An interesting article appears in the Columbus Dispatch about Issue 2 in Ohio. Farmers are continuing to educate themselves and others when it comes to protecting our livelihood! It is important that people understand that the majority of animal agriculturists properly and respectfully care for their livestock and would not do anything to purposefully harm what supports them and their families. Residents of Ohio need to support Issue 2 and save agriculture in Ohio. Read the article here.

I check the MSN homepage several times a day and this morning was a featured article on 10 different jobs that are worth the stress.

Standing next to the headline is someone in agriculture and farming is listed. It is a short article, but well done. It simply states how I feel about the occupation we choose to have. This is what it said about farming:

3. Farmers
Why it's stressful: Physical labor plus anxiety about Mother Nature equals stress. You start work early and stay late, all while being outside. That is if bad weather doesn't ruin your crops. Not to mention the variety of economic pressures for small farms that face competition from large businesses and manufacturers.

Why it's worth it: Farmers are among the few workers that every person in the country relies on for survival. How's that for job satisfaction?
How much you'll earn: Varies

You can read the full article here.

Thanks MSN and Careerbuilders for spotlighting our career!

When we speak on behalf of agriculture, we need not forget that we speak for all of agriculture. I had the great privilege of joining Texas Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers last weekend on their annual fall farm tours in beautiful Fredericksburg, Texas, just outside of San Antonio.

Much like the state I hail from, Florida, Texas is rich with diverse sectors of agriculture. The three-day visit was jam packed with tours to a number of cattle ranches, peach orchids, wineries, and wildflower farms, just to name a few. Being a vegetable producer myself, all of these locations was an opportunity for me to learn more about the industry I work in and to realize how little I know about the sectors of agriculture that I don’t work in.

I feel as though too many times when we look at agriculture we only see the sectors of ag that we as individuals are associated with and fail to reach out to others; for example, as the vegetable farmer to the fruit grower to the cattleman to the swine producer to the large commodity grower so forth and so on. We are all agriculture and we should all be supporting oneanother.

I assure you that the HSUS's and PETA's of the world have united with the Environmental Working Group and Physicians for Responsible Medicine groups of the world to ensure their objectives are met no matter at whose expense...unfortunately, many times it's agriculture's.

Farm Bureau is the largest general agricultural organization in the nation. We have vast amounts of knowledge amongst our members concerning so many different commodities that I think it would be a shame not to educate oneanother on our respective sectors of ag. I say this because I have gotten into many a discussion with folks about ag issues other than vegetables, land rights, water rights, and conventional versus organic, all major issues pertaining to growing fruits and vegetables in Florida, that I can honestly say that I am not as versed in swine production or milk production or maple syrup production or catfish production, for example, as I should be in order to be the best advocate I can be for agriculture.

I believe just as important as educating the general public about ag, we need to educate ourselves as well. Even though I grow vegetables I still need to be able to speak intelligently and effectively about other sectors of Ag in order to accurately educate the general public.

I am not asking anyone to become an expert for all sectors of agriculture by any means, but I do challenge you to become familiar with the issues, other than your own, that affects the commodities in your area. This way when you find yourself in a conversation with someone who is interested in this great industry we work in you will be the able to speak confidently and factually about the subjects that arise.

We should feel proud that we are the 1% of the American population that puts food on the tables across this and many other nations. If we fail to educate others when given the opportunity because we have failed to educate ourselves, the misinformed media will most likely do the educating for us...and this is a cost none of us can afford to pay.

The story of Dr. Neal Dow hits close to home for every farm or ranch family.

Dr. Neal “Doc” Dow, a retired veterinarian and full-time rancher in Post, Oregon, says the future of his ranch is pretty cut-and-dried. Upon his passing, the ranch he and his late wife Anna cared for will fall outside the reach of his family, due to the estate tax. Dow recounted his personal situation in a guest column posted this week at Agweb.com.

The Dows paid off one estate tax burden over 18 years of hard work and loans. Now, it does not appear their children will even be able to afford the same option.

“By the sweat of our brows, we paid off this loan,” Dow wrote. “But it took 18 years to do so. I worked as a veterinarian by day and as a rancher at night and on weekends, while on call around the clock to help save a pet or deliver newborn livestock. Anna worked alongside me at both the clinic and the ranch. We became accustomed to sacrifice, forgoing weekends with friends so we could develop water springs, install pipe lines, build roads and improve wildlife habitat and cattle grazing areas on our ranch. It was tough and exhausting, but we did it with relish in order to achieve our dreams of full-time cattle ranching.”

After that, their work continued to expand, improve and care for their ranch, with their children and grandchildren playing integral roles in the process.

“Anna passed away in 2008, and now it’s just me,” he wrote. “I intend to keep on ranching and die with my boots on. At one time I would have assumed that the legacy we spent 60 years building would be passed down to my children. I now realize that federal estate tax law – the hated “death tax” – is all but designed to prevent it. The fact is: My children will owe the government so much money when I die that the ranch will die with me.”

Dow said his story and struggle are not unique. “Some 24 million American families own businesses of every kind, including some 2 million family farms and ranches, like mine,” he wrote.

You can read his insightful column here.

I was watching the 10 o'clock news tonight when one of the "headlines" caught my attention. They were talking about how a farmer that came across some medical problems in the last few weeks, ended up getting his crop harvested by a group of neighbors pooling together and working to get it done. With the 14 combines, they were able to complete the harvest in a day. The reporter made mention as to how rare it is to see such a feat.

I started thinking about that, and realized that's not exactly true. When the chips are down, the ag community pulls together frequently. The only difference is, most of the time it happens without calling in a camera crew and team of reporters to cover it. Neighbors quietly come in, finish the work and leave, without giving it a second thought.

Where else, but in the ag community, would you see such a thing happening?

I'm pretty sure that I won't be seeing any footage of a team of 30 doctors pooling together to complete a colleagues full-day schedule of physicals because one of them found out he needed by-pass surgery. No, outside of agriculture, for the most-part there are sick days built in. Days where you're still guaranteed not to lose money if you take care of yourself.

That's not the case in agriculture. If you can't get your crop harvested, you don't get paid...again, for the most-part, there is an exception to every rule. If you don't harvest a crop this year, it's pretty hard to plant one next spring, and your career as a farmer will probably end.

That's why I thank God every day that we are who we are...farmers, ranchers. We live in a place and work in a profession where neighbors take care of neighbors, knowing that the same will be done for them if ever needed. Hardships are felt not by families alone, but by the communities as a whole.

You see the work being done in the fields, on the farm, with the cattle, the sheep or any other livestock. Needs are met, the work is completed and farms are saved.

It may have made the news tonight, but I guarantee that somewhere, some place, it will happen again tomorrow.

It's finally here for some of us and coming quickly for others. It's Harvest Time - the three months for which we - corn, other grains, and cotton producers - prepare all year long.

The crop year actually starts in the winter with repairing and preparing equipment for the busy spring ahead. We also use those cold, wet, winter days to go to meetings or conferences to learn better methods of growing our crops.

Slowly, about February, the ground starts to dry, and we become anxious to being working the land. We start by making land improvements like repairing drainage ditches, leveling land, and preparing seed beds.

In April, the planters start rolling. We place the seeds at just the right depth and supply them with nutrients it takes to grow and produce. We pray for good weather and wait for the first seedling to pop up through the ground. Farmers have faith that the Lord will take care of things. We don't just plant a few seeds and wait for them to come up and then plant a few more. Most of the time, the entire crop is planted before the first plants have emerged.

Summer time comes and we watch the crops develop into their different stages. This time is spent tending to the crops every need. We scout for weeds, insects, and disease and rid the field of them if any are found. We apply nutrients when there are deficiencies. We pray that the hot summer days are not too hot, too wet, or too dry and that our crops can grow and mature.

Summertime also allows us to spend time with our families going to little league ball games or maybe even a trip to the beach!

As August approaches, we have the harvesting equipment ready and are geared up for a big crop and a busy harvest season. That day has come. Harvest time is here!

One of my favorite channels to watch on TV is The Food Network. They have some great shows and I am always interested in a new recipe, or getting a new idea on how to cook up the regular just with a new twist.

I love that on every episode the chefs will be using some kind of meat, dairy and/or grains product. I know this statement sounds too simple, because without the above mentioned, what would they cook? Without those essentials there would be no Food Network because there would be nothing to create.

It shows how important all of those key ingredients are. Fundamentals really. They are the core to our survival and existence. Protein in the form of beef, chicken, pork and lamb are good for us and it is the way nature intended. Same goes for the dairy and also the grains.

So, keep it up all you chefs out there. I love your good work. You know how important protein is to us, and thanks for all the great ways you prepare it.

Every time Paula starts her recipe with a cube of butter, or the Neely’s fry up a juicy hamburger, I am loving it. Thanks, and keep supporting the ones who grew/raised it!

Every time I sit down to write on our blog, I am hit with this wall of writer’s block. Maybe I shouldn’t say writer’s block, but this need to write something profound and uplifting about agriculture...and I've got nothing.

As I sit in my shop well into the evening on a Friday night listening to my mill run, I start to think about the bulk of it all. How I would much rather be a high school football game tonight and would prefer to not go to my farmers market tomorrow because of the holiday weekend and I have many other things that could be done. I begin to think about how there are so many other jobs out there that pay well and even at this point, pay regularly. So why don’t I go out and get one of those regular paying jobs? Why work these long hours just to end up tired and just getting by at the end of the week?

I find that I am constantly battling with staying the course or changing directions and settling for one of those stable secure jobs. Do I abandon all of my efforts to this point in the name of a paycheck? Will I be able to find a paycheck that allows me the contentment that I currently receive or will I just be doing time each day? Do I want to become one of those people who forgets that Labor Day is a day to be spent working (because why else would it fall during harvest?)?

I guess the obvious answer to all of this is that I am glutton for punishment, but the real answer is that I and my husband love providing people with a quality product. We love to hear the amazement in our customers’ voices when they found out that “we do this ourselves,” that this is our business. A small reward for us is when people ask how we find time to do it all and our response is “we just do.” We find time to make this work. We know that deep down we are doing something good and something that people are truly interested in.

As we choose to stay the course, we find that for every positive voice encouraging you, there will be twice as many nay-sayers. It sometimes feels like you can’t tell if people are happy to see you trying to make something or if they are just waiting for you to fail. This can begin to weigh down on you if you are grappling with the above mentioned questions, but you can’t let it. At least I know that I can’t let it guide my decisions. And that is the most important answer of all.

And sometimes after a good solid session of verbal bloodletting, I look back at what I have written and though it may not be profound, I know that there is someone else out there pondering these same questions. Not that I have all of the answers, but I hear that misery loves company and that maybe it can provide that person with some comfort knowing that they aren’t the only ones asking. And that maybe with that comfort, they can begin to find their own answers.

And then possibly share them with the rest of us!