Yesterday a man stopped by our family feed mill looking for directions and asked me what we were making here in this building. He explained to me he was from the city and he had never seen a feed mill before. I told him we were making feed for our hogs. He wanted to know what the feed consisted of and I told him it was corn, soybean meal, vitamins and minerals. He asked me why we didn't just feed them grass or hay like the cows he had seen in the fields. I explained that hogs won't eat grass or hay like cattle. He was amazed to learn this. He told me he never thought about where his bacon came from, he just went to the store and bought it.

I spent about 10 minutes explaining to this man that we use a nutritionist to create the diets we feed our hogs and that our veterinarian plays a key role in our farm. I also explained that our hog barns had computer controlled climate systems to keep the hogs warm in the winter and cool in the summer. He told me it made sense to offer our hogs this care because it was protecting our food supply.

When he left the mill and headed on his way, he told me he was glad he took the time to ask these questions because he had no idea agriculture was so advanced. He said he would appreciate his bacon a lot more and couldn't wait to share this new knowledge with his wife.

Never miss the opportunity to tell your story, even if it is only to one person. Each new person we tell our story to will be another person who can help tell our story!

This year in NC we not only get to vote for president, but we are also choosing our Commissioner of Agriculture. The race is between the incumbent, who along with his position as Commissioner currently produces wheat, soybeans and sweet potatoes, and his opponent, a lawyer with little experience on a farm.

In The Washington Daily News this past week the Commissioner's opponent was reported discussing his trip across the state speaking with farmers on their own turf. He said that when he asked them what needed to be done in agriculture, they all said that family farms needed to be protected. He stated that he believes that the future of farming in NC is in biofuels production. He says this can be done on small family farms and larger corporate farms and will help create jobs and revitalize the state's economy.

The incumbent has helped develop a farmland preservation fund to stop the loss of farmland, has worked to create an improved food safety program, has expanded international and local trade, and launched a marketing campaign that has opened doors for the sale of NC produce in large grocery chains and restaurants. These are actual accomplishments of this Commissioner's tenure.

I'm certainly not sure what the right answers to NC's agricultural challenges are. However, if we elect people to positions in Agriculture with little experience in the "field" it would only seem to me that representing the best interests of producers would be a thing of the past. How can one make decisions about agriculture without having ever worked in it? Regrettably, being a couple of generations removed from the farm, we see the not so good impression that Americans, as a whole, have of agriculture. When those in leadership and decision making positions are not from an agricultural background, would not their lack of understanding prevent sound policies from being enforced? Something else to think about before the big election...

The Kansas City Star has a video on their website, This Sow is Protected, which shows family farmer Scott Phillips inside his hog barns.

Phillips explains to viewers how his sows are protected from the weather and fighting, and emphasizes that each animal has adequate feed. The video shows Phillips inside one of the stalls used on his farm, and explains that if the sow was not in a stall designed like his, the sow could lay on her pigs, killing them. The inside of the barns were extremely clean, as were the pigs.

Please take a few minutes to watch this video and get a better idea of what the inside of a hog barn looks like. In California, voters are being asked to ban the use of stalls like the ones seen on this video. As you can see from watching this video, the animals are clean, content and comfortable.

I have to admit that I really didn't feel like doing chores tonight. I don't know if it was the flu or something else, but my stomach was doing a whirl. However, the reality was that I had to go check on some cows that were due to calve and to feed them and our sheep. When I got to the pasture I needed to repair some fence, move the cows to fresh grass, fill the water tank with fresh water and make sure the cows and calves were healthy and happy. Sometime during the afternoon one of our cows had calved and that meant I needed to check it out to make sure it was healthy. Finally after making sure the new calf and mother were o.k. I got to go home and rest.

That is how it is with those of us in animal agriculture. We put the health and comfort of our animals first. Whether it is going out in bad weather, putting our animal's health ahead of our own or spending the entire night with one our animals, we all go the extra mile to make sure they are well cared for. I would bet that most livestock producers know their veterinarian better than their own doctor. In fact, I have my vet on my cell phone and I have no idea what my doctor's number is.

The bottom line is that those of us in animal agriculture are in the business of raising wholesome, safe food, but we also view ourselves as the caretakers of those animals in our charge. We make sure we go the extra mile to make sure they are well-taken care of and comfortable no matter the cost to our own comfort.

The promotions sub-committee of your AFBF YF&R committee has just returned from the 81st National FFA Convention and what a busy week it was! There were around 50,000 FFA members in attendance and the air in Indianapolis was electric with excitement.

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about the importance of telling the story of agriculture and what are the most effective ways of doing it. It's easy to get down when we are working hard to stand up for our industry and it seems there is someone around every corner ready to knock down those of us that have the responsibility of feeding this nation and the world. But while I was at the FFA Convention, none of those thoughts came to mind. These FFA members are excited about being involved in an agricultural organzation and spending time promoting their organization, communities, and industry. A speaker at the general session that we attended told the members that they would have to produce twice as much food as their parents are. There is no doubt these young agriculturalists will meet this challenge head on with enthusiasm and conviction

The next time you hear that kids today aren't interested in agriculture, don't want to work hard, or any other kind of nonsense like that, take them to a county 4-H show or FFA meeting. They will feel re-invigorated like I do right now and know that our industry will be in great hands.