The Power of One Voice

Farmers and ranchers must unite to tell the real story of agriculture.
By Lisa Bryant

In the 1943 musical “Oklahoma!” a peaceful party turns into a brawl when the lyrics, “The farmer and the cowman should be friends” are sung. Too often, real life has mimicked that film in the agriculture industry.

The beef versus chicken versus grain mindset of days gone by is still too common at a time when agriculture needs to stick together to tell our story to a consumer who is hearing a much different tale about agriculture.

From climate change to agricultural technology, consumers and media often place our industry dead center of the debate. Agriculture’s voice has been dwindling for decades as people have shifted from rural to urban living. When President Abraham Lincoln established the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1862, 90 percent of the population farmed for a living. The 2012 Census of Agriculture showed a decrease in the number of U.S. farmers — amounting to approximately two percent of the U.S. population. Changing demographics are shifting consumers’ views of agricultural practices. To read more, pick up the OKFR January issue.