So Much More

              When it comes down to the behind the scenes of agriculture we can’t forget to tell the story that agriculture is more. There is much more than just food on the shelves and another controversy of what the new study says is healthier to feed your child. When it comes down to it, agriculture truly comes down to people. Agriculture as an entity exists as much of the same individuals as trusted by your grandparents and great-grandparents of generations past. Producers and farmers are your neighbors down the road, they are real people and real families working hard towards raising healthy crops and livestock in order to feed tomorrow’s world. At the end of the day there will always be real people with their own lives, their own bills, their own hardships, and their own children to put food on the table for working behind the scenes. These farmers and producers are worried about so much more than mass production, they are worried about their communities and neighbors at large. Farmers and producers are giving back to their communities each day through the creation of jobs, volunteering, offering farm tours, etc. The  U.S. population is fed three times a day, every day by an estimated only 2% of the population (those in which are directly involved in agriculture). It’s time for the 98% of the population to stand up and appreciate the hard working individual’s blood, sweat, and tears that go into every meal you consume rather than questioning their every move. Have you thanked someone in agriculture lately?

Home in the House

In the past several years there has been a dramatic shift in the public’s perception of how their food should be produced. As an agriculture entity we recognize that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to food preferences, which is why such a vast variety of niche market exist. A particularly interesting trend and niche market to me that is growing quite rapidly in popularity is that of the new cage free and anti-gestation crate movement along with the notion of free roaming, as well as group housing animal production. The consumer lacks the knowledge to understand why animal housing is the way it is and often time uses emotion to come to their conclusions rather than reason. We are going to use sows gestation crates as a specific example. For just a moment reel your personal perceptions about gestation crates and your mental image of the housing unit, and allow me to explain the purpose. Sows have a natural aggression and tend to fight, the individual housing allows for the animals to remain safe from one another and injury to themselves and/or other sows. Another purpose and benefit that comes the use of the crates is that the sows are able to be given individual care due to being seen daily up close and by themselves, allowing for better healthcare. Protection from environmental elements is another big benefit to the gestation crates due to their indoor locations. A large population of the hogs in the United States is located in the Midwest, and more specifically in Iowa. If anyone knows anything about the Midwest it is that the weather is not predictable there and thus making indoor housing much more sensible and feasible when it comes to producing hogs. The same sort of stories and situations are similar in regards to other livestock housing systems as well. Efficiencies as well as individual animal care can be improved through various housing techniques.