Guebert: Navigating the fields of change

Late summer brings a bit of respite to the farm life. Crops are definitely on their own until harvest.

I hope many of you are finding time to get away from the farm. Maybe taking a day trip or “putting up sweet corn” with the family. This is also the time of year Farm Bureau meetings are centered around sitting down and hammering out the business at hand.

Where do we go from here? This will go down in the books for the most virtual webinars, field days and conference calls I’ve ever had. I have now officially entered Zoom fatigue.

A common theme occurring in the agriculture industry is the virtual noon hour conversations recapping the pandemic’s impact on farming. And what does farming look like on the other side of the pandemic, whenever that is.

First, I want to acknowledge how our organization was able to work remotely. We kept doing the work while we were apart.

While our governmental affairs team — especially the director of our national affairs — could not get to D.C., he could make phone calls and video chats to get our needs and concerns addressed with administration officials, Illinois congressional team and staff.

We did it thanks to a team of dedicated professionals committed to serving our farmer members. The Farm Bureau membership value is priceless.

Every sector’s future has unanswered questions. I still remember March 16, when our management team and elected officials were talking with state officials ensure agriculture was deemed an essential industry.

The term we kept returning to was resilient. Our farmers are resilient. U.S. agriculture is resilient.

The news headlines of empty meat cases may have made you question from time to time, but overall we were resilient in delivering a steady food supply.

The challenge was getting the food to the people that needed it — and that continues today with unemployment numbers and continued food insecurity due to layoffs due to the pandemic.

Illinois agriculture groups are listening to university and extension professionals, private and public partners, food marketing experts, technology visionaries and soil health futurists. The list is long — just like our issues impacting farmers.

Everything from future government funding, farm bill 2023, ad hoc emergency assistance, carbon trading, new export partners, China’s trade commitments, food assistance, broadband expansion, crop insurance, federal and state budgetary challenges, consumer preferences, meat processing infrastructure, health and immunity concerns, new crops, biofuels outlook, land use, market demands — the list goes on and on.

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change. What I can say is we must change if we are to get better.

I heard it mentioned on a webinar this past month: “We took five months of change that should have happened in five years.”

Folks, we need critical thinkers to help us navigate through this next chapter of agricultural change. Farm Bureau’s greatest asset is our network of county Farm Bureaus working to engage those minds — you can’t be on the sidelines as we navigate the fields of change.

We don’t look for others to solve the problems. We find solutions within ourselves.

Richard Guebert Jr. is the president of Illinois Farm Bureau. His family farm in Randolph County grows corn, soybeans and wheat.