My Stupid Farm

This morning I was thinking about young farmers and doing some image searches on Google and this lovely image popped up in my search results: 

This is an image from a website called www.shirtoid.com. I'm not a plagiarist, so I'll give the source it's credit. It's the graphics for a tshirt you can order and have printed in any color you so desire.  I don't think the website exists solely to knock farmers because right next to this shirt was an image promoting bacon. Surely they realize that bacon cannot exist without farms? 

Part of the mission and goal of this blog is to educate people on what a family farm looks like, what we do here, and why and how it gets done. You see, I believe people --all people-- should care very much about "my stupid farm," and all the other "stupid" farms that cover the landscape coast-to-coast across the United States. Food is not simply something you pick up at the grocery store. 

If you like to eat, or if you ever eat anything, at all, ever, you should care very much about farms. And it's not just about food. Farmers grow the food, fuel, and fiber that power our existence on this planet.  Not every farm is created equal, by any means. Some of us farm on only a few acres or less and share what we grow through CSA shares to people like YOU. Others of us plant and grow on a much larger scale to feed the world on a more global level. We raise animals, too, which provide healthy sources of protein to a balanced diet. We raise barley and other grains that make tasty, tasty beers. Corn planted by farmers can be used as a fuel source, a la ethanol. The cotton fibers that are knit together and printed on to make that "stupid" t-shirt knocking my "stupid" farm come from cotton plants that were raised by a farmer. We all need farmers, and if you think you don't, you're wrong. 

Farmers are men and women of all ages. Increasingly, young people are coming back to family farms or starting ventures of their own. No two farms are exactly alike. No two farmers are exactly alike. One thing we all have in common, however, is passion for what we do. No one could spend the time required or pay the currency of toil necessary to farm if they didn't care about what they were doing. We all desire to bring food, fuel, and fiber to the people of the world, on both local and global scales. 

On this farm, we raise dryland small grains (dryland means we don't use irrigation), and we also raise beef cattle as cow/calf pairs. We also have a large garden and we share our produce with family and friends.  If you want to learn more about agriculture and farming, read this blog or so many others like it, and find out why you should care about our "stupid" farms. An educated population making smart choices about the food, fuel, and fiber they consume is something that benefits all of us. 

End Rant.  You may now go back to enjoying your day. But I challenge you to consider all the food, fuel, and fiber you touch today and ask yourself what type of farmer may have had a hand in its creation.