Remembering Grandpa Jeff

Yesterday morning, my grandfather passed away. While it wasn’t unexpected, he was my grandpa, and such things demand grief and reflection. After my tears had dried, I started thinking about the impact Grandpa Jeff left – on me, my family, our business, and our industry.

Upon graduating from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in agronomy in the late 1950s, John F. Nye, Jr. (Jeff), went to work as an Agricultural Extension Agent for the University of Connecticut. Throughout his 30 years in extension, he focused on building up strong youth leaders in 4-H, guiding his farmer clients into better days through better ways by utilizing the most modern of agricultural technology and practices, and being a strong, progressive voice for agriculture in both his personal and professional lives.

In his heyday, Grandpa focused on the immediate needs of agriculture as he saw them: growing a strong generation of production agriculturists who utilized proven science to better their operations, and building upon traditional agriculture’s foundation with more modern techniques and practices. Grandpa was an expert at bringing old-school farmers into what we might call the glorious sunlight of the modern age.Fast forward 60 years.

We live in a country that collectively spends less than 10% of our disposable income on food. I calculated my own household’s expenditures on food (both groceries and eating out) and found that we come in at just a shade under 8%. Eight percent! How incredibly blessed am I to live where food is not only the safest and most abundant it’s ever been, but also the cheapest? And I don’t even have to grow any of it.

And yet…My Facebook and Twitter feeds are filled to the brim with what my husband calls “pseudo-science and hokum” food and agriculture “articles”. Just last night on the news (what one would assume was a reputable source, but you know where assuming gets you these days), the report was on “mysterious chemicals” in your wine. Blatant fear-mongering if you ask me.

Beware of GMOs! Chemicals Will Kill You! The New Dirty Dozen List of Fruits and Vegetables to Avoid! Factory Farms and Big Ag Are Strangling Our Food System!

Excuse me. When did words like “science” and “research” and “peer-reviewed” become taboo? My grandfather built his career on sound science and a desire to help bring the world the safest, most abundant food supply our society has ever seen. And how does a society that is now more than 3 generations removed from the farm repay him and his colleagues? By spitting in the face of safe, proven technology and demanding that today’s agriculturists return to how we farmed more than 100 years ago.

How do you think today’s bankers would react if we demanded that they return to using abacuses to calculate their reports? If we told Microsoft and Apple that they had to go back to using punch cards and DOS?By no means am I suggesting that our consumers shouldn’t be informed about where their food comes from, or be able to voice their concerns if they have them.

What I am saying, however, is that we as agriculturists have a duty to our ancestors who paved the way and built the foundation of the industry we know and love today to engage in meaningful and productive conversations – dialogues, really – with today’s consumers.Agriculture today isn’t the same as when my grandpa was in the thick of it.

We need to recognize that our consumers aren’t the same as they were 60 years ago either. They are asking for different things both on the farm and in the marketplace; in some cases we can rise to meet those requests, and in others, we need to get better at sharing our story, sharing the why and how we do things the way we do so that our consumers can be truly informed, and not be simply acting out of fear.

Grandpa Jeff recognized that agriculture as he knew it growing up was not the same industry when he started his career. He adapted, became informed, and then worked hard to spread that knowledge to those around him. His example shines forth now – we must adapt to a changing society, become informed about what our customers want and need while balancing those requests with the best management practices for our farms, and then work hard to meet those challenges with the same innovation and passion that has brought American agriculture to where it is today.

I know that I haven’t done the best I am capable of at sharing my agriculture story, and engaging with those who don’t come from it. More often, it’s easier to pass by the couple in Costco who are raving about their GMO-free ice cream, as my own to-do list stretches before me. Besides that, engaging can be intimidating, because food and farming are very emotional subjects which tend to easily rile up both sides. But can we afford to not engage with the very people who keep us all in business?

The answer is beginning to look a lot like “no.”I don’t know about you, but I know my family sure doesn’t want to be milking 3,000 cows by hand. We need to start putting into practice what we’ve all learned at countless seminars, conferences and industry meetings: engage with our consumers in a productive manner, or risk losing the industry and lifestyle we love to the uninformed, but much louder voices who are much more effective at being heard.

With my grandfather’s passing, the buck has truly been passed to the next generation. I intend to honor his memory by following his example of hard work, integrity, and the pursuit of better in all aspects of life, but most especially in the industry he and I both fiercely love.