Progressive Farmer tries to counter negative farm images with 'The Real American Farmer'

Agribusiness has seen its image take a hit in recent months because of animal-rights abuses, anti-comptetive practices and environmental issues, and many in the industry feel farmers are gaining an unfair reputation as a result. In an effort to combat those negative images, The Progressive Farmer has a special section in this month's issue called "The Real American Farmer," which profiles three farm and ranch families "who care deeply about their land, their livestock and their profession."

The Beckers, a Minnesota family that owns and operates LB Pork, have seen a shift in the industry to the point that Lonny Becker is in touch daily with three or more marketing advisers, Tom Dodge reports. "Who'd have ever thought five years ago that we'd have to be concerned with the daily gyrations of the euro?" he asked Dodge. To weather the economic downturn, the family has held weekly meetings for the last two years. Lonny's sister-in-law Julie forsees even more scrutiny from outside the industry. "As producers, farmers have been doing the right things all along," she told Dodge. "But from now on, you'll have to prove it to everyone else."

Clay Rightmer (far right, with family) is the fourth generation of Rightmers to ranch in central Texas, and he claims "you cannot find a better life no matter how hard you look," Jim Patrico reports. Rightmer terms frugality his survival tool, pointing to his choice to use cottonseed rather than corn as cattle feed while corn prices soared over the past few years. One area Rightmer said he doesn't look to cut costs is environmental stewardship. "Water begets wildlife," he told Patrico. "It's about working in harmony with the land and changing when it changes."

Todd Hays is a seventh-generation Missouri farmer who earned a two-year degree in marketing because it appeared his family farm had no room for another farmer. He eventually married into another farm family, giving him his chance to return to the work he loves, Patrico reports. Today Hays and his wife's family have about 600 sows and market 13,000 hogs a year. To counter the vocal critics of agriculture the family goes beyond environmental requirements. "When possible, the family injects manure into the soil rather than spreading it on the surface," reducing runoff and odor, Patrico writes.

Hays said he tries to see things such as skepticism about biotech crops from the non-farming point of view. He said such crops can lower production costs and reduce farming's impact on the environment. "We can use fewer chemicals and herbicides," he told Patrico. "And I don't [often] have to use insecticides for rootworms and curtowrms." Hays said the key to improving the ag industry's image is to show people the way farming actually works, and then they will understand and approve. (You can subscribe to The Progressive Farmer here.)