The Christmas Ham

Merry Christmas to all, it is such a nice time to spend with family and friends. On the farm we are perpetually busy with with plowing, bedding, and feeding this time of year, but it is always with an uplifted mood, as everyone can feel the holiday spirit.  At Christmas time we send in a custom hog for each employee that is processed by the local meat market, and have our annual Christmas party.

The Christmas party is probably one of the most popular events we have throughout the year, and the 2013 party was our largest ever.  We had about 150 people attend, employees and there families,contract barn owners, and other local business people we work with throughout the year.  Each guest takes home a piece of farm swag, be it a fleece blanket, a soft cooler, or a coffee mug; a full belly, and a happy heart.  We also have some type of entertainment, this year it was a stilt walker with a juggling act.  It might be a little bit cheesy, but the entertainment is always something that gets a laugh out of the crowd, while mesmerizing the kids.  It's a fun way to celebrate with our farm family, plus it puts the farm in the soft spot of the hearts of people in the community.

Community outreach is important at any time of year, but the holiday season is a good time to get out and remind your neighbors that you appreciate them.  They put up with the manure hauling, semis driving by at 5 AM, and on occasion, a pig in their swimming pool (yes, that actually happened).  Plowing an elderly neighbor's driveway, or donating gifts to the toys-for-tots program are small acts of kindness that go a long way.  They do not take much time or money, but they leave a meaningful impact on a neighbor's day.

One of my grandfather's favorite Christmas traditions is the Christmas ham.  Just before Christmas we head out door-knocking to the neighboring houses to give them a ham for Christmas dinner.  It is so nice to express our thanks, although it hardly feel like we are doing the giving, usually walking away with some homemade confection, syrup, or preserve.  As a community we are sharing what we have, what makes us proud, and strengthening the camaraderie that exists between the folks of a small town.  

Moving- It's a Big Job

Just a few weeks ago we had a livestock moving expert from DNL Farms Ltd. come out to the farm to take some video, critique our movements, and give a class to all of us on the farm.  We were lucky to get this opportunity through the Michigan State Extension Office, as we were selected as one site in the state for a visit and taping.

On every farm there are things that are done well, and things that need some work.  On my farm we pride ourselves on being really good at market hog movement.  We have an assigned loading crew that handles are market hogs.  We use pens close to the truck for holding space, and as an area to put any animals that seem to be suffering from stress and need a break.

We struggle more with moving hogs out of farrowing crates, they just never seem to want to budge.  Even trying to get the pigs to stand everyday can be a challenge.  Even moving the weaned pigs can be difficult.  It was really nice to have someone out to make suggestions and correct some of our long held but inaccurate assumptions about hog movement.

During the class, we were able to discuss how trying to rush makes everything harder.  This is obvious in most areas on the farm, but sometimes we forget when moving the animals.  Taking a few steps back and letting animals go at their own pace will actually save us time.  Using a prod to cause animals to move isn't usually the most effective way, since it makes the animal want to know where the prod is at all times, instead of focusing on following the pigs in front of it and being part of the group.   Anytime we cause the animals to pile or turn around, we are wasting time and creating confusion.

Even the most routine parts of our jobs on the farm need to be evaluated for improvement.  Anyone who is working with the pigs is probably going to have to move them.  We need to remember that training on hog moving is vital for all employees, and it will make us more efficient and more humane.  Having a good animal handling protocol is not only good for the bottom line, but also for the animals.  It is something both producers and consumers be happy about.

Acceptance

We have all been in a position where someone has made us feel like our viewpoint isn't valid.  With the current climate towards conventional farming, it is easy to feel like we are backed into a corner by negative attitudes.  When talking to people outside of the industry, it is difficult to feel understood.  The trust just isn't there sometimes. 

Many of us have probably experienced these problems, but I definitely feel it when my two worlds meet.  I spend 8 hours of my days in agriculture, and another 8 hours eating and exercising.  The people from the first area usually aren't found in my kettle bell and yoga classes, nor out on the river canoeing, or an the running/biking trails.  I'm not saying that farmers are in bad physical condition, they just usually don't spend a majority of their free time on this sort of thing.  The athletic community prides themselves on taking care of their bodies, and living healthy lives; healthy lives that have a healthy opinion on food production.

I belong to two different groups that handle the issue of food completely differently.  One is a local gym, another an online fitness community with over a million members.  The local gym advocates heavily for government regulation on anything agriculture, has a healthy distrust of meat products, gluten, and anything without an organic label.  They vehemently oppose GM technology and advertise this viewpoint. Little do they realize that roughly 1/3 of the regular clientele are in agriculture.  Many of the clients are uncomfortable with the views of the gym, but feel uneasy saying anything because there isn't much else for exercise in the surrounding areas.  The gym comes from a very defensive and negative place, often touting superiority when it comes to nutrition.  

The online community has a very different standard.  They are free, and provide many recipes, a nutrition and fitness tracking tool on their website.  They do not push any viewpoints on nutrition, other than everything in moderation.  The online community comes from a very positive place, and members discuss food in a truly interactive way.  This online community probably has much more riding on people living healthy lifestyles and making smart decisions than the gym does, yet it doesn't pressure people into mistrusting their food.  It does not blame GM for weight gain, or laziness, or allergies, nor does it tout organic as the only viable option. Health-wise, it is a welcoming community, acknowledging that some choose to have certain dietary restrictions, but not forcing those choices on the rest of the community.  There is support for all different types of eaters, exercisers, and thinkers.

When comparing these two "spaces," we can see rather obviously which one we would rather join.  More people are drawn to positive places and conversations than to the negative ones.  We want acceptance of where we are at, and what we believe.  When we as farmers go out and talk to the community, we will have more of an impact if we look for friendship instead of fights.  We still hold our beliefs near and dear, but we don't need to defend them like a starving dog does a steak.  Being kind, listening, and creating a dialogue will gain much more support and acceptance.  

Thinking Forward

Over the weekend I sat down for awhile and thought about what my goals are, personal, professionally, and for the farm.  I spent some time really thinking about where I see myself in five years, ten years, and at the end of my career.  What do I want to see accomplished?   What are the things I will be proud of on the farm?  What will be the lasting impact I have on my family and their legacy?

If you ever have been to one of those business conferences, the speakers always talk about how important mission statements, and vision statements are.  Many workshops have you brainstorm different ideas on how to get to where you want to go, and then critique your feeble attempts at the job. I agree that having  a direction, and putting your expectations in writing makes a difference in the way you pursue your dreams.  However, at this point, I haven't come up with an all encompassing statement to define my life.  I do have a set of things I would like to accomplish, and I have written some concise goals to help me accomplish each of those things.  My ultimate vision for the farm is to make it more sustainable and successful than it is now.  I want to leave my mark as making an improvement.  

My first goal, is to become a better pig farmer.  I know all of the goal writing people out there are cringing, as this is neither specific,time-bound, nor something I can measure against in the future.  It can be hard to decide when I have achieved this goal.  I see this as more of a life- long learning project.  To start on my path to achieve this, I want to successfully manage one of our finishing barns for a full turn.  I need to do this to better understand disease issues, feed ordering, euthanasia, and communication with our load out teams.  I will better understand our contract finishers.  It will take me from being someone who is educated about the process of finishing hogs, and give me some hands-on experience.

A much more concrete goal for the farm is to have one alternative marketing strategy in place by 2015.  Now many conventional farmers aren't into things like this, and it probably won't be the way to make most of the revenue for the farm.  However, it is a way to reach into the community, and connect with the people who are more interested in food production than the average consumer.  This may be through local branding and marketing, custom hogs, specialty bacon, or even grass-fed cattle.  By doing this, I increase my farm's brand value, while learning about different production methods to help prepare me for the future of agriculture.  My farm may look completely different in twenty years, and I need to be prepared for that.  In order to create action on this goal, I need to reach out to people who work in alternative agriculture marketing, because I am not the expert.

These aren't the only goals that I have, but they are two things that I can work on right now that will have a positive impact on my future.  As I begin to understand agriculture better, I can move forward and form more goals while honing in on my direction.  There is something scary and exciting about really diving into the business, but I am really at a turning point as to how I view my position in agriculture.

As farmers, we are very good at executing day-to-day tasks, multitasking, and attention to detail.  We like to make our farm as good as we can with the tools we have.  We need to take time out of our days and compare our activities today and our goals for tomorrow, to see if our actions are leading us towards them.  Some of us may need to sit down and honestly realize that we aren't sure what our goals are, besides keeping the business afloat- a daunting task in itself at times- although self-preservation isn't usually the measure of highly successful companies.  We need to think forward and lead.

Action

It's been awhile, and while I don't like to make excuses, I had a valid reason for neglecting my blog- I got married about two weeks ago.  I will readily admit that my online presence was substantially diminished, but that it was not the only thing to suffer.   Now that I am back in the swing of real life I hopefully can become a more consistent writer.

Last weekend I was at Kettle bell class, (for those of you who don't know, a kettle bell is a weight that looks similar to a bowling ball with the handle on the top for swinging)  and I was reading the motivational quotes on the wall.  Most of the time I am not really into that sort of thing, but I needed something to keep my mind off the idea of doing a few hundred squats, so I chose the quote wall as a distraction.  The poster that really resonated with me stated "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

I see things that I don't like about farming, in practice, in portrayal, and in theory. Areas where improvements can be made and opportunity for success is real. Yet day-in and day-out, I don't really make many positive steps towards change.  I write on occasion, and I think about different things I would like to see, and the direction I want my business to grow, but they are just thoughts and dreams.  I could blame my lack of motivation on my support system, my comfort level, my fear of failure or my confusion in the duties of my own job, but really all of these problems stem from me not taking the needed initiative.   I  can see that at my current phase, I am not doing anything to make my farm better, I am just maintaining the same level.  It is difficult to get ourselves to make a change.  It takes weeks to make something a habit, and sometimes years to make it come naturally.

This isn't just a problem I can have on the farm, but also in other areas of life.  We all have probably gone through a "rut,"  where it seems like we are making no progress.  Either we need to change our focus, or figure out what our goals are and take action to attain them.  Over the next few weeks, I hope to make some posts about some of my goals, and what I am doing now to reach them. I want to be accountable.  I want to work through and have success because I provided for it, not because someone else is carrying me.  I think often on the farm, those of the younger generation do allow themselves to be carried, since they did not put in the legwork to get the farm up and running.  I don't want to be part of that trend.

Summer Recap: Busy Building

How the summer has flown by!  I have been running all over the farm, learning new skills, working on new projects, and generally being caught up in the excitement of summer.  Since my last blog post, I have been building my skill set:  I learned how to collect boars and run our AI (artificial insemination) lab.  Now this might not sound like the best job, or the most exciting job, but it actually was a lot of fun. I was able to work closely with the animals, learning their personalities and quirks, as well as with my aunt, who has been running our collection lab for the past 10 years.  On top of that, I have been doing the Tyson animal care training each night with one of our 41 contract growers- 36 of which are Amish.  It has been fun to go out to everyone's barns and connect with growers and their families, and a challenge to set up meetings without the use of phones and answering machines!

My work on the farm probably hasn't even been the most exciting compared to our newest project, building our first inside gestation barn.  It is a very big project for us, although not an expansion. It is a move to streamline our business, while also reducing our environmental impact.  Moving hogs inside a barn is a big step for us.  Many people don't initially see how this is "better"  for the pigs or the land, but do see that it is less expensive for the farmer.  That is true, and it makes smart business sense to do things that cost less money, while also improving the conditions of our farm.  It makes us more sustainable.

How are we improving conditions?  Well, lets start with the pigs.  Our pigs have been housed outside during gestation for the last 50 years.  They have endure hard winters, where their ears tend to get frostbitten and fall off.  They have endured rainy springs, where the mud in the pastures makes it thick and difficult to walk.  They have endured scorching summers, with some dying due to heat stroke.  In the fall they have fought diseases when treatments couldn't administered at the proper time, just because the multiple acres of pasture sometimes lead to a pig getting missed.  They always had food, water, and shelter, as well as 3 or 4 acres of space per 60 pigs. Upon coming inside, these problems no longer exist.  The temperature is a stable 68 degrees, similar to what we prefer in our offices.  There are warm, dry places to sleep, and protection from the elements.  Treatment is faster and more effective, being administered at the right time.  The pigs are still in pens and can roam around inside the building. I can't say that the pigs prefer it that way, but I can say they tend to thrive in it.

What about the land?  Currently, we house our pigs in 3-4 acre lots, about 60 pigs in each space.  They tend to poop in the same areas, eat in others, and sleep in others.  Most of the lots are pasture grass, where the pigs really don't seem to hang out.   This means that in the corner with manure, the nitrogen content in the soil is extremely high, and run off can be a problem, even though the lots are plenty large for the number of pigs in each pasture. Over time, the manure builds up all over the lot, even though we plant alfalfa in the lots, and cut them multiple times per summer.  We don't know how to make it sustainable for the environment.  By moving the pigs inside, we can manage the manure, and put the nitrogen where we need it most.

This summer has been full of trial-and-error, and we have a lot more to learn.  Maybe we will decide that after trying this inside gestation style we might need to do something different.   However, we are trying to improve, not only for our short-term profit, but also for longevity.

Small Town Summers

Like many farm kids, I have lived in a small town my whole life.  I have only lived in two houses, and that is only because my parents and grandparents decided to do a house swap when my parents starting running the farm.  We moved a whole half- mile, just across the field from one another.  I can literally walk to Grandma's house in ten minutes, and they are the closest neighbors to my parents.

That's kind of the way we settle around here- if you drive just out of town, you reach "Woodliff's corners"  the Wildt's road, Crandall's, Adam's, Green's, Bussing's and Hawkin's. Even the Petredean's, who nearly live in town have three or four relatives all clumped in their little family "compound."  We don't go far, and when the house next to mom and dad's comes up for sale, we are quick to jump on it.  We like to stay close to our kind.  We create our neighborhoods with our families, celebrating birthdays, plantings, harvests, and Sundays together.  If farm families are sometimes stern and less than forthcoming with emotion or support, we show each other our love in the ability to live basically on top of each other.

Each summer, my home town has a festival.  It's similar to those in the neighboring towns, and maybe it isn't anything large, or even that unique, but it is special to our community.  Some of the festival is pig-themed with Pig-tail contest, a "Porky's Plunge Raffle (a duck race with little rubber pigs instead of ducks), a pork roast, and sometimes a Hog-Calling contest (if you don't know what that is, look it up on YouTube).  Other events are more mainstream, like mud volleyball, corn hole tournaments, a singing contest, a 5k run, a triathalon, a hot dog eating contest, and of course, fireworks. Our community doesn't do fireworks for Independence Day, but we do go all out for our little festival.  Donations start the day after the festival all over town and continue right up until the first firework is lit on Saturday night.  Our festival marks the end of early summer, and the beginning of fair season.  

Every year that I spend in my community, I realize that the things I take for granted as part of my small town life, most people probably don't know exist anymore.  Raising steers for fair, a Farm Bureau frozen food sale, roadside vegetable stands, live bait machines, and backyard bonfires aren't the types of things that urban families ever experience.  There are merits to the convenience and speed of cities and suburbs, but our lives are so different that it makes it hard to share some of those common experiences that every rural kid knows.  I'm glad that my summer escape to the country is right out my front door, and not two weeks at summer camp. I cherish my experiences and look forward with hope that future farmer's children will have their own small town summers.   

  

Growing Community

Like many farmers, my family farm is having to do a lot more than it used to in order to keep farming.  We do a lot more record keeping; we pay more attention to animal care than we used to.  We keep manage manure application and take soil samples.  We have to show proof that we are good farmers and not just know it in our hearts.

As I have been going around to all our contract barns, I ask about the neighbors, manure management, and any other issues the growers may have.  Our growers are a little different than some, being that they are Amish, but they deal with the same issues with their neighbors.  One of the Amish gentleman, his name is Joe, that I visited last week has a neighbor that has the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)  on speed dial.  Joe is on a first name basis with many of the DEQ workers, who have made multiple visits to the farm because of these calls.  Joe isn't doing anything wrong with his manure, and he has good records to prove it, but the DEQ comes out when they receive the complaints to check on the situation.

Another Amish man, named Jake, also has a neighbor who is interested in his manure management, but in an entirely different way.  Whenever this neighbor sees that Jake is getting ready to haul manure, he asks if some can be put on his garden.  Jake and the neighbor have a very good working relationship, and they are able to reap the benefits of being rural neighbors.

In both cases, we have a responsible farmer, living in rural areas, who is trying to have responsible manure management plan.  We just can't depend on who we have as neighbors anymore.  They might not be from the area, they might not know about the farm.  They definitely don't appreciate the weird hours, or funny smells that often accompany farms, and it's our job to make the neighbors understand our line of work, or at the very least, make it a comfortable place to live.  Our communities don't need farmers to support them like they used to, or at least they don't see our impact as they may have fifty years ago.  So whether is is delivering a Christmas ham, creating a scholarship for the local high school, or volunteering with the FFA program, we need to nurture agriculture in our communities.

What is a Farmer?

If you walk into any leadership class in the country, the instructor will tell you to realize your strengths, and minimize your weaknesses.  Investment in ourselves is best spent where we can make easy improvements; when it comes to human resources employ them in areas where you are weak.  It makes sense, and it often seems like something that would be easy to do.  But I wonder as an industry if we have just become adept at pushing our weaknesses under the rug, instead of addressing them.  I don't know that we make much effort to fill out our weaknesses, instead surrounding ourselves with people that see the world through the same lens. 

Any meeting of pork producers I attend, I can see the similarities between us.  We are fully committed to agriculture- we can't see doing anything else, nor do we want to.  We are thorough and we like to follow a plan.  These are all great qualities in people whose business's ride on a very volatile market.  We have the patience to weather the hard times. 

At the same time, these traits are holding us back.  We don't put ourselves out there to be judged.  We try to hide from curiosity and scrutiny, not without reason.  We don't engage an audience very well because we tend to get stuck in the data.  We like numbers and hard answers.  Sometimes looking at the big picture, the one outside our own driveways, is a big challenge.  Sometimes when we hire workers, we try to hire people who will "fit" on the farm.  There is merit to that, but its also good to have people in your company who have a different perspective.  They can see obvious consumer problems we as farmers may not realize.  We need both workers and dreamers, traditionalists and visionaries. 

With fewer children growing up on the farm, we are being forced to look outside of our normal circles for talented employees.  The problem can be however, that the talented students aren't all looking for jobs in agriculture.  We need to work to capture their imagination, and present agriculture industries as a viable option for a career, for personal success.  As a young, starting farmer, I can say that people my age want a career where they feel they can make a difference.  They want to feel like they are part of a bigger picture.  We see our own fields as an obvious place to make a difference in the lives of our neighbors, but most young people see them as a thing of the past.  It's manual labor that doesn't involve any strategy for innovation.  We need to work past the picture of what a farmer "used to be" and define what it means to be a farmer now. 

Buy-In

Yesterday, I went to a seminar with a few of my managers put on by Zoetis titled "Connecting with your Caregiver."  Some of you may have gone to this program, or similar programs, which focus on communication styles and adaptations you can make to better communicate with different people or in different situations.  It's the type of program that people in business attend regularly, but isn't always that common in agriculture, particularly with front line managers, who generally prefer pigs and crops to people. 

The training started off by having each of us take a DiSC assessment, or basically a behavior test.  The assessment categorizes you two ways- people or task oriented, and fast or moderately paced.   Looking around the room, I wasn't really surprised how any of my collegues or myself came out in the assessment.  Like most farmers, we were mainly task oriented, the pace varying here and there, but generally we worked towards accomplishments, not relationships.  We are people that have a plan, and tend to be skeptical of anything that wants us to take time away from the plan to foster connections. 

As the class started, I knew it would be an uphill battle for the presenters to create buy-in with my group of skeptics.  To start, our presenter, we will call him Ernie, used academic style language and explantations.  The slides and topics were generated by Zoetis, the material in the class is the same no matter where you take it.  To my fellow skeptics, the academic language immediately signalled that Zoetis has no front line experience, nor do they understand the people with which my managers are dealing. Even though a few of us tried to lead by example with participation, buy-in was lost immediately for this group- with the exception of  the two people who were people oriented; they actually could buy-in rather easily, since they saw value in the learning from a relationship building standpoint. 

My least receptive manager, we will call him Reggie, didn't just hate the presention, he took everything that was said as an attack on his ability to successfully perform his job.  By reading body language, I could see well before it happened that he was going to storm out in a huff, give everyone the silent treatment on the way home, and slam the door in everyone's face as he left.  This guy isn't someone that generally has a bad attitude, and he definitely has buy-in at the farm level, working long hours, and going above what is required for his job.  But he couldn't see the training as an opportunity- it was just a waste of time. 

After Reggie's attitude, I wondered what I could have done to change the situation.  I feel like I let him down by not explaining that he was chosen for the training because he is successful in his job both with pigs and with people.  This course wasn't meant to make him feel like he was doing it all wrong. It was meant to invest in his future with the company. The presenters could have done a little more to foster buy-in as well.  They could have brought it down to a bare-bones practical level, letting us think through and dialogue different problems we have with coworkers and suggesting solutions to each other, instead of lecturing about the different types of personalities. I think the program was wanting to go towards group participation, but there was nothing that really broke down the teacher- student barrier, nothing that made us equals. 

The thing about buy-in is that it is something you have to work at.  There are a lot of books and programs teaching managers how to foster it, and ingratiating your culture with it.  At the end of the day, we just have to be geniunine and open with our goals for each person in the organization.  We need to communicate growth, either through relationships or tasks.  Every effort won't be successful, and we will all make mistakes.  This time I let my team down, but I hopeful that I have learned from my blunder. 

Storyteller

Last night, I was up working on a presentation about how farmers can use the internet to connect with consumers.  It is I believe strongly in, and although it is awkward to start putting yourself out there for the world to see and judge, it has been a completely positive experience for me.  It allows me to tell my side of the story to a broad audience, not just the people I see every day.  On top of that, I have the opportunity to gain confidence and learn about what people from different backgrounds think about farming.  Some is negative, and some is positive, but people generally like farmers and generally mistrust the industry.  

When I was writing the presentation, the real goal is to get people to educate about agriculture.  To have understanding between those who produce and those who consume.  Farmers often shy away from the public relations side of their businesses because it is a soft skill, not something that can really be added to the net income, although it does seem more than happy subtract. As an individual person, a farmer doesn't realize how far their voice can reach.  And we need to take the initiative to do it.  

Only about 2% of the US workforce is in agriculture.  That means at least 98% of the population does not have hands on experience of what it is like to be on a farm.  But 100% of the people have an opinion about it.  The first place they look for information is the internet.  And the first articles that come up on the search engine about "Where my food comes from?"  aren't always the ones that contain the most factual information.  Basically, if we aren't telling our story, someone else is more than happy to do it for us.  We won't have a say in how it unfolds, who are the heroes, and who are the villains.

We need to be honest about our position, and our shortcomings.  I don't think anyone would say farming is perfect, all technology is good, and that there is no room for improvement.  But as farmers, we do the best we can with the information we have.  A lot of good has come from changes we have made to satisfy consumers in the past, and we must be willing to make more changes in the future.  We aren't necessarily farming like our grandparents did, "uphill in the snow, both ways" but sure aren't farming like our children will be either.  We can't get too attached to present situations and prevent our story from moving forward.  We have made so much progress in production, and we are capable of making similar progress in public relations.  All we need to do is get started.   

Sustainability and Productivity

Some days it is just hard to be a farmer, or maybe more specifically, to work on a farm.  People respect my profession, but not day-to-day job.  Consumers want me to farm, but they don't think I know how.  I believe that I do care about animals, and the Earth's resources, but with Earth Day celebrations, this week has allowed me to see just how little regard farms are held, and how much we don't understand the consumers.

An Earth Day buzzword is of course "sustainability."  It is often used in opposition to current farming practices, and in animal care discussion.  I understand that we can always improve on both of these fronts, but I see farming as so much more sustainable that it used to be, largely because we are able to produce so much more with fewer resources.  Yet, we are badgered for making these advances.  Isn't it somewhat counterintuitive?

To answer my question, I have done a simple search on the definition of sustainability, hoping to gain some further insight on the issue.  For my purpose the EPA's definition seemed most relevant; "Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.  Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations"(For the direct link, click here).  This definition seems relatively straightforward.  We need to produce for now, and produce even more in the future.  Preserving resources is important in production, and using less to get more really does help us become sustainable.  It requires us to be productive and efficient.  Two things that most people don't like to think of when they see the word "farm."  Definitely not what they want to think of in animal agriculture. 

How can we be productive, sustainable, animal friendly, and respectful to the needs of our customers, all while creating a financially sustainable business model?  Are we buckling under the pressure, or just ignoring it, hoping that it will pass?  Answering these questions is the ticket to being the producer of the future.  We have to strive to come up with the answers that will build trust, instead of waiting for someone else to force them upon us.  We have the tools through universities, extension agents, government agencies, and our own human capital that are full of ideas on how to make production better.  At the same time we have to put our "customer hats" on and see how new production methods will sound on the front page of the local newspaper.  We have to be our own PR people.  It is a full time position, not just something we work on between planting and harvest, when every animal is healthy and nothing is sitting broken in the shop.  We have to create our own industry sustainability everyday, one conversation at a time. 

Farm Image and Ag-Gag

Recently, a lot of press has been circulating around the so-called "ag-gag laws."  For those who aren't in the loop, some states have proposed legislation to prohibit or limit the ability for people to do undercover investigating on farms in order to expose animal abuse.  Some of the legislation also limits the amount of time the amateur videographers have to turn their evidence in, or makes it criminal to enter a farm without saying they are looking for animal abuse.  For obvious reasons, most farmers are in support of this legislation, most animal rights advocates against it.  I struggle a lot with this issue, because no matter the outcome, farms will suffer from misrepresentation in the media.

To start, I am in no way opposed to those abusing animals being exposed.  However, I do worry that the people doing the exposing don't really know what animal abuse is.  There are obvious cases of beating, kicking, dragging, and otherwise harming the animals, but what about keeping animals in pens or crates that up to this point have been accepted for animal housing?  Having those doesn't make farmers abusive, they are doing what is standard across the industry and supported by veterinarians in the field.  Consumer preferences are changing, but that doesn't make these practices illegal, or the farmer bad.  Once a video is out there, it doesn't matter if it shows actual abuse, because it already has a bad name.

As farmers, we see the animals we care for as something that we own and protect.  However, consumers don't see it that way.  They feel like we own the buildings, and implements of husbandry, but we do not own the food they eat, just care for it during its life.  Consumers are really hiring us to be stewards of their health.  For this reason, people have the right to know and to influence animal care.   

It is very difficult for people who have never worked with livestock to understand it.  They do have a right to know where food comes from.  As farmers, we have to realize that it is much easier to Google search "animal abuse," "farms," or "where food comes from," than it is for someone in the city to go out and find a farmer.  Especially a farmer who is willing to take a total stranger who has no agriculture background onto their farm and let that person judge what is happening.  Maybe they won't like it, maybe they won't understand.  Maybe they won't be able to get past the smell of cow manure long enough to understand the message the farmer is conveying. 

We have to work to make the information readily and easily available.  We can't expect consumers to line up to be educated.  Farmers have to be proactive and continuously work towards gaining an educated consumer base.  We can't expect to be needed or understood.  As foreign as it may seem, consumers don't view us as experts, and they have the ability to be the judge through their buying decisions.  

Myth of the Modern Farmer

My sister and I talk about this one often.  You see a post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yahoo News, etc.  promoting the hardworking farmer.  It makes us feel good to be in the industry and generally, it’s as far as you want to look.  Then scrolling down to the comments, you see the standard post that "those farmers are good, but real farmers don't work hard like that anymore, they just let the antibiotics/robots/pesticides do the work for them, and collect a big pay check."  

While the part about the big paycheck might be comical, those types of comments are a problem that we often run into.  As individual farmers, consumers see us as the hardworking person, who gets the job done.  Each one of us is the exception to the rule of "corporate farmers,” or "Big Ag."  However, our industry as a whole is viewed as corrupt, run by the executives of Monsanto in some high-rise office building.  How can we use technology in our farming, and not seem like the bad guy?

When talking to people, they will defend my right to farm the way they believe I do to the death.  They tell me that I am unique in that I don't abuse my animals, and use antibiotics responsibly.  If friends post a picture that demeans agriculture, they even will go out of their way to tell me that my farm is the exception.  My job at this point is to get them to realize, my farm isn't the exception, and it is the rule.

As Farmers, we take responsibility for providing good, quality food to our own families, neighbors, and larger communities.  We believe the food we produce is safe and we try to produce it in the best way that we can.  Part of that care is treating those who are sick, and euthanizing animals that are suffering. We house our animals inside to protect them from bad weather, and provide them a stable environment. We use technology to help us achieve a consistent product, something our consumers demand.

We don't have to look far to start to spread the message of responsible farming.  It's just not something we have had to do much in the past, so we don't always understand some of the questions.  By ignoring the myths that live around agriculture, we are letting them grow.  People who don't know will follow the popular opinion.  We are no longer just farmers, but also educators. 

Dream Big

The pork industry and the larger agriculture industry are approaching a make-or-break moment.  Our customers are changing; information from all sides is more available, yet as a group we are afraid of the knowledge sharing.  We don't want attention from the outside, we don't want to stand out, we don't want to be talked about.

At a conference last week with other producers, I realized many of us saw each other as competition, while not false, our biggest competitors in the future may not be the other farmers around us.  Our collective farmer dream is to somehow grow to be the largest, or produce the "best" pork possible.  These are lofty goals, but may not lend themselves to the changing market. Maybe our goal should be to be the smartest in our industry, or even across industries.  Value creation for our businesses lies in the ability of producers to get food to consumers in a way that lasting connections between seller and buyer are made; relationship creation.  We should dream of being a leader in business, not just a leader in pork.  We can inspire others with our innovation and our ability to shape our collective future.  By making some changes now, and putting ourselves out there for consumers, we can bring back our relevance, and grow our public perception, areas where we are now clearly lacking.

Many of us complain how disconnected our consumers are from production.  Public education on food issues is at the top of our to-do list.  At the same time, we need to see that in the meantime, we have to appease the consumer we have.  The one who doesn't understand what we do, or why we do it.  This consumer still makes the buying decision and we need to respect that.  By continuing to put our heads down and ignore changes, we will only go down the roads of irrelevance and public mistrust at a faster rate.  Moving fast in the wrong direction will only lead to demise.  If we won't make changes to our production systems, someone else who isn't emotionally attached to the way we do business will.  They will see the opportunities we are ignoring and take advantage of them.  In a way, the pork industry is a sitting duck for competition, but we have all the knowledge, experience, and tools to successfully manage a strategic change.  We can't ignore the problem of animal welfare.  We should dream big and strive to be the solution.

Often times as farmers, we try to hide in the woodwork.  We feel being individually noticed and recognized is a negative.  In actuality, putting ourselves out in the public, will probably save us from scrutiny.  If we can be open and honest, people will feel we have nothing to hide.  If have transparency, we are delivering something that consumers will value.  We are creating a place of trust.  

Conservation Compromise

Last night I went out for dinner with my family and a good friend, Matt.  He isn't someone most farmers like to share dinner with, let alone call a friend, but I feel lucky to know him.  He works for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as a watershed conservationist.  Many farmers have a hard people who work in these positions, and we think that they are trying to take away land that we own, and that they don't understand the position of farmers.  In many cases this may be true, but Matt and I have some of the most thoughtful and exciting conversations about the future of agriculture, since with have different perspectives, but see the value in the land.

One point he brings to me about his job is that he is working towards getting people to realize the importance  of the wetlands.  The filter sediment, rejuvenates the soil, and generally make the water we have better.  They are things that whether or not we want to admit it, are good for the longevity of farming.  The point he brings to farmers is, that by protecting the wetlands, he is protecting the future value of the land for farming.  

With that in mind we talked about regulation.  As the conversation continued, I wondered whether we need a certain amount of regulation to protect us from our own best intentions.  For example, I want to plant the best crops I can, and have the best yields possible, year after year.  I would like to think that someday, my children will get to do the same thing if they so choose.  I know that I need the land to be in top condition each year, and that I need to do everything in my power to keep it that way for the next season.  In a way, some regulation on water quality, air quality, and soil conservation helps me to do that.  It makes me not only accountable to myself, but also my neighbors, cities, states, and nation.  It also allows me to record how well I am taking care of my land from year to year.  While many may find this to be a violation of rights, every time I drive downtown Detroit by the old automobile manufacturing plants, I am glad they can no longer dump sewer water straight into the river, or emit big clouds of black smoke.  They are more accountable for the waste they produce than the whole field of agriculture is; not that we are doing it wrong, but why not be accountable for what we do?  We need to have guiding principles to the care of our resources, and we need to make sure that we are part of the discussion when the principles are being made.

As we talked, Matt reminded me that with any adoption of environmental reform, we need to make sure our food production systems are protected by some kind of trade barrier. He doesn't believe that throwing farmers under the bus will do the country or the land any favors.  We need to maintain some type of self-sufficiency, and sometimes protecting our natural resources comes at a price.  However, once we have lost them, natural resources won't come back, so we need to if future longevity is worth some sacrifice now.  We need to see that conservationists and agriculturalists are working towards the same goal of protecting our land while producing from it.    

Learning to Do

Driving by my local high school this morning, I saw the electronic banner running through the theme days of National FFA week.  The perennial favorite, "Drive Your Tractor to School Day" was on Thursday, but today we were lucky enough to get a visit from a National Officer.  I remember fondly my time in the FFA program.  I learned how to write a resume, competently handle a job interview, ask tough questions, and connect with people from different backgrounds.  I learned respect for my peers, and the value in ceremony and order.  I learned about all sorts of agriculture opportunities.  I served as an officer and mentor.  I received awards for my accomplishments, and even scholarships.  With my last active FFA event, I received my American Degree and I am proud to be one of the few that have received this honor; I find it a bittersweet climax to my experience with the organization.

Now a graduate, I have paid my Alumni dues and try to attend meetings and luncheons as often as I can.  I like to work with the new kids coming up, learning the same lessons I did, gaining confidence and knowledge with each new project they tackle.  I like hearing about the innovation of the students just a few years younger than myself.  I celebrate their successes.  I do all I can to offer my support to an organization that has given me so much.

A few weeks ago, my sister was filling out a college application, and she had to write an essay on diversity.  How was she different, and what perspective could she bring to the table.  When I was in the same situation years ago I struggled with the question, but now I realize that coming from a small town with an agriculture background, I had a completely different perspective than most of my classmates.  I know what it was like to work outside, with my hands, with animals.  I no longer take that for granted, and I urge others in my same position to realize how rare our experience are.  We need to do all we can to let our voice be heard.  As a group, farmers need to have a positive voice towards youth, and FFA is a great way for us to do that.  Even if you weren't a member in high school, you can still give back and support agriculture education.  It benefits the kids and it supports continuity for our lifestyle.

At my county's Farm Bureau membership kickoff, I talked with my district representative about the value of agriculture education in high schools.  He asked me about the local FFA program, and I told him how the school is always trying to cut it, but the farmers vote in favor of school millage's  turn out at school board meetings, and generally support the community, so every year it is spared. He then told me to work with the FFA adviser to figure out how much income agriculture generates for our school district and the local economy.  That got me thinking, we don't even let our neighbors know how important our business really is in the small communities.  We need to think about it, be proud of it, and show our schools how important it is for communities and farmers to work together.

Farmer

Everyone is talking about it this morning; "So God made a Farmer."   Those of us in the farming community are proud to have two minutes that we feel shows our true colors.  We are glad to have some big money behind us, supporting our cause, and our youth organization, the National FFA Association.  I for one am proud of the commercial, regardless of my stance on God, or on Dodge Ram trucks.  It gave voice to a group that sometimes has a hard time reaching a national stage.

The commercial hasn't fixed any of the misconceptions, but it gives agriculture relevancy in pop culture.  When I got on Facebook this morning, my farming friends loved it, and my other friends thought it was a misrepresentation of agriculture.  It didn't show the mean old "Big Ag"  that "really" is farming.  But it got us talking about agriculture together.

We are fighting an uphill battle, but it is worth the fight to have our voices heard.  I get discouraged on some days, but on others I see that the smalls things I do can make a difference.  If I can help one person to see my side of the issue, even if we disagree, then we both go away from the conversation with a more balanced view of the problem. 

Tonight, I am going out to support the next generation of agriculture, at District Ag Leadership Contest.  It might not sound like much, but by volunteering to help with the contest, I am working to keep agriculture supported in my community and keep it alive in my schools.  It's a further way to reach out and present our history and hope to the next generation of lawmakers, writers, manufacturers and agriculture specialists.  Before we can ask others to take up our cause, we must take the time out of our busy days to support our own.  

Production Problems

One of the main issues I hear people discussing when it comes to food production is the natural vs. organic vs. conventional debate.  Many people don't know the difference between natural and organic, but they do believe that both produce superior food when compared to conventional growing methods.  When discussing this issue, many state that that natural/ organic food is simply "healthier". 

I think what we often forget is that healthy food and "organic" or "natural"  aren't completely synonymous.  For example, the latest trend diet is Paleo, which basically means only eating things that a cave man would eat.  No processed foods, cheese wiz, donuts, cakes, Twinkies, grains, bread noodles, rice, etc.  While all of the foods might be "natural", I have seen recipes for Paleo Pound Cake.  I don't know about you, but in what way is eating a pound cake a good part of a diet built around erasing simple sugars from your pallet?  By making a pound cake, a person on the diet has inadvertently found a loophole to sabotage their quest for better health.  I also believe that eating grains in general is something that is good for your health, but that is an entirely different matter. 

When arguing about food production, we need to remember to keep the issues separate.  Crash diets, natural, and organic are all part of the American food culture.  As farmers we can produce healthy food that may not fit into each of those labels.  At the same time, we want to make sure that people who say they went to eating only "grass-fed" meat because it is better for you than conventional beef is an opinion, not a nutrition fact.  A health fact would be eating that a bowl of peaches is better for you than eating a box of Little Debbie snack cakes.  Our obesity problem doesn't stem from conventional farming, but individual food choices made by individuals.  Most people outside of the agricultural community never really think about that distinction.     

Resolution

Here we are, halfway through the first month of the year.  At the farm, our budget has been tweaked, and our evaluations have been finished.  For the first time, I had the responsibility of evaluating a few of the farm's employees.  I had to take myself from being a coworker to being the boss, the manager. 

Over the past year, I have learned how to complete many of the jobs on the farm, and in doing that I have become friends with many of the people I work with.   During evaluation time, I have to suspend my friendly relationship for a managerial one.  I am not sure, but I felt like the evaluations were actually more stressful for me as an evaluator, since it was my golden opportunity to talk seriously with people one-on-one and gather information on what I can do better as a manager. 

Probably the most learning value comes from the evaluations that are hard to give.  My first negative evaluations taught me how to be firm, but not unkind.  I had to figure out how to in control of the conversation and get my point across.  It is hard to do, but it is necessary in order to keep the respect of the employees as a whole. 

While looking a the farm's financial and personnel performance in the last year, managers need to make sure that they are also taking time to receive evaluation.  This can be a combination of self assessment, and outside feedback.  While this review might seem to be the least important in your business, it can be a decision that has highest return in potential benefit.  By evaluating our own weaknesses, we realize how we have grown in the last year, areas in which we need to improve, and what type of people we need to surround ourselves with to keep the company viable.