Editorial / Opinions

Where is the future of agriculture? Does it lie in your hands, my hands or in the hands of the next generation? You probably know the answer to the question and/or have an opinion on the matter. I believe that it lies within all of our hands and the hands of many generations to come. So is it a secure future?

With a New Year on hand I know lots of folks will make resolutions. Consider resolutions for both your personal life and for your farming operation.

"You’re such a farmist!” shrieked my wife.

Technology – where would we be without it? Is it good or bad? Sometimes both. When you know how to use it, it can be very beneficial but my problem is not knowing how to use it. Friends and co-workers (I won’t mention any names) often make fun of me for not being “tech savvy.”

"You’re such a farmist!” shrieked my wife.

Technology – where would we be without it? Is it good or bad? Sometimes both. When you know how to use it, it can be very beneficial but my problem is not knowing how to use it. Friends and co-workers (I won’t mention any names) often make fun of me for not being “tech savvy.”

Things sure are strange today compared to my childhood. Everyone runs around and worries about the strangest things; like you can’t bake goods and take them to school for Christmas party consumption. Secondly, teachers are telling kids there is no Santa Claus. My mom always baked things like fruitcake for my teachers and sent some along for all the class to eat. We’d have birthdays and some moms would bring by a cake. But in the days of “I’ll sue you,” I guess that it has become a possible liability.

Having just filled the propane tank at my home, at a cost of $1.99 per gallon, I realized that I just paid quite a bit more for that than I earned my first month of teaching high school right after I graduated from college. As I stare at the standing timber south of my house, I can’t help but ask myself if I have become stupid, or just lazy in my later years?

As fall rolls right into winter many holiday family traditions unfold. Family traditions take on a different meaning for everyone. For some it’s immediate family, for others it’s extended family or friends who are often just as important as family. For me, holidays include all of these.

A good friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, teaches in the agriculture college at a major mid-western university, which shall also remain nameless. We have been close friends for more than 30 years and have the chance to visit over the phone quite often, so I was a little taken aback during our last conversation to find how frustrated he has become with the lack of basic agricultural knowledge of his students.