Faith - Family - Farming. As I write this column, I am watching my youngest son drift off to sleep and I think about what his future may hold and all the things I want to show him and his siblings about agriculture and farming. Both have had huge impacts on my life personally and professionally, since I was a kid. What challenges will they face? How will our industry look when they are old enough to impact it? Will they share the passion for agriculture and farming as much as their mother and me?
I find it fitting that my column is scheduled during National Ag Week. If you go to social media and look up the hashtags #WiAgProud, #agday, #AgWeek2018 or #NationalAgWeek, you will find a plethora of posts, pictures, celebration and conversation from those involved in and around the production of agriculture. National Ag Week ends today, but this celebration is a very fitting start to the spring season.
Spring brings us as farmers to a time of anticipation, new beginnings, wrestling matches with mother nature and running our tails off to get the new crop off to a good start. There is one more key piece to spring, and that is hope. Hope that mother nature cooperates, hope that tireless hours will pay off in bushels, tons or pounds, and hope that in the end we can secure a profit and continue providing for our families. Profit is hard to come by these days, but I hold to the quote: "Tough times don't last but tough people do."
Prices cycle and weather turns, but through persistence, perseverance and "AgVocacy," we will reap the benefits on the boom side.
A big piece of AgVocacy is engaging with our elected officials to shape policy that affects our farms and farmers. If you're a voting member of the Green County Farm Bureau, there is an upcoming opportunity to voice your opinions about ag policy right here in Green County. At 6 p.m. Thursday at Blackhawk Technical College, the GCFB is hosting an open discussion around topics like supporting a dyed fuel tax to improve local roads/bridges, dairy policy and profitability, the 2018 Farm Bill and several others. Voting members in Green County are invited to this informal and open discussion that will help shape local resolutions, Wisconsin Farm Bureau policy and potential state legislation.
How can you help celebrate National Ag Week and support farm initiatives? Talk to a farmer. Ask him or her questions about farming and the food, fuel or fiber he or she raises. Ask farmers why they do what they do, not to be critical but to seek education. Listen with the intent to learn, not with the intent to respond. Visit the website www.fooddialogues.com to learn something new about food or farming. I firmly believe that every day is an education, and what better way to get involved than to find out where our food and fiber comes from here in Green County? Prepare a favorite meal for your family as purchasing food helps support our farmers! Finally, go online and look at the #wiagproud and tell your story about why you're Wisconsin Ag Proud.
No matter your generation, political affiliation, gender or orientation, we all must eat, therefore we should all be #wiagproud.
No matter your background, Farm Bureau is a strong organization, and we need to continuously AgVocate for ourselves and educate others about the what, why and how of all aspects of modern agriculture. The FFA Creed says, "I believe in the future of agriculture with a faith born not of words, but of deeds." I know our markets will turn and good times will fall upon agriculture again. I also know that there are no dumb questions and I know that farm families love sharing their story and information about their projects. With people like them, and hopefully children like mine, the future of Green County Agriculture is very bright! #wiagproud
- Ben Huber is the agronomy department manager at Insight FS and the president of Green County Farm Bureau. His column appears monthly on Saturdays in the Monroe Times. He can be reached at bhuber@insightfs.com.
I find it fitting that my column is scheduled during National Ag Week. If you go to social media and look up the hashtags #WiAgProud, #agday, #AgWeek2018 or #NationalAgWeek, you will find a plethora of posts, pictures, celebration and conversation from those involved in and around the production of agriculture. National Ag Week ends today, but this celebration is a very fitting start to the spring season.
Spring brings us as farmers to a time of anticipation, new beginnings, wrestling matches with mother nature and running our tails off to get the new crop off to a good start. There is one more key piece to spring, and that is hope. Hope that mother nature cooperates, hope that tireless hours will pay off in bushels, tons or pounds, and hope that in the end we can secure a profit and continue providing for our families. Profit is hard to come by these days, but I hold to the quote: "Tough times don't last but tough people do."
Prices cycle and weather turns, but through persistence, perseverance and "AgVocacy," we will reap the benefits on the boom side.
A big piece of AgVocacy is engaging with our elected officials to shape policy that affects our farms and farmers. If you're a voting member of the Green County Farm Bureau, there is an upcoming opportunity to voice your opinions about ag policy right here in Green County. At 6 p.m. Thursday at Blackhawk Technical College, the GCFB is hosting an open discussion around topics like supporting a dyed fuel tax to improve local roads/bridges, dairy policy and profitability, the 2018 Farm Bill and several others. Voting members in Green County are invited to this informal and open discussion that will help shape local resolutions, Wisconsin Farm Bureau policy and potential state legislation.
How can you help celebrate National Ag Week and support farm initiatives? Talk to a farmer. Ask him or her questions about farming and the food, fuel or fiber he or she raises. Ask farmers why they do what they do, not to be critical but to seek education. Listen with the intent to learn, not with the intent to respond. Visit the website www.fooddialogues.com to learn something new about food or farming. I firmly believe that every day is an education, and what better way to get involved than to find out where our food and fiber comes from here in Green County? Prepare a favorite meal for your family as purchasing food helps support our farmers! Finally, go online and look at the #wiagproud and tell your story about why you're Wisconsin Ag Proud.
No matter your generation, political affiliation, gender or orientation, we all must eat, therefore we should all be #wiagproud.
No matter your background, Farm Bureau is a strong organization, and we need to continuously AgVocate for ourselves and educate others about the what, why and how of all aspects of modern agriculture. The FFA Creed says, "I believe in the future of agriculture with a faith born not of words, but of deeds." I know our markets will turn and good times will fall upon agriculture again. I also know that there are no dumb questions and I know that farm families love sharing their story and information about their projects. With people like them, and hopefully children like mine, the future of Green County Agriculture is very bright! #wiagproud
- Ben Huber is the agronomy department manager at Insight FS and the president of Green County Farm Bureau. His column appears monthly on Saturdays in the Monroe Times. He can be reached at bhuber@insightfs.com.
