Dustin Hoffmann RFD1540 from the Iowa State Fair

And if you say, well, but Jeff, I've already bought three copies of Todd's books, but I've got a little money burning a hole in my pocket.

What should I do with it?

Well, go back to that Amazon.com site and pick up a copy of a brand new book by our guest.

Now on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line, the author, AJ Rice, the new book, The Curse of the Bearded Lady, How the Trans Mafia Wacked American Sanity.

Mr. Rice, always a privilege, sir.

How are

you?

So grab a copy of Todd's book, and if you want to scare your blue-haired nieces or nephews, grab a copy of The Bearded Lady.

I appreciate that, Jeff.

I'm looking at the cover.

You sent me an email with the cover art last year about this time, and I fell off the chair.

It's scary, but not any more scary than this topic.

But first, I have to ask, are you declaring for the WNBA draft?

I hear you've got a pretty sweet three-point shot.

Well, you know the WNBA already has a few bearded ladies You know even if even if they don't necessarily pass the the physical the right way But you know I could I could probably go in there and stick it through stick a few jump shots in their faces for sure They called me white chocolate in high school.

So I I'm game

Well does that mean you have white privilege because apparently that's a big thing now according to some of the players

Yeah, you know what?

It's like the WNBA is doing double time promoting two of my books, the White Privilege album, which came out in 2024.

And of course, the Curse of the Bearded Lady, I guess I'm going to have to start sending them royalty checks because between the WNBA selling more books than Fox News is at this point.

Well, you know they do feel entitled so wouldn't surprise me now for those of you folks who aren't aware mr.. Rice is The top conservative publicist in America.

He's a syndicated columnist and this is his third book in a trio The first was called The Woking Dead then last two years ago the white privilege album and now the curse of the bearded lady Give us a sense because this you treat these topics

with the appropriate amount of derisiveness.

But this is serious stuff, is it not?

It is.

It definitely is.

And I was on actually on with Todd for volume one, The Woken Dead, which has sort of become part of the sort of terminology and parlance here.

It is.

I mean, look, I do political satire.

Comedy's a little different than satire.

Comedy, you know, a little Seinfeld action.

You have yourself a belly laugh.

Jeff Fox, worthy observational humor.

And then you go home, you

put a

bag, you don't think about it anymore.

Satire is there to make you feel uncomfortable.

So I don't care whether it's Mark Twain or George Carlin or, you know, Dice or Lenny Bruce or Shane Gillis.

I mean, that's what I do.

I do political satire.

And one of the rules that is sort of known in my world is that the job of

comedy.

The definition of it is to transform horror into humor, right?

That's what satire tries to do.

That's what parody tries to do.

That's why you get terms like, uh, too soon, right?

Something terrible happens too soon.

Um, the key though is funny.

If you aren't funny, you will end up flat on your face.

I don't care whether you are an R rated comedian or a D rated comedian, whether you're family friendly or not.

Funny's the key.

So, you know, when you're dealing with a big topic like the bearded lady and the trans mafia You know, I decided to do it cultural autopsy.

There's plenty of doctors out there Plenty of you know, met, you know shrinks and medical doctors and so on that have been doing a Psychological evaluation.

They've been doing a medical autopsy.

I'm doing a cultural one because mark my words a hundred years from now

People are going to look back at this time period and think we have lost our minds.

This is one of these medical trends, like phrenology.

If you remember what that is, that was the science where a head size dictated your intelligence.

Or the earth goes around the sun, or the sun goes around the earth.

No one knew the difference.

Of course, Copernicus and Galileo helped us with those things.

So this is junk science.

turned into what I call Jeff, a peer contagion.

A peer contagion, so you have peer pressure mixed with a social contagion.

In the medical and literary community, there's something called the Werther Effect.

The Werther Effect is, the lack of better terms, copycat suicide, okay?

And what you see across

You know really the globe but it's uniquely American right now and apparently they didn't learn their lesson from the 2024 election is that you see the left Continuing to push this stuff.

They're not apologizing for it.

They haven't learned their lesson There's a few sane people like Bill Maher and Stephen A Smith But for the most part they're going to die on the bearded lady hill and that is where the curse comes in The curse and I look I'm being cute.

I'm a fan of old the

film noir movies and the book title, the book cover even kind of looks like a film noir movie poster.

The curse is the fact that they cannot and will not shake this thing.

They're going to continue to lose until they do.

But do you use those examples?

So here's Bill Maher, here's Stephen A. Smith, and when they dare speak the truth, or at the very least raise their hands and say, wait a second, this is getting a little crazy.

The backlash is immediate against them, and it's no wonder that lesser women and men, define that however you will, that lesser people don't stand up because, again, this is a potent force of overweight, blue-haired women out there.

Sure.

But we're in a fight for human nature here, and what they've done, they're trying to normalize statism, you know?

because we got a lot of adults, grooming children one direction or another, to be a gender that they're not.

And then we have some mentally ill adults that are doing the same thing.

But look, understand this, and Mar knows this.

I mean, even Federman, you could throw him in there.

Comedy is moral warfare by other means.

And you bring shame out of the closet.

You believe in the equal distribution of mockery, right?

and you watch the watchers, and you watch the watchers with jokes.

And if you do that, I mean, look, Jaguar put out an ad with no car in it last year.

There was no car.

They were just having a drag brunch on the moon.

You know, every once in a while, you'll get a sitting congressperson like Seth Moulton, who I write about in the book, and kind of applaud him for saying, hey, you know,

I don't want my

daughter run over.

you know, in a lacrosse game, or a field hockey, or whatever it was.

But then, just last week, he's apologizing for what he said.

Yes.

So the curse rings true, and it's hunting Seth Molten down, and I guess for Seth, in his house, the bearded lady is singing.

The idea that we would be so far removed from what

People of your generation grew up with I'm older people of my generation I mean we used to know there there was a there was a rule on the playground when I was in elementary school During recess boys play with boys girls play with girls and we're talking about basketball or tetherball or whatever it was because Wait for it boys and girls are different and you can't just will it to be otherwise

Whatever happened to that now we've got emasculated males, you know the man bun and Birkenstock's letting their their female partners support them.

What the blazes AJ Rice?

Yeah, yeah, I've got a new concept out there.

It's called the stay-at-home boyfriend.

Not even the husband, the stay-at-home boyfriend.

Yes.

Look working remotely is one thing.

But the man-bun boyfriends sitting at home waiting for his girlfriend to come home while he's streaming Hulu and ordering Uber Eats, this is a totally new concept.

We're not exactly winning the battle of the balls with men like that.

The new book came out last week on Post Hill Press.

It's called The Curse of the Bearded Lady.

Third book in the trilogy by AJ Rice, the subtitle is How the Trans Mafia Wacked American Sanity.

Mr. Rice is kind enough to join us live on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line on the Todd Starn Show, Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd today.

How do you turn this around?

Because there's a sense that crazy is allowed to live in society because we're tolerant, quote unquote, but there's a line where we just say, okay,

Now, this is nuts.

Now you've gone too far, et cetera.

I would have thought we had passed it to this point.

The last election got the right person in the White House, but this still, it hasn't gone away.

No,

and it's not going through.

They may change their terminology.

They might not say the word woke and they might not use terms like DEI or ESG.

But when it comes to the 72 genders, I mean, there's nothing we can do.

Whether you're Darwin or Jesus, you both agree that there's not 72 genders.

So the Democrat Party wants to hide all 72 under their skirt and send the American people to the polls, they're going to continue to lose.

Because this isn't even about science anymore.

It's about sanity.

Right?

That's what this is about.

And look, what do you do?

Well, humor has a special place in Western civilization.

from Aristophanes to Ricky Gervais.

And it is a public audit.

Humor is a public audit.

And as long as shows like this exist, and people online, and the Babylon Bee, and Gutfeld, and so on, I write books, and there's plenty of shows out there that have a good time.

We are winning the culture war here.

But they're not stopped.

So we have to be ready for them.

And that's the curse.

The Democrat party over the years have been able to shake things off that got them killed at the ballot box.

They've been able to do it.

Well, they've been able to do what Bill Clinton used to say is triangulate, right?

The old Dick Morris term.

But the Democrat party being hijacked by the DSA, being pro Iran regime, being pro MS-13,

burning Tesla dealerships, you know, having people like, you know, Jasmine Crockett and AOC and Hassan Piper as their spokespeople.

I mean, the Democrat party is either going to fight itself and get rid of these people and remind people that there is only two genders, right?

And that the bearded lady is not singing.

We look, Rahm Emanuel and James Carvel seem to understand this, but they're Clinton and, you know, eventually Obama dies.

They're old school guys.

So they're getting made fun of by the left.

Um, and you know, they, guys like Ed Rendell and Evan By, they can't, Joe Lieberman, they couldn't win an election tomorrow in most places.

See, Bill Clinton's probably a little too liberal for Arkansas at this point.

But if they don't take their own party back, that party's going to be run by Antifa, the trans mafia, the Woking Dead, and the bearded ladies.

And that's where we're headed, you know?

What I love about the AJ Rice books, folks, is that he makes the point, you enjoy the telling of it, because again, comedic, satirical, et cetera, but it also leaves you with this thought of, okay, now wait a second.

I need to do something about this.

I need to not just let this happen because, okay, this is a humorous tale, but it's based on,

reality to be sure.

The curse of the bearded lady, how the trans mafia whacked American sanity.

It's a title only a guy from Philadelphia could come up with.

He's H. A. Rice.

Mr. Rice, I would tell you to keep speaking, but I know it's in your heart and you'll do it.

So thank you for the time today and congratulations on book three in this series.

Thank you, sir.

I appreciate it.

Never forget.

There's no substitute for perfectly timed division.

Thanks, Jeff.

Oh, thank you, sir, at AJ Rice, kind enough to join us.

It is a privilege to be joined now on the news line by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Honorable Doug Collins.

Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for taking the time, sir.

How are you?

Great.

It's a wonderful morning to be here now.

I had a great day yesterday at the fair.

It's just always a good day to be out here now and also be with our veterans.

Well, we appreciate that you made the trip and you mentioned you were at the fair yesterday.

You'll be visiting with veterans at our tremendous veterans home in Marshalltown later today.

And by the way, this must mean an awful lot to you having this role in addition to your prior public service because you yourself wore the uniform for quite a number of years.

It really is.

I tell everybody, I was like, I have the best job in the cabinet because I get to take care of the best people in the world and the people I served with for well over 20, you know, 27 years.

between Navy and Air Force of my life and it's just been, you know, something that's sort of ingrained into me.

So seeing, you know, and again, Iowa is such a great place for veterans.

I mean, you saw it on display yesterday and it was just that the veterans they paraded, you know, we're doing a lot to put veterans first at the VA.

And I think that's for me is just, it makes it even, you know, the more special to even come out here and see the veterans at Marshalltown, but also all across the state as well.

So, let's talk about some of the things.

Now, obviously, folks will be familiar with record in Congress, but as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the past year and a half, what are some of the things that you were able to take care of immediately to provide services that were necessary?

And again, some of this was a bit of cleanup, quite honestly, on your part, was it not?

It was, it was a lot of stuff that we're just getting back to a focus and I always go back to the rain post when I came in, I said veterans are going to be first at the VA and what I meant by that was not a cliche, simply saying that what we did in the veteran VA was going to be easier for the veterans, it's going to be better for the veteran, they're going to get the service that they have earned and if so then we're going to make that decision first and the bureaucracy and all the red tape comes.

you know, next, and last, and so we're removing a lot of that.

Things we've done that really, we cut down the disability case backlog from over 260,000 down to 70,000, lowered the average wage to complete those cases from well over 140, you know, down into the 70s, and we're going even further on that.

You know, we're reshaping our healthcare system so we are more responsive to the veterans on the ground, but also giving our directors, like in Des Moines and other places, all these places to say, hey, what do we need to do to make sure we're giving the best care, not only in our hospitals, but also in the community as well, because it's a rural area.

Just some of our veterans, they get older, they don't think it's possible to drive or it's not as convenient.

So we're also working with community doctors.

We've done more for community care in the last 18 months and been done in several years.

That is obviously important in a state like yours, your home state of Georgia, in a rural state like Iowa.

Is it more difficult to get people the services that they need simply because of distance, or is there the possibility of technology helping bridge that gap?

Yeah, it's not just technology.

It's not just a distance issue.

It's also a provider issue.

And I think this is something

I want to make it clear, a lot of times we think of the VA as sort of like this siloed healthcare system out there that has its own pipeline of doctors and nurses, but we're the largest integrated healthcare system, but we're part of the healthcare system.

So one of the things we deal with, and we deal with in Iowa, we deal with in Georgia, we deal with all over the country, is the fact that we do have in areas, especially the rural areas or remote areas, all just up in Alaska as well, in which we don't have the providers.

And some of these communities, they don't have the doctors, the nurses.

So we're competing, like I said, to keep those doctors and nurses in.

So when you take technology and telehealth, telemedicine, using our mobile van to go out into these areas to actually give medical treatment and to provide that, those are the kind of things we think about as we go forward.

Because again, I don't have to stay

set aside a number of doctors just to put places.

So we have to live within the communities and what they have.

But it's something that provides the veteran with not only the A backstop, but also the community and backstop as well.

I'm so glad you mentioned that because again for many of us we've driven by the VA hospital for example in Iowa City and I visited people there at a past time when I lived in that area and you get the sense that it is an island unto itself but the reality is you face the same problems with regard to shortages and finding competent personnel and costs.

You have the same problems there within a VA hospital that anyone does seeking health care these days.

We do and I think that's one thing that I've worked hard over the last year because again we take care of one you know clientele we have we take care of veterans and that is a best over 9 million nationwide we have 170 hospitals we have 1,300 clinics it's just it's a large system but we also you know have the same issues that you know any local hospital private or public have as well

But, you know, the good part about it is there's so many things that we do very, very well for our veterans, you know, from prosthetic care to cancer, you know, the prostate cancer to toxic exposure, those kind of things that are unique to veterans.

But, you know, there's other things that we also work with the community, just regular cardiac care and the occupational physical therapy, those kind of things that we can work with the community on to give, you know, a great deal of help.

But also it's one of the things that needs to be recognized is the VA spends millions of dollars

each year in every state on community care so our doctors, our rural hospitals, our rural doctors are receiving a lot of resources from the VA taking care of our veterans that if they didn't have frankly some of our rural areas would be hurting even more and our whole population would not have that health care.

We're speaking with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the United States, the Honorable Doug Collins.

He's on the road in Iowa, part of a multi-day trip to our state.

He joins us live on News Talk 1540, KXEL.

You mentioned yesterday was Veterans Day at the Iowa State Fair.

Congressman Zach Nunn himself, a full bird colonel in the reserves, was your host for that.

What did you talk about with the veterans and everyday Iowans that you came across during Veterans Day at the Fair yesterday?

I think the first and foremost is talking to them about just the pride that they had in serving.

And I think that was, you know, just evident in the community and they were there.

They were very proud of their service.

They're proud of what they have done and they're proud of the community and Iowa that they've come to support them.

And the parade was amazing, of course, with Congressman Nunn, also with Congressman Hanson was there, the governor was there, Lieutenant Governor.

It was just that, you know, to see that kind of a bonding was really good.

And then also to hear the good things that were being reported though, you know, that they were getting their care.

in our facilities and it was going well.

They were, you know, had seen, you know, the work of the disability claims numbers that I talked about earlier, you know, making it quicker for people to get the help that they need.

We got a long way to go.

I, by no means am I the one to say that, hey, you know, we have a lot of ship to till turn at this place.

But it is good to see that some of the things that we are doing to get care faster, to get claims faster, to do those kind of things are actually working.

And it was good to hear, you know, it's good to hear the stories and also just see the individual achievements.

And I think that's just a special part.

of traveling and seeing our veterans across the country.

I have to assume someone in your position.

You often hear all about the bad.

You don't hear often enough about the good, because people are quick to complain, but slow to praise.

And so this provides some pretty good balance.

It does.

And I think one of the things is, and I go back on something that, you know, when I first came here and came to the VA, one of the things I found out fairly quickly was, is our workforce is some of the most amazing people in the world, our hospitals and our homes and everywhere else that we work.

I had just gotten to the point because again, and I say this with, you know, some trepidation, but also say it is honesty.

Everybody thought that, you know, everybody could say what's bad about the VA.

And it was sort of a rhetorical punching back.

And I said, when I came in, I said, no, we're going to talk about what we, you know, do good.

We do it good.

We're going to fight for what we do good.

We do something that's not, you know, needs to be changed.

We don't do it right.

We're going to fix it.

And so I'm trying to change that perception and also let our workers know, hey, go try things.

Make sure you're working for the veteran.

Do the things that we need to do.

You know, we'll take the flag for whoever wants to complain.

But if we talk about it too much as far as, you know, everything they always hear is bad, then we've got veterans out there and veterans listening to the sound of our voice right now that may be saying, I need to talk to somebody.

I need people in my life.

I'm hurting.

I don't know where to turn.

And they need to be able to know that they can reach out to the VA.

They can go to one of our facilities and get the help that they need.

One of the things that I think is interesting is the growing number of entities

private nonprofit entities.

We just talked about the Airpower Foundation in the last hour.

I mean, the public-private partnerships, in other words, VA has the opportunity to work with so many of these nonprofit groups to provide veterans the services that they have earned.

And that wasn't always the case in this country when you and I were younger men.

Exactly.

I think we've seen a real rise over the last 25 years since 9-11 and people who want to help and you've had some great organizations come up and one of the things that I have done is actually encourage our partnerships with the nonprofits and with others.

Because they do provide such a valuable resource in the community that, again, if you're helping our veterans and my veterans, then I'm good with that, and we can work together.

So I don't look at it as a competition.

I look at it as a group of our country who said, hey, we want to support veterans.

We've got different ways we can do that.

And believe me, there's enough work out there for all of us.

A few more minutes with the U.S.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Honorable Doug Collins.

He's on the road in Iowa, joins us live on News Talk 1540, KXEL.

You were in Congress for, I believe, eight years.

What experience as a member of Congress?

How does that help you in your current job?

It seems that you might have some good sense of how legislation gets through the system that could help a person in your current position.

Well, it does.

And that was one of the things I bring.

I'm the first congressman who ever sat in Congress who sits in this seat in almost 40 years.

And I think it brings a unique perspective.

In Congress, I know a lot of the folks on both sides in the House, Senate, both sides of the aisle.

I worked a lot with different people from both parties.

But it gives me a sense to say, come up to them and say, hey, look, here's what you're hearing.

Here's what you're doing.

But sort of from the ground kind of thing.

And I think that's the thing that we provide and giving them the ability to see it from a different perspective, not just a, hey, we hear about a problem because somebody called in, but here's how we're actually working to fix it.

So communicating on a first name basis with a lot of folks makes it a lot easier to communicate what we need, what we don't need, what's good, what's bad, sounds good, but may not be good.

And I think that's also giving them a truer picture of what's happening in our facilities as well.

In the Iowa Politics Report today, I talk about the pharmaceutical prices that have been going down during this administration, and that's a huge number when it comes to VA alone.

Oh, it is.

It is.

We've almost gone through some re-negotiations we've had, also with President Trump's initiatives to lower drug prices.

We saved billions of dollars in the last year

on renegotiate contracts, bringing those costs down.

And that means that we can put more money into different things for our veterans, therapies and other stuff and not, not something I'm very proud of in the VA that we're taking the lead to renegotiate contracts to get the best possible deal.

Because in the past, we were just sort of, unfortunately, we seem to accept a lot of things.

I don't accept it if we're not getting the best deal.

Let's close with this because you will be touring the great Iowa Veterans Home Facility in Marshalltown today.

And how unique is that facility?

Those of us who have lived in Iowa our whole lives, I mean, I think we've taken it for granted to some degree over the course of time.

And so how unique is it to have a state-run facility like this?

It's very unique.

And again, you don't see this across the board.

You don't see it in a lot of other states.

You see a lot of, and to be honest, it's sort of a mix and match kind of process in other places.

But to see a big facility like this, it does such good work.

It is a part of the community.

It's part of the state.

I think it's a real benefit for the state of Iowa.

It's a real benefit for the work that we do and the work that our veterans have earned.

And I think it's a great place for

them and you know, and from, you know, I said, just the one who's traveled over 37 states in last year and a half, this is a, you know, one of the more unique facilities that you have.

And he should be very proud of

it.

Since 1887 and comment on Todd Jacobus and our friend, Mike Olson and the whole staff do such a great job there.

Secretary Doug Collins of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Thank you so much for checking in with the KXEL audience.

Safe travels throughout the state and hope we talk again, sir.

Take care.

Thank you.

and Secretary Collins joined us on the news line from the road on News Talk 1540 KXEL where Iowa comes to talk as you heard he was at the Iowa State Fair much of yesterday including time with Congressman Nunn of the Third District.

Congressman Nunn will join us on the program in a one-on-one conversation just for you folks a little later this week.

News Talk 1540 KXCL, where Iowa comes to talk hail and heavy storms have impacted some Iowa fields in recent weeks.

When storm damage happens this late in the growing season, what's next?

Dr. Garland Dahlke is a research scientist at Iowa State and wrote about that topic on the Extension website recently.

We welcome Dr. Dahlke to our program this morning.

Thanks for being with us.

Sure, no problems.

That top-line question that you identify right away in that article is how do we best salvage the situation?

So tell us what we're talking about first with the kind of storm damage that people might have seen lately and then how do we answer that question?

Yeah, well we're late in the season and we had a pretty bad storm in eastern Iowa.

a week ago and it did a lot of damage and it's going to kill the plant in a lot of cases.

It's breaking off the growing points and it's so late in the season that there's really, you know, we do have some grain, you know, maybe a little bit like sweet corn yet, but it's there.

We do have a stock that's actually fairly digestible and you know, if we were feeding pigs or

chickens that wouldn't work so well but if we do have cattle or sheep or something you know we can salvage this this grain we can get some utilization of this stock and the other thing is being that the plant probably died you know if it depending on where you were in the hailstorm it's going to fall apart fast in terms of nutrient quality and it's going to get brown and dead and

We get a lot of yeast and mold build up in there, and we lose a lot of nutrition.

So, you know, at this point, you know, we really could kind of cash in, I guess, on it and take it.

It's going to not be optimal in terms of moisture.

It's going to be pretty wet, but it is drying down fast if the plant did die, and we still have summer weather, so it can dry really fast.

And it's probably in our best interest to maybe utilize this feed as silage.

So that's kind of my big point.

I guess the next thing is, you know, what do you do with it?

How do you store this stuff?

Because it is so mushy and it's just, it's wet.

And, you know, generally with corn silage, you'd probably want it to be less than 70% moisture.

And this will probably be running about 75 right now.

And I say it is drying down.

If we get some hot, dry days like we can in the fall, I mean, it'll go fast, but.

It's still best to probably just get this off the field and store it.

Now, say in an upright silo, that probably would not be ideal.

It's going to be raining silo juice on you all year.

And there's a lot less upright silos than there used to be.

So I guess that's less of an issue.

In a bunker silo, it still can be pretty mushy.

And it may be hard to work with a little bit.

You get a lot of runoff off the bunk and get a...

If there are any low spots, it's going to fill up with juice and get pretty muddy.

So, you know, you may be, your best interest may be to put it in a silo bag.

I mean, it's still wet, but you are sealing it up and that'll help a lot of things and kind of contain the moisture to some degree.

And I say that then that is an option.

And a lot of the silo baggers are pretty high capacity.

So we could get a lot of material put up in a short time and utilize this.

in cattle feed, whether you have feed yard cattle, dairy cattle, or something in between.

So I said, there is a lot of potential in that regard.

And I guess just as a second note, you know, if we get at it sooner rather than later, you know, we still have a chance this fall to put in something else, you know, we may want to go back to corn and stuff, but we could put a cover crop in and get pretty good establishment so we could get more forage that way if we need it, or even just the

the credit for getting you know a cover crop in and in that or if you're get bold you know you could put in winter wheat or something it would i say it gives you a good chance to establish something of that nature even alfalfa we still have a little bit of time we could get something like that in so i said we do have some options here i said the moisture is not ideal but it's going to drop off so fast that it it's probably best to take it sooner than later and um i say the storage

ability we have with a bag, we really fix that problem in a hurry.

We're talking with Iowa State Research Scientist Dr. Garland-Dahlke about the aftermath of some storm damage to crop fields at different places in Iowa in recent weeks.

And let me come back to the idea of timeline with this.

And I know that it is weather dependent on what happens after the storm passes.

But what sort of timeline are we looking at where there's still an opportunity to do this?

When does it become a point where it's too late and that

is completely unsalageable.

Yeah, that's good question.

You know, a lot of that's also weather dependent.

If it stays cooler, the dry down and death of these plants will probably be a little slower, normally is.

And like this week, it looks like it's going to be a little cooler than what it was last week or before that.

So, you know, that does give us a little more of a window.

And so I guess.

That's the big driver behind this.

So it's hard to give you a hard, fast date, like do it within a week or do it within two weeks.

But it looks like we probably would have at least a week or two here with this cooler temperatures that have moved in.

And the other thing is a lot of the fields are pretty wet.

It's hard to sometimes get in some of them.

So that is an issue as well.

Once the plant is...

starts dying down and it's going to be falling down and getting the mud.

You know, it's probably best just to call our losses and move on.

Because, you know, we do, with corn, being that it's upright, you know, we can avoid a lot of problems.

You know, if it was hay and it gets in the mud, you know, you'll see, you know, a lot of poor fermentations, you get clostridium bacteria, and that gives you sick cattle pretty fast.

And

the same could happen with corn.

If that corn gets, that you're pulling it out of the mud to make it.

You are in trouble.

The other thing is a lot of these wild yeast formations that grow on these plants aren't really the healthiest thing for cattle either.

So I say sooner is better than later.

And I guess the plants still look in a little green.

That's kind of a test.

You've got time.

You can get this thing off whenever that's convenient, I guess.

How does the aftermath of a hail storm like what we've seen compare with, say, the aftermath of flooding when it comes to the nutrition on this?

Because we've heard with flooding if a field is submerged, that corn could develop mold and it could be unhealthy for livestock.

Yes, flooding gets to be a little bit more higher impact, I guess.

Right now, as the plant dies and it's going to die a little more slowly,

You know, we have a chance to really get at it.

And I say the molds in the east, they'd still build up.

It's just that when you flood a field, everything is inoculated with whatever was in that water.

And that plant is pretty much dead soon as the water goes down.

And so, you know, I said, we do have a little bit more opportunity here to get this material off.

When flooding happens, you know, we get a lot of.

I say bacterial contamination because it's in the water and the whole plant just gets washed with it.

We're here, you know, we're waiting for the wind to blow something on it.

And so we do have that opportunity.

So, and usually, you know, the moisture is a little less when you get a hail damage versus a flooding incidents, which would encourage mold and yeast growth.

So I say, we do have a window here to get something done.

Hopefully it turns out good.

Talking with Dr. Garland, Dahlke Research Scientist at Iowa State University about what to do if you had a cornfield that was damaged by hail and what might be possible to still save some of that crop.

And generally it's been a pretty favorable year in a lot of ways, save for some of the storms we've seen lately.

What else is top of mind for you as you look around at the growing season in 2026?

Yeah, you know, if this rain keeps up, we could have a little bit of difficulty getting good quality grain off the field.

And so I come from up in northern Wisconsin and we struggle every year because it just does not dry down well.

And when you get a lot of wet, cool weather in the fall, which we could have, then you start seeing stuff like Vomitoxin and you start seeing cobs, the grain quality in the cob on the plant start going to pot real fast.

And it may not make decent quality grain for a lot of livestock.

Say here again, if you do have cattle or have an outlet, that may be your salvage point if that would happen.

We can hope and pray that our weather turns around here and we start having a nice dry fall like we usually get.

But that is something to be aware of.

If this wet weather continues,

and you start getting some cool temperatures, you will start to see a lot of Amatocs and start developing in these, in the screen.

And so that's just something we need to be aware of going forward.

Dr. Garland Dahlke, research scientist at Iowa State University and author of a recent article on the Iowa State Extension website about steps to take if your fields have been damaged by hail during recent storms that have passed through Iowa.

Thanks so much for your time.

Sure,

no

problem.

This is the station where Iowa comes to talk.

News Talk 1540 KXCL.

And we welcome Kim Miller.

Ms.

Miller is founder and president of Americas Women.

You find them online, americaswomen.org.

Ms.

Miller, thanks so much for taking the time.

How are you?

I'm great.

Thank you so much for having Americas Women on your program today.

Well, tell us, Americas Women, who are you folks and what do you do?

Well, we are in or based in Arizona, but we have answered the call to go into other states because back in 2020, when everything was going crazy, a group of

mainly Christian women, women got together and we just saw what was going on and how so many women were just bewildered what we could do about it.

So we just started sharing information as we were learning and we kept growing and growing and now we have, you know, somewhere around 50,000 people following us and we've gotten impacting elections.

We've just done all kinds of things to really promote families and faith and freedom.

uh, getting women informed, engaged and voting to shift culture back to good.

So that's, that's what we're about.

Obviously there are so many key issues in the November election, direction of the country being among them.

And this, everything you've just mentioned is key to that.

And nothing good came out of COVID, but one small thing might have been that

Mothers and fathers actually got to figure out what their kids were being taught in school because of that distance learning.

It's one thing for a parent, I suppose.

I don't have kids, but you have raised yours to say, well, would you learn in school or would you do in school?

And the kid just kind of says a few things, but when you actually could oversee and hear these online lessons, that was a wake-up call for a lot of folks, wasn't it?

Oh, yes, it was.

We have five kids, and our youngest son was a freshman in high school during that time.

And even he was just going, I couldn't believe the stuff that was being taught from his private school even.

So you really can't just coast when you're a parent anymore, especially for kids during a public school, because there is definitely what we've learned is there is a concerted effort to really create activists at your school.

to create confusion.

And many of those people, meanwhile, there could be teachers who have compassion and they want everyone to feel included.

But what they end up doing is pushing kids into sexualization and confusion, which ends up destroying kids.

So we're coming alongside time to improve.

public schools, but also encourage school choice, you know, homeschooling and all kinds of other options so that we really take care of our kids.

What was the tipping point for you personally where you said, I need to do something about this and you got together with like-minded individuals because it's one thing to sit back and say things are terrible.

It's another to step up and run a statewide organization that then goes national.

Oh, absolutely.

This was something that we felt God was calling us into.

It's not something we just decided.

We're all busy.

We're raising our kids and businesses.

But the tipping point was when our schools were shut down, our churches were shut down, there were race riots going on, and we women just said, wait a minute, what happened?

We took our eye off the ball, holding our elected officials accountable,

It's time for us women to roll up our sleeves and do what we do best.

We get things done.

We get connected.

We started sharing information.

And one thing that kind of happened in the Phoenix area is we were watching all this craziness happening in Portland and other cities where there were the race riots.

And we read that there was a city council decision coming up to put a mural across our city hall that read Black Lives Matter.

And we knew whether that was going and we just

shared the word with a bunch of women and within an hour we had about a hundred women signed up to be on the city council zoom meeting and they took it off the agenda and we thought whoa hey you know we can actually get stuff done if we just get together and share the information.

Like they say, nothing succeeds like success and that's really the motivation that one needs.

So as we looked to this 2026 election and our core values are on the ballot and folks are listening across the country, they can learn more at americaswomen.org.

But if people like the sound so far of what they've heard, what can they do to get involved?

What's a good way to start for someone listening to this conversation on the radio?

Yes, thank you for asking because we try to make it simple and easy for busy

women

and men to come in and to unpack what's really important.

We have a newsletter every week.

We also have social media where you can find out what's happening, why it matters, and what to do about it.

So not just complaining about what's happening on the TV nationally, but you can make so much more impact locally.

So we say shift culture, start local.

So we want people to understand how they can do that, whether it's going to school board meetings, learning about what bills are at their state, legislature, ways to make their message heard.

So we want them to go and sign up.

And it's for those people who are not even necessarily political.

They're just value-based Americans who care about the issues.

And our main three points during this election season

Really, the overarching message is it's your family on the ballot.

And we even have an event happening in Arizona on September 18 called your family on the ballot.

But the three main issues that we see that women care most about are protecting female dignity, child innocence, and school choice.

Those three tend to be on the ballot in many, many states across the country.

And families and people, average people need to show up this election because there's

I think not for any more consequential election than we've had in about 50 years or so because of the psychotomy of visions for this country.

So we've got to show up.

And I've only got about a minute or a little more, but it sounds to me like

You had motivation.

There was the tipping point.

You got started locally in Arizona.

You had good success.

You broadened out a little bit.

People are now asking you what they can do to where this is now a national movement called americaswomenamericaswomen.org.

Sounds like you folks are very willing to chat with anybody who says, how can I do this here?

If they'd like some more information, you've got all manner of ways where they can dialogue directly with you.

Absolutely.

We want people to talk to us.

We're actually, we have some people interested in connecting in Ohio and some other states.

We've even got people in Colorado as crazy as things are going on there.

There are people interested in saying, what can I actually do?

Not just to show up at rallies and so forth, but what can I do locally to really get involved and change where I live?

These things that are local,

really impact your kitchen table and your neighborhood.

And we want people to steward their family and feel that hope that comes when they realize they can actually do something.

They get excited and they find their friends.

So we want them to come to our website, get connected with other people,

As I said, we are expanding, starting to in other states, so whatever state you're a part of, let us know.

Go to infoatamericaswomen.org, and you can send us an email or go follow us on social media, and you can message us at Instagram, Facebook, and we want to get in touch with you and get started where you are.

All of that information is online, americaswomen.org, americaswomen.org.

Great way to get the conversation started.

Still plenty of time to do it, but the time to act is now.

Kim Miller, congratulations on this effort so far.

Thank you for sharing the information with us here on the program and continued success to you and everyone involved.

Thank you so much, Jeff.

I really appreciate being on your program.

Take good care now.

And Kim Miller, the founder and president of America's Women, joined us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line, americaswomen.org.

It's on the ballot this year.

I am pleased to be joined by Melissa Keithis.

Ms.

Keithis is the executive director of a group known as Air Power Foundation.

They are online at airpowerfoundation.org.

Ms.

Keithis, Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd.

How are you today?

I'm doing wonderful.

Thank you so much for having me today.

Well, I appreciate the work that your organization is doing.

I've had the opportunity to take a look at the website, but for the audience's benefit,

Air Power Foundation, who are you folks and what do you do?

Well, we are an organization over 27 years old and we support our military, our active duty reserve guards.

and veterans and their families.

So we have programs that support mental health.

We work really closely.

I mean, I'm in Fort Worth, Texas.

And so we have the NASJRB and joint base here.

And so we do a lot of work and with morale and welfare programs and really connected there.

But we just support our military because we want to honor them, lift them up and stand in the gap when needed.

There are various needs that some folks

may not fully understand.

I don't know that those of us who have not served or had very close family members who have served truly understand what it's like to come back.

What are some of the needs or some of the situations that the average person, when you start talking about Air Power Foundation, they just say, wow, I had no idea that that was going on or that that was an issue.

Right.

So we really focus heavily on mental health.

These servicemen and women who go and sacrifice and stand up and fight these wars and they come home, they often come home with...

invisible scars and trauma.

And that even bleeds over into their families and to their children.

And so what we try to do at Air Power Foundation is create opportunities for veterans to gather together, to be able to talk through some of the challenges that they're facing.

And we also, we provide some opportunities for them to find healing and hope again and a connection because they're in a very tight

unit, right?

And it is like family.

And when they come back home, that is almost, that's gone.

And so there's a little bit of disconnect there of trying to fit back in and assimilate back into civilian life.

And even though they have their family and their friends around them, they still don't quite understand.

or can relate to what they have experienced or have gone through.

So that's one of the biggest challenges is that mental health aspect of what some of our veterans face when they come back home.

That is difficult to talk about, especially with family members, I would suggest in any situation.

But then you've got someone who wore the uniform and we have an image of what that soldier or

sailor or airman or marine is like, right?

There's a toughness.

And I think it's especially in talking to other veterans groups, I may be wrong here, but it's especially difficult to crack that nut because again, the stereotype is we hold this inside because that's what we've been taught to do.

And there are a lot of these folks who the last thing in the world they do is to seek help for something like this.

That's absolutely right.

And what we see and what we've noticed is they isolate, right?

They oscillate themselves from their families, from their friends.

And I think, honestly, I think that sometimes it's to protect them from the things that they have seen and some of the things that they're going through, because that's what they do.

They protect us.

They protect our nation.

And so they're still in that mindset when they come home.

And we all know oscillation is completely the wrong way to go because

been, they are isolated, they can't find the help, they can't find the support, they're not talking about some of the challenges that they're going through and you know something that people really don't like to talk about.

is what happens if they keep going down that road.

And that is some of the suicide ideations and some of the other, you know, addictions that can happen through this oscillation of them just trying to find relief.

It's a real issue.

And we don't shy away from those tough words and those tough conversations.

We try to start them.

It's really important to ask questions and to get that conversation started.

This is mid-August as you and I are speaking across the country on the radio Suicide prevention month broadly is in September and so that dovetails nicely with us thinking about this and and preparing to Be a lending shoulder or a helpful ear as necessary What are some things folks might think about because I must say and this is rather a shallow approach, but I think many of us have it

We think about those in the uniform on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Well, there are 363 other days of the year.

So what are some ways that folks listening to our conversation can help in their home areas?

Yeah, I find a local organization to get connected to there are military organizations across this nation Contact us at airpowerairpowerfoundation.org we or connect with us on our social media we have programs out resources and connection groups where people can come and get connected just recently I had a conversation with with a mom and that is that lives in I think it's South Carolina and her son

was in a bunker that exploded.

And she was alone.

She didn't have a connection group.

She didn't have anybody to reach out to.

Through a mutual friend, we got connected.

So now we're providing support for her and encouragement and opportunity for connection and connect her with other moms that are going through the same thing that she's going through.

And I would say just get involved.

And if you need help getting involved and connected, reach out to us.

We'll definitely can help you with that.

We're speaking on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line with Melissa Kethis.

She is the Executive Director of AirPower Foundation.

They are online at airpowerfoundation.org.

I'm intrigued by some of the very specific programs that you do and I am a sucker for animals and I am intrigued by some of the programs that

We all know those of us who have pets and I live in an area where there are interaction with horses and I understand to a limited degree how sensitive they are and how intuitive they are as well.

But animals can really provide the kind of help that is necessary to open the door for some of these

people.

just a miracle when you are able to see that happen.

I mean, especially between that human and horse connection and the trust and the confidence and the hope that is being rebuilt is simply astonishing and encouraging.

And we're just so thrilled to be able to offer programs like our equine therapy where our veterans and their families can come for a weekend or even for

um a week and get that hope and healing and that connection and come back week after week to continue that support and that hope and and that healing and and something that people don't maybe not understand about horses is that they really calm our nervous system they realign our nervous system and so if you can imagine if you have all this um chaos and um anxiety going on in your mind and you go and you spend some time with a horse

They bring your heart rate down.

They bring your anxiety level down.

I mean, I can speak firsthand.

I've had horses most of my life, and I have them today.

And when I have a stressful day, that's the first thing I do is go out and spend time with my horses.

So it's really a remarkable approach to mental health.

And I imagine for some who are not as familiar with horses as you are, and they come in and they

They interact, they have a little bit of success, they come back another time, there's a little more success, etc.

That's got to be a confidence booster in, again, a unique way that might strike just the right individual at just the right time and set them on a nice path forward.

Yeah, again, is this a pathway to healing in an alternative way to

provide some support and services to our military and their families, along with a service dog.

So we have a trainer that we work with and they have legacy and Malinois, Belgium Malinois, and those

dogs

are really incredible, the support that they provide, not just to that veteran, but to that veteran's family.

And this dog is trained specifically for that need of that veteran because everybody has a different needs.

Everybody comes with their own challenge.

It's that's unique and so we try to Understand what that is and then provide that support that is necessary for that unique individual and service dogs I mean they are well incredible.

I mean just incredible

and I'm so glad you transitioned to that because I had just clicked the tab on your web page airpowerfoundation.org for the service dogs and again people can actually apply and you make the connection right this is this is one of the things you folks do is facilitate right

Absolutely.

So there's a place to fill out a form to get connected to start that process.

And, you know, it is a great opportunity for, you know, not only if somebody has high anxiety and, you know, that service dog helps calm them in crowds, but it's also companionship.

It's that constant reminder that you're not alone.

Someone's with you and you're being taken care of.

Those dogs are incredible.

This has got to be, I don't know a lot about your background, but this has got to be among the most rewarding things that you've done as a professional.

I can tell you I've worked in the nonprofit industry for 25 years.

I've worked all over the world and this by far is the most humbling, the most incredible

Opportunity to serve our military is the best thing I've ever done in my life.

And we have a great team, a wonderful group of volunteers and board and staff.

And we work tirelessly.

Our team is, we get calls every day and I will promise you every single one of those calls gets answered.

And if we don't have the funds or if we don't have the resources, we find them.

We find those resources.

We find that support so we can help that veteran.

It is one of the most rewarding and challenging and

I can't see myself doing anything other than what I'm doing right now is serving our military.

What a worthy cause and worthy effort that you obviously believe in deeply.

AirPowerFoundation.org is the website.

There is a button there that gives you a way that you can donate or give if you believe in the cause.

You can find out about all the programs.

There's even a shop.

So if maybe you're in a position where you can't connect directly

Purchase a little merchandise, a shirt or a mug, and spread the word about this and support the Air Power Foundation.

Ms.

Keith, thank you so much for all of the advocacy efforts you folks are doing, and thank you for sharing this information with the Todd Starrn Show audience.

I appreciate it and continued success.

Thank you so much, and thank you for allowing Air Power to be part of the conversation today.

We really appreciate it.

All right, thank you kindly.

God bless.

The Executive Director of Air Power Foundation,

Melissa Keithis and she joined us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line.

One more time, that website is airpowerfoundation.org.

And talking to us from the great Iowa State Fair, Third District Congressman Zach Nunn, he is a Republican, he is also a Colonel in the U.S.

Air Force Reserve, and we rely upon him for insight on a variety of topics.

Congressman, thanks for taking the time.

How's the day going at the fair?

Jeff, we are at the great Iowa State Fair, and thrilled we got to kick off the 250th birthday of America with a great State Fair showing in D.C.

But nothing compares to being back in Iowa.

We have this year's show about ready to kick off.

We've got a number of folks from Washington who have set up shop here, and amongst the millions of Iowans, we've got the SBA Small Administrator.

Kelly Loeffler with me today.

We've got our Secretary of Veterans Affairs coming out and we've got the Attorney General who's going to be with us.

So it's just not only a great showing of livestock, it's a great showing of DC politicians coming to the Iowa State Fair and here and directly from hometown folks on what's important.

Now you're not taking people like the SBA Administrator and the Veterans Secretary through a show ring.

They're just in conversation, right?

They're not on display that way.

Oh, we have not put them in a pin yet, Jeff.

So I will say Best in Show has been pretty impressive here.

Collie Leveller went and is meeting with a small family farm that grows watermelon here in Iowa.

We're talking about what it means for their one of 87,000 family small farms here in Iowa.

And I will say we had the group out here and milk and cow.

So they're learning how to operate the farm if we ever need backup.

That's our second straight year at the fair.

I talked to her in town last year at the time.

Well, you've also been talking with cattlemen because the beef industry, not only in the Midwest, but the rest of the country, they're in some need of help and expanded markets.

That's exactly right.

This is one of the areas where we have really pushing.

I think it's important to level set here.

We came out of the Biden administration with a $50 billion trade deficit for U.S.

agriculture.

And that didn't happen by mistake.

Under the first Trump administration, we were 5 billion surplus.

We went to 10 times that, 50 billion down in just four years.

As a result, we have not only been digging out of it, we've been taking down trade barriers.

Look, here's the reality for our cattle guys.

If you're a dairy farmer and you are producing milk, you can't sell it to Canada without a 200% tariff.

That shuts down knowing what we're able to produce domestically.

It creates an artificial environment where, effectively, American taxpayers are subsidizing dairy in Canada.

We don't want to see that anymore.

I think this is one of the proud things that both the administration have highlighted, bringing down tariffs, fair trade for U.S.

domestic products, particularly our commodities.

We just talked about getting double the amount of soybeans into China, holding China accountable for trade manipulations.

but then also opening up new markets.

I personally led a trade delegation to Taiwan.

Taiwan is going to be selling us lots of semiconductors, which we absolutely need.

But in addition, we took their commodity tariffs from 95% down to basically zero, which means we're selling things like corn, soybean, wheat, sorghum, pork and cattle all to a new market.

For my home state of Iowa, that's a $400 million win just off of that.

These are the types of things that an aggressive trade plan helps not only folks here in Iowa, but is being showcased to the Iowa State Fair as America is back in the driver's seat when it comes to everything from manufacturing to growing.

If we can do it here, we're better off and less dependent on foreign powers.

U.S.

trade rep James Ingreer along with you and talking to a lot of these folks about how to again stick with a strong America first platform, but also have good trade relations with a variety of markets.

And I think this is one of the things we can really showcase here with both investor year, but also what we are able to grow here in the United States makes us a net exporter of both food, also energy in the biofuel sector.

But what we build here, and I also have the, you know, Labor Secretary out the week prior, and one of the things we did is we went and we talked to an Iowa business like AutoJet that makes mufflers here in the United States.

They were about to be buried by China who was competing in this space, dumping on the United States for the last four years.

And both the vice president, JD Vance, who came out to my district here and spoke to it, as well as the Labor Secretary said, we've got to be able to manufacture things in the U.S.

again, and we're moving that way.

But we also have to have

the workforce to be able to build this.

And that's one of the reasons I'm so proud.

We've really invested in the trade schools, making sure that we have both the apprenticeship programs down to the high school level in training, but also that there's a pipeline for skilled workers.

That's everything from plumbers and pipe fitters to welders and HVAC specialists.

If we want to be able to build here in the U.S.

again, we've got to have young people know that this is a pathway.

It can be really successful, both for themselves and having a good paying job, but also a skill set they can do with their hands.

So it's not going to be a replacement AI, but it's going to help America continue to be competitive in what we grow, what we build by Americans.

for Americans and exported around the world.

Zack Nunn is our guest Republican 3rd District of Iowa in a good reelection battle.

So if you'd like to learn more, zacknunn.com, nice subtle donate button in the upper right hand corner if you'd like to help Congressman Nunn out now.

I've got about 60 seconds.

You're not just politicking.

You're a dad and your kids are showing at the fair.

Could there be anything more nerve-wracking than that?

I would say, you know, we have one of the most competitive races in the country right now.

We'll decide whether we have a majority or not based on this race.

But what has my heart rate up right now is I've got a daughter showing a ram, another daughter showing you, one showing a goat, and my youngest, five years old, she's showing a Persian cat.

Only at the Eye of State Fair do you have a pro-American Persian cat in runner-up to see what's going to happen for the Blue Ribbon.

Are we collecting some, I was going to say hardware, but they're blue ribbons.

How are the kids doing?

So we've done very well at County Fair.

I will say we got reserve grand champion on the cat and both the you and the Ram and the goat have all been able to compete now at State Fair.

We'll be showing it from now throughout the weekend.

And as soon as they're done showing livestock, they'll be on the dance stage doing with every father both loves and dreads.

watching and paying for their kids in the dance routine.

So we'll see how this goes down.

Oh, you are made of strong stuff.

OK, last question.

The Iowa State Fair is known for food on a stick.

It started with the great pork chops, but now everything comes on a stick.

What is your favorite on a stick food at the fair?

God bless you guys.

So here's what we're looking at for the State Fair this year.

Not only do we have pork chop on a stick, bacon wrap pork chop, which is my personal favorite, but new this year to the State Fair.

We have the egg and bacon fried wonton, very light, flavoring on it, on a stick.

It's worth trying out.

It's the best used in suit of an omelet.

I'm not doing it.

I'm not doing it.

Congressman Zach Nunn from Iowa.

Thanks for calling in from the State Fair in Des Moines.

And as KXL Live and Local continues in this 8 o'clock hour on a Tuesday, time to go to the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines for today's RFD 1540 Conversation as per custom joined by Dustin Hoffman, Supervising Editor, Lead Farm Broadcaster, Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.

You hear the reports nine times each weekday here on KXL and Dustin joins us here for this extended conversation Tuesdays and Thursdays and as noted, you're at the fair.

Folks are hearing the conversation on their

way or they're going to stop by later this week where can they see you and the team in person?

Well we are right outside the cattle barn right next to the Super Bowl the 3,000 plus pound Super Bowl here in the cattle barn just on the outside of that you can find us in our broadcast shed right across the street from the newly renovated horse barn.

You have had a very active time at the fair all manner of politicians local state and national have stopped by the shed.

We've had politicians, we've had all sorts of people in AG.

I mean, we had Senator Grassley stopped by, Governor Reynolds stopped by right before the Governor's Charity Steershow on Saturday.

We've had House Ag Committee Chairman, G.T.

Thompson, who showed in the Charity Steershow.

He stopped by Saturday morning as well.

We've talked with all kinds of folks about AG issues and things about the fair, and it's just been a great time, and we've still got more conversations yet to have.

So, let's talk a bit about the Ag Chairman.

Now, as you have pointed out, the House did its job, and now the thing is languishing over in the Senate.

It's going to have to go to some sort of conference committee.

What was his basic sense about things at this point?

It's got to be frustrating.

He is, but he said he's also learned patience in this job, and that's something he is a very, you know, adamant about, is being patient.

Like he said, he knows some deals had to be struck.

He knows that E-15 is in the Senate version of the bill, but it couldn't get into the House version, and that was a separate bill all on its own.

And like he said, he knows if they can get it through, and he's believing he can, because as he's talked, we've mentioned this many times, that the big four, as we call them, the chairpeople and the ranking members that are making up the leadership of both the House and the Senate,

they all kind of talk to each other during these negotiations.

And so, as he said, he goes, he's got a good feeling that they can get it across.

Mitch McConnell is supposed to be back in the Senate chambers for a possible revolt, so hopefully there would be enough then to get it across the line.

But he's also thinking that they can work with some of the negotiations between Bozeman and the ranking member Klobuchar from Minnesota and talk about what they can get done.

He goes, but he goes, he feels that if there's some trade-offs that have to happen over snap and if there's some things that have to be done, he has a feeling that this is the best chance we've got and he has a feeling that they can get it through.

on a conference committee in a version that the house would support because if there is some compromises on snap and then e15 and things like that he goes maybe then we'd be able to get a lot more stronger support because you remember it passed by the skin of its teeth as did the uh uh the version of the e15 bill so there's definitely a lot of hope from chairman Thompson but again it's not it's not done until until the fat lady sings as they say

But only three weeks of the chambers both being in town at the same time until the October break before the election.

So is this a will get something done before the October break or is this all going to be lame duck session come mid to late November?

Well, talking with Chairman Thompson, you know, he made the comment that he is very hopeful that if the Senate can get it done very relatively early in the return from the August break that they should be able to iron out because he said there's not a lot of changes from what they have, especially when it comes to farm policy.

If there is some give and take over the SNAP issue, then they should be able to then make it work.

And so he thinks that there is definitely enough momentum to get it done.

But again, it's going to have to be will the Senate, you know, agree to any more negotiations that are happening.

you know off the on their time off because as I said you know obviously they're all in communication with each other if they can get something that the Senate agrees to and can pass he believes it's enough because like he said they've got to get it to 60 votes in the Senate and so it's got to be one of those situations where if they can get it there and get that 60 votes and you know the ranking member Klobuchar can get the Democrats in the Senate to say hey this is what we can get we can support this let's run with it and get it done he goes he thinks that there can be a very quick process in a conference committee as

well.

in Hoffman of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.

You mentioned the governor's charity steer show, hard to believe, 44 years.

Governor Reynolds certainly went out with a bang in terms of money raised and I don't know, was the judging rigged?

That was the allegation in the past.

How come the governor always wins and the lieutenant governor doesn't?

But you tell me what you saw with your

own eyes.

I don't know.

I mean, you're starting to sound a lot like Secretary Nagg there with the conspiracy theories.

In fact, I mentioned that to her when I talked about that in the video.

It'll be up on our YouTube channel here very soon.

But she made, she had some trash talk for Secretary Nagg, but...

You know, I don't know.

She really had a very good looking steering.

You have to understand the steers that come in to this show, these 25 steers that come in every year, they are top of the top.

I mean, these are very good looking steers that usually any of them can walk away with the honors.

I mean, you're hard pressed.

You'd have to be picking knits to really find what makes one better than the other.

And that's why we have those judges there in place, because then we can go ahead and get that, you know, call made and, you know, you get that slap at the end there to

to crown the winner and you know it's been a

But a great time and she, like I said, she had a very good looking steer.

There was 25 great competitors there.

And yeah, she walked away with the honors one last time.

And like I said, we've got it on the video, Jeff, the actual trash talk from the governor to the secretary.

So that was quite fun as well.

And she was definitely excited.

And again, at $562,000 plus raised for the Ronald Donald House, another record, six and a half million plus now since it started in 1983.

So I'm sure this is

than former Governor Branstad ever could have envisioned when he started this, this organizational thing 44 years ago.

Just stunning and such a crowd favorite as well to be sure.

So Senator Grassley has talked about being at I think every Iowa State fair since like 1974 plus attendance in past years.

I know he likes taking photos of some of the

the winning animals, the Super Bowl and the big boar and the big ram, but he's not a stranger to some of the food tents, I understand.

No, that he's not.

He definitely made the comment that he was looking forward to his annual pork chops on a stick and getting those.

You know, he was very adamant also talking about the farm bill as well, that he felt that we could get it done if they can reach those final agreements.

And he was very certain that there was

Plenty of stuff that the Republicans could agree on or at least compromise on with the Democrats as well as we talked about the farm bill before.

But no, he was definitely he talks about, you know, getting the chance to talk with the constituents.

And, you know, we always talk about the ag side of it, but there is so much.

I mean, all of Iowa was on showcase here.

I know that's what we focus.

But yeah, it's a it's a great way for us to showcase everything that we do in this state.

And Senator Grassley was very adamant about, you know, making sure that he appreciates everything that's being done and talking about the agricultural part of it, seeing what we're doing in the in the.

industrial and commercialized parts of it as well.

You know, there's a lot the state has to be proud of and he was adamant that, you know, we make sure that we have that chance to get together and celebrate everything that makes the state what it is.

So it's Tuesday.

We're really smack dab in the middle of the fair.

What are you looking forward to the next couple of days before you and I talk again on Thursday?

Oh, I've got a busy schedule coming up here.

I've got a visit with Pat Swanson of the USDA.

Of course, Iowa farmer as well.

She's going to be talking to us about some programs.

Gonna be talking with Senator Joni Ernst later in the week.

Gonna be flipping pork chops and pork burgers at the pork chop tent there, the pork tent up on the hill.

Also gonna chance to call Celebrity Bingo on the Grand Concourse as well.

So I got a lot going on here.

A lot of busy stuff and also Emily Scorer, CEO of Growth Energy will be back to talk about E15.

and what she thinks might happen in the Senate here and the hope that we all have that this could finally get across the finish line.

How do you get to call celebrity bingo?

I don't know, apparently they were running out of celebrities that they're calling me and Riley, but yeah, they reached out and asked if we'd be willing to call bingo for an hour, and I said I would definitely do that.

I haven't done that since we called bar bingo back at my old radio station in Minnesota, so hopefully I can still tell what letters B, I, N, G, and O are, so unless they're trying to get me to lead us a singing of the song bingo, that's a whole different story.

Well, I understand why they invited you, but how'd Riley get in?

Just on your coattails, I'm assuming.

Yeah, I'm guessing that's probably what it was.

And so, you know, just to, you know, hopefully stave off any jealousy, you know, in that situation.

Well, harmony is important there at the Shad.

Remind us one more time, if folks are going to the Iowa State Fair, where can they see you and the rest of the bingo callers at the network?

We are right next to the Super Bowl, right next to that door going into them at the cattle barn, crossing the newly renovated horse barn and then right next to the entrance to the Penning Roth Show Arena.

And so you can't miss us in the shed.

Stop on by and say hi and catch a glimpse of some of the conversations we've had up on our screen up there on the side of the wall as well.

You can see what's going on and also see our Heart of the County Fair Award winners and learn some of their stories as well.

Excellent stuff, Dustin.

Enjoy the fair and we will get one more report from you on Thursday morning.

Sounds good, Jeff.

Dustin Hoffman, Supervising Editor, Lead Farm Broadcaster Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network from the Iowa State Fair for today's RFD 1540 Conversation on News Talk 1540, KXEL, where Iowa comes to talk.