(upbeat music) - Welcome to "A Shot of Ag."

I'm your host, Rob Sharkey.

I'm a fifth generation farmer from just outside of Bradford, Illinois.

I started a podcast which led into an XM radio show, which led into a national television show, which led into me being right here today.

But today, today is not about me.

Today is about Blake Nolan.

How you doing Blake?

- Doing great.

- You are from Blue Mound, Illinois.

- Absolutely, God's country.

- People don't know where that's at.

- Well, I mean, it's a beautiful spot between Decatur and Taylorville, Illinois, Central Illinois at its finest.

- Peoria calls themselves Central Illinois, but we're actually more towards the Northern central.

- Oh yeah, I agree.

I mean, you get close enough, you could be a suburb of Chicago.

- You're talking fighting words there now.

(laughs loudly) What's bad is like the people that say anything past I-80 is Southern Illinois.

- Yeah.

- That kind of hurts the soul, but I like being Central Illinois, but honestly I look at the map and I realize, I get it, I'm not.

Anyway, that's my little rant.

So you were eighth generation farm boy.

Eighth generation.

- Yeah.

We're not very good at finding alternative occupations.

- Is that eighth generations here in Illinois?

- No, we started Kentucky area.

I think we were actually like potato farmers in Ireland and got booted, and then made it to.

- [Rob] Well, there was a famine.

- Well, yeah.

I don't think we were the cause of it either.

But either way, we don't know that.

So we moved from there to Kentucky and then from Kentucky to North of Decatur.

- [Rob] Okay.

- And then went 20 or 30 miles South of Decatur to Blue Mound.

- Gotcha.

And so you grew up as a farm kid, correct?

- I did.

I did work on the farm in the mornings and then ride my bicycle three miles to town to play with my friends in the afternoon.

- [Rob] That's not bad, three miles.

- Not at all.

- Yeah, that's about what I was too.

City kids, they don't know how lucky they are just to get up and walk to the neighbor.

No, we had to put the effort in.

- Oh yeah.

- Yeah.

Did you ever get the kids to come out to the farm?

- Well, three miles keeps the drifters at bay, so.

- [Rob] That's true.

- Yeah.

- But you can do stuff on a farm you can't do in town.

You blow stuff up.

- Dirt bikes.

- Yeah.

You get in BB gun fights.

- Yeah.

- Two pumps, they say two pumps, but.

- Safety glasses.

- They always did over two.

- Oh yeah.

- Yeah.

Okay.

But now tell me about this Birddog Workforce.

- Yeah, so about four years ago, I went out on my own doing recruiting, prior to that, I was working with Dow Chemical with their Feaster Seeds brand.

So they had me set up as a recruiter, looking for farm kids or rural students that wanted to start their own seed dealership.

And we'd run 'em through kind of the ranks of how to start a seed dealership.

And I found myself on the outs whenever Dow DuPont merged.

Then I realized in that timeframe, I just couldn't get many people showing up to these community colleges to recruit.

So I saw a huge captive audience that didn't have career paths provided to 'em.

- Okay, well, let's go back.

So you were working with a seed company.

- Yep.

- And they couldn't find dealers.

- They were looking for younger dealers in certain areas.

So they'd have like a geographic area where they said it'd be great to be able to get young guys started, whether, because they had an older person wanting to retire or just an open geographic area.

- So the kind of a change in agriculture since I've been, was a kid, right.

So the seed dealers were generally farmers and then it changed to where they wanted the seed dealers to be full-time seed dealers.

- Yeah.

- So that's what you were after.

- So we were actually trying to bring back what you were used to, providing a secondary line of income to a young kid trying to get back onto the farm.

- [Rob] Okay.

- And that's what I did right outta college.

I went through a diesel tech program.

So I helped drive a truck on the farm, work on some equipment and then sold seed part-time.

And that's how I got into the, kind of building other people's seed dealerships or helping younger guys get started.

- So your farm, I mean, was there ever thought about going back to it?

I don't know family dynamics.

Everybody is different.

- Yeah, so I think of probably our farm best as like a tribal situation.

So my brother is called the chief, and then my uncle, my dad would be the chief's council.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And then I'd consider myself kinda like a Indian outlaw, half Cherokee and Choctaw.

Now my wife, she's more like a Chippewa.

- [Rob] Chippewa.

- She's one of a kind.

- I think we're going to be sued for that somehow.

- Oh, well, quoting the great Tim McGraw is probably how I'd best describe our farm scenario.

- Yeah, so your brother is more the one that went back.

- Yeah.

- And hands down, an amazing person to run our operation.

Sharp as a pencil.

I'd say he's tad attractive, more attractive than me because he is an inch shorter.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And I think the sun kind of delineates my looks.

- You know, I was in a class with your brother and we were learning how to be respectful 'cause we were going over to Japan, right?

- Yeah.

- And you're learning to the culture and how to do their tea time.

And we were at the U of I at this, I don't know, temple or whatever it was.

It was a very special place.

And he spills his tea all over.

And it wasn't just a floor.

It was like a wooden floor where you couldn't clean it up.

- Oh!

- And the people that were running it, they started crying and weeping and talking about international incidents and stuff like that.

So that's the person running your farm.

- Well, you know, he's really good an American farmer.

I don't know.

Let's put it, soybeans are more his style, not edamame.

- They still talk about it today in Japan.

They call it the great insult.

I don't know how it translates.

- Ah, yeah.

- But it's too bad.

- He hasn't been back.

He has not been back.

- No, they won't let him.

- I believe it.

He's been labeled.

- Let's get back to Birddog.

So Birddog Workforce Scouting.

- That's right.

- Okay.

So tell me how this concept came about.

- So the original birth of it was really the idea that companies really need to build a bush league of interns and individuals that might be interested in getting into their job or their openings.

And what I've realized is the generation coming up has, was born with a phone in their hand, in some cases.

And the amount of information that they're constantly taking in and looking over is almost debilitating.

Or they can't really see the opportunities that are right in front of them.

And we need to give them the opportunity to experience these different careers that are in their back door.

Now the problem is we have less farmers.

There's less opportunities to go out and walk beans or do all the things that we probably grew up doing.

- You said walk beans, nobody even knows what that is anymore.

- Oh man.

There is a unique individual that is not too far from here.

His first name is Sawyer, and he has Central Illinois Bean Walkers.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And he runs a crew of, I think 50 plus 13 to 18 year olds walking beans for organic farmers.

- Really?

- That's why I'm telling you there is work ethic right around the corner in every rural neighborhood.

- So people that don't know what walking beans, it is literally you get a group of people or you can do it yourself, right?

And you walk in the bean field.

You don't drive out there, you walk in there.

And you see a weed, you either cut it or you pick it out manually.

- Yeah.

- It's work.

And I think we all did it as kids.

And then when Roundup came, everybody stopped doing it.

- Yeah.

There's a fashion statement to it too, because beans are always extra bushy at that point.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Really wet in the morning.

So you like to really bring out your Chanel trash bag and wear it kind of has a skirt.

So that way you can keep your shorts dry.

- Yeah, we couldn't afford the Chanel.

- Oh!

- Yeah.

- All right.

- We had Polo, the Polo.

(laughs loudly) - You had the hefty, hefty, hefty.

- Right.

So that's one thing.

How do you mold this into a business though?

- So it was a challenge.

Initially, companies didn't really want to entrust me into bringing people into a internship program.

So we kinda disguised ourselves as a head hunting company and said, hey, we'll help you find individuals that love to come on full time.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- So we had couple good runs.

We would find guys that operate sprayers, mechanics.

Really our wheelhouse are agriculture operators, technicians, anything from diesel techS to airplane mechanics, to even smart home technicians.

And the careers that you can do if you're mechanically inclined and have some common sense and just want to get in and learn.

So we started out just placing people.

And what I explained to 'em was, there's more opportunity if you give someone who is not maybe a farm-based individual a little taste of agriculture.

And that's really what this has been built around, is building that bush league of young people wanting to get into ag.

- Okay, how do you talk to this younger generation?

How do you get 'em off their phones to where you say, hey, look at these opportunities?

- It's a challenge.

Typically, presentations at classrooms were the initial route you'd take.

But there's also trying to beat them to their phone by just putting something on their phone.

So we've got in with the Illinois Soybean Association to create Behind The Bean.

Now I prefer.

- Is that what this is?

- That is.

That would be me in a soybean suit, in a soybean field, with a crop duster, just about nicking me with the prop as I'm shooting flames in the air with a flame thrower.

- How close was that?

- I could feel the wind.

- Okay.

- They did two runs.

And the second one, the videographer thought I was gonna get clipped with the wheel.

- And a flame thrower.

You just carry those around.

- It's in my truck right now.

- Are you joking?

- I am joking.

I took it off for this.

You know, I didn't wanna run that.

But my sweating costume is in my truck right now.

You never know.

You never know when you got opportunity to go on that, baby.

- So yes, that's funny.

That's joking.

But is that what it takes?

- That's what it takes.

So those videos broke down into five minute intervals and it opens with something silly just to grab their attention.

It's followed by a side by side of someone who's in high school or college working next to someone who does that job for a living.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And then we interview them before and after.

And then at the end we get kind of their take on what they think.

And we create a PDF that explains how to get into that job.

What it pays, what companies would pay for schooling, if you like schooling.

Or what the benefits or the growth path could be.

So the big challenge is explaining starting a job and where it takes you.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And everyone thinks that old grumpy person who hates what they're doing, and that's not what it is anymore.

There's so much career growth.

- So growing up on a farm, I'm sure you picked up rocks.

- Oh, yeah, I have a rock collection.

- People that don't farm, I don't know where they come from.

I literally don't.

They just, puff!

There's a rock in your field.

They come up.

I think the stock leaves them.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

Anyway, you talk to farmers now and they're like, I can't get kids that come pick up rocks.

Hey, we just had a company approach us.

They've got a mechanical, a rock picker.

They take a drone and take a picture of the field and it could pick out the rocks and then you send your drone out there or your thing, your robot, whatever it is, and it picks up the rocks.

Can you get kids, young people, anybody to come pick up rocks, even if you pay them a decent amount?

- I think the issue isn't can you get them to pick up the rocks.

Is, can you accurately explain to them, where picking up these rocks is gonna take them.

And if you say, hey, if you pick up these rocks, it's gonna get you an opportunity to run a planner, or it's gonna get you an opportunity to operate a drone.

The reality is we're not trying to figure out a job that you love.

We're just trying to find a job that you don't hate.

I think everyone has this thought process of, find a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- That's not true.

Every job has 25% that just sucks, and it's not enjoyable.

But if you can find something that 75% of the time you love, you'll tolerate the 25%.

And you don't know until you get into it.

So no one likes picking up rocks, but I'm sure there's another 75% of that rock picking job that might be fun.

Like maybe you're into cleaning them and selling them, buck a pound is what I heard they were worth, so.

- Wow!

It's funny.

This job is about 60, 40.

- Oh, alright.

- Yeah.

- Which ones do they like and not like?

- Yeah, they're watching.

- All right.

- But even like the picking up rocks, right?

I don't mind it, but you're right, I wouldn't wanna do it every single day of the year.

And I think most the kids or whatever they get out there on a four Wheeler or a side by side, they stop pick up rocks, they're okay with it.

What you're saying is it needs to be more than just that you need.

Are you saying you need to kind of have like a plan of.

- Absolutely!

- Okay.

- So like tissue samples, one of our big internships is pulling tissue samples.

No one wants to go dredge through a field in hot weather, pulling a softball value worth of tissue off a plant.

But if you explain to 'em, what we're doing is utilizing technology to understand what the plant is deficient in, and you can document all this through an app, then all of a sudden it's like, okay, well that's the 25% I don't like, but the 75% I like is the technology, the interacting with the grower, the learning about the data that's coming off of it.

And that's the approach we need to have, not pick up some rocks.

- Give me your best sales pitch for Birddog Workforce.

- Well, really our mission is we wanna provide direction to the next generation of mechanically-inclined individuals that want to grow a career.

So if you're mechanically inclined and you're not college bound, you can still make six figures and you can make it a heck of a lot faster than somebody with a bachelor's degree, if you're willing to apply yourself.

- In your mind and in Birddog's mind, it's just that they don't know the opportunities that are out there.

- Absolutely.

They don't understand that not only getting the experience, but experiencing who you're getting experience with is what's gonna provide you the network to get to where you wanna be.

- Okay.

Is there any particular, are you looking for boys, girls side, anything in a particular or just anybody?

- Not at all.

We're an equal opportunity employer.

So we'll help anyone and everyone.

And frankly, those who don't have an ag background are sometimes my favorite because they have no predestined idea of where they need to be or what they want do.

They're fully open to everything and anything.

- It's not how dad did it.

- Exactly.

- Yeah, exactly.

All right, farming has changed.

I mean, you used to be, it was a man's world, right?

And now we are getting a lot of women that are not just doing like bookwork and that they're running equipment and all this.

I mean, have you guys, I don't know if you even had to adjust or has it just always been the way it is?

- You are completely right.

Some of the best applicators you're gonna find out there are ladies.

When you think of who has great depth perception, who has the patience.

- Wait a minute, depth perception?

- Yeah, huge.

- Are you saying women have better depth perception than men?

- I'm just trying to keep a happy wife.

So she has never backed out.

To be honest in our family, I have backed into more things probably than she has.

I'm very committed in way I operate stuff, all the way into something else.

- Well, I guess your brother did spill the tea all over.

- Yeah.

- That's embarrassing.

- Well, maybe it's could just be the Noland family's depth perception.

It's not a male trait.

But as far as operators and ladies in ag, man, they are some of the best operators when it comes down to it.

- Yeah.

- Social media proves it too, there's a lot of great ones out there.

- So what kind of office are you guys running this out of?

- We've got a pretty high-end headquarters.

Someone referred to as a mobile headquarters, the axels are still underneath it.

I think all tires are still on the axels.

- [Rob] Aha, yeah.

- To an untrained eye, you might say it's a double wide.

- [Rob] Okay.

- But it does not have polyester curtains.

- [Rob] Yet.

- Yet.

I mean, at any point we could pick up and just move that headquarters anywhere we want it.

- Or a tornado could do it for you.

- Oh, if you ask the insurance company, it's got stainless steel augers that are strapped around the axels, holding that thing solid.

- Tell me, alright.

Tell me about TerraGator.

- So my biggest challenge is getting individuals into running these pieces of equipment.

- Yeah.

- And I thought, you know what, what does any young individual love more than seeing wheelies, burnouts and black smoke?

And I thought, how could I bring this together?

- Yeah.

- So I went out and bought a 1603 TerraGator.

- Which not everybody is gonna know what it is.

- Oh yeah.

But this is (indistinct) - That's TerraGator right there.

- This is a TerraGator.

- So the they're technically a TerraGator made by AGCO.

And AGCO, if you're listening, we're looking for sponsorships.

- Yeah, AGCO.

- So this is a Terra War Gator.

And the Terra War Gator is gonna be painted, could be in fenced new colors or blacked out.

And it'll have a weight transition, that'll slide that maybe up into a wheelie, billow and black smoke, and making the longest wheelie you'll see a TerraGator ride.

- Hey, you're such a dude.

- I'm telling you, we could take this.

I thought you're going somewhere else with that.

(laughs loudly) The goal is to take it to high schools, put it up at FFAs.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And really just show how things can be fun.

Not everything has to be serious.

- [Rob] Those things are huge.

- They had to.

- [Rob] I mean, to get to that front wheel off.

- Oh, we're talking about some good weight.

- Okay.

- It'll need a wheelie bar.

There's no doubt.

- You'll need a wheelie bar on your TerraGator.

- TerraGator.

- TerraGator.

- TerraGator, yeah.

- Okay.

Yeah, I think any company would be thrilled to sponsor that.

- Yeah, we're happy to provide all the information needed if you're interested in sponsoring a TerraGator, going to any high school in the rural communities in your area.

- How much is this to bring awareness to Birddog?

Or how much is this just because it's cool as hell?

- Oh man, I don't even know.

I think that's one and the same.

I think it's absolutely one and the same.

- People will say that nobody wants to work anymore.

Is that true?

- Not at all.

I mean, we just talked about Central Illinois Bean Walkers.

We've got, you know, 13, 14, 15 year olds happy to go out and cut weeds and pull weeds.

The challenge is, I think we've got so much efficiency built into everything we do, that we're not exposing young people on the actual enjoyment from getting hard work completed.

It sounds odd to say that, but there's not many people that get done mowing their yard and don't look back and say, hey, that actually looks really good.

And it provides a lot of pride.

And we need to get back to having some sort of sense of pride in hard work, and just a sense of, I did that.

I did that with myself and it wasn't something that someone did for me.

So I think there is a lot of hard work out there, still we've had.

- That sense of accomplishment that it's a shame if a young person doesn't get to experience that.

- I agree.

- You see, even if you have somebody that doesn't get that experience at home, you know, really doesn't have a home life that generates that when you get them to do something.

You can see the pride in them.

So it's not like it's something that's inherited.

I think everybody has it.

- So I think back to, Mike Rowe did a show on "Dirty jobs" cleaning grain bins.

And I saw that watching in my living room at home, I don't know how old I was.

And I don't really enjoy cleaning grain bins, but it's just a necessity with on the farm.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And when I saw them do that, I had so much pride in the fact that I had done that job, and that's a job that I would do.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And I think there's just a lot of things we're not explaining, giving people the opportunity for the sense of pride that comes with a job well done.

- Do you ever use a leaf blower to clean your bins?

- Not until later on in life, but yeah.

- Honestly, I didn't know until social media.

- Yeah, it's pretty simple.

- I'm like, well, that's duh, why haven't we been doing that for years?

Because on the outside, the little bolts that stick up in there.

It's the worst to.

- I agree.

- Yeah, the things we learn from social media.

- Yeah.

- Speaking of which, where can people find more about you?

- Birddogws is best way to find us on all social media platforms.

- [Rob] Aha.

- And it's B-I-R-D-D-O-G-W-S. And really, I can't tell how much I appreciate you allowing us to come on here and explain what we do enough so that we actually brought you a gift.

'Cause we felt like this would be something that you could utilize.

- Okay.

- And for social media side things, I think it'd be something that you could utilize on your social media side things.

- Is it ticking?

- No, oh no.

- Okay.

- No, it's disarmed.

- I feel bad you brought a gift because it implies that actually anybody is gonna watch a show.

Yeah.

- Well the jury is out.

- Oh, here I thought it was going to blow up.

Oh, that's a nice.

That's a Birddog hat.

- Yeah.

- That's fantastic.

- It gets better.

- Ah, okay.

You got some peas and carrots.

- Well, as close, you can get to as soybean as you can.

- Okay.

I'm guessing that's in, not my size.

- It's gender neutral and one size fits most.

- Again, I'm guessing that's not in my size.

Well, that is fantastic.

I don't know what to say.

- It's from our heart.

From one bean boy to a bean man.

- Illinois Soybeans would be proud if you would take this back and wear it.

- Well, I've got my own.

We can wear it together sometime.

- We could.

- We could be two peas in a pod.

- Some of it is kind of phalic.

I'm not gonna pretend it's not, but it is a couple's costume.

- Would you like to try it on?

- I mean, some things are better left till later.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

So we might leave that.

But thank you.

- The next episode.

- Some things are better left to much later, but thank you.

Thank you for that.

I'm thinking your brother might have had something to do with.

- Well, I did consult him.

He is the chief.

- That's right.

Tell me what's the story behind Birddog.

- Well, frankly, we're just birddogging people.

- [Rob] Oh yeah.

- So I had a trailer dealership one time with my brother and I wanted to call it Birddog.

- [Rob] The trailer dealership with your brother.

- Yep, Built To Order trailers.

- You were such a stereotype of a Southern Illinois farmer.

- Oh yeah.

Well, it only came outta necessity because I had accidentally not hooked our fuel trailer up correctly.

- Ah!

- And went over some railroad tracks and flipped it.

- [Rob] Ooh!

- It was empty.

- [Rob] Okay.

- So I realized the cost of trailers were pretty excessive when you were in the market for them.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And it was easier to become a trailer dealer to get the discount you needed - [Rob] Okay.

- to replace the trailer that you broke.

- So are these like the fuel trailers.

- Fuel trailers and anything.

It was anything larger size.

So it was anything backhoe, skid steers, enclosed trailers.

But we had a good run with it for a while and then when the steel tariffs came into play, our model of built to order didn't really pan out as well.

- Yeah, oh.

I think it's very interesting what you've done.

Very cool what you've done.

Because honestly, a lot of people will look at society today and say, you know, well, nobody wants to work.

There's no opportunities unless you have a lot of things laid out in front of you and you guys are right here to say, no, that's not true.

- Absolutely.

We like to provide a guide for those individuals.

Or if a parent is trying to figure out how to have that conversation with their mechanically-inclined student, we'd like to step in and provide them some information.

- And did we ask for your socials?

You confused me when you handed that.

- Well, yeah.

So it's still birddogws.

- So we did, yeah.

It's still, it hasn't changed.

- Not yet.

- It's about two minutes ago.

(laughs loudly) Well, go check 'em out.

I mean, honestly, it sounds like it's a good deal for the employee and the employer.

- Absolutely.

- So, and here you are making the world a better place.

- One intern at a time.

- I mean, but this is to make careers for people too, right?

- Absolutely.

I've been doing this long enough now that I've got individuals out pacing me in their career path.

- Okay.

Well, thank you, Blake Noland from Blue Mound, Illinois.

Appreciate you coming on the show.

I appreciate your generous gifts.

- Absolutely.

- And yes, Blake, thank you.

Everybody else, we'll catch you next week.

(upbeat music)