Farming is under attack. It is hard to turn the corner lately without confronting another challenge to the way I run my business. New regulations from the EPA and FDA and misinformation about how I run my business run rampant in the media.
In this country, we spend only 10 percent of our disposable income on food, yet the way America’s farmers produce food is constantly maligned. Farm legislation that provides a safety net for my farm, a provider of national food security, is labeled as welfare.One only has to read “The Real Cost of Cheap Food” by Bryan Walsh in the August 31, 2009, Time magazine to realize the uphill battle we face against misinformation and anti-farming sentiment.
If you are a farmer or rancher, you should read the article by Walsh. It will make your blood boil, but I hope it does more. I hope it motivates you to move from the defense to the offense. It’s time for farmers to tell the story of how we grow the nutritious, affordable food that this country takes for granted. The best way to do this is through strength in numbers. Join your state and national commodity organizations.
The Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Corn Growers Association, Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association, Kansas Soybean Association, Kansas Livestock Association and other groups like them serve as the public relations arm of your farming operation. Seed, fuel and fertilizer are non-negotiable line items in your operating budget. Today is the day to add a new permanent line for “advocacy.”
The number of full-time farmers in this country continues to shrink, but the few are being called to do more. Smaller numbers require that we work together. If we won’t promote our own products, who will? Our grower associations exist for that purpose. Please join one today.
Randy J. Fritzemeier
Stafford
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Farming is under attack. It is hard to turn the corner lately without confronting another challenge to the way I run my business. New regulations from the EPA and FDA and misinformation about how I run my business run rampant in the media.
In this country, we spend only 10 percent of our disposable income on food, yet the way America’s farmers produce food is constantly maligned. Farm legislation that provides a safety net for my farm, a provider of national food security, is labeled as welfare.One only has to read “The Real Cost of Cheap Food” by Bryan Walsh in the August 31, 2009, Time magazine to realize the uphill battle we face against misinformation and anti-farming sentiment.
If you are a farmer or rancher, you should read the article by Walsh. It will make your blood boil, but I hope it does more. I hope it motivates you to move from the defense to the offense. It’s time for farmers to tell the story of how we grow the nutritious, affordable food that this country takes for granted. The best way to do this is through strength in numbers. Join your state and national commodity organizations.
The Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Corn Growers Association, Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association, Kansas Soybean Association, Kansas Livestock Association and other groups like them serve as the public relations arm of your farming operation. Seed, fuel and fertilizer are non-negotiable line items in your operating budget. Today is the day to add a new permanent line for “advocacy.”
The number of full-time farmers in this country continues to shrink, but the few are being called to do more. Smaller numbers require that we work together. If we won’t promote our own products, who will? Our grower associations exist for that purpose. Please join one today.
Randy J. Fritzemeier
Stafford
