Lydia Zerby of the Iowa Food and Family Project

Mr. Neal, thanks so much for taking the time.

How are you good, sir?

I

am fantastic.

It's a wonderful Monday, Jeff.

It's good to talk to you.

Always good to talk to you, sir.

You spent your career documenting finances, markets, the economy, etc.

I'm struck by something that came down on Friday and I'm interested in your view on it.

So the federal jobs report came down and I understand that in television we need to

have snappy little words at the bottom of the screen.

And it said something like 23,000 jobs lost.

Well, that sounds terrible.

Until you dive into it and you find out that government jobs, the ones you and I are paying for, those went down by something like 55,000.

So in essence, the government jobs went down, but the private job number went up

That's supposed to be a good thing.

Am I missing something on the reporting on this?

Well, you've already just stepped all over my lines and taken the best stuff I had prepared to lay out for you, Jeff.

You're absolutely right about that.

And everyone kind of missed that, didn't they?

Let us be happy when federal government jobs or any kind of government job actually goes down.

It's good for the economy because those

Jobs rely on our paying the money for them, don't they?

And so I think that is the silver lining there.

And there's a second one as well, Jeff.

And that is that the one thing the Federal Reserve looks at more than any other.

It's not GDP growth or, oh my gosh, the economy declined.

That's a recession.

They look at jobs numbers and jobs growth.

And if it's not robust, they find it harder to raise interest rates.

Now, the chances of an interest rate raise have gone up to 60%.

from 49% or something, over 60%.

But maybe those chances now just went back down.

When you were reporting on this on the cable channels on a daily basis, would you have seen that same sort of, I'm going to call it a headline because I'm old, but at the bottom of the screen about jobs lost, I mean, it seemed to be presented without context.

I'm just wondering if things were different when you started in that realm.

Well, certainly, I don't recognize the media anymore.

Trump broke them.

They've kind of bared their claws.

They've cast off any mask of purportive objectivity or fair and balanced.

I mean, get this.

The stock market, even yesterday, was at the S&P 500 at an all-time high, yet again, but the University of Michigan Consumer Cinema Survey is at all-time low.

What the heck is that?

People don't realize how good the economy really is.

The media are burying that story on purpose and the Trump administration and the public party are doing a bad job selling that the economy is better than you think.

That is exactly why I wanted to have you on the program today and was so glad you were able to join us because this narrative about quote-unquote affordability, things are terrible, etc.

All right, I do understand where my paycheck is going because I'm the one who goes to the grocery store in the gas station and whatever.

but I also have lived enough time that I know that prices, ebb and flow, et cetera.

And once we had that 9% inflation during the Biden era, that never goes back to where it used to be.

So what's the real situation with the economy?

What's the message that's not being gotten across as you note by the White House or Republicans broadly?

Let me think about what ways to put this in order.

I think that we're heading toward better times rather than heading toward worse times.

I think capitalism is in good shape.

The stock market being at all time highs.

Trump accounts encouraging people to set up accounts for their newborn babies.

Hey, here's a thousand bucks from the government.

You don't even have to match it.

But if you do, my God, what it will grow to over 40 years is unbelievable.

Do you

know that I know

someone, they put $2,000 into an account in 1981.

Get not add anything to it.

Invest in it only.

That's $500.

Today, it's like $260,000.

That's called the power of compounding.

More people in this country are going to become aware of it.

I think

we're a

little spoiled.

Jeff, remember,

All the wonderful posts on X from Europeans saying, my God, this country is amazing.

I'm visiting here in America.

They've got 11 versions of Dr. Pepper in the grocery store.

They've got amazing serving sizes in restaurants and refills free of coffee.

We are spoiled.

We spend too much money, many of us, way too much money.

Instead of cooking a $2 burrito at home, we expect to order a $20 burrito at Chipotle as there was just a controversy raging in the conservative side of things about the $20 burrito.

I'm not sure any burrito is worth twenty dollars, but I guess if I want it and I have the resources I'll pay it, but now to your point

make it at home You

haven't tried my cooking, but that's a whole different but The problem is and this is part of being spoiled that you just mentioned We expect there to be a dozen different types of Dr. Pepper or whatever at a store and it's it's the sort of thing where

We also expect to have it right darn now.

And the credit card situation is out of hand.

I don't think that's so much based on the economy, although people got pressed during COVID and after.

I think it's a lack of discipline.

What do you think?

Entirely it's a lack of discipline, you know?

I mean, our grandparents saved vastly better than our children do, although my daughter is an inveterate saver, a great saver because I

was pounding that into her from the time she was a little girl.

But people spend way too much in spending as the enemy of investing, and they can say that they don't earn enough in their jobs, but move to a cheaper neighborhood, move to a cheaper state.

When I left New York after 40 years in January and moved to Soplo, South Florida, I instantly got a 14% raise on my earnings because that's how much combined state and city taxes were taken out of anything I earned up in New York.

And so there are things we could do.

We aren't slaves.

People complain that Amazon people, they're earning $21 an hour now.

That's three times the federal minimum.

And my gosh, they're complaining it's not enough, but no one's a slave.

They could look for a better job.

I just think there's too much negativity out there, Jeff, because it's now politics.

The political split is what defines everything.

And the University of Michigan Consumer Cinema Survey, Democrats believe that inflation is going to be at like a sixth.

percent rate or higher.

And Republicans say, oh, no, no, it's only going to be a tenth of a percent annually.

Well, both measures are ridiculous and wrong.

And both measures are just skewed by political bias.

Well, how did we get to this point where numbers don't seem to matter?

Yeah.

And where data doesn't even count anymore.

The other disturbing thing about that jobs report is the restatement of close to 200,000 jobs that we thought were created and they were not.

And that's kind of a bad thing.

And all these are having to take that back down.

I think the data and the noise today has never been worse.

There's almost too much information going around there.

And not enough of it curated with a balanced perspective versus forwarding a political agenda.

They keep complaining about affordability and prices now, but that's because under Biden it peaked at 9%.

And then, like you said, the prices don't go back down.

So anything is on top of that.

And the reason it's so expensive is because of the 9% part of it, not because of the 3.2% now, even though he's going to take a whole bunch of trouble for it.

But I'm praying that the Muslim socialist takeover of the agenda and with the end of the Democrat Party will

prompt Democrat voters to turn out and vote Republican and vote instead to vote against this takeover because what's happening is truly concerning.

We're speaking with Dennis Neal, the financial journalist.

He joins us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line.

Last year, his book, The Leadership Genius of Elon Musk.

This year, his book, Oregoners, How One State Chased Away Businesses and People,

You get those books, as well as Todd Stern's new book, The Golden Age.

You get them wherever you get your good books these days, and Mr. Neal joins us live on the Todd Stern's program, Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd.

I'm glad you mentioned this revision of data situation.

We seem to, for no good reason, my opinion, not necessarily yours, we seem to, for no good reason, hang on every little number of these jobs reports, and it affects our actions, but yet,

We're revising data 30 and 60 days old.

Can we not come up with a system where the reporting of data is different than it was 50 and 75 years ago, subject to filling out a form and mailing it to Washington?

I don't understand why the data is so poor, but I'm led to believe it's because of the methodology in collecting it.

Exactly.

And government runs way behind the technology in updating to embrace the new techniques.

The University of Michigan survey has been struggling to go from cell phone-based surveys to web-based surveys, which are skewed and several points difference from the actual telephone surveys that they've used for years and years.

And look at the Federal Reserve, all its data is looking backward pretty much.

It's hundreds and even thousands of data points and different things that they're meshing all together and looking at where things have been.

And they're always behind the curve.

They're always overreacting late because they underreacted early.

And they were built in a time where tech hadn't taken over the economy.

Storage costs fall 30%, 40% per year.

I think the Federal Reserve has a hard time

backering that in and the impacts of that and the productivity increases.

So it's always worried when it sees high growth, it instantly thinks it's high inflation.

But with tech and especially now with AI, you can have higher growth without any inflation because the productivity and output increase with that growth and therefore prices don't go up.

So should we be paying as much attention to the Fed as some people do?

I mean right in the aftermath of the jobs report and you were kind enough to mention it a few moments ago It now telegraphs something.

This is data that the Fed will use and what might the Fed do?

They don't meet in August.

They meet in September.

What will the Fed do?

Should the average person listening to this conversation care what the Fed does?

It's such a good question because when you're a pixel pundit inside the circle talking about how important it is

You dare not question that.

I noticed your hushed tones as you dared to speak

it.

You're kind of right.

They don't have to worry about it on a day-to-day basis.

But if you've got an IRA and it's in stocks, you want to know what they're doing because just, you know, key in that one thing that oh, the lower the rates go, the better stocks look because they offer a far better return than safe government bonds.

But the higher government rates go,

government bonds, then suddenly stocks aren't as pretty and some of the money flows into bonds and the stock market doesn't like that.

Always great analysis from the veteran financial journalist Dennis Neal.

What's bugging me is his podcast.

You listen to that wherever you listen to podcasts.

Ricochet I believe is the distributor.

His most recent book is Oregoners.

Get that at the same time that you pick up Todd's new book, The Golden Age.

Dennis Neal, thanks so much for joining us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line.

Have a tremendous afternoon, sir.

YouTube, glorious day to you, sir.

Thanks a lot.

News Talk 1540 KXEL, where Iowa comes to talk.

Hello, I'm Jeff Stein.

Well, the Iowa State Fair now underway, and we've been telling you about various things you can do at the fair.

various booths you can go visit at the Varied Industries Building.

How about you go to the southeast atrium of the Varied Industries Building.

That's where you can visit our friends at the Iowa Food and Family Project.

Their address online is iowafoodandfamily.com but again

Through Sunday the 23rd, their address is the Southeast Atrium Varied Industries Building.

We're joined on the news line by Lydia Zerbe of the Iowa Food and Family Project.

Thanks so much for taking the time.

Yeah, thanks for having me,

Jeff.

Remind people who may not have heard our past conversations about this great project, Iowa Food and Family Project.

Who are you folks and what do you do?

Sure, the Iowa Food and Family Project is a collaboration between the seven largest commodity organizations in Iowa.

And we come together to talk to consumers about the good things that farmers are doing throughout the state, with agriculture, with innovations, with technology, and just really bridging that gap between consumers and the farmer audience.

Now there are a variety of outreach efforts that you do throughout the course of the year.

For example, there's the wonderful Fresh Pickings Magazine that I was actually just at a car dealership the other day to get my car worked on and they always have a stack of magazines and look what was right on top.

So if you go to the website IowaFoodAnFamily.com, you'll be able to get all manner of information, Fresh Pickings Magazine, et cetera.

But I was interested in some

y'all sent me in the mail and I'm a sucker for collectibles and doodads and gimmicks and all sorts of things.

What the heck are the Iowa Ag All Stars?

Tell me about this.

So we are celebrating the people, products, innovation, and food that have shaped Iowa agriculture over the years.

So this is a nod to the fair theme celebrating America 250 and Fair Spirit.

So we're celebrating people like George Washington Carver, Norman Borlaug, products like unleaded 88 fuel, food like the Maidright Sandwich, Maytag, Blue Cheese, and just really wanting to share the great things that have been invented and have come from Iowa related to food farming and agriculture.

So I'm holding right now a five pack of trading cards, right?

This is a sealed envelope.

that the Iowa Food and Family Project is put together.

Now, I got mine in the mail.

How does somebody listening to this conversation get theirs?

That's right.

So if you stop by our exhibit in the Southeast Atrium of Varied Industries Building, we have these mystery trading card packs.

We'll have our spin wheel trivia set up so once you stand in line and answer a trivia question You'll be able to get this mystery five card pack And so you don't know what you're gonna get each one will have an egg all-star and then you'll also get four different those products and the innovative

items, food products as well included in your card pack.

So you can see what you and your friends got and maybe you want to trade and I'll trade you the butter cow for the turkey calling contest and just a really fun way to learn more about Iowa agriculture.

This is really cool.

Now I've got my packet here and I resisted the temptation until you were on the line.

So I'm going to actually open it so we can let's just see what I got here.

So what did I get?

I got a white leg horn.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah, so that is the most common breed of chicken that is raised in Iowa.

Nice.

I've got Old Capital Food Company Tofu.

Yes, so this is a company that are based in Iowa City and they use food grade soybeans to make tofu and other soybean based food products.

Nice, alright.

I have the Cluckin' Coop Egg Salad.

It looks tasty in this photo.

Yeah, lots of Iowa State Fair staples are represented within these cards.

So the Collecting Coupe is run by in partnership with the Iowa Egg Council and the North Central Poultry Association.

And one of their staple food items is their egg salad.

And then I see a smiling face that belongs to a fellow named Connor Hill.

So these, we've talked about egg in two different cards, soybean.

He's associated with turkey production.

Yeah, so the other part of these carts is honoring the farmers.

So we have some up-and-coming farmers, we have some long-standing farmers that are doing some really great things.

So Connor Hill is a turkey farmer, so you can read a little bit more about him on the back of the cart, and you got a little signature on there from him, too.

And then there's one that's kind of shimmery.

It's an Iowa Ag All-Star, none other.

then Vice President Henry A. Wallace.

I got a Henry Wallace card, Lydia.

This is cool.

Yeah, so our all stars, we gave them a little extra something on their cards, so those are going to be holographic.

Now, once again, this is only available at the Iowa State Fair this year, correct?

Correct.

These trading cards are exclusive to the State Fair.

And we also were kind of known for our tote bags throughout the fair and throughout the year.

And so again, to celebrate this special year, we have a special design on our tote bag, a red, white, and blue design.

And that is also exclusive to the 2026 State Fair.

I'm sure people still do this.

The first thing they do when they get to the varied industries building is to figure out who's got the coolest bag because they're going to haul it around and fill it with stuff.

And so if they go to the southeast atrium of the varied industries building, you'll find the Iowa Food and Family Project.

You get one of those tote bags and some of the all-star trading card packs.

Again, it is while supply lasts.

How'd the idea come for the collectible packs?

I think it's very cool.

I'm just wondering who came up with the idea.

Sure, so we had a we had a really fun brainstorm just trying to play off of the theme and how we could celebrate that and I have kids and one thing I know my kids like is anything that's you know a mystery pack or Surprise you kind of buy it.

You don't really know what you're gonna get You kind of know the theme and so we kind of wanted to play off of that and trading cards They're really kind of having a moment to whether it's sports cards or Pokemon just just different types of card trading so we thought it would be fun and not only do you get a

have a fun experience at the fair, but you can take something home with you and continue to learn and read about Iowa agriculture.

We're speaking with Lydia Zerbe of the Iowa Food and Family Project, their exhibit at the Iowa State Fair going on now in the Southeast Atrium Varied Industries Building, the website Iowa Food and Family.

IowaFoodAndFamily.com.

And again, these are the folks who produce Fresh Pickings Magazine on a quarterly basis.

She's kind enough to join us for a few more minutes here on News Talk 1540KXEL.

I don't have kids, but I can vouch for the prevalence of these cards.

Obviously, I remember them when I was growing up long, long ago, but you get to the checkout line at some of these stores, and it's just rows and rows of all manner of collectible cards.

So it's a thing again, isn't it?

It's really a hot commodity.

And one other fun thing that we're doing is we have a photo booth we've had

for

many years where people can stop by and take a fun photo.

This year the photo is you as a trading card.

So you'll have a frame around you and you get to be a part of your own trading card and you'll get that email to you when you stop by and take a photo within our exhibit.

That is so cool.

I mean, that's enough reason for me to go to the fair just to get the phone.

I mean, seriously, that is a really smart way to do that.

And again, when you get this packet sealed and you're encouraging folks that I just opened mine and read it.

on the radio, but you're encouraging folks to share the card, share what it is that they get on social media, and tag, hashtag, IowaAggAllStars, and then you folks will consider resharing the post as well.

That's right.

We want to see what you get.

We want to see what you're excited about.

If you did any trading, we'd love to hear about it and hear the fun ways that you're utilizing this giveaway.

I don't know how I'd give up a Henry Wallace card.

You'd have to really stack that pretty deeply for me, but once again, you get this at the Iowa State Fair and only at the Great Iowa State Fair.

The Iowa Food and Family Project, they're at the Southeast Atrium of the Varied Industries Building.

Iowa Ag All Stars trading card packs.

You can pick up a pack, you can trade them with your friends.

You've got the big trivia wheel.

and if somebody knows their stuff they might be able to collect them all tote bags the very cool photo booth that's all there once you get to the southeast atrium of the varied industries building and if you'd like to learn more about the project it's iowafoodandfamily.com Lydia's Erby thank you so much for the conversation I hope you have a wonderful time at the fair and uh I have to ask what's the rarest card you've got to know which which single card is the rarest to find

The rarest, I would say, so one of our Ag All Stars is my favorite.

It is Annie and Eric.

They are the AE Dairy cows

that sit

outside of AE Dairy over on the east side of Des Moines.

So they're one of our All Stars, and I think they're just so cute and fun to look at.

So I

would say that in my opinion, they're the rarest.

All right.

So now we're starting to set the market value, you see, for these things with that.

Well, I hope a lot of people come see at the fair.

I hope you have a wonderful time.

How can you not?

But with weather and everything else, and again, these are as supplies will last.

So get there as soon as possible.

Lydia, thanks so much for the time.

I greatly appreciate it.

Thanks, Jeff.

That's Lydia Zerbe of the Iowa Food and Family Project, iowafoodandfamily.com.

And she joined us on the news line.

That's another place you gotta go now and you go to the state fair and get your trading cards.

On News Talk 1540 KXEL, where Iowa comes to talk.

News talk 1540 KXEL where Iowa comes to talk.

There was something going around earlier this summer.

The sneezing congestion and chest cold symptoms were more than just allergies and chances are if you remember those summer symptoms from June or July, it was because a coworker was trying to battle through them.

Maybe that person was you.

A lot of people, almost two thirds of Americans, work while sick, otherwise they feel bad about being away from the office.

We're gonna talk about that trend now with Rebecca Johnson of Vital Work.

She's an author, a speaker, and co-founder of that consulting firm.

Thank you for being with us.

My pleasure, Tim.

Thanks for having me.

You know, I understand this sentiment, this idea that if I'm not there, then...

things will happen that I'm going to have to just pick up the pieces from coming back.

What else do you find when it comes to the trend of people working while sick, even now a half dozen years after the COVID pandemic?

You know, the way I think about this phenomenon and it's certainly something that I experienced in previous jobs.

Fortunately, I don't anymore.

We don't do this in our organization, but many organizations have many people who work while they're sick.

And the way I think about it broadly is that we are Americans are a very work-centric culture and we tend to over focus on productivity and output and work almost as an identity and we under focus on things like balance and well-being.

And to add to that, we're all really swimming in a sea of demand and overload.

So it makes sense to me that people feel the need to work through sickness.

But as you said, it's not really good for any of us.

I look around at jobs where I've been and

I don't see a lot of extra people in meetings.

It's not like there are a lot of people that can come and pick up slack.

Is this an identity thing?

Is this a culture thing?

Is this a pragmatic thing?

Because if I miss Tuesday, that may just make my Wednesday all the more challenging.

Yes, yes, and yes, it's all of those things.

And I'm glad that you said that because one of the ways that we look at any challenge that any workplace has is through this framework that we call me, we systems.

Me is what part am I the individual playing and contributing to working while I'm sick.

What part are we playing, meaning there are ways that we relate to each other that in this case are not helpful, expecting other people to call into meetings while sick, you know, kind of rewarding that when it happens.

And then the system part is what is happening in the organization or society at large that is really outside anyone's control.

So I think it's all of those things.

Let's say for example an organization has a lot of turnover and so there's a lot of seats unfilled and everybody's doing one and a half and two jobs.

Then no wonder people feel the need to work while they're sick because they'll just be buried the next day if they don't.

So that's a system issue that the organization really has to face.

But there's also responsibilities that each one of us individually has on deciding what is best for us and honoring those boundaries when we need to, even if that means a tough conversation with a peer or a boss, we're asking for help.

We're talking with Rebecca Johnson, consultant and author and founder of the firm Vital Work, and talking about

Employees who feel guilty about taking sick leave it's called sick leave stress and Or potentially sick leave shame in some cases.

Let's let's talk about that is is there really?

Intentional shame that's put towards these people that you found encountered or is this more of a self applied situation from that that stress

I think it's both.

Again, we as Americans carry sort of an internal sense of over focus on productivity, a sense of over importance in the workplace.

And so we have work to do on those negative emotions.

But also if we are observing other people work while they're sick.

then that becomes a cultural norm.

Norms really affect our choices about what we're going to do and not do.

My sense is that most managers don't have any ill intent.

They're not actually wanting people to work while they're sick, but sometimes they're concerned that if their people aren't working, things are going to fall apart.

People are going to fall behind.

The organization isn't going to be able to meet its metrics.

I think we're all stuck in a position of really not wanting

ourselves or other people to work while sick, but sometimes feeling like the system demands that.

So let me give you the Michael Jordan example, which I'm sure you've heard before.

Michael Jordan has the flu, but it's the playoffs.

He's feeling awful.

He comes and he plays and the bulls win.

And everybody celebrates that as part of his legacy.

Do we really know for certain that working through illness actually leads to productivity declines?

That's a great example.

And

It's a good way for us to remember that most of our working days are not the playoffs.

Most of our working days are just a regular Tuesday, where if we really decided to get intentional about not working while we're sick, we could postpone a meeting, ask a team member for help, have a conversation with our boss.

And on occasion, if we've got a big client meeting and it's our job to close the sale, maybe we go and we do that meeting with a cold, but not most working days are not the playoffs.

Most of them are just regular days where if we decided to be intentional about it, we can sit on the bench that day.

That is a great response to that question.

I would not have thought of it that way.

Most working days aren't the playoffs.

We're talking with Rebecca Johnson of Vital Work, a consulting firm, and talking about sick leave shame.

And what would you suggest for managers who are looking around and thinking about this in the context of their workplace and maybe thinking about those people that have battled through and come in and worked when they weren't feeling 100 percent?

Yeah, the first point I want to make is that this is really everyone's responsibility, not just leaders, but leaders have an outsize responsibility because of their formal authority.

So I would give leaders three words to think about and those words are demonstrate, reward and discourage.

So if you're a leader and you really want your people to be caring for themselves while they're sick and not coming to the office or calling into meetings from bed, the first thing you need to do is demonstrate those healthy choices yourself.

So when you're sick, take the day off and let your team know why you're doing that so that they see you honor your own well-being.

The second word is reward, and that means as leaders, we need to reward people for doing the same.

So when someone on the team says, you know, I have the flu, so I'm gonna stay home today, and I feel really bad about it, and maybe I'll just call into this meeting.

What we do as a leader is we reward that and we say, you know what, Jane, that is awesome.

I'm glad you're choosing to take care of yourself and what support do you need from me or the team in order to fully be able to check out and recover today.

And then the last word is discourage.

So discourage the opposite of what we want.

So if someone says in a meeting.

You know, I just usually work from home because I'm sick and there's no way I could ever actually take a day off because I'd just be buried the next day.

As a leader, you have an opportunity to discourage that type of thinking.

And so you might say something like, you know, I really want us to all feel we can take a day off from work when we need to to take care of our bodies.

So let's talk as a team about what we're going to do to cover each other when one of us really needs a day off.

You mentioned earlier the idea of work and its ties to identity and there's no group I can think of that ties work to identity more than farmers.

I know we have some that are listening this morning and this may be a little outside of the groups, the organizations that you're typically working with, but do you have a word for them?

Because they all are operating a business in one form or another and in some cases it might be

almost a sole proprietorship where they don't feel like they can take time off if if they're ill and they have things that need to get done and there are those times that are the playoffs when it comes to farming too but a word for that group in particular or maybe even entrepreneurs in general who are at the top of the pyramid.

You know my first word to farmers is thank you.

I think farming is an underappreciated profession.

And so for all of the farmers listening, thank you for what you do to provide food.

You know, farming is an interesting industry because it is such a 24 seven operation.

And so the thing that comes to mind for me is if you're in a farming family.

Can you have an intentional conversation where you make some really purposeful decisions about what do we do when one of us is sick and really needs to stay in bed for the day?

Are we willing to ask for help?

Are we willing to say?

you know, I need a day off.

Is there someone that can cover for me?

So I think that every farming family is different, but our solution to some of these problems just starts by naming it and having intentional conversations designed for us to figure out what we're going to do when someone needs a day off and almost always that's going to require some extra support from other people around us.

Any last words on sick leave

shame?

Yeah, shame is an experience that often it's an internal experience.

And it's often worsened when we think that other people are disapproving of what we're doing.

And so I think reduction of shame around sickness is both a me and a we work.

So me work is I need to have enough fortitude internally and to be able to connect with my own self worth enough to know that even if someone disapproves of me taking a day off because I'm sick, I am worth it.

I'm a valuable person.

And

My body needs me to take care of itself.

And then the other thing is, as employees and leaders, we need to be really careful about what we do and what we say when someone decides to take a day off.

Our words can determine whether they feel comfortable and at ease about doing that or guilty and ashamed.

So I think there's work that we all have internally and there's work communally that we have together.

Rebecca Johnson.

author and consultant, co-founder of the consulting firm Vital Work.

Thanks for being with us to share some insights on this topic.

Thanks for having me.

This is the station where Iowa comes to talk, News Talk 1540 KXEL.

And as KXL Live and Local continues in this eight o'clock hour on a Thursday morning, it's time for today's RFD 1540 conversation.

And for that, we drop on the insight of Dustin Hoffman, Supervising Editor, Lead Farm Broadcaster, Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.

You hear their reports nine times each weekday from the network here on KXL.

And Dustin joins us here for this extended conversation Tuesdays and Thursdays.

It's the first day of the great Iowa State Fair.

Dustin is on site.

at the fairgrounds.

Got enough rain there this morning, sir?

Well, considering we've already got flood warnings and flash flood warnings, and they've closed the street and re-scheduled about three things so far already today at the fair, I'd say we're off to an interesting start.

But yeah, it's still raining pretty good, and there's still a little crick going down the side of the gutter here of the street, as I'm talking to you, inside the shed where it's nice and dry.

After a couple years of doing this in a tent, Jeff, as you know, I'm definitely liking the fact that we have this shed.

Yeah, if you hear a little rain noise, that's okay.

It's much better than the tent.

And as you've said, try to protect your electrical goods with buckets and tarps and everything else.

With regard to your setup, let's tell people because again, it's not going to rain all day today.

It's not going to rain every day of the fair.

They're going to want to come and stop by the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network Building.

Where are you folks located on the fairgrounds?

So we're right by the west entrance of the cattle barn next to where the Super Bowl will be.

If you're not familiar with the Super Bowl, it's the biggest bowl that wins the contest here at the State Fair, which will be coming up tonight.

And we'll have a bowl in the pen tomorrow.

So tonight and tomorrow morning.

But we're right there across from the newly revamped horse barn as I look across the street right now at it through the window.

It's looking very nice.

So just south of the Penning Roth entrance as well.

So I mean, we're pretty easy to find in that shed.

So, as you do your work from the fair, obviously you are inviting people to come in and visit.

It gives you a chance to find out what's going on around the state, you and Riley and Mark and Ross.

Yeah, we are, and we're going to be talking to all sorts of folks, so I know Senator Grassley stopping by tomorrow to the shed.

We are also having Secretary Nag coming by.

Our state FFA president is coming by as well.

We're waiting for word confirmation with Ernst and, of course, with so many others, the Iowa State Dairy Princess.

Some of the kids that are showing in Saturday's Governor's Charity Steershow will be coming by to visit us as well.

There's lots of things to get to.

We're going to be talking with Iowa pork, we're talking with Iowa soybean, many more people Iowa porn.

All kinds of things are coming to you from the Iowa State Fair.

So there's lots of things for us to be talking about.

And as you noted, it's a good chance for you folks to talk to farmers, producers from around the state, because again, you have your antenna up.

you know, 24, 7, 365, but nothing beats talking to somebody at length one-on-one.

But again, all of these elected officials who make their way through and you get a good chance to see them and talk to them in person, but that also gives folks who come to the building and hang out in that area of the fairgrounds a chance to chat them up afterwards as well, I trust.

Oh yeah, as long as they've got the time, a lot of them will stay around, hang around with a few constituents and

talk to a few people as they keep moving along well many of them obviously are there for a day or two of unless you're the governor or the secretary of agriculture to hear every day what putting on miles on the on the old boots of moving around but other than that you know they're always taking the time to visit and we love uh... connecting with them and and seeing what's going on so yeah i'm definitely hearing from the farmers first-hand you know a lot of things i'm sure to be talked about with the uh... farmers and concerning trade u s m c a up in the air

obviously the president says he wants to get out of it which is what he said you know when we got rid of NAFTA so you know that we've also got a farm bill that seems to be stalled I'm sure the senators are going to hear it but the senators also have been the ones partially you know in favor I shouldn't say partial but have been in favor of getting a farm bill done so you know there's been a lot of concerns raised I know from farmers but it's also interesting big question coming out of the WASDE report yesterday was

Where in the world do USDA find another 3 million acres of corn and soybeans that they didn't know about last month or when the planting intentions, planting progress report was done in June?

That question is coming up.

That's going to be the biggest question I think the market's going to be watching here along with weather here in the next couple of days.

And I know that this is a spot where a lot of national folks come

Administration officials, national politicians, some are kicking tires for future runs at higher office.

Some are there to support those who are on the ballot this year.

Are there any folks who might be making some news?

I know two years ago, or maybe it was just last year at the fair, the folks from EPA made a big announcement that helped the farming community.

I'm just wondering if you're aware at this point of any news that these folks might be bringing with them in addition to an appetite for food on a stick.

You know, I have not heard anything yet.

Of course, we usually do get the heads up sometimes not much before it actually happens.

I knew a small business administrator will be here at the fair and she's planning on stopping by and visiting with us.

And so it's going to be interesting to find out what's going on there.

So maybe some announcements happened during their visit, but I'm not exactly sure yet at this time.

And again, these things, as you know, sometimes come

without much notice.

I know that was the case last year and the SBA administrator was there with the EPA administrator and they had a big announcement before they went to an event that we were actually at in Ames.

Dustin Hoffman is our guest Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.

He's at a soggy right now anyway.

Iowa State Fair, day one of the Great State Fair.

He joins us on News Talk 1540 KXEL.

Of all the events that you get to cover, and again I've talked about

the location of your building, but you folks hit the fairgrounds of all the various events that you get to cover.

What are some of the ones that you look forward to on an annual basis?

Well, I know the ones I really look forward to the most are the Governor's Charity Steershow, seeing the work these kids put in, and also getting a chance to talk to them that first Saturday and hear what they're doing, but then also the Bacon Buddies program that happens Saturday night when you talk to these kids.

You either are

facing some kind of disability or you know some kind of a challenge that they get a chance to pair up with a 4-H kid at the fair and show a hog and the governor presents them with a ribbon as well and you know for them to get a chance to do something that they probably normally wouldn't get the opportunity to experience in a normal day-to-day thing is just heartwarming and it's great to see these kids be able to participate in this event and of course you don't get to see the baby animals getting to go through and to talk with the folks again at the fair and you know obviously

sampling all of the cuisine that we can possibly sample in there a few days

time.

I know from past experience that you are an investigative reporter.

And so you are going to ferret out and find the best of the food, especially new food.

I mean, that's kind of the job.

So I'm wondering, are there things on your short list to test?

And are there certain old reliable that it's just not the fair if you don't get there?

You know, I'm going to go with my old reliable list right now.

And that, of course, is a hot beach Sunday.

or also the beef breakfast burrito at the cattleman's booth there at the cattleman's building and also, you know, there's pork chop on the stick, the pork burgers with the obviously the Iowa pork producers.

There's so many great foods.

I'm trying to see if we can't expense one of those chicken nuggets of caviar out, but Russ hasn't been too fond of doing that quite yet.

It's research, Russ.

Come on.

I mean, it'll make sure.

It should be a business experience, yes.

Absolutely, and post video of it.

I don't see the problem.

I say go for it, but then I'll hear about it.

You know, they say it's easier to ask forgiveness than it is permission, so I may have to keep that in mind as well.

Well, it depends what kind of job security you think you have going into this.

Are there some things that are different at the fairgrounds?

You mentioned the, I think you said the horse facility has been remodeled.

I know there are some other changes to the fair that are not weather related.

Are there some things that folks might see that are different when they show up at the fairgrounds?

Well, right now I haven't had the chance to wander around and look at all the new things.

Riley is the one that keeps the pulse on everything fair 24, 7, 365.

I mean, this is his Christmas season right now.

And so he's the one that can speak to that, but I know the horse barn was the big project they had working this year and they did announce on Tuesday night that there would be the uh, the hog barn is to be going under a two year renovation plan to be ready by the 2028 fair, which means they'll still be used in 2027, but it will be in stage renovation.

And so looking forward to seeing that being done as well.

Now there are certain things that we

We don't necessarily make bets on but we watch and I have spoken on this program with State Agriculture Secretary Mike Neg about his consumption of buckets of cookies and he has admitted that more than once he picks up a bucket of cookies for the drive home to bring home to the family and by the time he gets home there's not

enough cookies left to take inside the house.

So I don't know, is there a bedding pool going on or a t-shirt sales that would be indicative of the consumption of cookies or various forms of ice cream, which he has also admitted to being somewhat addicted to?

You know, that's something we don't have a way of keeping track of, but it's something we're going to be exploring with iDALs, I think, coming up for the next year's fair, is maybe doing some kind of way of

a betting pool, or not a betting pool, but maybe just a raffle pool or something of how many buckets of cookies and how many shakes does Mike Nagg or Secretary Mike Nagg go through.

So, you know, that might be something we talk to I-DALs about here in the coming years, but yeah, right now we're betting at least two a day on each.

So that's where we're at.

And of course, from what we have heard from Mrs. Nagg many times, none of those cookies make it in the house.

Well, he admitted it.

i mean you know we kind of we can ask

them the one year is when he tried to tell me he bought one for each one of his boys which would be what three buckets i believe

yes

and the boys never saw one so and that was for the trip home so yeah i mean i've got to give him a little bit of credit that is some really uh... high league uh... major league uh...

consumption of cookies here at the center.

Well you know we talk about dedicated public servants and you know there's an example of the dedication it takes.

What should we expect for fun this weekend?

You mentioned bacon buddies etc but what are a few things that before we talk again on this program Tuesday folks might be paying close attention to?

Are you filling in for Rod Stewart tomorrow night for example?

No, I was under the impression you were Riley Smith that he would open with his trumpet.

My saxophone's broken, so I can't quite get in there and make an IARN band or a broadcaster band yet.

But yeah, I am not filling in for Rod, which I was kind of sad because I was hoping that we could get him to come down to the model train thing because he is a legend in the model railroading community.

And I was hoping I had talked to the state fair people and they announced that they should mention to him about the

model railroad layout here at the fair that maybe he would visit and unfortunately with him are canceling and you know that's obviously not an option but uh... you know looking forward to be talking back in the senator grassley tomorrow so much stuff to be coming up on weekend ag matters a lot coming from the fair you can watch from the network as well so we're going to have plenty for us to put it for you to consume from the Iowa State Fair from an agricultural perspective

well um... i i i hesitate to say that

Mr. Stewart's cancellation came after he learned of your invitation to show him the model train.

I'm sure it's completely unrelated.

Well, stay dry.

Enjoy the fair.

I don't know how you don't.

A lot of work to do, obviously, but what a great time of year.

Dustin, enjoy the time.

We'll talk here on Tuesday.

Sounds good, Jeff.

Dustin Hoffman, supervising editor, lead farm broadcaster Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.

Don't forget, as he mentioned, weekend ag matters at Saturday morning at six, or if you prefer, or in addition, Sunday morning at eleven thirty.

And Dustin joined us from the great Iowa State Fair on News Talk 1540 KXEL, where Iowa comes to talk.