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.