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Mike Rowe Works-Discusses Issues facing Ag Today

CykoAGR

CykoAGR

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
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Waukee, IA
This article was brought to my attention by a friend and I thought it would be a good one to share.

I love watching Dirty Jobs (even though they are not as "Dirty" as they used to be) and now I like Mike even more because he "gets it" when it comes to how important Farmers and Agriculture are to everyone in the World.

It is kind of a long read but worth the time i think.

http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2010/05/the-future-of-farming/
 
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That was a pretty good article. This is what I completely agree with:

“Every year we demand more and more from our farmers. More food from less land. More food from less energy. More food from less labor. And every year our farmers deliver. I believe that to be a true statement. I also believe that as a country, we haven’t made it easy for them. Two percent of our population provides the rest of us with all the food we need, and we behave as though it’s our birthright. Like nothing we do can threaten the abundance. It seems to me that as a country, we could do a better job of supporting the people who feed us. And we could start by acknowledging the incredible challenges facing The American Farmer."
 
That's a really great article. Mike "get's it".

Most of the rest of the world understands what it is to be hungry. Unfortunatly maybe we don't and some poor decisons are being made because of that.
 
I laugh on here and in other venues where when Iowa is made out to be a rural ag state, people take offense to it. We are an ag state. We lead the nation in the production of corn, soybeans, and hogs. Be proud of what our state produces, and that we have hard working entrepreneurs, such as farmers, who will make the investment in land and machinery to make the living they do.
 
JJ4ISU said:
I laugh on here and in other venues where when Iowa is made out to be a rural ag state, people take offense to it. We are an ag state. We lead the nation in the production of corn, soybeans, and hogs. Be proud of what our state produces, and that we have hard working entrepreneurs, such as farmers, who will make the investment in land and machinery to make the living they do.
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Also #1 in egg production and like #4 in beef, #10 in turkey, #12 in dairy. I worked in NW IA for a while. That part of the state gets it. They know how important agriculture (especially livestock) is to their area and livelihood more so than any other area of the state I have worked in.
 
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But I have a theory, and it goes like this – all jobs rely on one of two industries – mining and agriculture. Every tangible thing our society needs is either pulled from the ground, or grown from the ground.
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I completely agree with Mike here. While I work a "white collar" job now I take great pride in the equipment my company provides to farmers and other productive people. I worked 7 years building grain bins for farmers and years before that roofing houses. Ultimately the job I do now simply enables people to obtain and use those machines to do work.
 
I've always liked Mike Rowe. Not many celebs will question PETA and the Humane Society. That takes some sack. He's been close to the top for a long time, but he just took over the #1 spot on my "Want to have a beer with" list....so he's got that goin' for him....which is nice.

Great article Mike!
 
I hate to get on a soap box but I bet if you did a pole somewhere in Chicago urban areas 90% of the people would not know where their food comes from or how it is made. People dont understand that the food that they eat has to come from somehwere.

Then they hear their favorite celebs talking about how animals are mistreated in the US and on and on so they soon adopt that same ideology while at the same time still expecting there to be bread on the shelves and meat in the cooler at their local grocerey store. I think the biggest thing that needs to happen is education of the American Public. Not those that live in Iowa so much as those that live in the cities and have never been anywhere near agriculture.

Some people will never change and I understand that. They think that it is wrong to eat animals and that is their rights as Americans but what I hate is the ability that our culture has given them to determine what is and is not OK for others to do.

End of rant
 
BryceC said:
I completely agree with Mike here. While I work a "white collar" job now I take great pride in the equipment my company provides to farmers and other productive people. I worked 7 years building grain bins for farmers and years before that roofing houses. Ultimately the job I do now simply enables people to obtain and use those machines to do work.
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Bryce- I too work in a "white collar" job but directly with the seed industry so I still feel very connected to the people that provide us with the food and supplies that we all take for granted each day.
 
ddisu said:
That was a pretty good article. This is what I completely agree with:

“Every year we demand more and more from our farmers. More food from less land. More food from less energy. More food from less labor. And every year our farmers deliver. I believe that to be a true statement. I also believe that as a country, we haven’t made it easy for them. Two percent of our population provides the rest of us with all the food we need, and we behave as though it’s our birthright. Like nothing we do can threaten the abundance. It seems to me that as a country, we could do a better job of supporting the people who feed us. And we could start by acknowledging the incredible challenges facing The American Farmer."
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This is the troubling part to me. Sprawl is bad for a myriad of reasons and this is one of them. There are no urban areas in Iowa that are too dense, quite the contrary. Agricultural land will become more and more valuable to the state of Iowa and all of us here benefit from a strong ag based economy. We need more farm land and less ****ty suburbs and business parks.
 
Spot on. America has the cheapest food in the world and all these groups are up in arms about it. In the words of Norman Borlaug, "There are 6.6 billion people on this planet. We can only feed 4 billion. I don't see 2 billion volunteers to disappear."
 
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BryceC said:
I completely agree with Mike here. While I work a "white collar" job now I take great pride in the equipment my company provides to farmers and other productive people. I worked 7 years building grain bins for farmers and years before that roofing houses. Ultimately the job I do now simply enables people to obtain and use those machines to do work.
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Technically I think I would consider mining agriculture. I don't know the definition but I think of agriculture as the use of the land for resources.


I will also say I am impressed with you guys. Every comment in here indicates you guys get it. I wish more people were like you guys and thought farming was easy money with no risk and work only 6 months out of the year. While, yes, it is slow at times, there are other things that need taken care of and the investment to farm anymore is very high. I don't think some understand how much money it takes to farm enough to make a living.
 
yaman3 said:
Technically I think I would consider mining agriculture. I don't know the definition but I think of agriculture as the use of the land for resources.


I will also say I am impressed with you guys. Every comment in here indicates you guys get it. I wish more people were like you guys and thought farming was easy money with no risk and work only 6 months out of the year. While, yes, it is slow at times, there are other things that need taken care of and the investment to farm anymore is very high. I don't think some understand how much money it takes to farm enough to make a living.
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My husband and I are actually going into farming. We both grew up on farms and know it's hard, but rewarding work. He's working on a spreadhsheet of start up costs. It's amazing how much it's adding up to be, and that's with looking at machinery that's easily 15-20 or more years old.
 
CykoAGR said:
I hate to get on a soap box but I bet if you did a pole somewhere in Chicago urban areas 90% of the people would not know where their food comes from or how it is made. People dont understand that the food that they eat has to come from somehwere.
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This is so true. Here's example from my life. I grew up on a farm in a very large farming family. Nearly all of my cousins grew up in the same town as me farming too and one of them seriously asked me recently what is corn used for. I about **** my pants when she asked me.
 
MNclone said:
Who else has a framed autographed picture of Mike Rowe hanging up in their office?
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No, (a little off topic) but I have taken an exam in Dr. Borloug's office. One of the greatest moments of my life. Saw the plaque for his Nobel Peace Prize that was amazing.

Mike Rowe definately has my respect after reading this article.
 
Love that article, nice to see people coming out on the farmers side vs. hearing all the acolytes of Mike Pollan spew garbage(admittedly he makes some good points especially on how American's eat unhealthily).
 
"Americans used to fight their hunger, now they have to fight to stay hungry." I heard that line in some documentary and its stuck with me. We are so prosperous and have everything we ever want at our fingertips that we could just sloth into a food importer.
 
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