Thanksgiving: a Time For Reflection on Our Blessings
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 3:08 PM CST
Originaly written for the Agri-View

Thanksgiving seems like it really snuck up on us this year didn’t it?With the harvest so late and finally some mild dry weather, bringing in the crop is the central focus across the countryside. But, Thanksgiving is upon us, and with it comes reflection on our blessings. Like many of you, I am thankful above all for my family, faith and friends. I am also overwhelmed with thanks because I am living my dream every day, as a Wisconsin dairy farmer. We recently had a visitor to the farm who asked, “Do you hope that your son will take over the farm?” This is a logical question when people see how we love our life on the farm. However, my answer was a surprise, “I hope he will find his passion like we did.”

My husband and I own and operate Heartwood Farm near Cobb. We farm because we believe it is the best way for our children to learn our values. They see everyday how we treat our cattle, land and employees with gentleness in order to produce wholesome food. We are thankful too because we have just celebrated our fourth anniversary on the farm.

We have always believed that a strong business model, treating people right and a focus on what we do best would be our secrets to success. Central to our vision was a farm large enough to hire good people, allowing them a place to thrive, and allowing us the chance to have time off to spend with our family. The size of the farm was also important because it would allow us to automate some of the work; we wanted to start out with a milking parlor, headlocks and a freestall barn. We decided early on that we would specialize in dairy cows. We wouldn’t try to do all of the field work; we would hire other specialists in that area, allowing us to concentrate year round on caring for the cows. We decided that grazing would be a component of our operation, and we would also focus on high production, using the very latest that science has to offer (3x/5x milking, bST and GMO’s to name a few). So far the plan is working, of course the last 18 months have been a true test, but we will survive.

When we embarked on this “dairy adventure” there were challenges we expected: swinging markets, employee turnover, all-nighters with sick cows and broken equipment. But over the last six months there was a challenge I did not predict, Michael Pollan. It’s not that Pollan directly presented a challenge to our dairy because he didn’t. It just hit a little to close to home when his book “In Defense of Food” was chosen for the Go Big Read at UW-Madison. Pollan isn’t the only writer to suggest that modern farming practices are destroying the soil, and causing every major disease known to mankind today, but he was the one who would have the stage all to himself at my alma-mater, here in the dairy state. Eighty percent of the book is about how and what you should eat, based on his opinion -- much of which I have no issue with. I agree with Pollan’s suggestion that it would be good if more families ate meals together. Much of the book is focused on processed foods. I think most people know they would be healthier if they ate more carrots and fewer twinkies. It’s that pesky 20 percent where the problem lies.

Pollan’s somewhat angry references to industrialized food and monocultural farming—farming that is dependant on chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and industrial waste—is where he went too far. In his book Pollan only talks about two kinds of farms: the small labor intensive farm which he idealizes and the large specialized farms which he condemns. He holds up one particular farm as a model, that farm has a few cows, a few chickens, a few pigs, and they sell their meat to “city people” who drive a long way to pay a high price for this food. This is fine for those who can afford it, but is that system realistic to feed a growing population in the US and abroad? Pollan talks about this small farmer by name and allows the reader to get to know him, he never mentions another farmer anywhere else in the book by name, all the large farms are referred to as agribusiness, as if there were no real people involved with any of those operations. Many of us use some form of modern technology, are somewhat specialized, and have larger farms than our grandfathers did, all of these are traits highly undesirable to Pollan.

These concerns are what led us to organize a group called “In Defense of Farming.” It was truly a grassroots movement that started in a conversation between myself and two other passionate farmers. From the beginning, our intent was to simply have a respectful presence in the room as Pollan gave his speech at UW. At every step we took extreme effort to convey that what we were doing was not a protest, it was a way for real farmers to talk to people who eat. We spread the word through e-mail, Facebook, and the media. We told people that there would be farmers at the speech in green shirts willing to answer questions about how they produce food. Well, it worked. There were at least 250 farmers, veterinarians, students in agriculture and others involved in food production in green shirts, and they had conversations with many people that night. They did not try to counter what Pollan said in his book, or in his speech, they simply shared the stories of why they farm, and how modern farming practices help them do a better job. I was so proud of those farmers that night, and I was thankful that we could help make those conversations possible.

I won’t forget one conversation I had that night. My dad and I were leaving the Kohl Center when a middle age couple asked us if we were some of “the farmers,” we said ‘yes.’ They asked what kind of farm we had, this was about when Bob, who is not much for speaking to the public, turned it over to me. I proudly said this was my dad, Bob and that we both have dairy farms. They asked if we only had dairy and I said yes, they asked why we didn’t have a more integrated farm with a diversity of plants and animals, that their reading informed them that those farms are much better for the environment, and healthier for the people who run them.

I tried to explain that cows are my passion, that I just don’t like chickens that much. They seemed to think that it was odd for a person to care about cows and not chickens. They even asked why I couldn’t learn more about chickens, and suggested that if I would commit myself to learning, it could be achieved. I realized that there was no way to explain that I could spend a lifetime and not know all I wished to know about cows.

Then I looked at my dad who has spent his lifetime accumulating that knowledge. How could they know all that he has learned and experienced? In that moment the disconnect had never been more clear. Here were two very smart people asking genuine questions, here I have an opportunity to answer them, but Michal Pollan and his views were in the middle. These people believed that small integrated farms are the only responsible way to feed people. I went on to explain that the farm they are describing was just like my grandparents farm, there was a small dairy barn, a hog house and a chicken coop. That kind of farm resulted in knee and hip replacements for my Uncle Myron and Grandpa Everett.

I explained that because my farm is specialized, I can afford a milking parlor, and I won’t have to endure the same wear on my body that my grandfather did. I explained that if my only choice was to farm in that system, that I wouldn’t do it, others might, but not me. Thankfully I don’t have to. It was in that conversation that I realized part of why I’ll stand up and fight for the progress we have made in agriculture is because of my dad, my uncle and my grandpa. Their progress should not be turned back.

Since 1944 the dairy industry in the U.S. has quadrupled output, we have gone from 25.6 million cows producing 117 billion pounds of milk, to 9.2 million cows producing 186 billion pounds in 2007. This is incredible progress and everyone involved with dairy farming should be immensely proud of this. These efficiencies have allowed milk to remain an affordably priced wholesome food, nourishing families at every socio-economic level. This increase is the result of more comfortable barns, more effective cooling, excellent nutrition, amazing breakthroughs in genetics and the use of many other technologies. To me these are more than just numbers, it is a representation of progress made by grandpa Everett, uncle Myron and my dad Bob. These numbers are personal, and I take seriously the charge to pick up where they left off.

We have many people to feed, 9 billion on the planet by the year 2050. In 2008 nearly 50 million people in our own country struggled to get enough to eat, this is the highest level since the government started keeping track. There is a place for modern, efficient food production in our country and across the world. We can not loose sight of this reality when we hear the ivory tower views of a journalist from Berkley. There is a strong demand for diversity of food choices because we have a diversity of eaters. There is a place for everyone.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the hard work and brilliant minds of all the farmers that have paved the way for me. I am thankful that my family has enough to eat, and I pray that when we set the table a year from now, there will be fewer children here and the world over who are hungry. I trust that this is possible because of the dedicated farmers who care for the land, and the animals. Give thanks if you are one of the blessed who have found your passion in agriculture.

The Dirt

I spent the morning trying to tie up some loose ends at our farm so I could run over to one of the farms that I consult for, we needed to change the ingredients in the recipe they feed their cows. As usual I was running about an hour behind schedule and still not out the door, I was going to quick feed some grain to a pen of heifers then run down to the house change clothes and hit the road. Just as I headed into the barn, I see my son bounding toward me, I said, “What the heck?” He said, “Half day today, I forgot to tell you!” with a big smile on his face. I said great why don’t you come with me to make a “farm call,” that’s what we call it when I go to see other farmers. He helped me feed the grain to the heifers, I am always impressed that even though he just turned nine, he can lift a 50 lb sack of grain. A tough little physique is one of the many benefits of growing up on a farm.

I love when he comes with me to visit other farms, he gets to meet new people and see the farms of my customers, they are all really good farmers. It is good for my son to see how every farm is so different, the barns, the parlors, the color of the tractors, even the color of the cows since all of my customers have big black and white Holsteins, we have smaller all brown Jerseys. As we walked through the office on the farm we visited today, he noticed the many old pictures on the wall, pictures dating back to the 40’s, the farm we visited has been in their family since before then. It is a true family farm with three generations working side by side. It is also a modern farm with 100’s of cows and a high-tech system to monitor the health of the cows every time they are milked. My son thinks he might want to be an engineer so he is always drawn to the shiny stainless steel and anything computerized. We finished the changes we needed to make, and helped set some equipment as they brought in the first load of corn from the field. There is no time more exciting (or stressful) than harvest, and this farm family has some very busy days ahead. We drove out their driveway glad we could help.

On the way home we started talking about what’s different since the days when my Grandpa Everett farmed, back in the 30’s and 40’s similar to those pictures we had just looked at on the wall of a new modern dairy farm. He said, “Oh mom, I think so many things are different, mostly farming is much more umm… high-tech these days. We have bigger tractors, milking parlors, the barns are different now, yeah I think a lot has changed.” I agreed and asked him how it might be different for a kid like him? He thought about it and said, “I think back then the kids really had to work hard.” I thought that was really interesting because I think he works pretty hard, but he’s right those kids had to work very hard. I asked him what he thought might be the same, he paused and said, “The dirt… Mom, I think the dirt is the same.”

This unexpectedly caused a flood of emotion for me. Many of us who farm using modern technology and science these days feel we have to defend our decisions. There are Journalists, Environmentalists and Food Activists who are trying to convince the public that we are not doing a good job protecting the piece of the earth we tend to. But, the truth is there is nothing more important to us that protecting what we love, our families, our animals, and our dirt. Even a nine year old can see that hasn’t changed.