Hi,

I am Agriculture, and I get a day of my own on March 15.

I’d like to introduce myself for anyone who may not know who I am.

I’m responsible for food and fiber production. I not only supply these necessities for the citizens of the U.S., but I’m also shipped all over the world. I raise beef, pork, chicken, milk, vegetables, fruit, nuts and grains for humans and animals. I also grow cotton for clothes, timber to build things—like your house and many other products—that keep us healthy and strong, individually and as a nation.

By Russell Boening

These are excerpts from President Russell Boening’s address at the organization’s 82nd annual meeting in Arlington.

Texas Farm Bureau has demonstrated the ability to unite the farm and ranch families of Texas, in effect creating another kind of family—a people united by a common bond of belief and of mutual interest.

You’ve witnessed the organization working for Texas agriculture and many of you have been part of that.

We strengthened eminent domain laws. We’ve come a long way, but there is more to be done.

By Mike Barnett

Innovation. Foresight. Technology. Know-how. It took equal parts to put a man on the moon. It takes equal parts to put food on your table.

A challenge that has never been shirked by the American farmer. It’s not easy feeding 321 million Americans three squares 365. At a cost that continues to rise, but by no means breaks the budget. And have enough left over to feed millions more.

It’s an immense test. And responsibility. Because failure means food insecurity. And a hungry nation.

Editor’s Note: In celebration of Throwback Thursday, Mike Barnett is reviving an old blog.

By Mike Barnett

Texas farmers and ranchers love pickups.

Doesn’t matter what brand or color, everyone has one. They carry our dust on the outside and mud on the inside. They’re decorated with dings and scratches from errant fence posts and angry cows.

Pickups haul range cubes, firewood and kids to school. The inside often smells of cow manure and wet dogs. Look in the back of a pickup and you’ll likely find welders, torches and the tools of agriculture’s trade.

By Mike Barnett

Family farm. Two words Americans love. With good reason.

Family means many things. Loving. Caring. Nurturing.

All apply to the family farmers I know. Too bad there are many misconceptions about what family farms are and aren’t.

Could be many of us are far removed from farm life. Some think of family farms as idyllic—a small place where the sun always shines, with chickens and cows, a patch of corn and a vegetable garden.