"Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country." -William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), Speech at the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, 8 Jul 1896

There is a lot of talk right now about a new economic stimulus package and how the money should be allocated. The quote above by William Jennings Bryan expresses where the money needs to be allocated to help our economy.

Agriculture is the backbone of our nation and many industries rely on the success of agriculture. Every household in the United States depends on agriculture's success to meet their nutritional needs. We need the economic stimulus package to be devoted to rural America for transportation infrastructure -- roads, bridges, locks and dams -- and broadband internet access availability. Each of these things would help bolster the economy of agriculture and rural America, which continues to be the basic foundation of our nation's entire economy.

Contact your Congressman or Senator today and let them know how important agriculture is to our economy!

We have all watched HSUS and other groups opposed to modern animal agriculture production push for tighter regulations in states where agriculutre may not be a main industry. They have had success in most of the states with the passage of Prop 2 in California this past election being the most devastating to date in terms of what it will do to the layer industry in California as well as the hog and veal industries. We have all wondered when they would try to hit a midwest state.

I can't say if Indiana is going to be their next state, but in the last few months, HSUS has opened an office in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University, one of the non-ag universities in Indiana. I just heard yesterday that HSUS has a lobbying day planned at our state house on February 10th. They are claiming that their agenda will be in regards to dogs and cats, but I would be willing to bet that livestock will be somewhere on the agenda.

I don't know what the future holds for Indiana or for other states, but it just reminds me that we must all continue to work together to take a hands on, personal approach to educating our legislators and neighbors. Our future may be in their hands.

Being from the Midwest I tend to first think of agriculture as Corn & Soybeans and Hogs & Cows. However agriculture encompasses diversity as wide as the product range of your local supermarket, because all of those products started out on a farm or ranch. America's Heartland television show features stories about the people responsible for producing America's agriculture products and the activities they are involved in.

Maybe it is just a curiosity I have to know more about how the peanuts I buy get into that jar at the grocery store. But I find the stories on America's Heartland both entertaining and educational.

On a recent family vacation from Iowa to Florida by car, we took the opportunity to visit a couple of friend’s farms in South Carolina. Those couple of days experiencing a different farming lifestyle became the highlight of the trip for my wife and me. Since not everyone can visit a farm in every state, America's Heartland can do the driving for you and bring a taste of every state's agriculture lifestyle into your home.

For program scheduling information or to view past episodes visit America's Heartland website www.americasheartland.org.

My family had the sad task of saying goodbye to my grandmother recently. She was the main land owner of our family farm. Everyone dislikes the headaches of filing all of the paperwork to start the transfer of the estate to those who will inherit, but for a farm family it becomes a very nerve racking time. Questions start flying, will there be enough funds to pay the estate taxes on the land and equipment? How will the land be divided up? Will the business be able to survive? For those in agriculture estate taxes are a huge burden. The assets that are being passed on are what the farm families depend on to stay in business, and are usually what they have worked for all of there lives.

Our family was thankfully prepared for the passing of my grandmother. Everything was planned accordingly and put into a trust which made the transfer very easy. I encourage each farm family not to wait, but to plan ahead now for the transfer to the next generation. The amount of farms are dropping everyday, please don't lose yours to estate taxes.

My grandmother Roselyn Sease will be missed very much, but there is comfort in knowing that our farm will be here for my daughter to grow up on and have the love of agriculture passed on to her one day.

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of of sitting at my doctor's office for over three hours as I had the 3 hour long gestational diabetes test. For anyone that has ever been through this, you know how much fun it is. For those of you that have not had the opportunity, just imagine sitting in the doctor's waiting room for 3 hours and having blood drawn 4 different times over the course of 3 hours. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to the experience; however, the experience proved to be very important as I had the opportunity to tell my story to someone in the waiting room.

The was a couple sitting across from me and somehow we got to talking with each other and got on the topic of me living on a grain and hog farm with my family and the fact that I sell swine pharmaceuticals for a living. The husband had grown up on a farm and thought it was a great way to raise children, but he was a little concerned about all of these "corporate hog farms." As our conversation progressed, it came out that he thought in these "corporate farm" situations that the farmer leased their ground to the company and had nothing to do with the building, the hogs, etc... they just got a check for leasing their ground.

I used the opportunity to tell him how the farmer retains ownership of the building, borrows close to $1,000,000/building, and is usually responsible for all of the work and care of the hogs. The company simply owns the hogs. He then asked me if the company helped build the barn. I told him that usually the company is involved with the design of the building, but the farmer is solely responsible for borrowing and building the building and maintaining it in the future. He had just told me how he would really like to farm with his siblings and I told him this contract finishing situation was actually a great way for people like him to get involved with the farm. He was completely blown away and he had no idea that is how it worked.

It just completely amazes me how mis-informed the general public is. I mean here is a man that lives in the country and even knows several people that have built a contract finisher, but he had the completely wrong perception of how it worked.

I definitely was not looking forward to yesterday morning, but I realized that my time was well worth it just because I had the opportunity to educate one couple.

Please remember to tell your story whenever the opportunity presents itself... and remember, it may not always be when or where you expect it.

In a new Farm Bureau ad campaign in Virginia to launch SaveOurFood.org, a man tries unsuccessfully to order a New York Strip steak and New England clam chowder. The waitress explains that these things no longer exist but he is welcome to try the Honduran strip and Newfoundland chowder. In an effort to rally support for local producer markets and at the same time drive up membership rates, this campaign shows early signs of doing just that. The website is full of information about how to support local agriculture and about the many benefits membership in our organization has, regardless of status as producer or associate.

Our nation changes leadership today and hopes abound that our people will be more secure and self-sustaining than ever. Part of that mental peace is, for many, knowing where our next meal is coming from and that consuming certain things is safe and will bolster our local and national economies. For others, there is knowledge gap when it comes to exactly how things make their way to our pantries and plates.

Although there are many ways we can promote support of our local farmers and ranchers, linking consumers and producers in a way to positively promote the many facets of agriculture and increase awareness is one of the most direct and achievable. After all, don’t they say that the way to man’s (or woman’s) heart is through his stomach? The statistics about what it will take to feed the world over the next several decades are sobering. It is imperative that we do what we can now as young members of our industry to reach out and empower others to make wise food decisions that support our local farmers and ranchers, economy, and security, now and in the future.

The temperature in Missouri yesterday morning was 6 below zero, and this morning it was 1 below zero. Several area schools were cancelled due to the severe wind chill factor.

Area farmers have struggled to keep their equipment running in the extreme temperatures while tending to their daily livestock chores. A blessing for our farm was that our hogs were not enduring the extreme temperatures outside. Our hogs were safe and sound inside our warm barns, where the temperature was around 72 degrees fahrenheit. Piglets were nursing on the sows just like it was an ordinary day, the sows were content and had plenty of food and water at their disposal, they didn't have a care in the world.

This is one of the main reasons our family has invested millions of dollars in modern livestock barns, we want our livestock to be well cared for and safe. The cost to operate our farm would be much less if our hogs were not housed in modern livestock barns, but we want our livestock to be comfortable 365 days a year, not just 180 days. Our pigs are not struggling to survive the cold temperatures, they are thriving in a warm climate that is safe, clean and comfortable.

As farmers, our top priority is to provide quality care for our livestock so we can produce quality food for our families, and yours! This is why farmers make improvements on their farms and increase their debt from lenders to provide quality care for their livestock...our nation's food security depends on it!