No Longer Empty Nesters”

Let me be right up front in telling you, we didn’t sign up for this.

Three years ago, when we first got involved in Safe Families for Children, our thoughts were that we would be helping to care for teenagers. That is my passion. So, when we got that first call to be the host family for a brother and

sister that were 30 months and 18 months old, we thought

about it for a long time before we reluctantly said yes.

Our youngest son was a senior in high school, and we were

liking the freedom that that brought. A lot! When people

asked if I was concerned about having an empty house, I

told them when it happened, we were going to throw a

party. A bottle of wine, watching the sun set from our deck,

and no one else was going to be invited. We were going to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Enter our two Safe Families

munchkins.... daycare and diapers, two-year-old tantrums and no privacy.

It wasn’t easy then and isn’t always easy now. I found out just how selfish I am with my time. And yet, they love us and we love them. These two have become a part of our lives, and the lives of our grown children. Three years after they first came to stay with us, they are still a huge part of our lives.

Someone much smarter than me said if you are going to say you are pro-life, you also need to be pro-kid, pro-single mom, pro-homeless child.

This is our test and testimony of that.

So often we love those ministries that fit into the time we think we have available rather than the time God gave us.

Kari and I find ourselves missing eating out because sitters aren’t available on a moment’s notice.

But we still have enough to eat.

We long for a lazy morning sleeping in past 7:00 AM.

But we still get enough sleep.

We don’t enjoy having to drive to school each morning and navigating the crazy school traffic. But hearing,” I don’t want to be dropped off at the curb,will you walk me to the door?” is pretty cool.

We wish for the privacy of being able to use the bathroom in peace.

But hearing knock, knock, knock,“Do you want to build a snowman?”

through the door is pretty precious.

We wish we had our house to ourselves.

But we have a house.

This might not have been the ministry that we would have chosen for ourselves. But sometimes when it comes to ministry choices, God gets to choose. And we are learning to be obedient to that.

He brings the best to those who follow His lead.

I'm Not That Special (Neither Are You)

Ever read a post and save it somewhere for a future blog, and then get frustrated when you can't find it back later? Nope, no one. I guess that makes me special.
No it doesn't. Not even close.
The article I wanted to find back talked about the number of high school kids that thought they were special. If I remember right, when they were polled in the 1950's, only 5% of high school students thought they were special, as compared to over 50% today. We seem to be doing a great job of teaching self-esteem.
I like to think I'm special. That I'm more compassionate, smarter than the average bear, able to leap gopher mounds in a single bound. But I always try to remember this. No matter where I am, I never assume I'm the smartest person in the room. I've meet people who assume they always are.
But what does being special mean?
I've met incredible people. I mean folks so intelligent that I don't know what they are talking about when they start discussing their field of study. Folks who have lived their convictions so thoroughly that they are eating one meal a day, and that meal is a corn meal gruel.With nomadic shepherds. Folks who can recall the Bible passage they read three months ago. Give them three words to start a passage and they will tell you where it's found.
People who get the art that is calling feed bunks, or can tell you what calf is getting sick when all you see is a calf. People that understand economics and explain them in a way that I can understand it. People doing things with cells that truly make me stand in awe of God's creation.
But if I think that my meager talents make me special, then everyone needs to listen to me. My voice is all important because I have an opinion. If I then shout louder than the rest of you, does that make my voice/opinion more important?
The reality is that we all have talents. We all have things that make us stand out.
And in that we aren't that special. Nor should we be.

Changing the Food Movement Means More Than Just Changing Food.

     I just finished reading a review of the foodie vs. farmers war meeting organized by the NY times. Some want to call it elitist, ($1400 to attend) and focused on organic foods and sustainability.
The restarant on the grounds has a tasting menu priced at $198. They are concerned that junk food is being targeted at children, setting up a pattern of food intake that wrecks our health forever.
The current state of farming was the target of much discussion and derision.
    I recently have been getting schooled on poverty and food insecurity. A recent seminar on poverty was eye opening. Some elementary schools in my area provide free or reduced meals for up to 90% of their students. The school district I live in provides free/reduced cost meals to nearly 10,000 students, almost 40% of the total enrollment. My church provides Thanksgiving meals the families from one area elementary school. Not a huge school, but we will sent 275 family sized meals home with the kids from this school. One comment last year received last year was," thank you, but you don't understand, we can eat for almost a week on what you brought us today."
Last January my wife and I took in some kids through a program called Safe Families. First we hosted a couple of toddlers, children of a single mom, secondly we hosted a brother and sister while mom does some couch hopping, trying to figure out housing.
These kids look at food way different than we do. For the first two months with our toddlers, they devoured quantities that amazed me. I didn't quite know what to make of that. It took almost three months before they started to turn up their nose at any thing. Our most recent hosting the kids ate like food might not be there again. But then would waste food like it had no value. Junk food was the norm. But it's starting to make some sense. When you are homeless or broke, a pantry is a luxury. They showed up with a grocery bag that held all of their groceries. Meal planning is hard if you don't have a kitchen. Or a pan big enough to cook a meal in if you do have a kitchen. You might have a microwave, but no table and chairs. If I'm hungry today, I'm eating today.
I know that some of these problems are driven by poor decisions. I get that. I really do. But we are making decisions for children who had no hand in causing their problem.
    So how are we supposed to tell them how the "system of food" is supposed to work when we don't understand why they make the choices they make? Let me further jump into the politics fray, but saying now we are going to even more limit calories for school kids because "we" know what's making them fat?
Michael Pollan made his mark on the world by saying the food system is broken. Maybe he should try to understand why people, especially the poor the rest of the world, eat differently than he does.
    

Competition and One-Upsmanship

I came across an interesting article today thanks to my friend Dairy Carrie.
John Lancaster wrote a piece for the New Yorker called," A Foodie Repents."
This is the link.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/03/shut-eat
In the article John talks about how much of the food movement is based on insecurity of who we are, and the thought of being able to reinvent ourselves through food.
He makes a lot of good points, but a think he missed the biggest one.
Competition.
For some reason we as humans need to outdo the next guy. Bigger, better, faster, stronger.
Tractor pulls came to the public in the 70's. Today pulling tractors can have jet engines.
Someone invents a pogo stick and someone tries to cross the country on it.
Every wedding proposal is better than the last. If you love you, the proposal needs to be an event.
A bride wants her wedding to be the event everyone is talking about. Quote,"I'm going to have penquins at my wedding. And I need more bling on my dress." (A real quote, and $10,000 more bling)
There's even a thing called mommy shaming. "I'm a better mom than you are because I only use an all-organic diaper service to wash my organic cotton reusable diapers."
As disposable incomes have gone up, more money has gone into the eating experience. 
It used to be supper, today it's an eating experience.
Don't get me wrong, I love people that are passionate about their craft, and that includes chefs, but sometimes the passion can become a win at all costs passion.
"I care more than you do, more than you possibly could."
I don't know what the answer is, but I know we in animal ag need to respond.
One concrete thing we can do is to let people know who we are. We can no longer be a faceless crowd that is easy to attack whenever someone has an axe to grind.
That means putting ourselves out there. Letting folks see us, and in today's world, good or bad, that means social media.

The Idiots Are Everywhere

So a few weeks ago, working in the quiet confines of my shop, I developed an idiot detector.
A little gadget that you could point at at anyone or any article on the web and find its idiot rating.
Some days the idiot rating meter was off the charts. Other days it seemed a bit more reasonable, but it was constantly going off.
The sensitivity was uncanny. Sometimes the simple act of driving past a car would alert me to the idiot behind the wheel. Other times the phone ringing would bring a high alert.
Then last night I took it apart and realized the electronic idiot detector works just as well if you had inadvertently installed the sensor in it backwards....................
Think on that for a moment.....


The stupid thing was pointed at me the whole time..........

They Don't Understand Me

So this past week at World Dairy Expo, I had the opportunity to discuss the fact that I use Twitter and Facebook on a pretty regular basis. The discussion was had with mostly coworkers.

Most of them don’t get it.

I love them to death, but my fascination with social media and what is possible with it, escapes them.

The topic at large came to a head because rather than watch the Vikings get killed by the Packers with a bunch of cheeseheads from my office, I went to a tweetup.

 That term brought howls of amusement from coworkers.

“What in the world is a tweet-up?”

 When you meet friends from twitter IRL. (In Real Life)

“How do you know when a tweetup is happening?”

Someone organizes it and lets folks know. In this case Eric Danzeisen of Seirra Desert Breeders. Thanks Eric.

“Who is going to be there?”

 Not sure. Don’t know. I’ll report back.

“Any ideas who is going to show up?”

 Probably a dairyman from Montana. @mtdairyman. A semen salesman from California. @funwithbulls. One from AZ. @jverbovineaz. A couple of dairymen from Wisconsin @dairycarrie and @jenabently. A polled bull semen supplier from Ontario. @dairybullsonlin. And the list goes on.

“Who can Show up?”

 If you’re friends of the people in this group, we’d love to meet you.

“How can I get involved?”

 Are you on Twitter?

 “No”

 That would seem to be a good place to start.

“What do you talk about?”

 Same stuff that we discuss on twitter, but responses have to be limited to 140 characters or less…….

Selfishness and Selflessness

I'm going to apologize right now for rambling. I've been avoiding this topic for months because I didn't know how to address it. This may never see the light of day, for a variety of reasons.

Just over three months ago my wife and I became foster parents. We got involved with a program called Safe Families. A voluntary program for parents in crisis, designed to give them some support and help before abuse or neglect require that the state needs to get involved. It's church based. It asks the church to be the body of Christ to step up and help those in need. The program was new to our area, and we were among the first families to apply. About three weeks after we got approved, we welcomed into our home siblings aged one and two.

Some details become important here. My wife and I are almost empty nesters. High school, college and married kids are now our life. Our house was never kid proofed. our youngest was six when we moved in. Toddlers aren't our wheelhouse.

For security reason I can't say much about our kids. They are siblings, toddlers, and all kid. Precious beyond what I could have imagined.

They've reminded me a lot about kids, but I learning a lot more about myself as this goes along.

I'm much more selfish than I knew. Many days I resent giving up the freedom that we had at our house prior to their arrival. The ability to takeoff and go is kind of gone. I now remember why we didn't attend a lot of events when our kids were little, and sitting still isn't a big skill of mine and even less for toddlers. Having to leave an event, or not attend shows me a side of me I don't care for.

I used to think I was pretty patient, but I have nowhere near the patience that a single parent needs. The amount of respect I have for someone doing this on their own is tremendous. My wife was traveling for four days recently and I got to be a single dad for that period of time. It was exhausting. Absolutely exhausting. One night of very little sleep and the I don't know that I would have been much good at work the next day. Thankfully they picked a Friday night to keep me up. Most single parents don't have that luxury. Every day is go time.

I'm the most uncomfortable when someone compliments me on what my wife and I are doing. Not every moment is filled with a full measure of Christ's love. Sometimes it's a lot of work, and I get lost in the fact that it is a lot of work. I've always thought that I was giving til it hurt, but that was giving until a tiny bit uncomfortable. So the compliments are hard to accept because my heart doesn't always feel that.

I've been asked by teens that I meet through youth group how I could care for a child that wasn't mine. Those kids were pretty easy to love. The day to day raising of them was someone else's challenge. All I usually lost was a little sleep. Loving these two is both more difficult and much deeper. I rarely deal with tantrums when working with teens, but toddlers are a different story. But nothing beats the hugs and kisses from a child. Nothing.

So why do this? That's a good question. The most obvious answer is because there's a need. It's one of the most glaring in-your-face ways of being asked to show Christ's love to those who need help. But it isn't easy.
I once asked a young lady who asked me for help,"Why did you come to me? I mean, I'm big and old and scary. Why me?"
Her answer floored me. "You don't understand, there wasn't anyone else."
Single parents without a safety net, deal with that kind of situation everyday.

Please don't make me out to be something I'm not. My wife and are are just trying to be faithful. But if you see a program called Safe Families coming to your area, Take a look.
The blessings are out of this world. Literally.

Love

In the New Testament the church leaders of Jesus' day tried to trap him by asking him what commandment was the most important. He responds with,"Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."
He didn't say, "Love them if they are like you.", or "Love the sinner, hate the sin.", or "Call them out on their sin to prove that you love them."
Nope. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself."
So why this post?
This past week, everyone from all sides has been losing their minds over an interview that Phil Robertson gave to GQ magazine. You would have had to live under a rock to have missed it.
While I gave some tougue-in-chekk support to the Robertsons by saying I was going to "Let my hair and beard go all Duck Dynasty", the central gospel message of the interview, in my humble opinion. got lost.
At some point in the article, Phil Robertson says something like,:"The world would be a better place if we just all loved each other."
Love.
So often we get so caught up in the sins part of the salvation story that we chase folks away before we have a chance to be Christ's love to them.
I get the whole sin thing. I'm a sinner. But for someone who doesn't believe the same way I do, it is an instant turn off. The "speck in your eye is more troublesome than the plank in mine" makes me feel like I'm missing Christ's message to love my neighbor..

 Jesus didn't tell me to love them if they changed, he told me to love them. Period.

 When he was alive, I would like to think that Jesus hung out with people like me.
 Imperfect people.
 People who didn't fit the mold of religion at the time.
Prostitutes, tax collectors, shepherds, some long haired duck hunters and possibly even someone as unworthy of being saved as me.

A Life Lost

So they buried a friend of mine today. Not a really close friend, but we grew up in the same small town, so we were "friends". You rode the same bus, had the same teachers, and many of the same friends. The fact that she was two years older than me really didn't matter in the small school we went to. Ten kids to a class, and with grades 5-8 doing everything together, made everyone get to know each other.
She was a beautiful, talented young lady, singer, cheerleader, a person who would talk to anyone. She may have had those in her life who didn't like her, but she and I got along well.

She passed away this week because she couldn't handle her addictions.

Her addictions cost her everything in her life.

Her family, her husband, her kids, her home, and ultimately her life.

She went to sleep last Wednesday evening and never woke up.

She and I hadn't talked in maybe 10 years.

I know folks who had worked with her repeatedly to get help. Rehab numerous times, halfway houses you name it, she had every opportunity to dry out.

But she didn't. And she died.

I know what she was into the last time we talked, she didn't know I knew, it didn't matter. Those around her had decided to love her, but not enable her, and that's how I treated her.

Everyday on the internet I see people being horrible to each other. A lesbian couple gets verbally assaulted on a subway because someone had the "religious" grounds to make them feel like less than deserving of God's love.
A wonderful young lady with a big heart sees something dealing with livestock that she doesn't agree with and she flips out, bad language and all.
A company promotes a campaign that calls farmers "lazy". The young lady that calls them out on it gets hate mail.

I didn't make it to the funeral today because of some medical work I underwent last week, but I know the funeral was a gathering of people who loved that young lady. For all of the bad in her life, and there was horrible stuff, I hope she knew that folks loved her.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this. What if folks knew we cared about them long before they found out about the seemingly little issues that divide us.

What if our outrage was used for outrage?

And what if we loved with that kind of intensity?

That's the world I want to work for.

Gonna miss you Lauren. 
 

Starting the Conversation

I've talked to a lot of kids. A lot of kids. They are the reason that I first got on Facebook. They are a real inspiration to me. But being a kid these days is a tough deal. Much more difficult than it was when I was young. Any parent who say otherwise is not seeing the whole picture. But that's not the reason for this blog.
A good friend of mine, Ray Prock, has been watching my Facebook status and commented that there are a lot of the similairities between what I do with young people and what we do while engaging consumers  about farming.  It turns out he's very right.(It pained me to write that down;) )
So after some though, I've narrowed it down to a few points.

The best opportunities take time.

Rarely do you sit down and have a heart to heart of the first conversation. No one trusts you completely the first time they talk with you. To gain a certain level of trust is something that takes time, it's something you earn. Relationships are that way, they take time. But you need to really care about the other person, beyond just the conversation.

The best conversations came from a connection that wasn't forced.

Most of the time we just talk, share some laughs, talk about what important to them. The very first ag conversation I had with a young person was based on some youth ministry stuff that I volunteer for. Really nice young lady who I knew nothing about. For a year all I had was her first name. She was, might still be, a supporter of peta. We had some great conversations. It was an easy give and take that lasted for a year.

If they want to talk, and you can make it work, you need to make it work.

Timeliness is important, sometimes immediacy is really important, but when they want to talk, talk. A lost opportunity may be exactly that, lost. Now the things that we discuss with consumers might not be as urgent as someone struggling with cutting, depression, or suicide, but everyone wants someone to listen. If you can be that, the rewards are amazing.

Never, I repeat, NEVER, lose it.

When a young person is having a really bad day, possibly because of a bad decision, the last thing they want to hear is someone telling them they are an idiot. They are hoping to hear the voice of reason.Our consumers are wanting the same from us. The comments they make might be made to get a reaction, be careful what that reaction is.

Practice helps.

The more conversations I have, the harder it is to surprise me. It can happen, but repeated conversations lets you anticipate some of what is coming. Knowing what questions to ask and having an informal game plan in place, all make the interaction less stressful for both parties.

Sometimes it won't be a conversation.

There are times when I just need to shut up. I'm a salesman. It's my job to get people to talk. But sometimes they don't want, or don't know how to express what they are feeling. That's a reality of life. Not that an attempt shouldn't be made, but I try not get upset or frustrated if they don't respond by baring their souls. Ag conversations are the same way. We think we know the answers, or are willing to be a listening ear, but that may not be what is needed at that moment. It's a reality.

Well, that's all the wisdom I could extract. I hope it makes sense come morning.....

My Facebook Status. An Update, A Year Later

So about a year ago I mentioned the story behind my Facebook status. For those of you who haven't read it, here's the link
.http://mikesagremarks.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-facebook-status.html
Nearly a year has past since I wrote that blog, and I thought I would give everyone an update.
It's been a pretty eventful year. I had a son and a whole bunch of other kids graduate for high school. These kids had become pretty special to me. They had allowed me to walk along with them through lots of growing up stuff. They shared more of their lives with me than a dad could ever expect. Each one of them was a tremendous blessing to me.
The year held unexpected blessings.
At the top of the list was the opportunity to sit with a young lady, as she opened her heart and asked Jesus to come into her life. I've talked to kids before as they made that commitment, but this was the first time it happened with one of "my" kids. This young person is still a part of my life, and I'm so happy to see God's continued work in her life.
I've been blessed by the young people that God brought into my life in the past on how they continue to be a blessing. Graduations and new jobs,  new towns, and new challenges. A new openness to the challenges life brings, and an opportunity to see God's hand and his love at work. Tremendous personal growth that is sometimes hard to see from the inside, but so very evident to the rest of us. Twitterdad is proud.
God also saw fit to introduce me to some new kids this year. Talks have gone from boyfriends, to parents, to death/suicide and even dogs. I've been asked to pray for them, and continue to pray for them. They continually amaze me, and the big things they have to deal with are staggering. They've become an important part of my life.
 I've been called pops, big poppa, and #standindad. None of those terms are anything I deserve.
 God's work is an amazing thing to behold, and he's taking me along for the ride.

Is Agvocacy Worth the Fight?

I'll be one of the first to admit, sometimes this agvocacy thing is for the birds. Who has the time, or the will to fight all the uninformed and agenda driven anti-ag people out there? And what's to be gained?
When I listened to the newly released Worth the Fight, by The Departed I gave that a little more thought. And here's why I get involved in the "fight".
I'm an old farm kid turned feed salesman.
I have one of the greatest jobs in the world.
Each day I get to work with farmers and ranchers.
They work hard, they play hard. They get to see everyday the wonders of this world in a way that few ever even get a glimpse of. Piglets, calves, crops and weather make up their days.They worry about how they are going to make a living like everyone else, but most of them are in the process of making a life. Not standing on the sidelines wondering, but making their life. They give of themselves in ways that would make most folks envious if they only knew how richly they are rewarded. Not monetarily mind you, but with a satisfaction that they made a difference in someones life.
Are they perfect? Not by a long shot. But they are incredible people. Their way of life deserves to be defended and fought for.
They are "Worth the Fight".

Does Social Media Have Legs?

When I first got into the feed business, I got so frustrated by what I call, "the good ole boys network." I might have the best product, the best programs, and a great price, but still not get the business. So many of the reasons that people were doing business with each other was due to the relationships they had established. It took a lot of time to get a relationship going with many of these folks. But it came down to relationships.
People are comfortable with those they are most comfortable with. No different than anyone else.
Over the last four years I've been navigating the world of social media. I started on Facebook to stay in touch with some wonderful young people I met on a church service project. To see how this new thing called social media would affect their world. At some point I added Twitter in. And my world got a lot bigger, and a lot smaller. I now have friends in the farming community from all over the US and Canada. Dairymen and women, nut farmers, cowboys, pork producers, college students, ranchers, foodies, equipment dealers, agronomists, and people at BPI are among my friends. Displaced farm kids, wanna-be-farm kids, dairy suppliers, calf ranchers, a dairyman from "across the pond", and a couple of farmers from Australia. Many of them have embraced social media as a way of life. Some have become good friends.
 In much of the farming community, social media is viewed primarily as just that, social. It's a part of life that doesn't get to intrude in on the business of business. Conversations about social media and the business community almost always get back to, " how does this help my business". I wish I knew how to make that transition. It's a different way of thinking about doing business.
Does it have any legs? I don't know. But a little while back I got to see what it is capable of accomplishing.
Recently, shareholders for Domino's Pizza voted down a resolution brought forward to eliminate the use of pork produced through the use of gestation stalls. The shareholders voted it down by 80%. A group of farmers decided to thank Domino's for trusting farmers and animal welfare experts to care for animals. First on board was a hog farmer from Missouri named Chris Chinn. She writes a blog thanking Domino's.
So I wrote a blog thanking Domino's for their stand as well, and then we created an event called, Ag Pizza Party in conjunction with a Facebook page called The Truth About Agriculture.
Participants were asked to leave a note thanking Domino's for their support of farmers. In the end, whatever Domino's decides, is their decision to make, but the ag industry was thanking them for going about making that decision the right way.
It went over really well. Pictures were posted from all over the US. Some Domino's stores received stacks of thank yous. The Truth About Agriculture event got thousands of hits. Tens of thousands of hits.
Has that turned into any business? I can't say. I truly don't know. But it bears some watching.

Playing the Blame Game. aka Globe Warning

One subject that is bound to get people crazy is global warming. And it's no wonder. Weather is one of those topics that never seems to get old on the farm, or anywhere else for that matter. Endless hours are spent wondering if we can beat mother nature, or if she is going to beat us.
I sat in on a presentation form a U of M meteorologist this past February on global warming. I don't have his presentation, but here's what I remember.  Weather averages are reported on a 30 years average. In 2010, the average dropped off the decade of the 70's, and picked up the decade of the 2000's. When that happened it changed the average rainfall for Brookings, SD from 19.24" to just over 24". The high temps for the area aren't as high, and the lows aren't as low. But the the high of the day to the overnight lows, aren't changing as much. We are also dealing with more humidity. A dew point of +70 degrees feels tropical, and used to be rare in this area. Last summer we had 7 days with a dew point of over 80 degrees. On July 19th, Morris MN had a dew point of 88 degrees. Rain events are changing as well. In the time frame from 1986 to 2004, our area averaged just over one rain event per year that amounted to over 2 inches. Since 2004, Sioux Falls, SD has had 23 such events, with the largest event being 4.85". The presenter was quick to point out that he wasn't a theorist, but just a numbers guy. Does this change things on the farm? Absolutely. If we can't count on overnight cooling, and have to deal with high humidity, shade and cooling become MUCH more important. More fat cattle of the black variety during the summer is a real situation that needs to be addressed.
So why do I bring this all up? Everyone has been spending the last decade blaming everyone for everything. Claiming something isn't our fault and that it isn't happening are two different things entirely. So many are trying to find fault with everything and everyone that it gets hard to deal with possible issues. FTLB has been available for 20 years and ammonia has been used in food preparations for decades, but is now being blamed for killing us? If one takes a stand in support of technology we get accused of poisoning the planet. Life expectancy is higher than ever, and we are feeding more people than ever before, but still it seems to be in vogue to accuse farmers and ranchers of all sorts of evil.
Is global warming real? I don't know. But I know our winters have been incredibly mild in the northern plains. Europe has been cold. They were trying to skate the canals in Holland this year for only the second time since the 1970's. It hasn't been cold enough for the race for decades.
I know that in today's environment everyone is an expert. The Internet has allowed everyone a voice. But leveling the blame is getting in the way of moving forward.  

Too Much Technology?

Growing up, I was fascinated by my dads hands. They were huge. A game we played as kids involved dropping a quarter through his wedding ring. I think dad wore a size 15 ring. Hands formed by milking cows by hand. Sometime in the 60's they switched to a vacuum pump and bucket milkers. The time spent with each animal went down as the technology increased.
A recent run of events brought this topic to mind for me. But the topic, is one that we seem to running into headfirst.
If we make use of technology in caring for animals, does this diminish their quality of life?
The most recent catalyst for this discussion was a post that highlighted the Lely robotic milkers. Someone I respect a great deal, suggested that this would remove the basic tenets of animal husbandry. This also seems to be the charge leveled against any of today's large farms.
Can any farm with hundreds to thousands of animals really take care of them?
What constitutes care?
This same friend offered that animals make our lives richer, and that we enrich their lives. I can't argue that point, but does an animal need daily interaction with me to be fulfilled?
Is there a different level of interaction that each species would require? And lastly who gets to decide what that level is?
If some of the basic jobs can be done by others/machines, does that diminish what happens on the farm?

When I was growing up, one of the jobs I got, was cleaning the calf barn. With a pitchfork. You know, the manually operated kind. It took a couple of hours each week. Character building kind of work. Within two months of my taking an off the farm job, that barn was being cleaned with a skid loader. They replaced labor with capital. The trend continues today.
Today's farmers are faced with the same issues that people everywhere face.Pay the mortgage, raise a family, and try to improve their quality of life. Growing up on a 40 cow dairy, we rarely took vacations. A week away from the farm was almost unheard of. If an opportunity came up for a day away, it could work, as long as it fit between morning and evening chores. Relief milkers were difficult to come by at best, and impossible to find at worst. The expansion of the dairy allowed for more hired help, more available labor, and more flexibility in time off. 
But has animal care gone down? I'd argue that it has gotten better. The barn of yesteryear were dark dank old caves that lacked much of what we now know contributes greatly to animal welfare. People see animals in barns when on their summer vacations and wish they were out running in the pastures and meadows, but when they get out of their cars they head for the air-conditioned comfort of the motel. Today's barns offer shade, and a great deal of animal comfort. Are they perfect? No, but producers are always on the lookout for cost effective ways to take better care of their animals.
Do farms today look like an updated version of Olde McDonald's Farm? Nope, and most likely never will again. Does that automatically make us evil? Nope, it doesn't

Taking Everything Too Seriously....

So passions a great thing right? Absolutely!!
Maybe not.
Recent events made me wonder why we as humans almost always go over board. What in our DNA causes us to take a passion and turn it into an obsession? We've all met those folks. They look normal, but ask the wrong/right question, and it's off to the races in the woods just outside of Obsessiveville. We can get so caught up in the cause that we lose focus and why the cause is important.
A recent post on the Truth About Agriculture page on Face book really got to me. The poster was asking a farmers thoughts and perspective on the dangers and use of GMO wheat and Monsanto.........
An important detail, there are no GMO varieties of wheat available. None.... The fact that there were different varieties was a surprise as well. But I don't think there was any question that that this person was anything less than earnest in their question. But was the passion was misguided?
What happens when we let ourselves get swept away on the wave of concern? I'm not exactly sure, but there are a few things I know. People and their passions will always be a challenge for every walk of life. Wars are fought because of passions, Religions go to war and kill each other because they feel passionate. We tend to take all of our human walk to extremes.
So sometimes it good to get a good handle on our place in the universe. We are but a speck, on a tiny planet, in a medium sized solar system, in a medium sized galaxy, surrounded by billions of other galaxies. In the big picture of the universe, we are incredibly insignificant. Doesn't that mean we are entirely insignificant?
Not by any means. We should strive each day to make life better for everyone and everything around us.
I was reminded of that this past week at youth group when the "Why are we here?" question was asked. A wise young lady answered,"we are here to glorify God".
Are we using whatever passion we possess to do that? Farming/agvocacy or whatever our calling is.
If we let the passion of any of our causes get too important, then maybe we are taking it too serious.
Passion is awesome, but temper it with knowledge, understanding, and ultimately a caring heart. The world will be a better place.

An Opportunity To Tell Our Story?

I'm a big fan of farm tours. BIG fan. With so many so removed from from what it takes to produce food, tours give us a great opportunity to show folks what we do. But what if they won't show up? Time to get creative.
Ag United of South Dakota sponsors a Breakfast On The Farm in multiple locations every summer. Crowds from 400 to 1000 show up for the free feed. Tour guides set up at different locations answer questions, and it's a great experience.I've talked antibiotic use, cull cows, and ionophores at these events.
But how about WAY out of the box?
In a week or so, the Central Plains Dairy Expo comes to Sioux Falls. The kickoff event is a concert by Sawyer Brown. The floor area of the arena is going to be occupied by dairy producers and dairy industry people. The seating in the rest of the place? For a $10 dollar donation to Feeding South Dakota, the general public gets to come to the concert. They get to interact with people from the dairy industry, and meet "real" producers.
Now, granted, Sioux Falls isn't a huge metropolis, as removed from the ag community as some areas, but it is still a great way to let folks see our industry,
Every year we see a lot of people, mainly kids, coming through the trade show to get a glimpse of what the dairy industry looks like. We need to take advantage of these opportunities. They are coming to us!
So if at a trade show, you see someone wandering around, slightly lost, a little bewildered, or just confused, step up. It might be your moment to AGVOCATE.  

Agvocate or Farm Broadcaster?

When I first started this blog, it was because of a conversation with a young lady named Megan. We talked about what happens on the farm, and did it in a fashion that hopefully was interesting to Megan. I tried to follow Megan's lead, and address what she thought was important. To Megan's credit, she was a very intelligent young lady with good questions and comprehension. It made for a really cool conversation. Since that time, I've watched as this part of agvocacy has exploded. That's what I'm using social media for, not exclusively mind you, but for the outreach part of the message. So are others. Folks are trying to reach out. It's a really good thing.
But what is the message?
A recent blog I wrote reminded the ag community that some of the audience is in the lurkers. But are we putting a message out there that they would appreciate?  Several of the folks a follow on twitter are notorious for the amount of tweets that they turn out about all things ag. Huge amounts of tweets. Many of the tweets, only understandable to someone steeped in ag. 
But what if 90% of them mean nothing to someone outside of ag? Is that a problem? We can step into our "farm speak" so easily that it makes it impossible for a non-ag person to follow. Think of some of the terms that we use regularly. Triple stack, ADG, genomics, and multiple links make the messages hard to follow for the non-ag folks in the audience. Not that we shouldn't use those terms, but be aware.
Think about the lurkers when you have an interaction. Are they going to get engaged with you in what you are discussing. Not every conversation needs to be for them, but neither can we afford to forget them.

A Networking Failure

When I first started in the feed business, the "good ole boys" network frustrated me to no end. I could have a better product, better price and a better group of specialists behind me, and yet not get the business. Over time I became a part of that network, and came to understand why that network existed. People are comfortable with, and do business with, people they like. As I get older, I'm finding it takes less time to find the resources that I need, because I know people who know people. Our like interests make us really good at networking.
Up to a point.
I took a trip out west to visit the World Ag Expo 2012 (#wae12) recently. Thousands of folks attend. While there, I got to participate in a tweetup.  About 15 of us showed up. Fifteen. One five.
We had a ball. Great people. @rayprock @funwithbulls @griminuscattleco the list goes on, for another dozen or so. Great networking time. And we are pretty in touch with the ag folks on twitter.
So how many people in the US population at large are using social media? The best answer a friend could come up with was about 50%. If our #wae12 tweetup was an indication of the number of ag people involved, well, the term epic fail comes to mind.  We need to be intentional in reaching outwards, not inwards.
But beyond the fact that we are outnumbered and outgunned, are we just talking to each other?
Sometimes we just talk to each other.
So here's the challenge. Once you get involved in social media, expand your reach. Look for groups with interests outside of the ag community. Running, cooking, even parenting have their own online communities.
Extend your Ag reach. No more just chatting with the choir.

Trust and an Eraser

Through all the stuff I get to see on social media, I've found some gems and some stinkers. I had several of each this past week.
 One I really liked was this quote.
" some folks just need a pat on the back,..........
of the head,..........
with a hammer...."

But some are more serious. Like this one I shared last week, shared for one young friend in particular.
Trust is like an eraser. It gets smaller and smaller with each mistake.

What I wasn't expecting was the response I got.
 "What do you do when there's no eraser left? And you can't walk away?"

I didn't and don't have an answer for that question. It did how ever make me think about the trust that we try to nurture with consumers.
So often we think to think that the outreach is the all important part of connecting people with the farms. But what happens when there isn't any trust left, and our opponents are so heavily invested in their cause that they can't seem to find a way out or the desire to step away?
A couple of thoughts. Some folks don't want the dialogue, don't egg them on by giving them a platform to beat you up. But be polite. They want you to lose it. Don't give them the satisfaction.
Some people are sort of unlovable. It must hurt to be there. Don't add to their misery.
Our opponents want us to look untrustworthy, don't give them a reason to say,"See, I told you they were a terrible person!"
But it's really hard for me to be around someone that I don't trust. I chose my friends and allies for a good reason. It bothers me a lot when I see someone who is not looking out for others, getting the best of a friend. It ticks me off.
And lastly. If you find yourself to be that person who folks don't trust, remember that trust that can be lost so quickly, will take years to rebuild. Trying to force that won't make it heal faster, but further alienate yourself.
I'm blessed with so many young friends that challenge what I think and how I approach issues. They are each a blessing to me. This young friend and I will continue to talk about trust. Maybe we'll figure something out.....