Telling our Story

Why do we farm?  Why do we work hard?  Why do we loose sleep over animals who reside on our farm?  Why do we put in the extra hours? 

These are complicated questions, and consumers want to know.  It is like asking a teach (of which I am one) why do you like to teach?  I certainly wouldn't say its for the money.  Its more of an internal reason, a drive to better the world in which we live.  And that is how it is with farming.  There is so much I would like to tell people about what I do.  What satisfaction I get from working hard, from spending time with the animals on my farm, from having the entire family fall asleep before we hit our pillows.. because we have put our all into what we do.  The time has come for us to tell these little parts of our lives to those who want to hear.  The world is asking.. who is telling our story? 

The Ohio Farm bureau federation has begun its annual video contest, and I would like to encourage all of you to think about participating.  Its a great chance to make a short video, and possibly even earn money from it.  Jim and I made a video and you can view it here.  Its a quick story about why we do what we do.  How we tell the story of agriculture wherever we go.  I have two things I like to ask people.. do you know Jesus?  Have you ever met a farmer?  Hopefully I can't point them in the direction for "true" answers for both of those! 

Hard Decision Time...

We are new to farming, I have owned this fact and have embraced it.  Until today.  We are being faced with a difficult decision that I would prefer to not make.  It has to do with my first, and favorite cow... "Big Mama". 

Jim and I started our farm in 2004 and made the decision to get into cattle.  We opened up our local paper the "Farm and Dairy" http://www.farmanddairy.com/ and found an add for replacement heifers.  It was God's intervention that lead us to call this particular number.  Through that number, we became acquainted with the farmer which would ultimately become a friend, mentor and Jim's boss.  We purchased our first three heifers, and our love of cattle began.

Six years later.. much sooner then I anticipated being in this situation.  About a month and a half ago "Big Mama" one of our original three became lame.  We called our trusted vet immediately.  He assessed her and could find nothing wrong with her.  We trimmed up her hoof that seemed to be bothering her, and we rested her.  We have kept a close eye on her, and have noticed much more restricted movement and weight loss.   Her legs appear fine, to injury, no infection.. nothing.. just lame.

Now its the age old question, when do we remove her from the herd.  The Bull is here now and will not be visiting her.  She also did not catch last year.  This complicates the decision that needs to be made.  I think many people have been in my boots.  A good cow, great disposition and emotionally connected.  She is a leader in the herd, and now I think her time has come to leave the herd.  It is a hard, hard decision.  And that is where I am right now.. hard decision time.

Meeting Consumer needs while avoiding submissive yielding

I feel that the delicate balance between meeting consumer expectations in animal agriculture while still protecting practical farming techniques is an issue that takes a great deal of due diligence.  In a day and age where public perception is perceived as reality, it is often very easy to over compensate to appease the ever growing need for information that consumers require.  I believe that having a positive and active role in education on the practices that animal agriculture uses in conjunction with scientific research has helped and will continue to help the maintenance of this delicate balance.  However, I also feel that the extreme submissive and yielding  approach to consumer outreach does more damage in the long run.  I recently watched a couple of "test messages" from a representative of agriculture.  The consumer ratings were the highest on the ones where he sounded incredibly apologetic, much like a kicked puppy wanting to have his ear scratched.  To combat this attitude of surrender, I feel all sects of agriculture (animal,row crop and unconventional production) need to continue to train spokespersons, create positive media opportunities, and have a very active presence through social media.   I do agree that some admission of past mistakes, like all humility, can go a long way.  But this is such a fine line! So how do we do all of this?  I think we are doing it through our tweets, face book posts, and you tube videos.  But we need to add a little humor, wit and joy for people to actually want to view our messages. (That being said this post has absolutely not humor in it.. ironic? )  Any thoughts?