when I look to the future this is what I
see my family my children my
grandchildren they are what motivate me
to work my farm
with the care and attention to detail
that will leave the land better than I
found it and I'm not alone in this
I believe the agriculture community is
dedicated to making the land the
environment and our way of life better
whether it's through sound conservation
practices using the latest technologies
or teaching our children why we do what
we do I am just one of many farmers
dedicated to doing the right thing as a
child growing up in a rural Midwestern
community I never imagined the impact
agriculture would have on the future of
our society but my perspective has
changed and now I see how the profession
that I have devoted my life to impacts
the world and I want to share with you a
story of where agriculture has been
where we are today and where we are
going in the 1890s my great-grandfather
had no idea what this plant was do you
it's the largest AG export from the
United States it's a key ingredient and
many food products
it's a soybean and the first soybeans
that were ever grown on my farm my
family's farm was after a devastating
hail crop in the 1920s which destroyed
my grandfather's corn crop he had no
other choice he had to do something
soybeans were planted not for the oil in
the meal that would I use him for today
but as a high-protein forage to sustain
his livestock through the long cold
winter and what he found when planting
the corn farming the soy was that the
soil was much easier to work the young
seedlings were much healthier like
others my grandfather discovered a basic
scientific principle here soybeans
capture nitrogen from the air they
transfer it to the soil and allow the
next following year's crop to thrive
mother nature provides many sustainable
processes such as this that are used
today and crop rotation is just one of
them
my grandfather's grandfather and his
young bride came to Iowa in the 1850s
with a dream to own land and to raise a
family
imagine loading your worldly possessions
in a high wheeled wooden wagon drawn by
two horses with a milk cow and tow and
leave everything you know to start a new
life and a raw open prairie my family's
farm has endured despite struggles to
provide enough food or when Mother
Nature devastated the crops with the
blazing hot summers or when livestock
suffered through the brutally cold
winters changing climate has been a way
of life for generations but out of these
adversities came a resilience often only
found in agriculture jumped forward five
generations and you find me working the
same land purchased in 1890 I owe my
passion for my profession to my father
he was an agricultural giant my eyes
he's the reason I've been able to not
only endure but improve the way I farm
he was a fiercely independent man short
in stature but tall and character hard
work was his hobby and he finished what
he started regardless of the effort
required his belief and hard work is the
principle I still live by today and
teach my children and grandchildren a
career of farming is not for everyone
and my parents nine grandchildren only
one chose this path my son and for the
last ten years I've had the privilege of
working alongside my son and his young
family who live in that 100-year old
house at my great-grandfather built it
takes many hands across generations to
sustain a rich farming history with deep
roots today the u.s. farmer represents
only one percent of this country's
population but we are growing nearly
half of the world's soybeans let me
repeat that one percent of this
country's population is growing nearly
half of the world's soybeans now there
are differing points of view on how to
farm but I'm certain that along with the
unyielding press appearance for defined
skills that have been honed through
generations
that Science and Technology have become
the frontline tools and our efforts
towards continuous improvement being
profitable is required but without a
dedication to improving the land the
water and the air the next generation
could be lost in my 40 years of farming
the size of my farm has grown
considerably science and technology has
led that charge for change not only with
the machines that I use but the seeds
that I plant modern innovations have
given us the ability to plant and
harvest in the timely fashion we're able
to utilize variable rate technology
using Global Positioning satellites
where I can place my seed within a an
inch my my fertilizer is within that
zone as well computers are as much a
part of the American modern farm as the
harness was to granddad's horses I've
increased my production three to four
times that of my grandfather while
reducing my fertilizer workload and
other inputs behalf on the very same
land and through good record-keeping an
evaluation of all my practices I've been
able to set my baselines as key
performance indicators and my dedicated
efforts towards continuous improvement
some may resist the direction of modern
agriculture for the romantic notions of
the past but I've witnessed firsthand
this transition and I'm a testament to
the responsible outcomes
my grandfather he saw Whitehouse's
pepper black with soil after wind storms
due to soil erosion and today I maintain
that soil on my fields by using Memel
tillage cover crops and a whole long
list of other conservation practices the
modern tools that I and the other 2.1
million farmers in the u.s. use today
are allies in our efforts to produce a
bountiful harvest while protecting our
land and our environment for future
generations using science to provide
assurances to the American consumer I've
worked on a first-of-its-kind effort
with sustainability with soy that very
same soybean I might add that my
grandfather first planted what will the
future look like
not just soy but it will also include
other crops it pretty
more with less water with less input and
will adapt to changing climate
conditions though our way of life has
similarities with wonderful memories of
a simpler time I was commissioned by my
parents to be socially and economically
responsible and just as I've had to
embrace changing perspectives I also
recognize that the transition has begun
on my farm my story of hands across
generations runs deep deep with
tradition but carries on with a
willingness to innovate as I look
towards a brighter future thank you