One of the greatest presidents known is Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and had a passion for agriculture and took action. Lincoln had an impact on the agriculture industry by starting the Department of Ag and he also developed Land Grant colleges.
One of the biggest problems that ag industry faces is that the public doesn't know what farmer and people involved in agriculture do... And a lot of people think that if you live in a rural community every knows what agriculture is. However, according to Russell Weathers, president and CEO of AFA, "If they aren't involved in production agriculture, they don't know what agriculture is." Its predicted that by the year 2050, farmers and ranchers will be feeding 9-11 billion people. Recently attending the AFA Leaders Conference, it really hit me how much we need to inform society about ag. The theme for AFA was Find Your Passion and Take Action.
The best thing for those involved in the agriculture industry to do is become advocates and talk to society. Probably one the most recent ag advocates taking a stand and showing the world agriculture would have to be the Peterson brothers from Kansas with the famous, "Farming and I Grow It" and showed the world a little piece about what agriculture is. As of February 2014, the Peterson brothers video had over 30,000 views. The brothers have taken ag advocates to the next level with the agriculture parody's to famous song like Farmer Style that has over 12 million views. The Peterson's are also doing monthly life on the farm videos to showcase life on the farm. One of the most well-known commercials around the world that has caused an impact is the 2013 Dodge Ram Super Bowl Commercial "Farmer". The video alone has had over 15 million views. Think how many people we could be reaching with a simple video!
Currently we stand in the golden age. We have the greatest opportunities and bright future ahead with the technology we have available. Technology allows us to communicate and inform others on agriculture in so many different ways. Not only has advances in technology made our lives of communication much easier, but also in the ways of farming. GPS systems have been installed in some farm equipment to locate fields and have satellite images of farms. Technology has become advanced in every aspect of agriculture and in the business world with a simple click of a button.
HSUS-Humane Society of the United States is uninformed about the agriculture industry and what farmers are all about. The HSUS paints us to be cruel to animals... but what do farmers and livestock producers gain from harming animals? The many attempts that humane society makes with commercials, YouTube videos and Facebook groups and posts are all lies about how farmers treat their livestock. But yet ag advocates fight back with doing their best to tell everyone around them how their farms really operate. One of my experiences involves a co-worker sharing a video on animal cruelty all over Facebook and talking about her opinion in how farmers treat their animals without ever stepping foot on a farm. It amazed me how many people commented within minutes on her post debating and discussing the video. While at AFA Leaders Conference, Jay Lehr with the Heartland Institute showed a video and talked about becoming an ag advocate. Jay actually traveled to San Francisco on a business trip, but like his video, he spent time walking around talking to random people about fertilizer.
Not only are organizations such as HSUS just attacking agriculture through social media, but law. In North Dakota, proposition 5 was to create a felony for those who harmed animals. Sounds good right? Put those who treat animals wrongly in jail? But this law also chose to limit production such as horse slaughter plants. Back in 2007, Congress brought funding to a halt in the horse slaughter industry. Many people find horse slaughter in-humane. However, what most people fail to realize is that horse slaughter plants are also a way for abandoned and neglected horses to be put out of their misery. Wayne White said, "People are giving away horses every day because they cant sell them and all the rescue places are over populated." Although there is not a huge demand for horse meat used ofr human consumption in the U.S., China, Russia nad Mexico consume the meat and it would allow for more trade between countries. Here in the U.S., horse meat is also used to feed zoo animals. Allowing rules like these make gateway opportunities for laws such as proposition 37 in California that had to deal with the production of food. Many people claim that farmers overuse insecticides and such on crops...however, did you know that the average farmer uses less than one ounce of herbicides and insecticides per acre of land?
As Howard G. Buffett talked at our AFA conference, maybe its not necessarily just informing society about agriculture, but maybe its building the relationship between consumer and farmer. Maybe it involves teaching society how to grow their own vegetables and have their own little backyard farm.
The fact is, our existence would not be possible without agriculture. A quote that I would like to share that left a lasting impression is: "Together, as a network of dedicated leaders, we must turn our passion into action and propel the industry into the future."
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