I Farm. You Eat.

Is it really that simple? It should be this simple. We are lucky to live in a country where a very small percentage of the country has chosen to be American Farmers so that everyone in this country and the world can eat. Yet, it seems that since this country is full of people that have truly never experienced hunger or a food shortage that the American Farmer and what they provide has been taken for granted.

Worse than being taken for granted, there are groups out there that think they know more about how our livestock and crops should be raised than those of us that make a living from it. Somehow the image of the modern farmer does not resonate with the general public. It appears that the general public wants every part of our lives to evolve and embrace technology except for agriculture.

Well if we want to continue to eat we need to embrace technology and the knowledge of today's farmer and put our trust in them. We can not farm like we did 50 years ago and still feed the people of this country and world.

The American Farmer truly knows best when in comes to taking care of their livestock and crops and they do all of this so that they can provide food for the masses and I for one am thankful that I am part of a fifth generation farm family that farms so that WE CAN ALL EAT!

So as you have a fun-filled cookout this weekend with your family and friends to celebrate this wonderful country, please be sure to thank the American Farmer and put your trust in them.

I Farm. You Eat. We Eat.

With the warm weather, I know that my family has been outside more often. We have been walking, biking, and taking care of yard work. We will soon start the process of making hay. This is a great opportunity to remind everyone to be careful and mindful about rural roadway safety.

Many of our communities do not have sidewalks, but have narrow roads, with little or no shoulders. These are the roads where our children learn to ride their bikes and walk down to meet up with their friends. Please remember to slow down and move to the opposite side of the road (if it is safe to do so) if you are driving past pedestrians and bicyclists.

This is also the time of year when there is an increase in the amount of farm equipment and machinery traveling the roadway. Even though most equipment is outfitted with lights and slow moving vehicle (SMV) signs, please keep in mind that tractors with implements may need to slow down or make turns into fields. We are not trying to hold you up while traveling; we are trying to operate safely to get back home to our families at the end of the day.

Please help us to keep our children, husbands, parents, siblings, and friends safe while on rural roadways this summer.

These are the unspoken words being told agriculture. Congress is pushing at warp speed to forever shackle our industry to the regulatory whims of EPA and FDA.

In the name of global warming, clean water and safer food they boldly charge. What is our response? "The costs of these burdens will be unbearable."

Congressional leadership, soccer moms and Joe six-pack don't care! We need to vividly explain to them this avalanche of regs and costs will ultimately mean their children and grandchildren will be dependent on imported food. Then in 25 years when they ride their mopeds through the trees where food once grew we can politely tell them "We told you so."

It's the time of year when we are all busy working long hours in the unrelenting heat. Thad and I had the opportunity to take a short break and entertain a few teachers from South Carolina. Well actually, it was 50 teachers and they were participating in the SC Farm Bureau Ag-Institute.

We agreed to host the afternoon portion of the farm tour these teachers took part in. We started around noon and provided a meal for the teachers. Remember the key to good listening is good food so we wanted to start things off right! After lunch, we started the tour. We migrated first to our cow pastures where our friendly herd watched quietly as they were being observed by a large group of spectators. We answered many questions and even asked some of our own. It was amazing to find out how many people had never been this close to real live cattle.

Our next part of the tour took us right across the road to our farm shop and office. We had the equipment arranged in the order that it would be used from planting to harvest. Thad gave a brief summary on what each piece of equipment was used for. You could hear the comments swarming as he talked about the ways we work to conserve our land, and the good practices we use to ensure a safe, affordable food supply. I overheard one teacher tell another "Gosh, farming is really up to date and high tech". We let them look at the different seeds that we plant on our farm and then spent a brief period answering their questions.

We spent the last part of the tour doing a field demonstration. We walked as a group to a nearby field and observed the cotton and soybeans that were planted. We showed them how crops are sprayed and also let them look at one of our irrigation systems. The questions just kept coming. Before we knew it, our time was up and they had to board their bus to get to the next part of their tour.

Needless to say, it was a fun, rewarding day. We got the chance to share our story with people who probably would not ever get the opportunity to hear it otherwise. The whole tour from start to finish took about two and one half hours but will be long lasting in the minds of these teachers. It will certainly be one that Thad and I will talk about for many days to come.

I encourage all farmers reading this blog to take a few minutes to share your story.

In agriculture, there seems to be an opposition in all aspects. There is either too much rain or a drought, or there are low commodity prices courted by high input costs. Whatever the case, it seems that rarely things go as planned.

Case in point, June is normally the driest month of the year for us. So when it is time to cut the first hay crop, the weather forecast said scattered showers for a couple of days - that was three weeks and 4 inches of rain ago. Not good for the cut hay that is now turning black with mold. On the other side, the pastures have never looked so good.

The fact is that in agriculture some things can't be fixed or at least fixed the way we would like it. So how do farmers and ranchers stay so optimistic when the ag industry can look so gloomy and is controlled by so many things so out of their control?

The answer: They are some of the best people in America who take pride in what they do. And what they do is feed and clothe the world. There isn't anything much greater than that, is there?

So, I ask, can you fix it? Well if it's broke, give it to a farmer or rancher and they can fix it or make do with what they are given. They do it everyday!