Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 5

Missouri
RURAL
Volume 75 | OCTOBER 2022 | Number 10
EDITORIAL STAFF:
Jim McCarty, editor
jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
Paul Newton, managing editor
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Heather Berry, associate editor
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Megan Backes, creative director
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Zach Smith, field editor
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Angie Jones-Wheeler, designer
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Rural Missouri (ISSN 0164-8578) (USPS 473000)
is published monthly by the Association
of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, 2722 E.
McCarty Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101, Caleb
Jones, CEO/executive vice president. Individual
subscription rate: $12 per year or $25 for three
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member. Delivery as specified by subscriber. If not
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Electric Cooperatives. Call for reprint rights.
Circulation of this issue: 582,239
RM | PERSPECTIVES
A little help on the farm
by Caleb Jones | cjones@amec.coop
M
any years ago, my dad
thought it would be a good
idea for my brother and
I to help a local farmer
roof his house. While it seemed like
a great idea, when we started climbing
across that felt-covered roof in
the July heat I think we
all started having second
thoughts. Being the younger
brother, I had the task of
carrying those asphalt shingles
from the ground, up the
ladder and onto the roof.
Like all Moniteau County
farmers, we had the AM
radio set to KRLL so we
could listen to crop prices
and Tradio, where local folks
would try to sell everything
from tractors to old roosters.
After the first day, it
became apparent that if we
were going to get this roof
finished before the next rain,
we were going to need some
help. In a moment of what I would
call " divine intervention, " the farmer
called Tradio and announced he was
paying $8 an hour for anyone who
knew how to swing a hammer. It took
about 30 minutes before the first
truck pulled up.
By the end of that hot project, two
things were accomplished: 1. The
farmer got his roof finished, and 2.
My brother and I learned we weren't
cut out to be roofers.
Sometimes when I am passing time
on the road, I still turn on that AM
station. I don't hear Tradio any more,
but I do get to hear the local news.
These days there's a lot of options for
entertainment besides what comes
over the airwaves. But I still like AM
radio because it's community radio.
I use the word community all the
time when I'm talking about electric
cooperatives. These days, the two
things that help a rural community
thrive the most is a good AM radio
station and your electric cooperative.
Looking back on that hot day on
the roof got me thinking about what
farmers are doing today when they
need some extra help on the farm.
Thanks to technology, farmers
don't have to rely on Tradio if they
need an extra hand. In fact, a farm
kid I grew up with may have figured
it out. Kevin Johansen has started an
app called AgButler. Think of it as an
Uber for farmhands. You post what
My buddy Kevin is showing me how to use the AgButler
app to get the help I need on my Moniteau County farm.
kind of help you need and instantly
have workers at your disposal.
This kind of ingenuity is what
makes rural Missouri great. Much
like when co-ops found a way to solve
the problem of getting rural Missouri
electricity, this farm boy found a way
to help solve the workforce problem
farmers face today.
Come to think of it, that's kind of
what the electric co-ops did. Electricity
saved so much backbreaking labor
that it became known as a " Wiredhand "
on the farm.
While you probably won't see my
name on the AgButler list for roofing
or breaking horses (that's another
story), I bet you can find whoever
you need for whatever you need them
for on the app. I wish it was around
whenever my dad got one of his great
ideas. You can learn more about
AgButler at www.agbutlerapp.org.
Caleb is the executive vice president
and CEO of the Association of Missouri
Electric Cooperatives and a member of
Boone Electric Cooperative.
OCTOBER 2022 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 5
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Rural Missouri - October 2022

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