“Musings of a Pig Farmer” by Larry Sailer

Since this is November and folks on social media platforms are sharing #thanks, I’d like to say how thankful I am to have a chance to share my thoughts weekly on TheFieldPosition.

This past week I posted a comment on Facebook for the purpose of seeing how closely it would be read. I wrote: “Spending so much time in the fields this fall, I have given this a lot of thought, and decided I should say, something profound…”

The placement of a comma can be overlooked so easily. I know many really were in suspense, waiting for what I had to say.  Others caught it right away!

This brings up a point I often make about how we must listen first before determining what another person is trying to say.  I made this statement in Michele Payn-Knoper’s book, No More Food Fight, “A conversation must include listening. I need to know the concerns of people and to learn how they view what I do. I don’t live on Old McDonald’s Farm anymore and my farm animals are not the same as the cartoon characters you see on TV.”

The difficult part for me is that too many conversations are one sided.  For example, the anti-GMO crowd has what seems to be an unending list of talking point.  Emotion rules with talk of Agent Orange and fears that mutinational corporations are taking over our food supply.  The real clear and present Danger is opposing GMOs.  There have been so many good points made about GMOs that the debate should be over, but emotion rules!

I learned a new word today, palaver, as in The Vatican Enters a GMO “Palaver.”   I’ll admit that I had no idea what this word meant before I read this Agri-Pulse headline.  I looked it up to find palaver means “a patient and thorough exploration of a major problem.”  The word I key in on here is “patient,” and I take this to mean to listen!

Just think the progress that could be made if we had a palaver on the Farm Bill right now!  An article by Brigitte McMinn explains how regulations are paved with good intentions, but it questions what good our government regulations really accomplish and at what cost.  This article takes on the SNAP program and how it became connected to the Farm Bill.  It also digs in to a part of the bill pushed by HSUS to more regulate animal welfare.  There’s a really important call to action at the end, so please read it!

I know getting involved takes time and effort, but keep in mind my new word for the week – palaver!  Tomorrow on #AgChat, there will be discussions on ag legislation and the Farm Bill.  Hopefully, you can join the conversation between 8-10 p.m. EST.  Remember, your voice can’t be heard if you don’t speak up for agriculture!

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Today is Day 1 of a 30-day blogging series initiated by Holly Spangler of Wallaces Farmer / Farm Progress magazines to help create understanding between farmers and non-farmers.  Holly will be blogging about 30 Days of Five Things.  For example: Five Things an Honest Farmwife Admits. Five Things You Need to Know at the Grocery Story. Five Things to Tell Your Friends about GMOs. The list just goes on…

Sounds like a blog worth reading, right?  I’m looking forward to it.  And I’ll admit, my own desire to create blog posts that people want to read every day is causing me a little anxiety.  I tried brainstorming a list of topics.  I’ve fretted about unique story ideas, but I finally decided that I’m simply going to write about 30 Days of Farming, Food & Family – because that’s what we do on TheFieldPosition.com.

Each Tuesday we’ll continue to post Larry Sailer’s “Musings of a Pig Farmer.”  Now that harvest is wrapping up across Latham Country, we’ll replace our Wednesday Crop Report feature with an (Almost) Wordless Wednesday post to describe our soybean production process.  Throwback Thursdays will give you a look into the Latham archives as we show how our seed company, as well as farming in general, have changed over the past 65 years.  Each Friday we’ll continue to feature a farm family and a favorite recipe.

Since it’s the first Friday of November, I’m pleased to feature one of the farming community’s leading bloggers.  Judi Graff, aka FARMnWIFE (@farmnwife on Twitter), describes herself as “a wife who farms in the middle of the Midwest. I love to show farmers and ag businesses how to make a website work for them. From simply telling your farm story to creating new business opportunities, it’s amazing where a website can take you.”

Oh, the places Judi has gone!  She first launched a website in 2007 to show her three kids showing their cattle.  Since her children are homeschooled, many visitors to her Kids Cattle website were others whom homeschool their children but aren’t familiar with farming.  These “city moms” saw Judi’s posts about cattle shows and started asking questions about farming, which led Judi to start blogging in 2007.

Then in 2009, Judi started the “Big Green Combine” blog about the purchase of a pre-owned John Deere combine after her family had harvested for 15 years with red ones.  That blog documented the harvest season, which turned out to be one of the most challenging seasons. Rains fell frequently that fall and harvest wasn’t complete until Dec. 13, after the ground had frozen, and they could reenter the fields.  The “Big Green Combine” blog became a written history of the Graff family farm and will provide insight into the family’s heritage for generations to come.

A short time later, Judi started another site for her family’s farming operation.  Because it became extremely challenging to keep all blogs current, she joined them together.  Now all past and current posts may be viewed at Graff Land and Livestock.

“My focus for blogging is really on telling our farming story and recording events for generations to come.  It’s our family’s heritage, and if we don’t record it, it will be lost,” says Judi.  “If I can do some advocating along the way, even better.  Blog on, baby!”

Due to her experience with most blogging platforms, other farmers began asking Judi how they could get started.  That led her to create FARMnWIFE, where she helps farmers and ag business owners make their sites productive.  She also gives presentations to social media and ag organizations like #140conference and AgChat.  I had the pleasure of meeting Judi at one of these gatherings, and today I’m honored that she is sharing one of her family’s favorite recipes with us on TheFieldPosition.

“This recipe is always requested at family gatherings. It’s so silly how easy it is, but everyone loves it!” says Judi.

Simple and delicious…  That’s my mantra in the kitchen.  You can bet I’ll be whipping up this casserole for our family’s Thanksgiving potluck.  Thanks again for sharing, Judi!

“Musings of a Pig Farmer” by Larry Sailer

Many people say “windshield time” gives them time to think.  Imagine how much “windshield time” the average farmer has during fall harvest. I’ll tell you, it’s enough to solve the world’s problems – or at least provide some perspective on the mess our government has created!

Most Americans must balance their personal budgets, which requires reducing expenditures and increasing revenue whenever possible.  That might mean someone picks up a second or third job.  Others might forgo new clothes or a new car in favor of second-hand clothing or a used vehicle.  But, our government doesn’t seem to take this same common sense approach to resolving its financial issues.

Two weeks ago the U.S. government “shut down.”  From what I gather, about 17% of the government is staying home yet it doesn’t appear that cut is enough. Why not? Many government officials blame the lack of job creation (real job creation).  I also believe jobs are key – one key.

While I’m a pig farmer and not an economist, I understand that good jobs fuel tax revenue! More jobs equal more income for the budget, but creating jobs isn’t as simple as it sounds.

My experience running a construction business during the 1980s Farm Crisis provided me with insight on the problems a business owner can have creating jobs:

1. It’s a challenge to find employees competent enough to follow directions and to complete a given task independently.  Education is failing our working class. (Oh… did I say I would be politically correct?  I’m choosing to be truthful instead!)
2. Too many employees prefer to collect a paycheck rather than earn their pay.  Too many employees today believe they deserves everything (i.e. is entitled) from their employer.  Not all jobs are easy.  Construction, like farming, requires a lot of manual labor.  It’s hard work, so many of my new hires wouldn’t return on Day 2.  It wasn’t uncommon for a guy to work for a week or two and then not return once he received his first paycheck.  Others would quit as soon as their child support papers arrived.
3. The third problem I had was insurance. My insurance bill was staggering as I had insurance on my work trucks, plus liability insurance and unemployment insurance.
4. Energy costs can really add up. We had business in 10 states involving a lot of travel.
5. The fifth problem I had was government regulation!  It was the biggest problem because government regs effect all the other problem plus some.

Less government and less regulation would create more jobs, leading to more tax revenue. More tax revenue equals less debt.

This concept sounds so simple, doesn’t it?  Yet our illustrious leaders in D.C. can grasp it.  They don’t understand that job creation alone isn’t enough to solve our federal deficit.  Why?  Because the more revenue generated by the U.S. government, the more money it spends! Saying we need to cut spending won’t solve a thing because talk is cheap.

In an article published October 18 by the Wall Street Journal, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan says he thinks mistakes were made quite some time ago and the situation has escalated over recent years.  He said his biggest revelation came about a year ago when he was reviewing gross domestic savings numbers. He found the increase in entitlements has closely corresponded to a decline in the country’s savings.

“We had this extraordinary increase in benefits, with each party trying to outbid the other,” Greenspan is quoted in the WSJ. “That practice has been eroding the country’s flow of savings that’s so critical in financing our capital investment.” The decline in savings has been partly offset by borrowing from abroad, which brings us to our current foreign debt: $5 trillion and counting.”

Greenspan says he is baffled by all the blame that has been piled on him for the current economic situation. When a man of this stature can admit he is flabbergasted, we should take note.

But what really struck me when I read the October 19^th WSJ article is how fear and emotion are the driving forces that shape people’s opinions.  This is very true relating back to last Tuesday’s blog.  Concerns over GMOs in foods is totally about fear! Science takes a back seat and doesn’t get read, just like Alan Greenspans’ rebuttal to Professor Taylor’s statement about the housing bubble.