Barnyard Language

This week, Caite and Arlene share farm updates from Iowa and Ontario, including unusual October heat, harvest progress, and Canadian Thanksgiving, then interview Helen Griffiths from Gloucestershire, England. Helen describes her 100+ acre floodplain grass farm raising Dexter beef, mixed-breed sheep with terminal sires, Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, and Christmas turkeys, selling meat direct at the farm gate with local abattoir and butcher support.She explains how social media drives most sales and how COVID accelerated demand, deliveries, and stocking rates. Helen discusses UK farming pressures including drought, forage costs, bluetongue risk, and major concern over proposed inheritance tax changes that could force farm sales, plus a broader disconnect between government, public, and farmers. The conversation also covers apprenticeships, teaching livestock production, raising three teens on the farm, machinery culture, and parenting challenges like guilt and teenage pushback.00:00 Welcome and Farm Weather00:35 Turnip Harvest Fun01:26 Kids Promote the Podcast02:27 Ontario Harvest Update04:38 Meet Helen Griffiths05:37 Farm Breeds and Direct Sales06:36 Land Base and Winter Feeding08:27 Raising Teens and Apprenticeships11:46 Teaching Livestock Students12:33 Reviving the Family Farm16:09 Butcher and Processing Access16:59 Social Media Marketing Wins18:39 Pandemic Processing Crunch21:04 UK Farming Pressures Today24:30 Inheritance Tax Explained29:04 Inheritance Tax Reality31:09 Tractor Brand Loyalties34:32 Learning Tractor Controls38:11 Tractor Tests And Ages40:43 First Time Parenting45:26 Childcare Farm Juggling48:38 Farm Kid Freedom50:09 Teen Challenges And Guilt52:56 Teaching Open Mindedness54:52 Kids Future In Ag57:43 County Fair Bragging58:24 Cuss And Discuss WrapWe're glad you're joining us for another episode of Barnyard Language. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend (or two) and be sure to rate and review us wherever you're listening! If you want to help us keep buying coffee and paying our editor, you can make a monthly pledge on Patreon to help us stay on the air.You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok as BarnyardLanguage, and if you'd like to connect with other farming families, you can join our private Barnyard Language Facebook group. We're always in search of future guests for the podcast. If you or someone you know would like to chat with us, get in touch.If you have a something you'd like to Cuss & Discuss, you can submit it here: speakpipe.com/barnyardlanguage or email us at [email protected].

This week, Caite and Arlene interview Brittany Huston (“The Farm Witch”) from South Carolina about personal growth after a decade parenting medically complex children, and about building a multi-generational homestead. After moving from New Mexico’s high desert, Brittany’s family is learning South Carolina’s climate while expanding a food forest with berries, fruit trees, pollinator and medicinal plants, and managing poultry, sheep, goats, rabbits, and guardian dogs amid parasite challenges.Brittany describes how her children’s severe food allergies and FPIES drove her into raising and butchering animals for safe food, including struggles with extreme elimination diets, elemental formula, and even water sensitivities. She recounts a New Mexico flash flood that destroyed their house, a rabid skunk incident that required rabies treatment and culling an unvaccinated goat herd, and Hurricane Helene damage to structures and trees. They discuss homeschooling, chronic health limits, monetizing crafts, and scarcity of large-animal vets.We're glad you're joining us for another episode of Barnyard Language. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend (or two) and be sure to rate and review us wherever you're listening! If you want to help us keep buying coffee and paying our editor, you can make a monthly pledge on Patreon to help us stay on the air.You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok as BarnyardLanguage, and if you'd like to connect with other farming families, you can join our private Barnyard Language Facebook group. We're always in search of future guests for the podcast. If you or someone you know would like to chat with us, get in touch.If you have a something you'd like to Cuss & Discuss, you can submit it here: speakpipe.com/barnyardlanguage or email us at [email protected].

This week, Caite and Arlene interview Amanda Donlon from Froelich, Iowa, a tiny town tied to tractor inventor John Froelich and its Fall-der-all celebration. Amanda and her husband Lance raise three kids while farming corn and soybeans and running a diesel mechanic/dirt work/tire business, collaborating with nearby in-laws who farm separately but share labor and specialized skills. Amanda describes shifting from a two-hour daily nursing commute to a work-from-home patient safety job with some travel, and how close family networks support childcare during planting and harvest. She reflects on her farm upbringing, on-farm hog butchering and homemade meats, parenting transitions, kids’ distinct personalities, benefits and challenges of raising children on a farm, and practical farm first-aid preparedness. In “cuss and discuss,” they share humorous family stories, discuss mental health resources and the importance of asking “Are you okay?”, and touch on a host’s adjustment to an 18-year-old leaving home.We're glad you're joining us for another episode of Barnyard Language. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend (or two) and be sure to rate and review us wherever you're listening! If you want to help us keep buying coffee and paying our editor, you can make a monthly pledge on Patreon to help us stay on the air. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok as BarnyardLanguage, and if you'd like to connect with other farming families, you can join our private Barnyard Language Facebook group. We're always in search of future guests for the podcast. If you or someone you know would like to chat with us, get in touch.If you have a something you'd like to Cuss & Discuss, you can submit it here: speakpipe.com/barnyardlanguage or email us at [email protected].

This week, Caite and Arlene are back with Season Six and kick it off with a conversation with Andrea from Three Birch Homestead in British Columbia about what she’s “growing” on her off-grid homestead: garlic, two milk cows, goats (now planning to sell them), pigs, a few chickens, and turkeys. She describes using milk for cheese, yogurt, and butter, feeding skim milk to pigs, and plans to expand pork production due to demand. Andrea explains her path into homesteading, their off-grid systems (solar plus propane and wood heat), and challenges of farming with limited power and infrastructure. She shares family dynamics with two small children, a 14-year-old, and adult daughters, homeschooling logistics, and work income from her online job, her husband’s glass jewelry, and farm sales. She discusses failures like sheep, goals for more gardens, fencing, and kitchen space, and her chicken paper dolls (Henrietta and Roostopher). The episode ends with discussion of high grocery prices, appreciation for farmers, and barriers to starting farms.We're glad you're joining us for another episode of Barnyard Language. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend (or two) and be sure to rate and review us wherever you're listening! If you want to help us keep buying coffee and paying our editor, you can make a monthly pledge on Patreon to help us stay on the air. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok as BarnyardLanguage, and if you'd like to connect with other farming families, you can join our private Barnyard Language Facebook group. We're always in search of future guests for the podcast. If you or someone you know would like to chat with us, get in touch.If you have a something you'd like to Cuss & Discuss, you can submit it here: speakpipe.com/barnyardlanguage or email us at [email protected].

This week, Caite and Arlene discuss the one thing that most farms and families overlook, which are the critical details that can make or break their succession plans. Anessa Good-Hassard, a trusted expert in farm succession and intergenerational transfer, reveals proven strategies to avoid family conflicts, financial pitfalls, and legal surprises that often derail the next chapter.In this episode, you’ll learn how proactive conversations and clear documentation can protect both family relationships and farm viability.Anessa shares practical frameworks like the three-circle model, plus real-world advice on off-farm income, perks, heritage equity, and legal safeguards that support a smooth transition.This conversation is ideal for farm owners, future successors, and family advisors who want to reduce risk and build a resilient, transparent plan for the future.We're glad you're joining us for another episode of Barnyard Language. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend (or two) and be sure to rate and review us wherever you're listening! If you want to help us keep buying coffee and paying our editor, you can make a monthly pledge on Patreon to help us stay on the air. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok as BarnyardLanguage, and if you'd like to connect with other farming families, you can join our private Barnyard Language Facebook group. We're always in search of future guests for the podcast. If you or someone you know would like to chat with us, get in touch.If you have a something you'd like to Cuss & Discuss, you can submit it here: speakpipe.com/barnyardlanguage or email us at [email protected].