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.