Podcast
Burnin’ Daylight
Hosted by Matt McKinley · EN
A podcast explaining and celebrating the intricacies, wisdom and humor of cowboy/ cowpuncher/ buckaroo culture. Enjoy conversations with working cowboys, authors, musicians, business leaders and hilariously offensive news and political analysis from the viewpoint of your favorite feedlot cowboy, Matt McKinley.
The podcast for the working cowboy!
76episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
A’s Climb Back, Rockies Stick It to the Cubs & Tigers Get Rolling | BD Baseball June 12, 2026
Jun 1200:50:47Tap to summarizeWelcome back, Daylight Burners. Jake and I are back on BD Baseball and the season is heating up. The A’s got themselves a day off after climbing back toward .500, which is probably a good thing before the Rockies come to town this weekend. The Rockies, meanwhile, had one of those games where the box score tells you they should’ve been in it, and then you look up and they lost by six. Twelve hits, still got beat 9-3, because Seiya Suzuki hit a grand slam and the Cubs did Cubs stuff. And then there’s the Tigers. Detroit went absolutely stupid on Minnesota — six home runs, 11-0 final, and one of those games where you just start laughing at the box score. We’ll get into the A’s, Rockies, Tigers, the rest of Thursday’s MLB slate, the best arms, the best bats, and whatever rabbit holes Jake and I end up wandering down. BD Baseball. Ball talk, homer bias, and box scores that don’t always make a lick of sense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Screw(worm) Iran! — Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report June 12, 2026
Jun 1201:06:49Tap to summarizeFriggin’ Farm & Ranch Report for Friday, June 12, 2026. We wrap the week with a full run‑through of the board, the barns, and the Beltway. August live closes in the low 240s while August feeders rip higher, five‑area cash holds in the mid‑250s, and the basis blows out to roughly $14. We walk the Sale Barn Pulse and National Beef Wire runs: $4‑plus calves from Missouri and Kansas, nearly $500/cwt on high‑end New Mexico cattle, and $560/cwt on 430‑pound calves at Fallon, Nevada — a $2,400 range calf. On the heavy side, 8–9 weights in the Southern Plains and East are stuck in the mid‑$3s as packer capacity and plant issues bite. From there we hit the drought map and producer headspace: the Southwest and Southern Plains lighting up in D2–D4, the Corn Belt drowning, and what that split means for hay, fall feed costs, and who’s liquidating what. War Reel covers day 101 of a choked Strait of Hormuz, IRGC strikes on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, Trump’s latest “deal is close” talk, Houthi threats in the Red Sea, and why a 6% dump in Brent crude doesn’t mean your diesel and fertilizer come back to normal any time soon. Bugs & biosecurity brings a tight screwworm update (Texas and New Mexico cases, new USDA lab at Kerrville, and futures traders finally pricing it), plus a quick check on the Cargill Fort Morgan lockout and what that idle plant does to kill capacity and basis. We then sit down with the six‑sentence FENCE Act: what it actually changes inside ECP, why it’s a marginal improvement in a program you may not love, and where “new fencing technology” becomes GPS collars, data exhaust, and a future fight over who owns your grazing information. We close with quick hits on BLM’s grazing “modernization” rule, USDA payment‑limit tweaks, drought and producer sentiment, On This Day in history, and the weekend sports slate. If you make your living on a horse, in a tractor, or in the sale barn, this episode walks you through what the board, the bugs, the fuel, and the feds just did to your budget this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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A’s Rally, Rockies Walk It Off & MLB Loses Its Mind | BD Baseball June 11, 26
Jun 1101:10:18Tap to summarizeJake and I break down a wild day in baseball, starting with the homer teams: the A’s taking two out of three from Milwaukee and the Rockies walking off the Cubs. Then we hit the rest of the MLB chaos: the Giants’ ridiculous comeback, Drew Rasmussen punching out 13, the Yankees sweeping Cleveland, the White Sox taking over the AL Central, the Pirates stunning the Dodgers, Max Scherzer reaching 3,500 strikeouts, and Reid Detmers shoving against Houston. A’s win. Rockies win. Cubs lose. Astros lose. Good baseball day. Headline:A’s Win, Rockies Walk It Off, and MLB Gets Weird Subheadline: The A’s took the series, the Rockies stuck it to the Cubs, the White Sox took the Central, and the Giants pulled off one of the wildest comebacks of the year. Post: The homer teams both got it done, so that’s where Jake and I started. The A’s took two out of three from Milwaukee in Vegas, with Alika Williams hitting his first career homer and Carlos Cortes and Lawrence Butler going deep late to flip the game. The bullpen held it together, the defense looked better, and the A’s keep climbing back toward .500. Then the Rockies walked off the Cubs, which is always worth celebrating. Michael Lorenzen gave Colorado a solid start at Coors, TJ Rumfield got them back in it, and Sterlin Thompson finished it in the ninth. After that, the whole MLB slate turned into chaos: the Giants erased a 9-1 deficit, Drew Rasmussen struck out 13, the Yankees swept Cleveland, the White Sox took over the AL Central, the Pirates stunned the Dodgers, and Reid Detmers shoved as the Angels beat the Astros. Good day for the A’s. Good day for the Rockies. Bad day for the Cubs and Astros. Move your ass. We’re burning daylight. Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Down Goes Hormuz — Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report June 11, 2026
Jun 1100:43:42Tap to summarizeGood morning, Daylight Burners. This is the Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report for Thursday, June 11, 2026. Live cattle are firming back up, feeders love the cheaper corn, hogs are soft, and the grain complex is still weak – but the real world is loading for bear. We’ve got: – A board that wants to drag cash cattle down while the barns keep paying mid‑4s on five‑weights and the five‑area cash fats hang in the mid‑250s. The board lies; the barn doesn’t.– Screwworm risk still real but not “all screwworm all the time” – five confirmed U.S. cases, control zones and sterile flies in place, and the real job for producers is checking wounds, drying navels, and calling it in when you see something ugly.– A big update on the Cargill Fort Morgan situation: 1,700+ Teamsters locked out, unfair labor practice charges, and what it means when a 5,000–6,000 head‑per‑day plant goes dark in a market with the smallest cow herd since Truman.– BLM’s new “modernizing” grazing rule – streamlined for them, more rangeland‑health hooks for your permits, plus a June 11 virtual meeting where they’ll tell you it’s all for your own good.– USDA’s sudden “Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework” and why I’m not calling it a win until we see actual regs, projects, or enforcement actions die because of it.– A heavy war reel: Apache down near Hormuz, U.S. “self‑defense” strikes into Iran, Iranian shots at our bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, Houthis threatening the Red Sea/Bab el‑Mandeb, and how all that war risk turns diesel, fertilizer, and freight into hostages again.– On This Day, June 10: National Milk Month kicks off as a chain‑store promo, and Farm Credit finally pays Uncle Sam back for the ’80s bailout – two reminders that ag has been “managed” from the outside for a long damn time. If you run cows or ground and you’re trying to make sense of the board, the bugs, the packers, the alphabet agencies, and two different Middle East chokepoints all at once, this one’s for you. Full immersive transcript, charts, and link pack over on Substack: burnindaylight.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Packer Hooks, BLM Paperwork, and a Helicopter Down — Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report June 10, 2026
Jun 1000:42:07Tap to summarizeWell howdy there, daylight burners. This is the Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report for Wednesday, June 10. All the numbers are from yesterday’s close, because I’m not a breaking‑news guy – I want time to see what the hell we’ve actually got going on. We start on the board and in the barn. Live and feeder cattle were up – August live at 252.50, October at 248.25, feeders up 2–3 bucks across the board – while lean hogs kept bleeding lower around 97.20. Cash cattle are still stout with the 5‑area live in the mid‑250s and dressed over 404, and the sale barns say light calves are gold: 550‑pounders ringing up in the mid‑400s to high‑400s while 8–9 weights are stuck down in the low‑ to mid‑300s. Weight is discounting, lightness is paying, and the better‑managed, tighter pens are still dragging top dollar. On the grain side, July corn’s around 4.20¾, wheat trying to bounce off multi‑year lows, and beans sagging sideways while everyone stares at South America and U.S. weather. Corn is cheap by recent history, but USDA’s balance sheet still screams ‘ample supplies.’ Then we lay that next to energy: Brent in the mid‑90s and national diesel still north of five bucks – AAA and EIA have diesel just over that 5‑dollar mark even after a little pullback. Feed looks manageable on paper, but every gallon of diesel and every pound of fertilizer is still trying to crawl up your back. Then we move to the war reel. A U.S. Army AH‑64 Apache went down near the Strait of Hormuz, off Oman. Both crew members were pulled out and are reported safe, but Trump says Iran shot it down with a Shahed drone and that the U.S. ‘must respond,’ and CENTCOM already answered with strikes inside Iran. For the first time, we had a drone knock down a helicopter and another drone boat help drag the crew out of the water. This isn’t just war porn – it’s the risk premium baked into every barrel that has to squeeze through that chokepoint, and that’s why your diesel and fertilizer don’t come back to earth as fast as the chart says they should. Back home, we hit the New World screwworm update. USDA APHIS first confirmed a 3‑week‑old calf in Zavala County, then a second calf in Zavala, a calf in La Salle County, and a dog out in the Andrews County oil patch – plus another La Salle calf for five confirmed U.S. cases so far. We talk about the 20‑kilometer infested zones, road checkpoints, paperwork on livestock movements, and sterile‑fly drops along the border – and how all of that looks if you’re in South Texas, New Mexico, or buying cattle out of those areas. The bug is a biology problem; the rules they’ll write on top of it are an economic problem. I wrap it up with why packers are still chasing cattle in a short‑cattle, long‑capacity world, how BLM’s new grazing rule and the death of the Public Lands Rule change (and don’t change) public‑land grazing reality, what EPA’s right‑to‑repair guidance actually does for your ability to work on your own iron, and a quick hit on H5N1 in dairy cattle and what that might mean for cull cows going through dairy‑heavy plants. If you make your living on a horse, in a tractor, or with a wrench in your hand – or you just care what screwworms, packers, public land, and a downed Apache mean for your fuel bill and sale‑barn check – this one’s for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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BD Baseball – June 9, 2026: Vegas Launching Pad, Naylor Villain Arc & A’s–Brewers Madness
Jun 901:12:40Tap to summarizeOn today’s BD Baseball, Jake and I break down one of the wildest games of the season: A’s–Brewers in Las Vegas, a 12‑inning circus with 11 homers, 29 runs, 34 hits, 441 pitches, and 7 pitchers used by each side in 4 hours and 14 minutes. We talk about Vegas playing like Coors on steroids, Shay Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom going deep, Nick Kurtz leaving the yard entirely, and William Contreras hitting a tank so hard he ended up on his ass at the plate. We also hit Josh Naylor’s full villain arc in Detroit – the McGonigle play at first, the sliding mitt thrown at Dingler, the cleats‑up slide through second – and why I’m now firmly in the “fuck Josh Naylor” camp, with Jake giving his view from behind home plate on Sunday. From there we dive into the ABS challenge system (Dingler’s masterclass vs umps getting petty on timing), give props to the Philly ump who let Christopher Sánchez get his ovation, and run through the rest of the board: Mariners waking up, Rays stopping their skid, Yankees’ first extra‑innings win of the year, Astros refusing to die, the Nats’ fun young offense, plus today’s best pitching matchups including Paul Skenes vs the Dodgers and J.T. Ginn back on the hill in Vegas. Enjoy your baseball and move your ass – we’re burnin’ daylight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Friggin' Farm & Ranch Report — Screwworm, Spy Collars & Board vs Barn | June 9, 2026
Jun 900:53:33Tap to summarizeHowdy there, I'm Matt McKinley and we're Burnin' Daylight. Today's Friggin' Farm & Ranch Report for June 9, 2026 covers: 🐛 NEW WORLD SCREWWORM — What's really happening in South and West Texas. What the quarantine zones and border closures mean for cattle and trade. Why DC handed screwworm preparedness to a meat-packing and export power broker instead of a parasite nerd or a working cow-calf rep. 📡 VIRTUAL FENCING & SOFT CONTROL — GPS collars, NRCS money, and conservation maps that might save you some fence posts while they quietly write a surveillance log of everywhere your cows ever walked. 📊 MARKETS: BOARD VS BARN — Cash cattle still out-muscling the futures. Sale barns paying up for the right kind of calves. Grains sliding. Diesel camped out around $5.35 as policy and war premium keep squeezing margins. 📅 ON THIS DAY — D-Day, the Bill of Rights, the Antiquities Act, Orwell's 1984, and the USS Liberty incident. Judge governments by their incentives, not their press releases. Full transcript + sources: https://burnindaylight.substack.com We're Burnin' Daylight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcribe →Gage Jump Shoves, Tigers Roll, and Joe Adell’s Canseco Special | BD Baseball 6-3-26
Jun 300:57:44Tap to summarizeFrom Detroit’s bats waking up to the A’s and Rockies stealing headlines, Jake and I walk through a jam-packed slate and preview a loaded day of pitching. Show Notes (concise, from your POV): On this June 3 episode of BD Baseball, I sit down with Jake and run through a full 15-game slate: Tigers crush, Flaherty shoves, and Greene/Perez provide the power we’ve been missing. Gage Jump delivers seven strong in Wrigley as the A’s win a tight one behind an opposite-field bomb from Nick Kurtz. Rockies step out of the basement, the Angels fall further, and Joe Adell recreates Jose Canseco with a ball off his glove and head. We talk Johan Duran’s filth, John Smoltz’s “no pitchers, only throwers” comments, and where we agree or disagree. Around the league: Orioles in Boston, Pirates staying relevant, Braves still a wagon, and the Giants plus Red Sox continuing to make their fans miserable. We preview a stacked pitching slate with Peralta–Kirby, Sanchez–Buehler, Burns–Royals, Cole–Gavin Williams, and Skenes–Astros, plus some first-five and total leans. Injury and transaction notes on Verlander, Jackson Jobe, Mason Barnett, Cade Morris, Civale, and Severino. New episodes of BD Baseball drop all week on Burnin’ Daylight Sports. Don’t let your butt crack — move your ass, we’re burnin’ daylight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Friggin’ Farm & Ranch Report: Futures Freak Out, Sale Barn Says Otherwise | June 3, 2026
Jun 301:03:53Tap to summarizeThe board had a full‑blown hissy fit today. Fats dumped, feeders slid, and if you’re glued to the screen you’d think the cattle business just died. Out here in the real world, five‑area cash and the sale barns are still paying up, and the country isn’t buying the panic. I walk through the tape, the BDR Sale Barn Pulse runs, and what that ugly futures‑to‑cash spread really means when you’re hauling cattle instead of clicking buttons. Then we hit grains getting kicked lower on fund selling, a little relief on corn and meal, and why it doesn’t feel like relief when diesel, fertilizer, and 8‑percent money are still chewing on your margins. War Reel is hot—missiles and drones in the Gulf, U.S. strikes back, tankers getting hit, crude jumping—and that all shows up in your fuel and fertilizer bill real quick. Plus screwworm creeping north, Theileria in Nebraska, wolves in Washington, drought squeezing the beef cow herd, and fresh noise out of D.C. on MCOOL, cattle price discovery, and WOTUS. Full write‑up, charts, receipts, and the full transcript live over on Substack:https://burningdaylight.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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June Swoon Watch, Tigers Chaos, and ABS Meltdown | BD Baseball 6-2-26
Jun 201:31:29Tap to summarizeOn today’s BD Baseball, Jake and I fire up the June Swoon Watch and take a hard look at the A’s, Cubs, and a few other clubs teetering on that edge between contender and collapse. Jake breaks down the Tigers’ wild 10–9 win over the Rays, Kerry Carpenter’s big return, and why Detroit went from best record in baseball last year to tied for the worst this year. We also dive into the ABS disaster in the A’s–Yankees series, how a frozen laptop cost Oakland a challenge, and what it means when the system that’s supposed to fix bad calls breaks down on its own. Then we hit on the new automatic check swing challenges in Triple-A, how there’s not even a clear rulebook definition of a check swing, and what that might look like if it ever comes to MLB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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