 Ryan Goodman is a generational rancher from Arkansas with a degree in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the University of Tennessee, studying beef cattle management. Goodman is one of many farmers using social media to bridge the gap between farmers and urban customers. Follow his story daily at AgricultureProud.com or on Twitter and Facebook. Each weekday Eatocracy features a special food holiday. These can range from raw ingredients, regional specialties, or guilty pleasures that satisfy our sweet tooth. No matter where these foods come from, they have something in common – it all started on a farm. March 19 is National Agriculture Day; one day we can set aside our differences and celebrate the diversity agriculture brings to the table. This encompasses not only farmers, but also everyone involved in growing, processing, transporting, and preparing our food for the table. The Agriculture Council of America organizes the event and support comes from numerous organizations across the agriculture and food spectrum. This day has personal significance to me. A few years ago, someone asked why I was proud to be a part of agriculture. After traveling and working on farms and ranches across the country, I have gained a greater appreciation for the commitment members of the agriculture community make to improve our daily lives. Not everyone will have an opportunity like mine to experience hands-on the science, technology, and conservation work that go into producing the raw materials for food and non-food products we consume every day. Consumers have lost confidence in agriculture practices and we have to improve the transparency of these. The first step is gaining an awareness of what actually occurs in agriculture. Farmers, ranchers, and agriculture organizations are working to open doors and ask for a civil conversation. Can you provide that for them? Join us today to celebrate the abundance of Agriculture. Look for events hosted by your state and local agriculture organizations. If you are online, follow the events in Washington D.C. hosted by the Ag Day organization. The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance is hosting an educational briefing on Capitol Hill and will provide an interactive platform. Follow along on their website, or on Twitter using the hashtags #FoodD and #AgDay. Got a question for Ryan or any of our other farmers? Please share it below and we'll do our best to have a great conversation. Previously: |
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To all of you out there doing what the overwhelming majority cannot – or will not:
Thank you; thank you; thank you.
Dude looks like Colin Hanks
Our blog features farmers and ranchers! From beef to vegetable producers – telling the story of agriculture one person at a time! Take time to visit us and learn about where your food comes from!
http://www.facesofagriculture.blogspot.com
I know a lot of progress has been made in efficiencies, allowing farmers and ranchers to be more productive. Have those new methods helped the impact of ag on the environment or made it worse? How?
thedesigngoddes, we are cotton farmers who use some of the new technology. It has made such a positive impact on the environment on our farm that we would never consider going back to growing conventional cotton. You can read about the cleaner water, air and soil on our blog, http://kissedafarmer.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-buggy-full-of-gmo-cotton.html Thanks to the genetics in our cotton, our farms have been insecticide free for many years now and the beneficial insects have flourished.
Well that's good news.
In Michigan, there is a voluntary program, Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, that helps farms reduce risks to the environment. Take a look at the web page MAEAP.org for more info. I am a technician in this program helping farmers reduce any risks,in particular risks to ground water, on their farms. In most cases farmers are all ready doing a great job in reducing the risks since some of the older farming practices would cost a modern farmer thousands of dollars. Hope that helps.
The new plant tech is helping in reducing the amount of fertilizer, and water needed to raise more food on fewer acres.
More productive is just part of the consideration. There is a wide range of things that can fall under efficiency and technology. More efficient feeding and medical care provides more comfort and production from our animals, but I think that also ties in to environmental considerations, in that we can feed more efficiently. This helps the farmers producing that feed, also, to be more efficient.
We use 'old fashioned' things like composting to make better use of "waste". We also use misting systems to keep animals cooler in hot weather, and make the maximum use of that with fans and 'reusing' the water for plants as much as we can. Drip irrigation also makes efficient use of water, and we're working towards a geothermally heated/cooled, solar/wind barn system for heritage breed rabbits. It's not only more efficient use of resources, but reduces the stress from weather extremes for our rabbits.
Making the best use of our resources helps all of us, and frankly I like that cardinals make our buffers home and that we have owls that hoot-hooo at night. At the same time it needs to be balanced with protecting our birds – but as much as possible is something we all should have an eye towards. :-)
We, too, are open to talking to folks about what we do and food choices. :-)
Farmer Brian here from Indiana. Would love to talk with anyone about my operation! thefarmerslife.com