Do Farmers wear business suits?

I recently read a blog entry about local food. The author was breaking down the energy it takes to get food from the farm to the dinner table, and debunking some common beliefs about local food. Read it here. A short and very interesting read.

Don’t get me wrong. I love local food! I love the farmer’s market! I love CSAs (Community Supported Ag)! Locally grown produce and meat provide an excellent opportunity for those who don’t have a connection to food production. And they provide my family with fresh food when it’s in season. But… (you knew there was going to be a but) that doesn’t mean that modern/industrial farming is the “bad guy.” There is a place and a need in this world for all forms of agriculture.

Anyway… there was a person on this blog that commented that small local farmers wear blue jeans and worry about their crops, unlike “industrial” farmers in the Midwest who wear suits and worry about their balance sheet. Ok, I know many of you who read this blog are in the Midwest. And most of you have met a farmer. Was he or she wearing a suit?? Probably not.

So many terms get thrown around when it comes to food production. What do they even mean? I’m a farmer in the heartland of America, just 50 miles from Cedar Rapids, the “Food Capital of the World” and I’m not really even sure….

My crops and livestock are sold, for the most part, to food processing companies. Does that make me an “industrial” farmer? My hogs are kept indoors. Does that make me a “factory?” I use herbicides and have a professional accountant do my taxes. Does that mean I’m “corporate?”

All of the labor and management on my farm is done by family. Does that make me a “family” farmer? I sell beef directly to local customers. Does that make me a “local” farm? We use cover crops, no-till, and crop rotation. Does that mean we’re “sustainable?”

I have been known to do cattle chores and get covered in manure (although my husband is the champion at getting dirty, he can look at dirt and it will stick to him). Then the next day I will be dressed in a business suit to attend a Farm Bureau gathering. I’m so confused! Am I supposed to do only one of these activities?

Then there are the days that there isn’t enough time to transition from one role to the other and you end up walking into the bank with your filthy, holey jeans on. Or you extend your dirty greasy hand to family from the city who decided to stop by for a visit.

Then there’s the other way around. Such as when you’re on your way to church and spot 40 head of feeder calves plowing through the newly planted corn field. There isn’t enough time to go home and change into your chore clothes. Or, you go straight to the field after prenatal classes (because you know if you miss one your baby is gonna come out with three legs and hairy ears) because the weather is perfect for the first time in weeks for soybean harvest.

Yes. All of the above situations really happened to me.

I’m not rare. This is how agriculture in the Midwest is. The people you see on the cover of the Farm Bureau Spokesman in their business suits are the same people you will meet on the road with their tractors and manure spreaders. The same people you will see in the bleachers at their kid’s tee ball game.

People who think that “industrial” farming is a horrible, evil, greedy, destructive way of life are the reason I blog. The way they see modern farming just isn’t so.

Written by Liz Nieman

“Green” Businesses Adopting Long-Time Farm Philosophy

A bin of old tractor parts waits for refurbishment at Hy-Capacity.

I’ll bet you a St. Paddy’s Day Guinness you can’t name a trade that’s greener than farming. You would be hard-pressed to beat acres of corn stretching to the horizon, grass stains on Wranglers and the evolving on-farm environmental practices that protect our soil, water and air (practices we refer to as “green”). But some Iowa businesses are catching up by doing a lot of the same things farmers have always done.

Take Hy-Capacity, a Humboldt, Iowa company that refurbishes tractor parts and sells them to customers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Recently, the company shifted from low waste to virtually no waste thanks to the vision of family ownership and management, the creativity of a “Green Team” and the commitment of Hy-Capacity’s employees.

“In less than three months, we won recognition [from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources] as a ‘Zero Waste Company’ thanks to a collection of efforts by employees,” said Vice President Molly Varangkounh. “Together, we’ve done everything from converting our lighting to save energy, to switching out Styrofoam products whenever we can.”

The company—which also received the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation’s Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneur award—achieved an amazing reduction in its waste in a short period of time by adhering to a philosophy that farmers have always used: use as little as possible and reuse everything you can. It’s amazing to see the similarities between Hy-Capacity’s recycling policies and what has always been done on farms.

• Hy-Capacity captures rainwater from its roof and uses it in the manufacturing process. That’s a lot like farmers, who capture nutrients on farm ground through conservation tillage, terraces and stream buffer strips. They also build fertility in the soil by leaving behind crop residue (stalks, cobs and leaves) and using a natural fertilizer that’s been used for centuries, livestock manure.

• Hy-Capacity’s recycling center is, well, recycled; the company built it from reused beams, tin and doors. That’s just the way farmers reuse materials when they build something new. In fact, my parents and brother recently built a small feed mill on our family farm using boards, poles, lights, augers and bulk bins that were already on the place. They also used a refurbished mixer and mill for the new project.

• Hy-Capacity installed lighting fixtures that use 50 to 70 percent less energy. Farmers have always looked for ways to conserve, and it has become even more important as farm profitability has waned and energy costs have soared. A program initiated by Iowa Farm Bureau, Consumers Energy, Iowa State University Extension, with support from the Iowa Corn Growers Association and Iowa Pork Producers Association, is helping farmers find more ways to cut energy costs.

Conservation and recycling principles being adopted by the most progressive businesses are ingrained in farming. So it’s no surprise that farmers have cut energy use by 37 percent per bushel of corn produced and 65 percent out of raising a bushel of soybeans over the last 20 years, according to Field to Market group and The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. Greenhouse gas emissions per bushel produced have been slashed by more than 30 percent.

The model for environmental protection doesn’t need to be reinvented, just perpetuated and continually improved. As businesses become greener and look for ways to save energy, recycle and reuse, they can look to farming, the original “green” business.

Written by Zach Bader
Zach is a Communications Specialist for Iowa Farm Bureau.