It's Hannah Borg, Again

Paul Yeager:  Hey everybody, it's Paul Yeager This is the MtoM Show podcast, a production of Iowa PBS and the Market to Market TV show. It's Hannah Borg time, we're gonna go back and visit with one of our guests from 2019. Hannah was just finishing up her time at the University of Nebraska Lincoln and was about to head home to the farm in northeast Nebraska. She's gone there, she's done what she thought she did. But getting to where she's at today in 2023. Well, that journey is what our story is going to be today. I thank Hannah a ton for her meeting with us back in 2019. And then also going through a whole bunch of hoops to get together for the video that we had today. So I thank her for that. And she calls it a splendid isolation to use a PBS, Ken Burns title. We don't fully explain it, we just kind of glance over. But at the end, when we got done recording, Hannah said, I really feel that that's what it is. I'm in a splendid isolation. I don't know many of you who are out on the farm. Think of, maybe you don't think of what you do is that, but it is you enjoy what you do, just like I do. And I enjoy that you are listening and watching this episode. If you have any feedback for me, send me an email at Paul.Yeager@IowaPBS.ORG. Like, rate, review, share. Tell a friend that really means a lot. So when you share this conversation with someone else that you think might enjoy it. And I hope you enjoy this chat with Hannah Borg. Hannah Borg back with this again, or as I like to say the title of the episode. It's Hannah Borg How you been?

Hannah Borg: And is Hannah Borg. Thanks for having me.

Paul Yeager: You know, it's I looked back it was I think, February of 2019. When we last talked and you were just about to embark on this whole crazy adventure. What's 2019 Hannah Borg? Looking back and wondering where to 2023 Hannah Borg and up? Is she in the spot she thought she'd be?

Hannah Borg: Yeah, 2019. Hannah had no idea what she was in for. So some context. At that time, I was a senior in college. And all I knew was that I was going home to the farm to raise chickens. So we got we got our first placement of chickens. 60,000 of them the Tuesday of my senior year finals week. So I spent the, you know, a lot of my spring break at home, getting ready for chickens. And then my parents, you know, I had to go back to college, finish things out. And it was really chaotic, you know, finishing his senior year and then also being stressed about, you know, getting the chicken barns ready because there was new construction. We got chickens that Tuesday, and I think my body crashed. I got so sick, and I was supposed to have a final on Wednesday, I ended up going to the doctor at a sinus infection. I had to get a doctor's note. So when I went back to Lincoln on Thursday, I had an excuse on why I didn't show up to my finals. Took my two files on that Thursday and came home and here I am almost four years later. So

Paul Yeager: still at home, but if you follow you on social media, I see some pictures of chickens but I see you doing a whole lot more. You thought you would help your your family. Are you helping or are you partnered in and side by side? Yeah, it's

Hannah Borg: interesting. So a little bit of context. I'm the sixth generation on my family's farm. Currently, there's three generations my grandma is 89 so the homeplace, very active, very involved in our lives. My dad and his three brothers are all farming as well. So we all have our own individual livestock operation. And then we kind of share some stuff on the crop side. So my parents in our family we raised crops, cattle and chickens. So my lane is chickens we raised pullets for Lincoln premium poultry or you might know them as Costco and we get two batches a year. We also have a feedlot where we background calves and then we my brother and I have a cow calf herd so the easiest way for me to explain it is we all kind of have our lanes to stay in so when it comes to management, I Royer, the manager hat in the chicken barns behind my mom. My mom is the manager of the chicken barns but I'm kind of daily operations when it comes to the feedlot. My dad and brother are the ones managing that and then my brother's one managing the cow herd and I'm kind of labor and idea the person to bounce ideas off of with the cow stuff. So that was very complicated to explain, to answer your original question, I am helping my family a lot. But I also get to have a management role when it comes to the chicken barns alongside my mom.

Paul Yeager  Has it gone? smoothly?

Hannah Borg  I appreciate your hesitation when you ask that question. Because there's a lot that goes into working with your family. So the first Yeah, at home. First of all, I live with my parents. So I'm living and working with my parents as well. As you know, we're starting a new business. And I'm trying to transition out of college, a lot of times we talk about, there's a lot of a lot of talk about transitioning into college. But no one talks about the transition out of college, you know, you go from seeing your friends every day, having a good time, during the next day, you're trying to figure it out. So I live with my parents while I'm trying to manage all this stuff. Because you know, rule Nebraska is kind of hard to find a place to live. Also, starting a new business with no previous experience is a wild experience. And then I'm starting a business with a lot of equipment, working with the contract company in new new animal. Yeah, mix that all together, and you've got one heck of a mess when it comes to emotional civility. So my first year at home was wild, I don't remember a lot of it. I think when you go through wild experiences, you know, you tend to forget those details about how bad it was. What made it bad was you know, we have a ton of equipment on our Chicken Barn. So they're 60 by 600 feet long. And we have two of those and a 60 by three and a foot long barn, we have 100 motors that run every time we're feeding chickens. And so many motors, so many so much equipment to talk about, didn't even know how to turn any of this stuff on when they got chickens. So not only are we learning how to operate things, but then if anyone's out there has had brand new equipment. You know, you never want to have brand new equipment again, we came in with assumption that our equipment would work because it was brand new. But that was a very bad assumption to come in. So we're fighting things. Just learning the daily routine, your you know, our whole life has shifted, in terms of routines and just mindset. And slowly, it just gets better after time. I think you're really took me two years, year and a half, they've almost two years to really feel like I've got this figured out. Because not only am I figuring out life and the chicken barns, but I'm figuring out life on the farm. You know, I've always I was raised on the farm, I was I was always involved, but not in terms of a daily operational involvement. So I'm having to learn things that, you know, I never knew how to do, I'm having to think ahead and work alongside my dad then. And now my dad and brother have just, you know, the seasonal operations. And it takes a while to figure that out. So again, here we are four years later, much better place. So two people going back to the farm, it sucks for a long time and then gets better.

Paul Yeager  Now you were ag communications and a second major was that right? Ag business maybe?

Hannah Borg  No, I was agricultural communications with a minor in English or entrepreneurship.

Paul Yeager  Okay, so you're using are you using more of the minor than the major now?

Hannah Borg  Yeah. The major came in handy in college, I had a lot of work experiences in college that I loved. I did some foreign broadcasting. I actually interned in Iowa with farm her. I was their communications intern, so got to do a lot of the a lot more communications stuff, but my main thing in college was foreign broadcasting. And the entrepreneurship program, just the mindset of it, the the quality of people that I was around is something that I still am very involved with now. In fact, I'm going back to an alumni meeting thing next week. So that entrepreneurship mindset and that community from my minor was for sure more valuable than my major which is hard to say out loud right? You know, you you go to college with the hopes that you're choosing you're picking something that is going to carry you through but I can't say it didn't come in handy at all because you know, today i i put some of my communication skills into play at a decimal when they're off to get the scene set up. But no I don't regret communications or anything. But I definitely really lean on my entrepreneurship community from college.

Paul Yeager  Well, and I do want to again, say thank you in this. I also said it would before we started, thank you so much for all the work to to make this happen and to give it a little extra flair. So let's pretend, though that your parents aren't listening, when you just said my major didn't I use my minor more than my major? Did they understand that at some point, when they asked when you kind of said I think I want to come home and raise be back on the farm as opposed to maybe head into the lane that I thought I was going to be? I guess it'd be eight years ago,

Hannah Borg  the conversation didn't happen like that. I went to college, just and chose communications. Because I've been around my mom going to a lot of she's all in Nebraska corn board and has served in a lot of different ways, volunteering, just different boards. And I always kind of lean into those communication people. And I thought what they did was cool. So that's kind of how I chose that communications major to begin with, just kind of pick that lane to head down. About junior year, my parents approached me and asked if I wanted a job, and generally when my dad says, Hey, Hannah, you want a job. It follows with suddenly like opening the gates or some meaning some job that, you know, doesn't hold a whole lot of value. But when he asked if I wanted a job, he meant it he, they had already decided that they were going to build Chicken Barn. So we were not a part of that process at all. And I'm glad, because that was something that they valued. They wanted to expand their operation. Oh, by the way, they have a daughter that the timing is going to be about right that she can come back full time. So they had to hire someone full time, whether or not it was their daughter, but I always had a dream that I would maybe go back to the farm somehow, some way. But before chickens, it was not feasible. You know, my parents joke, I didn't come back to the farm, but I want to have a paycheck. So billing with check and balance allowed my family to expand and diversify and give their daughter a paycheck when she came home to work. So that was I took

Paul Yeager  I have to admit, though, Hannah, see, I think about you often when I discuss with people from from our chat years ago, when I asked about farmers that have generations coming in, what do they want to do? Or from speaking to high school groups or college groups? And I'm like, What is your plan? How has that conversation gone with your family? Because to me, it sounds like it was a very, both honest and frank conversation you have with the family? Am I characterizing your situation accurately?

Hannah Borg  Yeah, I wish I remember some of those conversations a little bit more clearly. But it really starts with the mindset. You know, I, I knew my family's history, I've gotten to know it a lot more. But my grandpa worked to build something for his sons to come back. My dad adopted that same mindset. So I have a very vivid memory growing up. We planted trees. And you know, as a child, you're asking questions, you know, how long does it take for these trees to grow, and Dad said it won't be in my lifetime, it will be in yours. I'm planting these trees for you guys, not for me. And I think that's that was a very pivotal, I shouldn't say Pivotal, I don't know, I just that moment has really stuck with me. Because early on, I understood that my dad was doing things for us, not just for him just like his father did. And you know, I'm in that spot to where I building something that that can sustain itself. So I encourage people, you know, when I hear people talk about, they want their kids to come back home, those decisions, those actions start way, way away, long before the actual action of that daughter or son stepping back on the farm. So yeah, I was I was, I knew I was going to be home two years out. But that decision for my parents had been made even earlier than that in that mindset of, hey, let's think outside the box and do something that's maybe uncomfortable, but is worth it to build and expand what we got going on. So that that's the mindset that my parents hold. And that's something that they're, you know, instilling in us and my siblings as well.

Paul Yeager  And okay, brother, right. There's your brother's there is already there. I forget. Is there anybody younger than you that might be coming back?

Hannah Borg  Yeah, so my sister's two years younger than me. She got married last fall, and her husband, her and her husband work, excuse me, her and her husband live, where he works. He works for a farmer feedlot and then also owns his own cow herd as well. And so the goal of course will be for them to Come back to our farm Sunday, the timeline of that is, you know, a little bit unknown. And then my brother who is five years younger than me. He has been home full time for almost a year now, but also works part time for another farmer feedlot as well. So essentially, there's mom, dad, me and brother full time on our farm. And then my sister, my brother in law, they're here weekly, they're staying involved, they definitely know what's going on.

Paul Yeager   Well, that makes it fun to be working together when everything's going well. So I guess let's ask, well, things go well. The chicken business, I'm guessing has been a little bit of a challenge. We see these stories about avian flu. So again, if I step in an area where you're not supposed to say anything, how has the biosecurity of keeping disease and illness out of the birds been going for you?

Hannah Borg  Yeah, so the biosecurity mindset is new for us, right? We have, we have cattle, we don't, we don't have the bio secure biosecurity protocols on the capital side, like we, you know, we're introduced to on the chicken side. So disease walks in on two feet. And for us, on our farm, There's, on average, three people walking into our barns a week, I'm daily operation, so I'm doing chores every day. My mom, you know, she fills in or it's kind of good for her to be in the barns to just a different eye when you're doing the same routine every day. It's good to have someone else checking in on things. My mom, you know, sales manager, and then we have a service tech that comes in weekly. So for us, you know, three people maximum. My hometown of Wakefield, they have Michael foods, which is a large a glaring plant or farm. And so they have multiple farms over a couple miles. There's four big farms, I think, but they have a lot of employees. So when it comes to biosecurity, their risk is naturally going to be higher because they have a lot more vehicles coming in and out. Feed trucks, employees, just a lot more service techs a lot more things happening. So I also wall bombs wall bombs is the local name why Michael foods got avian influenza, influenza AI twice last year, which is devastating. They you've been to the grocery store, you know, like prices are really high right now Michael foods does not is not an egg laying their eggs do not end up on the shelf, they make more dried product. Anyways. Thankfully, for us both times, because we're within a few miles of where the AI was confirmed. We had shipped birds the week before. So the level is higher, the risks were higher, you know, last spring because a lot more bonds were getting it and that's during migration season. But just naturally in our timeline, we had already shipped parts so we were empty. How it impacts us is we generally have about four weeks of downtime. Once they tested positive they the Department of Ag comes in and says you can't bring him birds in and out of the control zone zone. So we've we are now in month three without being bird without having birds because like Phil had to go through the whole system. So sort of having a month downtime. We've now had three months and we get birds and a week and a half now.

Paul Yeager  So your empty birds right now? Yes. been that way for three months?

Hannah Borg  Yeah. So in November, so is that that's not quite

Paul Yeager  Yeah. But it's yeah, it's getting there.

Hannah Borg  And yeah, it'll be about three months by the time we get birds. So there's pros and cons of being empty that long. Gone, you get out of the routine, I'm still you know, my my dad and brother do morning feed thought chores but I'm still there at a decent time just depending on the day but not there as early at the farm as what I would be if I had my seven o'clock chicken chores. So I gotta get back into the routine of things and I'll a con of being empty for so long is that when the equipment since idle and not running? The startup of getting all the feeders and everything to work again. turned on again is sometimes a little sketchy because you don't know you're like last time I use this it was working but then when it says sell for so long, Rost or whatever, whatever happens and things don't turn on quite as gracefully as when you shut things off.

Paul Yeager  How's your mechanical skills gone? You mentioned you talked about new equipment doesn't always work the way it is. Well how are you fixing anything is or have you relegated that to someone else?

Hannah Borg  Yeah, that's been a big journey. So you know, when we first started via we didn't even know how to turn on things. We didn't know how to feed the chickens. Of course, we had people helping us along the whole way. So you know, our chickens throughout Hungary, but over the years, we have become pretty proficient so I can, I can fix a lot of things. Sometimes it's above my head, then I have to call on my dad, we also have a service tech that we have a really great relationship with. But until the point where I can diagnose a lot of issues. Early on, when I'm talking to my service tech, he would say something, and I've had absolutely no idea what he's even talking about. But now I know like how the barns work the systems, I know what I'm looking for, something's not working correctly. So my diagnose skills are a plus. My mechanical skills vary on what exactly is wrong.

Paul Yeager  It's just each situation is different for you.

Hannah Borg  And it's, it's kind of fun, like, I never want anything to break down. But if something breaks down, and it's broken down before and I fix it, I get a little excited, because it's like, Heck, yes, I can solve this issue on my own, without having to call my dad or service tech. So those small wins definitely feel a little bit bigger. Because yeah, Hannah, four years ago, didn't even know an ounce of what she's doing now not to be talking third person, but I've learned a lot.

Paul Yeager  Well, okay, so that's on the on the mechanical side. And you talked a little bit about the AI, or the the avian flu that when you said USDA came in and said you can't do certain things. Are they telling you now that protocols are going to be different? Or is your who you buy from different Have you had to make any changes that way, given that there has been positives around you, other than you've just gone longer time between having birds.

Hannah Borg  So the cool thing about being a contract grower is all that decision making is taken off of your plate. There are some cons of being a contract grower, because as farmers, we're used to making our own decisions, you know, having complete control over everything we do. Now, since we're working with LBP, they're the ones that are making those decisions with for us. So those conversations we are not involved in we are just told by our service tech, what we what we did we totally get our marching orders from our service techs. So he's the one like, this is when the birds are coming. This is what happening. So in terms of any of that administration stuff, and those conversations, I have no idea what things change how they change, because we're not involved in those conversations. Okay.

Paul Yeager  All right. Just curious. That's just, you know, we report on it. And yes, the story. In fact, we just talked about on the show last week talking about the egg prices on an inflation, it's like, well, we've been telling you about I mean, this audience of Market to Market, they they're fully aware of what's going on with chickens and eggs and turkeys and things like that. So okay, four year, Hannah, I see in your feed, you can't quite shake the camera and the communication things. What have you been doing media wise, on that communication side of your major?

Hannah Borg  Yeah, um, so I come from a strong blue backup. I love my family's history. So I'll promise I'll tie it into current day what I'm doing with my camera. You know, throughout college, when I visited my grandma, I became more aware of all the history books that she had all the photographs. And as time went on, I realized like, I have such a gift that has been given to me in terms of knowledge about anything I want to know about my family, there's photos of everything, and a lot of stories written down. And so that got my wheels spinning, right. I'm a Communications major, I just naturally think in terms of storytelling. And I picked up a camera, originally, you know, just my phone to just simply document what's going on on that farm and printing the photos. Because I have 100 years plus of history photographed and detailed and documented. And I'm not going to let that tradition stop. So I'm going to carry that tradition on for my family. Over the years. I've learned that I really enjoy photographing other people as well. I'm not very good at talking about it because I just simply started it for myself and then you know, I have friends or family ask if you know I could do photos for them. And then I find a mentor. She's helping me and I'm now shooting weddings every once in a while. My goal with photography is to more so photograph more farm families working. I think of the most important photos some of the most valuable photos that I have of my family is of I'm working, you know, when I think my grandpa passed away 12 years ago, and when I think of my vision, my grandpa, I have a very, a very distinct image of him in my head. And that's of him working. And there's not, you know, there's photos of him working, but not a ton, you know. And so those photos are special, I'm gonna make sure that other people have those photos as well, because not everyone even has photos of them working. Even myself, you know, I take photos of a lot of other people working, especially on my farm, you know, I've a lot of photos of my dad and my brother and sister, a lot of things going on, I don't have a lot of photos of myself working. So I have just picked up the camera, and I'm hoping to just, you know, document simply document other families working together. Because it is kind of a business that is changing, and is it's always evolving. And so how can I document the moments that they're working together so that they can be printed out and passed on down for generations?

Paul Yeager  Well, when you have the gift of the eye of what makes a good shot, and you know what makes a good story, generations to come are going to appreciate your work. And in fact, I wish more would do it. I do enjoy the social media aspect of people who have documented their farms. Because let's face it, it's a great canvas to work with when the sky is the the great color or there's steam coming out of the feed wagon as it's heading down through the lot. I mean, there's some incredible images, and to bake it your family that's in them, that has to be special to

Hannah Borg  Yeah, and I learned it's hard. I mean, it's hard to take photos when you're working yesterday, my brother and I brought court, the cows home from corn stalks. And it'd be so cool to have, you know, image of us walking, you know, we're chasing the cows, and I can bring out my phone, I take Instagram stories every once in a while and then post them later I take some photos, that's hard, you know that my attention is getting taking away from what's in front of me cows to my phone, I'm trying to snap that photo. And so I know what it's like when you're working, you can't take those photos. So my dream is for families to welcome me onto their farm, and they're just going about their normal business and I'm taking photos of them.

Paul Yeager  You're just a fly on the wall or, you know, you just you're just kind of hanging out and then you capture him. Go ahead.

Hannah Borg  Because I come from a farm I know things don't always go as planned. And sometimes there's big emotions or big tensions. And so I I like to think that I have a handle on, you know, our know how to handle things like those and know that, you know, if something happens, or something breaks down and big emotions come up. Like that doesn't bother me because it happens to us all the time too.

Paul Yeager  And it happens to everybody. You have to remind that farmer that you're not the only one that had a breakdown. You're not the only one where something didn't go right. In fact, if nothing went wrong, then who are you? How is that possible? This isn't Hollywood?

Hannah Borg  Yeah, exactly. And, um, I just I tried to it sounds silly, but I tried to glamorize our work. There's, there's a splendid isolation to what we do. You know, we're on the farm every day working, big emotions, sometimes big decisions to make. But even in the small moments like that, sometimes those moments aren't fun. So I kind of glamorize what we do in my own eyes. And like, what's the best way to take this photo? How can I tell the story, because washing water tanks is not fun. But it's kind of fun to be washing water tanks with all the cows looking at you behind you. So it's like that would make a great photo. So I just, I just glamorize my everyday life as best as I can and picture it in my head. And I want to do that the same for others, but with a camera in my hand.

Paul Yeager  Well, and I know that some of the farmers that we have gone and visited with and like written along with and sometimes they'll be like, don't show me. But I know that there's people on in their family that want them to be seen. And I can speak from a very personal standpoint of I do have images of my father harvesting. And I don't have any of them planting in the sense of video that I've shot from market to market. And just recently, some of that video showed up and the guy that farms our land, texted me during the show and says I recognize that combine. And so it was fun to have that flashback now that he's gone. And a few of us can share in those. So keep doing what you're doing, Hannah. That's all I'm I'm gonna leave it at that.

Hannah Borg  Thanks. I appreciate it.

Paul Yeager  We talked about the four years before and since you've graduated, what are the next four years in line for you?

Hannah Borg  Well, if you had asked me that, four years ago, I wouldn't have been able to answer it how it played out and I'm pretty sure I don't I don't know how to answer it now either. Um, life changes quickly. And we all know that but it seems like as life goes on, you know, things change quicker and quicker. The next four years, I, you know, I'm not going anywhere on the farm, it's, I'm very confident that I will be on the farm for years. And I hope that's true. We're going to continue to grow and tweak our operation in the best way possible, you know, margins get targeted and tighter every time every year. And so what can we do to level up some of our systems and operations? Yeah, I don't, I don't know I I'm really content were worth with where I'm at. I'm really happy to be home. I really like being involved in my community. I really like telling people's stories through photography. So I have a I have a feeling that the next four years are going to have some sort of mixture of the farm, the family photography, and so much other goodness, I have no idea what's in store.

Paul Yeager  I love it. You don't know. That's the that's the joy of the journey. Right?

Hannah Borg  Yeah. And I really, you know, try to embrace the moment as cliche as that is, because it like does change really fast. We've had, we've had a few things happen recently, you're like, just hang on tight, because you never know what might happen. But I, I know, I, I find the joy in every day, even in the hard moments. Working with family day in and day out is hard is so hard. But it is so worth it. And I'm just excited that I get this opportunity. I don't I just don't get it. I I've worked for it. I've earned it. And I'll continue to earn it. I'll continue to work for it. And I'm excited to see where we're at in a few years. You know, we we've been talking about upgrading, you know, to hydraulic chutes, something like that. I hope in four years, I can say we have a hydraulic chute. There's just some things like that, that I know that can really level up our operation that will come to fruition or few years.

Paul Yeager  And it's hard to say if we talk again and four years it would be 2027 series. Yeah. That is weird number to say. Yeah, and I greatly appreciate the time. Thank you so very much. And hopefully that barn gets filled soon and you can get back to that regular routine.

Hannah Borg  Yes, I appreciate your time so much and checking back in. It's been a fun four years, and life was good. And I know the next four years, four years plus that will just be as good as well.

Paul Yeager  Sometimes you have to dig deep to find joy and it certainly looks like Hannah Borg has done just that. Feedback, if you have any for the show can be sent in the form of an email to MarkettoMarket@IowaPBS.ORG. New episodes of the M to M Show podcasts come out each and every Tuesday. We'll see you next time.

Contact: Paul.Yeager@iowapbs.org