Heat Stress, Screwworm Awareness, and Making Summer Employees Successful

Summary

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Cattle Chat – July 3, 2026

Episode: Heat Stress, Screwworm Awareness, and Making Summer Employees Successful

Podcast Host: BCI Cattle Chat Team (Brad White, Dustin, Bob, Philip)
Main Theme: Veterinary professionals from Kansas State University’s Beef Cattle Institute discuss current beef industry topics: preventing heat stress at livestock shows, the latest on New World Screwworm, and strategies for managing and developing summer employees.

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Episode Overview

In this wide-ranging episode, the BCI Cattle Chat team tackles practical summer challenges faced by cattle producers. They dive into:

• Best practices for preventing heat stress in show cattle
• New World Screwworm’s resurgence and collaborative educational efforts
• Making summer employment successful for both workers and managers

Their discussion blends real-world advice, timely research, and behind-the-scenes insights, all delivered in an accessible and conversational tone.

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Segment 1: Preventing Heat Stress at Livestock Shows

Discussion begins at [03:23]

Key Points

• Heat Stress Risks

  • Moving cattle from farm/pasture to show environments increases heat risk, even for cattle acclimated at home.
  • High animal density, unfamiliar surroundings, and summer temperatures amplify dangers.

• Practical Prevention Tips

  • Water is essential:

    “You can’t provide enough water...monitor that they are actually consuming [it], not that you’re just supplying it.”
    — Bob [03:56]

  • Watch for water taste issues: Unfamiliar-tasting water at shows can lower intake.
  • Air movement and shade:

    “Fans...make sure that there’s air movement around those [animals].”
    — Bob [04:37]

  • Soaking animals to the skin (not just misting) leverages evaporative cooling.
  • Take advantage of regular washings—even if the show isn’t that day—to help keep cattle cool.

• Early Warning Signs of Heat Stress

  • Fast/rapid breathing, “dumpy” or unresponsive behavior.
  • Intervention threshold:

    “If you get to the point where you do have an animal that’s open mouth breathing...that means you’re in concern territory.”
    — Host [06:08]

  • At this stage, call a vet and actively cool the animal.

• Transport Concerns

  • Biggest risk: When cattle are packed on a trailer and stationary (e.g., waiting in line).

    “Heat can really rise really rapidly ... if it’s a hot day, you may have to get out of line, move...unload them and put them off to the side.”
    — Bob [06:30]

  • Short trips with air movement are less concerning.

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Segment 2: New World Screwworm – Awareness and Response

Discussion begins at [07:16]

Dustin’s Education Outreach

• Weekly webinars in response to public concern and questions; driven by real-time demand.

• Covered the history, biology, treatment, human health, and economic implications.

• Notable guest experts:

  • Dr. Cassandra Olds – Entomology basics/history
  • Sarah McReynolds – Kansas Animal Health updates
  • Dr. Brian Lubers – Veterinary treatments
  • Dr. Aaron Petro – Human and public health
  • Upcoming: Drs. Ted Schroeder & Glenn Tonser – Market, trade, and management

• All webinars are free and archived at agmanager.info

Key Insights

• Basics of Screwworm

  • The New World Screwworm is a highly reproductive fly whose larvae eat living tissue, not just dead tissue.
  • Infestations require wounds—including umbilical cords in calves.

• Seasonality

  • Flies peak in summer and may not overwinter across all regions.
  • The U.S. eradicated screwworm in the 1960s by releasing sterile male flies so that females, which mate only once, lay infertile eggs.

  • “They irradiate the male flies...because then the female is not laying more eggs.”
    — Host [13:43]

• Surveillance and Response

  • Producers must closely monitor all livestock and pets for wounds and maggot activity.

  • “It’s just all about wounds...You gotta just be out there looking at your cows.”
    — Dustin [14:07]

  • “Drive-by” checks aren’t enough; visual inspection is critical.
  • New cases include livestock and a dog; human health questions are being directly addressed.

• Movement and Quarantine

  • Quarantine zones within the U.S.; producers must keep up with regional rules, especially when traveling to shows in affected states (notably Texas).

  • “If you go down to Texas and take some animals, you’ve got to know what the rules are because you might not just come right back to Kansas.”
    — Dustin [11:56]

  • Latest data and dashboards available from the Texas Animal Health Commission and USDA APHIS.

Take-home Messages

• Eyes-on, frequent inspections are a must.
• Stay educated via reputable sources and webinars.
• Understand regulatory changes if moving animals across state lines.
• The threat is best managed through vigilance, not alarm.

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Segment 3: Making Summer Employees Successful

Discussion begins at [17:26]

Special Considerations for Summer Hires

• Unique challenges: Summer help is temporary (often students), may lack experience, and is expected to be productive quickly.
• Primary focus: Enhanced communication, initial and ongoing training, and clear expectations.

Tips & Best Practices

• Communication is Critical

  “Because they’re not a full time employee throughout...I think communication is even more important than typical.”
  — Bob [18:21]

  • Don’t assume knowledge; be explicit, especially if their background “at home” differs from your methods.

• Start with an Orientation

  “Set up a training program...show them the ways that you want things to be done and do all that right up front.”
  — Philip [19:23]

  • This might be a tour, demonstration of tasks, reviewing where tools go, and laying out the summer’s goals.

• Safety First

  “Communication piece is the safety component...if you got somebody that’s coming onto a farm that’s never been around livestock or...never been on a tractor...safety was a big thing.”
  — Dustin [22:06]

  • Especially important for those new to agriculture or heavy equipment.

• Ongoing Follow-up and Scope Management

  “I think it’s really important to follow up...that initial training is a lot to try to understand and remember.”
  — Bob [23:42]

  • Limit scope of responsibility; don’t expect full independence immediately.

• Perspective

  “You’re hiring a person for three months, but by the time they’re about ready to be done, that’s when you normally start to feel comfortable there.”
  — Philip [24:39]

  • Be patient and supportive as summer employees ramp up.

• Dual Purpose: Work and Mentorship

  “I’m also trying to help train that individual...so they’re employable in the future.”
  — Dustin [22:45]

Action Points

• Plan an orientation and hands-on training right at the start.
• Lay out clear, achievable project goals.
• Include regular check-ins and reinforcement.
• Keep lines of communication open.
• Prioritize safety with dedicated instructions.
• Help students develop both technical skills and broader employability for their next steps.

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Memorable Quotes

• “You can’t provide enough water...monitor that they are actually consuming [it], not that you’re just supplying it.” — Bob [03:56]
• “If you get to the point where you do have an animal that’s open mouth breathing...that means you’re in concern territory.” — Host [06:08]
• “We did a webinar because there’s a lot of misinformation or a lot of people asking questions.” — Dustin [07:53]
• “It’s just all about wounds...You gotta just be out there looking at your cows.” — Dustin [14:07]
• “Set up a training program...show them the ways that you want things to be done and do all that right up front.” — Philip [19:23]
• “I’m also trying to help train that individual…so they’re employable in the future.” — Dustin [22:45]
• “You’re hiring a person for three months, but by the time they’re about ready to be done, that’s when they’re ready.” — Philip [24:39]

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Key Resources Mentioned

• Screwworm Educational Material/Webinar Archives: agmanager.info
• Texas Animal Health Commission: Website
• USDA APHIS Screwworm Dashboard: Website

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For Q&A or feedback:
Email: [e-mail]
Social: Find BCI Cattle Chat on Facebook or Instagram.

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Transcript

[A]

Hi, welcome to BCI Cattle Chat.

[B]

I'm Brad White.

[A]

Happy to have you with us. Happy to have our crew here in the studio today. Good morning, Dustin.

[C]

Good morning.

[A]

Morning, Bob.

[B]

Hello, everybody.

[A]

Philip.

[D]

Good morning, guys.

[A]

We're glad you guys are here because we've got several good things to discuss today, and one of them being, how do we handle heat stress when we're at a livestock show? And what are some of the things that we're concerned about? We're also going to touch world Screwworm that's been in the news, and Dustin has been spearheading some educational efforts, talking about what that actually means and the implications. And then as we get toward the end, we'll talk about some of the folks we work with in the summer. Before we get into those topics, I wanted to remind you, if you have a listener question for us, we always enjoy getting those. You can send us an [e-mail], or you can reach out to us on social media through Facebook or Instagram or any of those platforms. Guys, it's summertime, and I know when you were kids in a summ, you had that rare rainy day when you would stay home and watch game shows. So one of the questions I had for you today was, I'm gonna give you some phrases, and let's see if you can pick the game show that this phrase came from. I'm gonna start easy.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Come on down.

[B]

Price is right. Price is right.

[A]

Price is right. See, I said I was gonna start easy. The survey says Family Feud. Family Feud. I think we see a clear game show.

[D]

We had three channels, not a whole lot to watch.

[A]

Who am I?

[B]

Oh, I know that's the name of it, almost. It's. I'm not that one.

[D]

I don't.

[B]

Oh, yeah, it's. I can picture it. There's like, three, four people, and then they're. All three of them are lying and one of them's telling the truth. And what is it called?

[A]

What's my line?

[B]

What's my line? There you go. Yep.

[A]

What's my line? Spin that wheel.

[B]

Wheel of Fortune.

[A]

Wheel of Fortune. No whammy. No whammy.

[B]

Hmm.

[C]

I know. I mean, I don't know the name of it, but. Yeah, I remember.

[D]

I don't remember that one.

[A]

That was one of my favorites because you just run around saying, no whammy. No whammy. Press your luck.

[B]

I don't know that one.

[A]

How do you not know that one? No, I'm older than you. Oh, true. Yeah. You're probably actually working. I Was actually at it job.

[B]

So.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Do you guys have any favorite game shows that you watched when you were a kid?

[B]

What was the one? I like Jeopardy. You know, that was good.

[A]

Jeopardy's good.

[B]

And Wheel of Fortune. The. The.

[D]

We used to watch Wheel of Fortune every night. My mom liked that.

[A]

She.

[D]

She'd like to try to guess them before the.

[B]

I wasn't real good at it.

[A]

Yeah. I couldn't do things. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy Required a lot of intelligence. The press, your luck. The one that's my favorite required no intelligence. You just said no whammy. No whammy and hit a big butt. That was my show.

[C]

Okay, Dustin, I'm right on with you. I, you know, we watched a lot of Jeopardy. And Wheel, Fortune, but I'm really bad at it. So if anything, I can watch things that require no intelligence.

[A]

That's what I want to get to. So did want to address some heat. We've talked about heat stress before, but a lot of times we talk about cattle on pasture or cattle in a confined environment. Dr. Livestock shows a little bit different. And that's always one of the things that we need to be cognizant of when we're taking our animals because they may move from whatever their normal environment is. There's some changes. And a lot of our shows in the summer, hot time of year, hot areas. We've got transit. Bob, what are some of the things you're thinking about to prepare and make sure that you're ready for this?

[B]

I think first of all, recognize it. That is a risk. Even if there wasn't as much risk at home, once you take them to the fair, there's more animals around. Two things that really come to mind are water don't. I mean, just. You can't provide enough water. So just provide plenty of water repeated. And one of the problems is sometimes because water tastes different, they may not consume as much as they normally would. So it's really important to monitor that they are actually consuming water. Not that you're just supplying it.

[A]

And pretty easy straightforward in that environment because you're often watering out of a bucket or a tub.

[B]

You can watch.

[D]

Make sure it's enough. Yeah, they're going to consume some, but make sure it's enough to keep them well hydrated.

[B]

Yeah. And the other is air. Air movement, you know, so you know where you're located within the barn. Fans, you know, just make sure that there's air movement around those.

[D]

Well, lots of times those. Those barns or at least sometimes those barns are in amongst A bunch of other buildings. And so there's not necessarily good airflow breeze. You don't get to breeze through that barn very well. So.

[A]

But you've got a couple good opportunities there that you may not other environments. One one of which is you should be able to get to some shade. Another is if. If the animal is getting overheated and cattle specifically a good soaking. So we don't want to just mist and get a. And because you can build up some insulation, but get them soaked to the skin and that evaporative cooling can help tremendously. And a lot of times you're washing them, doing things.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, that's what I was going to say. Even though maybe the show is not that day. Take your calf out to the wash bay and wash them anyway and stuff. And that just helps cool them off.

[A]

So what are some of the things that you'd be looking for early Bob with heat stress if you thought you're moving into heat stress?

[B]

One is just rapid breathing. Sometimes they can kind of seem dumpy and not very responsive. So anytime you notice some odd behavior and just mainly prevent it by keeping on top of the air movement and the water supply.

[A]

Yeah. Fast, fast breathing. If you get to the point where you do have an animal that's open mouth breathing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That means you're in concern territory and you may need to. You may not contact the veterinarian, talk to somebody, get them cooled down. The other thing to think about. What about. Do you have any concerns or thoughts relative to transport to and from the fair?

[B]

Y. Well, a lot of times we're putting them in a trailer where they're in close contact with others. And again, you know, I don't like them to. When they're on the road, they're actually getting some air movement. But sitting still, waiting in line to unload those types of things, the heat can. Can really rise really rapidly. So I'm really concerned about when they're packed onto a trailer, moved to the fair and they're sitting in line. If it's. If it's a hot day, you may have to get out of line, move. You may have to unload them and put them off to the side. Just recognize that that's a timeframe when

[A]

you can get into trouble traveling short trips, moving, you've got some airflow. Little less concerned about that sitting, standing on the trailer. Those trailers heat up pretty fast.

[B]

Yes, they do.

[A]

So make sure that you've got a plan for that. That airflow certainly helps a lot. And hopefully everybody has a great Fair season as we go through this year. Next thing we wanted to talk about, and it's been a lot in the news, is New World Screwworm. And so we'd like to address some of the basics, but I want to start out with Dustin. You've been leading a informational series of webinars or meetings where you've had several good people come and come and talk about New World Screwworm. Tell us what. Why did you start that? And then tell us a little bit about the process. So I guess where it all started,

[C]

I mean, it was like we said, hey, we're going to do a webinar, because there's a lot of misinformation or a lot of people asking questions. And so we sat down on Thursday morning, we met, we said, let's do it. And then By Friday at 11, we had it already lined. At least our first week's speakers lined up and whatnot. And so what we're doing is we're doing a weekly webinar. In fact, we just had a third webinar, and we're bringing in different guest speakers on different topics. Questions that we're getting, we're hearing is kind of what's driving it. And I've stressed from day one, as long as the demand is there, we'll continue doing it. But it's starting to slow. There's not a lot of new cases, and that's fine, actually, that's happening. It's a good thing. So we've done three seminars so far, webinars. The first one is a really good one. Cassandra Olds, Dr. Cassandra Olds, who's an entomologist here at K State, came on and talked about the history and the biology of screwworm. She did a really nice job. And then we also had Sarah McReynolds. She is the assistant animal Health commission. Yep, yep. And so here, here in Kansas, she came out and did a really nice job giving an update. Kind of like what Kansas response would be. You know, talked about, you know, you got to make sure you look at your cows or your livestock a lot closer. So that was the first week. The second week, BCI's Dr. Brian Lubers came on and he did an outstanding job talking about treatments because there was a. We had a lot of questions come in about treatments. And so he did a really nice job presenting that and then just going through, like, the basic terminology that maybe not everybody understands. I use those terms all the time. And then we also had Sarah come back on and kind of give another update. And again, there wasn't a lot of update. So then this week's we had Dr. Aaron Petro with Kansas State Department of Health and Environment. She's kind of the she's a public health she's our top public health official in the state of Kansas, who is a veterinarian. And she came and talked all about the human health side. And we were getting, I was getting some really weird questions. Like, not weird questions, just questions when I was out with my son at a football camp or when I was at the grocery store, like people would be, well, what is that? Am I going to die from it? I mean, just questions. I'm like, man, we need to have somebody on the human health side come and talk about. And so I was really excited that she came on and talked. And then we got one more scheduled. And then again, like I said, the demand's kind of waning, so I'm not sure we're going to do much. But next week it's going to be another fun one. And so again, we're going to invite two ag economists to come in and talk about market implications, trade, consumer demand, kind of the management side. So surveillance costs, etc. And so doctors Ted Schroeder and Glenn Tonser are going to join me and we're just going to talk kind of like what we do, sit around and we're just going to talk about some topics and answer any questions that our folks have. But all of these recordings, they're recorded, they're archived, and everything is posted on agmanager.info and then the other thing is, if you want to watch, I mean, next week's again, you can go on and register. It's free, it's open to the public. But again, just agmanager.info is where recording and storing everything.

[A]

And that's a great program to start out because lots of implications in different facets of the industry. You talked about everything from human health to cattle health. And then there are potential trade, not necessarily trade restrictions, but from internally in the US They've set up some quarantine zones. They've outlined those. What's the plan for getting cattle in and out of those zones? What does that look like? So the details are in each of those webinars that they've talked through. Yep.

[C]

And she bring up a good point. We're talking about fairs. If you go down to Texas and take some animals, you've got to know what the rules are because you might not just come right back to Kansas, for example. So the Texas Animal Health commission. They have a website and they've got a lot of really good information there. And so I would highly encourage, if you're transporting cattle in, around the Texas, make sure you know what the rules are. The other website I'll just mention is USDA aphis. They got a dashboard, a screw worm dashboard. That kind of gives you where we're at. And I think earlier in the. I think we're at 27 cases now, including one dog. So we did have one human or a companion animal that had a case as well.

[A]

And I think as we think through the basics of this, it's essentially a fly that we're concerned about and then the offspring of that fly. And because they're so reproductive, they populate quickly. One of the things Dr. Olds talked about on hers was there's a seasonality. Obviously we see more flies in the summertime and there's regions of the country where that fly won't overwinter. But if it maintains a population in other regions of the country, it's something we have to deal with long term. It's not the first time the US has dealt with this. When. When was that?

[C]

Yeah, if you go on her presentation, she's got maps all laid out kind of by year, where it was and where the overwintering locations are here in the US but I believe it was in the 1960s. We finally, finally got rid of it, pushed it back out of the United States, you know, down. Down into, I guess, Central America.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. It went all the way down to Central America. And then there were fly production facilities which they're ramping up again. So they irradiate the male flies. Because one of the novel thing, and

[C]

this is what was cool that was

[A]

figured out in the 60s, is they mate once. So if they have sterile male flies, enough of them, they can control that population because then the female is not laying more eggs. However, it doesn't take very many females to. To add up. So what, what are your take homes from some of those webinars that you sat through that you think would be important for producers to know?

[C]

For me, it was when. When both Cassandra and Sarah just talked about eyes. Eyes on your animals, livestock or. Or your pets. Right. It's just all about wounds.

[B]

Things that are just out of the.

[C]

Or just need to be.

[B]

I mean.

[C]

Yeah. Caught. I mean, you gotta just be out there looking at your cows. It can't, you know, just drive by 20 mile an hour. No look good.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So we.

[A]

Which is tempting to do in the summer because they're out on grass, everybody's doing well.

[C]

Sorry.

[D]

But so, I mean we used to deal with screw worms like the, the old, I guess the old world screw room. I don't know what you call it, but you know in, in lambs and, and stuff when, when I was growing up because they get a wound or whatever. So do these new world screw rooms, they have to have an open wound before they will start laying eggs and infest infecting an animal.

[C]

So just go back, you said old world screw. Actually there is an old world screwworm and there's a new world. Old world is actually, I think in the new world is in the west. So like the United States here, like the old is, you know, Europe, I think so I don't know if it's called old.

[D]

It's probably not.

[C]

I just, I just wanted, I just

[A]

wanted to be clear.

[B]

But you will have maggots, fly stripe maggots.

[A]

So in any flies can do that. But a lot of times the flies require dead or necrotic tissue. And so if that tissue, if you have a wound that has nice fresh tissues, then that, that's where you will get fly strikes. So sometimes you'll see it like dogs, sheep, other creatures, where they've got that hair has matted over and created that dead area. That's where you'll get fly strike. You still see that? That's not, that's not new. That's not new or New world. Screw the new world. Screw arm. So the first, the first case that was reported here in the US in this round, I believe was in a newborn calf and in his umbilicus, actually healthy tissue where, which is what makes that fly a little bit unique.

[D]

Well, and so that's what I knew that this new world, the maggots or the larvae will eat live tissue. It doesn't have to be dead tissue. So I didn't know if they would lay eggs in the hair of a healthy animal and actually start eating on

[B]

an opening or a wound. But it doesn't have to be dead tissue. So a fresh wound.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Whereas other flies, if they lay their eggs, they won't take unless. Unless the tissue dies. We don't want this disease. We'd like to push it back south again.

[A]

Yeah. So I think good discussion on this and one of the ways that it's easy to be fearful of something that we don't fully understand the. Providing the good information is very helpful so that we have the right place to think about this. And so we're not saying, okay, this is going to be some of our other diseases. We have a lot of concern that they're going to spread rapidly place to place. Well, this may have some spread, but we need to have the appropriate response. So I think going back, listen to some of those webinars, listen to the new ones as new information comes out. We'll keep us up to date and really appreciate your leadership on that, Dustin, because it's been a hot topic and lots of good questions. Anything else you want to add?

[C]

Nope. Like I said, it's all been recorded. The slides, PowerPoint slides, everything's there on agmanager.info.

[A]

yep. Great place to go see if you want to look at and learn a little bit more about screwworm as it progresses. The last topic I wanted to address with you guys, all of us have summer employees, so we've got students working for us on a variety of projects different Sometimes ranches will hire somebody in the summer because you've got a little few extra things going on. Summer employees are unique because it's a term temporary position. They're going to be there for three months. They may not have a lot of training leading into it. You're asking them to do some things that you want to get done, but it's a little bit different than managing our normal employees. So I wanted to find out from you guys, what are some of your tips and tricks for when you have somebody that is a three month employee and they don't have a lot of background information, how do you make sure that the experience is good for you and for them?

[B]

Thinking back, you know, some personal experience, both myself as an employee or having somebody in for a short period of time, one of the main things is because they're not a full time employee throughout the I don't, I don't necessarily know as much about what their skills are, what they don't know, what they do know. So I think communication is even more important than typical in that sometimes we'll get a summer employee in and they really may not either may not know very much about what I need them to do, which is either livestock care or haying or doing something else or they know how one their family does things and I want it done differently and those types of things. So I'm hiring this person so that I can take something off my plate. But in reality I still got to manage them. I still got to make clear expectations and continual communication and feedback so that it's a win win situation for both the employee and whoever's trying to get the work done.

[D]

I think probably one thing is to set up a training program for them. I mean, what do they need to be trained on? Show them the ways that you want things to be done and do all that right up front. Don't wait till they make a mistake and do something wrong or do something different than the way you wanted it, because like Bob said, that's how their family did it or does it. So set up a training program right off the bat so that you're getting them engaged, you're getting them thinking about what they're going to be doing for the summer, and you're getting them off to a strong start on the right path.

[A]

And when you say training program, what do you envision?

[D]

Well, just talking about, like the, the jobs that you're going to have them do, you know, up front, what's, what's their plan for the summer? What's their goals to get done for the summer? Show them, like, give them. What's the word I'm looking for? But basically like a tour of everything so they know where things are, they know where, how things go and go through the details of. Okay, you know, when you, when you use tools or use whatever, you know, they go back. Make sure they go back to where you found them or where they, you know, everything has a spot or how. What's your organization, what's on the floor? Everything. Yeah, well, you know, that was my dad's organization plan and it drove me nuts. Everything was just left the last place he had it and then you couldn't find it.

[A]

So what was the last place he left it?

[D]

So, but that's what I'm thinking. You know what? Just like we do with students here, student comes in, they get a project for the summer. Okay, here's the project. Here's the objectives of the project. Here's all the parts that are going to have to happen for this project to be completed and walking them through that so they have a good understanding of what the expectations are and what it's going to take to get it done.

[A]

But I really like what you're saying because when you say training program, my first thought, and probably just because it's been ingrained here, we go through a lot of training programs that I don't find they're challenging to get through. I may not get as much information out of them as I could because they're on the web and you go through blah, blah, blah. But you're describing, take, take a half hour walk around with the person, make sure they know what they're supposed to do and maybe the same thing again tomorrow, but plot that time in so that they know how and where they're supposed to accomplish their goals.

[D]

And especially if you want them to be independent, fairly independent during the summer to go do whatever task and you don't have to be there with them the whole time.

[A]

It's worth that investment.

[D]

Yeah. Lay it out for them and so they know exactly what's expected.

[C]

That's the only thing I would add. I was thinking when Bob talked about communication, and I think this is actually embedded within the communication piece is the safety component. Because I know just thinking back when I was growing up working on a farm or working off the farm, safety was a big thing. And so different equipment. Yep.

[B]

Different. Different issues.

[C]

And so that, I guess was one thing that I would just mention is. Yeah. Especially if you got somebody that's coming onto a farm that's never been around livestock. Right. Or maybe never been on a tractor or. Or something like that. Now, when I hire a student, safety isn't a big issue. Like, so I've hired a student to.

[B]

Because you're an ag econ.

[C]

To pull lots of. To pull lots of data from different websites. Well, no, it's. Exactly. Yeah. Typing into Excel. Right. I mean, that's the biggest. Don't want you to hurt your wrist. But part of it also is I'm not. Yeah. I'm trying to get some data pulled and do some simple analysis, but I'm also trying to help train that individual not to work, to make them more employable for that next job whenever they do graduate. And I'm also actually evaluating for. Is this going to be a good grad student. So it's. It's not just about trying to get the job done. Yes, it is. But it's also, I'm trying to help train that student because that's. I mean, that's what we do here. Train that student so they're employable in the future.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. I think the safety. Safety is a really important thing to focus on. And I like, Philip, your progress on the training. So this is all at the start. What do you do as you're partway through the summer? Do you do it?

[B]

I think it's really important to follow up because I'm speaking. Speaking for me sometimes that initial training is a lot to try to understand and remember. And I remember maybe the things that applied, what I'm going to be doing the next couple of days. But like you said, I want this person to be relatively independent and I told them on day one stuff that they may not need for another two or three weeks. Well, you know.

[A]

And do you ever remember being on the other side of the.

[B]

Oh, I remember.

[A]

You understand. And you say I know the right answer to this. Yeah.

[B]

Yes. Or I honestly think I will remember. Or that I understand, but I don't. I've forgotten exactly how to move from one place to the next or how to get a piece of equipment started or whatever else. So again, it's recognizing, well put yourself in those shoes. We've all been put in places where if there's a lot of new skills, a lot of new information, I don't get it all in the first time it's presented to me.

[D]

Yeah, well, think about when you start a new job, you know, and you kind of, you're figuring out all the new procedures, all the new whatever, you know, it takes you probably a couple, three months before you start to feel comfortable in knowing him well. You're hiring a person for three months, but by the time they're about ready to be done, that's when they're ready. That's when you normally start a new job. You start, they actually start to feel comfortable there.

[A]

But also limit the scope. Right. Don't, don't expect them to do everything and realize match it to their training. So appreciate you guys thoughts on that. That good discussion today. If you have other questions or comments for us, you can shoot us an email at bci@ksu edu.