Our right to farm is under attack. I’m not talking about from state laws. Think in the context of our social license to farm. We see this threat in varying degrees nationwide, but this is something we, as farmers, need to face head on. In the past few months, there have been 27 lawsuits filed in North Carolina, pitting local hog farms as the defendants in cases where the plaintiffs allege the farms are a legal nuisance to the community and unreasonably interfere with their property. Ironically, the plaintiffs are neighbors who moved into the community of these already-established hog farms. In two of these suits, the juries ruled against the farmer, putting them out of business and awarding the neighbors several million dollars.
Read MoreFarmers and ranchers have had the spotlight of national media attention for the past several months, and not necessarily in a positive light. Of course the trade negotiations are a recurring story, whether it’s the impacts of NAFTA or trade wars with China. As our margins are already tight, and we’ve already experienced market declines based on speculation, I hope these trade talks settle in a few short-term battles rather than a long-lasting war. But trade isn’t the only topic bringing attention to farmers and ranchers. Thanks in large part to a Centers for Disease Control Study released in 2016, numerous stories and articles by many of the national and international media outlets have covered suicide rates among farmers and ranchers.
Read MoreOver the past few months, I’ve had the honor of presenting at a few seminars. In my first presentation at a grass-fed beef workshop, I used a slide that included the bullets above. As I was preparing for my second presentation focusing on profitability, I couldn’t help but include the same slide again, albeit a bit tangential.
Read MoreThe wheels of change may move slowly in Washington, D.C., but involvement on the local level can steer the direction of legislation at the Capitol. That may seem obvious with the 2018 Farm Bill, but you can also make a difference when an idea could literally have bicycle wheels rolling over farmland, through pastures and into the paths of logging trucks.
Read MoreI’ve been fortunate over the past month to travel on two, very different trips, both of which have provided me insight to policy challenges and useful management practices I can utilize on our own farm and in my advocacy efforts.
Read MoreMy 2018 has started out with a whirlwind of a month! In the beginning of January, my husband and I had the honor of representing the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation in the Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award Contest at the American Farm Bureau Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Most recently, I attended the 2018 Cattle Industry Convention in Phoenix, Arizona to participate in the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and Checkoff meetings.
Read MoreEverything has a season, so they say…. The holiday season is here; the season of giving. On our farm, it’s also calving season. Have I told you how much I love calving season?! As much as I adore calving, the most routine chore this time of year is a direct result of hay season earlier in the year, as we feed hay when our cows are not grazing ryegrass.
Read MoreIn a conversation with a good friend, he used a description I hadn’t heard before: “... running from can ‘til can’t.” Initially I didn’t hear what he said, but on the second saying it made perfect sense. It is so applicable to my life presently, and likely yours, as well.
Read MoreWhat if there were no more farmers and ranchers? What would that look like, and how would that outcome affect the rest of our country? Those might sound like light, theory-type questions to most of us. But within our agricultural community, those thoughts are staggering and carry an incredibly heavy weight.
Read MoreFor much of the past month I’ve either been studying forecasts and models trying to learn the latest cone of uncertainty for Harvey and Irma, or glued to the news reports coming from Texas and Louisiana in the wake of Harvey. If you’re remotely involved in agriculture, my guess is you’ve been doing the same; catching a glance while hurriedly harvesting what you can, or maybe helping neighbors get their crops out, and preparing the best you can. Given that in the last year nearly all of our state experienced flooding, we are empathetic for those now affected by this latest natural disaster.
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