That issue is being MISUNDERSTOOD.
I looked up two definitions in the dictionary: farm and city. Farm (n) means: "a tract of land devoted to agricultural purposes (such as raising animals, especially domestic livestock)." City (n) means: "an inhabited place of greater size, population, or importance than a town or village." So, a farm is agricultural and a city is an inhabited place by people, generally more people than are in the country. Makes sense, right? Too much sense. Since there are more people in the city than on farms in the country, our job of educating the general (city) public about agriculture is definitely cut out for us.
Today, I am just going to share some tidbits for you to digest, nothing too crazy. And I welcome your comments!
1. If you're on Facebook, please like Keeping it Real: Through the Lens of a Farm Girl. Erin Ehnle always has great facts along with photos that she shares with her followers. I especially love the facts that show how far agriculture has come along. One of my favorites was a picture of a dairy cow in Illinois and the fact to go along with the photo was "More milk is produced today with only 9 million cows than with the 26 million cows in 1944." (Source: Dairy Farming Today) I thought that was amazing. And growing up on a farm, I know how important productivity is. But a lot of the comments to that photo that Erin shared showed a lot of concern for the cows and even negative comments saying that it couldn't be good for the cows and wondering if the milk was full of hormones, etc. Those comments, I'd be willing to bet, were probably from city folk that just misunderstand how farming isn't the same as it used to be. A cow can be so much more efficient with the right feeds, the right housing, the right everything, and farmers just didn't know what we know now back in 1944. Science and research is truly amazing.
2. Go to your local fairs this summer. Check out the agricultural booths, the 4H booths, the livestock barns. Ask questions, get informed. For those of you in Wisconsin, here are some links for fairs that you could easily visit: Columbia County Fair, Lodi Agricultural Fair, Wisconsin State Fair, and many more!
3. Just take a drive in the country. It's gorgeous. Challenge your family to find as many crops and farm animals as possible, just like the license plate game.
4. If you have questions about animal health, boy have you read the right blog... I hope my grandpa doesn't mind me posting this about him, but he is the most knowledgeable veterinarian I know. I work for him at his animal nutritional supplement business, Gomers Inc. To learn more about us, visit our website, our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @Gomers Inc., or give my grandpa a call at 608.742.6014 - he'd love to chat with you!
Well, I better get back to work though, being a farm girl never gets dull. Hopefully next time I'll have some pictures and/or a video to share... Thanks for reading!
