FREEDOM TO FARM

Lindsay Mitchell

Dec 13, 2013  |  Today's News

Did you read the Rolling Stones December 10 article by Paul Solotaroff?  The article entitled Animal Cruelty is the Price We Pay for Cheap Meat, sourced by the Humane Society of the U.S. is one more reason for the very aggressive effort your checkoff association is pursuing to reach out to non-farmer urban dwellers with information about how their food is really produced from an actual farm family just like you.

But because we can’t personally reach every non-farmer in America, articles like this one by Wanda Patsche, a Minnesota hog farmer, are really important.  In her article, Patsche refutes several of the points Solotaroff wrongfully makes and criticizes him for a story devoid of any farmer sources.

“The truth is our pigs eat more nutritiously than my family. We use an animal nutritionist, who gives us a diet each animal needs. The pigs on our farm are fed nine different rations (our word for recipe) during their lifetime. Each ration is based on specific pigs’ nutritional needs during different growth stages,” she says as she refutes the article’s allegation that farmers fed broken glass to their pigs.

In another recent article, Dairy Carrie described how she is sometimes mean to her cows.  Non-farmers don’t understand the danger of a down cow or the force needed to help a down cow to her feet.  In the comments following the post, you’ll read the extent of misinformation we battle as the agriculture industry tries to right the wrongs we’ve committed by not talking about our practices for so long.

These are but a few recent examples of non-farmer misunderstanding of traditional farm practices.  There are so many more.  Your continued support of our conversations with non-farmers is vital to your freedom to farm in the future.