Last night, I had the pleasure of hearing Matt Rush, a
farmer and cattle rancher from New Mexico and Executive Vice President of the
New Mexico Farm Bureau, give a presentation through the Brock Center for
Agricultural Communications. His
presentation was very well received, with plenty of laughter and food for
thought. The three key things he touched
on during his presentation regarding the future of agriculture are that we need
to remain viable, valuable, and visible.
His presentation actually fit in very well with what we’ve been
discussing in JOUR 205, especially with regards to remaining and becoming more
visible. Rush correctly pointed out that
as of now, agriculture is certainly viable.
In California, we are currently producing more food and commodities than
ever before, with fewer farms and on less land.
Now if that’s not viable, what is?
I foresee the future of agriculture remaining just as, if not more
viable. With new technology, new breeds
of seeds, and new cultural techniques, I believe we will continue making more
with less and be well on our way to helping feed our nation’s population, and
our world. He also pointed out that
agriculture needs to remain valuable.
Similar to remaining viable, agriculture is certain to remain valuable
because everyone has to eat. Though day
to day fluctuations in weather, markets, etc. could cause unexpected profits or
losses, I believe that agriculture will remain valuable.
Beyond remaining viable and valuable, I think one of the
hardest things for those in agriculture to do is remain visible. With the very nature of agriculture requiring
long hours of work away from any dense populations, it is difficult for farmers
and ranchers to remain visible and be open and transparent about what they
do. Most farmers and ranchers would be
absolutely content with sitting on their horse or tractor all day and not
worrying about what others are thinking or saying. But in reality, we need those very people to
be their own advocates and be open and honest with people about not only what
they’re doing, but why they’re doing it.
With less than 2% of American’s involved in agriculture, there are so
many people who don’t understand what it takes to get the food that they enjoy
to their table three times a day. They
don’t understand it, and most don’t care to understand it. And that’s where we as people involved in
production agriculture and as agriculture communicators come in. It is our job to be our own advocate,
teaching others what we do and why we do it, in the hopes of seeing a brighter
future for our industry.
