Farm Bureau looks to future

By Andy Hallman

The JOURNAL

Washington County Iowa Farm Bureau held its annual meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall Thursday night. Several Iowa congressional candidates and their representatives were on hand, as well as many Washington County supervisor candidates.

A few hundred people attended the meeting, which filled the main room of the KC Hall. The attendees were treated to a meal at 6:30 p.m. before the business portion of the event began at 7:30 p.m. President Joel Huber opened the meeting with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and then introduced the special guests in the audience.

Rachel Fishback presented an award to Martha Hammen. Hammen?s name was entered into a drawing because she completed a Farm Bureau questionnaire. Farm Bureau agent Ann Williams received a plaque for signing up 82 new members. Farm Bureau also gave up a number of door prizes, such as gift cards for ethanol and beef and ?America Needs Farmers? T-shirts.  

The Farm Bureau?s guest speaker that evening was Joe Heinrich, who farms near Maquoketa in Jackson County. He grows corn, soybeans, oats and hay, and runs a cow-calf and dairy operation. Before he waded into the substance of his talk, Heinrich warned the crowd that he is dangerous with a microphone in his hand.

?For those of you who don?t know me, there?s something you?re going to learn really quick, and that is I like to talk, he said. ?How does someone get to be so talkative and so sociable? First off, you have to start really, really young. What you do is you take a phone book, start at the ?As? and then dial until you run out of numbers.?

Heinrich?s talk was about the challenges that farmers have faced over the years and the challenges they face today.

?When my mom was growing up, horse-power was truly horse-power,? he said. ?When they were making hay, the early mechanization helped but it was still labor intensive. In my day, I remember making square hay bales all ? summer ? long. Even then, it was easier than the old mechanization.?

He said technology has improved markedly in the past few decades.

?The machines tell us where to drive, when we have a full bale, when to drop the bale and the moisture of the hay,? Heinrich said.

Heinrich noticed an interesting change in productivity over his family?s generations.

?My folks could harvest more bushels in a day than my grandparents could in a season,? he said. ?What?s more amazing, we can harvest more bushels in a day than my parents could in a season.?

He said that one of the challenges his grandparents never considered was the public perception of agriculture.

?Sixty years ago, over 40 percent of the country farmed,? he said. ?Today, it?s less than 2 percent. What?s getting to be a challenge is that there are people who are generations removed from agriculture. They do not understand agriculture at all because they have no connection to it.?

He said Farm Bureau is doing a great deal to shape the public?s perception of farming, such as its ?Iowa Minute,? a 60-second news feature that highlights current issues in agriculture.  

?Every month, the Farm Bureau comes out with a new Iowa Minute which addresses issues of the day in animal care, soil conservation, nutrient usage and water conservation in a matter-of-fact way.?

Heinrich mentioned other notable Web sites doing similar things, such as ?Choose 2 Choose.?

?It enables people to learn about the food choices they should have and it makes sure those food choices remain available,? he said. ?If someone wants to eat locally grown, or organic, that?s great; if you want to eat conventionally grown food, you should have that choice, too.?

Heinrich said Farm Bureau has been good at getting its message to farmers, but it has to reach the wider public, too.    

?We do a great job of preaching to the choir, but we?ve got to sing in the streets,? he said. ?We?ve got to be talking to people who don?t normally get this message.?