Passive Is Passé
March 14, 2011 Change is in the air for agriculture — and I’m not talking about the weather.
As I write this column, I’ve just returned from the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. The show is a great place to gauge the temperature of the industry, so to speak, based upon the equipment being introduced, the products being discussed and the mood of the attendees.
Then there are the T-shirts. Normally, these tend to be on the humorous side such as “Farmers Like To Do It In Rows” or “I Love My Tractor and My Gun — Don’t Try To Take Either One From Me!”
But this year, one grower had a simple phrase on his T-shirt that spoke volumes: “No Farmers = No Food.” For an industry that tends to be pretty passionate about itself, yet oddly passive when it comes to its numerous critics, this seemed refreshingly in-your-face.
And it’s about time.
For far too long, agricultural has seemed to take comfort in its track record on food production and the facts behind this to combat environmental opponents and regulatory critics. These adversaries, on the other hand, have played on emotion to get their messages across — agricultural destroys wetlands, fertilizer is killing the Gulf of Mexico, etc. At most times, sadly, just like in a bad relationship, emotions have won out.
“Dirty laundry always made for a better headline than citing the facts,” observes Jay Vroom, president of CropLife America. “And this has gotten worse for our industry in the digital age. Now, instead of keeping an eye on one or two negative newspaper articles, we have to contend with dozens of stories online playing to the negative.”
Besides the media, agriculture also has to deal with a hostile environment on Capitol Hill. “Don’t think [the EPA] can’t shut you down,” said Gary Baise, agricultural lawyer for Olsson, Frank, Weeda, Terman, Bode and Matz, speaking at a recent grower seminar. “There are policies in place and in the works that will restrict food production in the U.S. I’ve heard agriculture compared to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in talks on some of these regulations.”
Agriculture and oil spill in the same sentence. Crazy. And really scary.
It seems as if industry supporters recognize the danger of letting emotionalists get too loud. In May, CropLife America will hold its 2nd annual National Policy Conference in Washington, DC. Entitled “Lost In Translation? Deciphering The Discourse Of Modern Agriculture,” the meeting will bring together industry proponents and critics, with the opportunity to loudly debate their point of views. “We can’t just be broadcasting our message,” says Vroom of the meeting’s format. “We need to engage everyone to make people see that modern agriculture benefits the whole world.”
Lord knows I don’t think screaming matches are the best way to get a positive message across to casual listeners. However, when all the other guy does is scream, I definitely think screaming back is in order once in a while.
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