Agricultural News
Faces of Farming and Ranching Winner Welcomes Opportunity to 'Keep Conversation Moving'
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:22:43 CST
The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) announced that Chris Chinn, Will Gilmer, Katie Pratt, and Bo Stone, have been selected as the winners of its Faces of Farming & Ranching program, a nationwide search launched in summer 2012 to help put real faces on the American agriculture industry. More than 100 applications were submitted from passionate, dedicated farmers and ranchers across the country.
Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays spoke with Gilmer, a dairy farmer from Sulligent, Alabama, about the contest, about his farm, and about the messages he will bring to the public as a representative of farmers and ranchers nationwide. Gilmer said working with the U.S. Farmers and Rancher alliance will be a joy for him because, "Talking about what I do out here on my farm and talking about agriculture in general is a real passion of mine. I like talking about it almost as much as I like doing it. Though, when the opportunity came along to put in for this program, it was something that really interested me and I applied along with a lot of other farmers and ranchers across this country. And, fortunately there at the end, I was one of the four selected to go ahead and represent the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance over this next year."
Each contestant had do submit a short video of themselves and their farms and why they wanted to be included in the Faces of Farming and Ranching program. Gilmer said he used his presentation to get straight to the heart of the issue.
"What I really wanted folks to understand about me is that I'm just a regular guy. I was hoping to transcend just the agricultural community, but really key in with our consumers out there and let them know that, 'Hey, I'm just a regular guy that just happens to be a farmer.' I love what I do and I share a lot of their concerns about the way our food system runs and the food they eat because, heck, I have a family, too, and I'm as interested in their health and well-being as anybody else would be.
"So I was hoping that I could convey that message that I'm just an 'everyman,' so to speak. I just happen to be a farmer. And that that would put me in a good position to have conversations with people and help them understand what's happening on my farm and other farms and ranches across the country. And also be able and receptive to hear what their concerns and expectations are of us."
As a dairy farmer, Gilmer said he welcomes the opportunity to visit with consumers about the livestock industry and answer whatever questions they may have about how meat and milk products are produced and how farmers and ranchers treat their animals.
"What I always try to do is this: first of all, the attitude I take toward it is understanding the people that are asking the question. Are they legitimately interested in what is happening on the farm? Are they genuinely interested in having what we're doing out here by the time it makes it to them in the form of food, they want to know if they're getting a great product and that we are doing things ethically and in everyone's best interest here. So, when I view it in that lens, I'm real understanding to what their concerns are and I just try to be as transparent as possible and be as honest as I can about the things that we do and what other farms do and talk about that. And I just really try to convey the sense that, hey, we're continually evolving. We're always looking at best management practices. And when we find a better way to do something, a way that is going to be better for our animals, better for our land, and better for our consumers, then those are avenues that we pursue.
"I often tell people my family has been milking cows for 60 years and the only way we've been able to do that is to make sure we're not doing things like we did 60 years ago. And I think that holds true for every farm and ranch out there."
One of the recent struggles in the dairy industry has been with the use of hormones like BGH. It has a negative image among consumers and most processors are quick to say they don't use it. Producers also see that using hormones increases their production. Gilmer said it's a tight rope that has to be walked sometimes.
"Sometimes you have science on the one hand and customers' needs and expectations on the other. At the end of the day, as long as we can have an open dialogue with people about what's going on, we have a responsibility to our customers to provide what they want. By and large, consumers told processors that they would prefer dairy products in many cases from cows that did not receive any additional RBST. And, so, in turn, we as producers had conversations with processors and many of us said, 'Hey, there's an opportunity here to provide what the customer wants and we can work things out to make that happen. It's always a little delicate situation when you've got to play science against expectations. They don't always meet up. But, at the end of the day, as long as we can have a dialogue and find some common ground, we can work things out to the satisfaction of everybody, I believe."
Gilmer said that his responsibilities as one of the Faces of Farming and Ranching over the next year is to simply keep talking.
"Primarily what we're going to be doing over the next year is simply trying to keep the conversation moving along and engaging people in conversation about our food system. And explaining how things are done on farms and ranches. Listening to peoples' expectations and what drives their preferences and perceptions. So, there may be a lot of different avenues we take to accomplish that. It may be speaking with groups. It may be in the media. It may be in building relationships in small groups with key consumer groups.
"But, ultimately, what we're looking to do is keep the conversation moving forward, get everybody together around the table and talk about these issues. And come up with as much common ground as we can to make sure that we are still providing a marketplace where we're providing excellent quality products, but we're having enough choices that our consumers can have and be happy with."
You can read more about the USFRA Faces of Farming and Ranching contest, and see all the winners online at: http://www.fooddialogues.com/.
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