Budding Agriculturalist.

I think it is time to share a little bit about who I am. Sometimes I struggle with my identity and who I feel I really am. Today, though, I decided I do not have just one identity and it is okay!

I grew up in a small town in Minnesota of about 3,500 people. Norwood Young America [and yes that is the name of the town] was about a 45-minute drive west of Minneapolis. My mom is a cake decorator and a previous printer, my dad is a printer, my sister is studying graphic design at the University of Minnesota, and I am studying agriculture economics, public relations and advertising, and agriculture communications at North Dakota State University.

            “Do your grandparents farm then?”

No, my grandparents do not farm, my aunt and uncle do not farm, my great grandparents do not farm, and I do not farm. I grew up in the middle of my small town and played every sport imaginable and was in every club imaginable throughout high school, so that included FFA [Future Farmers of America] and 4-H. When people ask me where I gained my passion for agriculture that is where I tell them I started. In FFA and 4-H I was able to learn about animals and agriculture without ever have been exposed to agriculture. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad I had the opportunity to learn about it when I did! I showed llamas and poultry and spent most my time in the beef barn during the county fair.

When it was time to come to college I thought I wanted to go for economics; that ‘thought’ will be explained later. After a few weeks into college I thought I wanted to go for agriculture economics. I made it through almost all my courses in that degree, I joined multiple agriculture clubs on campus, and I made numerous friends in the agriculture field. I knew I loved agriculture; however, the second semester of my junior year I knew I did not love economics. I have always had a passion for speaking and communications and after hearing a few speakers in my communication class I knew I wanted to go for public relations and advertising in agriculture. This was one of the biggest, but one the best of decisions of my college career to add public relations and advertising and agriculture communications as majors in addition to agriculture economics.

I have 4 pairs of cowboy boots and a pair of work boots, but I rarely wear them to school. I have multiple bedazzled belts, cowboy hats, and farm hats, but I rarely wear those to school. If you wanted a stereotypical description of how I dress, it would be considered a ‘city slicker.’ I work at a radio station, as an intern, and yesterday morning I was wearing my ‘city slicker’ outfit and one of the guys on the morning show asked if I liked pigs as he pointed to my backpack. I had completely forgot that I had 3 pig key chains attached to a couple zippers on my backpack, and I realized that those key chains are such a great conversational starter about agriculture! Besides the pigs, I also have a combine key chain and soybean key chain. I finally understood that my attire does not define who I am, and I can connect with others in unexpected ways since I come from such a different background.  A ‘city slicker’ with a passion for agriculture, how unique, what a great way to break through the barrier of the 98% population not tied to agriculture. I am a budding agriculturalist and I am not afraid to state my opinion on agricultural topics if I feel strongly about and I am not afraid to teach others about agriculture.

Left Photo: 87th Little International

Center Photo: Photo Credit: Mataya Creations

Keychains: SPAM, York,  Cloverdale Meats, CLAAS,  North Dakota Soybean Council

Currently I am in the first semester of my senior year and practicing advocating agriculture as I attend school and work 4 jobs. I would not change anything. I am happy with what I am doing, and I cannot wait to see what my future brings me and what I can do for agriculture one day!

You Can't Believe Everything You See.

The HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) has had ahold of my email address for 7 months now. When I received my first email from them I was upset that they would have the nerve to email me newsletters as someone who promotes agriculture. I eventually got over the anger, and realized that this could keep me up to date on the activist side of agriculture. Today, that proved beneficial to me. Matthew Prescott of the HSUS sent out an email today with the subject header reading: Unbelievable. Of course this subject header caught my attention and my first thought was, now what?

The email read:

Hi there. As I’m sure you’ve seen by now, yet another video was released today in which Tyson Foods contract workers are seen just blatantly beating up pigs. You can view the video here. This is some of the most shocking footage I’ve seen, and I’d welcome your thoughts on it. Additionally, as you may recall:

·Just three weeks ago, another disturbing video showed a Tyson supplier abusing animals on tape.

· Last year, after an investigation at a Tyson supplier in Wyoming, several workers who were caught abusing animals were charged and convicted of criminal animal cruelty.

Thanks, and looking forward to hearing what you think about this video.  

Best,

Matt

I clicked the link to see what type of Youtube Video was produced this time. And not to my surprise it was a video of harsh abuse to pigs produced by Mercy for Animals. Curious, I searched Tyson Foods and the HSUS to see if a statement had been released in regards to the video; however, after reviewing the video and seeing that the views was only at 250, I assumed that Tyson was still doing research and working on a press release. According to this article, Tyson has previously investigated the abuse on the farm shown in the video. In result, Tyson had no association with the farm that the video was filmed at, and this may be another exam of that. 

As an agriculture student, I have taken classes on proper techniques of castration and docking, which is not done in this video. Many classmates and friends of mine own pig farms and care deeply for their animals and actions such as these do not take place on their farms and do not take place on many farms across the United States.

Secondly, I believe if Mercy for Animals, the HSUS, PETA, and other animal activist groups truly care for these animals, why would they not be going to farms such as these to put an end to the abuse rather than become a bystander and videotape the abuse. Seems a little controversial to me. Which brings me to further believe that maybe these videos are not ‘undercover’ videos. I may be wrong, but it does cause my mind to wander to all possibilities. As a student with a background in videography and photography I understand the ability to alter images and make something seem like one thing, when it is not. In my mind, it would not be hard to put together a video portraying animal cruelty, when in fact no harm is being done to animals – they do it in Hollywood all the time.

I will be curious to see what research brings up on this production. My final statement is that you cannot believe everything you see and not all your sources may be reliable. Do your research before you are in full belief.