I didn’t realize he learned all of these other skills. And one of the things that makes me like telling his story is when I see him with others, no matter what the challenges, he’s calm, doesn’t lose his temper. He doesn’t lose his cool. If there’s some line broken, you know, hey, we got to get orders out the door. Nope. We’re going to do this right. Calm down. That’s why we find solutions. And in the same way he was able to lift himself up here at Triumph Foods, I see him help lift others up through their own journey. And if people understood what happens in agriculture and the way in which it can take people with nontraditional backgrounds and set them on a path for success, I think we’d get more people joining. We have technicians, veterinarians, food safety technicians, refrigeration technicians, wastewater and others. I mean, there’s lots of areas and disciplines that do take a traditional path and a lot of schooling, but we have an opportunity for everybody. It’s like a small city. Figuring out how to tell those success stories and say you too have a future here, whether it’s for the processing, farming, primary processing, there’s a lot of different ways in which somebody can connect. No different than me. I never thought I’d be here, but then, once I joined, I can’t imagine doing anything else. Got a few more questions, Matt, we’re going to end on kind of a rapid-fire approach. I’ll kind of talk about a statement and get your quick input on it. Sustainability goals. We’re responsible for doing more with less, using our resources responsibly. We’re one of the largest employers in St. Joseph. So what we focus on is kind of that concept, I think, of sustainable intensification. I remember being at a presentation from somebody from World Wildlife, and they’re talking about areas of the world that are well-suited towards certain activities, and we should do those things there, rather than areas that are ill-suited. Iowa is better than the rainforest for producing pork. And if you’re going to produce in Iowa, being responsible in terms of making sure that we’re using the least amount of feed and we’ve got proper manure management, all those types of things are critical. And when those animals come to the plant, we know that the number one issue for sustainability is food waste, so we need to make sure we have a product with a very long shelf life.
IF PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD WHAT HAPPENS IN AGRICULTURE AND THE WAY IT CAN TAKE PEOPLE WITH NONTRADITIONAL BACKGROUNDS AND SET THEM ON A PATH FOR SUCCESS, I THINK WE’D GET MORE PEOPLE JOINING. On finding a career in agriculture
Also turning on the plant takes a lot of resources, but keeping the plant going du ring the day, that doesn’t take as many. So we have heavy fixed costs, low variable costs. Of the overall kind of footprint of our business, the plant is relatively small, but we try to figure out each day, how can we make a little bit more with the same resources? How can we make the same amount with less resources? And I think that’s that kind of idea of conservation and stewardship, of leaving something better than when you took it. I mean, that’s core to agriculture — you know, for farmers, for as long as there have been farmers.
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