Savannah Robin is a lady of many trades. In Episode 4 we talk with her about serving as an ag community member through the Southeast Center for Agriculture Health and Injury Prevention. After the podcast Savannah is going to sit down with staff and go through QPR training. She will teach them how to understand signs and symptoms to look for to allow Ag Credit employees to be aware of mental health problems and how to provide referrals to that person. QPR stands for Question Persuade and Refer.
We also take time to talk with Savannah about all the hats she wears as a mom, wife and career woman. Join us or view the transcript at www.agcreditonline.com/beyondagriculture.
Savannah Robin is a lady of many trades. In Episode 4 we talk with her about serving as an ag community member through the Southeast Center for Agriculture Health and Injury Prevention. After the podcast Savannah is going to sit down with staff and go through QPR training. She will teach them how to understand signs and symptoms to look for to allow Ag Credit employees to be aware of mental health problems and how to provide referrals to that person. QPR stands for Question Persuade and Refer.
We also take time to talk with Savannah about all the hats she wears as a mom, wife and career woman. Join us or view the transcript at www.agcreditonline.com/beyondagriculture.
CALEB SADLER (00:01)
Welcome to Beyond Agriculture, the podcast that takes you beyond the scope of AG and into the real life stories, conversations, and events taking place in our community. Who we are and what we do is beyond agriculture. Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Beyond Agriculture. This is Caleb Sadler speaking here. I've got Tom Zack Evans on with me here and a guest with us, Savannah Robin, and of course, the man behind the scenes, Ben Robin with us on as well. Savannah, we're going to get started and just kind of open it up for a little bit of discussion with you. And how about you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do and we'll go from there?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (00:48)
Yes. Thank you guys so much for having me. My name is Savannah Robin. I am a native of Louisville, Kentucky originally, and now I reside in Bourbon County and live in Paris with my husband and our wonderful girls. We've got three kids, two little ones, six and eight. And then we have a 17. We just turned 18 year old.
TOM ZACK EVANS (01:07)
So, Savannah, I also know that you all have quite the extensive farm operation going on out there. Can you tell us something about that?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (01:15)
Yeah. So Ben and I, along with our girls, have 70 acres that we raise beef cattle on. And we have a retail meat business. So we have Robin Ridge Farms. And so we have commercial cattle and registered cattle as well. But we primarily source our animals for our meat business at this time. We also raise cut flowers. And our girls are involved in a bunch of different endeavors. We've got a handful of sheep and some goats and donkeys and all kinds of other little critters.
CALEB SADLER (01:43)
I forgot about the donkey.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (01:45)
Oh, Andi will not let you forget much longer. Now we have two. So he has a best friend.
CALEB SADLER (01:50)
That's awesome.
TOM ZACK EVANS (01:51)
Yeah.
TOM ZACK EVANS (01:51)
And after owning sheep, I know they can be very labor intensive between trimming feet and shearing the wool and just keeping the sheep alive, period.
CALEB SADLER (02:00)
Now, Ben on our first episode gave some insight that you are a potentially going to show some goats this year.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (02:06)
Yes.
CALEB SADLER (02:06)
Tell us a little bit about that. What are you looking forward to? I mean, which child?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (02:11)
It's Finley.
CALEB SADLER (02:12)
Okay.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (02:12)
Finley has been a goat girl for the last three years. And a couple of years ago, when Andi got Sammy for Christmas, the donkey, Finley got a couple of little goats and we didn't know if it was going to pass. So we thought we'll just test it out with these little dwarfs. And if she still loves them, we'll invest and it's not gone away. She has been so addicted. So now she has Ruthy Jane, which is her little goat. And she wanted a doe so she could breed it. She wants to go on that end instead of the market side. So she's hopefully we'll hit a couple of shows this summer and just kind of get in that world. I come from a horse showing, so I don't know much about showing livestock on the other end.
CALEB SADLER (02:49)
And I can tell you this from my perspective. I'm sure, Tom Zack, can tell you, too. But when you raise your own and you show your own livestock, it means a lot more. At the end of the day, when you walk in the ring or you walk out of the ring, it don't matter if your first or last just from the standpoint that you raised whatever you brought to that show. That means a lot. At the end of the day.
TOM ZACK EVANS (03:08)
You mentioned the horses. I remember seeing some pictures a while back of you with the quarter horses, and you were President of the Associate. Tell us about that.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (03:19)
Yeah. So I grew up showing quarter horses as a kid and grew up in Equine Four H and Horse Four H. And we got really involved in the American Quarter Horse Association. And so my freshman year of College was the national youth President for AQHA.
TOM ZACK EVANS (03:33)
Wow.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (03:33)
I got to travel around and advocate for the breed and just the importance of the equine industry as a whole.
TOM ZACK EVANS (03:39)
So what's a funny story about the lamb or the sheep.
BEN ROBIN (03:43)
You have to tell that.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (03:44)
Yeah. Well, I guess kind of starting out with that. All of our girls have their own business endeavors. So Andi decided she was going to have sheep. And we said, if you earn your own money and you raise enough to buy it, then that's fine. So she decided to make biscuits and sell biscuits. And she sold enough biscuits, Baby Jane's Biscuits to buy her sheep, which she in turn named Biscuit. And so one day we were driving home, and it was right before Easter, and Finley was just reflecting on the time and the sacrifice that Jesus made. And she looked over at Andi and she said, I'm sure glad that Jesus died for our sins so that we don't have to put Biscuit up on the altar.
CALEB SADLER (04:28)
So you were talking there, too, and that kind of feed off that a little bit. What other endeavors are your kids involved in? Because I know the oldest. She does hand soap, if I remember correctly.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (04:40)
Yes. So Lexi is our senior in high school. She's getting ready to graduate. She's going to UK, and we're so proud of her. But she has her own business called Eden Soaps. And so she has been able and Eden, being the Garden of Eden and bringing in the purity of things. She's really empowered by social justice and change. So she's been working with some organizations and parts of her proceeds of her soap sales go to Refuge for Women, which is an organization for women who have been exploited, and then other soap sales go towards Black Soil, Kentucky. So an organization for promoting the growth of black farmers in Kentucky, which is incredible. So she does a lot of that, too.
CALEB SADLER (05:19)
And I do know that is another area that Central Kentucky aggregate really sponsors and really looks out for as well, too. I know you work at the University of Kentucky. Tell us a little bit about what you do there and we'll kind of feed off that.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (05:32)
Yeah. So I'm an agriculture teacher by trade. I originally went to College to be in a high school AG teacher, and I did that for a number of years, most recently in Harrison County. So my training is a career in technical education. I have been at the University of Kentucky now, though, going on four years, which is really hard to believe. And in that position, I serve as the internship coordinator and manage career development for students within the Equine Science and Management undergraduate program. So we have over 300 kids.
TOM ZACK EVANS (06:01)
That's a big, long title. Can you break that down a little bit for us and explain kind of what that means?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (06:07)
Yes. So in my position, I am responsible for helping our students really figure out their career path. So thinking through what is their role and responsibility. The equine industry in Kentucky is very broad, but we really focus on who students are. So I get them as freshmen and we take an equine careers class. We start thinking through who they are, what their personal mission statement is, and start really helping them identify what their strengths are, their values, and then how that determines what they should do with the rest of their life. So the career development process and journey is ever evolving, and it's not just looking for a job that you need, but it's really helping students identify that path. So that's one piece. And so I build them as freshmen. We start identifying different things, and then we kind of evolve through their undergraduate career. And a part of our program is an internship requirement. And so our students do a rigorous internship experience, and throughout that process, they do another series of career development pieces with that. So I manage the courses within that, teach at the University and then help come back in their Capstone class and help them prepare for jobs and careers once they're ready to apply.
CALEB SADLER (07:14)
So needless to say that you have a big influence on kids and the youth, not just in your current role right now, but previously, as well as an Ag educator before that.
BEN ROBIN (07:25)
And there's a lot of students in the equine programs at UK, right? I mean, it's a pretty big yes.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (07:30)
We have close to 300. So we're one of the largest undergrad programs since then, the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. And 80% of our students are from out of state. So a lot of the students come to Central Kentucky for the equine industry specifically.
CALEB SADLER (07:44)
Now, do you all have the farms around here in Central Kentucky? Do they reach out to you all in regards to the intern program about maybe taking students, or do you just have, like a group of farms that are in the wheelhouse that you all refer kids to at that point in time?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (07:57)
A little bit of both part of the knowing the students and what their capacity and capabilities are comes into that when we figure out where we recommend them go. But even their freshman year, we make them job shadow. I encourage them to job shadow, require it, and we encourage them to go out to different places and see different experiences. But I have employer relations with tons of the different farms, the different employers, the different feed, meals companies, anything that has to do with supporting the ecommerce industry to generate an opportunity for students to really expose them to what different types of careers exist within the industry and also within agriculture in general in Kentucky.
TOM ZACK EVANS (08:39)
Does this encompass all types of equines, such as quarter horses, thoroughbreds, Hunter jumpers, Budweiser Clydesdales?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (08:49)
We actually just posted a job for the Budweiser Clad Sales.
CALEB SADLER (08:52)
That's awesome.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (08:53)
Yes, we have an internship in a full time position that's not with us, but that we're encouraging students to apply for. So, yes, it is very diverse. So it serves every breed, every discipline. And that's something, too, that we try to encourage our students to think through is the broadness and the scope that is the equine industry and beyond that, veterinary science and research and what can go into it across the spectrum.
TOM ZACK EVANS (09:18)
So, yeah, give us some examples of different jobs that students could land when they come out of this.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (09:25)
Oh, that's a great question. So I have students that go on to law school and go to be any crime lawyer, and we have students that go into MBA, get an MBA. So we've got the business side of things. So part of our program focuses on business and management. So that's kind of what those students focus on, sales, marketing. I have a student right now that is working for a hay company and selling hay for equine.
BEN ROBIN (09:46)
You call Tom Zack with that one.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (09:51)
But it's primarily goats and horses, so she markets and sells hay out that direction. We've got people that work in equine, Pharmaceuticals, farm managers, Repro, specialists, veterinarians, racetracks. Yes, they're working at racetracks. I have a student right now that actually just left for Gulfstream Park yesterday. And so he'll be interning for three weeks with one of the big Gulf Stream Park down there and first in the Ed Brown Society. So we've got a number of different opportunities that they can go into. And it is very broad.
CALEB SADLER (10:22)
And I know you're really involved with the kids and youth and within the College of AG, but you also serve a vital role in the community here in Bourbon County as well. And I serve on some boards with you here in the county. Could you give some insight into the things that you do locally around the counties.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (10:37)
Yeah. So I've served on our County Farm Bureau board for going on 13 years. I started very young just to kind of make sure you didn't think I was over at the age different age. And I have served in a bunch of different capacities, from scholarship generation to education grants, AG education committees. I was past President of our county. I was the first female and the youngest person to ever serve in that capacity, which was really exciting. And that opportunity and those opportunities have led me to being really engaged within our community and some of the service outreach events, but also being involved in the State Farm Bureau as well. So I serve on our state education committee for Kentucky Farm Bureau and then also on the strategic planning committee for Vision 100, which really helps think through what Kentucky Farm Bureau will look like in the next 100 years, which is really cool, being able to be on the front end of that and think through strategically what do we want Farm Bureau to look like, and how can we provide resources to County Farm Bureaus is important.
CALEB SADLER (11:35)
So, Savannah, I know the real reason that we have you here today at Central Kentucky. I credit is you're going to teach a training to the staff here today regarding question, persuade and refer. QPR training for the association at that point in time. And I guess you could say let's give us some insight into that and what that is and how we can make farmers and listeners aware of this program.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (11:57)
Yeah. So as we all know, being involved in the agriculture community and maybe being on the front end of it, but maybe some people don't know the stigma around mental health in rural areas and in specifically with agriculture is very prevalent. And so being able to get out into communities and help people understand the importance of access to resources for mental health awareness and suicide awareness programs is extremely important. Agriculturalists and older men in rural communities have one of the highest rates of suicide. And so how do we on the front end of that help alleviate some of those problems? And I serve as an agricultural community member through the Southeast Center for Agriculture Health and Injury Prevention. This is through the Kentucky State Legislation Appropriation. But I was reached out to by this group and as a representative of the agriculture community to say, hey, can you be a trainer? Can you be trained to go out into different communities and with different organizations to be able to help them understand what the signs and signals are for somebody who is in a situation where they may be contemplating suicide or taking their own life?
CALEB SADLER (13:13)
I know that this program exists and you're out there to train it. But let's say that we were out in the field and we were producers that were going through something like this. Where can they physically go to get this help, or what can they do to make sure that they get the help that they need?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (13:28)
Yeah. So the thing that we're doing is I'm going around and helping. I'm one of the members that is trained to go around to different organizations and help make other people aware of it. So like today here with Central Kentucky AG Credit, I will help loan officers and folks that are involved in this office understand signs and symptoms to look for when you're in your AG community. So my job will be to help you understand what the referral process looks like, how to talk to somebody, how to disarm somebody in a situation to make them feel more comfortable when they're having the conversation and how to have it appropriately, and then in a way that doesn't discourage them or encourage them either direction. So the goal is for you to help refer them to the resources that are available. And there's a lot of resources. And I can provide a link for your show notes that have the direct access and links to phone numbers for Naomi and the different suicide awareness hotlines. But there are a lot of different programs that people can find themselves into. And it's really about how do you identify when somebody is at that place that they need to be talked to?
TOM ZACK EVANS (14:34)
Is this something that as the loan officer would contact, or are we giving the farmer rancher? Are we giving them the contact information?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (14:46)
That's a good question. So part of this program encourages you to have a conversation, to question, to start saying, okay, are you having some thoughts? If that's the case, what can we do? And then it's to persuade them that there is a little bit of hope, and we'll go through what that looks like and how to officially have that conversation. And then it's to refer. A big part of it is that you will help walk them through the process to get them to that referral piece so that they don't feel alone, as we know that a lot of times people that get to that stage feel like they would be better off if they were not a burden on someone else. And so the last thing that we want them to do in those moments is feel burdensome. And so how can we encourage them to not feel that way?
CALEB SADLER (15:28)
And I would also say being a loan officer and being on the opposite side of the desk, it's not necessarily distressed credits or distressed accounts that we see this in. This is across the board. It doesn't necessarily have to be a distressed borrower or a distressed person that's going through a lot of stress within their life.
TOM ZACK EVANS (15:45)
Yes, we all know there's certainly a lot of challenges on the farm calving seasons going on right now. And I've had several farmers that have either lost calves in the mud or due to Vulture strikes, disease goes through the herd. And that's easy to get you down during these times when you start losing a lot of livestock. The same thing on the crop site. I mean, look at the markets right now and the inputs. It's stressful. I know just from our standpoint trying to nail down where these inputs are going to land and also forward contracting and trying to make the right move, and then also regretting later that maybe there was a lot of money left on the table. So certainly a lot of stress out there right now.
CALEB SADLER (16:30)
I would say, too, a lot of that is just the uncertainty. Farmers can't control anything at that point in time, and they're at the mercy of whatever the weather is that day. I mean, they can't control it.
BEN ROBIN (16:44)
Yeah. You all have the relationships with them is a good thing. They're already in here. You're either updating our financials or talking about markets or something. So you all are on the front end of that, too.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (16:57)
I think that everything that you mentioned is exactly why these trainings exist and exactly why this is so important to address mental health and suicide awareness in rural communities and specifically in agriculture. I mean, we talk about the fact that everything is uncertain. A war could happen hypothetically or in real life and change everything. The weather, all the specific examples that you gave are reasons that cause additional stress and the high risk. You also have a population that is very isolated unless they're going to McDonald's in the morning and maybe having coffee with a group of people, unless they have a really great relationship with those folks, they're not really going to talk about the stressors. They're going to tell jokes and kind of keep it light hearted. And so you have a population of people who are isolated, who also don't have great access to rural health, especially in small towns. You pull up to the counselor's office and your car is parked outside, and then your best buddy drives by and says, hey, I saw you parked outside. Everything going on. And so reaching out to get help is hard because then you think everybody's watching you or that not everybody's going through the same thing that you're going through afraid to be judged at the end of the day.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (18:08)
Yeah. And so there is that stigma on what it means to get help. And so if we can start identifying it, encouraging people that it's okay, we're all in this together and that we're not alone. There's research that shows it's not one isolated event that will cause it. It's a lot of isolated events over time that have just compounded.
TOM ZACK EVANS (18:29)
You bring up some good points there that I know as a loan officer just over the last ten years, that when we've had stressful times like this, I've had farmers come in and sit down in my office. And they admit to me that they said, I haven't even talked to this. I haven't even talked about this to my wife. The stuff I'm telling you. So you're right. They like to keep it kind of bottled up. And sometimes we are the ones that are hearing the information for the first time, the things that have been stressed out and worried about the future of their livelihood and their family.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (19:05)
Which they carry a ton of weight for. You think about the population that believes that they are providing this farm and they're working so hard for this endeavor to pass on to the next generation and then to carry the responsibility that you've let it go where you couldn't carry that for them in the way you needed to is really stressful.
CALEB SADLER (19:21)
Well, and two, on the flip side of that is we're at a generation where a lot of the youth are not willing to farm at that point in time, and the farmers having to go underneath the stress of that of who takes on this, or they have to go into the stress of liquidating assets and just to retire.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (19:39)
Well, and you bring up a point, too, about the young farmers getting into the industry. Many, as you all know, you farm and you work off the farm. And so the long hours, you're working two full time jobs, you're getting up before you go to your other job, trying to make sure that the cows are fed or the fields are taken care of. And then you come home and the whole reason you wanted to farm was to have time with your family. And then you feel like you're putting so much pressure on you never have time for math. Right. And you can't make farm payments because if you don't have the job, you can't make those payments. And so it's a really stressful situation all the way around.
CALEB SADLER (20:13)
That kind of brings me, I guess, into the next topic here. And one thing, obviously, we know you sitting across the table here, but a lot of listeners don't know you and you have a very hectic schedule to keep up with. And that would be my next question for you is how do you balance everything between work and life on the farm and what you have going on, and how do you keep that all balanced?
SAVANNAH ROBIN (20:35)
That is a good question. I think honestly, I kind of referred to this when I talked about my students earlier, was having a personal mission. I believe that you should have a mission statement for your life. And whatever you do in life, every decision you make, every activity you participate in, anything that you choose to do should be filtered through what you think is the lens of that. And so for me, my pillars are my faith, my husband, my children. I want to be the best mom and wife. I can be. And I believe that my job is my Ministry and how I serve my students and how I serve my community. And so the other thing is I have a lot of friends that are like, man, aren't you sad? Your kid was late with you at night at a meeting and for me and for being I think I can speak for both of us as we want to instill in our kids the importance of community and getting and being a part of your community and giving to others in service. And so for them, it has to be modeled and so we can't expect them to go on and be community leaders if they can't see it in their parents themselves, too.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (21:35)
So I keep a schedule. I'm terrible about it. I'm delayed and slow to respond to emails and text messages. People tell me. I mean, I'll have 200 unread messages. There are things that I'm not good at, but at the end of the day, I extend a whole lot of Grace to a lot of people and I just pray that they extend that same Grace back to me knowing that I have the best intentions in what I'm doing.
BEN ROBIN (22:05)
Talking about the work life balance too portion of that. She is extremely efficient, like, a lot more efficient than I am.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (22:11)
That is true. That is true. I do a lot of work from the car.
BEN ROBIN (22:14)
A lot.
CALEB SADLER (22:15)
I was going to say, just knowing her sitting here as well, I can tell she's very efficient.
BEN ROBIN (22:20)
Yeah. Like, when she has to wait, like, 30 minutes to get going on something, she's like she got freaking out.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (22:26)
I have to have my day scheduled. I was joking around earlier. I have a plug for my car that I can plug my computer into. My best friend got it for me for my birthday so that I can plug in my computer so that if I'm waiting in the kids pick up line, I can still take a Zoom call and do whatever I need to do so that I don't miss something.
CALEB SADLER (22:44)
Wow. Well, I really appreciate your time. Savannah here and really look forward to the training here this afternoon with Central Kentucky Ag Credit and I really appreciate everyone tuning in to listen to the next episode on Beyond Agriculture.
SAVANNAH ROBIN (22:58)
Thank you guys so much for having me. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER 5 (23:02)
This episode of beyond agriculture is brought to you by central Kentucky AG credit. Thanks for listening to the podcast. Be sure to visit agcreditonline.com/beyondagriculture, access the show notes and discover our fantastic bonus content. Also, don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you can join us next week style for beyond agriculture.