Many people gain a sense of accomplishment from doing a job well or completing a project.  In my case, I enjoy harvesting crops and the sense of satisfaction that come when the last of the corn is in the bin.  I always think, “Now I can relax.”

But, I find myself involved in so many other things that it’s truly hard to find time to relax.  I had this epiphany while sitting in church on Sunday morning.  (Yep, I know I should be concentrating on the sermon – and I was!)  The sermon made me wonder whether I have done enough for my church. When is enough… well, enough?  I started questioning whether I set the right example for my kids when they were growing up or whether I was too busy.

As busy as I am, I never seem to cross as many items as I’d like off my list.  I have maybe 37 different projects started around my farm and house. There’s a porch I want to add on to the west side of our house, and the door to it is already in place.  Right now it’s a door that leads to nowhere!  I’ve torn the sheet rock off half the laundry room with the intent of making a walk-in closet.  That project is half done.  And whatever you do, don’t ask Janice about our trim work.  I’m very glad I don’t do trim work in the hog barns!

There are projects that I just never seem to be around to doing.  I’ve had the materials on hand to make a waterfall by Janice’s shop for at least 10 years now.  I think that is long enough!  I’m in the process of cleaning up my old steel piles, but that’s easier said than done.  After all, I might need something off that pile to fix something someday.  I’ve been saying this for 40 years now, but I’m still wondering when enough steel is enough. 🙂

This week I had to set aside all of the projects that I wanted to work no in order to do the work that really needed to be done.  It’s time to bring in some new porkers, so that means I’m emptying hog barns this week.  While cleaning hog barns is always a big chore, it’s even more daunting this week as I’m cleaning up after Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV).  I will keep cleaning and disinfecting until it’s time to put in the new pigs because I’m don’t believe there is such a thing as “clean enough.”

There is also work to be done in the political arena.  When can we say “enough is enough” in regards to talking to our elected officials?  That’s an easy answer for me.  “Never!”  We can never stop educating the people we’ve put in office to run our government.  Ag literacy among American politicians is a grave concern.  Farmers can’t afford to say “enough is enough” as it related to the Farm Bill, school lunches, soil conservation and animal welfare.

When have we talked enough about agriculture?  It’s so important that we share information with people, who want to know how their food is grown.  I believe it’s important for me to talk with people about why I raise pigs the way I do and why I grow GMO crops.  Even though I’ve given several interviews, I have several engagements waiting for me right now.  Michael Libbie has invited me to be a guest on his new radio show, Insight on Business the News Hour, and I’m looking forward to finding a date that works for us both.

I’m also gearing up for the classroom where I’ll talk to students in local schools as part of the National Pork Board’s Operation MainStreet program. This is the program through which I’ve actively spoken to civic groups about how I raise pigs.  After nine years of talking to these groups, it’s exciting to branch out into a new focus group!

I’ve also been asked to record a one-hour presentation for Iowa State Extension about genetically modified crops.  I’ve tended to “just wing it” in the past, but now I’m wondering how much preparation is enough.  I enjoy being asked questions and knowing what the audience wants to hear.  I’m still talking about the Ukraine Market Study from July.  Apparently, folks haven’t heard enough yet about that trip!  It amazes me how people, especially farmers, want to know what farmers do in other countries.

Enough is enough for this week’s blog… I must get back to cleaning hog barns!  I’m looking forward to getting get some satisfaction from having those barns spotless and ready for new little pigs.

P.S. I’ve had enough of the word “enough”!

In the past, I was a pig farmer who preferred to stay on my farm and mind my own business.  It was easy to stick my head in the proverbial sand in the 1970s when I was a beginning farmer: land was cheap; commodity prices were good; and I didn’t have a family.

Then the 1980s hit… with a thud!  Prices of land and farm rent skyrocketed.  Meanwhile, the prices for which I could sell my farm products dropped like a rock.  Interest rates hit well over 20%, and I acquired an instant family of four kids.  It was then I realized that I didn’t have a choice but to get involved with government agencies.

Someone decides how the government is run.  While we often like to blame elected officials for making rules or laws they don’t have to follow, someone is influencing HOW they make their decisions.  Now if that isn’t you, just who do you think it will be?  Many groups are pushing their agendas and lobbying elected officials to vote in their favor.  If you agree with that group’s agenda, then all is well.  But what happens when the laws and regulations passed affect my farming operation and your food supply?

Laws and regulations always drive up the cost of any business.  Some of that cost is needed, but often times it’s excessive and wasteful.  Let’s look at soil conservation, for example.  I have written several blogs on this topic already:

• Why use Hammer if the Carrot Works?
• Threats of New Soil Conservation Rules
• Conservation and Compliance

In addition, I’ve had a few of my Letters to the Editor published about soil conservation.  I’ve even received some hate mail in return… thank you very much!!  While I won’t repeat what my hate mail actually said, let’s just say that some folks don’t believe that farmers like me should help decide how soil conservation work.  In so many words, they told me to “mind my own business.”  I find that ironic since that’s exactly what I’m trying to do by getting involved in the rules-making and lawmaking processes!

When things are as valuable as one’s land – and livelihood – our voices deserve to be heard.  I’m a small farmer, but even my farmland is worth millions.  The average farm size in Iowa is approximately 333 acres, and the statewide farmland value posted in March 2013 was $11,515 per acre.  That means the average Iowa farm is valued at nearly $4 million ($3,834,495).  It’s not uncommon for a sole proprietor to farm 1,000 acres, which equates to a land value of $11.5 million.  That’s big money!

Because there is so much at stake, farmers are on the front line of the soil conservation issue.  We have no choice.  How silly it would be to throw away our most expensive tool and asset!  Soil is our main tool and resource.  That’s why I believe it’s so important for farmers to get involved with soil conservation and nutrient management.

The Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy is in place and looks like it will work if given a chance.  Dean Lemke, a Natural Resources Engineer for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), said criticism of the Nutrient Strategy’s voluntary implementation has been premature.

Iowa’s new nutrient reduction plan has been endorsed by the new head of the EPA, Gina McCarthy.  The Iowa Farm Bureau, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), and the Iowa State Extension Service are all encouraging farmers to improve the management of their land.

Yet, I recently read an article in the opinion section of The Des Moines Register about how current laws must be enforced and farmers should be penalized.  Take a look and talk to farmers about what they are doing before you write that letter to the editor!  Ask questions.  Listen and learn.  We must be informed on both sides of this issue!

You’re invited to join us for the fastest field day in the industry!  Rev your engines and join the ride as Freedom Ride V embarks on a beautiful journey through the Loess Hills of western Iowa on Saturday, August 24, 2013.

Click Here to register.  Those who sign up before August 15 will receive a complimentary do-rag or commemorative t-shirt.  Hope to see you on the open road!

Grain gridlock and globalization were hot topics of conversation when nearly 300 Iowa farmers and agribusiness industry leaders gathered July 22-23 for the 2013 Iowa Farm Bureau Economic Summit.

Attendees, like me, were reminded how important it is to prepare for the storm – whether that means increased global competition or rising land prices.  Panelists agreed the agricultural sector can expect changes in the months to come and only good planning will protect their sustainability.

“The consistent message was, ‘Make long-term plans and make sure you’re grounded in reality’,” said IFBF Director of Research and Commodity Services David Miller.  Risk management was certainly the most important take away.  With weather extremes and government policies, it will be critical for farmers keep their finances balanced and not get leveraged.

The one topic that stood out from all the rest for me was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s talk about Farm Bill and his rationale for keeping it a “food and farm bill.”  This bill is really the Farm Bill only in title as 80% of the bill pertains to the food stamp program.  Now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP cost almost $80 billion last year – twice the amount it cost just five years ago.

Sec. Vilsack really, really emphasized the need to keep food stamps and farming in the same bill because, without SNAP, he says farmers have no clout.  (Does this remind anyone else of the comment he made about rural American becoming less and less relevant?)  He then went on to tell us how important the Farm Bill is.  Not only do Americans need food, but according to the Secretary, SNAP is a great program that creates jobs – and a market – for U.S. farmers.  Sec. Vilsack believes that the billions going into SNAP helps famers sell more food!

That reminds me… Last month the Senate Budget Committee reported that between food stamps, housing support, child care, Medicaid and other benefits, the average U.S. Household below the poverty line received $168/day in government support in Fiscal Year 2012.  However, the median U.S. household income averages $137.13/day.  Interesting facts, right?  Yet Secretary Vilsack claims there is very little abuse of the U.S. food stamp program.

Vilsack went on and on about how the Farm Bill benefits everyone, urban and rural.  I understand that SNAP is food and food is farming, but I can’t help but question why two programs with such merit couldn’t stand on independently.

Sec. Vilsack claims the Ag department would be split up between other agencies if we don’t keep the SNAP in the Farm Bill.  From his convincing arguments, one can see how persuasive he must have been as a practicing lawyer.  Vilsack strongly “sold” his ideas, and I’m afraid most people in the audience bought into everything he said.  No one challenged dared to challenge assumptions.  On why Congress needs to pass a unified farm bill and not separate the bill into nutrition and non-nutrition bills, here’s what he said during the Economic Summit:

“They’re not on the farms. They’re not producing the vast majority of what you produce. They don’t understand what you do. They have a hard time even appreciating what you do. When they send members to Congress and to the Senate, they may send folks who do not have an appreciation for what you do and those folks may find it hard to understand the importance of having a safety net: of why crop insurance is not just important for producers but it’s also important for the community where producers live. You’ve got to give them a reason why it’s important for them to think that a farm bill is more than a farm bill. They have to understand that it is a foods bill, that it is a jobs bill, that it will impact their constituents. If you separate those two things, you lose that leverage. You lose that capacity to convince, to persuade, to advocate. Why would you do that?”

Quite frankly, Vilsack knows from personal experience that many folks in Washington don’t understand farming.  Just because he holds the esteemed title of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture doesn’t mean he can appreciate what it’s like to place your future in the hands of God each spring when you plant seed in hopes of harvesting a bumper crop.

Obviously, food is important to everyone.  And everyone is titled to his or her opinion, but this is what makes it so difficult to move forward. How can we afford to spend more money? Do we cut programs? If so, which programs? Who will this affect and how!

I don’t have all the answers, but I will still be part of the conversation. You can bet that I will listen and I will share my thoughts, as well. Farming and food is relevant! More people need to understand that – especially the people we send to Washington, D.C.!

Anyone who’s been a farmer, was married a farmer or has sat around a coffee table with them knows farming is a cyclical business that’s largely depending on supply and demand, and the supply is largely dependent on how fickle Mother Nature is feeling.  During the Iowa Farm Bureau’s 2013 Economic Summit in Ames last week, I learned to not only expect the unexpected but I was reminded about the importance of planning for it.

Honestly, two full days of meetings with more than 20 speakers is a bit of an overload for this old hog farmer!  There was so much information covered that I can’t possibly fit it into one blog post.  Today’s I’ll merely provide a summary, and next week I’ll provide more details about the farm policy discussion.

To begin with, John Phipps was a great emcee.  He kept things moving.  He also shared interesting information and stories from his many travels including Africa.  If you think farming in America is hazardous, it’s nothing compared to Africa!  African farmers are very much at risk of getting killed – and not by their machinery.  It’s a tough political climate with too much unrest and uncertainty.  Land disputes have become life or death situations.  What a contrast Africa is to America where many families engage in transition planning, so the family farm stays in the family for generations to come.

Legacy planning, economics and farmland prices were interesting items of discussion over the course of two days.  A presentation on weather was especially interesting to me.  Iowa State University Extension Climatologist Elwynn Taylors says our weather has been following a predictable cycle and continues to do so.  Ironic, isn’t it?  We’ve been finding our weather unusual, yet the climatologist finds it predictable.  He says we’re entering the third year of a 25-year cycle of unsettled weather:  floods in 2011; drought in 2012; and then both floods and drought-like weather in 2013.  What could be more unsettling?  It sounds like we’ll find out whether we want to or not!

I also enjoyed David Miller’s summary of our recent Black Sea Study Trip. The first question he fielded from the audience was, “How do you get to go on such a trip?”  It was a great trip!  The Ukraine was discussed in several presentations that explored future export trading.  David’s presentation provided a nice segue for Dr. Michael Boehlje’s presentation about globalization and agriculture.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and Dean Lemke, an engineer with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), explained the workings of the new nutrient management program. It’s a very intense and well rounded program, and I’m actually looking forward to this program working.  We also were schooled on nano technology by Suranjan Panigrahi, PH.D., MBA.  It’s unbelievable the things that are possible now!  Most of this presentation went way over my head – and being half deaf didn’t help – but it was still very fascinating.

The final speaker of the conference was John Hinners of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, who told us that meat is probably the brightest spot in the U.S. export markets.  The rest of the world is looking to improve their diet, and we’re a low-cost producer of protein.  Asia will remain our biggest buyer simply because of the large numbers of people there.

I love ending on a positive note!  Be sure to tune in next week when I recap U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s presentation about the Farm Bill.