Optimism abounds in a way that is not easy to understand. Farmers and ranchers can take pride in innovation and they are the leaders.
Celebrating those achievements in this current farm economy also is not easy I will admit and the slumping incomes paint a tough picture. In a recent edition of High Plains Journal, Senior Field Editor Larry Dreiling recently reported that net farm income was projected to be about $65.7 billion in 2018, which was a decline of $9.8 billion from 2017. It was just five years ago the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service projected nearly $130 billion in net farm income.
Not all news is doom and gloom. Farmers and ranchers need to take heed because innovation is continuing be a willing and welcome partner as they plan ahead.
Innovation is a cornerstone of the farming and ranching industry. Major manufacturers introduce new series of tractors, combines, haying and forage equipment. Smaller companies bring many innovations to the marketplace that catches the eye of farmers and ranchers at farm shows.
Companies and individuals are continuing to invest in their farming and ranching friends. They love their customers and the loyalty is felt both ways.
Companies large and small believe in putting their money into research and development and many of those products and services find outlets through independent dealers and representatives who want to help their friends
The Oct. 8 edition of High Plains Journal has a theme of “Ag Solutions.” Readers will find examples of products and services that serve farmers and ranchers with explanations on how they can help them.
Carl Bern, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University, noted that in the most difficult times in agriculture often it was innovation that helped spur rank-and-file producers to be more efficient and is their linchpin to staying profitable. Bern understands from his own experience because after all, he grew upon a farm in Wahoo, Nebraska.
Inventions over the past 100 years are the result of producers seeking solutions to problems encountered on the farm. Some may have seemed impossible to serve, but all one has to do is see what happened when a three-point hydraulic system was added to the back of a tractor, a round baler that solved a shortage of on-farm labor and grain dryers to better dry and store grain on the farm.
Many of the inventions are not “pie-in-the-sky” where money is no objective. Jo Bek, a retired animal sciences professor at the Nebraska College of Technical College, Curtis, Nebraska, notes breakthroughs in livestock production have involved studying the behavior of cattle, which has led to better handling techniques, which in turn makes cattle operations more efficient.
While it might become easy to grouse about political topics today—and there are many to choose from—finding ways to improve your operation or way of life through innovation is more inspiring and beneficial to the bottom line.
