Farmers and Scientists Are People, Too

Last month was the spouse's 20th high school reunion in his home town of Plainview, Texas. I'd been to Plainview a few times to visit his family and friends, but never over the summer. He had always said that I wouldn't enjoy the heat, so we had always visited in December.

So it was my first time visiting the state in temperatures above 100ºF (for all you awesome metric people, that's about 40ºC). It was also my first time at a reunion. Before flying out, the spouse encouraged me a few times to try to organize interviews for my "Better Know a Farmer" series, however, it was not possible given the duration of my trip.

Needless to say, Plainview, Texas is very different from any place I've lived. There used to be a very large meat processing plant for Cargill, which shut down in recent years due to the difficulty of maintaining cattle in the increasingly dry climate. Currently, one of the largest employers is a Walmart distribution center. But agriculture is at the heart of the area: the ads in the airport were for field irrigation systems and for agricultural technologies. The dust bowl is more than just a chapter in history books.

View from our plane when landing in Lubbock, TX

I got to chat with people between the various events for the reunion. Many them held jobs associated with ag, ranging from farmers working the land to individuals repairing equipment on ranches. They shared their challenges and aspirations. They spoke about biotech crops and how these have helped them. They told me about the drought, how it has impacted them and what they've lost. It made me think a lot about how stress resistant crops could help such regions in the not-too-distant future, and how such crops will become increasingly more important.

To most of us, farming is a concept in a text book. It's the lyrics to Jason Aldean's "Amarillo Sky". But to the people I met, it's their livelihood and it's their day-to-day. It's a source of pride and a legacy that has been handed down to them and they hope to pass on to their children.

I was recently reminded of Mommy, PhD's "#ScientistsArePeople" campaign, which launched to highlight that we scientists are diverse, everyday people: we aren't drones intent on taking over the world, motivated exclusively by money. Sweeping statements that paint scientists as a uniform group of evil individuals couldn't be farther from the truth. Similarly, painting farmers as a group of individuals who are intent on poisoning the earth and dousing crops in pesticides couldn't be more inaccurate.

I'm not naive enough to believe that everyone follows the rules or that everything is rainbows and unicorns. I've worked with people that have been genuine douchebags and whose car tires I dreamed of slashing. But such individuals are far from being the majority. Most people I have worked with want a job where they can make a contribution to society and earn fair pay. I believe scientists and farmers are generally no different.

I want you to think carefully about your home: how you want to keep it safe, how you want to pay off your mortgage or your lease, and how you want to have a healthy environment for you and your kids/pets/friends. Would it make any sense for you to use chemicals that are not designated for household-use in this space or use more than instructed? Would it make any sense for you to introduce compounds that would knowingly damage the building you're handing down to your kids? Then why on earth would you believe that a farmer would do this to the lands where they work and live? As kids ran around at the roller-skating rink at the family event for the reunion, I wondered why anyone would believe that a farmer is any different than themselves.

There are different fora where you can engage with farmers and ask questions. I recommend Food and Farm Discussion Lab and Ask The Farmers (both are on Twitter). I encourage you to ask questions, rather than making assumptions about their practices and work.

Better Know a Farmer: No-Till Guru Bill Crabtree

In this issue of “Better Know a Farmer”, I contacted Bill Crabtree to learn about “no-till farming”. If you’re saying to yourself, “No-till? What are you waiting for? Till when? It doesn’t make sense” then you’re not alone. Bill has an awesome website which highlights his expertise in this field (get it?? Field? Because he’s also a farmer? Amazing pun!!). He lives in Western Australia (WA), but he provides consulting services worldwide helping farmers adopt no-till farming. He’s actively engaged in social media using the very apt twitter handle @NoTillBill, so we “met” through Twitter. I learned a lot in this interview and the spouse added a few questions, too. I read it with Bill's Australian accent in my head :)

Q: What’s your background and training? What do you grow on your farm?

A: I grew up on the land, I was doing night shift ploughing our very sandy fragile soils to 3 AM with no cab, no lights, and a modest jacket at the age of 14 on the south coast of WA. I went to University of Western Australia twice - B.Ag.Sci and M.Sci and now enrolled in a PhD in No-Till at same university. Eight years ago after energising the no-till movement for most of my life and helping farmers make lots of money at 47 years old, I realised I needed a retirement plan as $200,000 in assets was not going to go far.  So, with the help of Rabobank, I borrowed very heavily, bought a farm in the driest region of the globe, and have been 100% cropping on the desert’s edge not far from Yalgoo - East of Geraldton in Western Australia.  It was risky but it has paid off. The only profitable crop in this heat and dry is just wheat.  So, in contrast to my agronomic training, I have been growing continuous wheat for 8 years and it has been a huge success with no-till and full stubble retention. I grow a little of canola, triticale and lupins, but 95% wheat [BioChica's Note: if you don't know what triticale and lupins are, you're not alone :) I had to look those up!]

Q: What’s no-till farming? Why is it important?

A: It is seeding with less than 20% topsoil disturbance with narrow metal openers (sharp 12 mm narrow points or discs) and with no soil cultivation after the last crop. [BioChica’s note: I wanted to add a picture of tilling equipment for farming but couldn’t find a freely available image, so you can see one here on the John Deere website]. Tillage, or cultivation, used to be needed to soften the soil enough to be able to evenly place seeds at the right depth in the soil and for mechanical weed control. Neither of these factors are now required due to better mechanical tools and herbicides. Within a few years of no-till the soil softens through organic residue retention that feeds the bugs in the soil which make the soil spongy and ready to rapidly soak up heavy downpours of rain.  This softer/spongy soil can then store more water at depth and mitigate against droughts. Symbiotic plant root relations also form that are otherwise destroyed by tillage, fungi are increased as the decomposition of the organic matter becomes more of a steady release of energy into the soil food web that is very complex and not well understood but well appreciated by farmers. [BioChica’s Note: Bill has a YouTube video on this topic which you can view here.]

No-till has many other immediate farm benefits also, including less fuel use, better timing, higher whole-farm yields and greater economic efficiencies.

Field of wildflowers on Bill's farm

Q: So basically, you harvest the crop from the previous season, you leave all the stems and roots behind, and the next season you plant right on top of that? Does no-till work with only some types of crops? I imagine that it wouldn’t work in regions of the world where they don’t have a winter/rainy season?

A: No-Till works for all crops really, but some horticultural crops, like potatoes, onions, carrots etc, need tillage to harvest these crops. But, perhaps greater than 99% of global cropland could be no-tilled.  Some soils and environments do not necessarily give yield increases to no-tillage, however, all soil in all environments are protected and conserved by no-tillage practices.  In some places it takes longer for no-tillage to give a yield benefit. In most places the whole farm yield benefit can be immediate and significant - like in my state!  One region where no-till struggles to reward farmers is the wet Red River Valley in Manitoba, Canada (and this likely extends into Minnesota as well). The heat units are limited, the season is short, the valley floods to some degree in April/May most years and the minute the snow melts the race is on to get a crop out of cold wet soil before the season is over again in cold September. The land is fertile and the residue that no-till helps to maintain can keep the soil cool and damp when the race is on to get the crop ‘making hay while the sun shines’.

No-till actually works best in regions globally where the rainy seasons are unreliable and spasmodic. The ability of the long-term no-till soil-biology complex to suck up rainfall quickly helps to drought-proof the crops. Additionally, arbuscular mycorrhizae and similar symbiotic bug activity in the rhizosphere (root zone), enable the crops to partner with soil-biology to extract more water than is normally available to crops from the soil. While not miraculous it is not what happens when farmers do tillage and it can result in some very nice and increased water use efficiency by crops over tillage based farming systems.

Q: What do GMOs have to do with no-till farming?

A: GMO’s can have nothing to do with no-till farming, as in South Australia where they are illegal and no-till adoption is about 90% adoption. However, these farmers would love to have GMO crops as they allow them to use less herbicides and manage herbicide resistance better.  In Canada both RoundUp Ready canola and Liberty Link (glufosinate ammonium tolerant) GMO types has ensured their herbicide resistance issues have been better managed than in most countries who have abused them agronomically by over-relying on one type. [BioChica’s note: I’ve written about the RoundUp Ready trait here].

Q: Then why do GMO advocates claim that GM Round-Up Ready crops allow for no-till farming?

A: Because it is technically true. GM Round-Up Ready means that farmers can seed straight into undisturbed soil and control their weeds in-crop with Round-Up, which is no-till.  But ‘easy come, easy go’. It is my experience that when farmers, by default, have no-till happening for them and they do not adopt it thinking about the technique and understanding the benefits that it offers that they can then easily jump back into the tillage habit. Some of these farmers do not learn the long-term benefits of the no-till system. While Round-Up Ready crops sure are of valuable assistance in helping farmers adopt no-till as it can give excellent weed control, but it does not necessarily guarantee high quality no-till.

A clear example of this is in Argentina where, due to government policies, farmers grow soybean continuously season after season. Being a legume the soy fixes lots of nitrogen and effectively this ‘lights a fire’ in the soil of fast microbial activity and this burns up the soil carbon quickly and leaves the soil with very little soil cover. The soil is then readily exposed to soil erosion and there are more nitrates for loss to the environment. The microbes effectively cultivate the soil. So, you could easily argue that a common Argentinian no-till practice is only a small step up from tillage based farming.

Q: Are there any aspects or practices from no-till farming that people could adopt in their backyard gardens or planter-boxes?

A: Sure, just like the mulch on the surface of the soil is magic, it stops evaporation and feeds the soils bugs! No-tillage, and the mulch that it maintains, makes earthworm numbers explode. Earthworms are reported to be on top of the soil food chain and this gives us great comfort that no-till, even with herbicide use, is good for the soil microbial hierarchy. Similarly for no-till farmers, backyard gardeners also need to keep an eye out for crop nutrient deficiency symptoms! Particularly for NPKS - the big four nutrients in soil science. [BioChica’s note: NPKS stands for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur, and is an abbreviation used for labeling fertilizers]

Field of Wheat on Bill's farm. Or is it a field of dreams?

Q: The  International Agency for Research on Cancer’s recent assessment of glyphosate (the active ingredient in RoundUp) classified the compound as a probable carcinogen? Why are you trying to kill us all by forcing farmers to adopt this compound and how much is Monsanto paying you to do this?

A: The idea that glyphosate is a probable cancer causing agent is fanciful in the context of its registered use pattern.  But, it could probably be right if you are going to inject glyphosate into our cells nucleus or vacuole.  In this context it probably does cause DNA damage - similarly to injecting sodium chloride, detergent or dozens of commonly used household products, into the same place.  So the idea of suggesting that using glyphosate over a crop is the same as injecting glyphosate into our cells is quite misleading and points to activism by those who suggest it.  For the Cancer branch within WHO to come to this conclusion is almost disillusioning.  It suggests to me that someone is being quite mischievous and unscientific and has an agenda and it equates to fearmongering. I have emailed them for clarification and they responded!  I asked them for the specific information lead them to conclude this. They then said I should read the whole 92 page document. I could find nothing that supported the idea that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen. But most concerning is that they have referenced the discredited research by Seralini and indeed they have used 7 of his papers in their study. Seralini is a known anti-GM and and glyphosate activist.

No farmer on the globe is forced to use Monsanto’s technology, they have the choice, if the technology does not benefit the farmer then he walks away from it - well that’s true for most of the farming world anyway! :)  Although in Russia they are banned from using the technology.  Some other countries have followed their lead.

I have not received any funding from Monsanto, ever!  I have visited their facilities, as any person interested or working in agriculture should.  But I have visited John Deere many more times.

Field of Wheat on Bill's farm

Q: As we all know, nothing on the internet is false. I’ve read many times that Round-Up used on wheat is leading to leaky-guts, is increasing gluten allergies, and is killing us all. If there’s no GMO wheat on the market, why is Round-Up used on it?

A: There is no GMO wheat on the market! Although it looks like drought tolerant genetically engineered wheat will be released in 2016 in Argentina. Round-Up is not killing us, despite a concerted campaign to convince people otherwise!  Over-eating and smoking definitely kill people, in contrast glyphosate use in no-tillage has greatly increased food production, lowering the price of food, allowing people to eat more and therefore killing them with obesity - haha :).  But seriously, Round-Up has been safely used on wheat pre-harvest in Canada since the late 1980’s. It is used to control weeds in a 100 day crop growing window and for more information on why and how farmers do it see; http://www.nurselovesfarmer.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-glyphosate-and-wheat/.

Q: It sounds like no-till farming is amazing: builds the topsoil, reduces erosion, environmentally friendlier, etc. It even seems to me like there’s less work involved, because you don’t have to till the land. Why wouldn’t a farmer adopt the method? Are there any drawbacks to no-till farming? Or is no-till farming like puppies, i.e. everyone thinks they’re awesome?

A: No-till was demonised 30 years ago in my state by experts saying that “it did not work before and it will not work now” and “all your nice new no-till machines in two years time will be parked under a big tree, behind a big shed and going rusty”. Indeed, it took a huge effort and a lot of courage by a few to remove those philosophical obstacles. Most of the technical obstacles have been removed and no-till works all over the globe but it is challenging in wet and cold areas that lack heat units. In these areas the soil can get real cold and wet and stay wet and cold for a long time and no-till, with residue retention, slows evaporation and helps to keep the soil wet and cold for longer. This makes it a bit harder for crops to get growing fast. Soil disturbance, or tillage, can blacken the soil and help it absorb heat and get the crop growing faster sooner. For different reasons there are times when tillage is also needed in my hot and dry state on a small portion of the land, and I have blogged on this here: http://seedhawkseeder.com/blog/is-soil-tillage-ever-justifiable-no-till-bill-checks-in

Q: My spouse is from West Texas, where they famously had the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. Some people think it might come back with Texas’ drought. Do you think no-till farming can help?

A: Sure, and it does, I have farmer friends on Twitter in that region and I have also visited there several times. There are some very good farmers doing a great job of no-till there. Each year no-till farmers congregate at Salina, Kansas and share their knowledge together, indeed I have spoken at this event in the past http://www.notill.org/

Better Know a Farmer: Rancher Meg Brown

Hi readers! I’m diversifying the “Better Know a Scientist” series to interview farmers as well. The whole idea behind “Better Know a Scientist” was to ask many of the questions I have from experts in the field and to get to know what they do. The same holds true for farmers. So here’s the inaugural “Better Know a Farmer”.

This week, I’m interviewing cattle rancher Meg Brown (follow her on Twitter @MegRaeB). Meg raises cows and hogs in Butte County, California (it looks like a typo for Butter County, but it’s not although it would be AWESOME to have a dairy farm in Butter County!). She holds a degree in agricultural business from CSUC. I met her fairly recently at the IFAL Symposium at UC Davis, and she’s 10x more awesome in person than she is online, so I feel badly for my readers who won’t get to meet her.

As per usual, each question and answer stands on its own, so you can skip around to read about different topics. Here we go!

Q: Can you describe your farm? How many animals do you have?

A: Well our ranch (I tend to think farms are crops and ranches are animals, I don’t know why), is actually two ranches, both ranches are in Northern California. The “winter” ranch is in Butte County, close to Chico. It’s range ground, so its natural grasses and not irrigated. The “summer” ranch is in Indian Valley, in Plumas County. This ranch is in a valley in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains. It’s irrigated pasture, with some natural grasses and some planted forage. We move our cattle twice a year for their health and well-being. The winter ranch is just too hot, the feed not as nutritious and the fire danger too high for us to leave them there. By moving them, they get two springs and a mild summer without the bugs and stickers that annoy them and can cause disease. We like our cattle happy and healthy! Our ranch usually runs several hundred black angus mother cows. In addition to the cows, I also raise heritage hogs in an effort to diversify. I love the heritage hog breeds, I think the meat is a totally different experience from what most people are used to. We have enough chickens to keep us from buying eggs. A whole assortment of ranch cats and four border collie/kelpie cowdogs. And last but not least my “teacup” pet pig, Silly.

[Biochica’s note: This is awesome. I saw a couple of pictures of chicken coops on pinterest that looked like they’d match the new water feature in our backyard garden, so I’m pretty sure I’m ready to buy a few chickens and will be giving Meg some pointers on raising chickens whenever we meet.]

Meg and her pet pig, Silly.

Q: Why did you decide to pursue a career on the ranch?

A: There was never really a time when I didn’t plan on being a rancher. Of course, I was encouraged to develop marketable skills and attend college, but I’ve always had a passion for ranch life. When I saw how few of my peers planned on returning to their family’s ranches or farms, it only made me more determined to be successful. It’s incredibly hard for someone who does not come from production agriculture to break into this industry. Land is getting prohibitively expensive, it feels like new regulations are constantly being enforced, and it’s a plain tough skillset to learn. This is why I want to use my ranch, and my voice to make my way of life more accessible to our consumers. Taking the mystery out of what we do, helps build a trusting relationship, and I want the people that eat my meat to trust me. I feel like I have two careers now, one is the ranch and the other is having a social media presence. Both keep me very engaged and busy - but they are two very different skill-sets for sure!

[Biochica’s note: I already feel like I share so of Meg’s knowledge and experience! One of my biology courses had a quarter of a semester dedicated to animal physiology, plus I had a dog growing up.]

Q: How do you decide what to feed your animals? How soon after feeding GM-grain to the animals do you see tumors starting to appear?

A: Quality and price are the two biggest factors I use to determine feed. I obviously want the best feed I can get for my animals, but I also have to make a profit. I could feed certified organic to my hogs and grain-finished cattle but it wouldn’t make financial sense to me. My consumers are not willing to pay the extra when they can’t tell the difference taste wise and my animals have no preference. If my hogs had a choice they would prefer to only eat the cookies I give them as treats.

I’ve never seen tumors or any other ill effects in my animals that consumed conventional or GMO feed. The cattle I finish on grain about knock me down during feeding time to get to their rations, it’s like cow candy. And if you’ve ever had the pleasure of feeding hogs, you’d know pigs are very particular about what they eat (that’s a surprise to most people), and won’t eat something if they don’t like it.

[Biochica’s note: Meg, of course the cows will knock you over to get to the GM-grain! That’s because it’s so much more addictive than regular grain, according to my interwebz searches. And based on what I’ve learned online, the reason why the pigs aren’t eating everything is probably because they’ve traded first eating rights to rats that live in the barn.]

Q: Why did you pursue a college degree?

A: My family was adamant that I earned an advanced degree. Neither of my Parents did, so it was really important to the family that I was given the opportunity.  Growing up I was urged to develop as many marketable skills as I could and the more money I was paid for them the better, a degree was just part of that. I did briefly consider majoring in computer science, history and culinary school but ultimately I chose Ag Business because the hardest part of ranching can often be running the business side. I got my degree in Agricultural Business so I would have the proper skills to not only raise animals but have a successful business.

The thing about agriculture is you never stop learning. A degree in it doesn’t guarantee you are going to be good at it or even deeply knowledgeable about everything. I learn something new everyday, and that is one of the many reasons why I love it. Agriculture is so different around the United States and the technology seems like it is evolving daily, it’s almost surreal to be apart of. I’m just trying to keep up.

[Biochica’s note: Ag Business degree aside, I think we can both agree that my agricultural degree from the University of Google is second to none.]

Photo by Shannon Rosan

Q: How has the drought in California affected your ranch? If you had access to drought-resistant GM alfalfa or grain would you give it to your animals?

A: Well we’ve been living this drought for a few years now. It feels like the rest of the country is finally realizing how serious it is. Since we do run on range ground half of the year, we are dependant on rain to irrigate our cattle’s feed. When there is little rain, we get little feed.

It’s important to us that we don’t damage our natural habitats (our pastures), so we are very careful not to stress our land. That meant selling part of our herd. Selling your mother cow herd is almost like selling your future and past. These are cows whose genetics were planned years before they were ever born. We watched their births, we watched them grow up, we cared for them their whole lives, we watched them, in turn, give birth. Now simply because we aren’t getting rain, they must be sold. It’s been heartbreaking.

I would definitely use drought-resistant GM alfalfa or grain if I could. I believe it is an excellent technology to support. I want to be as sustainable as I can, and I think that could help. Plus, anything I can do to promote it or highlight its safety is something I want to be involved in.

Q: When I envision the life of a rancher who raises cattle or hogs, I think that one of the more difficult parts of it would be having to put an animal down or sending them off to the slaughterhouse. How do you deal with it? Do you just become numb to it after a while or is it emotionally taxing each time?

A: You are right. That is probably the hardest part of what I do. Putting an animal down because of illness is one of the hardest things I do. It means I failed. I take that personally. But I think that makes me a better producer. I work harder at learning how I can be and do better by my animals. When I lose an animal it’s not only emotionally taxing but it hurts me financially too. So I have every incentive in the world to make sure they are as healthy and happy as they can be. That’s why I do get upset when people crassly accuse cattle ranchers of abuse - they really have no idea how hard we work to care for our animals.

However, sending them off to slaughter is a different set of emotions. Of course I have some sadness that a life is ending, but that is also the point of what I do. This is where meat comes from. When I send them off to slaughter that means I did a good job; I did what I set out to do. In some sense I feel a sense of pride knowing I raised a happy, healthy animal, they get a quick and respectful death, and I am feeding my friends, family and community.

Q: What do you think of Chipotle’s recent campaign of Integrity and Sustainable farming, particularly their decision to import beef from Australia?

A: Well I want to be PC here. I do. But it’s honestly hard, so I’ll just say it, I think it’s bull poo. We have plenty of sustainable beef right here. In fact I can look out my window right now and actually see it. It feels like they are basically saying the US producers aren’t good enough. I think if Chipotle was willing to pay more for their product, they could source locally with little to no problem. I would love to work with them, I’m sure my neighbors would too. I think a lot of what they do is hot air marketing. They are taking advantage of the fact that most 98% of our population is removed from the farm/ranch and doesn’t know our practices. To me, that isn’t showing integrity or being sustainable.

[Biochica’s Note: Meg, didn’t you know that Chipotle has a teleportation system? That’s how they’ve managed to import beef from Australia sustainably and chock-full of integrity-ness. But I think what we should be asking is how we’re going to regulate this. Please consider joining my new movement to put a stop to Chipotle’s unregulated teleportation of sustainable beef:

Q: What is the biggest challenge you face as a farmer? Are there any specific challenges you face as a female in your career path?

A: Being a rancher is challenging no matter what gender. One really does a plethora of skill sets to be successful on a ranch. Everyday is different, one day you could be fixing a lot of fence, or the next you might be working cattle, the next might require some heavy equipment work. It’s dangerous work too, animals can be unpredictable, and accidents do happen.

Being a woman in production ag does have some unique challenges. The main thing I encounter is getting “little ladied”, basically someone tries to treat me like a girl when I’m working here on the ranch. It’s really dangerous because I know my job and I am good at it. When some guy tries to help me, and doesn’t know the cattle or what I am trying to do, I usually end up almost getting hurt. I’ve had to learn how to politely ask guys to get out of my way, and it’s always just a whisper awkward.

[Biochica’s note to everyone out there: you can follow Meg on Facebook or on her blog, to learn about all the tough crap that she deals with (sometimes literally) on a daily basis on the ranch. I think that I will face similar challenges when I start expanding the number of chickens in my backyard coop.]

Q: What's grass-fed beef? What's grass-finished? Is one better?

A: All beef is grass-fed for about 80% of it’s life. You have cow/calf producers like myself, and what we do is raise calves until they weigh enough to be “finished” at a feedlot. The will enjoy grains, and a mixture of legumes, forages, and by-products from human food waste until they reach their ideal weight. I like to joke that our feedlot cattle have better nutrition and health care than I do.

Grass-finished beef is beef that has never had grains. It’s typically leaner than cattle that have had access to a feedlot ration.

I produce both types of beef. Since we are a commercial cattle ranch, the majority of our calves are sold to feedlots. I keep a handful of calves and finished out on either a grain ration or purely on grass. It depends on my consumer’s taste preference and if I have enough grass. We’ve been in a major drought and it’s been hard to find the extra feed for the past couple of years. Personally I prefer my beef that’s been finished on grain. I think it makes it far more “buttery” and I can get a calf up to finish weight sooner, which means using less resources, something I am constantly trying to do. Grass-finished can be just as good, but you also have less control over the taste of the meat - it can be quite varied in taste and texture from ranch to ranch because of the different grasses and seasons the beef is slaughtered.

[BioChica’s note: I plan on feeding my chickens heirloom quinoa and will provide them with Evian water. They will be finished on organic kale.]

Q: I think of customer demands from industry as a double edged sword: on the one hand, an industry might be slow to change or may not change at all unless customers demand it. On the other, customers may start making demands on topics that are nuanced and require subject matter expertise (I’ve argued against the democratization of science here). How do you feel about customer demands on the farming industry?

A: I completely agree that it is a double edged sword. When I first started my blog, I got industry flack because I was so transparent, they claimed that consumers wouldn’t want to see what I was showing, it would ‘turn them off’. I was talking about topics that were nuanced and did require some understanding of certain processes, but I made sure to explain the why’s of what I was doing. My consumers loved it!

The thing is with farming and ranching, people deserve to know the basics of how we do it, since we all eat. Some sectors of the ag industry have not been quick to offer transparency, and that is a mistake. Acting like we are hiding something is the worst thing we can do. Being open and acknowledging agriculture is a very complex industry with many different niches and styles. Explaining why is what we should be doing.

By providing basic knowledge, we can offer change in our industry, but in a way that hopefully can benefit everyone, and not just push more regulations on us. Plus there is something almost magical when you get to see someone connect the dots with their food - working in agriculture, many of us take that connection for granted.

[Biochica’s note: When I start supplying all of Northern California with eggs from the chicken coop from my backyard, it will be the epitome of awesomeness and I will follow your model of transparency. Perhaps I could install a GPS system on each chicken for tracking purposes along with 24/7 streaming video from cameras that I’m going to trademark as “CluckCams”]

Q: There's much evidence suggesting that raising cows is not the best for the environment: they take up a lot of space, they emit a lot of gas (get it??), and feeding them takes a lot of resources. Personally, I give in to the delights of a T-bone steak, but deep down inside, I think that the responsible thing to do would be to cut back on meat (if only I could!). What are your thoughts on this?

A: I hear many of these arguments often. I think it is very important that we be as environmentally friendly as we can. I sincerely want six more generations of my family on this land.

This is one of those time where I wish I could invite everyone out to the ranch so I could show them why we raise cattle here. We raise our cattle on rangeland. This rangeland is not suited for much else, its clay, rocky and non-irrigated, so planting crops or trees is pretty much out of the question. This ground is best left as natural rangeland, for cattle, and for habitat for the plethora of flora and fauna that call it home. The other option is to sell this land for homes, malls and hobby ranchettes. I think our community gets more value from wide open spaces though.

What much of this evidence has forgotten is how much the beef industry has improved over the past 30 years. When I was a baby we were weaning cattle at 500 pounds, now we are well over 800 pounds, they are the same age - but our understanding of genetics and nutrition has improved vastly, so we are doing more with less.

There are also multiple benefits to raising cattle - we can feed them plant and food waste that would otherwise be put in landfills. And there is the poo and by-product factor. It’s a joke that we use everything but the “moo” when we slaughter a beef. From their poo being used as a fertilizer (less chemical fertilizers is a good thing, right?), to leather, to pharmaceuticals - often these things are overlooked when discussing beef production and sustainability.

Sometimes it feels like we are being punished for improving ourselves. Again, I believe that a lot of that is our own fault because the beef industry historically hasn’t done a good job of being transparent and vocal about our improvements. We’ve been reactive instead of proactive and now we have to make up for that.

[BioChica’s note to Meg: I’m surprised to hear that the gas emitted from the cows isn’t used, though. I think we should be able to capture the gas and use it to power stuff. Meg, you should get on that.]

Q: This question comes from the spouse: How do you save enough money to upgrade equipment, for retirement, or college, given the overwhelming amount of uncertainty that exists in ranching? I can imagine that in a particularly bad year, you might wipe out all your savings. How does that work?

A: Most of us don’t retire. We may slow down, but all of my family worked (or tried to) almost until the day they died. That’s my goal as well. If I could pick a way to go out it’d be while checking cows and riding a horse.

Most of the money we make from the ranch is invested right back into the ranch. When we have a good year, we upgrade equipment or try and make a wise investment. In bad years, you work with what you have or try and borrow stuff from your neighbor. We’re pretty used to getting one paycheck a year, and budget to account for that. We are lucky because we own all our own land. It can be incredibly hard to make a profit while renting ground. But 6 generations of family before me, were looking out for me, so as long as I am smart, I should be able to pass this ranch on to the 7th generation.

I saved and paid for college myself. I was deeply involved in 4-H and FFA, so I was able to save money through the sale of my project animals. I was able to earn many scholarships because of all the agricultural activities I was involved in growing up.

[BioChica’s note: After the water and feed expenses, I calculate I’ll be making 5% profit if I sell each egg for a dollar. So in about 25 years, I’ll be contacting you to see if you can rent me some land for expanding my backyard enterprise.]

Q: Where you live seems pretty remote while more and more people seem drawn to the city life. What do you see as some of the downsides to rural living?

There are several downsides to living in the country and they are pretty much all based on convenience. My biggest gripe, and this is totally a first world problem, so I almost feel bad even saying this, is I don’t have internet in the mountains. I’m dependant on my smartphone, which is a lot more work. I spend a massive amount of time online, oversharing my life. I do this because there is a huge amount of interest in what I do. People do want to know more about their food and how it’s grown. If I want to post a blog or write a well researched response to a question, that means I have to go to the local bar and use their wifi.

Photo by Shannon Rosan

Another thing that most people couldn’t cope with is the nearest Starbucks is like, an hour away. And want a pizza delivered? Forget about it. A fancy dinner out? Get ready to drive at least an hour. Grocery shopping is also a challenge, our selection is small and not always the freshest - hence my garden.

If you are young and single, like myself, there isn’t much to do or people to meet. I’m pretty much related to everyone in the valley I live in, so it really limits my dating and going out. 

Of course, the positives of living in the country are numerous and far outweigh the downsides, at least for me!

[BioChica’s note: No internet??? How on earth can you know anything if you can’t google it? I think that’s a deal breaker for me…]

Q: If there’s one thing that you’d want everybody to know about raising cattle and hogs, what would it be?

A: It’s not as romantic as everyone thinks it is. So many people tell me they envy what I do. But honestly, I think they have no clue how hard it is to do what I do. It is not “the simple life” like we are told it is. Since I work outside most of the time, I am often dirty, hot, cold, sunburned, covered in poo or other bodily fluids that are not my own, and I usually smell. It’s an emotional job, which most people don’t even think about. We are very connected to the land and animals and when we are in a drought, or we have illness in our herd, it can be very stressful and draining. There are no vacations or even many ways for us to disconnect since we often live on our ranches.

But we love what we do. We have to be passionate and really want this way of life or we wouldn’t do it. The rewards of living this life make up for the stress and the smells. Being on the same land as my great, great grandparents, and doing the same things they did is an amazing feeling, and knowing that at some point, I will be able to offer this lifestyle to my own children is something most people don’t get to experience, and it makes it worth it me.

[BioChica’s note to Meg: well, we’ll just have to see about that. I’ll touch base with you once my Feng Shui consultant does the layout for my chicken coops]