In defense of agriculture

I recently returned from a three-day editorial meeting for the magazine I work for. Since it's an agriculture magazine, there of course was a lot of talk about what's going on in the industry these days. As someone who grew up on a farm, but is still learning much about the ag industry, I came away from the meeting with quite a few things to think about.

And, I've come to at least one conclusion: No matter what others might say, large-scale producers -- "big ag" if you will -- is a vital part of our economy and our world.

A major concern in the ag industry these days has been how consumers -- the general public -- view agriculture. There has been some media attention lately on "big ag" and the supposed evils that are associated with it: Genetically modified seeds, herbicide and fungicide use, pollution created during production, animal welfare issues and of course, the idea that big ag is merely out to overtake the family farm.

These are all legitimate concerns, and all worthy of discussion. However, the ag community is often attacked from many sides, and has a difficult time communicating what it does and defending itself. The problem isn't that farmers aren't able to defend themselves. Many could argue their side, using facts and science, until you were put straight as a ruler. The problem is that the general public -- and those doing the attacking -- has become so far removed from the farm that they usually know little, if anything, about how agriculture actually works. It's a pretty big task to not only defend yourself, but also educate your opponent from the ground up.

The situation is what it is, however, and I'm confident that ag will pull through. What bothers me most is this: These know-nothings who like to vilify big ag seem to ignore the big picture. The fact is that without big ag, people in our nation and across the world would starve. America's population alone is expected to reach 9 billion over the next few years; new acreage for raising crops is dwindling. How do we feed an expanding population under these circumstances? We can't turn the clock back on farming when there are more people demanding food.

Of course, I'm not saying that there's no place for the small farming operation. In fact, many smaller operations have managed to find niche markets that big ag just can't fulfill. There's room in our nation for all farmers. Big, small, it doesn't matter.

In order to feed the world, we need all the help we can get.