Pyfferoen Wants Cattle Producers To Speak Up
MINNESOTA - Agriculture is regulated by people who have no understanding of and no experience with the industry, says the president of the Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association.
2 May 2007
1 minute read
Numerous issues face cattle producers and all of agriculture, said Tom Pyfferoen, and agriculture's presence has diminished. Agriculture can't make policy happen on its own. And the education gap continues to grow. Each generation that moves through school is one more generation removed from the farm.
This means farmers need to do something that doesn't come naturally to most of them: Go out and tell their story.
"They believe they do the best job they can É but they don't go out tooting their horns," said Pyfferoen, who took the reins of the state cattlemen's organization in December and will serve a two-year term.
Farmers are humble people, not braggers, he said. They aren't real visible. They're not in Toastmasters because they're in the barn.
As a result, people will hear misinformation about agriculture and believe it because they don't have anyone to ask who's involved in agriculture.
A void exists between what consumers see -- big combines, which translates into rich farmers -- and what is actually occurring on the farm.
Few farmers take time to put their thoughts to paper, but Pyfferoen said farmers should jot down a few thoughts and send them off to the newspaper. Don't wait for a negative to appear in print and then respond, he said.
