My wife, Janice, and I have been looking through family photos and gathering material to make a historical video for our grandson Zach’s high school graduation present. Seeing all of these old pictures made me reminisce about my farming career.

Growing up, I have fond memories playing with one of those little red wagons. I also remember spending my fair share of time doing chores. Multi-generations were involved on the farm, and I remember learning from my grandfather Jake. Mom had a chicken house full of laying hens that earned grocery money for our growing family that included seven kids. Gathering eggs in a wire basket was something we all learned at an early age!

In addition to fresh eggs, we drank milk from our cows. We also ate home-raised chickens, beef from our own cattle and pork from our hogs. That’s the way it was done.

Farming required lots of manual labor from lots of family members because we didn’t have modern technology! Plowing the ground black was somewhat a source of pride as you were considered doing a bad job of farming if there was a corn stalk showing after you plowed! We spread lots of manure, usually close to the barns because it took too much time with slow tractors to haul it to fields that were further away. No manure management plans were written. We needed lots and lots of tillage to control weeds because there weren’t herbicides and pesticides.

Sounds great… right? Not so!

Even though we used very few chemicals, the wildlife populations were scarce on our farm compared to now. We had more fox and jack rabbits, but I can only remember one deer as a kid.

I also remember seeing so much soil erosion, and black dirt filled the air when the wind blew. Soil filled the ditches, which needed to be cleaned. Each spring we’d have to plow the dirt “drifts” away from the fence rows, and we’d have to fill in gullies that washed through the fields. Yields were pitiful compared to today, too!

Do we want to talk about livestock? The weather was harsh and housing conditions were crude by today’s standards, so I don’t think we even need to go there!

I will say, however, that we thought we were doing a great job of raising food back then. Each year we implemented new ideas, and we got better! Agriculture has continued to evolve. Fast forward to today, and we’re even better. Of course, we’re not perfect but we are better than we were 50 years ago. And you can bet that every year we will continue to get better and better at raising food!

I loved growing up on the farm, but I wouldn’t go back to “the good old days.” We produce much more output (food), with much less input (herbicide, pesticides, erosion). There’s no doubt in my mind that farmers today are doing a much better job of taking care of the environment, our soil, and our water. After all, I’ve “lived” farming for 50-plus years!

While we were broadcasting live yesterday on 1040 WHO Radio at JDM Farms near Redfield in Central Iowa, Latham® dealer Michael Meyers was turning up a little dust as he finished planting corn. Around noon, he and his father were switching over to begin planting soybeans.

Meanwhile, many farmers in North Central Iowa were working ground in hopes it would be fit for planting today. We have yet to plant a seed at Latham HQ, and once we get in the field, we’ll likely have to plant around many wet spots. This Facebook post yesterday by Laura Cunningham of Skyview Farms near Nora Springs in North Central Iowa sums up the feeling of many locals:

Hear that? That’s a sigh of relief from all farm wives in the area with pent up farmer hubbies. Field work has begun, thank the Lord! Now if only we could miss this rain coming…

Today’s local forecast calls for a high of 80° with 20% chance of precipitation. Those numbers change tomorrow when a storm system is predicted to move into the area, bringing a 70% chance of rain that continues into the early hours of Friday. You can bet farmers will be making tracks, covering as much ground as possible while the skies are clear!

Giving to others, without any expectation of receiving anything in return, can be one of the most satisfying works in life. Even though I volunteer without expecting anything, the rewards have been so great! It’s hard to describe the feelings I’ve experienced while watching a child learn about life by doing a 4-H project or an elderly hospice patient enjoy one last time fishing.

The fact that fewer Americans are willing to give of their time may be leading to larger government. When I think about how much the U.S. government has grown, I wonder what society would be like with less government. Apathy grows as society decides to depend more on government and less on themselves.

Because I care deeply about what happens on my family farm, I began volunteering with farm organizations during the 1980s Farm Crisis. Times were very tough, and change needed to happen! I can tell you from personal experience that our government’s efforts at that time were a dismal failure. Huge amounts of money were thrown at problems, and often times, government involvement just making things worse.

No one understands the problem like the people living it! That’s why it’s so important to get involved at the grassroots level. Through the National Pork Board’s speaker corps, Operation Main Street, I have had the opportunity to present to groups such as the Kiwanis, Lions Clubs, and many civic organizations that I had never before heard of. The definition of a civic organization is “a structure that benefits a community.” It has been eye-opening to learn what civic groups can accomplish! One commonality between these groups, however, is the growing lack of volunteers.

Hospice also is in need of people. I began involved with this organization about five years ago. While it has been the most emotional volunteer work I do, it also has been most fulfilling.

Another area where volunteers are needed is farm organizations. Grassroots efforts lead to better representation. I have done much lobbying and have gotten to know many elected officials. What I can’t understand is why more folks don’t have a voice in “our” government! This process starts on the local level, so I started by attending our caucus in the little town near my farm where I was elected as a delegate to the county and district levels. At the district level, we developed an agenda to help us decide what candidates “fit” with our beliefs. Of course, not every delegate had the same belief system. Developing a platform definitely required compromise, but we worked together and got the job done.

It takes the involvement of many people to make a civilized society work. If like me, you prefer a volunteer society over government control and regulation, then I hope you’ll get involved in the policy making process.

I’ve farmed long enough that I sometimes wake up early. I don’t want to sleep too late because there is livestock to be fed and crops to be planted, so I have a big clock that I can read in the dark to know whether it’s really time to get up or try to go back to sleep. When I saw 2 AM on Monday morning, I turned on 1040 WHO Radio where I can usually be lulled back to sleep by the “Coast to Coast” program.

But last night, I experienced a living nightmare when I heard the voice of Wayne Pacelle, President/CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Nothing makes my blood boil faster than that smooth talker! Janice even woke up and tried to convince me to shut off the radio and go back to sleep, but I was wide awake as I listened to the same old sound bites and misinformation Wayne always shares.

What was different about this program, however, was the admissions that activists go under cover. Not only Cody Carlson admits to, but he’s very proud of lying his way into animal operations. He looks for ways to come up with footage that will make an operation look bad. He even shares how he spent weeks filming to get some video to take public!

Also on the program was HSUS public policy director, Matthew Dominguez, who railed against laws that are meant to keep undercover, doctored up videos from inflaming fear about livestock operations.  There was so much hype and untruths by these three men, and the program host just keep egging them on about factory farms!

The first caller to the program wanted to hear from farmers. George Knapp, the host, answered this question by saying there is no way a farmer would come on his show to debate with his current guests. His opinion was that farmers want to hide all the bad things they’re doing. “How could farmers possibly defend torturing animals?” he asked.

Of course, Matt and Cody agreed with George. Wayne wasn’t heard from again after the first hour. This makes for good radio, but I know these men know better. I have personally been sharing what I do and why. You’d think they have never heard of Google! There are many farmers today making a huge effort to share why we raise livestock the way we do.

For almost 10 years now, I have been sharing the experiences I’ve had while raising pigs for 50 years. I try to explain how much we have improved their care by moving them inside climate controlled buildings, away from the harsh winter weather and hot summers. This was done for the comfort of the animals. They have better nutrition and better housing because of these new technologies.

Gestation stalls were condemned by this show. This piece of equipment seems to be a lightning rod for animal activist! Even Temple Grandin has condemned stalls. The problem is, I have personal experience raising gestating sows many different ways. I can tell you these stalls were designed for the welfare of the sow! There have been several studies now showing, if the sow can chose between being in a crate or in with a group, she picks the crate over 90 percent of the time!

“Coast to Coast” talked many times about how farming should be like Old McDonald’s Farm instead of the big, bad factory farms. Truth is, over 90% of today’s farms are “family farms.” Today’s family farmers are growing food the best way they know how, using all the new technology they can learn to keep animals stress free. Growing the best, safest food they can for my family and yours to enjoy!