granddad just having those moments, and you'll get nothing but time on that, going forward. Those moments of being out there and stirring up dust and getting to work with your dad.

  [00:05:45.880] - Chris Griffin

  That's pretty cool, because you are going to build a lot of really awesome memories with your dad that I'm sure he appreciates, too.

  [00:05:51.790] - Chris Griffin

  You'll be able to carry that on to your kids someday. So that's really neat.

  [00:05:55.470] - Jordan Turnage

  And your sisters.

  [00:05:58.210] - Chris Griffin

  As long as they are not griping about it.

  [00:05:59.810] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:06:01.010] - Jordan Turnage

  Now, with the sisters, did they go out and help you when you all go to the chicken barns? They help pick up dead chickens.

  [00:06:09.110] - Mosey Ralph

  Only the oldest one. Only the oldest on and me do it, because the five year old, she...

  [00:06:17.640] - Chris Griffin

  Well, she's the baby.

  [00:06:18.800] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:06:19.310] - Jordan Turnage

  You got to give her some leeway.

  [00:06:20.630] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah, she is. And in the middle, child upset in the middle about me. She just complains the most.

  [00:06:33.150] - Jordan Turnage

  Well, that's going to happen.

  [00:06:35.540] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:06:36.590] - Chris Griffin

  So what's your least favorite part about working on the farm? I mean, the least favorite?

  [00:06:42.750] - Mosey Ralph

  Picking up limbs.

  [00:06:44.310] - Jordan Turnage

  Picking up limbs?

  [00:06:45.470] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:06:47.490] - Mosey Ralph

  No

  [00:06:47.960] - Chris Griffin

  I mean, that's amazing. He is definitely a farm kid because the dead chickens was not the least favorite part. The picking up the limbs was.

  [00:06:55.990] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:06:56.800] - Chris Griffin

  I hate picking up limbs at my own house, so I can't imagine

  [00:07:00.970] - Jordan Turnage

  Get the four-wheeler go out there and throw it in the back.

  [00:07:03.110] - Mosey Ralph

  We don't have a full wheeler or anything.

  [00:07:05.330] - Chris Griffin

  Just got to walk around.

  [00:07:06.800] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:07:07.260] - Chris Griffin

Oh, man.

  [00:07:08.300] - Mosey Ralph

  We have a scout that I help with move equipment and stuff, but it's about it.

  [00:07:15.930] - Jordan Turnage

  Chunking is never fun. There's going to be quite a bit, probably this next few months.

  [00:07:20.760] - Mosey Ralph

  Yes.

  [00:07:21.310] - Jordan Turnage

  We get the water back down. We'll see where everything's at. So I guess the big question is after all this is do you see yourself taking on family responsibility of being a farmer going forward?

  [00:07:36.050] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah, but I'm going to go to college and play football and basketball and baseball. Yeah.

  [00:07:42.400] - Jordan Turnage

  You already got a scholarship.

  [00:07:43.830] - Mosey Ralph

  No.

  [00:07:45.010] - Jordan Turnage

  Hey, we're on a worldwide podcast right now. We'll put your name out there. We'll get you lined.

  [00:07:49.760] - Chris Griffin

  You're going to be famous.

  [00:07:50.530] - Jordan Turnage

  Yes, sir. We'll get you in state. I'm going to coach Cal here. This today with UK. We're not going to talk about the other school.

  [00:07:59.110] - Chris Griffin

  Kind know that Jordan's a Tennessee fan. Do you know that?

  [00:08:02.410] - Jordan Turnage

  Well, I'm even going to bring up that.

  [00:08:04.090] - Chris Griffin

  Who do you like? UK.

  [00:08:05.790] - Mosey Ralph

  UK, Alabama, and Murray State.

  [00:08:08.480] - Chris Griffin

  Alabama and UK? Yeah, I went to Murray State. I like Murray State.

  [00:08:13.980] - Jordan Turnage

  I was just talking about Louisville. We were just going to call it out there, that other school.

  [00:08:19.150] - Chris Griffin

  Nobody likes Tennessee, do they?

  [00:08:20.830] - Jordan Turnage

  No, I didn't go to school.

  [00:08:23.460] - Chris Griffin

  I thought I hear about all the time with office, Tennessee this, Tennessee that.

  [00:08:26.770] - Jordan Turnage

  I'm like, well, when y'all beat us in football, we'll pick it back up.

  [00:08:33.350] - Chris Griffin

  We're not a football school, are we? No.

  [00:08:36.140] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah, we are.

  [00:08:37.400] - Mosey Ralph

  Well, we're a basketball school.

  [00:08:39.450] - Jordan Turnage

  It's coming.

  [00:08:40.020] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:08:41.110] - Jordan Turnage

  So I hear also that with the family dynamic, you've got your okay, who all do you have other than your dad, who all helps out there on the farm besides your sister?

  [00:08:54.650] - Mosey Ralph

  My dad's uncle and then his brother. And that's it. His mom and dad. My dad's mom and dad own some land, but we just rent it from them.

  [00:09:06.620] - Jordan Turnage

  I got you. How far back did your granddad's granddad do that before them?

  [00:09:13.410] - Mosey Ralph

  Um, I remember Joe, he was my dad's granddad and then my mom, John Riley, he was a livestock person. And that's about it.

  [00:09:28.730] - Jordan Turnage

  We're going to get the other side of this coin real quick. We're going to get dad involved in on this conversation, the real story.

  [00:09:33.417] - Mosey Ralph

  ok.

  [00:09:33.480] - Jordan Turnage

  We'll see if you all sync up on this.

  [00:09:37.610] - Chris Griffin

  So we talked to him. He said he's obviously a hard worker. Now, he did say his sisters weren't the best, but what is the real story behind that? And just tell us a little bit about his work ethic, his personality. And I know he's your son, but at the same time, obviously, there's a lot of pride that goes with you know, what makes you proud of him is his work ethic, his personality.

  [00:10:07.670] - Justin Ralph

  A tremendous amount of pride. Because, of course, every father wants to have a son to grow up on the farm and to eventually take his place on the farm with him. And of course, Mosey, he's been going with me for, well, since he was a little small enough to ride in a car seat. He rode with me in a semi and I'd even put a potty chair in the combine. And if he had used bathroom, he'd use the bathroom or whatever. But he's gone with me since the day he started kindergarten is pretty tearful day because it was almost like the end of an era. So then after that, he would go with me after school on the farm and everything and often have late nights and early mornings during the summer and stuff like that, hauling grain and setting up chicken barns. Of course, we get a large operation having chicken barns and roll crop as well.

  [00:10:58.740] - Jordan Turnage

  You got 24 barns you all take care of?

  [00:11:00.850] - Speaker 5

  Yes, between me and my brother, we have 24 poultry barns for Pilgrims Pride.

  [00:11:05.010] - Jordan Turnage

  I was asking Moses, so how far back is you all's like family legacy?

  [00:11:10.220] - Justin Ralph

  There my grandfather and my great uncle, my great uncle's name, of course, my grandfather's name was Joe Riley and his brother's name was Moses Riley. And that's who we name Mosey after. He was a very particular farmer. He farmed my granddad, but he was a good guy and that's who we decided to name Mosey after.

  [00:11:35.870] - Jordan Turnage

  Mosey told us that you ain't got to kick the bed to get him up in the mornings to get him going.

  [00:11:41.420] - Justin Ralph

  No.

  [00:11:41.970] - Chris Griffin

  He's ready to go is what he said.

  [00:11:43.540] - Justin Ralph

  He is even going to school. We've got an intercom system in our house and I'll say, Mosey, time to get up. And he's like...

  [00:11:50.630] - Chris Griffin

  Well, dad, I'm already up.

  [00:11:51.650] - Justin Ralph

  That's right.

  [00:11:52.640] - Justin Ralph

  And on days that we're going to the farm and everything, he'll get his clothes out the night before and be ready to go.

  [00:11:57.350] - Chris Griffin

  That's good.

  [00:11:58.150] - Justin Ralph

  Get up and go into work.

  [00:11:59.110] - Jordan Turnage

  That's few and far between these days.

  [00:12:01.180] - Justin Ralph
Yes, it is.

  [00:12:02.950] - Chris Griffin

  Now, he said his least favorite thing to do is pick up sticks on the farm. And I thought maybe it'd be picking up the dead chickens or something, but picking up the sticks, they do that's the least favorite thing is what he said.

  [00:12:12.830] - Justin Ralph

  Well, picking up chunks, like if we do some clearing, dozer work and stuff, chunks, that can be some of the worst part of the job.

  [00:12:21.070] - Jordan Turnage

  On my granddaddy, he had a Honda foreman and a trailer and he just said, start there at ditch and just go around every log you see. You better get it, otherwise those planters going to so we just made sure we got out there and got was, yeah, I got thrown into that. So I totally understand them chunking days. I told him, I said he's probably going to have quite a bit with how this weather has been this past couple of weeks here.

  [00:12:44.360] - Chris Griffin

  Now, Mosey, your dad's here too, but now do you want to be a farmer? Do you want to take over the farm one day? Is that your ultimate goal?

  [00:12:52.290] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah, yeah.

  [00:12:53.160] - Jordan Turnage

  But he's got his mind right on one thing, that's for sure. I want to go secondary education after this and come having that background and that fallback on either doing college or farming, they'll pay its dividends either way, that's for sure. You get your sweat equity in it right now.

  [00:13:08.220] - Mosey Ralph

  Yeah.

  [00:13:09.210] - Justin Ralph

  So when you got started with your brother and some other people in your family, can you just explain how that started, how that all came to fruition for you guys with the chicken barns and everything else?

  [00:13:21.510] - Justin Ralph

  Well, my uncle, he farmed with my grandfather and he told us, he said, you need to go back to college. That way if the farm operation doesn't pan out, then you got something to fall back on. So we went to college, got a degree.

  [00:13:37.450] - Jordan Turnage

  Where'd you go?

  [00:13:38.200] - Justin Ralph

  Murray State University. And just so happened at the end of my senior year, I had a teacher for poultry science. His name is Kevin Crider and he's over the Mayfield Pilgrims Pride complex and it was kind of getting my foot in the door for the poultry industry. And I told him me and my brother might be interested in building some chicken barns. So we first built a four piece and believe it was 2006. And then we expanded our operation in 2016, built twelve more and then bought our cousins, I believe in 18, we bought four more. But that was kind of our way to come back on the farm and be able to be part of the family farm operation with my uncle.

  [00:14:24.550] - Jordan Turnage

  Having that secondary flow of income, having the row crop go on top of the chickens. Chickens it's every day.

  [00:14:31.590] - Justin Ralph

  Oh, definitely. It's just like running a dairy. Just like running a dairy. But that's the one thing about having the poultry on our farm. You've got the fertilize, you've always got.

  [00:14:42.250] - Jordan Turnage

  Steady income coming in cash flow. I mean, when it comes to poultry barns, getting them set up on our end too. Cash flow is key on that. And having those little secondary outlets for repayment and cash flow for you all, I mean, that's just got to pay itself back. Especially kind of like in years we've had the past couple of years when tornado hitting Mayfield and drought from last year.

  [00:15:05.700] - Justin Ralph

  That's correct.

  [00:15:06.360] - Jordan Turnage

  The weather we're having to deal with this year proof is going to be in the pudding once we get up there and start harvesting this year. It's nice to have something you can lean fall back on.

  [00:15:16.730] - Justin Ralph

  Exactly.

  [00:15:17.910] - Chris Griffin

  I know you've been doing this for a long time. What are some changes you've seen in the industry over your time in farming? And for the positive or the negative?

  [00:15:28.550] - Chris Griffin

  I guess either way.

  [00:15:29.800] - Justin Ralph

  Alot of technology and equipment. When we first started, I first started, like, spraying and stuff on the farm. We run foam markers on our sprayer, and you'd have to watch out on the end of your boom and try to follow where you're going. And now we've got auto steer on every piece of equipment we've got. So you spray. Mosey he rides with me a lot in the sprayer. And I always noticed watching him, he's always watching my monitor over there as I'm spraying it's painting the monitor, and it's shutting off tip by tip as I cross waterways or once I get to my end rows where I've already made a coverage map. But it's the same way with the combine and everything. We've got auto steer on the combine as well. And he got to learn this year. Well, last year was his first year running the combine by himself. I sit beside him in the seed, and this year he cut probably 30 acres by himself.

  [00:16:18.640] - Chris Griffin

  That's awesome.

  [00:16:19.280] - Jordan Turnage

  I saw that on Facebook.

  [00:16:22.270] - Chris Griffin

  So awesome.

  [00:16:22.800] - Justin Ralph

  But he did an amazing job. And one of our hired hands, he was running the grain cart and Mosey new everything to do, fold his auger out and unload on the go. And hopefully he can follow in my footsteps one of these days and run the grain cart for me.

  [00:16:38.190] - Chris Griffin

  No telling what the technology will be like then by the time he takes over.

  [00:16:42.850] - Jordan Turnage

  You don't need farm simulator when you got the real thing.

  [00:16:44.640] - Chris Griffin

  Can you tell us a little bit, you've been a longtime member and borrower of River Valley. Kind of what it's like working with us and just the relationship that we kind of have together. I know we have a lot of respect for you guys.

  [00:16:58.600] - Speaker 5

  Right.

  [00:16:59.680] - Chris Griffin

  And so forth.

  [00:17:00.170] - Justin Ralph

  Anytime that we've decided to make an expansion on our farm, whether it's build more chicken barns or purchase a farm or buy more equipment or whatever, they've always had our back, even when the tornado hit. They worked with us on the payment schedules and everything.

  [00:17:17.980] - Jordan Turnage

  Yeah, flock schedule.

  [00:17:19.110] - Justin Ralph

  Flock schedule and everything. But the way they set it up in the beginning, it made it where our barns cash flow, I mean, we make six payments, six payments per set of barns that we have per year. And it works out really well for a cash flow standpoint on that.

  [00:17:37.240] - Chris Griffin

  Well, and I know know we had Kyle Yancey on our first episode and something that we and I know Jordan and know we both do some ag lending is we always want to put people in a good situation, know, build a good relationship. And I always feel like we try to do that as best we can.

  [00:17:53.430] - Jordan Turnage

  I just think it takes a servant's heart.

  [00:17:57.320] - Chris Griffin

  Well, I mean you've got it's one thing to lend money out, but it's another to hopefully build some type of relationship there. You're putting that borrower in a good position and you're building a long-term, long-standing relationship and it's not just a one-time transaction.

  [00:18:10.530] - Justin Ralph

  Yes, we've always had good lenders. Well, actually George Cates first got us started out whenever he was working there and he retired. Then Seth Carter. But they always call us and ask if we need stuff, bring lunch to the field. And they've been really good to work with, I mean, almost like family.

  [00:18:27.590] - Jordan Turnage

  Yeah, that's what it takes. As loan officers, we all feel like we are an extension of your operation and if we succeed and help you guys succeed, everybody wins.

  [00:18:40.050] - Justin Ralph

  That's right.

  [00:18:40.740] - Jordan Turnage

  And we work for you all and that's something we don't ever want to forget or take advantage of. And so it's legacy farmers like you all that make us proud to come in here and turn lights on and have the opportunity to work and take care of you guys well.

  [00:18:55.870] - Chris Griffin

  And it's such a specialized lending. I mean, it really does. It takes somebody that I've learned a lot since I've been here and just understanding what that operation looks like, understanding what a poultry operation looks like. It's different if you go to some lenders. It's not always going to look right on paper.

  [00:19:12.290] - Justin Ralph

  That's right.

  [00:19:13.160] - Chris Griffin

  You have to look at it a certain way. And so I think having that background and ability to do that definitely helps everybody. So anyway, I could go on about River Valley. I've been here for a year. I love it. I love working here and all the people I work with. But I've really built a lot of good relationships with my portfolio and borrowers and I know like mean, I know he does a great job.

  [00:19:37.630] - Justin Ralph

  Yes, sir.

  [00:19:38.300] - Chris Griffin

  And so I know he's first class.

  [00:19:41.570] - Jordan Turnage

  Seth, he's gone above and beyond for Graves County this past year and a half for everything that they've had to face. And I feel like as a loan officer, that's where the proofs in the pudding with us is because we have to be able to be there and stand there and good and the bad, we're going to stand there with you and we're going to weather the storm, literally. That's right. Good times and bad, we're going to be there for you and we're going to find a way to make you successful because we're not in the business to hand out bad loans and we sure don't want to see our borrowers turn upside down. We want to see you all happy and successful and you guys having a smart head on your shoulders like that and the operations you all have right now, it's definitely proven.

  [00:20:29.840] - Justin Ralph

  One thing I've learned after I got out of college, you've got to diversify. You can't just have your roll crop. You've got to have other things such as chicken barns or a lot of people now doing hog barns or cattle barns or whatever. But we added solar to our operation as well and it's worked out well. But different things like that has helped us expand and diversify. So you've got different sources of income coming in.

  [00:20:59.320] - Chris Griffin

  That answers a little bit of the question I was going to ask next if you had obviously Mosey he is ten, but you've got farmers out there that have just started out or maybe new to the business. And what advice do you have for them as they continue to grow their operation? And personal advice and business advice and kind of what they need to keep their mind on when they're working.

  [00:21:26.810] - Justin Ralph

  Don't be afraid to go out on a limb and take a chance, because if you don't, never take a chance and don't ever try, you're never going to know if it's going to work out. And one thing I've learned too, you've got to take a lot of pride. Like whenever you build something from scratch or whatever, take a lot of pride in it, take care of it that way it looks good 10, 15, 20 years down the road as it does the day that you built it. Because the more pride you take in it, then it's going to look and carry on for generations.

  [00:21:56.090] - Chris Griffin

  And just like anything else, your name is attached to that farm. That's right. My dad used to always say doesn't take very much time to build up a reputation. It takes a long time to build up a reputation, but a minute to tear it, destroy it, basically. Just like Mosey. You can tell when he talks, he's proud of you and he's proud of the farm. And it's got his last name attached to it. And you can tell it means something to him in his heart. And that's neat to see. And you can just tell by the way he talks, you know, that's how he feels.

  [00:22:32.330] - Jordan Turnage

  And he knows it's more than just turning a steering wheel on a tractor.

  [00:22:35.210] - Chris Griffin

  I think that's the biggest thing. That's right, he knows it's more than just that. Not many ten year old, I'll tell you this, not many ten-year-olds talk like he talks. I'll be honest with you, I think you got a ten-year going on 18.

  [00:22:47.970] - Justin Ralph

  So I have a feeling I feel that way with all my kids. Yeah, me and my wife's. Very blessed to have four great kids now.

  [00:22:54.580] - Chris Griffin

  He said he has to keep the youngest girl in line, though.

  [00:22:57.290] - Justin Ralph

  He does the younger sister. That's right.

  [00:22:59.960] - Chris Griffin

  Okay.

  [00:23:00.440] - Justin Ralph

  He's kind of her overseer, of course, every big brother.

  [00:23:04.160] - Chris Griffin

  Absolutely. Yeah. That's funny.

  [00:23:07.540] - Justin Ralph

  But they do work together, all my children. They all work together good on the farm, even setting up chicken barn and stuff. I can put them in there and the three of them will go. The oldest kids, they can go set up chicken barns by themselves. I mean, they've been with me long enough to do it. And they even help our hired hands that we've got on the farm as well do it.

  [00:23:25.910] - Jordan Turnage

  Do they have a favorite they like to do? Do they stick with the poultry side or they like to get out there with you all do row crop, too?

  [00:23:34.630] - Justin Ralph

  Mostly. They help us a lot on the poultry farm side of it, but then they'll come and ride with me in the sprayer or the combine in the fall, in the summertime. But I remember we trying to finish up cutting beans this past year, and they wrote one night we cut to actually one or two oclock in the morning before the rain, and I think three of the kids, they rode with me till we got done that night. But it's times like that that you really appreciate what you do. And raising kids on a farm, it makes it all worth it at the end of the day.

  [00:24:12.950] - Jordan Turnage

  What's your favorite? We've asked Mosey, what's your motivator, what's your big thing and what you like to get you going every morning?

  [00:24:21.270] - Justin Ralph

  To know that I'm doing something different every single day. And you're planting that seed from just like we get chickens every so many weeks, we start a new flock of chickens from scratch. It's the same way every year. You're starting a new crop from scratch and you're dependent on a lot of things, Mother Nature and the Good Lord, to see you through another year, another season. And the same way with the flock of chickens, you just hope that you get a good batch of chickens and you do what you do every time and get up and go about it every day, just like you did the last flock.

  [00:24:57.080] - Chris Griffin

  I feel like there's so much faith in farming, and they're typically very strong in their religion and trust in God, and I think that's important. I had a borrower in my office just before I came here, and we were just talking about how much they put their faith and fate in everything at the beginning of the year. Every single year, they start from zero. And I don't think people who are outside of agriculture, they understand that. I don't think they understand the hardships and the struggles and a lot of different things. That's your livelihood. That's right.

  [00:25:35.370] - Jordan Turnage

  It takes a lot of faith.

  [00:25:36.980] - Chris Griffin

  It does put that in the ground. We were talking about operating lines of credit earlier and I said, yeah. I said, people always ask me what do they use those for? And I said, well, they're having to buy a bunch of stuff that they haven't even grown or whatever. And I said, they're pulling out a lot of money with the understanding that everything's going to work out that year. That's right. Normally it does. Not always it does. But one thing I was going to say, we talked about the tornado real quick and just a little bit on that when that happened. I think. Obviously, I'm not from Mayfield. I'm from Paducah. You just tell us a little bit about how that community came together and rallied around each other, especially the farming community, because I know I've heard stories about that and kind of what that looked like, because that farming community, it's a special community, it's different. And just kind of what that looked like and how all that came together.

  [00:26:35.940] - Justin Ralph

  Right when the tornado hit, there was a lot of farmers that stepped up the plate and helped with pilgrims because they was without a feed mill. And then not only the farmers, but you hit other poultry complexes around Tyson and other areas around the country. They was helping out Pilgrims, supplying them with chickens. But going back to the farmer side of it, a lot of the growers, whether they raised corn for Pilgrims or whatever or sold them corn or they raised chickens for them, you had several farmers that was hauling grain and having a makeshift grain site for receiving feed. And that's what got us by during the time after the tornado, until they got the feed mill patched back up and going and stuff. But farmers are always willing to give the shirt off their back to help anybody. And I mean, it was part of our livelihood that we was trying to patch back together and that's what the farmers did. They stepped to the plate and got the pilgrimage back up and going.

  [00:27:42.800] - Chris Griffin

  I almost feel like it's one of me not being there, but I almost feel like it's one of those things that they didn't ask any questions. Where you need me to be? Where you need me and what can I do? How quick do you need me? What I kind of envision it being.

  [00:27:55.900] - Jordan Turnage

  Because you're used to that regular turnover in between flocks. And there was a time there they couldn't even probably give you all a definite time on in between and what kind of quality you all were going to get on your feed. And it just pushed come to shove last year and everybody stepped up to the plate and really knocked it out of the park.

  [00:28:19.700] - Chris Griffin

  It's hard to believe that's two years ago, creeping up on December. To be honest with you, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago, honestly.

  [00:28:25.520] - Justin Ralph

  It was unreal because of course, with us having so many barns, we've got feed trucks coming in all the time. But it was pretty impressive to see feed trucks from out of state from way on up in Kentucky and even Tosh Pork, they had some of his feed trucks was actually helping out hauling chicken feed as well. So the whole ag industry really stepped up whenever that they knew that Pilgrims needed help due to the tornado.

  [00:28:57.950] - Jordan Turnage

  Do you see yourself in the future for guys that are maybe looking to jump into the poultry industry, using that term lightly as jumping in? Would you recommend it going forward? Would you still think that's guys jumping in the poultry industry and you still think that would be a marketable profitable?

  [00:29:20.610] - Justin Ralph

  I really do think that it's still going to be profitable because Pilgrims, what they've done is they've kind of done and gone in with kind of a cost share. They kind of give an incentive for you to build barns. They pay so much to help cover the cost of it. I believe hopefully interest rates are going to go down some on us. But like I said, the poultry industry is a steady income coming in. And after the tornado hit, of course, Pilgrims, they lost one of their hatcheries completely and it destroyed the other one quite a bit and they've got it back up and going. But they're spending millions of dollars on this Mayfield facility. Pilgrims is here to stay. They're committed to our community. They're committed to the farmers and the growers and everybody in local economy. And we rely on pilgrims. I mean, our community needs Pilgrims and they need the farmers that's raising for them and providing grain for the complex.

  [00:30:22.070] - Jordan Turnage

  And I think, like with the Mayfield tornado, I think that really showed that they were in this for the long haul because they could have just pulled up stakes and, you know, here we are, we're just going to go somewhere else for them to stay here. And you guys show that you guys are committed now and for the long haul, leaving that legacy for Mosey and for all other young men and women coming up, we sure appreciate it. I can't thank you all enough for coming in and taking the time to come in here. Mosey, I wish you nothing but the best going into this next school year.

  [00:30:54.020] - Chris Griffin

  You're a very impressive ten year old.

  [00:30:56.240] - Jordan Turnage
Justin, I can't thank you enough for coming in here and taking the time for driving him up here and for being a member of the association. All of us, loan officers. We can't thank you guys enough, especially to have people like you that are always willing to jump in and help us when it comes to needing something. Just, we can't thank you enough and we appreciate your time and effort and all that you guys do for us.

  [00:31:22.040] - Justin Ralph

  We appreciate it.

  [00:31:23.560] - Jordan Turnage

  Tune in next time. When we'll have Kentucky Ag Commissioner Ryan Quarles. Thanks again for listening and we look forward to seeing you. Next time on Back To Your Roots.

  [00:31:31.010] - Chris Griffin

  Thanks for tuning in to Back To Your Roots, where we dish the dirt on all things ag. Be sure to never miss an episode by following and subscribing. While there, leave us a review about what you want to hear next. Stay in the know between episodes by following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok. For more resources, go to our website at Rrivervalleyagcredit.com.