It's Been To Long

Wow! I totally forgot I even had a Blog there for a couple years... Where has the time gone? The last Blog I posted was about graduating from college, and here I am over 2.5 years later sitting back down to tell the world my thoughts.

Basically today I'm going to do a little catch up. So after I graduated at the ripe old age of 21, I bought my first truck, took a job as a Syngenta Seed Adviser, moved back in with my parents, and work at home on the family farm. Fast forward 2.5 years and...

I still have my truck, still work as a Seed Adviser, still live with my parents, and still work at home on the family farm. So nothing has really changed other than last winter I took a job working on a local dairy as well. (Sometimes I think I was born into the wrong farming family sometimes because I LOVE the Dairy Industry!!)

That beautiful lady right there is Snooki, I get to hang out with her and my other ladies several mornings a week when I'm milking.

So basically I love to farm and have taken it on as my career choice. Some days during the spring and fall I rack up over 18 working hours a day, I might complain a lot those days but I wouldn't change it for anything. Coffee and Mt. Dew tend to be in my right hand those days. 

I love taking pictures while I work and explaining why we do what we do. Being so deeply involved in the different areas of agriculture I think help fuel my passion. 

Like today a video has begun to go viral about a PETA protest in Canada:

Menzies Visits PETA 

What I find in this post is the lack of education that these particular protesters have. Cows can live in farm sanctuaries? We can just release them into the wild? Like the hilarious newscasters add, the ground is covered in snow, and these animals have always had food brought to them, they are really going to know how to scavenge for their next meal? Coyotes? Like those things aren't going to bring down a hungry animal that doesn't know how to fend for its self.

SO before this turns into a total rant, I'm going to step back and just let this sink in for a while. There are a lot of health concerns for dairy cattle that are all of a sudden turned loose into the wild, or even penned up in an animal sanctuary. Death from diseases like pneumonia, mastitis, and starvation just to name a few.

All I can say, if you are going to protest ANYTHING please, please, please! Do a little bit of back-grounding before you go up to a news camera and give a statement. Because an uneducated statement will turn you into a viral internet video.

Going back to where I was earlier. My hope is to be able to keep this Blog thing a little more current. Just a way to express some thoughts, maybe throw a little information out there, and share some of my experiences with the world, in my classic nerdy form!

A Short Reflection

As the end of my college career comes on Saturday when I officially graduate from ATI, I take a moment to reflect on what I have learned through my Agvocacy project.  I have learned a lot through this project, I have done a handful of interviews, I have completed my MBA (Masters of Beef Advocacy), and hosted two events that had to do with Agvocating.  But what I have gotten out of this project the most is, the understanding that my generation of agriculturalists have a lot of challenges facing us.  We are going to be battling activist groups for the duration of our careers.

We also have such great tools in our hands to use, Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, through social media sites we can get our story out there, give people updates on what we are doing for the day.  It's as easy as posting, "out in the tractor today working ground" when people who aren't involved in agriculture see a simple post like that, they can see that we are out there working to keep the food supply in the US at a steady state.

I'd like to thank everyone who I have worked with on this project and the support that we got at our different events that Sam and I had hosted throughout the quarter.  Don't worry, this is just the beginning of my Agvocating, I plan to get better as I go through life, and I will constantly be telling my story, because I am proud of what I do.

Ask the Producers

So many people out there are completely removed from all forms of agriculture.  So there lies the challenge for the producers.  Last week at the Galion Public Library myself and three other producers from the Crawford County area were present to answer questions that the public might have about production agriculture.

There was a lot of good discussion that night.  Some of the topics discussed were, where can I find locally grown products, what is the difference between naturally raised meat and commercially grown meat, and what real is the definition of organic?

When a producer see's these questions, they need to take a step back and think about the people we are catering too.  Even people that are in rural America have no idea what is happening on our farms.  My challenge to all farmers is to be open and willing to answer questions that the public might have.  We can't stay secretive about what we are doing, we need to be open and tell our story.

I'm Getting My MBA

As most people read my blog title and wonder since when did she go to graduate school, I'll correct you now.  As part of my course work on Agvocacy I was to do some work outside the classroom, I choose to get my MBA, Masters of Beef Advocacy.

Throughout this six part course I have listened to presentations, done homework, and taken quizzes through this online school funded by The Beef Checkoff.  I have covered the topics of Modern Beef Production, Animal Care, Beef Safety, Nutrition, Environmental Stewardship, and written course about The Beef Checkoff.

I have learned a great deal of information from doing this.  Different things such as lean beef and how good it is for you, all about animal husbandry and care, what different types of beef production are out there, and how we need to respect the land that we are raising our cattle on.  I strongly encourage anyone who is a beef producer to take this online course, because I have learned a great deal from it, and I know that we all need to keep up to date with our industry, and keep good relations with our consumers.

ATI Students Get an Insight on Agvocating!

Last night we had a great turn out for our Agvocating event on campus.  We all walked away with a lot of new information on how we can be better advocates to our industry.  Students, faculty, community members, Farm and Dairy, Ohio Country Journal/Ohio Ag Net, and Certified Angus Beef were in attendance.  I would like to start out with a big thank you to all who cam out!

The evening started out with our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Bobby Moser, dean of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences.  Dr. Moser talked to us about The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.  This board was put together to help put in place regulations on better care practices for livestock in the great state of Ohio.  Seeing that activist groups such as HSUS and PETA were starting to place ballot issues in other states in our country, Ohio decided to get ahead of the game and form these standards.  We learned last night that in mid-July the board hopes to have the regulations finalized and in place.  Dr. Moser also had a rough draft copy with him in case anyone wanted to look over the new regulations.  He talked about the history of the board how it came about, as well as why we need this board.

Next to speak was Dr. Leah Dorman D.V.M. from The Ohio Farm Bureau  Dr. Dorman put a large emphasis on the fact that we need to know and understand what activist groups are doing, and that we need to follow them even though it might seem unnatural.  Leah entertained the crowd with great pictures and getting everyone in the room involved.  She also talked to us about how we can get involved in the board through sub committees and different commodity groups.

The last to present last night was Dan Toland from The Ohio Farm Bureau.  Dan being a technology guru, talked to us about how we as young producers can get involved in social media, so we can get our story out there before someone else does.  There was a twitter hash tag set up for the night, and he had all the tweets running throughout his presentation as they were uploaded throughout the event that night.  In the 3 hours spent during the presentations there was a total of 50 tweets sent from the room, and viewed by over 20,500 people during the event.  That's crazy in my opinion and that's real time, that was the point he was trying to get across.  He also explained how many people use social media and that they are our number one target.

Again, I would like to thank all who attended and Farm and Dairy and Ohio Country Journal/Ohio Ag Net for being present as media coverage.  The support is appreciated.  To find out more information follow Farm and Dairy and Ohio Country Journal/Ohio Ag Net on Facebook and upcoming issues for complete coverage on what happened last night.

How Can You Tell Your Story

As part of our project on Agvocating, Sam and I are hosting an event on the ATI campus.  We are having 3 guest speakers coming and talking about how we can use social media and to educate us about the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.

Dan Toland a communications specialist with The Ohio Farm Bureau, is going to be talking about how we as producers can use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and different blogging sites to tell our story and let our voices be heard.

Leah Dorman D.V.M. from the Ohio Farm Bureau is well versed with issues dealing with The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board and is going to be talking about how important it is, and what we as young producers need to learn from it.

Finally Dr. Bobby Moser Dean of the College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University will be talking about what the Livestock Care Board is, how it came to be, and why it is so important that we have the Livestock Care Board.

The event is Tuesday May, 17th at The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in Skou Hall room 100, with refreshments starting at 6:30pm and the presentations for the night starting at 7pm.  Everyone that is willing to learn about the Livestock Care Standards Board and wanting to learn how to positively use social media to promote agriculture is welcome to come.

Some Food For Thought

In the age of being able to record video at the drop of a hat, more and more videos of animal abuse keep popping up.  The question then comes up about privacy.  In my opinion it is an invasion of privacy, it's not that I'm ashamed of what I do on the farm with my cattle, it's that to be able to get things done with an animal thats 10 times my size, yes some of our actions may not be appealing.

I found a short little blurb on a blog that really highlights this thought as well as some others, about why animal agriculture really isn't all green grass, and happy cows basking in the sun.

Candid Cameras on Factory Farms

Many businesses with intellectual property don’t allow cameras; think John Deere, Ford, Google. Homes are protected from such invasions on privacy; imagine how you’d feel to discover a hidden camera in your bedroom. But what about farms? If you’re a part of animal agriculture, you need to consider how you’d look on candid camera. Ongoing videos from animal rights activists and legislation proposed to make such such actions illegal in Iowa, Minnesota and Florida have brought the issue to the forefront.  On the opposite end of the spectrum are those who believe every operation should install cameras.

The nasty videos aren’t going to stop. There are bad apples who don’t deserve to be called farmers. There are also terrible humans, who have gone through rigorous screening by a farm and signed paperwork against abuse, but still end up in the barns doing terrible things to animals. And, yes, there are groups who stage such abuse to further their cause.  We have to accept that these videos will keep coming. The question is what we do to protect both the families and animals involved.

Do farms have something to hide? The proposed legislation is certainly being viewed that way. I struggle with this; it should be  as wrong for trespassers to be video taping on a farm as it is for someone to walk in a school and film children. Both should require permission – and have legal ramifications if none is given. Likewise, any abuse that’s filmed should be turned over to the authorities – immediately.  Not waiting 3 days or 3 weeks to execute a strategic campaign to raise funds or publicity for your organization – but immediately.

Farmers aren’t hiding animal abuse, but animal agriculture isn’t pretty.  As I write this, we’ve had record-high rainfalls in the central Midwest – which means cattle are standing knee deep in mud in some locations. These same cattle graze in lush green pastures and lounge in the sunshine in summer (to the envy of this human). But it’s simply not pretty right now – no matter how much cleaning and care is given – or if it’s a “factory farm” or small operation.

Another not so pretty reality; animal agriculture practices can look terrible, even when done in the best interest of the animal. We had a cow go down on pasture last summer on a 90 degree day. Keeping this animal alive required me smacking her across the face and kneeing her chest as hard as my human weight could muster.  Before you judge me; consider the shock it takes to keep a human heart going – and then multiply that by 10. Once we had the heavy equipment ready (a necessity with downed animals) we got her off the ground by putting a metal device around her hip bones and then raised the hip lifts with a tractor so she could stand. When she was steady enough to walk, we helped her back to the barn, with urine pouring out of her and manure all over (cows don’t use bed pans).

Is this an image we want on camera? I think not. It would have looked terrible on CNN and would been incorrectly labeled as animal abuse. Yet, the cow lived and did not suffer needlessly – because two women cared enough to do some “ugly” things in the interest of animal husbandry. The same scenario is played out a hundred different ways on farms (large and small) across the country every day. Animals get hurt, need to be euthanized and do stupid things like getting their heads jammed into places they don’t belong. If you work with animals, you know this. But I’d wager 99% of the population does not know these things about farm animals firsthand. And more to the point, they won’t have any knowledge unless you help them.

Does this mean I think all farms and ranches should install cameras, upload their footage to YouTube, then tweet it and cross-populate to Facebook?  Absolutely not. I’m not a fan of putting video cameras in barns because animal agriculture isn’t pretty. And until the public is more familiar with this reality, I’m not sure they’re ready to see the scenario that I describe above – which was not on a “factory farm.” I also believe it should be a farmer’s choice on his/her own property.

I applaud those that have installed cameras, including J.S. West with chickens and Belstra with pigs – and know many more are considering it. What is recorded should remain as a farm’s choice. But the lack of desire to have “candid cameras” on farms doesn’t mean that farmers and ranchers aren’t being transparent. It simply means that farms are a place of a business, a family’s livelihood and yes – a place of privacy.

The opinion that this person expresses is right in line with how I feel.  Until the public understand why we do what we do, and the reasoning behind it we can not have cameras on farms.

This blog post was pulled from http://www.causematters.com/  There are a lot of real good posts on this site and I suggest spending sometime reading through some of the posts.