For instance, I met:

- A seventh generation rice farmer from Arkansas. He farms 4000 acres. I’d never met a rice farmer before and had a million questions.

- A rancher/writer/photographer from Wyoming. When I asked, “Where is your farm?” She said, “We don’t farm – there’s no water where we are. We have a ranch.” Which is why the name of the national organization is Farmers & Ranchers. I clarified it with her – to her, a farm is a place where you grow crops.

- Tons of cash crop farmers from sea to shining sea. Whenever I said we had a dairy, they’d say, “I’ve met a ton of dairy farmers!” This was true in part because Michigan had a large representation, and we have a lot of dairies.

One of the big topics of discussion – as it frequently is – is how to reach our customers through social media. I watched the collegiate discussion meet and the final question concerned that. One of the competitors finished her conclusion with, “Hashtag, yfr12.” I liked that, because she was citing the twitter symbol and keyword of the conference. (Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher were also mentioned in the discussion. Can you get more youthful than that?)

It was exciting – a convention center full of people who love their jobs and like to talk about it. Blogs, Facebook, and twitter are fantastic, but there’s nothing better than laughing with people in person. No hashtag required.

Although, if you are into twitter, you can follow me @carlashelley. I talk about agriculture far more than I discuss Justin Bieber.

Of course, you may know that some organizations have staked out Monday as a “meat-free” day and called it Meatless Monday. Perhaps we should be persuaded to move our appetite for meat to the next day, Tuesday. Wednesday already is taken; it’s spaghetti day thanks to Prince, the company that used the idea in an advertising slogan.

The Meatless Monday campaign is the brainchild of an ad man, Sid Lerner, who had a long, successful career on Madison Avenue. Lerner is best known for his Charmin toilet paper campaign, “Don’t Squeeze the Charmin.”

According to an interview he did with National Public Radio, Lerner still eats meat, just not on Monday. He had an epiphany some years ago when a doctor told him his cholesterol and blood pressure were too high and his diet was part of the problem.

Lerner’s father had died of heart disease so he was at risk no matter what. Heredity is a high risk factor. Other risk factors would have included his advancing age, male gender, stress, and yes, his diet. His high cholesterol could have been hereditary, however.

No one can fault Lerner for listening to his doctor and taking the steps he deemed necessary to protect his health, but it’s a big stretch for Lerner to say that everyone in this country should follow his lead and cut back on eating meat.

As expected, other groups and individuals with various anti-meat agendas have jumped on the Meatless Monday campaign. An environmentalist with the Pacific Institute claimed that cutting back on meat consumption would mean a big savings in water usage.

According to him, it takes 140,000 bathtubs full of water to feed cows to produce a ton of beef. If we wanted to save even more bathtubs full of water, we should go back to taking baths only on Saturdays. Saturday night used to be bath night. At the very least, we could all take shorter showers and save a lot of water. It’s ridiculous to associate water conservation with Meatless Monday.

The meatless organizers also have tried to tie the current campaign to patriotic campaigns of the past to conserve food. They have absolutely nothing in common. During World War I, Americans were asked to sign a pledge not to eat meat on Tuesday. They also gave up wheat products on Wednesday. Food was spared in order to make sure American troops fighting in Europe had enough to eat.

Today, fasting and abstinence from certain foods are part of religious life for some people. Outside of that, there is no reason for Americans to feel compelled to observe a meatless day.

It is a wonderful time for personal reflection.  A cow only calves once per year.  When those first calves are born, I find myself thinking about what has happened in that year since the last calving season.  I think about what has changed, and I think about personal goals and where I hope to be after another year.  I think about challenges that I have faced and how I can learn from adversity that I have dealt with.  I think about the season of renewal and the hope that springs eternal.  I am sure everyone has this time of reflection each year that coincides with a particular event, something about spring calving season allows just enough quiet time for my mind to switch gears.  I guess it is comforting to some extent also, that despite all the change that life brings, there are some things that remain constant.  Good luck finding your time of reflection.

It amazes me with all the problems our nation is currently facing that we are focusing on whether or not to allow our children to work during the summer on our farm! We need to be training our children how to be an asset to society not a liability. I see children every day that have no responsibilities and what is this teaching them? Children that grow up on the farm have a sense of responsibility and work ethic. These qualities are what we need to be teaching every American! We all need to work to protect the American farms so that we can continue to feed the world.

Lempert is an astute food industry observer, journalist and trend watcher. He created a virtual grocery store and consumer information center, Phil’s Supermarket, on Second Life, a rapidly growing online world. If you have time for a second life you might want to check it out. Otherwise there is his website, www.supermarketguru.com.

The notion that farmers are becoming celebrities is one of Lempert’s Top Ten Food Trends for 2012. He may have gone a bit too far with this one. Most farmers don’t have time to be celebrities, but they do recognize the value in opening lines of communication with consumers.

Lempert believes the “farm to fork” journey has become increasingly important. Shoppers want to know where their food comes from. “We’ve seen ‘buy local’ become one of the most important supermarket offerings; now we get to meet the people who are the producers, farmers and ranchers,” he said in describing the trend.

The American Farm Bureau Federation has facilitated this trend with an emphasis on social media. AFBF’s FBLog has opinions and perspectives from the nation’s top producers. Want to know what cold-climate farmers do all winter? It can be found there at www.fb.org/blog.

Farm Bureau also reaches out to consumers with Foodie News, an electronic newsletter that appeals to those most passionate about food and food trends. Individual farms and ranches are represented on Facebook and Twitter and are eager to have friends and followers.

For many years farmers have wanted to tell their story to consumers, but it was always hard to reach an urban audience. Print and broadcast media just didn’t get the job done. The only time consumers paid much attention was when food prices were rising or a drought, freeze or some other calamity affected farmers.

The growing consumer interest in the “farm to fork journey” and how it is promoted through social media and the Internet is a huge breakthrough for the farming and ranching community, and the trend is only just beginning.

Lempert isn’t the only one noticing the higher profile or celebrity status of farmers and ranchers. One of The Food Channel’s top trends for 2012 is the rise of the agri-chef, a new breed of chefs who like to grow their own food. TFC expects this trend to evolve from gardens to full-fledged farms. One thing we know for sure is that growers have reached out to renowned chefs, and they are almost as likely to be on the agenda for a major farm convention as an economist.

It’s no secret that people like to visit farmers and ranchers and see firsthand how their food is grown, but it is impossible in today’s world for everyone to do that. Social media connections help make the farm to fork journey possible for more people.

“Me too,” said my sister.

“Well, let’s get some breakfast,” said my dad.

We knew what that meant. We’re going to McDonald’s – my dad’s restaurant of choice.

It’s gotten to be a family joke that wherever we travel, we will visit at least one McDonald’s on the trip. Why should this get-away be any different? Hawaii has to have one somewhere, right?

The three of us were in Honolulu, Hawaii for the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting for five days, but had yet to adjust to the new schedule. A 7 a.m. wake-up call in Hawaii was nearly 11 a.m. back home in Minnesota. So, starving for breakfast was likely an understatement.

After navigating through oodles of people carrying surf boards, beach balls, and towels, we found it. Across the street from Waikiki Beach, there it was nestled between two tourist souvenir shops. The golden arches.

We immediately began surveying the menu. It’s McDonald’s so after years of visits you, like us, have probably come to expect certain items – an Egg McMuffin, a Sausage Biscuit, and a Big Breakfast with Spam?

“Does that say Spam?” I questioned.

My sister said, “Um, yeah I think so.”

The McDonald’s waitress overheard our questioning of the breakfast item and jumped in to help these tourists in a very Aloha spirit.

“Hawaiians eat more Spam per capita than any other place on Earth,” the smiling, very tan waitress said.

“That’s cool. Spam is made in Minnesota. That’s where we’re from.”

As a young girl growing up on a small sheep farm in rural Minnesota, I always knew of the blue can. It was my Dad’s meat of choice when he had to make supper. Whenever my Mom traveled or was away from home, he’d open up a can, slice the meat, and fry it up. A couple of pieces of bread, a bit of mayonnaise, and a tomato topped off Dad’s specialty. You may have guessed. My Dad’s delicacy was the fried Spam sandwich.

As a native Minnesotan, I knew Spam came from a town in Minnesota. Created back in 1937, Spam became a staple for many families around the country, including mine. Spam (officially styled SPAM; derived from spiced ham) is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation.

Spam was introduced to the Pacific during the United States military occupation in World War II. Since fresh meat was difficult to get to the soldiers on the front, World War II saw the largest use of Spam. Soldiers started eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Army soldiers commonly refer to SPAM as Special Army Meat due to its introduction during the war.

Surpluses of Spam from the soldiers’ supplies made their way into native diets. Consequently, Spam is a unique part of the history and effects of U.S. influence in the Pacific. It is so popular in Hawaii that it is sometimes referred to as “The Hawaiian Steak”. Islanders celebrate the meat by holding cook-offs featuring Spam recipes. Spam flavored macadamia nuts are also on store shelves.

Four thousand miles from Minnesota and here’s a Minnesota product on the menu at McDonalds. It’s amazing just how small our world is. It’s just another example of how our products feed consumers across the globe. It was a terrific reminder for me that my farm grows for people all over, including Hawaii.

On average, 3.8 cans of Spam are consumed every second in the United States. Thanks to farmers across the United States and one Minnesota company, we will always know that there’s another blue can of Spam waiting on store shelves.

This photo was taken out of the tractor a few weeks back when I caught some spare time to plow a field up for our produce operation.  Most people cannot see the beauty of this, but as the cold air blows through this winter and the rain or snow keeps falling, this is an image of hope for my farm in 2012.  We will be starting over, considering the past, and looking at the bright future for our farm and American Agriculture.   So as your travels take you through the countryside of America this spring, just take time to enjoy the beauty and smells that make it a special place for those who live there.

This time of year we spend a lot of time caring for our animals and preparing for Spring. Our cows are on the cornstalk fields, so we are checking on them and giving them extra minerals and vitamins. Their calves from last summer are growing fast and are on split into two groups with the bigger calves being fed with the feed wagon and we are carrying buckets of corn to the smaller ones. The pigs are nice and warm in their barn that is temperature controlled like your house; it’s the best place to be on a cold winter day. One of the continuous projects this time of year is to make sure that all of the water for the animals stays thawed out so they can drink. Right now, we don’t have much snow, but when the snow blows, someone will get to spend hours in the tractor and payloader working on clearing roads to get to all of the animals.

We also clean up and put away the harvest equipment and begin to get ready to plant our crops in the Spring. There is a lot of time spent in the machine shop as we work on any broken tractors and implements and repair and maintain anything that we will need in the field. There are many hours spent in the office working on keeping farm records, we finish up the paperwork from last year and plan our budgets for this year. The record keeping that has to be done on the farm seems like it never ends.

There are also a lot of things to learn this time of year! Farmers attend meetings and conferences to learn from experts on everything from ag trade to corn hybrid selection. Farmers are required to renew a lot of licenses from pesticide applicator training so we know the specific science of how to help our crops grow to BQA and PQA programs that help us become even better animal caretakers and review what we know. We just returned from the American Farm Bureau Convention in Hawaii, I spent some time at the South Dakota Women in Blue Jeans Conference, and we will go to our Nebraska Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference next weekend. That is just a small assortment of our meetings and we have had to turn down a few more because you can only do so much in January while still taking care of the farm.

What exactly do we do at these meetings? At the American Farm Bureau meeting, we competed in the Excellence in Ag contest, attended workshops about Ag Trade with Asia, Regulations, and many others, and went on some great Ag tours to learn about farming and ranching in Hawaii. While we were on tours, some of our good friends were working on setting policy that will guide our legislative projects during the next year. The discussions were about everything from the Farm Bill to the Water management! We can’t forget networking and getting new ideas from other farmers and ranchers.

When we go to the Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference next week, we get to visit with and learn from other farmers who are under 35 about how they have been successful. Quite often we get ideas that we can implement to improve our farm from these meetings.

Next time you wonder what a couple of farmers with college degrees do all winter when we are not in the field, I hope you think about us! We take care of the animals, prepare for the crop season, and seize a lot of opportunities to never stop learning!

 As a rancher, our family consumes a lot of beef in one year.  This study certainly is music to our ears and we have been reaping the benefits of eating beef.  There are lots of wonderful recipes for all types of lean healthy beef, so you’re sure to find something of your liking!  So as you are trying to get healthier in 2012 don’t forget to add the beef!

In an election year there is sure to be a focus on all the things that are wrong with the economy and the country at large. Both political parties would like to make things better. Unemployment, housing, energy, education and a crumbling infrastructure are all going to be touched on in campaigns.

What’s missing from the list is food and agriculture and that’s because America does not have a food crisis. The basic goal of producing an ample supply of food at reasonable prices has been met and exceeded.

The reasons for American agriculture’s stellar performance are apparent in a report issued by the Economic Research Service (ERS), the agency of the Department of Agriculture responsible for economic analysis.

The 77-page report basically boiled down to the fact that American farmers and ranchers are still able to produce more with less; that is more food with fewer labor hours and less land than was used 30 years ago. As a result, U.S. farm productivity has increased nearly 50 percent.

There are a number of factors cited in the report that enabled American agriculture to achieve these results. They include innovations in the way farms are organized, managed and handle risk, as well as changes in production practices.

Genetically engineered seeds and no-till farming were credited with reducing machinery, fuel and pesticide use. Advancements in drip and pressure irrigation systems conserved water. In fact, agriculture relies more on science and technology for growth than other industries.

The ERS report also noted that farm production has shifted to larger units over the past quarter century. These larger crop and livestock operations can take advantage of scale economies and are better positioned to negotiate contracts. Yet, 97 percent of all farms remain family operations, some of them going back four or five generations.

The amount of land used in agriculture dropped during the period measured by the report (1982 to 2007), declining from 54 percent to 51 percent of total U.S. land area. Farming also used 30 percent less hired labor and 40 percent less operator labor.

In the past, the work ethic of farmers has often been cited as a contributing factor in productivity gains. There’s really no difference today. Farmers and ranchers are still incredibly hard workers, but thanks to better education, training and technology they also work smarter.

Throughout the history of American agriculture there has never been a time when the people who work the land to produce our food, fiber and fuel have said, “That’s good enough.” Instead, they have always tried to do better.

This attitude may not show up in statistical tables, but that commitment to continual improvement is a driving force that makes American agriculture so successful.