Unique Story

We all have a story, our stories are unique and diverse but our stories all have one thing in common...agriculture. Whether your tie to agriculture comes from growing up on a farm or ranch, or if the only connection you have to agriculture is the food you eat; it really doesn't matter.

All of our stories rely heavily on the story agriculture has written, the unfortunate thing about this is that all too often people don't realize the impact agriculture has on their lives. The even more unfortunate thing is that those directly tied to agriculture are partially to blame.

Those directly tied to agriculture understand how important agriculture is, but so often we fail to tell others. We often get frustrated because animal rights and environmental groups are gaining ground with the uniformed public, but to be honest we have no one to blame but ourselves. If we just took the time to inform the general public about the importance of agriculture in their life we wouldn't have to worry so much about these groups gaining more and more support. We must inform the general public about the amazing story of agriculture. But when telling agriculture's story we must remember one thing...keep it simple!

Young children and those who aren't as connected with agriculture don't always understand our technical language. In fact most of them get pretty lost when we use words like acres, bushels, etc. They relate better to "I raised enough wheat to produce 87,600 loaves of bread" versus "I raised 1,200 bushels of wheat." Yes, it takes a little bit of time to figure out just how many loaves of bread could be produced with "x" amount of bushels, but the results will resonate with people on a much louder level.

By taking the time to talk with others about agriculture you may actually learn something about the unique story agriculture has written. For instance you may come to find out that in one year a dairy cow will produce 1,500 gallons or 6,000 quarts of milk. Or that a hive of bees flies 55,000 miles to produce one pound of honey. These are facts that people not directly involved with agriculture understand, can relate to. The world of agriculture has its own unique story. But what are we doing to make sure that story is heard loud and clear?