Field Moms Talk One-on-One to Farmers

Field Moms talk about corn and soybeans in our food with Donna Jeschke
(photo by Illinois Farm Families)

This past weekend, the 2014 Field Moms met in Mazon, Illinois, at the Jeschke Farm, about 70 miles southwest of Chicago, to learn about their corn and soybean farm. We were met there by enough Illinois farmers to field a baseball team. One of the great things, and there are many, about this program is that Illinois Farm Families makes an effort to show us, not just tell us, what farming in Illinois looks like. While time permits us to go to just one farm each Saturday, on that day we meet many more Illinois farmers just like the ones who own the farm we visit. We talk to them, in small groups, and we ask a lot of questions about the stories you see and hear in the news (or on your front porch). We aren’t just taking the word of one person or one farm. We are seeing that the group, Illinois Farm Families, which was formed with the intent to educate Chicago-area consumers via moms, is made up of farmers that represent the family farms that make up 94% of farms in Illinois. To date, we've toured two farms and a grocery store (where we talked about food labeling), and so far, in total, we've talked with more than 20 different farmers!

 Field Moms get answers about pesticides from Paul Jeschke

While the farmers we meet are independent of each other, they are often connected in some way. Many of the younger ones we met last week (in their 30’s to 40’s) grew up showing animals together at 4H events or county fairs. We learned that many of them knew each other at college (U of I). If they didn’t know each other growing up or through their education, they come to know each other through the Illinois agricultural community, which seems big when looking at the land area and quantity of food produced, but in the scheme of things is a relatively small group of people.

 Field Moms learn about ethanol with Tricia Braid
(photo by Illinois Farm Families)

And that small group of people, especially the younger generation that I mentioned, is college educated. Most have a bachelor’s degree and several that we've met have a master’s degree in a specialized field, such as dairy cattle or swine. Many, in fact, left their family farms to “see the world” and later returned to farm. When you talk one-on-one with someone, you have the opportunity to have a meaningful dialog. These folks know organic chemistry. They know animal science. They know technology. They know botany. They are active in their communities. Every single one of them we have met is passionate about what they do. They are also modest and humble and don’t claim to know everything and look forward to improvements in all of the above and more.

Field Moms learn about technology with Tyson Dollinger

Perhaps our consumer perception of the American farmer is off the mark. I can’t speak for everyone, but when an Illinois consumer action group comes knocking on my door, as it did last night, and paints a picture of farmers as a group who are irresponsibly handling animal anti-biotics, if I didn't know better because of what I've learned on our hog farm tour, what am I to think? Do farmers completely understand the consequences of their actions, like spraying pesticides or giving their animals anti-biotics, for example? The farmers we have met are mostly from two generations, the new generation of farmers (in their mid 30’s and 40’s) and their parents’ generation. Whether they have a college degree or not, they really do know what they are doing, they are constantly improving, and more to the point, they can talk about it. As I gave the gentleman at my door last night some of the facts I've learned first-hand as a field mom, it knocked him off of his rehearsed spiel and the depth of his pitch became transparent. He politely left my porch after telling me I’m mis-informed and handed me his pamphlet so that I could read more about it. He probably won’t go to Illinois Farm Families website to validate what I was talking about, but then again, maybe he will. The longer we sit and talk with a farmer on our tours, the more detailed information we receive. It’s not rehearsed or scripted or designed to move us emotionally or persuade us. I would challenge anybody to think about talking to a group of consumers about what you do in your profession and what that entails. The farmers we are talking to have a lot of knowledge about a lot of different things, they are in tune with our world, and they’re sharing what they do, and why, with us field moms hoping that we’ll, in turn, share it with others. I hope I do them justice.

More on that baseball team of farmers we met at the Jeschke Farm in my next post.

"Farmland" Documentary Review: The Voices of Families in a New Generation

The new documentary film, "Farmland," hit home with me, as the daughter of a third generation commercial grape grower. This film is a peek into the family farming legacy of five young men in production farming and into the life of a woman who has started a CSA farm business from scratch. While the crops are different, my parents and the six families of farmers in the film share similar challenges, risks, and decision-making in their day-to-day businesses.

This is a film about people first. It’s about the teamwork it takes to operate a family farm and the symbiotic relationship these people have with their land and animals. They show us how much passion and pride they have for the good, but hard, work they’ve chosen to do. The family farm legacy is the central and guiding theme of this film.  As you might expect, it was a beautiful film to watch, with majestic wide-open landscape, movingly colorful sunsets, snow-covered fields awaiting a spring thaw, and big blue skies set in motion by the rolling clouds. The soundtrack is mostly instrumental with some guitar in places and ends with a new take on Woodie Guthrie’s folk song, “This Land is Your Land,” performed by Everclear and Liz Phair.

We hear the contemporary challenges farm families are facing. Some challenges are the same their grand-parents faced, like weather and markets; other hurdles are new, like responding to public perceptions. With only two percent of our U.S. population involved in agriculture, and most people being at least two generations removed from farming, those public perceptions are likely coming from food documentaries, internet chats and posts, and videos that tend to de-humanize and demonize production farming, leaving viewers in fear of their food and wondering where is the truth. This film is not a response to other media, nor does it attempt to answer specific questions, but it does turn the camera onto the family farm and gives them a voice, something that has been mostly missing in other food documentaries.

The film-makers capture the hearts of viewers by telling the stories of the young farmers (all in their 20's, just starting out) in a way that lets us relate to them. They wear many hats - they are farmers, husbands, dads, sons, a daughter, brothers, and members of their communities. We get a glimpse of their relationships with their children, their parents, their siblings, and the people they grow their food for. They are real people, real hard-working people, making a difference in their communities and our world.

In my opinion, "Farmland" is a good film. James Moll, the director, has taken a very ambitious subject, yet focused in on the lives and agriculture of just six people. He created a web of stories with common themes and I think many people will enjoy it, especially young people. I hope more films of this type will come out of this one. I would like to hear more voices from our American farms, especially from the new generation of farmers.