Agriculture is an important part of any society and nation. Without people in agriculture there would be no food to eat. In America this month is National Dairy Month. June highlights the benefits of eating dairy in one's diet. The National Dairy Council, NDC, runs the program as well as others such as Fuel Up to Play 60 in collaboration with the National Football League. Through these programs the NDC seeks to get information out on nutrition education. This is a necessity as many Americans are removed from agriculture. In Ireland, where agriculture can be seen just a couple of minutes outside of any major city, the people are in contact with agriculture almost every day. Sadly this is not the same in America. Many people grow up and never step foot on a farm, grow a vegetable, or just pick an apple.
 
Growing up in agricultural based Washington County, New York I was surrounded by farms and woodland. My family raised a couple of dairy heifers and beef cattle at a time and would frequent the farms that my mothers family has. I knew that people were not involved in farming, but I did not realize that so many of those folks were the major voices against main farming practices. In the two years that I went to The Ohio State University I met many people with strong opinions about the way modern farming is done, but many had never been on a real farm and seen the operation that gives us our food supply. I challenge anyone reading this who has not stepped a foot on a farm to reach out to a farmer and shadow him or her for a day. Learn about the farming practices they use every day. See why something is done and the reason behind the practice.
 
This past year there have been many out cries in the farming community to misleading information thrown around by major companies. Leading the pack is Chipotle and their Farmed and Dangerous video as well as their campaign featuring where their food comes from. Check out their website that is "dedicated to creating a sustainable, healthful and equitable food future" http://www.cultivatefoundation.org/ This blog post is not to be defensive and get angry at the philosophy of Chipotle, but to challenge you to look further into the information before you believe anything. We live in a wireless world where anything online is believed to be true, but it's not. There is still information out there that is manipulative and deceptive to the untrained eye.

This past year I had a conversation with a man who was set on organic food to feed the world and that any other farm is bad. By talking to him without letting him know that I grew up in agriculture seeing the "harmful" practices that hurt he environment I was able to see his views. We got talking about the practices and I let him know that I grew up farming. So he inquired more information on the ways of the modern farm. One of his biggest concerns was the use of fertilizers and pesticides in large quantities was harmful to the environment. Answering his concern I told him that there are limits on the amount of pesticides that are allowed to be applied and in some areas fertilizer as well. Then I told him that farming is a business so why would a farmer blindly put down a high application when there is no need for it. Field scouting in agronomy is one of the largest tasks to figure out the proper timing of applications. Farmers do not want to waste money by having high input cost when a lower input cost gets the equal or a little less yield. I told him that with precision ag today farmers are able to go into a field and put down a variable rate of fertilizer reducing waste and therefore helping the environment. Also, without the use of pesticides there is a chance of large losses of crop land due to disease or insects which would result in more soil exposed to the weather. Then runoff of farming land into streams and rivers increases significantly. By the end of the conversation I do not think I changed his views but I definitely got him thinking twice about it. 

 
Lets take the time to thank a farmer today. Many men and women spend their days in hard labor to put quality food on our tables. Go out of your way to meet a farmer and visit a farm to see what occurs on one. Farmers are some of the hardest working people I have ever met and can say that I embrace the way of life that I grew up with. It takes dedication and passion for the industry to go to work 7 days a weeks working all day in the rain, snow, cold, hot weather. Remember without farmers what would you be eating?