The world is a big place, but it’s getting smaller every year. The “worldwide web” connects us at the touch of a button. Foreign investors are buying up farmland here in the Midwest, as well as across the globe. The current U.S. election cycle has added to the noise and confusion about food and farming.

While driving hundreds of miles this past week, I couldn’t help but think of the global picture. My mind has been on the Ukraine. I keep pondering an article printed July 30^th in The Guardian entitled, “Ukraine agribusiness firms in ‘quiet land grab’ with development finance.”

The government – and politics – has a big influence in Ukraine. When I traveled there two years ago as part of the Iowa Farm Bureau’s Black Sea Study Trip, we saw how farmers were really starting to make farming work. The country and its farmers had struggled to develop infrastructure and the know-how to work independently after the Soviet Union and its collective state farms were dismantled in the 1990s. Tracts of land, in about 5-acre parcels, were distributed among the population.

Farmers found a way to put together tracts large enough to gain some efficiency of scale, and during our visit, many of them were optimistic about the future. Times change, however, and agriculture in that region seems to hit some proverbial bumps in the road due to an ongoing power struggle between Russia and the EU.

Small Ukrainian farmers have found financing very hard to come by, yet the wealthiest farmers have been able to expand their operations through loans from a branch of the World Bank known as the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Hundreds of millions of dollars have been loaned, according to that article in The Guardian, due to a mandate to help end global poverty:

“The IFC, which like all World Bank institutions has an explicit mandate to end global poverty, says its investments in MHP have created jobs and supported food security in Ukraine and beyond. Central to the IFC’s mission is a policy to ‘do no harm’ and achieve positive development outcomes by investing in the private sector.”

The article goes on to share how much of this money has been loaned to build the Ukraine’s largest chicken production and processing facility. Residents in the area are concerned about noise and water pollution, yet their concerns seem to be falling upon deaf ears.

I hope you’ll take some time to read the entire article. Then think about where we are in this country – and where we could be. Politics, and the officials in power, definitely impact lives. Whom we elect makes a difference. Do America a favor and be sure you know how each candidate stands on positions of interest to you!

Posts Related to Ukraine:

• Learning About Ag from Half a World Away
• Farmers Markets Open 24/5 in Ukraine
• How Eastern Europe’s Farm Measure Up

As I was reading the Sunday paper – without bothering first to find my reading glasses – I was a little startled by what I read. Then I found my glasses, read the article once again and realized that my eyes weren’t deceiving me. The article was startling!

This experienced reminded me about some people’s perceptions about farming. I’m often startled when a non-farmer looks at me and starts a conversation by saying, “I hear…”

Some non-farmers believe they can solve every “perceived” problem we have in agriculture without any experience in the day-to-day operations of farms. They hear we don’t need to use any chemicals, and most of them don’t give any thought as to why chemicals are used. They hear GMOs are bad, so they tell us we shouldn’t plant them. These same folks often don’t know there aren’t any nutritional differences between conventionally and organically raised foods. They also don’t know the huge benefits genetically modified insulin has for diabetics.

It seems these days many people are just interested in fighting for a cause: calling for reduced use of farm chemicals to preserve water quality; advocating for a plant-based diet; or supporting organic production to save humanity. (NOTE: No human deaths have been caused by GMOs, but millions of people die unnecessarily each year because Golden Rice has been stalled by GMO opponents.)

Another cause-related issue that’s making recent headlines is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) to provide “transitioning service members with agricultural training.” The USDA always seems to find money for feel-good programs like its Food for Progress Program that helps foreign farmers expand their operations. Meanwhile, the DOD can’t seem to ever find funding. Sounds like a beautiful match, right?

This joint effort is aimed at service people returning to civilian life. With most government programs, it’s so tough to jump through all the hoops to meet the requirements. An article published yesterday by Agri-Pulse states:

“According to the USDA, this initiative will ensure the estimated 200,000 service members who complete the Transition Assistance Program annually have access to USDA programs ranging from farm loans to conservation programs to nutrition assistance to rural rental housing and homeownership opportunities.”

I feel better just reading that! (Insert sarcasm here.) Don’t you? But wait… do any of these servicemen or women know anything about farming? I’m not saying that a person who didn’t grow up on a farm can’t farm, but I am saying it will be tougher for him or her. The article states, “members leave the military with a variety of essential skills – including leadership and discipline – that could be directly applied to a career in agriculture.” If only that’s all it took!

Further down the article, it reads that the USDA gave 6,500 veterans $438 million in farm loans. That sounds like a huge amount of money until you take into consideration that money was over a 6-year period. According to my math, about one half of one percent of the 200,000 veterans are eligible each year for this program! Each farmer in this program, on average, received $67,384. That’s not much money to buy a farm of any size or even make improvements to existing buildings. That amount could buy one nice, used tractor.

The farm program was cut by The Sequester program, yet the USDA is creating new programs. Billions and billions of dollars’ worth of programs! They don’t have a clue where it all goes, but I’m sure it makes them feel good giving it away. The question is, “How much good are these programs really doing?”

Maybe I’m not reading this right. Maybe I’m just grouchy. Or maybe, just maybe, that $438 million would be better spent on the more serious health and mental problems many of returning military members face.

I’m writing this blog late on Labor Day after driving about 700 miles home from Oklahoma City. I had so much fun over the holiday weekend with four of my granddaughters, one just over a week old!

Three granddaughters and I left my wife, Janice, with young Keely for another week. The girls were pretty subdued on the ride home, which gave me time to reflect. I couldn’t help but wonder what these young girls have to look forward to… What will our country look like 50 years from now?

These days it seems that plenty of folks are full of doom and gloom about the direction our country is headed. With events like those in Ferguson and the recent murder of a police officer in Texas, it’s easy to get caught up in the negativity. But we must find hope! I think back to national events in my life time, recalling the race riots of the 60s. There were war protests on college campuses. President Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were all assassinated! Yet, strong leadership and commitment by the people got the U.S. through those tough times.

“If you have a strong commitment to your goals and dreams, if you wake up every day with a passion to do your job, everything is possible.” This quote by Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc, Paralympic Champion and World Record Holder, popped up in my newsfeed. Her inspiring words really hit home tonight, as I truly believe with faith and determination, we will overcome our problems.

Then I thought about how Petitclerc’s words applied to #RealPigFarming. (Yes, it always comes back to pigs with me!) I’m fortunate to work at a job about which I am passionate, but I see so many people just putting in their time. They put in their 8-hour shift, and then they clock out. This lack of work ethic is not unique to the livestock industry, but the consequences are greater. Working with animals takes patience. If you don’t like animals, than this isn’t the job you should have! Those animals needs us to always do the right thing, every day, even when we are worn out

Farming, whether you’re raising crops or livestock, requires dedication. Farming is hard work and the hours are often unpredictable. Sometimes the job just doesn’t end. Passion is what drives us to put in extra time – often times without pay – and to do the right thing when no one is looking. Passion inspires us to do better, to be better. Passion also fuels us to reach our goals and dreams.

Speaking of dreams, what happened to the American dream? Could all the “help wanted” signs in windows and ads in newspapers be the result of a nation filled with people who lack goals, dreams and hope? Even if one of these jobs isn’t your dream job, it’s a place to start as you work your way into other positions with more responsibility.

It’s next to impossible to start farming from scratch, yet we’re seeing a real labor shortage in agriculture. Fruit and vegetable production is especially labor-intensive. Entry-level salaries for agriculture and life sciences graduates remain strong, with positive average salary increases in most sectors of the industry. Agriculture is like any field; you start where you can and work your way up! Are today’s kid being encouraged to dream big and reach to work toward reaching their dreams?

My mind was racing with thoughts as I drove down the road today. I see so much potential in today’s kids, and I have high hopes that this next generation will bring it all back together! Let’s get our schools back to encouraging accomplishment. Let’s encourage kids to pursue their passions help them achieve their full potential!

Today I really wanted to write about what I love doing and that’s working with pigs! But as I drank my coffee and read a particular blog on Monday morning, I decided I needed to take a non-ag topic one step further.

Greg Peterson, of the famed Peterson Farm Brothers, posted a blog entitled, “My opinion as a Christian of what the Bible says about homosexuality.” As I read this post, I became more and more amazed by how grounded this young man is! The Peterson Brothers have been great advocates for agriculture with their entertaining and informative videos, but this particular blog post goes beyond agriculture.

While at first glance it may appear that Greg is stepping outside his bailiwick, his faith is a large part of his personal identity. The cover photo on the Peterson Farm Bros Facebook page makes their priorities clear: “Faith. Family. Farming.”

Greg’s blog post pretty much focuses on one subject, but he makes several good points including:

• It is my goal as a Christian to love each and every person on this earth, regardless of what they believe, the choices they make, or how they treat me.
• Loving someone does not necessarily mean agreeing with what they believe or what they do.
• We can have different opinions and still be friends. Love between two people can exist despite differing opinions.

Just think how much better our world would be if we all adhered to these three basic “rules”! There is so much strife and discord in the world today from what happened in Ferguson to the July attack on a U.S. military recruitment facility to Friday night’s cold-blooded, cowardly killing of a Texas deputy and Saturday’s protest by Black Lives Matter.

Just think how much better off agriculture as a whole would be if we adhered to the “golden rule” when discussing topics like conventional farming vs. organic farming, GMOs vs. non-GMOs, standardized food labeling, and the list goes on! Why must food fights turn disagreeable… Is cheap food leading to entitled Americans? Food is so economical here that we can choose food for our families based on our personal preferences, and we have such choices because we live in a free America!

Like Greg Peterson, I believe that we are not here to judge. I also believe we should do what we can to respect others’ viewpoints. We must understand that everyone grew up in with different experiences that helped formed how they think and what they believe. That’s why it’s so important for us to listen and try to understand why people think the way they do. After all, a civil discussion can lead to mutual understanding.

I have other opinions that are very similar to Greg’s, and perhaps those beliefs have been shaped by our farm upbringing. As an American, I expect to have the freedom to worship and live the way I see fit.

As a society, it feels like we’re losing our way. It’s time to get back to the value system that shaped this great country. It’s time for all of us to work hard and earn what we receive. I honestly believe that too much is free in this world now, and it’s skewing how we live and think. Hard work, determination and faith is what made this country great. Let’s head in that direction again!