From the Fields: A common goal

The signs of seasons changing are everywhere. I see colors in the trees, dust in the air, allergy symptoms and harvest beginning. As of late September, we have been harvesting soybeans for a few days. We have had a very dry growing season with minimal amounts of rain. As far as we can tell at this point, it was just enough rain at just the right times for our soybean crop.

The initial yields are looking very good, but we have to remember this is just a small part of the harvest. That’s what farming is every day, isn’t it? You see the positive and hope that the rest looks just like that. And when we see the negative, we hope the rest is a lot better.

We just received our first rain in a long time. Enough rain that we stopped harvesting. For that rain, we are thankful. It’s not always about getting it done. It’s about what’s best in the long run, and we are still moisture-deficient, so we are grateful for every drop we get.

As we look toward the corn harvest, the plants look good, but we need to continue to monitor the conditions and change harvest priority as needed. What is the saying? Make hay while the sun shines? I would say that’s exactly what we are doing. Make the most of the dry hours to harvest, keep safety front of mind and adjust as the weather does what it does.

At Indiana Farm Bureau, we are finishing up most of the county annual business meetings. I always enjoy meeting with our members. When I speak at these meetings, I enjoy seeing their boost of confidence or the encouragement they feel knowing that, although we are all different, we share common goals and are working together toward the preservation and promotion of agriculture and our communities.

On the national level, I serve on the American Farm Bureau Federation Trade Advisory Committee. I was invited to attend the North American European Union Agriculture Conference. I was one of seven in our delegation representing U.S. farmers. We met with farmers from France, Austria, Sweden, Mexico, Canada, Denmark, Finland and more. To say it was interesting would be an understatement.

I would describe it as the most exhilarating exhaustion I have ever experienced. I say that because this conference consisted of farmers talking to each other about challenges in dealing with regulations, mandates and consumer misconceptions. I discovered, when talking farmer to farmer, we have more in common than we have differences. Farmers across the globe want to do the best for their land, their family and the rest of the world.

Discussions centered around trade challenges, desires to trade and government directives without including farmers in the conversation. We left with a sense of encouragement and frustration for each other. Several of us are looking for ways we can support each other globally, but for now we know we are not alone.

I am thankful for this experience and realize how interconnected we are even living on different continents. On our farm, we are frustrated with some seemingly thoughtless regulations, but now realize that perhaps we don’t have it as challenging as farmers in other countries.

Farmers in other countries were interested in our ability to inform members and have them tell their stories to our elected officials. They were truly in awe of American farmers being willing to do this. I am proud of every member advocating for our Indiana and American farm families.