Tag Archives: Ag Day

Agriculture Proud – It all started on National Ag Day


3 years! Can you believe it? Prior to National Ag Day 2010, I was involved in social media and advocating for the agriculture industry, but I had yet to really find my spot. That all changed with one tweet. I posted my response on the Working Ranch magazine blog I was writing at the time and received far more response than I could have ever imagined. That planted the seed for this blog and the I am Agriculture Proud theme I use across several Social Media platforms.

Why are YOU Agriculture Proud?

earth day we will farm on flyerI feel it appropriate to share those original thoughts on National Agriculture Day 2013 and encourage you to do the same.

Here’s the original Agriculture Proud blog post from 2010:

It is National Agriculture Day! Did you thank a farmer and rancher for their hard work to produce the food that ends up on your plate? If not, you should do it today, as well as the other 364 days in the year.

In case you missed it, this was National Agriculture Week; a week for the celebration of agriculture and an opportunity to educate the public about the good story we have to tell. Since I was on the couch for half of the week (wisdom teeth were just cut out on Spring Break), I had the opportunity to follow several conversations on Social Media about the event. There are so many stories being told about what agvocates are doing to spread the word about agriculture. One post caught my eye when someone asked the question “Why are you proud to be a part of Agriculture?”

Why am I proud to be a part of the cattle industry? For starters, it is what my family does for a living, so there is a bit of family pride in it for me. Despite having four other siblings at home, I am the only one that has taken a strong interest in working with cattle. When my dad reaches the age where he can no longer take care of the place, and I have had my fill of the world, I plan to return home and help him run things.

The more political answer to that question is that I am humbled by the knowledge that each of our cattle feeds a family somewhere in the world. This means our cattle not only provide the beef in our family freezer, but also the freezer of a family in California, Virginia, Japan, and Australia. The meat shelves at grocery stores around the world are filled with safe, quality American beef, and I am proud to know that I had a hand in that. Today the average US producer feeds 155 people in a growing global market.

Family Cattle Farmer Ag DayI get a personal satisfaction out of being a small producer. There is a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day when the cattle are fed, the newborn calves are off to a good start, and a few more chores are marked off the to-do list. A hard day’s work put in on the family’s place is a job well done. There is nothing like being out in the pasture and just soaking it all up on a wonderful summer day.

Media and animal rights groups are throwing around the “factory farm” label for American agriculture today, but the truth is the cattle industry continues to remain a relatively small-minded industry. I took a minute to study the 2007 US Ag census data today and found that 89% (728,992) of cattle operations have an inventory of less than 100 head, making up 40% (29,858,211) of the US cattle inventory. The average inventory for US cattle operations is just short of 91 head. Does not sound like much of a “factory” now does it? Sure, there are 665 operations with more than 2,500 cattle but they only make up 0.08% of the operations and 6% of the national inventory.

The cattle industry may be growing, some operations may be getting larger, but the small operations will always be the grassroots of the industry. What makes you proud to be a part of the cattle industry? Let me hear about it. Find me on Facebook or Twitter.

Here’s to many more great travels, connections, and years of agvocacy, because I AM Agriculture Proud. Thank You to everyone who has helped me along the way! Here’s to the start of year number 4!

Ag Day Celebrating Agriculture From California to North Dakota


Jenny & her Sunflower FarmerJenny Dewey is a country girl at heart. Born and raised in Northern California and growing up in her parent’s butcher shop and deli, agriculture has always been a part of her life. She recently followed her heart to North Dakota where she is now engaged to a sunflower farmer and works at his ag supply business. Besides spending time with her farmer, Jenny loves to take photos with her DSLR, the challenges of bringing culture to the prairie through a variety of culinary creations, and using her interior design degree to flip their bachelor pad into a home. 

Last year I wrote about how I was Ag Proud to be part of my parent’s local butcher shop and deli and in fact, I still am. That will never change, the passion I have for the meat industry is in my blood. But this year I have a whole new reason to be Ag Proud.  Joining social media not only brought me into a whole new world of making friends in agriculture across the U.S. as well as the ability to connect with people who wanted to know more about agriculture, but it also allowed me to come in contact with a sunflower farmer from North Dakota. Some of you may remember him from last year…? Eventually I fell in love with this farmer, left my family’s business and my home in Northern California to follow my dreams to the rural prairies of North Dakota…. Ashley, North Dakota to be exact: the land of sunflowers, soybeans, corn, and wheat and where tractors, combines, and pickup trucks reign supreme.

SunflowersMoving to North Dakota has given me a whole new perspective on agriculture. I was able to witness the day to day life of a farmer, what goes into planting those seeds, and maintaining them. I survived my first harvest here, spending a few hours in the combine (harvester) with my farmer, asking endless amounts of questions. Before moving out here, I knew nothing about row crop farming. The only combine I had ever seen was off of Interstate 5 in California cutting rice. I had no idea that North Dakota was such a mecca for agriculture.  North Dakota’s number one economy is agriculture and they lead the nation in many crops such as: barley, sunflowers, edible beans, flaxseed, & honey.

It took me moving halfway across the country to realize how important the role agriculture plays in the economies of these states, to the local communities, and in the daily lives of farmers and ranchers across the nation. And when I stand up at the altar this fall and become Mrs. Sunflower Farmer, I will have a whole new set of things to be AgProud of: I will become part of a family farm on the rural prairies of North Dakota. I will become resident of a state that lives and breathes agriculture in its small rural communities. My farmer and I will be able to raise a family here and teach our children the value of hard work and the fact that sometimes farming is tough. And that in those moments it’s important to keep faith, hold your head up, and remember that the sun will rise again tomorrow. But the best part is that I will get to stand next to my husband in the field, on the land that his family has worked for nearly seven decades, and look out on the crops we grew, together, and know that it was by our own hands that the life we live is possible.

If you’d like to follow along as I learn about farming on the prairies of North Dakota, check out my blog http://jldphotographblog.com

North Dakota sunset   soybeans in the field

Observing National Ag Day on Ag Proud


janice person and ryan goodmanToday’s featured Bandita is Janice AKA JPLovesCotton, a city girl who loves cotton and biotechnology. Her work at Monsanto includes blogging and social media outreach. A colorful adventure is her personal blog. Follow her on Twitter (@JPLovesCotton).

It seems every industry and every special interest have a day on the calendar. You see tweets, Facebook and blog posts about national _____ day all the time. Shining the spotlight on various parts of America is something we have gotten used to.

While lots of them really deserve significant attention, I can’t help but think some of those national days of observance are really marketing efforts. To me, National Agriculture Day is definitely not marketing hype.

It is an opportunity. An opportunity for two different groups.

  • For the vast majority of Americans, Ag Day is a chance to remember the role agriculture plays in our lives.
  • For farmers, ranchers and others of us who work in agriculture to put a stake in the ground and remind ourselves how we need to be engaging with others so they understand what the minority does and the impacts we have, commitments we make and interest we have in dialog.

National Agriculture DayDuring the month of March, friends of Agriculture Proud are invited to write their Ag Day story and submit it to us. We already have several who are interested in writing about their typical day in agriculture, others who want to shine a light on efforts surrounding Ag Day in their communities, etc.

This is going to be fun! If you want to join, leave a comment here connecting your email address to it and we will let you know how to proceed. I know I can’t wait to write my post for the series!

This March marks the start of 4 years for the Agriculture Proud blog. For the past 3 years, the blog has challenged readers to consider and share their thoughts on why they are proud to be a part of the Agriculture community.

In 2012, a month-long series featured folks from across the country highlighting the diversity of the Agriculture community. A summary of the posts can be found here.

The AgChat Banditas have a running series of guest posts on the Agriculture Proud blog.

The AgChat Banditas have a running series of guest posts on the Agriculture Proud blog.

A Collection Of Stories – Diversity In Agriculture


The sun's down on another great blog series. Many types of Agriculture featured, but there's still more to come!

Agriculture is a diverse world and even though I’ve spent the past 30 days highlighting the numerous ways farmers, ranchers, and consumers contribute to this diversity, there’s still so much more story to tell. I was excited to celebrate National Agriculture Day and the start of my 3rd year on Agriculture proud with a month of guest posts featuring different sectors of Agriculture. There’s still many more stories to come in the series, but I think it’s time I get back to my story as well.

To make things a little simpler I want to highlight all of the great people who contributed to my blog series and shared why they are Agriculture Proud. There’s a great collection of Agriculture diversity here, covering many walks of life. I hope you enjoy the unique thoughts each and every person has to offer. Let me know if you’d like to contribute a post, and let’s keep the story rolling and share with the world why we’re Agriculture Proud!

Mal The Beef Gal – Malorie Bankhead is from Livermore, California and a student at California Poly Technical State University in San Luis Obispo. She is a great Ambassador for the Beef community and as she puts it, great things can come in small packages.

California Sustainable Wood – Mark Lathrop works with tree farmers in Northern California and does a great job reminding us about a crop many can overlook even though it surrounds us every day.

In My DNA – Leslie Pierson grew up and lives in an urban setting, but that doesn’t keep her from being involved in Agriculture and having a passion for what her relatives once did.

Corn, Cattle, and Countless Hours – Bobbi Lorenz, along with her husband, raises corn and cattle in Nebraska and shows how living the farm life is truly reason to be Agriculture Proud.

Ontario Agriculture – Joe Dickenson joined the series to take us across the Northern border and have a glimpse at how Canadian Agriculture works with the community.

I am Ag Proud – On National Agriculture Day, I took a moment to reflect on my role in Agriculture as a graduate student and Animal Science researcher.

Chico Locker and Sausage - Jenny Dewey took us out to her folks place in California. The family does a great job working with the community, providing fresh meats, and opportunities to learn how meat travels from pasture to plate.

Family Roots – Daren Williams, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, takes us on the road up the family tree to DISCover how his family impacted row crop farming and even raised cattle.

Food Insecurity – Anthony Pannone, student at Texas A&M, works with I Love Farmers, They Feed My Soul. He takes time to point out a great passion for most farmers, feeding the hungry, and shows how opportunity lies right outside our doors.

Agricultural Law – Elizabeth Burns-Thompson is a law student at Drake University with a passion and understanding of policy making. She explains how she plans to utilize her love for Agriculture in a future career.

National Teach Ag Day – Robin McLean is an agriculture educator in New Jersey. She joined in to share a bit about Teach Ag Day and as she explains it, she became an Ag educator “by choice not by chance.”

Illinois Ag Education – Kathy Novotney, also an Ag educator, from Illinois took a moment to share why she is proud to teach future American agriculturalists and how much her background in Ag contributes to that.

Can An Outsider Be AgProud? – Aimee Whetstine wants her chance at the conversation. An urban mom who loves to learn about her food sources. This Wichita resident shares why consumers can be Ag Proud too.

Tennessee Dairy Farmer – Ryan Bright from East Tennessee is Ag Proud to be a 5th generation dairy farmer and takes pride in seeing his product on grocery shelves.

Quality of Agriculture – Erica Beck of Washington thinks highly of being raised in the Agriculture community, and it all boils down to quality. Quality of cattle, horses, and even crops.

Sunflower Farmer – March Rohrich lives in North Dakota, the leading state for sunflower production. He does a great job of letting us know just what all farmers can do with sunflowers!

Harned’s Drive-In – Celeste Harned was raised growing hogs, but married into a family restaurant. How does she mix the two? There’s a lot to be learned from both sides.

Louisiana Sugarcane – Wilson Judice is sugarcane farmer in Louisiana. Many don’t realize this crop is harvested multiple times a year. Wilson also shares some thoughts on farming for the future generation.

Family Dairy Farming – How about a family dairy in Utah! Farming on the same land since the 1800s and producing 90,000 lbs of milk every day, Trent Bown shares why he’s AgProud.

The Farm Vet – This Veterinarian in the big state of California is AgProud. How can one take care of animals, knowing they’ll one day end up as food on our plates?

Peanut Farming – Jillian Etress didn’t grow up on a farm, but learned a lot from her grandparents. Same goes for her husband. Now they raise peanuts, cattle and more on their farm in Alabama.

Meat Producers part of Global Food – David Hayden grew up on a farm, but has a passion for meat production. Now he helps others be better at getting meat to retail product. Learning from Pasture to Plate.

Certified Organic – Delvin Farmers is a Nashville area certified organic farm and hosts a Community Supported Agriculture. Some farmers find niche markets in these urban areas and make good on connecting urban consumers with food.

More Coming Soon!

THANK YOU to everyone who contributed guest posts to this series! It’s been so much fun for me to learn about different parts of Agriculture. Which was your favorite?

There are still more posts in the series to come, but we’re gonna space them out a bit. There’s a cotton loving gal, a military kid, a Louisiana Farm kid, and more lined up. Be sure to check back on this blog for them to show up. I’ll add em to this list later.

Do you have a story to tell? Would you like to see a specific part of Agriculture featured in this story? Send me your thoughts or leave em in the comment section below.