My wife, Janice, and I were having a discussion last week about the time of our lives when we will no longer be working.  With us being in our sixties, Janice thinks retirement planning is a problem that needs to be solved immediately.  Feeling like I’m not much over 40, I believe retirement is a challenge that I still have time to address.  After all, I’m still making career plans.  I’m opening a seed dealership for Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds, and I’d like to actually build a new set of hog buildings for myself.  I built hundreds of modern hog buildings when I operated my own construction business, but the last one I built on my own property was in the 1970s – and I haven’t used it in 20 years.

Because I’m making future plans for my farm, last week I attended the Coalition to Support Iowa Farmers’ annual “Farming for the Future” conference with the theme of “Doing Things Right.”  We all  know farming for the future can be a real challenge, especially given our current political and regulatory climate.  The real problem, in my opinion, is the last few years have been profitable for farmers.

“Often, the worst decisions are made during the best of times,” said Dr. David Kohl, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech, who was serving as the keynote speaker at last week’s conference.  “When you’re rolling along, you get complacent and forget about the basics.  But always remember that you can’t simply grow your way to wealth.”

Dr. Kohl reminds us that farming has always been a game of cycles: Good weather, bad weather. Good prices, bad prices.  The cycle will continue, he said.  But for the farmers who can channel their emotions while managing their operations, there will be more opportunities than ever in the years ahead!

While farming is very competitive, capital intensive and risky, it’s also enjoyable.  There is so much to be made… and long as you’re looking for a challenge and enjoy solving problems.  Farming reminds me of this quote by Winston Churchill, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”The hope of future opportunities in agriculture led to a sold-out crowd last week inside the Scheman Building on the Iowa State University campus.  Farmers packed the room to listen to a panel discussion on “Emerging Opportunities in Iowa Agriculture.” On-farm dairy processing, calving under roof and niche pork production.  There was even talk about raising fish in Iowa.  If you are interested in the content but weren’t able to attend, video from the conference will be available soon. You can also sign up for an e-newsletter.

Challenges keep me going.  But as much I hate to admit it, Janice makes a good point about my age!

Guest blog post by Lindsay Pingel
Communications Manager, Food Bank of Iowa

Recently, I was doing my weekly grocery run on a busy Saturday afternoon. I weaved my cart up and down the aisles, fought my way through the crowd and finally made it to the checkout line. As I was waiting in line and flipping through the latest magazine selections, something caught my eye.

The family in front of me was taking items out of the cart because they didn’t have enough money. “The car repair made us extra short this month,” said the man, red with embarrassment and shame, as he repeatedly ran his debit card through the machine until finally it worked.

When they left, the cashier was shaking her head and said to me, “I just wish there was something I could do to help them.” My thoughts exactly!

What I witnessed is not uncommon for many Iowans today. One in eight Iowans – approximately 400,000 – is food insecure, meaning they lack the resources to live an active and healthy lifestyle. One out of 5 Iowa children does not know where his next meal will come from. Many of these individuals have been faced with a job loss or unforeseen expense that has brought on the burden of wondering how they will put food on their tables.

During my time at the Food Bank of Iowa, I have wondered what more can be done to help those in need. What am I not doing to make this problem go away? Thankfully, I am reminded and inspired by the compassion and support I see each day. Individuals, businesses, organizations and civic groups show support through monetary donations and food drives; volunteers generously donate their time; and advocates speak about the issue of hunger and its impact on struggling Iowans.

Today especially I’m excited to announce a partnership with the Iowa National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) on the Cold Run for Warm Meals, a 2.5-mile run with all proceeds benefitting the Food Bank of Iowa.  The fun begins at 9 AM on Saturday, March 29, when Confluence Brewery opens for non-runners.  (That’s right!  It’s just as fun to be part of the cheer squad!)  The race beings at 9:30 with awards to be presented at 10:30 AM.  Create a team or register individually.

Together, we can help their neighbors, colleagues, friends and family members struggling with food insecurity!

When Captain Charlie Plumb took the stage yesterday for the opening general session of the Independent Professional Seed Association 25^th Annual Conference in St. Louis, the only noise in the room was the sound of a soldier’s footsteps in the dark.  When he began to speak, you could have heard a pin drop.

“Today I want to take you back to a Prisoner of War camp in Vietnam where you can feel the intense heat baking on the tin roof of your 8 by 8 cell,” said the man, who lived as a POW from ages 24 to 30.  Just five days before his tour of duty was to end, he was shot down and spent the next 2,103 days in a prison.  “It’s important that you get a vivid mental picture. Try your best to smell the stench in the bucket I called my toilet, and taste the salt in the corners of my mouth from my sweat, my tears and my blood.

If I am effective in these few moments we spend together today, you’ll see that the same kind of challenges you face, are the same basic challenges I faced in a prison cell: feelings of fear, loneliness, failure and a breakdown of communication. More importantly, your response to those challenges will be the same response I had to have in the prison camp just to survive.”

“Even though I’m telling a story about myself, the real story is not about me,” he continued. “It’s about you… You won’t face the 8-foot walls that I did, but you will encounter the 8-inch ones.  Those eight inches between your ears can become your biggest barrier.  That’s why it’s important to remember that you can do anything you set your mind on.”

Captain Plumb went on to tell the room full of independent seed company executives how honored he was to be with us because, as the son of a Kansas farmer, he knows we’re the first link in the chain that produces the world’s safest and most abundant food supply.

“This great nation wasn’t built on fairness.  It was built on independence,” he says.  ‘As independent business owners, you have the freedom to go and be!  You also have the freedom to fail.”

If you blame others for your problems, Captain Plumb says you’re giving them control over you– and your life.  He shared tips on he prevented the enemy from having total control over him inside the POW Camp and made them relevant to our lives as civilians:

1. Believe.  Tap into sources of strength that are larger than you.
2. Courage. Have courage to face the day and step up to the plate.
3. Integrity. Be honest. Have moral principles.
4. Humor. Have fun. Laugh. Prank.
5. Return with honor.  Thanks to leadership inside the POW Camp, Plumb says this became their new mantra.

Life is about taking choices, taking risks.  Captain Plumb’s time in the POW camp taught him that sometimes the solution is take another risk.  “The last thing you want to do is get further outside your comfort zone, to get into deeper water, to hurt more,” he’s quoted as saying in a Juneau Empire article.  “The human response is to fall back and seek safety.”

Captain Plumb said he learned in that POW camp that he could still control his attitude.  He could choose to laugh or to cry; he could choose to be positive or negative… but choosing to be negative gave the enemy control over his destiny.

We can all chose to make a positive difference, whether we make a living as a farmer or a seed company owner.  We’re Americans and we enjoy the freedom of independence!

Guest Blog from Farm Safety For Just Kids

Hazardous levels of noise are produced by many things on the farm, including grain dryers, tractors, combines, livestock, chainsaws, and firearms. Any noise that leaves you with ringing in the ears or you are in a noisy location and you have to raise your voice to be heard, the noise is too loud!

Protect your hearing by doing the following:

• Reduce sound levels – When selecting new equipment, ask about sound levels and pick the quietest option.
• Perform routine equipment maintenance – For example, fixing mufflers on engines, lubricating bearings, and replacing worn parts will reduce noise levels and improve farming operations.
• Isolate yourself from noise – Working in motorized equipment equipped with cabs or enclosures will reduce noise exposure.
• Use personal protective equipment – Since purchasing newer, quieter equipment is not always an option, use hearing protection when working in noisy settings. The earmuff style offers the best protection and is easy to use. Expandable ear plugs are the next best option but these require proper insertion to be effective: roll them up, insert into the ear, and hold in place while they expand to fill the ear canal.
• Mark “High Noise Zones” – anywhere there is risk of excessive noise exposure. Have a set of earmuffs or earplugs in or near every high noise setting on the farm.
• Choose the highest Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) – This is usually between 15 and 30 decibels. Chose the hearing protection with the highest NRR value.
• Limit daily exposure duration – Reducing the amount of time you are exposed to noise can limit its harmful effects.

Check out the Great Plains Center For Agriculture Health for more information about preventing hearing loss among our nation’s farmers and agriculture workers.

Interest in food among Iowans continues to spike, mirroring national trends. Eighty-five percent of respondents to an annual poll, commissioned by the Iowa Food & Family Project (Iowa FFP), said they think “often” or “sometimes” about how the food they eat is grown. While that percentage was nearly identical to Iowa FFP’s 2012 consumer pulse survey, intensity of interest increased substantially. Fifty-three percent responded “often think about” compared to 45 percent the previous year.

The annual Iowa consumer pulse survey, conducted recently by CampaignHQ of Brooklyn, queried 500 Iowans active in health and fitness activities. Respondents were primarily female, highly affluent and educated and make the majority of their household’s food purchasing decisions. The survey’s margin of error was 4.3 percent.

Iowans overwhelmingly approve of the job farmers do. Sixty percent had a favorable impression of how farmers care for their cattle, hogs and poultry compared to just 8 percent unfavorable (32 percent were neutral/unsure). Forty-eight percent had a positive impression about farmers as environmental stewards compared to 16 percent unfavorable. Thirty-six percent were neutral or unsure.

The high marks given to farmers by food purchasers has remained consistent since the Iowa FFP’s inaugural consumer trust survey conducted in 2011, said CampaignHQ’s Nicole Schlinger. Farmers retain the confidence of their urban neighbors, but that trust must continually be earned.

“Gaining people’s trust is a key way to maintain your social license to operate,” said Laurie Johns, public relations manager for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, in Mythbusting 101 presentation.  “Shared values are three to five times more important in building trust than demonstrating technical competence.”  Shared values include compassion, responsibility, respect, fairness and truth, Johns said. These values especially resonate with women ages 25 to 54, who make many purchasing decisions within their households.

Increasing consumer confidence in how food is grown by encouraging conversations and providing unique opportunities for farm families and their urban neighbors to become better acquainted is the mission of the Iowa Food & Family Project.  Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds is proud to be one of nearly 40 farm and food retail partners that help support the Iowa FFP’s mission.

Stay tuned for more information about an exciting partnership between Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds and the FFP… more details will be announced soon!

As I write my post today, the weather is giving many Americans a shot of reality!  As much as we like to think we’re in control of our lives, winter storms like this remind us we’re not.  We have to face reality and weather this storm!

Reality is one of those words, which can be misunderstood much like the word sustainable.  The definition of sustainable depends on what group or person is using it.  The definition of reality, on the other hand, can be very specific!

“Reality is the state of things as they actually exist as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them,” says Rhonda Ross, creator of the Thank a Farmer® brand and programming to create understanding between rural and urban societies.  “Reality is the state of quality of having existence or substance.”

Rubbing shoulders with some of the best in entertainment and athletics opened Rhonda to the reality that “anything is possible.”  As a result, she’s accomplished some pretty amazing things.  By age 13, Rhonda was professionally performing her comedy juggling act.  By age 22, she had completed her journalism studies and was singing the National Anthem in venues like Madison Square Garden.

Fortunately for those of us in agriculture, Rhonda is channeling her passion and energy into traveling the countryside, giving kids and their parents a first-hand look at where food comes from.  Her “Thank a Farmer” Facebook page has more than 23,700 fans; she shares interesting facts that on this page that even farmers enjoy.  Rhonda educates others about modern farming in a very entertaining way with her Ag Magic Show.  When she performs at the Iowa State Fair, I always make it a point to visit with her.  I always enjoy learning from her and appreciate her efforts to promote appreciation for what farmers do.

Now back to reality…

I have blogged about many of the ways farmers and our products are perceived.  The way we farm and ranch now is very different from words sung in Old McDonald’s Farm or Disney cartoons.  Today’s agriculture is so vast, and there so many different ways to produce every product that is consumed.

In my own operation, I no-till as much as I can. Does that make the way I farm better than someone that strip tills or minimum tills?  Of course not!  This practice doesn’t work everywhere.

When I visited the Ukraine, I was fascinated by the equipment they used.  Farmers there raise crops very differently than I do.  I use seed that is modified, so that I don’t need as many chemicals and can’t make fewer trips across the field.  Reality is that Ukrainian farmers can’t plant the same seed as I do. They need more tillage and more chemicals to grow their crops.  Right or wrong, this is the reality.

The best way to raise livestock is also an ongoing debate.  In past articles, I have shared struggles with raising pigs outside in Iowa. I try to eliminate all the stress that I can for my animals, so I raise my hogs inside climate-controlled barns.  On a cold, windy day like yesterday with wind chills of 45 degrees below zero, the reality is that my pigs are way better off inside.  Yesterday I shared photos on my Facebook page of how comfortable my pigs really are.  That’s reality!

Farmers and ranchers use their many years of experience plus current technology to continually improve how they raise crops and livestock.  There are reasons I farm the way I do, yet others use emotions to debate it – and to sway the debate!

Emotion plays a big role in the ongoing GMO food labeling debate, too.  A stigma is being created that will keep some people from buying a product labeled this way.  Reality is, non-withstanding all the junk studies, there’s no proof that GMOs are harmful to our health. Fact is, organic and conventionally grown foods do not vary significantly from a nutritional perspective.  Plus, organic food is not guaranteed to be free of pesticides.  Reality is, Americans have many food choices available.

“Today is what you make of it!” I often tell my kids. “There is a silver lining to every cloud,” is another one of my favorite sayings. But today even I am searching for the silver lining as temperatures dip, wind chills hit 45 to 50 below zero, and the wind gusts at 30 miles per hour. Winter Storm Ion is moving across the U.S., bringing the coldest temperatures we’ve experienced in almost two decades.

My Facebook feed is filling up today with posts from friends, who have rescued newborn calves from the elements and moved their newborn lambs into the garage. Faucets are freezing and equipment is breaking. As one of my friends posted, “Expect things to break and breakdown.”

This weather isn’t fit for beast nor man. While farmers are busy caring for their livestock, they must also remember to take care of themselves:

• Dress for the weather – Wear loose-fitting layers. Cover your head. Wear mittens instead of gloves.
• Eat and drink warm foods – Soup, hot dishes and hot chocolate will help you warm you on the inside.  (Sorry to disappoint a few folks, but the age-old practice of drinking alcoholic beverages to keep the body warm in cold weather is the exact opposite of what you should do.)
• Clean and organize – Go vacuum a few rooms or walk up and down the stairs.  Moderate exercise will get your body warm without breaking a sweat, which would obviously cool your body.

We certainly appreciate America’s farmers, who work 365 days a year, regardless of the weather.  We also appreciate all of service workers, who provide behind-the-scenes support including electricians, heating repairmen, truck drivers and others. In honor of all of these hardworking agriculturists, today we’re going to give away this beautiful “God Made a Farmer” plaque by Isabel Bloom. Everyone who likes Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds‘ Facebook page by 5 PM today will be entered in a random drawing.