Is Eating Meat Ethical?

Many of you have probably seen the New York Times essay contest about whether or not eating meat is ethical.  I clicked on the link, expecting most the essays to be written by people who were very far from agriculture, with strict anti-ag agendas and completely sworn off meat.  Instead, I found six well crafted essays from people who really care about their food.

As I read through the essays, I found the common theme to be eating meat is ethical, but the way we produce it is not.  Many people fear what we are doing to the land, more than what will happen to their bodies.  Most think that some of our technology is good and that advancement is important.  They fear the "factory farm."  Even the those essays written by farmers showed resistance against them.  I know that my farm would be considered sinister to these people, but it is and always will be family owned and operated.  Each decision we make is not only towards the bottom line, but also towards the welfare of the land, animals, and consumer. 

When I think about sustainable agriculture, I think it should be a way to produce that saves our resources.  We should work to preserve the soil, water, and integrity of our crops.  At the same time, we have to make sure we are utilizing the resources in the best ways possible.  Is it better to use a type of roundup ready corn that needs no irrigation and little spraying, than to use a corn variety that is much less hardy, taking more seeds to get a smaller yield, with the use of irrigation, plus additional energy with gasoline powered equipment?  Is that really more sustainable with a population expected to reach 9 billion in the next two decades?  Some people contest the use of animal waste as fertilizer.  I see it as a way to use all of our resources to maximize efficiency and productivity, while lessening dependence on other forms of fertilizer. 

I want to see the quality of our food increase.  Our food is currently clean and safe, but people have come to expect that from their food supply, and now want the accountability of growers, processors, and producers.  We should be happy that our consumers do take such an interest in what we do, although it is daunting at times.  I believe that American farmers can rise to meet the challenge.

Wasting our Water

I was out this weekend on the River, per usual.  I love getting out and just being on the water, and enjoying my surroundings, but usually I am paddling my canoe as fast as I can trying to beat as many people as possible in the weekend races of the summer months.  I was out this weekend, going along by a few friends (all of us dripping in sweat and puffing along)  and I saw some pop bottle floating down the river.  This happens all the time, but it makes me so sad.

After spending countless hours on the water, I have a great respect for its beauty and usefulness.  Water touches every part of our life; it is vital to our existence.  I have also spent many hours cleaning the river.  Last summer, my family and friends took out our canoes and loaded up truckloads full of garbage three weeks in a row.  Someone had decided to move from their trailer, and not wanting to hire a garbage service decided the river was the best place for unwanted items.  Bags of clothes, hair products, diapers, strollers, dog houses, and even a swimming pool liner were thrown in the river.  We called the police department when we found the person's address on an envelope, but still nothing happened.  I just can't imagine being so thoughtless about the river to do something like that.

I know that farmers do contribute to water pollution with phosphates and nitrates.  As we have learned more about it we need to make decisions that are more conscious of the effect on our resources.  On an individual level, each person needs to take responsibility for keeping trash out of our water.  Even in my races, I make sure I don't leave anything in the water.  I want to be active in keeping the water and land clean, and figure out better ways to treat the soil.  I know that over time our ideas on what is right will change, but we have to do the best we can with what we know now.   

Crop Insurance On The Chopping Block?

Being new to the ways of farming, I have been doing some research on Crop Insurance, another issue that has been tied up with the Farm Bill and the House of Representatives plan that cuts $33 billion from food stamps.  Farm subsidies and insurance are used by nearly all farmers.  Its a way to protect against the bad years, ones that could wipe out some farms entirely.  It's a form of managing risk. 

In business school, I learned the best way to manage risk is to diversify.  We do it with our financial portfolios, why not on the farm?  This could be planting more different types of crops or varieties.  Maybe branching off into a related area, or adding business by doing more of the supply chain.  That's how responsible businesses with long term growth goals compete.  They don't look at what can make the most year to year, but what is sustainable in business.  I think typically, farmers try to stay with what they know will work, tending to avoid new things.  Diversification can occur on a small scale at first, and become larger as people become more comfortable with their new endeavor. 

On my farm, we have pigs, corn, soybeans, red wheat, and a little alfalfa. We also grind our own feed, have our own boar stud, fix our own machinery, and do all our own electrical work.  We also work with a sister company when times get though.  It's the way we manage to keep going even when things are hard.  I think in the future we may want to look at doing more work with organic farming, or instead of expanding, working to make our operations more efficient. 

Each business needs to be aware of how outside factors effect the farm commodity markets.  Just because corn prices are very high today, it doesn't mean they will stay there.  Everyone should keep a little in reserve to handle fluctuations in prices.  That in itself is an insurance policy.

Of course, not all risk can be diversified away, and insurance may be necessary.  While the government does provide insurance, it doesn't do anything to help with the deficit problems the United States is facing.  I know farmers often want to be independent, and see themselves as truly patriotic, contributing a lot of resources for the benefit of everyone else.  Having this mindset, how can we push to have a program where we become very dependent on the government?  Everyone is being forced to make cuts in programs, and shouldn't we look at some of ours, too?  The reason I would like to see crop insurance out of government, is that the government is very inefficient with money.  Sixteen cents of each dollar paid in goes right off the top for financing government actions, and another 13 cents goes towards debt interest.  It seems me me, that there must be a more mutually beneficial way to utilize an insurance program.

Back to the Food Stamps cuts, I do not think that Crop Insurance can possibly stay the same with so many cuts hitting the government budgets.  Even if we just clean up the Agriculture programs in order to make them function more smoothly and quickly, we are making improvements for everyone involved. 

Fit to Farm

After my first two posts, I realize I haven't put out there why I am here and what I want to do.  What is my angle?  Do I have a purpose for writing?  Who am I to my audience?

I'll start to answer these questions by looking at the name I have chosen.  Fit to Farm. With my educational and cultural backgrounds, I find myself fit and ready to be part of the new generation in agriculture.  I am more open to change, more open to differing opinions, and less entrenched in traditional agriculture.  Not to knock farming practices, but everyone needs to update now and then. 

I don't just care about the farm now, but the impact I am making on our future.  I had a professor who once said that great leaders take time to develop a plan for the next generation and prepare the people to replace them to lead.  This is one of the goals I have for each endeavor I undertake.  I need to make things not only easy for me, but easier for the people around me.  I need to teach, not instruct.

Agriculture is changing very quickly.  It is an exciting time for me to be a part of the industry, as I may get a hand in shaping the direction we are going.  Being able to talk to other people who are figuring out better and more sustainable, profitable ways of business is inspiring.  It is possible for us to be so innovative when faced with problems.  

I believe that a farmer's life is a fit one.  I love to be active.  I run marathons, canoe race cross country ski, and take kettlebell and yoga classes once a week.  I try to be healthy by being safe in my physical work on the farm, and by eating well when I get to the table.  Through the course of this blog, you will probably hear about all of these endeavors from time to time.  As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I see things as cyclical, thus no one part of my life goes on without affecting another facet.  Each thing I do shapes the person that I am.

Should we be Anti Antibiotic?

Today while at work I read a lot of information about the FDA encouraging drug companies to relabel feed used animal antibiotics so they can not be used as a growth enhancer for animals.  To be honest, I really don't think that is the best use of our antibiotics anyway, even though my farm does feed one antibiotic this way.  We are looking to discontinue use regardless of the advice of the FDA because it doesn't seem to do much for us.  Honestly, each animal we sell eats less than a few pounds of the stuff over their lifetime, and I wonder how much that really adds up to for people, but I really don't know.

The second part of this issue is banning the antibiotics fed to animals as disease prevention if they are similar to ones used in humans.  Would this really lead to the use of less antibiotics while raising happier and healthier animals?  The treatments that vets and farmers come up with for common problems are meant to keep the animals healthy and stress free until they reach market age.  They are not intended to put an unnecessary amount of drug residue into the food supply.

Places that butcher animals also have withdrawal tests for all antibiotics that animals are treated with before they are brought in.  For example, if an animal is given a shot of penicillin, it may not be able to go to market for 20 days, allowing the drug to exit the system.  After so many days withdrawal, the drug can not be traced in the animals.  If a drug trace is found, the farmer doesn't receive his full pay, or the meat is rejected completely.  Neither one of these options pays for the farmer.

What if this mandate goes into full effect?  I believe there are other options we could use that we may want to look into anyway.  What about probiotics in feed?  What about other more natural supplements that we could use?  If there is a better way out there for us to make our product, we need to find it and take advantage of it.  Fighting changes just because they take us out of our comfort zone isn't a good way to go.  We need to be open to innovation, even if it makes us come at an issue from a different angle.  People can do great things when given a challenge. 

If science and the consumer dictate that a change in the way we produce our food is necessary, we can't call for this change to occur in one day, one week, or maybe even in one year.  A transition period is needed for producers to regroup, and new methods to be field researched on how to handle the problems at hand.  

It is the responsibility of all people involved in agriculture to produce the best food that they can.  Each farmer I know believes in full faith that they are sending the best product to the consumer.  They are proud of the time and effort put in two raise the animals and crops.  Each farmer eats the crop he produces and the animal he grows.  We are all in this together.

The Beginning

Hello all, to kick off this new blogging adventure, I want to let you know a little bit about who I am.  I am a woman born and raised on a farm who went to school in the big city and got a business degree in order to come back home.  Many people ask me, why business school when you knew all along that you wanted to farm?  I say, why not?

During my time at school, I met many people, none who had similar experiences to my childhood, or who ever planned to set foot on a farm during their professional careers.  I befriended future bank managers, marketers, accountants, vegans, bacon lovers, and a fair amount of people who hardly knew English.  These experiences lead me to see that there is a huge disconnect between the farm community and the rest of the world.  In my mind, I don’t see this as an “us against them” situation, but a time where we need to decide what kind of tradeoffs we can make so everyone gets the most value.  It’s more the art of negotiation than being right or wrong about food production.

What if the leading scientists in the field told you that you could make your product better, more features, easier use, etc.  with less materials and waste.  Would you stop to and reject the technology?  Probably not.  Then why are we so afraid of technology that comes to our food?  Upon talking to my sister about this issue, she referred to a conversation she had with one of her professors.  He talks about trade-offs and the general apprehension people have about science.  He says we have to do research into some of these areas, like food production, just to know what we can do, and what the potential benefits and drawbacks are.  We can do a whole lot of good for so many people by understanding what we can do with our resources.  At the same time, we need to make sure we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, so the consequences blindside us.

It is naïve to think that agriculture will be the same today as it was 100 years ago.  So many things have changed with technology, customer expectations, the number of people who are willing to farm, and the number of people in the world.  We need to use our resources as efficiently and effectively as possible in order to provide the best food we  can.  As a reader, try to realize that this issue isn’t as black and white as it seems, but rather a place where we need to find consensus.