By Gene Hall

In my more cynical moments, I suspect that the great confusion and controversy surrounding agriculture today is on purpose.

In this mindset, I can easily conclude that those organizations that survive by demonizing modern agriculture manipulate the language and the labels to suit their own purposes. In this way, passions are inflamed. Money is raised. A public is misled. Calling you “Big Ag” could mean “Big Bucks” for me even though all I’ve contributed to the debate are a couple of politically charged words.

By Suzie Wilde

I kiss a family farmer.

Some of the land he farms has been in his family for almost 100 years. He does all the work himself at this point in his farming career, except for harvest time when two or three other folks have to help. Often those are even all family members, including his town-dwelling wife, at times. (I can pack a pretty tight module, if I do say so myself.) But lately I have come to realize that many of those out there who are critics of farming think that the farmer I kiss should not be allowed to be called a family farmer. They think that he has too much land, too many tractors, a barn that is too big… They contend that he is “big ag” or “corporate farming.”

By Gene Hall

My goodness, have we reached the point where disagreeing on something makes us “haters?” Gee, I hope not.  Recently, here on Texas Agriculture Talks, we pointed out some problems with recent ads by the chain restaurant Chipotle in what are plainly attacks on modern agriculture. Other Farm Bureau writers around the country posted similar views. 

Chipotle’s ad was cute and engaging—cartoon pigs, cartoon farmer and a lovely Willie Nelson rendition of the Coldplay tune, The Scientist, Back to the Start. A colleague of mine says there’s no black or white on this. It’s either an attack on conventional agriculture that justifies a response or it’s gospel truth and any response is the start of the attack. 

By Mike Barnett

I wonder about the silence of the land.

You have a good business plan. You know your costs to the penny. You work long hours. You figure your inputs for maximum profits. You love your job. You would not trade your way of life for no other.

Yet you let someone else shape opinions about what you do.

You invest wisely in the latest seed technology. You’re mum when food produced by genetically engineered plants is attacked.

You buy the best bull you can afford to improve your herd to produce bigger and better calves. You remain silent when animal activists slander your animal husbandry practices.

By Mike Barnett

Chink. Chink. Chink.

Listen closely, farmers and ranchers. That’s the sound of your reputations being chiseled away.

Like a mason chipping stone, outside forces are shaping how agriculture is viewed today. Although the image of farmers and ranchers is still remarkable, it is being distorted by those who wish to dictate how you and I eat.

Chink. Chink. Chink.

Recent consumer research by a coalition of Midwest farm groups, including the Illinois Farm Bureau, confirms that farmers are still held in substantial esteem by the public. The same research, however, shows consumers have reduced trust in modern farming techniques and have profound doubts about how their food is produced.