Farmer to Farmer 2018: From Rumsey to Omaha

  
   I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to attend the FBN Farmer to Farmer conference in Omaha Nebraska this year. Back a few weeks ago I was looking through twitter and saw that they had started a contest to win a trip and the question was “What is the biggest issue in farming that no one is talking about?” I was working at the farm that day and thought about it quite a bit before I made a video describing my answer. It was only a 30 second video talking about my answer but I could have definitely expanded on that. My answer was that as farmers we need to have one voice. Whether we are organic or conventional farmers and no matter what form of production we utilize we all need to speak with a single voice and not put the other practices down to consumers or the media.
  In this day an age with more consumers demanding to know where their food comes from we have to be careful not to add to the misconceptions being sold by organizations who are pushing their own agendas. I know of many conventional farmers who talk badly about organics and also organic farmers putting conventional farmers and GMO products in a bad light. The fact is rising water raises all ships and we need to move forward as a consolidated group. Only by showing all forms of food production are safe and healthy will we be able to quiet the naysayers and hopefully gain back some of the consumer trust.
  
   I luckily was chosen from the submissions and won the trip. They played my video at the beginning of day 2 and it was a pretty cool moment to see the Rumsey farm on the big screen in Omaha!

Click here for my video:)

   On December 12th my wife and I flew from Calgary Alberta to Omaha, Nebraska. At the show in Omaha on day 1 we had the opportunity to hear Captain Sullenberger speak or you might know him as Sully from miracle on the Hudson. He talked about being prepared for situations by focusing on the training. He also said how it was a team effort and he couldn’t have done it alone. These lessons apply to Agriculture as well. We sometimes feel we are in this alone and we should just look after our own interests. In fact we are not in this alone and need to work as a team if we want to move Ag into the next millennium. He talked about the training and how it helped in his successful landing on the Hudson. In farming we tend to overlook the training and preparation involved. Taking the time to educate yourself by attending conferences like Farmer to Farmer will pay dividends in the future by training our minds to never stop learning and moving forward. Sully was very calm and calculated in the way he spoke and I could imagine him that day calmly going through checklists and I want to have that same calm calculated approach to decisions on my farm. I was very impressed by him and was very glad to get the chance to hear him speak live.

  I watched the Myth Buster Adam Savage on day 2 and it was pretty wild with all the explosions he's done through the years! Also on day 2 was the Oh Canada panel and I heard some of the issues facing these larger Canadian farmers from Saskatchewan. We have some common concerns across all sizes of farms and some specific to the size or region of the operation. Some of the main concerns put forward by the panel went back to cost of production and this affects us all. When do our input costs become unsustainable? This is one of my biggest concerns and is something I’m constantly looking for solutions moving forward. Land prices were discussed but for a different reason then in Alberta. These larger farms have limited buyers if they ever look to sell land. In my area of Alberta the land prices are being driven higher and higher all the time by a very competitive sellers market. This makes it hard for small farmers to expand and young farmers to get to a sustainable size if their parents had a smaller farm to start with. All in all a very interesting discussion.

  I went to a couple other sessions but one of my favorites on day 2 was the social media panel. I knew the people on the panel from Twitter and it was fun to hear them talk about their stories of starting out and finding their way on the public platforms of Social Media. It amazes me the time they put into it. I spend a bit of time putting my own content out on Twitter but some of them spend upwards of 30 hours a week! The downside of putting yourself out there is always evident and their stories of being “trolled” were similar to many of us. I always choose to ignore negative comments as these are usually people who are looking for a reaction or a fight. Monetization of their popularity on social media was brought up. This is a touchy subject and if done properly isn't a big deal. Many of us want AgTwitter to stay real and unbiased and anytime sponsorship's happen things can get fake or forced.

   Jerod Mcdaniel was on the panel and I always enjoy his podcast interviews that sometimes last 2 hours but are very raw and uncut and listening in the combine or tractor really make the time fly by and it was cool to meet him. Jenny Schweigert is as nice in person as she is on Twitter and walking up to her and getting a big smile and hello meant a lot. These meetings don’t always happen this way and I had a few times in Omaha where I walked up and introduced myself to people I've talked to on twitter and got a glossy look in return then the awkward silence and then slowly slinking away :) Thankfully it doesn’t happen that often and most are very happy to visit and talk farming or twitter.
Brian Scott is the only guy in Ag I know who has a blue check mark by his name and it was nice to shake his hand and have a great discussion with him after. He is a really good guy and we talked farming like old neighbors. The crowd was full of fellow twitter farmers and looking around seeing all of them I couldn’t help but get the feeling of community. I’m thankful for all those people who came up and said Hi if they recognized me from Twitter during the show. It was fun to visit with the many people I've met through twitter like Johnnie Roughrider, Stephanie Stray cow, Taylor Truckey, Charles Baron, Rob Stone, Kristine Langlois, Marcel van Staveren and many others..

  Touring around Omaha the last day with my wife Paula was fun and we got to see some of the local architecture and some of the city. I love to go to these conferences and it feels like I check off another milestone in my life every time I get these opportunities. I really have to Thank FBN for letting my wife and I attend Farmer to Farmer 18 in Omaha it was a great experience. 

I know the takeaways from the 3 days will serve me well in the future on the farm and in all parts of my life.