"I like Oxygen, You Like Oxygen"

“I Like Oxygen, You Like Oxygen”

 I heard this quote by a young man describing the lowest form of agreement among people desperately trying to build consensus within a group.  He also said, “admitting there is a problem is the first sign of recovery.”  These phrases struck me as the debate over Proposition 2 was raging.  If we could just agree to liking air, could we then start some meaningful discussion about our animal production practices.

If my great grandfather was alive, he would be horrified at the direction this country has taken.  I can hear him say, “You judge society by how well you treat your animals.”

I am personally wrestling with an America that has questioned her most trusted friend, the farmer, about animal welfare and food production.  Isn’t the farmer and animal husbandry synonymous?  I’m equally puzzled by an agriculture that feels compelled to ramp up outreach about how we care for our animals in an industrial setting, while blaming consumers and animal welfare advocates for the increased scrutiny on how their food is produced. The reality is the past 100 years of agricultural production policies and practices have put us all at a tipping point.

I bring up this topic because my need to understand and heal this situation is great, given the fact that my next generation’s farming future depends on what policies are voted on, (by mostly non-farmers). Good, well-meaning, passionate people are divided but not talking to each other, only through media outlets.  Humane Society is blaming, environmentalists are blaming, agribusiness is blaming, farm organizations are blaming and I’m trying to dodge the arrows.  I see both sides; true or false, fact or fiction, perception or reality.  In fact, I have experienced the guilt of being on the edge of this teetering animal agricultural system.  I have also been accosted because I do farm with animals and not vegetables, which is a whole other topic.

My contrasting life experiences include managing a confinement chicken facility, modern dairy production, sending animals to feedlots, and now, creating an all-grass system.  I am not immune from the demons of animal welfare concerns at any of these levels. I compromised some of my grandfather’s beliefs when I went to college and learned the modern way of farming based on sound science and high inputs.  It took some extreme life lessons to show me these teachings were flawed because we were not taught to think or allowed to question short term gratification farming, over long-term whole farm regenerative systems. 

This blip in my personal history along with my passion to respect nature and people is challenging me to figure out where I stand when I agree and disagree with the Animal Welfare Institute and I agree and disagree with Farm Bureau.  If I choose one camp over another, I’m labeled a zealot or worse an “activist” and could be shunned by the community I serve.  Is there a happy medium for me, and where is it, when you have over 300 million consumers to feed and only 2% of the populace are farming?

These bundle of thoughts came at 5 am on a dark, sleet-laced morning as I trudged a half a mile up the hill through the snow to open some bales for my all-natural beef herd.  I had to wonder if people think I’m cruel for having animals out in the weather with only woods for shelter, (having friends called into the authorities for just this situation).  With me surrounded by these warm, happy bovines, I couldn’t help but look across the valley and see the lights from barns where other farmers and their animals were working together to feed a community.  Was it wrong to treat my cows to the outside while other cows were inside on deep bedding and mattresses, cared for tirelessly by another compassionate farmer?  It’s an example of different local systems on diverse family farms.  In fact, it’s this diversity that allowed me to purchase this hay from my neighbors milking those cows.

As far as the vertically integrated animal production system, I have to seriously question a system based on a cheap food policy that relies on so many inputs and treating animals as units while diminishing the population of family farmers and their animal husbandry skills.  What I learned from my days on the chicken farm was a system with no seasons and no individuality, just batches.  This was a very painful lesson for me to accept, especially when I saw consumers practicing the “price always wins game”, at the local store.  Birds living in cages served by feed conveyors with no sunlight or soil respects nothing except the efficiency of feeding many mouths, which the farmer has been systematically pushed towards because of policies set by voters.  I ask, where is the balance in these farming situations and will pulling a lever in secret be hypocritical to farmers if the consumer still wants the same result, cheap abundant food?  Bottom line: Consumers must be willing to support change with their wallets if animals are to be treated differently than the cage and crate paradigm.

I think after 100 years of food production it’s time for some serious dialogue between all parties of this nation, from consumers and conservation professionals to farmers and elected officials, and even the small voices of the next generation.  My children and grandchildren deserve meaningful discussion of all food issues without playing the blame game.  Admit it.  We created this system of cheap food burning up precious natural resources and human capital while treating our animals as pawns.  Admit that we adopted flawed strategies based on what we knew at the time.  Admit that we passed policies that led to our now strained relationships. And admit we need to change together, however painful it might be.

So here I sit with 46 years of farming under my belt and a new NYS Century Farm Award on the shelf looking at a country that needs at least 50,000 more family farmers to meet any new long-term food production paradigms.

What will our future food supply look like?  Will I be able to farm in a way that is consistent with my local resources?  If I abide by listening to my consumers, will they stop at the farm and buy or will they drive by for a cheaper alternative?  And if that is the case, how will my children be able to sustain a farm and a local community?

I will go to our school board and test these questions by asking if they will consider putting my beef on their menu for our greatest asset.  I have been informed it will be a tough fight, but I will be armed with our town’s strategic plan to support farms and a new directive from our New York State Food Policy Council to put local food into schools.  It is a challenge I want to be ready for, so I will start the conversation of change by asking “I like oxygen, do you like oxygen?”