The Des Moines Register ran an artilce over the weekend by President Bob Stallman regarding the House version of the Farm Bill. President Stallman's article did an excellent job of explaining the House version of the bill, pointing out direct changes and how they will impact the budget. Stallman explains to readers, "The House legislation is fiscally responsible and is projected to cost $20 billion less than the last farm bill."

President Stallman relates to readers that farmers work a full year not knowing what their salary is going to be. He explains how the farm program helps even out the uncertainty, allowing farmers and ranchers to continue to provide Americans with a safe, affordable food supply. "And for about 3 percent of the total national budget, that's a pretty good deal for ALL Americans."

PETA is advertising a new video game called Super Chick Sisters on their webpage. The object of the game is to save Pamela Anderson from Colonel Sanders because he has kidnapped her for telling the world how cruelly KFC treats chickens.

This game is meant to capture the minds of young children and adults and brainwash them into believing all animals are treated cruelly. This is only one of the methods PETA uses to attack agriculture with their $30 million budget.

On PETA's blog, the game's inventor invites people to play the game and rate it. Farmers and ranchers supply our country with an abundant supply of safe and healthy food. Please go to this blog and let them know agriculture will not tolerate these lies any longer! It is in our best interest to care for our animals, we need to let people know the measures we take to care for our animals.

Thousands of people are homeless in this country; PETA should use their $30 million budget to help those who really need it. If PETA members really wanted to help improve our country, they would put their money to a better use.

New York's 11th Congressional District Representative, Major Owens, has decided to bash the American Farmer while misrepresenting the facts about the current Farm Bill.

In his comments, he attacks the Blue Dogs of Congress for supporting the American Farmer. Owens claims the Blue Dogs "combine a steady drumbeat against higher taxes and government waste with their loud bugle call to rich farmers to come to get the green gravy. Their clients who enjoy the mega-buck free lunches constitute less than two per cent of the population. To make the treasury safer for the farmers, the favorite sacrificing victims of the Blue Dogs are the welfare mothers who have no claws and no fangs and can't fight back."

Rep. Owens obviously doesn't realize over 66% of the Farm Bill goes to Social Programs like food stamps, WIC, and school lunches. He obviously doesn't understand why Congress has provisions to help the nation’s farmers when crop prices unexpectedly drop to severe levels due to factors beyond the control of farmers. He also doesn't know Americans spend 9% of their disposable income on food, while foreign countries spend over 20% of their disposable income on food. He forgets the 2% he is criticizing feeds this country!

Including government payments, the average return on assets seldom exceeds 4 percent, and return on equity invested typically averages 6-7 percent -- levels that don’t attract a rush of investors anxious to invest in agriculture. If farm program payments were making people rich, there would likely be more people waiting in line to farm. PLEASE visit the link above and let Rep. Owens hear how important the Farm Bill is not only to farmers, but all of the country. Without American Farmers, who will feed our country?

Everyone wants to blame large farmers for the declining number of farms today. I found some interesting information recently that indicates large farmers are not to blame, but tractors.

As tractors replaced human and horse labor, the size of farms increased, resulting in fewer farms. After 1940 (the year the tractor took over) there was a RAPID decrease in the number of farms. In 1910 there were slightly more than a million farms smaller than 20 acres and 20,000 that were larger than 500 acres. In the 40's, at the start of the war, 6.8 million families and 30 million people lived on farms and there were 1.2 million tractors. By 1950, the number of tractors had climbed to almost 4 million. The number of people on farms had fallen to just over 23 million. This number has declined steadily since then.

This proves that large farmers are not the reason for the declining number of farmers. It also shows that even in 1910, there were numerous farms that were 25 times larger than the average farm size.

I have yet to see anyone protest the use of tractors, have you? But people are quick to jump on the bandwagon to eliminate the farmers they feel are "too big" or who use modern animal facilities to raise their livestock. I see plenty of new vehicles driving around cities with GPS; everyone wants the newest technology in their vehicle, and this is fine. But if farmers want to enjoy the latest technology on their farms, they are attacked by activist groups who target the use of modern agriculture practices.

In a recent Harris Poll, farming ranked 12th on the “Most Prestigious Career” list. Leading the list of Most Prestigious Careers were firefighters, scientists, teachers, doctors, military officers, and nurses. At the bottom of the list were real estate brokers, actors, bankers, entertainers, union leaders, and athletes.

Farming has risen five points in the last year on this poll. According to this poll, “Actors and entertainers occupy two of the bottom five positions in the list of prestigious occupations showing that while people may enjoy reading about them, they do not regard these occupations as prestigious.”

Although people regard farming as prestigious, farmers do not farm with a hope of being noticed. Farmers take pride in producing food and fiber for our country. With the recent attacks on agriculture it is critical farmers speak out about what we do on our farms to protect the environment, feed our country, and care for our animals. Farming is ranked as the 12th Most Prestigious Career in the United States, it's time we put this prestige to work for us and tell our story to the world!