Food and Farming

When you think Food….I hope you think Farmer.


Food and Farming should almost be one in the same. They have a bit of a partnership we will call it. Wouldn’t you agree? 🙂

Food Day is coming up on October 24. Sounds exciting, interesting, and like I might want to get involved.


Except, as farmers, we weren’t really asked to.


Even one better for you, I think they kind of are nixing us out of the “day” all together.

 After taking a look at their website I came across some things I agree with and some I disagree with.


They have a list of 6 principles. Check them out. Feel free to comment your thoughts. I would really love to hear what you as consumers think about them.


The one I was completely focused on was


4. Protect the environment and farm animals by reforming factory farms

More than once I have heard someone use the term factory farm to describe any type of feeding operation. Whether it be beef, pork, maybe even chickens?

In case you haven’t read my About Me section, we feed beef cattle, lots of beef cattle, enough to keep us busy year round, day and night.

We are a family farming operation. We farm together year round. We feed cattle on Christmas and then meet up later in the day for a noon meal together as a family. This is our business, but also our livelihood. Our farm means everything to us.

What do you think? Are we a factory?

Most people make an uneducated guess that we are, which I totally get.

I mean if people are telling you we are a factory farm, because we are a larger operation, what else do you have to believe?

Well, believe me. And believe this statitistic from the USDA. 

 98% of farms in the United States today are FAMILY OWNED.

Last Friday at a women’s event here in South Dakota, someone made the comment, “I just don’t like buying from big farms, no offense to you.”

I told her, “Trust me, we still have the same morals and values that small farming operations had years ago, we just farm on a large scale because now we are feeding more than just our own families, we are trying to give you something safe and healthy that you can go right to your grocery store and pick up, instead of having to raise it yourself.”

The conversation of course expanded into more aspects of big farms v. small farms and today’s modern agriculture. It then expanded into me telling her we sell our beef to local consumers in our area, as well as Tyson.

I then told her that the American family farm is responsible for feeding 155 people. I wish I could have recorded the reaction. She smiled and said “Well, I guess I should say thank you”. I simply replied, “No, thank you, for trusting my family to provide you with something safe and healthy that you can feed to your family.”

So, when you think Food Day, think family farm, don’t think factory farm. We are so far from it.