What National Ag Week Means to Me

My Dad and I - He has taught me what I know today!

This past week was National Ag Week. The week is about recognizing and celebrating the contribution of agriculture in our everyday lives. The National Ag program encourages every American to:

• Understand how food and fiber products are produced. 
• Value the essential role of agriculture has in maintaining a strong economy.
• Appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.
  

My Dad and sister digging post holes. (1986)

My sister Linda in Dad's first planter.

It's amazing to think that today's American farmer feeds about 155 people worldwide. In 1960, that number was 25.8. Farmers today use technology and science based seeds to produce more to feed the world!  Farmers care deeply about the land they use to produce products that help feed and fuel the world.

I grew up on a farm and my parents still farm today so that is why agriculture means so much to me. My Dad has been farming for 42 years and so he has a lot of experience and knowledge when it comes to producing the right crop on a certain acre of land. In those 42 years, he has had many ups and downs, but farming is his life and I am fortunate that I was able to experience that life growing up.

Growing up on a farm taught me the following values:

• The importance of caring for animals.
• The importance of prayer (when rain was needed).
• Family, it takes all hands on deck to successfully keep a farm going, year after year.
• Hard work and dedication - farmers are the most hard working and dedicated people that I know.
• Passion, farmers have a passion and love for what they do everyday. (I am lucky I have this in my job everyday now - I absolutely love it.

Becky (sister), Raymond (brother) & Dad, our love for John Deere (1986)

My sister Linda and my Dad making fence. (1986)

It's funny how farmers have a true passion for green or red equipment. My Dad farmed with John Deere (green) so that is what I know and love today. Growing up taught me the value of hard work, good weather and running when the weather is nice. Since my brother's were all younger than I was, I always helped my Dad during harvest. Even though we had some very late nights, sometimes 2:00 am before we would shut the equipment down, I still loved it. I remember sitting on the open cab tractor with coveralls on and wishing he would call it quits since I was the one hauling in the corn and soybeans and it was freezing out. My Dad always knew when a storm was going to be rolling in by the look of the sky so when that was about to occur we'd run late to get as much done as we could before the precipitation fell.

It's funny how one usually grows up loving what their parents instilled in them. I have passed down this love down to my kids. My son (R-Man) loves his John Deere tractor and so does little-C. I'm lucky to have the parents I do and I'm so glad they taught me the values that I have today. I am blessed to have a husband and kids who love visiting the farm to help feed the animals, sort to the cows and harvest the corn and soybeans every fall.

R-man & Little-C already love John Deere

Farmers are very important to Iowa agriculture and I'm lucky I was raised by one and I'm lucky my parents still farm so that I can instill these values in my children as they grow up.