We are all dependent on the rain to grow crops and nourish grasslands. Beyond our ties to the food we consume at meals multiple times a day... We are connected to agriculture, all of us.
Before food makes it to your table it comes from the heartland, the coasts, the plains, the mountains and the desert. Our food comes from families!
Families like mine that have been taking care of the land since the late 1800s. But also families that have found more recent opportunities in agriculture.
Agriculture is so much more than food. It’s also medicine like pulmonary surfactant that helps babies born premature breathe! It’s the clothes we wear, the tires on our vehicles, and so many other items that we use every single day.
We don’t do this alone. Veterinarians, bankers, agronomists, and nutritionists all make up our core team.
But that’s not all of us either. It’s the...
Truckers, dispatch, elevators, the railroad, brokers, road crews, barge & ship crews
Processors, mills, butchers, packers, bakeries and grocery stores
Equipment & vehicle dealers, manufacturers, service techs, salesmen and our ride or die parts guy
Researchers, scientists and the educators of the next round of innovators
Restaurants, cafes, doctors, dentists and nurses that keep us going
Professionals that give updates on weather, markets, policy and happenings that affect them all
Electricians, plumbers, machinists and soldiers
Negotiators, commodity groups, lobbyists and politicians
Local suppliers of propane, fuel, seed, chemical, fertilizer, tires
Accountants, tax pros and landlords
All of our tech companies and tech support!
Extended family that shows up for the big days and eats every holiday meal late because we are doing chores
The village that watches our littles
Priests and pastors and the congregation that prays
All of us — We are agriculture. We are all dependent on the rain to grow crops and nourish grasslands. When you pray for rain you are praying for me. You're praying for my family. And you're praying for every family that earns a living from rural America.
We are in this together. All of us -- because we are agriculture.