Category: Challenges

#PluckEZChicken, Is Panera Claiming Farmers are Lazy?

This past week I read a blog by Dairy Carrie. She is a dairy farmer in Wisconsin and has written many a hilarious yet informing blog letters that I really enjoy reading. This past week though, her letter entitled, “Dear Panera…” has caused quite the stir. I wanted to share what is going on because I think that this is a great example of how fear marketing and not telling the whole truth is leading to so much misinformation when it comes to consumers and what they perceive as healthy. Farming isn’t easy to begin with. And having marketing like Panera making us look like we take shortcuts just because we’re lazy or we don’t care about consumers, it is completely out of line!

proxyYou can read the post by Dairy Carrie by clicking HERE. In it she describes many of the reasons that she will no longer be a Panera bread customer.  You can also follow the feed on twitter, #PluckEZChicken. Where you will see this newest update…“Hey… all of a sudden @EZChicken isn’t on twitter any more. Good start @panerabread, keep going! #EZChicken #panera #agchat“

First of all let’s look at the obvious issue that Panera is trying to sell to the consumer.  “Antibiotic use on animals is bad, unhealthy, and is only done because farmers are lazy and don’t take care of their animals.”  Woah…now that is a lot of misinformation if you ask me!  My biggest issue is that as a farmer I can tell you right now, “I’m not lazy!” (enough said there!) Secondly if this marketing campaign starts spouting off that they have antibiotic free meat it is sending the message that all meat, if not labeled as such, has antibiotics in it; when that is simply not the case. All meat sold for consumption in the US is tested by the USDA for antibiotics. Let me say this again…ALL MEAT THAT IS SOLD FOR CONSUMPTION IN THE US IS TESTED BY THE USDA FOR ANTIBIOTICS! It is not allowed through to the consumer if the meat doesn’t pass the strict safety limits in the test.

It is exactly this kind of marketing that leads to consumers assuming certain things about how food is produced. In my mind it’s like standing in the cereal aisle looking at one variety that says, Narcotic Free. Wouldn’t you be somewhat curious of why they had to state that? Do all other cereals have narcotics in them? Have I been feeding my children drugs? What is this world coming to?

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In the whole scheme of things, yes animals use way more antibiotics than humans, that is a fact. But I have yet to see a study that comes to that conclusion while looking at how many animals are treated vs how many humans are treated. How many thousands more animals are there in this country than humans? When you answer that question the conclusions look quite a bit different! The problem of over antibiotic use, in my opinion, is not because it’s being transferred from animals, it’s because we are using it as people. During one of the US Farmer and Rancher Alliance’s seminars there was a great section about the use of antibiotics on animals. I would encourage you to listen to it and come up with your own conclusions on how you feel about animals that are treated. It’s a good conversation that lays out facts, not fears, of animal care today.

commongroundThe underlying issue here is one that is much bigger than just use of antibiotics, it is the use of fear marketing to show one type of production as better than another.  I have supported many types of agricultural production, I’m happy to say that I have a choice about what kind of food to buy at the grocery store.  So why can’t they encourage consumers to make their own choice with the facts? I’m sure this is far from the last marketing campaign that will try to damage conventional ag’s role in our modern food supply. I just want to say, as a hard working farmer (Yes Panera I wrote this on a Sunday, while out in the fields, not being lazy but working the 7th day this week) I really don’t appreciate Panera taking a tool that we use in agriculture to keep animals healthy and portray it is a shortcut or lazy technique for farmers who don’t want to take good care of their animals. They couldn’t be more grossly far from the truth. I really hope that they are feeling a bit of frustration with us farmers for getting upset and do a lot more research!

****The website Find Our Common Ground provides a ton of information about antibiotic use in animals, and also many other topics about our food safety!

Manager vs. Employee

There comes a time when you realize that you have to train someone to do a job that you are very capable of.  It’s an easy job, one that’s so easy, as a now manager of the farm you think to yourself, “Now there is a job where I can just relax.  I can think about what is going on at our farm, I can sing to the radio, I can sort of hide out from my manager jobs.”  While sitting in a John Deere the other day this “hiding out” feeling was exactly what I felt.

I don’t know if I’m the only farm manager who feels this way.  But there are times when having employees stare at you and ask,  “What are we doing today?”, or “What is on the agenda?”, or “How do I do this again?” can seem a bit overwhelming.  So the thought that it would be quicker if I just did it myself, creeps into my mind.  And the harsh reality I’m finding is that yes, it would be much faster to just do it myself, but it would never get done, because quite frankly I just don’t have the time.

So last week I finally trained someone to drive that very same John Deere I was trying to hide out in.  It went well, but as I drove away from the field after a few hours of training, leaving a huge tractor in the hands of a 15 year old with a cell phone I had a moment where I was pretty sure I was losing my mind.  Until I remembered, I was driving that same sized tractor at 14…I survived…the tractor survived… move on!

Going through this transition of becoming the manager on our farm I’m finding that it’s not always easy being the main decision maker.  And although some days, especially when it’s hectic in the summer time, I wish I could just go to the morning meeting and have someone just tell me what to do that day, what’s on the agenda, and how I do that again.  But then I drive away the second day from the field, leaving that same big old John Deere, with the same cell phone enabled 15 year old, and I know that finally taking the time to train someone is paying off.

I think that I’m getting a very small glimpse of what it must feel like to hand over any type of management or jobs on a farm where you have worked so hard your whole life.  When I think about succession planning a lot of times I don’t really understand why people wouldn’t want to retire and pass down what they have built to the next generation.  Of course there are many generational changes between myself and those who have built this farm into what it is today.  But I think that this feeling I’m feeling has something to do with it as well.  I can do it better myself, I can do it faster myself, because I’ve been doing it for decades!  So with my 7 months under my belt of management, I’m really glad I have a patient father who realized this part of letting go long before I did.  So I’m off to our morning meeting today at the farm to look at those faces and tell them, what they are doing today, what’s on the agenda and how they do it.

Farmer/Wedding Planner

As most of you who have been following my blog for awhile know, I was engaged to the man of my dreams last year.  And since then we have been planning a wedding.  And as the saying goes, smaller the town…bigger the wedding!  So our intimate gathering of over 500 people will be this Saturday…I can hardly believe it!

I have to admit it hasn’t been easy having my dad take a step back in management, challenging me to step up in my career while at the same time knowing that the wedding day was going to come much faster than I realized.  So I took it one day at a time, asked my dad to be patient when I couldn’t work on a Saturday because I had appointments to try on wedding dresses, get my hair trial done, makeup trial done, pick up the wedding dress…the list goes on and on for prep work! And now we are finally here…six days away!  But where dad took a step back from management, he very quickly took on a large role with my mom of making sure the farm was just right for the big day.  And it is looking incredible thanks to all of their very hard work!!!

It’s been interesting keeping the farm running smooth while planning for one day of our lives…one big day…but still ONE DAY!  My brain has been scattered with details of irrigation timing mixed with linen choices, and dealing with a broken down tractor while at the same time on the phone with our caterer, or wiping grease off my hands on my way to pick up my wedding dress…let’s just say that I’m glad this juxtapose of life only happens once! And I’m glad I have some great workers by my side to keep me straightened out most of the time!

So all that being said, things are going to continue to be a bit wild over at Kirsch Family Farms World Headquarters for a few more days.  And if you call to ask me about wheat, I may think it’s for our center pieces, not for loading on a barge.  Or if you ask about how the rust is looking (fungus that grows in our fields) I may just assume that you’re talking about our rustic country theme.  Bear with us…the big day is just about here and it’s going to be incredible!