A couple weeks ago was national FFA week and two of our children were involved and participated in the organization of the activities during this week. I think this was a good experience that was eye-opening, humbling, and somewhat frustrating to both of them! How in the world, do we educate people about agriculture the importance of it and that the world needs it??
On Tuesday, they had a petting zoo at the elementary school. It was K-5, the weather was miserable, and many of the kids put a lot of time and effort into the process. Brock took two show calves and Tina the bucket calf and another FFA member brought a bottle fed goat and lamb (Monica and Beth), and they also brought a horse, and a donkey. There was a group of FFA member who stayed out with the petting zoo animals and there was another group including Maryann, who walked in the classrooms, taught lessons and took them to the petting zoo. Both groups worked extremely hard and our kids came home exhausted and eyes wide opened at the experience.
I cannot overstate, this was good experience for our kids to see what others in our community think of animals and what those animals are called. There was a teacher who called the calf a goat and many students that called the calf a sheep. Crazy to us but a good lesson for our kids. We need to go out into our community and share our experiences, lifestyle, and passion for agriculture. There are so many individuals who do not fully understand agriculture and that is OK, but it is our responsibility to give them information and reach out.
According to Webster’s dictionary agriculture is defined as “the science or occupation of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock”. That seems like a pretty simple definition. However, the hard work, dedication, determination, enjoyment, and the hardship does not get mention. Please understand, we do have agriculture as our life and we are not looking for praise. We do this because we are passionate about the livestock, the crops, and the future of agriculture is extremely important to us, and honestly the entire world.
To wrap things up, I’m extremely grateful that our children have the opportunity to see the vital role that they need to play in agriculture. It can be frustrating, but look at the rewards! We’re feeding an entire world, we get to watch animals be born, we get to plant crops and harvest them, watch the circle of life frequently, working outside and with our family, and who can ask for a better career than that! We are asking people to try and understand what agriculture is and how it benefits them, not just food they eat and the clothes they wear but in so many intangible ways. We are asking for individuals to understand the obstacles that we are already overcoming and not to place more obstacles or hardships upon us. We should have enough support that we do not have to work even harder to make things work. We need the water and we do not need the wolves for starters. We love what we do! It is not always easy and some days we would like to quit but agriculture is our life, our passion, and the way we have chosen to raise our kids.