It's Not Science, Must Be Something More

Recently I was shown an article that profiles my friend and colleague as an "animal exploitation expert" and someone who cares not about animals, but about making money, no matter what the cost. The group that is accusing him, and everyone who works at Fair Oaks Farms and The Pig Adventure, is a radical vegan group known as Free From Harm.

Anti-ag groups like this one are waging an issue of morality against the animal agriculture industry and we have repeatedly defended ourselves with scientific based arguments. This is a problem because we can not use science to say that a moral issue has been satisfied. They claim that moral relativism does not justify the action of farmers, and that there is no such thing as human exceptionalism.

I am an evangelical christian, I worship God because I believe that sent his son Jesus to the world to die for our sins. I also believe that creation was part of His glorious and masterful plan.

I believe that man was put on the earth to serve a purpose, to live in God's light. According to the book of Genesis, before sin entered the world, God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." 

This simple charge from God has given me a purpose. As a God-fearing christian, it is my responsibility to care for the world to the best of my ability so that God's plan can be done. All of this that you read is part of my worldview and it is simply a backdrop for what I am about to say.

In order to believe that you have a calling or a duty or a purpose on this earth, than you must believe that earth was part of an immaculate plan for a greater reason. My belief, as outlined above, is that the human race is exceptional to all other beings and in being so, we have the moral duty to serve our purpose as caretakers with "dominion over all the earth."

This anthropocentrism is what gives me the calling as a farmer to care for the environment, livestock, crops and all that I control, in a way that promotes the glory of God. I believe that I have a moral responsibility to help feed the world and provide nutrient to the land.

I believe that much of the worldview surrounding radical animal & environmental rights and also anti bio-tech groups doesn't have much holding in belief of a God, a purpose, or a greater calling.

 Author Wesley J. Smith writes about these and many other issues revolving around the the human cost of the animal rights movement in his book "A Rat is a Pig is a Dog is a Boy" This book helps to outline the differences in animal rights and animal welfare, morality issues, and ruthless campaigns from anti animal ag groups. I suggest that anyone who reads this picks up a copy, it will greatly help you understand why people think the way they do about animal ag, and not on a scientific level, but as a moral issue.

Then End Is Just The Beginning

My internship will come to a close on Monday, August 5. I am a bit torn about this fact, because I have such a passion for talking about the pig industry and I take a lot of personal responsibility and pride in showing the guests at the Pig Adventure what it is we do.

Some of my favorite co-workers

Having said all that, this has been a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to help develop the programs that are going to be on the frontline of Fair Oaks' agri-tourism and educational tours. The experiences have ranged from exciting and great adventures to extreme stress from plans going wrong, criticism being heavy, and just the normal speed-bumps of life.

 But through the high and low times of this internship I have been able to remain true to myself as a person. My character as a professional in agriculture has been tested many times, and many times has come away with a new way of looking at things and making me a more rounded individual.

The intern team through thick and thin

I have had the pleasure to work with other high caliber interns who are as passionate as I am about our industry and just as excited for the future as I am. I have been able to surround myself with some of the best in the business when it comes to building these agri-tainment and education programs. My supervisors from both Fair Oaks Farms & Belstra Milling Company have helped me grow in more ways than I can think of.

Going into the last few days of my internship I will have one more weekend opportunity to speak to thousands of people that we expect to see over the weekend and at our grand opening on August 5, 2013. I hope for nothing more than to end on a high note, but if it doesn't play out that way, I'm sure I will be able to present myself to the best of my ability as that has grown over the summer.

Looking forward to the future, I can already see how this internship will provide me with many opportunities to achieve a career in agriculture. My exposure to first hand concerns from consumers of all kinds has given me a unique way of thinking that I feel stands out from other internships. My training to answer concerns and questions has been tested and moving forward I think can make for a valuable asset to a company. While I will miss working here, I know that this is the beginning of what I believe will be a great opportunity for both myself moving forward, and many other interns to come!

A special thanks goes out to Malcolm, Jon, Gary, Jamie, Julie, Brock, Jodi, Leah, Phil and everyone else I have had the opportunity to work with at Fair Oaks and Belstra Milling this summer! I hope that the future is bright for us all and that the opportunity to have meaningful conversations continues to grow.

Farmers Need to Shine, Don't Fight the Shadow

According to the United States Census Bureau, there are roughly 300 million people living in the United States. Of those, only 15 percent live in what the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) describes as non-metro areas or counties. And when you look at the change and trend in the numbers indicates on a broad level that people are continuing to leave the non-metro areas in the long run. Growth may come and go, but the distance between the rural and metro consumers of our country are growing.

Graph from USDA website: http://1.usa.gov/1bbRmnB

There is a lot of rhetoric in agriculture about the growing disconnect between gate and plate, farm and food, and the understanding of common farm practices. In part to my internship this summer (which can be read about in previous blog posts), I have realized a few things about how farmers react to the proactive approach that the industry has began to take in order to reconnect consumers with the farms of modern day agriculture. 

In my opinion, farmers are all to often "afraid of their shadow" when trying to talk with consumers who don't have an agriculture background. Occasionally some retired pig farmers will come through the Pig Adventure and they always have memories of the "old days" and "how it used to be". Many offer encouraging words about what we are doing, but some will raise their concerns with transparency. 

Some farmers (all different ages) that I talk with, seem to think that their is a limit to transparency. That we need to "tread lightly" or else we are going to get sunk in hole we can't dig out of. This is where I believe that they are "hiding in their shadow" and not willing to be honest about the practices on the farm. I believe that this is because as an industry, we have underestimated human nature and the one's ability to listen to farmers without jumping down their throats. 

It seems to me that if you have a product (pig farm, crops, dairy, beef, poultry etc) that you are proud of, invested in, and willing to talk to openly about; then 99 percent of the people you talk to are interested and willing to listen to you before forming an opinion about your product and processes. Sometimes people have an negative idea of what you do on the farm because of some propaganda they saw that was sourced by someone opposing agriculture. But even then, people tend to be amazed at the processes of farming and are able to connect with the simplicity that we still have on the farm. Even though we are using technology to find that simplicity.

I'm giving a tour of our breeding operation to a group of friends. Bio security measures require them to wear the disposable suit when in the barns.

My boss asked me the other day, "if a farmer could have a five minute conversation about agriculture and show them an aspect of what they do, could we (agriculture) change the opinion of many people who unknowingly follow the propaganda and form negative feelings towards agriculture?"

I believe that the answer is yes! While I know I it can't be done alone, I believe that their is a special way for agriculture to have these friendly conversations that can mean a world of change for our industry. I want to offer a few reminders for those who want to have these conversations:

1. Don't be afraid of your shadow - Shadows are only present because their is light shining on us, the time for us to step into that light is now. Bigger shadows mean more light on you! Take advantage of the opportunity present.
2. Talk about what you do - People want to talk to people. They want to know that you're a farmer and that you care about them. The more personable you can make your conversation, the more they will listen to what you have to say.
3. Be comfortable with the uncomfortable - many times we begin to talk about what we do, then when a negative term or question arises, we quickly run back into the shadow. No wonder people are afraid of agriculture, if we aren't willing to talk about it ourselves!
4. Enjoy yourself!! - People want to see you happy and excited to talk about what you do. The light has never shined brighter on agriculture than it does now. I'm proud of what I do and I want to show others why! That is the thought that makes the whole idea of talking to others a bit more comfortable to me. 

Hopefully these words encourage some to begin taking those steps out of the shadows. If you are worried about the response you're going to get, just wait until you see people's faces light up when you show them the farm. I encourage all farmers I talk to, to find a way to have these conversations, through trainings, social media, tours, presentations, and casual conversations around the coffee table. There is no end to what we can achieve when we work together and step out of the shadow.

#agchat: Youth in Ag

One of my assignments for my strategic communication class is to participate in a weekly tweetchat that allows me to communicate with people of a similar interest. I chose to participate in #agchat, a weekly tweetchat that brings agriculture professionals together through social media to talk about pre-specified issues and interests in the agriculture community.

#agchat is something that I have participated in before and I have always enjoyed the conversations and  brilliant ideas I always get from others. This week the topic covered was youth in agriculture. Many questions were prompted from individuals who would be participating and the event was moderated by a member of the Agchat Foundation Board.

Questions this week ranged from who should we (ag professionals) be trying to communicate with, how can college ag students get more involved in the industry, what can students do to reach out to non-farm publics and  who do young ag professionals turn to for advice.

The chat lasted for two hours and the topics were covered with great passion by all the individuals who were there. The conversation can be read at www.twubs.com/agchat. I encourage anyone interested in agriculture, education, youth leadership, food, health or nutrition to check out what we say from time to time. As agriculture advocates we are always trying to reach out and connect with people who are interested in learning about what we do and where their food comes from.

Constructive Conversations (AgriPOWER #2)

For our second session we spent three days in Wooster, OH which was absolutely beautiful. Amish country always is isn't it? The purpose of our second session was to learn how to build constructive conversations both in person, addressing the media and using social media. Our training was done by Matt Sutton-Vermuelen, from Unison Resource LLC

Matt talks to us about the importance of our conversations

First thing we needed to learn was how to build these constructive conversations and then how do we address them. Constructive conversations are times when you see a need to address someones concern, fear, doubt or general care. In agriculture these concerns come from some of the social issues we face such as; ethanol, food prices, humane care, environment, pollution, livestock smell, meat quality etc.

The most important thing I learned is that you can only speak on part of what you know. We spent time learning how our leadership styles will guide us to take a certain angle on our conversations. It is important that you be patient and let others address the concern before you try to correct it. We learned tactics that will help us control conversation by finding things to either keep, stop or stay on while talking. We learned how a trust model can help us identify why people might not feel comfortable with our answers or with our position on a certain subject.

We also learned the basic concepts of using social media (facebook, twitter, youtube, pinterest). These may not seem like a big deal, but it sure seems like everyone is online and if you want to be in the conversation you gotta get with the times. Twitter was a big hit for some of us that are already using social media such as myself, Anthony Stateler (@statelerffarms) and Callie Wells (@calliewells). Pinterest drew in a lot of excitement from the women in our group as we learned how to use an online pinboard to promote agriculture and begin our conversations through pictures.


The rest of our training was about talking with the media.This training was done by Anthony Huey, Reputation Management Associates. I have had a little experience in speaking to the media through my family's Our Ohio video we made, several special interest pieces I've done and a couple television interviews. I felt that for me this section of training was the most important one I have had yet.

 We learned basics such as timing your answer getting your point across in less than 10 seconds, controlling the perception (and the conversation), bridging questions and points, and how to move away from certain questions. the most important part of this training was learning it is crucial to have some talking points in the back of your mind so that when your thrown on the spot you have a well rehearsed, honest, thought out answer and you look professional answering. These 5 or 6 key points will help build the confidence in your audience that you actually know what your doing.







Our entertainment came from a 9 hole golf scramble. I really hope that being an ag leader works out for me because it's safe to say I'm not going to play in the masters...EVER. But it is also safe to say that if I stick to my pairing I may come out on top each time (Sorry Liz). We also wen ton several tours of local farms including orchards, produce warehouse, Quaser biodigester and the Secrest Arboretum at Ohio State ATI's OARDC.

I'm looking forward to my next session (#3), which will be focused around state government and how politics work in agriculture on a state level. Until then, start building your talking points and continue to promote agriculture.

 

AgriPOWER: Session 1

We began our AgriPOWER institute this weekend in Columbus, OH at the Ohio Farm Bureau office. The discussion for the weekend focused around "me" and how we all have strengths and weaknesses in our leadership style.

We spent time doing introductions and getting to know each other and I immediately found folks who had much in common with myself whether it was school, business, family or hobbies. I introduced myself and the family farm, Standing Oaks Enterprises and what my role in our farm is.

Weeks before our meeting we had to do a personality, leadership test with some very nice people from Kinexa company to help us determine and interpret our leadership traits, strengths and weaknesses. From there Kinexa would build a profile for each of us in the group and we would be able to follow along with their part of the training during our first session of the institute. Kinexa focused on 5 strengths for each person that help build your strongest possible profile.

My profile consisted of Responsibility, Activator, Stimulator, Mission and Interpersonal skill traits as my leading strengths. These were all very accurate of how I feel I act in my lifestyle and personality.The biggest surprise in my profile to me is that the section for motivators, being ego and drive were both vacant in my profile strengths. Not to say they don't exist, but I thought they would be more present in my strengths.

We spent a few hours discussing how these traits build your management style, decision making process and even your choice in friends. I thought it was all very interesting to see how we all have our unique ways of concluding things and even interpreting our own traits.

Overall AgriPOWER started with a successful weekend and I had an absolute blast. I can't wait to go to the second session to learn more and report back here what I thought of it.

What An Adventure : Fair Oaks Pig Adventure

So there's a farm in Indiana, a dairy farm, an hour south of Chicago that has decided, "we are going to show the public what we do on a commercial dairy farm, and we will give them tours of our facilities and educate them about the agriculture industry."

This is Fair Oaks Farms and they have done a great job achieving their goal of educating everyday people about the dairy industry. So now for the exciting news, Fair Oaks is expanding, they want to cover as many livestock species as they can to educate consumers more on what the agricultural community and industry is all about. So the first step in expanding is to build a pig barn which will be known as the Fair Oaks Pig Adventure (FOPA)

This facility, located two miles from the Fair Oaks visitors center and dairy education building will be a commercial pork production operation that will operate 2400 sows (mommy pigs). The tours will be given through a building connected to the pig barn by glass walls, ceilings and floors so that you can see everything that happens in the facility.


The reason for the separate building is because it is important that we (producers) protect the airspace within our pig barns so that no foreign disease enters the air, feed or water from all the traffic and locomotion that comes with giving the tours. In order to keep our animals healthy and in tip top condition we create the safe air barrier within the new state of the art barns. Another way to look at it is the first week of school, a lot more children (baby pigs in the case of producers) get sick from all the new people, places and things going on in their lives. So with livestock, we can use these types of safe guards to protect our pigs, employees and ultimately the pork that goes to the supermarkets.

My family has a small (by industry standards of the day) pig farm in Southwest Ohio. We raise pigs as independent owners/growers. That means we own pigs all the way from birth to market. The Fair Oaks Pig Adventure (FOPA) has presented an exciting opportunity for our family to become even more involved in the pig industry. When the barns are built and the pigs start having babies, my family farm, Standing Oaks Enterprises will continue to raise pigs, but we will no longer raise our own from birth. We will be what is called a private grower, we will purchase baby pigs from the Fair Oaks Farm and own them from wean to market.

The pig adventure is a very big, exciting thing for the pork industry. We are looking forward to teaching as many people as we can about the industry. On our farm, the education doesn't just stop at Fair Oaks in Indiana, we are learning how to be better educators and how to get more involved in many ways, one of which I will talk about in my next blog post.

So if you're interested in learning more about the agriculture industry, Fair Oaks Farms, or the Pig Adventure I want to give you some suggestions. My friends at Feedstuffs, one of the top agriculture publications have covered the pig adventure from the beginning of the construction and continue to do so. They have taken some very good photos and written a couple articles about it. I encourage you look at them. Please follow my family farm on either facebook or twitter. If you're excited about the adventure we have all started and want to help, their is a fundraiser being done by Dennis Sargent at Indiana Pork for those interested who might  want to contribute just contact them and they will help you with that.

My reflections in the past few months have started to center around this adventure that my family is going on and its very exciting to us and we really enjoy telling others about it so be looking for more posts about this from me.

Until then....be safe, be healthy and eat pork!