July 2022 - 21

AG LABOR REVIEW
Consumers need help understanding farmers'
frame of reference
MICHAEL MARSH
President & CEO
National Council of
Agricultural Employers
Michael@ncaeonline.org
It can come down to our frame of
reference.
I have a good friend in California
who grew up on a dairy farm. His
father and grandfather were born in
the Azores Islands and, as you might
imagine, were both an important
part of my friend's upbringing on the
dairy. One of the other things that was
important to that upbringing was the
philosophy of hard work.
From a very young age, there were
always chores that needed to get done.
Cows needed to be milked and calves
needed to be fed. Hay needed to be baled
and the bales bucked. Silage needed to be
planted, irrigated and harvested. There
were chores that needed to be done before
breakfast and going to school. There
were chores that needed to be done after
school, before and after dinner. That's life
in agriculture. There is always something
else that needs to get done.
Summer days meant there was more
time to do more. For my friend, there
was work before the sun was up until
after dark. But there was something else
in it for him, too.
The fall of his freshman year in
high school, my friend did well in the
President's Physical Fitness Program in
physical education (PE). All that hard
work and the long days had put him in
really good shape.
on the weekends after his matches,
provided he made the team.
His father looked him up and down
again and then said, " What? Are you
crazy? You're so scrawny! Those big fat
guys will climb up on those ropes and
then jump down on you and crush you
like a bug!
" Then, who will do your chores when
you're dead? "
It can come down to our frame of
reference.
Farm and ranch families struggle
with some of this reference challenge
today. Asking someone who has been
raised in the city or suburbia where
their food comes from, is likely to elicit
the response that food comes from the
grocery store. Of course, it's simple.
As logistical issues create challenges
Today, a physician would tell him
he had a very low body mass index
(BMI). I'm not sure what they called
it back then, but he was skinny and
strong. The PE teacher, who was also
the wrestling coach, took note of his
conditioning. The coach encouraged
him to try out for the wrestling team
telling him his fitness would give him
an edge on the mat.
My friend was excited. The coach
wanted him to try out! Through the
rest of the school day, he found it hard
to concentrate but ran to get on the
bus when the last bell rang. He knew
that getting his father to allow him to
go out for the team and take him away
from his dairy chores for practice and
matches was going to be a lift, so he
carefully planned his ask.
When the bus got to his stop, my
friend leapt out of the door as soon
as the bus driver opened it. He ran
through the dairy looking for his father,
finding him moving cows. He could
hardly contain himself but helped his
dad finish the chore and then he blurted
out his carefully prepared ask to his dad
if he could go out for the team?
His dad slowly looked him up and
down and first asked, " So who's going to
do your chores? "
My friend responded he would do
them after practice and make up time
for food producers in the form of
skyrocketing diesel costs, lack of
fertilizer or seed, as well as wages for
a workforce now disconnected from
the market by government fiat, city
dwellers are quick to assume that those
staggering on-farm costs will simply be
recouped by the producer by passing it
along to the consumer. We know that
they are flat-out wrong.
This frame of reference is something
farm and ranch families need to shift.
Consumers need to be reminded
that food doesn't come from the
grocery store, it starts out on the farm.
Consumers must be taught that the
farmer and rancher are price-takers
in the market as opposed to marketmakers.
Better understanding is a virtue
we can help build.
It can come down to our frame of
reference. FGN
CopenHaven Farms Nursery
Quality Oregon-Grown
Rootstock & Seedlings
For Fruit Trees.
2023, 2024
Since 1982,
Specializing in
Virus-Free Apple,
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Pear Rootstock.
email:
info@copenhavenfarms.com
12990 SW Copenhaven Road
Gaston, OR 97119
www.copenhavenfarms.com
503-985-7161
FAX 503-985-7876
FGN | JULY 2022 | 21
http://www.fruit-treesales.com http://www.copenhavenfarms.com
July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2022
