One Team, One Dream

Hey, guys! Danielle here, and I’m having a great summer interning at Kansas Soybean. I’m tackling all sorts of things, from learning about biodiesel to preparing an economic impact of Kansas agriculture report that we presented to our Representatives and Senators in Washington D.C.! It’s been an eye-opening experience in ways that I would never expect.

You see, I’ve always been a huge defender of conventional ag. I’m the first person to step up and say that GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) are not a bad thing, and list all the facts and figures to back it up. When people say they only eat organic foods, I was always the person to criticize them and bombard them with pro-GMO statements.

Obviously, telling them all the reasons I think GMO’s are good didn’t change their mind. It wasn’t until this internship that I finally realized that organic and non-GMO agriculture is still agriculture. When you’re in the grocery store, your goal is most likely to buy food to eat, whether you eat conventional foods or not. The goal of farmers everywhere is to feed people. You see how they line up?  

I didn’t.

I got so caught up in defending the farmers who use technology to produce as much healthy, whole food as possible that I forgot about this shared goal. I think a lot of people forget about it as well. There’s so much negative advertising about conventional ag out there that misleads you, the consumer, that it’s easy to lose trust in the food system.

Infographic from findourcommonground.com

Part of my training in this internship was to learn how to talk to people who are confused about who to trust. Here’s where I started to realize that those who choose to stray away from GMO’s aren’t these people who want to ruin the lives of farmers; they’re simply people who want to make sure they are eating food that is healthy and safe. Doesn’t everyone want that?

The fact of the matter is, conventional food is just as whole and healthy as food that’s produced organically, and there are several scientific reports to back that up. Now that we all know that, let’s stop separating the two and pitting them against each other and work towards our shared goal: feeding hungry people. You’re hungry, so you eat. Farmer’s eat the same food that they provide and can’t afford to produce unsafe food.

Trust your food system, it aims to serve you. After all, without you, the consumer, farmers wouldn’t have a job. Avoid listening to all the negative hoopla about conventional agriculture that some companies use to attract your dollars, and work towards your goal: feeding yourself and feeding your family. It doesn’t matter if it’s conventional, non-GMO, or organic. It’s all food and we are all hungry!

Forks up,

Danielle

New Member Alert - Kiah Gourley

We have some fresh faces around Food For Thought these days - we held a membership drive in August and September and have some great new minds who are excited about agriculture among our ranks! Periodically, you'll see their bios here so that you can get to know them. This post is about new member Kiah Gourley, a sophomore majoring in Animal Science here at K-State.

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 Hi, I am Kiah Gourley.  I am from Philomath, Oregon.  I grew up raising pigs and showing livestock in 4-H.  I am excited to be in Food For Thought because it gives me a chance to learn how to talk to the consumer about where our food comes from. I want to get involved so I can hear from very inspirational people, and fellow peers on how to present agriculture in a positive way. I would love the opportunity to take these ideas back to the west coast, and put them into action.

New Member Alert - Lacey Robinson

We have some fresh faces around Food For Thought these days - we held a membership drive in August and September and have some great new minds who are excited about agriculture among our ranks! Periodically, you'll see their bios here so that you can get to know them. This post is about new member Lacey Robinson, a student at the College of Veterinary Medicine here at K-State.

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I am currently a first-year student at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine with aspirations of someday serving rural Kansas as a food animal veterinarian. For the past year I have lived on a farm near Olsburg, Kansas where we raise Angus cattle, grain and hay.

My passion has always been rooted in all aspects of production animal agriculture and the well-being of those animals which we rely on for survival and enjoyment. For generations my family has been devoted to livestock production (beef cattle, hogs, sheep, horses) and the way of life it represents.

Food For Thought is a great way to bridge the gap in communication between interested consumers and livestock producers like myself. We are proud of the tasty, wholesome food we bring to your table and enjoy sharing the miraculous story of how it gets there! This blog is a welcome opportunity to take part in dialog regarding current issues in agriculture and the future of our food supply. I look forward to contributing to this worthy cause and hearing what’s on your mind.

New Member Alert - Kyra Mathis

We have some fresh faces around Food For Thought these days - we held a membership drive in August and September and have some great new minds who are excited about agriculture among our ranks! Periodically, you'll see their bios here so that you can get to know them. This post is about new member Kyra Mathis, a student at the College of Agriculture here at K-State.

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I am a freshmen in Food Science and Industry at Kansas State University.   I’m from the suburb of Saint Charles, Missouri (Just outside Saint Louis) where I was born and raised. I have grown up always having an interest in food, where it comes from, and how it gets on my plate. I’m very excited as to what is in my future as I progress through my college experience and the new knowledge I will gain.

New Member Alert -- Nicole Born

We have some fresh faces around Food For Thought these days - we held a membership drive in August and September and have some great new minds who are excited about agriculture among our ranks! Periodically, you'll see their bios here so that you can get to know them. This post is about new member Nicole Born, a student at the College of Veterinary Medicine here at K-State.

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I am Nicole Born.  I’m originally from a small family farm located just northeast of Topeka, KS where we raise Polled Hereford cattle and dairy and meat goats.  I have a BS in Agriculture from K-State and I’m currently a sophomore in the College of Veterinary Medicine.  Those that knew me in undergrad would know me as Nicole Rosencutter, but I got married to Jonathan Born, another College of Ag grad, in July 2011.  I am very excited to get involved with Food For Thought!  Agriculture has been, is, and will always be my passion.  I have always been involved in the agricultural industry through our family farm and staying involved in many ag activities throughout undergrad and vet school.  A few years ago, I had the opportunity for training through the National Beef Ambassador program with Trent Loos.  At that event, he had us practice “grace under fire”, rapid questioning regarding the agriculture industry.  Since that time, I have had an even stronger passion for being an advocate for agriculture and I’ve had the opportunity to inform others about the industry through various activities and within my vet school class.  After graduating, I plan to practice in a mixed animal practice in a rural community, probably around Lebo, KS, where my husband’s family farm is located.  I am so excited to get involved with this group to strengthen my knowledge of current events in agriculture, further practice my communication skills, and spread the word about this amazing industry on our campus and beyond!

Agriculturists Police Themselves

The agricultural community is capable of policing themselves and taking care of issues as they arise. My father and brother, Gary and Travis Theurer, have both been involved with a local animal cruelty case close to home. This past year, the Midwest has seen some of the worst drought conditions people have faced since the Great Depression in the 1930’s. This has resulted in drastic management changes by animal caretakers in order to keep the health status high of all the animals. On our farm and ranch, the drought has resulted in selling off some of our cows to have enough grass and forage available to feed all the cows in the summer, extra supplementation in the form of hay bales, lick tanks, and range cubes, and has also resulted in consistent monitoring of water situation to ensure all cattle had access to high quality water. However in this isolated incident, one particular cattle producer did not take the proper steps.

My father was contacted by the local sheriff department to see if he would be willing to help capture the animals and bring them home and care for them. Dad immediately wanted to help because he was informed of the condition of the animals and wanted to do anything he could to nurse them back to health. My dad and brother drove up to this ranchers’ place and gathered all the cattle and hauled them home. Both my dad’s and brother’s responses were, “These are the thinnest cattle I have ever seen. I’m surprised they even have enough energy to walk. These cows need a lot of care to help them along.” At home, the cattle were fed a forage diet. We were initially worried to start the cows on a high quality grain diet because the cows have not seen enough feed and would over-eat any grain product placed in front of them resulting in metabolic acidosis causing more harm to the animal rather than good. We developed a gradual step-up ration diet that would initially meet the minimal cattle nutrition requirements needed and then increased in order to add weight to the cows to get them back towards adequate conditions. We went to gather the cows the first part of July and they have currently added approximately 300 pounds due to the water and nutrition supply my family has been able to provide to these animals. I saw these animals a few weeks after they arrived at home when I was down visiting for the weekend and I saw them again a couple weeks ago. The progress they have made has been remarkable just do to some management practices. Video of the cows and news report of the animal cruelty case can be found here:

http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Animal-Crueslty-Trail-Underway-In-Wellington-170373686.html

The reason why I chose to write this for a Food For Thought blog was just to show the ability of production agriculturists to not only care about their own animals but all of the livestock sector. The drive and passion people can have is outstanding in agriculture sector. While it was a sad and isolated event that animals suffered, people directly involved with production agriculture stepped in and tried to fix the problem the best way they could.

Until next time,

Miles Theurer