I Hope We All Make It

Last week, while reading my email, I found my latest copy of the Minnesota Milk Producers (MMPA) Newsletter.  MMPA is a group I proudly joined a couple years ago because of their dedication to Minnesota Dairy farmers, specifically in relation to legislation happening in our state that affects the farmers' way of life.  As I was reading this newsletter, I was immediately drawn to an letter in response to Land Stewardship Project (LSP).  A few weeks previous LSP circulated a letter to rural Minnesota citizens, calling them to action against a proposed "factory farm" in Stevens County Minnesota.  I remembered that I had also received that letter and went to the mail pile.  I had actually filed it with all of my junk mail, because while I appreciate the principles that LSP work for I don't appreciate their approach (scare tactics). 
When I opened the envelope and read the contents I was torn between being sick and being angry.  Sick, because I hate the fact that farmers and rural leaders are pitting themselves against other farmers, and angry for the same reasons.  There were examples of facts that were most certainly being exaggerated in addition to emotionally heavy words like "corporate agriculture", "factory farms", "toxic pollution", "environmental nightmare" and many others.  There were also false claims of health and environmental dangers.
If you want to read the scare tactics, you can go to the LSP web site, and if you want to read MMPA's response please see this link.  I think MMPA has a great response to LSP.  As dairy farmers, we're all in this together. We need to focus on educating the public on farming practices from all styles of farming rather than scaring them into believing that a large farm will be the death of their rural economies and environments.
I know first hand the struggles even a small dairy has with environmental regulations.  In our county we were required to notify all land owners within a one mile radius of our farm of any additions to our animal units or manure storage.  We were also required to submit manure management plans each year and expected surprise annual inspections from our county officer.  I'm not going to lie, these regulations were a pain in our butt, however I am glad that we have them in place to keep all farmers honest in their practices....big or small.  I think the key factor all consumers, rural leaders and farmers forget is that we're all in this together.  We share the same resources, we share water, air and soil.  We want and need to farm in a way that is sustainable, but because we share our environment, what we do to our environment will also affect us.  If a large or small dairy pollutes their water, they are also polluting water for their cows, employees and families.  It's not in anyone's best interest to destroy our environment. 
Moreover, the accusation that large dairies will put small dairies out of business is absurd. Having a larger dairy will help to keep local business running, whether that's feed companies, agronomy companies, lumber yards, equipment dealers, banks, hardware stores, trucking companies, manufacturing/processing plants, and so many more.  $1.00 of milk sold from any sized dairy will generate about $3.00 worth of local economic activity!  Smaller dairies also help local communities!  We need farms of all sizes and styles to have a thriving industry.  Why to small dairies sell out?  They can't afford to upgrade, there isn't another generation to take over the farm, the business plan didn't work, there are many reasons, but to point fingers at large dairies is ridiculous.  We need all sizes, we need each other, and at the end of the day, farming is hard enough the way it is.....I hope we all make it! 

Liberty also means Responsibility

I have always intended this blog to highlight the good work that dairy farmers do everyday for their animals and land.  I have never intended it to be a place for talk of politics, but today, while driving tractor and listening to the radio, I was prompted to include a little politics in my blog.  So here's my story...

Here in Minnesota our media has been filled with so many political ads!  Yesterday, in the mail, we received mailers about our Republican candidate for US House of Representative.  The flier was printed by the Minnesota DFL, and they reported that the Republican candidate had received thousands of tax payer dollars but, if elected, would vote to end government funding to the "poor" and "middle class".  After further inspection of the flier, I discovered that the tax payer dollars that this candidate received were from various Farm Programs for his farming enterprise.  Some of those same funds were distributed to our neighbors and my in laws.  This definitely was a shock to me, to see a simple fact found on the Internet to be skewed in such a way to portray a candidate as an abuser of the system.  I will definitely acknowledge that each political party is guilty of this practice, but that doesn't make it right.  Even more angering was to find out today on the radio, the millions, yes millions of dollars being pumped into the political machine built to confuse and persuade voters. 

As a voter, I take this liberty seriously!  We are so blessed to live in a country that give us a say in how our government operates.  I don't care what political party you vote for or with, but what I do care about is that you take time to seriously consider the responsibility that comes with the liberty of voting.  In my Agricultural Policy class in college we often talked about how ill informed the voters have been in the last few years, and how this has been accelerated through the media.  Instead of researching the issues, voters will vote based on the letter D or R behind a name, or even with the more popular commercials on TV.  As we draw nearer to the election in a few days, I ask each of you to take the time to review the issues that are important to you.  Please vote on those issues instead of voting on the R or the D.  Please take the time to consider issues that are important to you before you vote....and make the best decision for your communities, because voting carries a great responsibility with it, make wise decisions.