Interview with Eric Miller, February 18, 2022

Partial Transcript: And so you wanna give us a little bit of your background, you know, what you do there at Stay Tuff as a, a regional, uh, territory manager?

Segment Synopsis: Miller briefly describes his duties as the territory manager for Stay Tuff, a fencing company based in the United States.

Keywords: Ag producers; Farming community; Farming systems; Farming--United States--2010.; Fence industry--United States.; Fencing; Retail manager; Stay Tuff Fencing Products; University of Kentucky Agriculture

Subjects: Agriculture.; Farmers; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, tell us how you first heard about the tornadoes and, and, and just your, that initial response to that.

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about how he first learned of the destruction in Western Kentucky due to the December 2021 tornadoes. He also talks about how insurance does not cover fencing, and, with Western Kentucky being a heavy cattle producing region, the farmers would not have the capacity to replace the extensive fencing loss, or even the loss of cattle due to the lack of containment in the storm's aftermath.

Keywords: Agriculture community; Farming systems; Farming--United States--2010.; Feed prices; Fence industry--United States.; Fencing; Grain bins; Hazards of uncontained cattle; Liability; National news; Potential hazards; Reconstruction; Wet corn

Subjects: Agriculture.; Cattle.; Insurance.; Liability insurance.; Livestock.; Natural disasters.

Partial Transcript: You were telling us a story you heard of a cow being found, you know, a fair ways away.

Segment Synopsis: Miller describes talking with farmers who lost cattle in the Western Kentucky December 2021 tornadoes, and the financial implications such a loss can have.

Keywords: Deceased cattle; Financial assets; Loss of livestock; Production loss; Tornado debris; Tornadoes--Economic aspects--United States.

Subjects: Cattle; Natural disasters.; Tornado damage; Tornadoes; Tornadoes--Economic aspects--United States.

Partial Transcript: So what did, how did Stay Tuff decide to get involved and help out some of these producers, um, and you know that your--and other businesses as well, how did they decide to get involved and, and help these Kentucky producers after this event?

Segment Synopsis: Miller describes the path Stay Tuff took to get involved with Western Kentucky disaster relief, the people he worked with to bring it to fruition, and how Stay Tuff dealers were willing to delay their orders so the company could provide product to affected farmers.

Keywords: Backorders; Cattle country; Communications; County Extension Agent; Delay of orders; Donations; Eddie Milton; Farming--United States--2010.; Fence industry--United States.; Fencing; Fencing dealers; Identifying needs; Keith Rogers; Livestock loss; Semi-Tractor Trailer; Stay Tuff dealers

Subjects: Agriculture.; Disaster relief.; Farming systems; Kentucky Farm Bureau; Natural disasters.; Social Media; Tornado damage

Partial Transcript: What did you think, it's something to see it on the news, but what did you think when you first saw some of that, you know, initial impact of the damage?

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about his impression of the storm damage, the value farmers bring to the country, and how they are rarely the subject of news stories.

Keywords: Agriculture community; Countryside; Day-jobs; Destruction; Farming--United States--2010.; Fence industry--United States.; Food production; Small farmers; Storm damage; Subsidies

Subjects: Agriculture.; Farming systems; Natural disasters.; Tornadoes

Partial Transcript: What was the first thing you guys did once you got here to Kentucky?

Segment Synopsis: Miller describes the process he and his company took to provide the best help to Western Kentucky farmers without causing disruption. He talks about the other companies that helped, and he describes several problems of containing a mix of cattle in small enclosures that, in the aftermath of the storms, became the situation farmers were forced into.

Keywords: Acreage; Calfing; Combined systems; Division fences; Farm machinery; Farming systems; Farming--United States--2010.; Fence industry--United States.; Fencing; Fencing equipment; Gallagher; Kent Greenleaf; Open Heifers; Permanent style fencing; Post driver; Small paddocks; Supply chain; Temporary fencing; Virgin Heifers

Subjects: Agriculture.; Breeding; Bulls; Calves; Cattle--Behavior; Farming systems; Farms; Natural disasters.; Tornado damage; Tornadoes

Partial Transcript: You know you guys gave, donated a lot of product here, worked with a lot of different dealers I'm assuming, uh, how did that, you know, how did that relationship develop? So, you guys got a lot of product, and how much product do you think?

Segment Synopsis: Miller talks about the products brought to the state after the tornadoes. He talks specifically about how important it was to Stay Tuff to include local farm supply businesses in the distribution in order to mitigate unnecessary competition and provide additional support to those businesses.

Keywords: Calhoun Feed; Farming systems; Farming--United States--2010.; Fence industry--United States.; Fencing; Fencing segment of local farm supply businesses; Fencing systems; Local farm stores; Local retailers; Support Ag retail business

Subjects: Agriculture.; Farmers; Farming; Kentucky Farm Bureau; Natural disasters.

Partial Transcript: What's your goal for the future? So it's been almost two months since the tornado outbreak, what's, you know, what's the next step do you think?

Segment Synopsis: Miller briefly discusses his ongoing support of the farmers. Miller says that this was his first exposure to such a widespread natural disaster, and he remarks on the kindness and generosity he experienced from farmers who had lost so much.

Keywords: Agricultural loss; American farmers; Endurance; Farming systems; Farming--United States--2010.; Fence industry--United States.; First disaster; National Farm Machinery Show; Out of Season; Resilience

Subjects: Agriculture.; Breeding; Calves; Cattle.; Heifers; Natural disasters.