Words I Can’t Stand! (About Farming)

The last several months you’ve heard about the basics of Farm Bureau, some important issues that we’re working on in the region and state, county events and the longstanding tradition of buying local in our region. We’re due for something light-hearted, so here is my list of words that I can’t stand and why I can’t stand them. I’ve heard these words used throughout the agriculture industry as well as its affiliated agencies and groups.

Family Farm

Approximately 98% of farms are family owned and operated. However, a big distinctive difference is whether those farms exist solely to supplement themselves or not. Do they raise the meat, vegetables and produce all for themselves, or do they sell to an outside market? There has certainly been a big change in how family farms operate, but that does not change the fact that the particular farm, that land, is still owned by a family member or whole family. However, being a family farm doesn’t make decisions any less difficult. Who gets paid? Who inherits the farm? Will the farm survive with the current crops/animals on the farm?

Corporate Farm

This term contains the most double standards. If a contractor, trucking company or baker has several people working for him/her/it and sells products or skills to the public, are they called corporate bakers, corporate trucking or corporate contractors? A farm, regardless of size, is a business and, if that business is your living, it makes great legal sense to set up that farm as an LLC, Ltd or as Incorporation. The individual or family can still own the LLC, Ltd or Incorporation (and approximately 98% of the time they do!) and still be a “family farm.” Just because a business believes that a controlled, planned and systematic environment is the most productive for them, does not make them “corporate.”

Collaborate

When I began at Farm Bureau, this became a buzzword that never seemed to stop buzzing. This word is not limited to agriculture but that doesn’t make it easier for me. For years, the most resourceful and most successful companies large and small and have found ways to work together and share products and services. Farmers have been doing this for years – sharing equipment, cooperatively purchasing items in bulk, swapping labor duties and keeping an eye out for each other. If you put lipstick on a pig – guess what – it’s still a pig.

Educate

“We need to educate people about farming!” This quote can be inserted into any county Farm Bureau board meeting minutes. I have heard this all over the state, spoken by individuals that are tired of being over-regulated by unknowing local, state and federal officials, groups and agencies and tired of the unknowing farming public telling them how to handle their business.

In the early years of our state, an overwhelming majority of the populace farmed in some capacity and, as a result, many of those same individuals found their way into local, state or federal positions. Now, that percentage has flipped. How does the minority (approximately 2% of the population) give the majority an experience to remember, when that experience involves so much independent thinking, science, labor and the relentless behavior of Mother Nature? How many non-farmers are truly concerned about why the corn is currently yellow? How many non-farmers are concerned with the affordability of farmland? How many non-farmers care about the milk fat difference between a Holstein and Jersey dairy cattle? We need something stronger than education – we need something that will grab hold of non-farming individuals and never let go.

Humanely Raised

I’ve seen this on food labels and in restaurants and it is absolutely infuriating. If you talk to a farmer’s family or friends, the majority of them will likely tell you that farmer spends more time with their animals and in their barn than anywhere else. Those animals, no matter how many or how few, are the farmer’s top priority and they are likely to get more attention and be treated with more respect than the farmer’s own kids!

Now, is every farmer going into their barns and giving each creature a hug and a kiss good morning? Probably not. However, those animals are treated with dignity because they are the farmer’s livelihood. It makes very little sense to mistreat or disrespect those animals because when livestock have a routine, are comfortable, well fed and watered and safe, those animals live a good life and make a delicious protein or by-product. Sadly, there are a few bad actors out there that put a black eye on all of us – just like a bad auto mechanic, a bad carpenter, a bad electrician or a bad insurance agent or car salesman. However, those bad apples do not reflect the majority that figured out a long time ago that following the correct, practical and ethical animal care standards (set by the Livestock Care Standards Board) is not only the morally correct thing to do, but that it also enhances their reputation and eventually the profit line.

Fresh (also known as “farm fresh”)

I’ve heard many people say, “Oh, I used fresh tomatoes and basil in this recipe,” and I want to ask them, “What makes that item so fresh?” Is it fresh from the grocery store? Or, is it fresh from the truck that shipped it from California or Mexico? Or, is it a cousin of Mentos, “The fresh maker?” Unless it is in-season, from northeast Ohio, how can it truly be fresh? What if the item is farm fresh? Most of the “farm-fresh” produce and vegetables I’ve ever picked had a worm (or a bug) and some dirt attached. My favorite is the advertised “farm fresh” eggs, which seem to be lacking the warmth of the hen’s backside and a speckle of dried chicken manure. Does anyone really want that black and white blotch on an otherwise perfectly brown egg?

Harvested and Processed

I know it is hard to believe but many years ago, our ancestors “harvested and processed” their own chickens, pigs, cattle and wild game. That’s right, folks – our older relatives had blood on their hands. They skinned, de-boned, butchered and preserved everything. They SLAUGHTERED to survive. You don’t harvest a steer like you harvest an apple or a zucchini, and you certainly don’t harvest a chicken for the soup pot like you would a bushel of tomatoes.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s ramble. Feel free to send me some other words that drive you crazy and perhaps we’ll do this again sometime. Please be patient and supportive of our farmers that might be on the roads with large machinery to get the hay baled, replant the beans and corn or take items to market.

Mark your calendars for our first canning seminar with our good friends at OSU Extension on Saturday morning, August 1, in Burton. More details to come!

If you’d like to see what other events we have coming up, please “like” our Facebook page. To become a member, please visit our online application at www.volunteers.growwithfb.org.

This article is brought to you by Geauga Farm Bureau