From c_dbowen@qualcomm.comMon Apr 10 15:18:23 1995 Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 11:50:55 -0700 From: Don Bowen Reply to: homestead@world.std.com To: homestead@world.std.com Subject: Modern farming [The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] I pulled this off a web site for Practical Farmers of Iowa. In this he seems to be saying many of the things we have discussed in this forum many times. I got there through Sal's web page. SHARED VISIONS COMMUNITY WORKSHOP PRESENTATION GREENFIELD, IOWA AUGUST 4, 1994 Clark BreDahl (Editors' note: This is text from a presntation by Clark BreDahl during the visit to Greenfield. Clark farms and is on the Neely-Kinyon Farm Project Committee.) To share a vision, each of us must first have a vision of our own; a vision of where we would like our business to be a few years hence; a vision of what we would like our community to look like, and a perspective as to where our community will fit into the grand scheme of things years down the road. Finally, after we have planted those visions clearly in our minds, we need a plan as to how we will achieve our goals....Without a plan, our visions will never become realities. >From an agricultural perspective, life has perhaps changed more in the past twenty years than it did in the previous two hundred of our nation s existence. And though technology has been frequently mentioned as the culprit, I think it has to be viewed as a two-edged sword that can either help or hinder us. One thing is certain. Technology will not go away. If we do not use it, others will. The key is getting technology and research to solve problems for us, rather than create new ones. It follows then that to come up with the right answers, we must first ask the right questions. That is where a Shared Visions approach can help. When I survey the changes that have occurred in farming since I came back to the area in 1974, I don t notice the technological or mechanical differences nearly as much as I do the structural changes. When we talk about ninety percent of all fresh vegetables consumed in the United States now being grown in the San Juaquin Valley of California, rather than on scattered farms throughout each state in the Union, that is a fundamental, structural change of overwhelming proportions. When we talk about chicken surpassing pork and beef to become the most popular meat in the U.S., and six huge conglomerates producing seventy-five percent of all consumption and controlling all facets of production and processing from hatch to retail meat counter that is fundamental. When we talk about California taking over as the leading dairy producing state, and over 50 percent of all dairy production in this country now coming from herds of five hundred head or more that s fundamental. How many farmers in Adair County still raise chickens? How many farmers in Adair County still milk cows? And how many of you came from farm homes like mine where forty years ago the egg check and cream check used to provide the lion s share of our family s spending money? That s fundamental change. How many times in recent years have you heard someone say, Somebody s going to farm the land and raise the livestock...What difference does it make who it is? To me it makes all the difference in the world regarding the quality of life we in rural Iowa will have. For us, people and prosperity may be inseparable. I think we will not have one without the other. If I am still a farmer 20 years from now perhaps by some stroke of luck even a wealthy farmer but my wife has to drive thirty miles for groceries, sixty miles to buy parts for my tractor, twenty miles to the nearest church or school, seventy-five miles to the nearest doctor, hospital or movie theater, or five miles down the road to the nearest neighbor s house, then our own personal financial success will have been a mighty hollow victory. If at that time the local retirement home is the largest employer in town, as it is already in some, we will know we have probably passed the point of no return as a viable economic community. Our federal government has struggled for fifty years to implement policies to aid in the conservation of our soil and water resources. And regardless of how effective you think those programs have been, it seems to me they hve continually overlooked the most obvious solution the pride involved in maintaining families on the land. I continually marvel that where there is a plan to hand the land down from generation to the next, there is also a plan, usually well implemented, to hand the land down in as good or better shape than it was received. I heard it once said that, the difference between family farms and corporate agriculture is that corporations don t have grandkids! It s a simplistic definition, but it s a profound impact statement. No question about it, our most valuable crop or resource is not our corn, beans, hogs or cattle, or even our rich fertile soil. It is our young people. And unfortunately they are also our biggest export. We raise bright kids around here. We have good schools, dedicated teachers; parents, friends and churches who teach real values, and communities where a strong work ethic is ingrained early as part of our heritage. Talk about producing a product the market wants....The big cities gobble up our best and brightest as fast as we can ship them out and usually pay a handsome premium for quality! I m convinced some of those young people would like to stay or return to this area s farms and small business communities. Many, I think, would even take a substantial pay cut to do it. But when you tell a young couple that in addition, they are going to have to each hold down two full time jobs (as some economists have suggested as a route to get into farming), the city usually wins the competition hands down. Environmental concerns and interest from outside as well as within farming about sustainable agriculture could have a tremendous impact on the survival of family farms and rural communities. I think we need to make our plans accordingly. What started out as low input farming didn t stay that way very long. People came to quickly realize there is no such thing as low input farming. The best we can do is substitute inputs: labor for capital, management for capital, marketing skills for production volume. The list could be lengthy. The exciting part is that there are countless ways we can foster economic growth and efficiency on family farms and in small communities without investing millions of dollars at a time to do it. Maybe it shows my conservative streak, but I like that approach much better than the more common corporate philosophy these days of substituting capital for virtually every other tool in the production chain. I am very excited about the prospects for research, education and demonstration at both the Neely and Armstrong farms here in southwest Iowa. We have strong individual and community support, combined with Iowa State University s technology and strong financial commitment. These farms and their accompanying facilities will be powerful tools to give us all the right answers. Hopefully a powerful vision for the future of this area s farms and communities will first help us ask all the right questions. | Donald E. Bowen donb@cts.com Valley Center CA. c_dbowen@qualcomm.com Software Engineer, woodworker, historian, beekeeper, farmboy model railroader, 1936 Farmall 12, 1966 Corvair CORSA 140 convertible 1 wife, 3 kids, 2 acres, 2 cats, 2 dogs, ? projects, no TV, 24 hours